The hour-per-day gardening project continues. I have gotten busy in the garden over the last two weeks, but once one gets behind, it is hard to catch up, except where one has thought ahead and used cardboard as sheet mulch!
The Neighbor’s Plot
The peas, oats, and flax are doing well, with the peas already flowering. The oats are tall and I’m excited to see their heads form soon. The flax for fiber is nearing its final height and flowering. It should be getting close to harvest already. All three of these crops grow so thickly, I haven’t had to weed them.
The beans and amaranth are coming up, but are slow to start with our cool, wet weather. The corn had poor germination, either due to rot in the wet soil or being eaten by critters. The sunflower situation is worse, with even poorer germination, but we’ll see how the season progresses.
Otherwise, I’ve been turning the compost regularly to get it going and scything down weeds in unplanted areas.
Institute Plot
I got behind on weeds in April and am now paying for it in June. Luckily the cardboard mulch helps really suppress growth and it makes things easier where I had enough material for good coverage.
Plants are starting to bloom and produce. Raspberries will be ready soon and strawberries are feeding some critter in my yard already. The potatoes needed to be hilled up already and the cabbage is doing better for me than usual. Ditto garlic, which typically dies on me. Our kale-mustard hybrid (must-ale) is doing well; it has the consistency of kale but the flavor of mustard greens. Our Langston’s Progress peas are also producing strongly.
When I have a little spare time, I’ve been establishing beds. They might not be done in time for this year, but every little bit helps. Mostly, I dig a shallow trench to move the evenly distributed topsoil into a raised bed. Everything is then covered with cardboard and the trenches are filled with woodchips. I also put up a new tomato trellis; an improvement on last-year’s model. Three T-posts are driven in and 2-×-4 lumber is tied horizontally as a top bar. Strings run between stakes near the tomato plant’s roots and the top bar and the plant is twisted around the string.
The Data
Since the last post, I’ve worked 1:23 hours per day bringing the overall seasonal average up five minutes to 39 minutes per day.