Sisyphus Acres

Quick update...gardens, surgery, et al

Hi, long time, no blog... Knee surgery went well and am on the road to recovery.  Feels much better now than it did before.  Although I am glad I waited to get the gardens in before I went, the relief almost makes me wish I hadn't.

I have pics of the garden that I'll try to get on in the next day(week) or so...it is in the "pre-spurt" phase.  I'll be taking some new pics soon, it's growing like mad!).

Season started a little later than usual here ~ last frost was June 10th ~ lost my first set of basil cuz I'd laid them in on the 8th thinking it was safe...grrr...

But, all is well in the plots now ~ garlic is just about ready to pic, I have Music, Russian Red and Yugoslav ~ depending on how they come out I may make a market garden to supply local restaurants.  A local co-op recently formed, and I was asked about supplying herbs...so I may seriously look into it.

I recently harvested chive flowers, and I have a batch of chive vinegar steeping in the kitchen.  This weekend I will strain it off and bottle it up for Christmas gifts and personal use.  Marjoram is ready to harvest, as is the first batch of spearmint and bee balm (time to dry some teas).  The elderberries have taken off, hope to have a start on two decent bushes by fall ~ it's nice to see the sticks come to life.  Calendula should be harvested this weekend too, then I'll put them in the dehydrator for quick drying.

All the veggies are doing well except the spinach (which I never have luck with), and the radishes which bolted ~ just the cherries and the white ~ (the watermelon radishes and the black seem ok so far).  The potatoes experiment is really neat.  The plants in the 55 gallon trash barrel are doing amazing, followed by the tires, and then the traditional furrows/hills.  If spud production meets expectations in the barrel, we may grow all our spuds in barrels next year.  Tomatoes and peppers are flowering, all the string beans and peas are nearing production, all the cukes/squash/melons are up and beginning to vine.  The corn is just about knee high, which is right here, corn has to be "knee high by the fourth of July" to ripen before frost here.  Broccolli and cabbage are starting to firm up, broccoli should start heading off soon, and I have the fall batch plan```ted and sprouted.  Brussel sprouts are growing slow but steady.  Okra is beginning to take off as are the soybeans, kidney beans and cranberry beans.  The sunflowers are amazing, but I know I'll be whining about preparing them in the fall.  The Jerusalem artichokes are doing great too...hoping God will bless the crop and we will be able to preserve enough for us and share with friends and neighbors.

Our early blueberries have green berries on and ready, and the valiant grapes have set a lot of clusters, maybe enough to make jelly this year without "borrowing" grapes from Janet!  But most of the fruit orchard won't start producing for another year or two.  UGH!  I have no patience to wait...lol.  Same with the asparagus...all 21 plants made it ~ but no picking until next year   the ferns reached over 6 feet tall though!

I do need to find some wild raspberry or black raspberry patches to pick over.  Hannah has been squirreling around and scavenging wild strawberries ~ we are going to try and "tame" a patch eventually ~ they are certainly little berries, but have hundred fold the taste and sweetness of cultivated strawberries!  Just where to plant them...hmmm...

The balsam firs look great in their neat little row, becoming the second row of the eventual windbreak...we have 25 blue spruce and 23 balsam firs planted in two rows, alongside each other ~ as they grow they will provide a much needed windbreak for the property.  All the chrry bushes survived, but won't produce for another year or so, but the highbush cranberry has surely reached it's stride, it has doubled in size since spring, hope to see it produce mext year (if not this fall).

Lost the rhubarb, though, the crowns never settled in well, so I'll be planting two more next year (unless I can scab a crown from someone this summer)

Ahh, well, time for bed, got to be up early for work ing the AM, will try to get the pics up soon,

val

Untitled Comment

{ 06:56, 2008-Aug-1 } { Posted by CandyFoote }

I'm happy to hear that your surgery went well.
Thanks for visiting my blog and reading my TEACH article!

Candy

Hello

{ 06:09, 2008-Aug-19 } { Posted by Belle }

If you would like a second entry in the give away I am having, you can post about the give away on your blog, then you can sign up for it again.
If you post about the give away please put the link to my blog give away.

I am glad to hear that your knee is doing better!
Belle