Amy has decided to take a more active role in the garden! I’m psyched, because I have too many other dang projects to do right now to do the whole garden too. I’m more than happy to leave it in her hands this year. I promise I’ll help.
She’s decided to do square beds and has gotten a Square Foot Gardener book. I think it’s gimmicky, but it still has good info. We’ll see what happens.
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Seed Savers Exchange has some wonderful info on planting and seed saving. Check it out!
Vegetable Planting and Seed Saving Instructions
Arugula – Planting: Sow seeds outdoors just beneath the surface of the soil as soon as the soil can be worked and the danger of a hard frost has past. For a continuous supply, seed a new row every three weeks throughout the summer.
Seed Saving: Arugulas will cross-pollinate. Separate varieties by ¼ mile. Allow plants to bolt and form seed stalks. Seedheads may need to be protected from bird damage and rain when drying on the plants. Seeds are produced over a 2-3 week period and will require repeated harvesting.
Beans – Planting: Sow seeds outdoors after the danger of frost has past and the soil and air temperatures are warm. Plant seeds 1″ deep and 2″ apart in rows 24″ to 36″ apart. Pole beans will need support. Snap varieties will produce abundantly if kept well picked throughout the summer.
Saving Seed: Bean flowers are self-pollinating and almost never cross-pollinate. As a precaution never plant two white seeded varieties side-by-side if you intend to save seed because crossing may occur but not be visible. It is always best to save seed from plants that ripen first and are free from disease. Harvest seed pods when completely dry, crush in a cloth or burlap sack and winnow the seeds from the chaff.
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hmmmm. snails...
Mmmmh. Homestyle escargot!
Oriole Parker-Rhodes, 59, a grandmother, has begun making meals out of the snails she has found in her garden and has set up an internet blog with her recipes and tips, and information on keeping and breeding them.
“Last summer it was really wet and warm, ideal for snails,” she said. “I was treading on them and they were also eating our home-grown potatoes.”
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from fireballsedai on Flickr
Planning time. Or I guess it would be more a refinement of plans. Basically I’ve been convincing myself into a circle about a few issues concerning the garden.
First off: Rain barrels. Or water on the most fundamental level. Ideally I’d like to have the entire garden be fed with soak hoses, with supplemental water coming from a hose in hand and possibly a sprinkler too. My problem is that my well pump doesn’t have enough umph to power a sprinkler (has to do with the 1/2″ pipes that my entire house is plumbed with. Sigh…).
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We are all connected. If not for fungus, we wouldn’t have the life systems that surround us. A symbiotic relationship between plants and fungus was what made it possible for plant live to develop on land.
The greatest part of this read (you’ll have to wade through a lot of biology jargon) is the bit about the fungus that actually hunts (well, lures and preys upon) an insect-like creature for its nitrogen. The “hunting” can count for upwards of 25% of its nitrogen uptake.
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I put in our garden seed order this morning. I’ve become quite a cheapskate lately (finally), so it was pretty hard spending that much money all at once. I stayed away from hybrids whenever possible though, so hopefully we can get most of our seeds for next year out of this year’s crop.
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