Thursday, August 27, 2009

Melons`

Well I have harvested about 3 Noir des Carmes melons. They are absolutely wonderful. There was one rotten melon and I don't know where it came from but I will save the seeds from it. My fingerling pototoes had wireworms, so we will have to take care of those guys. All and all the plot did pretty good. Getting cucumbers and my tomatoes are starting to get ripe. I have a new puppy, his name is Steele you may see him around the farm with me.

Pumpkins


My wife planted a few hills of pumpkins in June. They seemed to be doing very poorly and we thought they weren't going to make it. But look! There are two dozen or more huge pumpkins growing. This one is already more than a foot in diameter.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Two books and a video

Lately I have been reading two books about food and gardening. The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan describes Industrial Agriculture and several alternatives thereto. Good reading. Growing Vegetables west of the Cascades by Steve Solomon is the best book I've ever read on our particular growing conditions. Neither of these books is new, but they are essential reading if you're interested in food.

Fresh is a new video based somewhat on The Omnivores Dilemma. However, it does add other material from such efforts as Growing Power. The Transition Everett group will be showing this video this fall. I will announce times here.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Corn and Beans


The corn is starting to tassel out. My corn is quite mixed this year -- some areas doing well, others stunted. I figure that is because of differences in pH of soil. The pH before we started was under 5.0. Lime was broadcast (by hand) and I don't think it was very effective. Next year, I will use more lime (earlier) and I will apply an organic fertilizer to the corn.




The yellow beans are also beginning to produce. We have 4 rows so there will be lots to freeze. The green beans are into their third picking. So far I have frozen 20 quarts and given away about 30 pounds of green beans.

Monday, August 3, 2009

SALT Water!!!

I finally got up the courage (or the stupidity) to actually taste the water in the shallow pit wells at the farm. It is quite salty. Not as salty as the water in Puget Sound, but definitely salty. No wonder the plants didn't do as well as I expected when we watered them with it this summer. We'll definitely be carrying water to the garden.