Dorothy Pohorelow

In Tomato Junction they have talked about the lycopene in tomatoes.   Red tomatoes have a form that our bodies can't use unless the tomatoes are cooked.
On the other hand orange tomatoes have varying amounts of tetra-cis-lycopene which our bodies can use without the tomato being cooked.   There was/is a group in New Zealand that tested a number of varieties and listed the amount of tetra-cis-lycopene they produce.  

The "blue" tomatoes produce the same blue pigment that is in blueberries and our body uses it the same way they would use blueberries. These ARE NOT GMO but rather were developed by crossing wild related species into domestic tomatoes.  

And yes they have also talked about beta carotene varieties.  It really is fascinating when you start delving into what tomatoes really have to offer...

Finally we have our arch over the garden entry and all boxes in place to plant.  Yes it is late but we are hoping for some crops. Of course my shelf tomatoes have been out almost a month and are starting to bloom, as are a few of our potatoes.

Just made a tiny step towards adding more food to my lot.  After a lot of research I ordered some seeds for a cultivar/selection of Amelanchier alnifolia called Smokey. The species are native to my area so can handle the climate, the cold, sun, and of course our never ending wind. If all goes well these will be giving us fruit in a few years and in the meantime will be a good replacement for those Spirea bushes that are dying now that the cottonwoods are no longer protecting them...

For this year I have 4 grow bags of potatoes in that area. My row of grow bags in the middle of the yard has increased to include 15 grow bags with tomatoes, 3 with onions, and two shallow grow bags with kale and other greens in them plus one has Apple cucumber seeds planted in it.  None have come up yet but..   I also have a rosemary, and two blueberry bushes in large pots. OH and my horseradish
On the west side we are waiting on winter squash to sprout and ramble along that part of the yard. I may not get ripe squash to store but will get some mass to compost.
Our back garden has been reorganized so I could include a cattle panel arch and I have increased the size of two of my boxes.  Pathways are narrower but still useable.  That garden has greens, beans both dry and snap, summer squash, cucumbers and of course more tomatoes and potatoes.

Heather Gardener wrote:Aww thank you Mary Anne 😊 Not sure if purple flower colour colour and purple tuber colour are necessarily linked, but can’t hurt to try.

There is an article on Cultivariable about potato plant flower color and what they can tell you https://www.cultivariable.com/what-potato-flowers-can-tell-you-about-tuber-color/

One thing to remember is rabbits have been raised for generations on a pellet diet.  You will have to reselect for rabbits that do well on locally raised food.  There is an old book by Knable that talks about that subject.  https://www.amazon.com/Raising-rabbits-Ann-Kanable/dp/0878571833  Not sure I would pay what Amazon wants but if you can find it at a decent price it has a lot of good information.

Remember you can make like half a front and seam pieces together which would allow you to use narrower pieces of cardboard...

Some of us do grow our okra in containers.  Use a dwarf variety and a large 3  to 5 gallon pot for it  There is some more information in this article
https://www.gardeningchores.com/growing-okra-in-containers/

OH just remembered another possibility for your spinning wheel.  Carson Cooper has really simplified his French wheel and something like this could work well with that bike wheel  

These photos were ganked from his website but I wanted yall to be able to see the wheel I was talking about easily.  If you want to see more please go there
http://www.ztwist.com

Colette-gallery2 http://www.ztwist.com/gallery.html

Colette  http://www.ztwist.com/gallery.html

I grow broad stemmed chard.  We take the green part off the stem and use the two parts separately.  Green leaf parts go in salads and other places greens go.  The wide stems are cut in pieces and steamed like asparagus.   And yes I do have beets planted for greens with the roots as an after thought.  In fact Lutz green stem and Lutz pink stem are both beet varieties grown for their greens...

Something else to look at for your bike wheel design are wheels made by Babes Fiber Garden.  Their wheels are made using wheel chair  wheels.  While their PVC frames will not work for you they can give you some good ideas.   AND they actually have a charka they called their Liten Spindel Charka.