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Judith's garden plans, records, results, hopes.....

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

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posted 1 month ago

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When do you plant rye and winter peas? I seem to have my timing off

Joylynn, I try to have both on hand and start planting them when the rains begin, usually in November.
The rye grain gets a bed all to itself and planted earliest.

The peas success is different every year so I plant some by the handful, thrown hard onto bare soil, whenever it rains from early november into december...usually near a fence because they love to climb but also in some beds in the main garden.
I have not found the right grain to grow with them or the right timing so that the peas don't cause the grain to lodge? I tried oats one year and the oats froze and the peas with rye did not work for scything later....maybe rye grass would have worked better.

I really like the rye grain for surpressing weeds and then scything for some great mulch,
It seems to deter most growth except beans and sorghum...probably other things will grow in the stubble that I have not tried.

We buy 5#organic rye berries and 5# organic hard winter wheat from Azure from the food section,..pretty economical I think. We get the peas from our local feed store by the pound ..10# is usually enough.
The wheat will go in same as rye....Steve likes to turn it under young and green.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 1 month ago

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Still dry but the cooler weather is wonderful!
The well is maintaining a steady amount for daily watering...will cut back on some things as cold weather nears.

It's the time of year where I keep walking into spider webs everywhere.

Starting garden cleanup for winter cover crops....have the beoadfork stuck in the ground ready but the soil is still too dry to work.

It's probably time to dig sunchokes before grubs have their way with them.

Checked on a couple hills of sweet potatoes...no vole damage yet so going to leave as late as possible before harvest.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

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Posts: 2349

Location: Zone 6b

1603

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posted 1 month ago

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A meteorologist mentioned in today's video that this region has been seeing rising temperatures in September and 7 out of 10 years is very dry in late summer. I couldn't get oat covercrop to germinate. Rye will do if there's rain in November but the biomass will be minimal. I am considering moving fall sowing into July next year if this is the new normal.

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Oat seeds still sitting on parched ground under mulch

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

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Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 1 month ago

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May,
It seems like the window for planting rye grain is smaller than other winter cover crops.
If I plant too early it just sits, like your oats are and I run more risk of the birds enjoying it.
I have good luck if I plant during a rainy spell to quickly germinate and then it grows as it likes warm days over the winter....then takes off late winter so it's a nice scythable 'straw' by the time I need the bed.
Of course anytime I think I've got something figured out weather happens😊

I've tried oats and found, although they germinated just fine, all but a few odd clumps here and there winter killed.

I aim for august for planting fall greens and am always late....I never have space ready so end up planting flats for ease of watering but I still don't have space ready for setting them out.
for me, I think this is the equivalent of 'my eyes are bigger than my stomach' applied to growing food🙄

Good rain in the forecast for here....I hope you get some too!

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2349

Location: Zone 6b

1603

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posted 3 weeks ago

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See how this sakurajima daikon is exploding! I read a research paper saying that it has higher level of trigonelline than coffee beans, a vitamin B3 derivative that is beneficial to the vascular system. I planted one this spring too and the root grew to soft ball size before flowering. Then the June flood killed it. I should've planted spring root crops in raised mounds or furrows.
First significant rain in three months is finall coming next week but frost is on the horizon. I've never realized how crazy the weather is in the Ozarks until I started gardening.

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Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 3 weeks ago

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May, that daikon is wonderful!
I rarely get the timing right for them in order to have nice large roots but when it happens they are so good for a fermented pickle and stir fry...maybe next year?

We got a 3" rain on October 2...nothing since but having this well water available has given us the chance to start some beds of fall greens if I water them twice a day.
Eighties and nineties most days and cooling off into the fifties overnight...lovely fall weather.

I see a forecast of drops to 41F and 39F at the end of the week (after a possible rain) so will probably try to cover sweet potatoes to give them a little more time in the ground.
Here on this creek bottom our temps can be a few degrees colder than just a few blocks away.

Ground hog is still fattening up for winter...the ashes keep him(her?)from eating most of the vines other than the growing tips....he/she did a number on the peanuts though so we'll probably dig them before the rain.
It's odd to me that ground hog is not eating other things...like moringa?

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 3 weeks ago

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There was a good chance of rain today but I watered my seed beds anyway...good germination if I water twice a day every day🙄

We are gradually digging sweet potatoes and peanuts...both disappointing harvests so far.

I doubt we grow peanuts again...they were not happy in our clay soil.
I'm determined to grow sweet potatoes though.
I think the ones in the garden bed did better than last year...still small and they were mostly purples....other years have had very large ones.
The orange ones, I grew most in tubs so I would be sure to have some good ones to grow slips from next year but they are smaller than usual and have scurf.

I hate to lose either variety but won't use the tubs again for them (because of scurf) and need to get some fertility back in the garden soil before next season....wood ashes helped but not enough..

Still getting several long beans a day....will definitely grow more next year on our two hoop houses that we don't cover with plastic anymore, just, sometimes shadecloth.

nice young chicory leaves and soon some thinnings of kale, turnip, mustard and arugula....have not got the beds ready for transplants....these were sown directly.

Time to see if the sunchokes made...some years the grubs leave us a few to ferment.

It's that time of year where spider webs are everywhere....this one is in a spot we sit regularly on the front porch and almost everyday I walk into it...then she patiently restrings everything by the next day😊

Still dry but according to this map we are in an oasis of ' not a drought' just 'very dry'.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2349

Location: Zone 6b

1603

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posted 3 weeks ago

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We received the much needed rain of 2", thankfully. The drought is hurting local economy and ecology as well. A repeat of last year, wet spring delayed haying till July then the pastures failed to regrow facing summer drought. Only get one cut of hay a year while many places are over stocked with cattles. Trees are slowly dying, even oaks. I see fewer wildlife as well, from the amount of road kills I encountered.

