The second half of the season has begun. It is now all about maintenance, fertilising and harvesting daily in the garden. And preserving all that I can.
This week in the garden, the weather kept going back and forth. We had some rain, some sun, more rain, and so it continued. Unsurprisingly, the slugs loved it. They went through cabbage leaf after cabbage leaf and ended up taking quite a few seedlings as well. Even so, the rest of the garden thrived.
There was enough sun for the plants to get a boost in growth, and enough rain for them not to wilt. Watering was still necessary some days though, especially in the greenhouse. The wind did end up making the soil dry more quickly, and one of the sunflowers didn’t make it through. Some parts of the honey berry bushes broke off, but they are doing well even so.
Fruit trees from seed
One of the pear plants, the strongest one, wilted from one day to another. I’m not quite sure what happened to it. Too much or too little of something, I’m sure. I just hope the rest will continue to do well. Three apricot plants, one strong pear plant, and two pear seedlings that I placed back in a moist paper towel. I will let the plants dry out a bit more before I water them next to see if that might be what killed one of the pear plants.
Fruit trees
Some of the apples – that weren’t already red – are now turning red. The elder berries are forming, but it’ll be a while before they change colour. The cherries are done for the season. The other apple trees will not produce fruit this season, but I have my fingers crossed for 2024. Same with the plum tree.
Berry bushes
I harvested most of the gooseberries this week – around 400 grams – and I hope it is early enough that they’ll produce more, at least enough for one more harvest this season. I also harvested blueberries multiple times, and some more black currant as well. The blueberries are growing so well and I’ll likely keep harvesting daily or every other day for the next few weeks. I am hoping that harvesting the berries will trigger the plants to produce more.
Annuals
Planting
I planted out a whole lot of seedlings this week. The large yellow onions and leeks are now growing in a soil bag of their own. I’ve found that that’s the easiest way to plant garlic and onions. Leeks and green onions are easier. They can be co-planted with a lot of other vegetables and even berries. The larger yellow onions need room.
The red leeks that I sowed never germinated. Not a single seed out of a whole packet. I had a bad feeling about them and I was right. I won’t be trying that variety again. They were just an experiment though, thankfully. I already have leeks, green onions and giant leeks planted in the garden and they are all doing well. So I won’t go without.
I planted out fall/winter vegetables such as beets, parsnips, black radishes, kohlrabi and rutabaga. I also sowed carrot seeds directly into the soil. Or sprinkled them, more like.
I also made room for my healing plants and herbs in the vertical system in the green house and planted out a few of them. I’m still waiting for the rest of them to germinate. The regular herbs were divided and planted out next to the berry bushes and fruit trees, and I’ll keep that up until there are no more seedlings left in the pots.
Harvesting
Apart from the many berry harvests, I also harvested radish greens and radish pods. They are drying outside in the sun in my harvest basket. I harvested the first potatoes of the season, blue/purple ones, and I made sure to cover the roots back up so that I can continue to harvest potatoes until I run out. At that point, I’ll plant new ones. When I empty a pot, I’ll plant new seed potatoes in the empty soil, and I’ll continue to do so until I feel I have enough. The remaining potato pots will be washed and sterilised so that I can grow oyster mushrooms in them.
Fertiliser
Bokashi compost & tea
The bokashi from last year was full and I emptied it in one of my fabric containers and covered it up with soil. That’s where I then planted out parsnips and radishes. I refilled the bokashi bucket with food waste about a third of the way, and soon it should start producing bokashi tea again. I’ll keep filling it and layering it until it is full, and then I’ll leave it to ferment.
Until it starts producing bokashi tea again, I will be sticking to fertilising with golden water once a week or a few times a week. The plants seem to be doing fine with that. The ones that prefer a more acidic soil get some coffee grounds occasionally as well.
Propagation
Next week or the week after, it is time to to start propagating the plants. Honey berries, gooseberries, blueberries, black currant, blackberries and possibly the pink blueberries. Given the time of year, I’ll be propagating softwood cuttings, and I everything I need. I will be writing an article about each propagation process and post updates on their progress.
To do list for week 30:
Start propagating
Fertilise more
Harvest daily
Preserve daily
See you next week!
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