Master David, how you've slavêd, in your garden long.
What do you know? how does it grow? Was it worth it all along?
Well, we've had 2 meals of asparagus off a 3 foot by 3 foot plot, and it's done now. 2 meals of spinach and some baby spinach leaves for salads, that is also done now. Lettuce for salads keeps coming, Peas should come in the next week or two. Won't have more than a couple meals 'cause the chickens ate many of the sprouts as they came up. The chickens also harvested string bean sprouts, but we'll still get enough, Everything else is coming, looking fair to good. I think I've planted everything I'm going to plant, though I might try some more salads and such in the fall.
My most bountiful harvest has been the pleasantness of sitting in the shade of the boxelder tree on the southwest corner, watching the garden grow and contemplating my next move.
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| From the SW corner, June 20,2012 |
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Below you can see the peas starting to climb the fence in Montana, with the potatoes in Colorado, Kansas and Iowa behind them. (For references to states, click on "Garden Map and Geography" at the top of the page.) Below that is the sweetcorn, squash, broccoli and potatoes in the eastern states, and below that is the corn I planted earlier, on April 28th, and the squash, pumpkins, and tomatoes in the Caribbean, just south of the chicken yard. I may have planted that corn a little too early, judging form the poor germination rate, or the chickens or crows may have eaten the seedlings. The other corn I planted in Indiana and Ohio on May 20th had excellent germination. But no problem. The pumpkin and squash should fill in the gaps.
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| Peas beginning to climb the fence, potatoes in back. June 20, 2012 |
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| IN, OH, PA with ME in back June 20, 2012 |
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| Martinique, Puerto Rico with chicken yard in back June 20,2012 |
A word from the poultry division
Finally, if you've looked at my garden calendar, you've noticed that egg production is down. That's because two of my best layers have become broody hens, who are working on our next generation of layers and chicken dinners. I'm not sure when they started, but there should be little chicks any day now. I go out at least twice a day to listen for little peeps.
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| Setting on 10 eggs-June 20,2012 |
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| Setting on 5 eggs-June 20,2012 |
Thanks to my grandson, Al, for the use of his camera and his photography skills.
That's the report for mid-summer, the longest day of the year. Remember, keep your hoe sharp and your chickens out of the garden.
It's been too hot, it's been too cold, too little or too much rain.
But if the goal is to feed my soul, then the gain is worth the pain.
'til next time, David
