Lazy Gardener's Little Town Farm

Lazy Gardener said:

Today, I turned the soil (and amended with chicken compost) the second green house bed. Now, the fun begins: planting the seedlings. And moving the strawberry plants to their final position, scavenging some more volunteers from the garden.

Harvested some concord grapes from a friend's vines. Hope to make some jelly with Pomona's pectin.

We tarped the tomato bed due to frost warning. I think I'll leave that tarp in place. The plants won't be getting any sun, but... they are essentially done producing, anyways. I'd rather have the remaining fruit ripening on the vines under the tarp, than setting in bowls in the house, collecting fruit flies.

I have a lot of apples to process, as well as the tomatoes.

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God i gotta get off my butt and do something with the garden. I want to till it this year and plant fall cover crops...if work will every ease up on me.

Chic Rustler said:

God i gotta get off my butt and do something with the garden. I want to till it this year and plant fall cover crops...if work will every ease up on me.

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If the chickens have had a go at the garden, they likely have removed a lot of the growth. If I were you, and pressed for time, I'd forget the tiller, and just get out there and sow your green manure crops. Granted, you most likely have some weedy growth, maybe even a lot of weed seed heads. But... Green manure on top of that would be better than doing nothing, IMO.

Besides, what's a weed, other than diversified green manure!

About a week ago, I sowed red clover and winter rye on the bone hard, heavy clay, sheet compost area. (still plenty of weedy growth, even seed heads present.) Then, i covered it with about an inch of weedy lawn clippings to cover the seed from prying bird eyes, and hold the moisture. since then, we've had some good rains. I chose not to prep the soil/rock base at all, instead wanting to see if the rye seedlings would even penetrate that concrete like surface. Plan is to let the stuff... if it manages to grow, produce a lot of green matter which can then be scythed for hay/mulch for the garden/chicken run. Either let it regenerate for multiple cuttings next summer, or follow it with buckwheat if soil condition appears to be hospitable to that plant which I believe to have a much weaker root system.

Today, I pronounced a death sentence on the garden, though I'll still be gleaning bits and pieces here and there for a week or two. I spent a good part of the day mucking the weeds out of the deer netting on the W and E ends of the garden. Then, re-set the netting. On the W side, I set the netting out from the CP so the flock could access that middle area to do weed and grub patrol. Re-routed E-net to enlarge their paddock so they can get to the garden. (So, only about 1/2 of their fence is electrified now. I hope Mr. Fox and other 4 legged critters don't figure that out.) Have left the deer netting off the N side. Some of the girls have discovered the bounty in the garden, while the rest are staying out in the paddock area with Goliath. He's too big to fit through the CP. Next up: cut out some of the CP grid and install a pop door so the entire flock can access the garden.

Tomorrow, I hope to get that pop door cut and installed, and start working on the framing for the raised beds.

Oh, what glorious fall weather! Cool enough to be comfortable to work outside all day, yet warm enough to enjoy short sleeves. For some reason, the yellow jackets are finding me to be very attractive.

Yellow jackets hate the smell of peppermint. Might be worth making a repellant using peppermint oil?

Yellow jackets buzz me in the fall also. I don’t like them.

This quote: In our world of automation and endless growth, we have failed to consider that perhaps the responsibility of raising animals for food is not well-suited to the industrial mindset. Perhaps, instead, it is a craft to be applied only with sound judgment, care, and aesthetics, in such a way that respects the animal, regenerates soil and water systems, and enhances the dignity of people who serve as caretakers.

From this article: https://heated.medium.com/eating-animals-isnt-the-problem-f3c5b5789d19

Laid out the raised beds on one side of the garden today. I fudged the bed dimensions to give the most bang for the footprint, while maintaining decent path space between beds. Beds are 48 - 54" wide, 10+' long. Paths are 38". (I think) As soon as I walked away from the project, I forgot my final dimensions! But, the beds are all laid out with mason's twine, and I'm pleased with the lay-out. Worked with the chickens on garden clean up. I'm STILL picking Fortex beans! Getting about a single serving of them, almost EVERY day. This, in spite of a multitude of killing frosts that have turned the outer leaves to dry black crunch. Also harvested 3 Suyo Long cukes that should be good eating. New crop of self sowed dill begging to be picked to go with those cukes!

Those Fortex beans sound like they should be in every garden. Do you save seed from them?

I've been saving seed from them ever since I started growing them. When they first came out in Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog, it took me 2 - 3 years to actually get some seed b/c they sold out so fast. And the seed was EXPENSIVE, being sold by the count instead of by the ounce. Still, not a lot of companies carry them. So, my suggestion: do a google search for the variety, purchase some seeds. Then, if you like them, make it a point to save seed EVERY year. Not every one likes them. I have one friend, who shall remain nameless, who doesn't care for them! I absolutely love them, and they are the standard to which I compare all other varieties, both for performance in the garden, as well as on the table.

@baymule, not sure weight for 30 beans, most likely an oz..

https://www.superseeds.com/products/fortex-pole-bean-60-days $2.25 for 30 seed

And 4oz @9.95 here...
https://www.etsy.com/listing/710272...MI9NqLn-iZ5QIVKx6tBh3YLAgZEAQYBCABEgL9bPD_BwE