Tuesday June 16, 2015
A cool observation: The stem of one squash seedling went dry and brittle after planting, but I left it alone in case it recovered. The stem didn't, but the leaves at its end seem to have put down new roots and are doing fine.
Decided that my visions of carefully-researched polycultures will wait a year. The delays in getting our soil and mulch disrupted planting plans, and we had so many extra seeds donated. The plan now is to get tradditional rows of best-suited seeds in soil ASAP. The hugel mound is edging toward a basic polyculture, at least.
We will still do the Three Sisters, as it is simple and popular. Hope that we aren't starting too late.
Tasks performed:
- Thinned carrots
- Pinched off sage buds
- Planted spinach seeds between carrots. Rows are a bit tight, so I'll have to watch that one doesn't shade out the other.
- Planted seedlings that were hardening off in hoop house. These are the ones that grew in less-than-ideal conditions, so curious to see how they fare: Tomatoes (we have so many!), broccoli, peppers (some with multiple sets of seeds, some that sprouted extremely late in shallow soil so still just juvenile leaves), kale
- Planted yellow wax bush bean seeds in clusters all over hugel mound, in gaps betwen squashes. Will thin out all but strongest if lots sprout.
- Sheilah planted seeds: Kale, Swiss Chard, Radish, Lettuce Mix, Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Notes: Need more flowrs to attract pollinators
More herbs would be nice
Thursday June 18, 2015
The pear tree near the rock pile has been broken in half. Researched whether it will sprout again. Unfortunately, it is probably a pear graft on a quince root stock, so suckers will be quince instead of pear. Could the top portion be rooted if I buy rooting hormone, pearlite, etc. by tomorrow?
Need visible stakes to protect all fruit trees - esp. at dusk when people are still walking their dogs and visibility is poor
Some strawberries are ripe. They won't keep and are too few to be harvested and shared. Members working in the garden should check for any ripe ones and eat as reward for their hard work.
Now that we have so much planted, carrying watering cans from rain barrels is tedious. Can we get long piping to water directly from barrels?
Tasks performed:
- Brenda finished burlap repairs
- Ting assembled one rain barrel stand