Karen's Garden Delights Journal
2nd week of May 2011

Disking This week catapulted us from March weather directly to July with several days in the 80s. It felt nice but we haven't adjusted to working in the sun all afternoon. Olin disked the back patches and this was really the first time the soil felt right for planting. It was soft and fluffy and felt wonderful going barefoot for planting. Here he is disking down the cover crop of rye which was a little over a foot tall and should provide all kinds of good organic matter in the soil. Rye seems to be hard to kill and with it's allelopathic properties it isn't wise to plant in it for a couple weeks so that area will get a final disking later before planting corn there. In the areas ready for planting, the kids planting 6 long rows of potatoes - Kennebecs, Red Norlands, Red Chieftons, Yukon Golds, Maris Piper, Rose Gold, All Blue, All Red, Red Thumb fingerling and Austrian Crescent. We also planted more onions, transplanted lettuce and added some flower plants from my Amish friend that I swapped for. I also took a chance and planted more peas even though it is very late. In the back garden, we surrounded the section with peas and lettuce with two low electric polywire rows to keep out the bunnies and groundhogs when we aren't looking. I'm noticing more bunny activity than other years...

Broccoli Meanwhile, in the house garden some of the crops under the tunnels and row cover have been flourishing. Here is the broccoli with some starting to form tiny heads. The zucchinis are up and so are the zinnias and I'm watching for beans to pop out. The tomatoes in water walls also are growing right along and we are looking forward to enjoying all these crops ahead of when we plant the unprotected versions. I also have some cucumbers planted under barrels and will start a few watermelons that way too. It's hard telling what weather summer will bring this year so more things may need a head start. During the days that hit 80, I was sure to remove the barrels and open tunnels on plants that were already growing well so they don't get fried in the extra heat. I also had to open up one wall of the greenhouse to let more air flow through because it can easily soar to 110 degrees when the sun is shining.

Chicks The first batch of 175 meat chickens arrived and are still quite cute. Our nine year old is in charge of chick care this year and goes out frequently to feed and watch them. In about 4 weeks they will be ready to go out on the pasture to add fresh greens and bugs to their diet. The white ones are the regular Cornish cross and we are trying some of the dark meat birds along with them. Our Hispanic and Nepali friends really like the dark birds and we expect most of those will be sold live as they approach butchering age. I'm not sure if there is a distinct taste difference but when our ethnic friends find out we have the colored birds their faces light up and they start drooling!