Summer begins

Row o Greens - Everything is starting to bolt and go to seed. So the spinach in the front will becoming out tomorrow. One big Popeye spinach salad tonight






One week later and the Potatoes are just about all filled in. Put some Comfrey mulch on them today







The pumpkin pie pumpkins exactly one month and two days after planting. They have been getting daily doses of Llama compost tea to boost their spirits






The row o squash with another row of sunflowers to the north








The peas started to flower two days ago. So we will be full of peas in a short while.

First Stawberries

A nice bowl of berries right out of the backyard. Most of these are pretty small, but a few are larger. The next few weeks should bring them up in size.

Garden Grows

The peas continue their upward march, while the spinach and lettuce keep on filling up all the available space. The Dahlias are off to a good start, but could use some sun and heat. The last 3 weeks have been cool and rainy.





The potatoes have started forming rows, every day there is another hole filled

Status

The first potatoes have peaked their heads out of the ground. Get ready for amazing potatoe action







Here are the peas, starting to climb the trellis, they are almost onto the second rung.







The main garden, doesn't look like much right now, but everything is up and growing. Also started the tomatoes from last year in the space in front of the peas.

Compost

Today was the day to make compost, not any old compost, but the highest quality compost that could be made using the available ingredients, but since we have made compost before I had some of the leftovers from last time to include in the mix. The formula goes like this:
Organic Matter layered with HOT Matter and watered all the way up.

Here is a look at the organic layer. Green stuff, kitchen scraps, yard waste, grass clippings, leaves from last fall and whatever else you have laying around, but NOT - Sticks, chunks of wood, chunks of sod, sawdust or anything else that is not small or easily broken down.


Here is a little experiment to measure just how hot it gets inside the compost heap. HOT layer is made like this:
5 gallons chicken maunure, 3 shovels soil, 5 gallons grass clippings, 3 gallons coffee grounds, 4 shovels last batch of compost.


Here is the finished compost pile. This will sit for at least two weeks, maybe three, and this time the temperature will be monitored. Currently at about 64 degrees in the heap. 58 Degrees outside. 9:30 pm. Should also be interesting to see how the heap decreases in size as it "cooks"
An indoor outdoor thermometer with the outdoor side halfway in the heap. The conduit is to protect the lead from getting broken when the heap is built and taken down.

Irrigation

Putting water where you want it is great, but contradicts a drought resistant gardening method. Water that is pumped out of a pipe in the side of the house is still relatively cheap and assures high yields in a short season, and sometime soon we will have 3 or 4 hundred gallons of rain collection online and turn off the tap.

Garlic & Squash &..

The garlic is going into the home stretch, a few more weeks, maybe a month before it is time to harvest. Put on another side dress of compost last night which should push it just a little bit more.




All of the squashes are up and starting on their first real leaves, but at this rate they promise to be huge. Some of the peas which were planted and turned in as a cover crop are popping out to, so those are being pulled for mulch. These were planted on 22 May, 17 days ago


And then there is the lettuce, spinach bed. Cutting big bowls off these plants twice a day and it just keeps coming. Hiding in the back are sunflowers spaced about 5 inches apart the length of the shop. Wait till those babies get big.

Raspberry Fertilizer

Found this recipe Here where there is good info about growing raspberries.

Organic fertilizer mix for raspberries

This is basicly COF but without the blood meal and an extra part of seed meal. If you use this mix just before your raspberries blossom, reduce the amount of canola/fish meal by half (to 2 parts), as the plants need less nitrogen then.

4 parts canola seed meal or fish meal

1 part dolomitic lime (offsets the acidity of the seed meal)

1 part rock phosphate or 1/2 part bone meal

1 part kelp meal

Boating

After everything is planted it is time to get the boats out and head to the lake. First time out this year.