May Lotito

All right of my Montana morado corns are silking. I guess since the variety was bred for fast maturing in a shorter season, they respond too well to heat and humidity. Maybe I should plant them even earlier in cold soil. We received two episodes of intense rainfalls recently, 3.75" and 6" each within a 24 hr period. Every time I scattered a bit of grass clippings/ compost/ chop and drop ahead of time to mitigate nutrient leaching. So far the Inca giant corns are looking similar to bloody butchers. I am wondering how tall they will end up being.

The scale you are doing is truly impressive! Could you show some pictures of areas with the biochar spread on as well?

Thanks Noah for sharing! The spots do look like bacterial or fungal infections. Do you recall any unusual weather before the spots showed up, like heavy rain immediately followed by sunny days? That is the recipe for fungal outbreak and sometimes sudden death in my plants. Top dressing with compost and building up healthy soil help keeping pathogens in check. Mints root very easily so you will get the plant growing back just fine.

Thom Bri wrote:
Do you have a fixed fallow schedule?

So far my use of land isn't cyclic but just one way: when the fertility drops, I grow perennial bushes and trees. I guess that just delay the issues for a few years because after the perennials start fruiting, they are quickly going downhill. I am working on bringing these plants back to health first and growing annuals less intensively. Here is last year's 3 sister patch let go wild with a persimmon tree and a dozen garlic bulbs.

My corns are growing quickly and the space is filling up. They are quite uneven, some are 2 ft tall and a few are half the size. I planted a second batch of corns in a different spot and some squash seeds somewhere else. My soil isn't fertile enough to support all three sisters, or even two continuously. In one spot I grew squashes for two years and corn with bean in a third year (amended with compost every time), it was still so exhausted that stilt grasses took over afterwards. Thom you have amazing soil and great stewardship in your garden.

I saw a few spring migration monarch butterflies this month and they love my purple milkweeds! Survival rate for the caterpillars is low though and I only found two in the last instar.

Hi Steve, a blast of water will knock most the aphids off and hopefully natural predators will show up to take care of the rest for you.

Today I saw some sharpshooters making holes on a sunflower leaf and a predatory stink bug came over to suck the life out of one. But they also killed other caterpillars I like too.

M.J. you have a eastern dobsonfly (Corydalus cornutus) and red-spotted purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis). Cool bugs indeed!

Mediterranean soils are mostly neutral to slightly alkaline from calcareous parent materials, yet there are pockets of acidic soil in northern mountainous Greece, according to this article:

Soil Resources and the Role in Agriculture Sector of Greek Economy
Environment and Ecology Research 8(3): 70-75, 2020

Are different types of oaks growing in these areas? In the humid and non glaciated parts of US where soils are acidic from heavy leaching, the red oaks are thriving. They grow slower and have higher tannin content. The acorns take two seasons, up to 18 months to mature and are more bitter. I am wondering if you plant acorns from other Mediterranean that have more alkaline soil, will the seedlings have a hard time adapting? What caused the low yield of acorns from local oaks last year?

I am in the Ozark plateau of Midwest US and there are over two dozen species of native oak trees. Settlers fell them for timbers, especially the white oaks for cooperage, and cleared the land for cattle ranching. When the soils get more acidic and poorer, fewer oaks are able to grow. Blackjack oak (Q marilandica) is one that thrives in the dry upland soil. Missouri Botanical Garden has a page about it:https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=280720

I have several mature blackjack oaks and they aren't doing too well: lots of caterpillars, wormy acorns, dying branches marcescence etc. I am trying to revive them and it seems to be working.

Your garden is so beautiful and the blueberry bush is amazingly prolific! Do you see any monarch butterfly yet? I am about one week behind with the blooms. Also my elephant garlic scapes are droopy rather than holding straight up like yours. Is that normal? I leave 3 to bloom so I can have bigger bulbs. Your lotus looks good and I guess you will see the flower stalks this summer. My fruit yield isn't too exiting this year, just a dozen peaches and apples each, and maybe several pears. One persimmon from a grafted tree and hopefully a couple pawpaws.