Great Harvest

Well, the season is winding down. Some days are cool, some are rainy, but most are warm and sunny. Most everything has been harvested and dried in the greenhouse, including some flowers. Steven and I (Aliza) saved some Borage, Facilia, and Poppy seeds for a Beautiful cover crop that the pollenators will Love.

What an amazing growing year! So much abundance. Some plants suffered through the dry weather (like brassicas) others seemed to do great! This year was a spectacular fruit year across the island... except for strawberries. Onward and Upward, next year will be even Awesomer <3

Poppies & Sunflowers & Borage [oh my!]

Flowers are all in bloom!!
This was a great year for Raspberries.
Everything in the greenhouse is doing fantastically [come on Tomatoes!!]
Squashes are doing well, Cucumbers are coming on, Corn is taller daily.
Young Brussels are doing great.

Steven and I [Aliza] pulled out the Peas today and are replacing it with Flax.
There a nice big bag of the last Peas sitting in the fridge along with some Raspberries.
Beets are being enjoyed as they continue to grow.
Carrots are ready for another thinning.

Broccoli is not enjoying the heat. It only forms very small heads.
Aliza's brassica starts mostly died from too much sunshine [oops].
We think a rabbit is nibbling the lettuce.
We'll be planting another succession of lettuce pretty soon.
Racoons are getting some plums, but there is plenty to share.

Berries, Lettuce, Peas

The weather was hot and sunny for June and is rather overcast for July. It sprinkled yesterday evening. Flowers are blooming everywhere. The birds ate all the strawberries before the bird netting went up, but now that it is up, there are plenty of raspberries, currants, gooseberries of every color dripping from their bushes/canes. The squashes are happening. The first couple plantings of lettuce are bolting. The peas are finishing, and most of the early broccoli are done. Next on the list is tying up the tomato plants.

Thinning

The GREENHOUSE is almost finished!!! Steven and Summer Moon have been working very hard, the next thing to figure out is how to get the sides to roll up so we can get some ventilation going on.

In the fields, the flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, it's a happy place to be!

Since the last post, Summer Moon planted more cruciferous around the greenhouse, with tomatoes and peppers inside the greenhouse. She and I have also planted a few rows of summer squash and winter zucchini. And Steven and I have been replanting the chinese cabbage (which was demolished by beetles) and spinach (which are bolting in the heat) with various brassicas. Steven has a few more plants to get in the ground - cucumbers for one. But the weather is very cooperative. The plants seem very happy and healthy. Some broccoli are already starting to head-up! We have had beautiful, warm days and then a few overcast days, then back to sunshine. We are hoping for a good, heavy rain sometime this year.

Today, I thinned beets and carrots just enough so that the next thinning will hopefully net us a nice bunch of baby root vegetables. Wireworm damage is almost zero (I pulled 13 total worms, but they were only on two plants).

Planting as of now

Three rows of Kabocha Squash were planted yesterday.

So now in the annual beds we've sown:
Cabbage, kale, spinach, lettuce
Peas, carrots, beets, chard
Corn, garlic, onions, potatoes.

The perennial beds are full of:
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, other misc berries
Artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, all kinds of flowers
Medicinal herbs of many kinds (maybe Summer or Steven can enumerate more).

Even more exciting is THE GREENHOUSE!!!
Yesterday was also a workparty for assembling the greenhouse.
The frame was mostly up by the time I left - it's huge!!!

note: flea beetles especially love Chinese Cabbage, and Valerian makes beautiful flowers.

McWeeWhoo is Here!!

May first seems to be the day that squashes propagated outside will sprout. So it is safe to direct sow our squashes.

The little migratory bird who says "McWeeWhoo!", brings the fortuitous sign that warm days are ahead. He has officially arrived, so summer, here we come!!!

Next year, we will have to see if these two signs occur simultaneously around May 1st.

March 2015

So far it has been a warm, wet spring, no chance of working the soil with equipment, the soil would compact and we would regret it all season. We have been transplanting trees and berries however.