Spring has finally arrived in full force. Fortunately, I am off from work for the next 2 weeks, which means way more time for the garden! Two consecutive days of 70 degree weather has done wonders for the garden. The ailing lettuce saplings, which had barely survived transplantation, is making a comeback. The main trunk of the plant, having been elongated due to being confined in the transplant pot for too long, as thickened considerably in the garden bed. Oddly however, the main growth of the lettuce now seems to be occuring at the end of the trunk not at the base of it. This may cause developmental issues later on in the plant's life cycle, but for now I think the coast is clear.
Of the 14 potato spuds planted, 11 has sprouted. This is a significant improvement over last year's results, where the spuds first began sprouting in mid-may. The early maturing Rotten Red variety had all sprouted vigoriously in garden bed 3. The middle maturing Kennewick potatos all sprouted in the containers, though not nearly as abundently as the earlies. The late maturing Yukon Gold potatos are just beginning to break the surface, some 3 of the 6 spuds have so far sprouted in garden bed 4. If all goes well, 4 successive harvests of potatos can be expected this year: early, middle, late, early. Along with the potatos, the chive plants are flourishing with emerald green blades going everywhere. The scallion seeds have also germinated, sending tiny shoots up through the earth. On the other hand, turnip seeds sown a month earlier had not germinated at all, I surmise that unpredictable weather over the last month was the culprit. In anycase, I set down some pole bean seeds into the turnips' area in garden beds 3 and 4.
I planted 2 tomato saplings of different varieties(Beef Steak and Early Girl) onto garden bed 2 several days ago. These seems to be doing very well and have even attracted some bumble bees into the midst. To support the growing tomato plants, I erected a scaffold and tied both plants to the scaffold via some hemp cordage. 5 of the 6 transplated lettuce plants had managed to survive the last 2 weeks. Around the tomatos and lettuce saplings, I set down an even mixture of Kentucky Wonder and European pole beans. I chose the 2 varieties to maximize genetic diversity(and provide increased protection against disease).
Garden Bed 1, the square meter garden last year, was sown densely with a mixed corn and pole bean combination. There were two varieties of corn(Mesoamerican and Chinese) and beans(Kentucky and European) Additionally, I transplanted 2 Eggplant saplings of mixed heritage (West Asian Black Wonder, and Japanese Round). The purpose of such diversity is protection against microbial diseases and insectile pests. By bring diversity of species, and diversity within species, pests would have a very hard time adapting to all the vareities available. Thus pest populations never reach the numbers needed to ruin the entire crop. In a permaculture garde, as in nature, even pests have a place, though not a dominant one.
2 comments:
Did you plant your corn and beans in the combined plot at the same time? I've heard that it's best to let the corn grow a bit so the beans don't outcompete it. I plan on trying to grow the "Three Sisters" this year, following the method outlined in Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden. Unfortunately my extension service says to plant beans and squash in May and corn in June, but I think I'll reverse that and see how it works.
I actually planted both corn and beans at the same time. The trick, I read is not to give the bean shoots anything to attach themselves to. The corn will create a natural scaffold for the beans as soon as the cornstalks reach the approriate size, and this show happen well before the beans flower.
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