My garden bounced back when temperature went down below 90 two weeks ago, so I am going to try keeping the warm season crops going longer. I still have over 100 figs, lots of green tomatoes and young chayotes to save.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 2 weeks ago

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May, I'm studying your fig thread for help😊
The two trees we covered well over the winter have had a steady few figs a day for awhile now but the ants here attack them almost as soon as they get big so we have to pick them soft but rarely fully ripe. Next year I'll try some dble sided tape on the trunks.
I keep hoping the tree frogs come back that were living in the porch fig and I think eating ants just a few years ago.

We had frost two nights this past week but no garden damage...even a basil I left was ok.

glad you got some rain!
Looks like at least a week of highs in the seventies and lows in the upper forties here....and dry so I'm watering every day still.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2349

Location: Zone 6b

1603

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posted 2 weeks ago

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All is well, thanks. Numerous biannual weeds are sprouting after the rain, six weeks later than usual. The warm weather is going to continue and likely November will be warmer and wetter too. That's going to help spring wildflowers and all kinds of pollinators.
I lay down cardboard under fig trees to reduce evaporation. I water about once a week, every time it brings a flush of ripe fruits. There aren't many green figs left.
Brassicas absolutely love the rain and cooler weather. I am harvesting bok choy already. Hardier kale and arugula have no problem overwintering down to 0F if they have the chance to acclimate gradually.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 1 week ago

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We had two frosts and no obvious damage so we keep planting since the weather has been upper forties to fifties for a low and sunny and seventies daytime.

Really kinda hot but I got the broadforking done on one big bed...had to water to soften enough to fork (and remove piles of bermuda grass) and then this morning I planted it in rye grain (organic food grade from Azure Standard) and a little mustard....raked it in and watered well.

Having well water with an electric pump is a game changer for us...made it possible to germinate some fall greens and now the rye.
We have rainwater storage and gradually more but not in the amounts the well can provide.
The municipal water here is expensive so not an option for anything extra but the house.

I have several first year hollyhocks from seed as do both son's gardens (thank you Doug!)

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 1 week ago

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Posting more drought maps...we are still in a 'very dry' section rather than a drought but the gardens don't know the difference... watering some fall and winter crops daily until the rains begin again.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2349

Location: Zone 6b

1603

I like...

posted 1 week ago

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I follow a few weather channels online to get a bigger picture of what is going on. Very few is mentioned about our area, let alone explaining why such a weather pattern happened. The persistent high pressure dome just wouldn't move the whole summer, unless there was major events in the Pacific or Atlantic and Gulf to finally pull some moisture this way. The last significant rain we had was materialized by a rare East Pacific hurricane Simon and strong cold front from Canada, bringing over 2 inches of rain, which was equivalent to we got the entire summer. The majority of Missouri Ozarks and Arkansas aren't that lucky. This year, the region is too west for Altantic hurricanes, too north for gulf moisture, too east for Pacific hurricanes, too south for high latitude jet streams.

I don't know what this winter or next year going to be like. Last year November was very wet. I do hope the pattern repeat to ease the drought. If not, I will need to give my fruit trees a deep soak to help them overwinter and pay extra $100 water bill for that.

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Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 4 days ago

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Rain chances have improved and forecast shows 2"-3" for tomorrow!
Need to finish digging sunchokes today and plan where to broadfork next.
I have a half gallon of sliced ones fermenting and hoping for one more jar.

Figs are ripening faster once I began watering them....expecting some splitting with this amount of rain forecast.

Got a nice rye germination....I've laid broom corn stalks on the bed to keep cats out but once it's up a little taller they won't bother it....hoping the rye protects my little patch of mustard.

Winter peas are up in tubs where I'll be cutting tips for greens.

It's a little strange to have missed an october killing frost...cowpeas and long beans are still blooming and setting beans and I suppose I could have left the sweet potatoes and moringa in the ground longer?

Dahlias are still blooming and zinnias and cosmos and salvias and chicory and tithonia...

My hops turned brown rather than yellow...it's not happy, too crowded...next year I:ll do something about that.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 10912

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

4157

posted 3 days ago

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I am following moringa and sweet potatoes with winter peas in the 20 gallon tubs.

Here's one that's almost ready to cut for microgreens.
I've staggered the plantings so they will last well into the winter and we can trim them 2 or 3 times before letting them grow as they wish.
I'm counting on some good underground activity to improve this soil from dying roots and later in the early spring when I cut the tops back completely there will be a nice green mulch on top to decompose.

I haven't found a companion to go with the peas that doesn't interfere with their growth...any ideas? Something that would be clipable and equally tender for eating along with the peas?....and winter hardy? ....maybe kale?

had to add a photo of sunchoke blooms 🌞

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2349

Location: Zone 6b

1603

I like...

posted 3 days ago

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I plant small garlic bulbs for the mild and tender greens. Cut the tips and they keep on growing for multiple harvests. This fall is milder than usual and the shoulder season is actually much more productive than the summer. I have different combinations of crop rotation that work well:
Winter rye cover crop /corn/ fall potato & garlic
Spring potato/squash/ fall cruciferous
Garlic/ legume cover crop/ fall cruciferous
The schedules are more towards mid south than mid west.

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Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

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