The cucumbers are finally coming in. Amie was happy to harvest some, though she won’t eat them. These, maybe… Still no zucchinis or squashes in sight, just like last year. Of the dry beans, Jacob’s Cattle is the first one ready for picking. I love the sounds of the hard beans rattling in their dry …
Search results for: hoop house
How to Harvest and Save Seed from Kale
Take one kale plant, overwinter it in hoop house – kale is a biennial. In Spring let it flower and go to seed. Cut it down when leaves start getting brown, hang upside down to dry for months. When plant is fully dry and pods are almost bursting, stick the entire plant into a pillowcase. …
First Tomato
This should have been a joyous day, a glorious day. Instead there was cussing. I don’t often cuss, so it was shocking. What happened? The chipmunks got to the first tomato of the season. THE first tomato. The ICONIC tomato. The one you take a picture of: Its good side Its chipmunk side They also …
Finished!
Happy Summer! On this hot sunny day what did I do but seek out the two hottest areas of my garden. First, the compost bins. They looked pretty tame, on the surface. Then I stuck in my fork and woosh, the temperature rise was immediately apparent. I persisted, turning, consolidating and sifting out the finished …
(Mostly) All in Pictures Today
Unwanted things: (1) (2) Things hung to dry: (3) Things newly trellised: (4) (5) Flowering things: (6) (7) (8) Things bursting: (9) (10) Take the quiz: (1) oak seedling (2) caterpillar on cherry tree (3) kale seed pods (4) favas (5) tomatoes in hoop house (6) can’t remember, sowed it under the bird feeder, bachelor’s …
Harvests of Radish and Lettuce, and More Planting
We’re harvesting enough lettuce thinnings for a large three-person’s-worth every two days. I’m also pulling radishes. Last year I hated these radishes, the Easter Eggs. They were maggot-ridden, tough and bitter. This year they are sweet and crisp and perfect. I am also about to pick the first peas. I direct-seeded more lettuce and radish. …
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Rain
The rain came, in a thunderstorm at night. It has cooled everything down a fair bit and saves me from having to water the garden this morning, for which I am thankful. But it barely half filled four of the five (food-grade) barrels (the second barrel in the line up on our most capacious downspout …
Water for the Bees
The tubs you see in the picture is the bees’ water supply. Bees need water to cool the hive (by evaporation), to feed brood (brood food is 70% water), and to dilute their own food (honey, sugar syrup or nectar). It is the main task of some bees to find and bring in water (they …
Strawberries All Taking, and Other News
strawberry bed I was skeptical about my strawberries but (again) nature proved me wrong, or rather, made up (again) for any bungling on my part. I bought 25 crowns from Nourse Farms and planted them the day they arrived in a well-prepared bed (it was crawling with worms). The instructions were to plant the crown …
Found Queen and Eggs
I don’t think it froze last night, but it might this night, so all the plants that were moved inside will stay inside till tomorrow. It not being as cold and windy as predicted, I did a hive inspection at 11 am. Again there was very little activity outside the hive, but inside it was …