...digging out the invading grass. The pasture grass has been a real bugger to control. The roots are deep, up to 10". And leaving a little piece behind results in the grass regrowing. So we are constantly battling the stuff.
...the gourd patch: plants are sending out runners now, so we need to go through every week and tie or train them to the trellises. The more mature plants are flowering, so dipel needs to be sprayed frquently on the flowers to kill the pickleworm moth larvae. Here's what our first gourd of this year looks like---
...the herb patch is being expanded. New ground has been dug and derocked. New herbs have been added.
...birds have been attacking and eating the greens. Volunteers made a scarecrow and strung up reflectors, windchimes, and other distractors to ward off the birds.
...plenty of crops have been harvested: sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, radishes, daikon, spanish radishes, cherry tomatoes, our first slicing tomato, kale, chard, mustard, beets, portuguese cabbage, savoy cabbage, carrots, arugala, collards, cucumbers, eggplant, jicama, onions, leeks, and pipinola. Some goes to the volunteers, some is sold to pay the rent, and the rest is given away to feed Ka'u residents.
...new crops on being planted: broccoli, beets, radishes, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, carrots, onions, and various herbs.
...we're trying new crops: rhubard, new zealand spinach, red amaranth, poha, tomatillo, sweet sorghum.
This past month we had a problem with stray dogs marauding the garden. Luckily no livestock was killed but we had to remove the sheep in a hurry. The ducks and chickens got really shook up. We found ducks hiding high in the trees. The chickens, though physically safe, stopped laying eggs. They are only now starting to lay again. Sadly the farm cat was killed. As can be expected, we are all very upset and angry over the stray dogs.
June 24th
Last week we got rained out on the gardening group day, but several volunteers came during the week to put a bit of work into the garden. Thankfully it has been raining. Not a bunch each day, but a few tenths of an inch. Just enough to keep plants happy and make them grow.
The problem is the grass. The rain is also making it grow. Sometimes it is very tempting to consider using Round-up, but so far we have resisted it. The grass makes our life miserable.
Each week we have been harvesting. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, portuguese cabbage, kale, chard, beets, bok choy, onions, leeks, herbs, pipinola, and now .... ta-da!... tomatoes!!!!!!! Here's a picture of Fran showing off our first slicing tomatoes. By the way, Fran is 91 years old and our oldest volunteer!
Now that grass is growing, we finally have plenty of material for mulch. Now the problem is finding the time to keep it mowed. But at least we have mulch!
We have been experimenting with new plants again. Burmese okra, 5 different types of cotton, different basils, new varieties of beans and peas. We gradually keep discovering what grows best in this particular garden.
The chickens are still producing, though not as much since the dog attack. But they seem happy and healthy so far. No signs of disease.
Fran is starting a new project. She is making scarecrows for the garden. We have been experiencing some damage from birds, so a hastily made scarecrow was put up. It successfully kept the turkeys out. But now the house wrens are causing havoc, so we need more scarecrows. Fran to the rescue! When she has a few completed, we will get pictures posted of them. We plan to have a naming contest. It should be fun.
Next week we hope to have some new furry additions.... kittens. Since the farm cat was killed, we are being plagued by mice and rats. So we need some feline hunters. All the kittens will be neutered. no way do we need to deal with an increasing feline population! But it will be nice to have a few cats around. We will post photos when they arrive.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment