Man, it's been a while. Fall of 2018 since I wrote anything here.
Updates first:
The watermelon landrace is meh. Four melons this year, none of which have matured yet. All have the Ali Baba patterning, but two of the four surviving plants have the icebox size melons. The plants that were supposed to be the primary female parent didn't survive the spring. I'll plant them in the greenhouse next year and transplant so I make sure I have the crosses I need.
The commercial variety sweet potatoes appear to be doing exactly what I want. Because of the dry conditions they're sending their roots deep. Most of those roots will not be harvested, but will remain in the soil to provide compost. The sweet potato breeding project is in its first year and I got two well adapted plants that produced flowers. I'll be keeping those two and planting them next year to evaluate.
Dry bean landrace is going to have to be restarted next year. I keep trying to do too many things at once--in this case, inter-planting non-adapted dry beans (to get the start of a landrace) in a dry area that doesn't get much water, where the soil doesn't hold water well, without mulch, and in bad soil. Hm... One thing at a time, Lauren! :)
The dry garden is doing OK. The parkstrips were watered only once this year. Tomatoes, squash, pumpkins and sunchokes all thrived. Still getting too much water, I think, because it's the "dry" stuff like echinacea and irises that are struggling. The main dry garden has thriving tepary beans but again they're just starting to bloom. If I can't get seeds, I can't get my 1st generation and start the adaptation process.
The plum and almond trees didn't get watered at all this year. There was more mid and late season fruit drop, and the fruit on the plum was smaller and less sweet. The almonds had more empty pods and shriveled nuts, but both plum and almond still provided a reasonable harvest. The nectarine was deeply watered once a month and absolutely thrived. While water is available I'll use the once a month watering schedule for all the trees, but with the knowledge that they can still produce if that is not possible.
This spring I again planted my tomatoes in regular garden soil (primarily sand), in bad light, and with little water. The survivors are thriving and most have fruited. Next year I'll do the same, and probably every year after. My eventual goal is tomatoes that thrive in bad soil, with bad water and bad light, and still produce a decent harvest.
The bell peppers are actually producing this year. The seeds are probably (?) first generation, but previous years have produced spindly plants that don't produce before the first frost. Last year they actually started to bloom in October. I started and will start the seeds the same way I did the tomatoes. If they can't thrive here, I don't want them here.
