End Of Season Wrap-up

All-in-all it was a nearly perfect season. We did have a few hot periods, but the storms and rains were numerous enough that I only had to water the entire plot with the sprinkler maybe three times the whole season. And we didn't have any long wet periods that held up any of the preparations or planting to any big extent. I even managed to keep a good succession of squash plantings that kept us with a constant supply nearly all season.

The two critical tasks that needed to be done this season were to renovate the strawberry bed and trellis the raspberries. This was season three for the strawberries and the plot was getting out of hand to say the least. So I tilled a path right down the middle, removed some of the older crowns in the two resulting rows, aerated with a turning fork, limed and fertilized, and kept them watered. I'll straw them in for the winter around the first week of December.

The temporary T-post trellis system I used for the first two seasons of the raspberry bed were pretty well shot so I finally bit the bullet and put up a proper cross-post at each end spanned with heavy duty clothes line wire and tighteners. This should keep things under control and an added benefit is having a couple of posts that I can mount the rain gauge on.


Today I tilled in as many leaves as I could collect from the yard and over-seeded with some winter wheat as a cover crop. The Feed Bin was all out of winter rye. It is a bit late to be planting wheat but I hope it sprouts before it gets too cold. Except for a few carrots, beets, and kale, the plot is done for the season and ready for a long winter's nap.

Kaleidoscope Stir-fry; Savoring the Bounty

It's been an incredibly busy spring and summer so far and the garden postings have suffered because of it. But overall, its been a productive season with minimal deviations. We've had some pretty hot periods, especially around July 4th week. Luckily the evening thunder storms have been numerous enough that I've only had to water the entire garden two or three times so far and the lawn still has not gone completely dormant. Nice on the eye but no break on the mowing and trimming chores.

I had one ripe tomato by my grandfather's obligatory deadline of July 4th even though it was a single grape variety. The heirlooms are really starting to roll in now and we will be entering give-away mode tomorrow in order to limit waste.

The big news this spring was my adoption of the Primal Blueprint lifestyle not so much for any particular weight issues but for the overall health benefits. It has been an extraordinary transformation going to a ketogenic metabolism and having a kitchen garden really helps out with the dietary parts of this plan. I am now plotting strategies to extend the harvests much further into the fall than we normally do in order to take advantage of the fresh produce especially since most fall crops qualify as primal.

Love Them Peas!

Spring has sprung and after the winter that wasn't, attention is finally being paid to the garden plot. Over the years I've had really bad luck with early spring peas. All of the guides say you can plant them as soon as the ground can be worked regardless of the weather forecast. Bravo Sierra on that! Either the seeds rot before they sprout or they hardly ever sprout at all.

This year I decided to finally get myself a patch of spring peas. Two weeks ago, I started a flat of seeds in peat pots indoors. As soon as they sprouted, I started setting them outside to harden off. Today they went into the ground, together with a few onion sets. To make the process a bit easier I left up the pole bean wall from last season' so let's see what happens.

I also uncovered the strawberry bed. Keep fingers crossed!