Garden Update

This year is a little different than last because I have the greenhouse. It seems to have moderated my planting addiction to a certain extent.

About mid-April I was thinking about planting watermelon at the beginning of May and went back to my records to see if that was too soon, only to discover that last year I planted them in March. MARCH!? There's snow on the ground in March! Good grief. So no, May is not too soon.

Greens are going full bore. They are naturalized in my garden and come up every year, although I'm not sure how that's going to work with the mulching schedule. Every 7 years each area of the garden will get a thick layer of leaves. So we'll see. Lots of salad! Radishes are also naturalized in the same area, and interestingly enough where those things are growing there are no weeds.

Beans are up. Hidatsu Red and Hidatsu Shield by the bean towers, two varieties of tepary beans by the fence. The tepary beans are a trial this year, a drought tolerant type of bean from the Southwest US. I planted the green beans two days ago and the dry beans yesterday. Kidney beans will also go by the fence, as they're supposedly a climber. 60% germination on that one so far, for beans purchased from the grocery store four years ago.

Watermelons were planted out last week.

Two Joseph Lofthouse winter squash in front beside the almond, along with a mystery squash that was a gift. One cantaloupe, also a gift, seems to be doing well. I planted more cantaloupe in the same area. Three zucchini are up under the walnut. The Black Beauty Zucchini don't seem to be germinating well. I planted more zucchini and yellow squash as a border around the new garden area.

On the east of the house is an area that has been designated as the "dry" garden for this year. The plan is to water it at most once a month during the summer. It's the start of developing drought tolerant varieties and learning about dry farming. Eleven seedlings up and starting to get secondary leaves.

Dry Farming

This is my first year for a real dry farming test. Just briefly, dry farming is done in arid or semi-arid areas and does not require supplemental watering. It is considered dry farming if the farmer gets less than 20 inches of rain per year and does not use supplemental irrigation.

Not many do it anymore. Few ever did. But in a world of increasing weather tumult (hotter, colder, wetter, drier, storms more violent and frequent, etc) it seems to me that if we want to eat we need to relearn how to dry farm.

My area gets between 10 and 12 inches of rain in a normal year. Not a lot, but considerably more than some other areas. Still low enough that we're considered a desert.

I have selected several varieties of squash (pumpkin, butternut, spaghetti squash) that will be the basis of my first test. All three were planted last year in a dry area of the yard and still produced. Likely I will end up pulling out the pumpkins, as I inadvertently planted the same variety in another area. That leaves butternut and spaghetti squash, both winter squashes.

I planted six clusters of nine seeds, three seeds of each variety. I have watered them once since they were planted, and whatever comes up is my test for this year. The area is covered with leaves from last fall and will get no supplemental watering unless I do it. Two plants have come up already and I covered them to keep the birds off.

The goal is to water once a month, or less if it rains, so since it's raining today the next water schedule would be mid-June. Aside from testing the limits of dry farming, these plants are the start of my drought tolerant varieties. If I can get one fruit from each plant under those conditions, this is the 2nd year of that development.

I've said it before, but I want strong, self-sufficient monsters that will spit "not good enough" back in my face and thrive in spite of the conditions.

Original post on Dry Farming

2nd update

Spring is Sprung!

This year has been interesting, and it's barely started.

Most of the major projects are finished, now it's development time. The greenhouse, for example. This is the first summer with the greenhouse. I currently have three tomatoes, a zucchini and a few stalks of corn that will be in there all summer (I hope). The goal is to eventually have a "perennial" garden in the greenhouse that will produce 10 to 11 months of the year.

A few weeks ago I got some friends together and we pulled out the parkstrips. Grass is Gone for Good. :) They are now planted with perennials, and will be planted with drought tolerant annuals until I can propagate the larger plants needed to fill in. The goal there is to water twice a month or less, once everything is established.

All that grass is mounded up in the yard so I've been moving it a little at a time into other areas. I have a new "corner" garden on the southwest, and a new half-circle garden directly against the western (food) garden. In a year that grass will be composted and I'll be able to plant those areas.

All the main gardens have been transitioned to drip.

So lots of projects, lots of stuff going on, but the major infrastructure is complete. The only thing remaining is to remove all grass, which will be a long term process. Oh, and waiting for the trees to grow up. And getting all excited over my landraces. And rolling my eyes at the neighbors when they drive by and roll their eyes at my mess. They won't actually come talk to me, of course.

A few more weeks and the grass will be dealt with, which is the major mess right now. Just. Be. Patient.