September 28 2021

 I will be honest, I do not know what I am doing here and am writing this as my journal on the house- yard and garden to sort out what works for our yard and when and what I learn so I can go back and flip through these notes. This week has been exciting to me but would be lame to many so hopefully I can figure out how to not make this public where I would bore most of the people leaving them wondering why I am writing this down or even care. The reason however comes down to this- I like good food and my kid is going to know where our food comes from and how it is grown and the effort that goes into it even if we do not grow all of our food- she will get an idea and appreciation. The only way I am going to ever keep track of things around here with my sieve of a brain is to write it down on something that isn't paper because I loose all papers.

The new crop of greens are up and oh so tasty. They were planted from seed about a month ago and are currently about 4 inches tall- they did well starting end of Aug. when the weather started cooling as did the carrots I planted at the same time. The crop looks promising which is the first time I can say that after attempting to plant carrots a few times. I think it has either been too hot or the soil had short dry spell and the hatching seeds likely died.

Harvested the pumpkins from the garden today- next year we should plant them further from the house in an area that we frequent less as they need less attention and take up a lot of room. Squashes seem to  do well with little intervention here. 

Butternut squash should be ready to pull in about 2 weeks. The plants are alive but dying off and will need time to cure outside after the plant dies.

Tomato plants that were left in the drier areas of the yard are still doing well and showing no signs of late season blight (last years plague that decimated my crop after they were picked and brought in to ripen- about 5 tomatoes were edible out of 36 plants worth (can stay in soil via potato's that get infected)) but some possible signs of powdery mildew on plants clustered in the top corner of Emily's snacking garden.

Parsnips- planted about 4 weeks ago- still not up

Apple trees are in full swing and should be for a few weeks as they are ripening at various rates. Still researching next planting of apple trees in the yard as our beautiful giants are likely close to the end of their days. Looking for good storage apples.

The new gooseberry was planted yesterday- small root ball but planted next to the green cone in nutrient rich soil mixed with chips. It should be acidic enough for the plant. Concerns over the rootball the previous owners dug out as it is tiny for such a substantial plant.

New goji- leaves falling but looks to be a seasonal change for the plant that is occurring early?

Strawberry bed from fir limbs to be installed tomorrow and filled with bunny manure and sea soil- Em to plant strawberries. plants currently soaking to hydrate roots after sitting out

Soil building/ biosponge/ mulch in front yard has progressed to the point of needing consideration for garden edges and building up of a rock wall to edge the space.

Bees fed today and given nozevit

duck hut cleaned- chips used for mulch in berry patch

ordered a couple dwarf nectarines and 4 mountain huckleberry bushes for David. I hope he likes them and that they survive. 

Narinjilla Orange's both in the greenhouse and Emily's snacking garden are doing well but reminder- plan different strategies of either covering the ones in the garden in mulch and  pop up dome for end of season.

Pathway half dug down to replace chips- ground too slick and drainage needed improving.