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Jul. 9th, 2019 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukeIt was an odd weekend when I went to PA. It was so hot, and I left in the morning instead of the evening and just. so hot. I didn't feel like I got a ton done necessarily and the weekend went very quickly.
I started by just walking through my plot and just looking at things, marking down how everything looked. I have small fruit on some peppers and most tomatoes and flowering on the others.
My beans, mung beans, cowpeas have something really wrong with them. Some are about six inches tall, very sad and flowering. I suspect fusarium to be the problem, I saw it on some of my small grains but I'm astounded that it's in the soil already. It's very possible it got picked up through seed saving at some point, whether it was because last year was so wet or something else. But I got seed through a huge variety of sources and it is happening across all legumes in the field. I'm worried that my rye cover crop did it since it doesn't seem to be affecting the peas, but I have no idea. I need to dig up some plants when I'm down there next to look at the roots.
My fall small grains are just about there. I harvested four or fives plots, which was barley that managed to survive the winter somehow. They were in soft to hard dough and the rest will be ready to harvest in two weeks.
My corn is looking good. I forgot to plant late corn lol. I have two plantings in the ground, one Gaspe flint, which is an Indigenous variety grown by the Abenaki people in the area that is now northeastern US and eastern Canada. Dr. Fred Wiseman wrote a book about the crops of the Abenaki people and has the Seeds of Renewal program to collect and bring these crops and varieties back into cultivation by the members of the communities.
The Gaspe flint corn takes 60-75 days to harvest and it is a dry corn harvest. It was silking already for me and I should be able to harvest within a month. They are maybe 2 feet tall. My other corn is Cascade Ruby Gold flint corn that is around 90 days to harvest. They shouldn't overlap in tassel/silk so they won't cross.
I got my rice weeded late in the evening, and had some lovely sunset.
Next morning I went and disked other fields for my parents. There was a weird midday thunderstorm while I was trying to figure out the laser scarecrow, which I thought I had finished but I messed something up and so spent a while working on it. But the thunderstorm made Iggy hide under me where I was sitting on the couch and then I got up.
I didn't get a ton done the next day but oh well. Went to the family party for the 4th and a birthday and a graduation. Family decor.
Late late night due to fireworks and then I got up first thing early to meet a friend for breakfast.
Then I harvested my garlic. It was definitely too soon but there were a few wrappers formed and I would have rather harvested early than too late. I don't plan to store them over the winter, I want to have them sold by the end of the season, which I think it doable. So it won't matter too much that it was harvested early because it mostly affects storage ability.
In the weekend somewhere, I broke the cultivating tractor, got a rock really stuck in the disks and broke my earbuds. So we also got the tractor fixed, which was replacing the codder pin that broke and using strategic hammering so then I cultivated everything and hilled potatoes, corn and tomatoes. The corn and tomatoes being hilled was for weed control and to help keep the plants upright.
I also harvested five tiny new potatoes from my first planting, which is exciting. I did get three plants of lentils that actually produced seed, which I was so surprised about. I lost all my lentils last year.
I also transplanted in some melons, watermelons and squash to replace those that didn't make it.
It was hot as hell all weekend and I stopped a lot. I also went into the creek a couple of times and used the hose to cool off.
I started by just walking through my plot and just looking at things, marking down how everything looked. I have small fruit on some peppers and most tomatoes and flowering on the others.
My beans, mung beans, cowpeas have something really wrong with them. Some are about six inches tall, very sad and flowering. I suspect fusarium to be the problem, I saw it on some of my small grains but I'm astounded that it's in the soil already. It's very possible it got picked up through seed saving at some point, whether it was because last year was so wet or something else. But I got seed through a huge variety of sources and it is happening across all legumes in the field. I'm worried that my rye cover crop did it since it doesn't seem to be affecting the peas, but I have no idea. I need to dig up some plants when I'm down there next to look at the roots.
My fall small grains are just about there. I harvested four or fives plots, which was barley that managed to survive the winter somehow. They were in soft to hard dough and the rest will be ready to harvest in two weeks.
My corn is looking good. I forgot to plant late corn lol. I have two plantings in the ground, one Gaspe flint, which is an Indigenous variety grown by the Abenaki people in the area that is now northeastern US and eastern Canada. Dr. Fred Wiseman wrote a book about the crops of the Abenaki people and has the Seeds of Renewal program to collect and bring these crops and varieties back into cultivation by the members of the communities.
The Gaspe flint corn takes 60-75 days to harvest and it is a dry corn harvest. It was silking already for me and I should be able to harvest within a month. They are maybe 2 feet tall. My other corn is Cascade Ruby Gold flint corn that is around 90 days to harvest. They shouldn't overlap in tassel/silk so they won't cross.
I got my rice weeded late in the evening, and had some lovely sunset.
Next morning I went and disked other fields for my parents. There was a weird midday thunderstorm while I was trying to figure out the laser scarecrow, which I thought I had finished but I messed something up and so spent a while working on it. But the thunderstorm made Iggy hide under me where I was sitting on the couch and then I got up.
I didn't get a ton done the next day but oh well. Went to the family party for the 4th and a birthday and a graduation. Family decor.
Late late night due to fireworks and then I got up first thing early to meet a friend for breakfast.
Then I harvested my garlic. It was definitely too soon but there were a few wrappers formed and I would have rather harvested early than too late. I don't plan to store them over the winter, I want to have them sold by the end of the season, which I think it doable. So it won't matter too much that it was harvested early because it mostly affects storage ability.
In the weekend somewhere, I broke the cultivating tractor, got a rock really stuck in the disks and broke my earbuds. So we also got the tractor fixed, which was replacing the codder pin that broke and using strategic hammering so then I cultivated everything and hilled potatoes, corn and tomatoes. The corn and tomatoes being hilled was for weed control and to help keep the plants upright.
I also harvested five tiny new potatoes from my first planting, which is exciting. I did get three plants of lentils that actually produced seed, which I was so surprised about. I lost all my lentils last year.
I also transplanted in some melons, watermelons and squash to replace those that didn't make it.
It was hot as hell all weekend and I stopped a lot. I also went into the creek a couple of times and used the hose to cool off.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 10:41 pm (UTC)Long may it continue so!
I was really glad I could hide from the heat; glad you had a hose.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-10 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-10 01:52 am (UTC)Even not considering that, it sounds like you got a good bit done. (It also sounds like the sort of thing that if found on a clay tablet from long ago would give archeologists fits; why those crops? Do we really know this word? sorts of stuff.)
no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 12:24 am (UTC)so I confuse people now, I will definitely confuse them in the future. Why this crop? why not!
no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-10 12:46 am (UTC)Is your garlic in the ground now?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-10 12:57 am (UTC)They've been there about 2-3 months now? THey'll be there until at least spring, if not longer.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-12 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-11 11:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-11 02:12 pm (UTC)