garden stuff

 Jetta:  I’m still thinking Tuesday – but she is in Solitary (close to the barn in her own paddock).

I used to stick to all my self-imposed garden rules.  This led me to many disappointments.  Sometimes the weather just isn’t on the same page as the calendar! 

I wanted to get my peas in this week, if possible, and the greenhouse is bursting with starts all over the place.  For several years previous, I had been able to get my peas and early cabbage planted in March or the first part of April.  Those were unusually dry winters, and you could work the soil.  Now for the last two years, we are back to our normal wet winter and spring pattern which means you wait, and wait, and wait.  What I have gradually learned is not to hurry too much.  Plants or seeds planted when the temperature and soil conditions are right grow faster, with no growth checks, than their counterparts planted by arbitrary folklore.  Don’t get me wrong – I like old wives tales, if they are right, (plus, I’m getting to the age where I’m considered an old wife) but so many are based on weather patterns and micro-climates different than mine.  One old trick that is true – try to get your seeds in before a rain.  Irrigating just isn’t the same.  I believe the seeds know the difference.  I think it has to do with the humidity.  Even with overhead irrigation, you don’t get the same effect as a good rainfall.  Plants take in moisture through their leaves too, so I use overhead irrigation (sprinklers) if I water the garden.  I’m using dry land techniques more now, but if we are expecting a 100 degree heat wave, I do water the entire garden beforehand.  I still won’t see the same weed germination rate after irrigating as I do after a rainfall.  When it rains or drizzles here in the summer, I swear you can hear the plants sighing, and saying Ahhhhhh.  Our humidity is so low in the summer, that the logging woods shut down early in the day, because a spark from a chainsaw, or cable can start a fire.  But, anyway, I did get my peas in before the rain!

Pea trellis (did I mention I love hog panels?)

 

 

 

For plants that need support, I put in the trellis/post/stake before, or at the time of planting.  Doing this chore at planting time ensures I don’t injure tender plants or their roots.  I’ve been using hog panels for pea planting for a long time and it is the easiest for me.  The panels store easily, and are easy to manage.  One person can put up this type of trellis, much easier than wrestling with woven wire, or painstakingly stringing the peas.  Also pictured here is my T-post driver that my brother made for me.  It is made out of 3″ heavy wall tubing, with a thick piece of steel plate on top for weight.  The heaviness is what makes it work, you just put it on the post and drop it.  I have a lighter one with handles, but it is more of a work out for me.

I plant a double row here too.  If I want to plant several varieties, I just use the hog panels as row markers.  I planted 16′ x 2 of Sugar Snap, and the remaining four panels, 64′ x 2 are Green Arrow.  It takes a lot of peas to get any for the freezer, I believe Green Arrow is capable of producing 38 lbs per 100′ of row.  That includes the pods!  By the time you get them in the freezer, it is down to hardly anything.  We could eat more frozen peas, but we can’t keep up with more than this.  So, we plant smaller plantings when space becomes available, and eat as many fresh peas as we can stand!  I had enough room at the end of the pea row to put in early cabbage transplants.  These early cabbages are hybrids and can take close spacing, so I doubled them up, too.  Varieties: Melissa– savoy,Charmant-green, and Ruby Ball-red.  Interesting note:  the cabbage moths leave the red cabbage alone, even in the same row.

Inoculating legumes is supposed to increase germination and boost yields.

Look at the size of this pod!  Just kidding… that’s a Christmas tree ornament. (he he)  Really, those are hops, and my feeble attempt at garden decorating.  Hmmm, there’s ANOTHER one of those hog panels.

I have planted both ways, and can’t tell the difference.  I had this on hand, so I decided to use it up.

Rhizobium spp. in a peat based medium.  Wet down the peas and add the inoculate.  Only do what you think you will plant.  Once the seeds have been dampened, they should be planted within a day.

Other garden type stuff:

Winter rye cover crop thoroughly grazed by the sheep. 

The benefits of grazing this are:  sheep feed, lets in air so the ground can dry, and not as much compaction as when I mow it with the tractor, or cows.  The plants will shed their roots now, making organic matter and possibly releasing more allelopathic root exudates to help get rid of my quack grass infestation. (I’m just guessing on that one)  Also you may notice the dog(s) have free rein in the garden.  If I scold them for being there, they will be reluctant to chase the deer out.  We always plant more than we need, so a few misplaced footprints here and there, never amount to much damage.  Once the plants get taller, the dogs use the paths like we do, and I’m doing everything in my power to avoid putting in an 8 ft fence.  The new dog (or Mama’s Boy in training, as my husband calls him)(My retort, “It takes one to know one…”) is doing a good job already at 10 months. 

“You can’t have my rotten egg!”   (Like we want to eat anything in that compost pile)

“I LOVE this compost pile!”    “This posing is hard work!”

My Mother’s Day – eat M&M’s, drink coffee and go to the greenhouse!