Really, June Is Nearly Over

 

Turnips

It doesn't seem possible that June is nearly over. Where has the time gone? An update is in order. The kale and collards have been brought into plain sight. They were so overgrown by grass and weeds it was difficult to tell things were really planted in the space. The cabbage is doing very well. The Brussels sprout were nearly done in by some neighbors escaped live stock (partridge). But they are growing and we will see what happens. The turnips should be ready in two or three weeks. The beans are up but don't look great. The leeks and chard are doing very well. The peppers are in varying stages of maturity but that's the way they always seem to be. Actually everything is doing pretty well just slower than I would like, but that's the way it always works out.

Kale & Collards

In the picture above are the turnips after doing most of the weeding. To the right are where the kale and collards live. The picture to the right shows what the kale and collards looked like after the weeding was done. There is quite a difference.

We will have the first radishes tomorrow, June 29. With a little luck we will harvest the first zucchini this coming weeks as well. We will also harvest the first pok choi at the end of the week.

Oh, and the seed potatoes I got this year were quite small but they seem to be doing just fine. They may have been planted a little close together but that will just mean  smaller potatoes at harvest time.

Since we are harvesting the radishes we will also be planting more. Same with the pok choi.

The Apple Orchard

Orchard Planting

There are two apple trees in front of the parsonage (State Fair and Norland) that were planted by Pastor Ottum while he and his family lived there. These are mature trees that bear between 150 and  300 pounds of apples each year. These trees need to be pruned severely to make them easy to harvest and better producers. Each year I work on them a little more.

There are two trees inside the garden fence (State Fair and Carroll). I grafted them onto hardy root stock the spring of 2017. They were about 18 inches tall when I planted them. One was pulled out by vandals late in October of 2017. I put it back in the ground but the ground was  mostly frozen. This tree did not survive. The lonely survivor will bear some fruit in 7 or 8 years. The survivor is about three feet tall now.

Blossoms Closeup

Five trees north of the garden (Norland, Zestar, and Prairie Magic) will produce a harvest in 3 to 4 years. If they all survive and produce well we could be harvesting 300 to 400 pounds of apples in the coming years. Three of the "orchard" trees did produce some apples in 2018. The Prairie Magic has very tasty fruit. The trees had a bad year in 2019. June and July were very dry. I did not water the trees and they suffered from the lack of water. The only apples on them were very hard and very small.

Parsonage Apple Tree 2018

The orchard is fenced the same as the garden to keep the hungry moose out in the winter. They don't seem to bother the trees in the summer time. The fence is 7.5 ft. tall so should keep them out.

As expected only one of the trees has any blossoms in 2020. The Prairie Magic has blossoms but it's too early to tell if there will be any fruit. Hope springs eternal. The blossoms on the parsonage trees are sparse this year as well. Hopefully we will still get some apples from the trees. If not the goal of 4500 lbs for 2020 will be very difficult to reach.

Sometime in the future I may try my hand at making cider. There should be plenty of apples to press. This is another investment in equipment so only time will tell.

June Already?

Where does the time go. I have been going to do an update and all of a sudden it's June. All is well at the garden. The brassicas are in the ground and doing well. The turnips and peas are up. Green beans just showed yesterday. But the first thing up this year was the Swiss chard. No onions or carrots up yet but I am hopeful. Planted 70+ zucchini this year and they seem to be doing fine. At least they all appear to have new growth which is a good indication they survived the transplant. The peppers are doing well in their mini green houses. Planted two varieties of radish this year. One was the standby, rover, from Johnny's and a wasabi radish that was gifted to me by a friend. It's green and should be interesting. Still have to finish planting the potatoes and the fava beans are yet to go in the ground. With luck all should be done by Sunday. 

I did a little experiment as well this year. I had some zucchini seeds left over so I put them between a couple of wet paper towels and put them in a plastic bag. I knew they would sprout. My wife put the sprouted seeds in the garden. Will see what happens with them.

Wash Station

Had a couple of repairs to the irrigation system to make and added a sprinkler head. Everything is working well. This was one of the best things I did in the garden.

I modified a work bench that was donated. Shorted the height. Flipped the boards on the top and added a screen that we have used to wash the veggies. I also installed a slanted "runway" to channel the wash water away from feet and legs. Hope it works better than the two tables.

Shooting for 4500 pounds this year. Hope we can do it.