A mixed bag and some mixed feelings

I didn't much like being at the farm today.

It was hot and the mosquitoes were biting and I kept inadvertently harvesting the wrong things. Grabbing the stalk of a flower that hadn't bloomed instead of the one that had. Or yanking off a pod of okra that was a bit too small.

So I wasn't feeling the farm today. And it wasn't feeling me either.

I was attacked by a garden stake.

Twice.

Despite all of this, we had a great harvest today. Along with the now-regular harvest of collards, kale, herbs, cucumbers and squash, we were able to harvest (for the first time!) the following:

Flowers

Okra

And tomatoes.

Of which I don't have a picture. On account of the fact that I was too busy cursing that garden stake. For the second time.

Today was a first in other ways too. We had our first sunflower bloom:


And our first corn feather:


In light of all its bounty, I suppose I can forgive the farm its many faults today. I'll give it another chance and go back tomorrow.

But I'm bringing bug spray (non-DEET of course). And perhaps an ax as punishment for one particular garden stake.

UPDATE: Adam tells me that what I called "corn feathers" are actually called "corn tassles." Silly me.

A Month of Growth

Remember these wildflowers?



This is what they look like now:



Here's the okra before:



And here's the okra now: (not much taller...but we have a pod!)



The corn before:

And the corn now:


Happy Harvesting!

Lunch Break Gardening

Over that last few weeks I have been speeding out to the garden during my lunch break everyday. I usually get about 30-45 minutes of time to poke around in the garden in my office clothes. While I sit at work I usually find myself thinking about the garden: weather, water, soil, creatures and all the gray, white and brown of the garden turning green.


This is an example of what I did during my lunch in the garden the week before last:


Monday:

-Planted Melons
-Watered


Tuesday:

-Planted Red and Romaine Lettuce

-Fertilized Tomatoes and Peppers (I fertilize every two weeks)

-Watered (I water whenever I plant seeds, sprouts, seedlings or established plants)


Wednesday:

-Planted Black Beans and Swiss Chard
-Mulching with Dead Leaves (Ongoing process as we continue to collect them off our neighbors curbs)
-Watered


Thursday:

-Fertilized Sunflowers
-Spotty Weeding (I usually focus on the weeds that are closest to my young plants that would compete the most for resources)


Friday:

-Planted Carrots (I plan on planting a line of carrots and radishes every two weeks to provide a continuous harvest)
-Watered

Black Beans that look like ancient reptilian aliens emerging from the earth!

Powerful little lettuce seedlings breaking through the very crusty soil.

This is an example of what I did during my lunch in the garden last week:


Monday:

-Planted Chives, Dill, and Green Onions between pre-existing plants throughout the garden.
(I plan on peppering the garden with these to ward off pests, attract beneficial and fill empty spaces with deliciousness)
-Watered Seedlings


Tuesday:

-Put up Trellis for row of Purple Pole Beans made from flattened tomato cages, electrical ties and 4' wooden stakes (We are using corn and sunflowers as a natural trellis and bamboo tripods for all of the other beans)
-Watered Seedlings


Wednesday:

-Photographed the garden
-Spotty Weeding


Thursday:

-Removed Aphids from Asparagus Beans by hand. You can use a jet of water to knock these little guys off your plants or you can run your finger tips along the stems and leaves to remove/squish these little squashy guys. Ants had placed them on the plants and were "farming" them for their honeydew. Check this out!

These little Fire Ant tended cuties have been deforming the new growth of my Asparagus Beans and have to go.

-Removed beetles from my Kentucky Wonder Beans that had been turning these plants into Swiss cheese.

Friday:

-I surveyed the damage and looked for any remaining or replaced Aphids but there were very few and the beetles may be a continuing problem.
-Planted Dill and Cilantro
-Watered Seedlings


I am fascinated by all of these creatures and I hate having to squish them but my bean plants are too young and wimpy for me to allow there first leaves to be munched and deformed. Every bean plant has been affected by beetles or aphids except for those growing amongst the Sunflowers. Hmmm...interesting. All in all I think the Asparagus Beans and Kentucky Wonder Beans, aside from being a little perforated are going to be just fine. Erin and I plan on losing at least 10% of our plants to pests so a few holes here and there is nothing to freak out about but I'm keeping my eye on you aphids.

I love these 30 minute trips, and in the future I hope that I can spend my entire work week in the garden.

We have Growth!

We have potatoes...

...and radishes...

...and peppers...and a pepper blossom...

...and corn...

...and corn n' beans...

...and okra...

...and collards...

...and wildflowers and zinnias!

What did we NOT plant today?

It was a full day at the farm today. Lots of sunscreen, lots of water and lots of planting. We were grateful for the near-constant breeze that wafted up from the river but, needless to say, that breeze will be gone (and sorely missed) come the summer months.

Alright, down to business.

Here is a list of what we planted today:

sweet corn

pole beans

sunflowers

peppers (bell, jalapeno, chili and banana)

tomatoes (cherry, Roma, beefsteak, heirloom brandywine)

wildflowers

zinnias

cucumbers

zucchini

okra

carrots

radishes

red onions

Sadly, I don't have enough pictures to correspond to all of this activity. Once I remembered my photography duties, the sun had already begun to set and the light was no good. But I did manage to get a few off before the sun fully set.

But, as you can see, our shadows were l-o-n-g when we finally started packing up.


Here is one of our corn/bean rows. The corn seeds are in back and were placed every 6 inches or so. The beans are in the front part of the row and placed in-between the corn seeds. Also, the sunflowers were planted in the row directly behind the corn/bean row.

Next up is one of our beautiful little bell peppers. We probably have more bell peppers than any other plant in the garden. Which is good since we eat them ALL THE TIME. We eat them more often than we eat tomatoes.

Most of our pepper and tomato plants are ones we grew from seeds. However, some of our seedlings just didn't look hearty enough for the great outdoors so we hedged our bets and bought some plants at a local nursery.


And here is one of our lovely tomato plants all warm and snug in its cage. The cages, lest you accuse us of tomato cruelty, are strictly for the tomatoes' benefit. They send their little stems out the openings and, as they grow, the cage provides support for those (hopefully) tomato-laden stems.


We prepared all of the beds today in the same manner as before. Hoe and rake the bed to break up clumps. Scatter peat/compost mixture. Water afterwards with the liquid fertilizer/water mixture.

You may have noticed that many of our plants have depressions around them. We made those in hopes that during the next rain, which is sure to come any moment now, some rain will gather in these little "volcanoes" instead of running off the side. We'll see how that goes.

Oh the way home, I quizzed Adam about what plant he is most excited to be growing/harvesting/eating and he, of course, said the chili peppers. He wants to make hot sauce.

My "top plant" is definitely my lovely okra! I l-o-v-e okra and simply can't wait until they are ready to harvest.

We have plans for most of the vegetables. But some of them (ahem, radishes) I'm at a loss of what to do with. Especially in such large numbers. I am excited about learning to can and sharing that (possibly harrowing) process with you. Any tips, pass them along. Please.

Naturally, we are pretty tuckered out after such a day. Off to bed we go....with visions of homemade tomato sauce in our heads.