October 28, 2013

Today was a wet Monday, but luckily it didn't rain while we worked at the garden. This past week the garden received 1.9 inches of rain. Wahoo!! I love it! 

We finally, finally got the first keyhole garden filled. Whew, that took a long time. It's amazing just how much stuff you need to fill it up. And all the time that you're filling, the stuff is composting down. So then it needs even more stuff! But we finally have it firmly filled and topped off with 3 inches of soil. Of course it's going to settle, but that is to be expected. But for now, it's ready for planting. 

Over by the greenhouse we discovered two papaya trees that came up all by themselves. We can only assume that the seeds were deposited there by birds.....our own chickens perhaps? Most likely. But we let the little trees stay and now they are already producing fruits. We have no idea if they will ripen sweet or not, but we'll see. It may be too cold here or maybe too high in elevation for papayas. 

The greenhouse crew has been working full speed ahead. Lots of seeds are being sown and lots of little plants being transplanted into larger pots, in the front of this photo are jicama plants. Behind them are strawberries. Missy got the new seeds of Tuscan kale started today, so in a few weeks we'll be ble to replace our old kale plants. Those old plants look like trees! 

Elaine attacked grass that threatened to invade the bed that she prepared last week. No way is that grass allowed back! She plans to grow carrots there next. Elaine also harvested our sugar cane crop today. Some of those stalks are really plump. We're looking forward to sugar cane juicing next week. 

Sharon, Leonie, Connie, and Carolyn worked hard digging, harvesting, and planting. Getting the giant yacon plants out, chopped up, and stuffed into the #2 keyhole garden surely wasn't an easy job. With all the sudden rain, the yacon tubers were getting super sized. Rather than see them get ruined if they split, we harvested the plants. All the crowns were replanted. 

One of our volunteers, Judith, donated some aloe to the garden. It is suppose to less bitter, and thus an edible type. The plants appear to like it here and are growing plump. 

The little curry plants are rapidly growing larger. We haven't tried harvesting any yet, but every once in a while a volunteer reaches down and plucks a few leaves, savoring the wonderful aroma. How nice! 

We only have one plant of stick oregano, but it is getting quite large. Guess its time to try harvesting some. It goes very well with chicken. 

We lost the name tag on this plant (there are 3), so we're not sure what it is. We are guessing that it is a collard. Next week we plan to take the bold test in bravery and eat some. So I truly hope it really is a collard! 

The bean plants are robust. Today I noticed that they are starting to bloom. Goody, goody. More baby beans next week. 

All the watermelon plants survived being transplanted. The spots on the leaves are normal for this variety. 

Today we planted the pumpkins. Yes, they are close. But we plan to train the vines to run out into the grassy field next to the garden. They won't be in the way, won't crowd anything else out,and hopefully will hide from the pickleworm moth in the deep meadow grass. The bottoms if plastic milk jugs are used to thwart the bugs and caterpillars. 

Today's harvest included a spaghetti squash, cherry tomatoes, green and red peppers, bok choy, kale, chard, pipinola, and yacon. 

Lunch today- (100% vegan today)

...Spagetti with homemade garden sauce (all ours! ...tomatoes, squash, pipinola, onions, peppers, eggplant, and herbs)

...Fried potatoes with onion, peppers, herbs

...Sautéed green beans with onion chives, garlic chives

...Steamed bok choy with yacon , seasoned oriental style