Garden Update - Early February
As I mentioned earlier this winter we had our handshake lease extended here on the homestead where we are staying. After immediately getting the garlic in the ground I have shifted focus to stratifying more perennial seeds, with a focus on more nut trees, but also fruits and medicinal trees as well.
Here are some different varieties of chestnuts that my friends generously shared with me, sourced from different seed swaps.
This winter's assortment of stratifying seeds in our makeshift nursery is growing quickly! I am extremely excited to see what sprouts this year, as well as what will sprout from last year's nursery that didn't sprout yet.
It was perfect timing I think, because this week we have had quite the storm with a lot of snow (finally) and it looks like next week will be much more snow. So I am grateful I had some fair weather to pot up my seeds before the snow hit and they are all cozily stratifying in the snow now :)
Before the snow hit I did also get a chance to move some horse manure around to compost piles, prep some beds that were not too soggy and get a head start on planting one bed so far with fava beans, spinach, wild salsify, carrots and cilantro. When it is time, they will be ready!
(using sticks to keep track of where I have and have not planted)
With the snow, I am back to focusing inward again. It was nice to get a few weeks' garden sprint while it lasted! I am feeling ahead of schedule with the garden this year, rather than playing catch up like last year.. it feels nice. But greenhouse prop work will be coming up soon to get an early start on the nightshades!
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There are times when I am jealous of people with winter weather that forces you to stay out of the garden - but that only lasts a little while.
Good for you to get all the nut trees going! I have 2 huge pecan trees that give me very little harvest since the crows, parrots and other critters can reach much higher than me :)
I grew up in a climate where I could garden year round (Southern California) where it seems we had a perpetual summer. I was actually quite fond of being able to grow food year round, but I also appreciate the "mild" winters we have here. I personally seem to be somewhat adaptable to different climates - there is lots to love about each one!
My dream is to plant a lot of diversity and many more nut and fruit trees than I could ever hope to harvest personally so that there can be much for nature and I would still need to bring in more people or livestock to harvest more.. its a great dream :)
Very fun indeed! It's raining here for the next few days. I may need to spread some compost soon. How do you know when this stuff is ready to spread? It doesn't look like dirt yet...
Grab some from the middle of the pile - Does it smell good or bad?
Here we are about to get 8" more on Tuesday. But on March 1 I will be starting the first of the seeds: onions. So the season is near upon me....
Woohoo! I just seeded a flat of lettuce. I am starting to think about onions, tomatoes and peppers also.
great work and i am sure very enjoyable too. So glad you got on top of all this before the snow, I hope it doesnt get to cold.
Thank you @paulag! The snow is melting fast and if we don't get more soon I'll be planting some peas, fava beans and dandelions :)
why dandelions? we class them as weeds? what do you use them for?
I'm glad you asked @paulag beause Dandelion is one of my favorite plants :) As a food, tonic and medicine she is so nutritive. I love that dandelions are often so abundant around us, almost as if they want to share their beauty and food with us. Dandelions are great because they are perennials, meaning they come back year after year!
One of my hobbies is to incorporate more wild food and medicine in our diet. My partner Idyllwild is passionate about incorporating wild beauty into our garden and personal our spaces. It is a response to our culture's hyper-domestication and a personal exploration of appreciating nature's abundance and letting go of some of the control that we were taught to have over our garden space.
If you are curious to learn more you can find some of my research on dandelions as food and medicine here: https://homesteaderscoop.com/product/dandelion-seeds/
P.s. We just got more snow last night so looks like I have to keep waiting to plant more seeds :P
And a recent celebration of sharing dandelion seeds here: https://steemit.com/gardening/@sagescrub/thank-you-squishysquid-for-your-support-and-recognizing-value-in-the-common-dandelion
what an amazing response, looks like I triggerd a passion. Do you eat dandelions? I will have a look at the links, thanks :-)
LOL yeah you caught me there, you definitely found a passion :) Yes I eat and drink all parts of the dandelions, roots, leaves, flowers!
thats rather intersting
Great to see you got a bit of work done before the snow, same Issue hear chasing weather windows to get stuff done. Totally worth it to get ahead though 🙂 keep up the great work
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Thank you @digitaldan :)