Planting notes & Homestead
I know I haven't updated this in a long time but not much has happened since the last update. So here we go!
Corn, Beans, most of the lettuce, sunflowers, pot zucchini are dead. I will be pulling them up and tossing away as I don't have a compost pile small enough to add it. This, I think will be the last time I grow corn. We really don't have the space or water to grow enough to make up for all the space. I will give local, organic certified growers my business instead. Will definitely try again on the beans and get regular size zucchini to grow. Instead I will use staked sunflowers to grow my beans against with some anti-ant methods to keep them off the damn flowers. Sunflowers grow up really fast and bring bees like what what!
Tomatoes: The Box car Willie and the Burpee's delicious did great in the end. They both put out a lot of growth but also a lot of tomatoes. The box car put out these huge beefsteak size tomatoes in the early part of the heat but most now are about normal size with good flavor. Mom really likes them so I will again order this type along with some Early girl so we have tomatoes earlier than August. :D
Pumpkin: Excellent, excellent vine that did very well but got too big for the amount of space it was in. Yikes! I think it will have to go into the 3rd raised bed which will also be raised about a foot. We harvested seven pumpkins which are well cured in the garage and need to be cut up then frozen for the winter. Some have some damage from being on damp ground but for the most part they all did well. Will grow this again on its own ollas along with watermelon. The last living vine has also managed in this cooling weather to put out two more pumpkins. I don't think they will make it but I watered just in case.
Apple trees: Doing great so far but should be dropping their leaves soon.
Cucumber: So far Mom got four of them even with this late planting. I will have to try and order these seeds as it did pretty good and Mom said it was really mild tasting.
Okra: That is also doing good but hasnt put out as many pods as I would have liked. Late season along with impacted roots didn't help. Still I think she got five from the plants which is pretty good considering this plant has had some cold nights.
Potatoes: The russets bit the dust but that might be just a minor thing as potatoes have an amazing ability to grow again even when you think they are gone. The fingerlings however have big plants on them but I have not dug down to see if anything is growing. I hope so as I love fingerlings and would hate to wait months to get some more.
Garlic: Never planted it but you just don't know with garlic-it might grow in pot abandoned briefly by the potatoes. We shall see.
Assorted Herbs: Peppermint did very good in attracting bees and growing considering it has been in the same pot for several years. Both scented geraniums are getting big and will need their own pots soon. Something to keep them from getting crazy but being pretty enough to enjoy w/o the chickens killing them. Cat nip and Lemon Balm also did well this year even if they too have been in the same pots forever. I will have to switch them to larger pots so they have room to spread and I have extra pots for plants that don't or only need deepness not width like say Onions, Garlic, Cilantro, some other mints.
Blackberry: These plants look terrible but that is okay as they are just shutting down for the winter. We have a this sort of bed next to our fence line on the oleander neighbor's side that is perfect for them. Might have to put up some of that really small wire to keep them on our side and definitely fenced to keep both chickens and coming goats out. I am not impressed w/ the taste of thorn-less blackberries so I will get more of the average kind along with raspberries, elderberries and any other kind of berry I can grow back there. These along with flowers everywhere (out of chicken harm) will keep any bees I get busy enough to stay in our yard and away from oleander neighbors. Sort of..
Roses are on my order list too but I have to find some that will be big and beautiful then protect them from chicken harm. Dogwood roses and Damask roses along with some blue/lavenders are high on that list. I will also be getting more Lavender and Rosemary as I lost both rosemary bushes and one lavender to silly moving. :(
Will also be adding additional fruit trees to the list as the blood orange is slated for remove due to the incoming goats.
That is all for now!
Corn, Beans, most of the lettuce, sunflowers, pot zucchini are dead. I will be pulling them up and tossing away as I don't have a compost pile small enough to add it. This, I think will be the last time I grow corn. We really don't have the space or water to grow enough to make up for all the space. I will give local, organic certified growers my business instead. Will definitely try again on the beans and get regular size zucchini to grow. Instead I will use staked sunflowers to grow my beans against with some anti-ant methods to keep them off the damn flowers. Sunflowers grow up really fast and bring bees like what what!
Tomatoes: The Box car Willie and the Burpee's delicious did great in the end. They both put out a lot of growth but also a lot of tomatoes. The box car put out these huge beefsteak size tomatoes in the early part of the heat but most now are about normal size with good flavor. Mom really likes them so I will again order this type along with some Early girl so we have tomatoes earlier than August. :D
Pumpkin: Excellent, excellent vine that did very well but got too big for the amount of space it was in. Yikes! I think it will have to go into the 3rd raised bed which will also be raised about a foot. We harvested seven pumpkins which are well cured in the garage and need to be cut up then frozen for the winter. Some have some damage from being on damp ground but for the most part they all did well. Will grow this again on its own ollas along with watermelon. The last living vine has also managed in this cooling weather to put out two more pumpkins. I don't think they will make it but I watered just in case.
Apple trees: Doing great so far but should be dropping their leaves soon.
Cucumber: So far Mom got four of them even with this late planting. I will have to try and order these seeds as it did pretty good and Mom said it was really mild tasting.
Okra: That is also doing good but hasnt put out as many pods as I would have liked. Late season along with impacted roots didn't help. Still I think she got five from the plants which is pretty good considering this plant has had some cold nights.
Potatoes: The russets bit the dust but that might be just a minor thing as potatoes have an amazing ability to grow again even when you think they are gone. The fingerlings however have big plants on them but I have not dug down to see if anything is growing. I hope so as I love fingerlings and would hate to wait months to get some more.
Garlic: Never planted it but you just don't know with garlic-it might grow in pot abandoned briefly by the potatoes. We shall see.
Assorted Herbs: Peppermint did very good in attracting bees and growing considering it has been in the same pot for several years. Both scented geraniums are getting big and will need their own pots soon. Something to keep them from getting crazy but being pretty enough to enjoy w/o the chickens killing them. Cat nip and Lemon Balm also did well this year even if they too have been in the same pots forever. I will have to switch them to larger pots so they have room to spread and I have extra pots for plants that don't or only need deepness not width like say Onions, Garlic, Cilantro, some other mints.
Blackberry: These plants look terrible but that is okay as they are just shutting down for the winter. We have a this sort of bed next to our fence line on the oleander neighbor's side that is perfect for them. Might have to put up some of that really small wire to keep them on our side and definitely fenced to keep both chickens and coming goats out. I am not impressed w/ the taste of thorn-less blackberries so I will get more of the average kind along with raspberries, elderberries and any other kind of berry I can grow back there. These along with flowers everywhere (out of chicken harm) will keep any bees I get busy enough to stay in our yard and away from oleander neighbors. Sort of..
Roses are on my order list too but I have to find some that will be big and beautiful then protect them from chicken harm. Dogwood roses and Damask roses along with some blue/lavenders are high on that list. I will also be getting more Lavender and Rosemary as I lost both rosemary bushes and one lavender to silly moving. :(
Will also be adding additional fruit trees to the list as the blood orange is slated for remove due to the incoming goats.
That is all for now!