Went out around 0800 and checked the peas, one eight foot row is mostly
up but the other eight foot row isn't showing at all. The day after I
planted them a heavy rain hit us but I think the peas that aren't
showing yet got a bit compacted and it will take longer to get above ground.

We're still harvesting chard and freezing it, the kale is growing like
the weed it is, dear wife loves the stuff but I don't like the taste.
Looks like the worms will get a good bit of that. Will harvest the last
of the sugar snap peas this week most likely, then will plant another
four feet of crowder peas where the snap peas were.

The fig tree is leafing out and the pear tree is covered with blooms and
baby pears, hopefully we will get bumper crops this year. The three blue
berry plants are also blooming. The herb garden is growing like crazy,
we've already cut and dehydrated at least a years worth of herbs but we
have a large extended family that gets lots of herbs from us so we're
still picking.

The wild dewberries and blackberries are blooming like crazy and we're
keeping our eyes on the best picking spots. Discovered a blooming mayhaw
tree nearby and will watch it too, mayhaw jelly is a delicacy for us. I
do like picking wild fruits, beats the heck out of buying them from a
roadside stand.

George

On 3/14/2016 12:47 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

Believing warm weather here to stay, I planted 219 zipper cream
crowders this morning. Block planted in a nominally 3x8–foot raised
bed. The test peas germinated fully on the 12th. Test plantings of
three varieties of snap beans all are fully up today. I'll let them
grow for a few days to see how they cope with overnight lows before
planting more. I finally found USA-sourced (California) "Delinel" green
beans and am anxious to start picking them.
Our raised beds are four feet wide, one sixteen feet long, the other two
eight feet long, takes up a lot of lawn for raised beds, thank goodness.
Would rather grow grub than grass.

No chard he Too closely resemble the beets they are—"Silver
beets" ain't for nothin', I guess. The turnips here are mostly gone to
the kitchen. Mustard greens have bloomed or are blooming; same for all
of the "crucifers". Planted more of the greens but don't expect much of
them: Even if they appear to thrive, they simply don't develop as much
flavor in hot weather. I leave fall crops in place (well, unless re-
seeding is likely) until a successor needs the space.

We both like chard, she eats beets, I don't care for them, she will grow
and eat turnips, I only eat the turnip greens, don't care for mustard
greens at all. I think my not favoring beets, turnips and mustard greens
is because my folks grew up very poor and would eat anything, even into
old age. I just don't like the taste of the stuff above.

I try to maintain
the beds' "microclimates" year-'round so that the population of good
guys doesn't have to recover as greatly as after fallow periods. I have
space in one bed for one more late planting of spinach and carrots,
although, I'm not expecting much from them as the weather warms. I'm
hoping to have enough coming along now to last 'til about May, when the
heat will almost certainly take them out. English peas usually succumb
soon thereafter The spinach and many of the carrots share beds with
onions. They all will be gone by June; by July, at the very latest.

Our English peas are about done, leaves and stems turning yellow, picked
and shelled about two cups of them today, may be able to get a little
more before the heat gets them. More of the crowder peas have come up
and at least four cucumbers are above ground. Need to harvest the beets
for her but I have a bunch more chard to cut and freeze and a lot of
spinach to do the same. The butter crunch lettuce is starting to turn
yellow so will harvest what we can very soon. I do like the butter
crunch in a salad or on a sandwich. We're both over weight so we're
eating lots of salads, sometimes with chunks of chicken or ham in there
along with boiled eggs, all for the protein. I made one salad the other
day and cut up some cooked, cold steak. Warmed the steak a bit and into
the salad, really liked that one.

I'm able to grow all of our kitchen herbs except basil year 'round.
The basil gets killed each year because I don't bother to bring it
inside. Everything except for the bay is used fresh. In 2015, I grew
ginger for the first time. Planted buds from grocery store specimens in
two above-ground containers filled primarily with compost and oak
leaves. Results are overwhelming. Guess I need to learn how to
preserve ginger. I really like that sugered stuff from the supermarket.
Maybe I'll try my hand at making some of that. Oh, boy: Something new
and untried!

I think I mentioned before that our basil is basically a perennial as we
let it go to seed and then it self seeds for the next spring. We have
oregano, sage, leaf celery, Russian tarragon, and several other herbs
that keep on giving year around. I can't remember the last time we
actually bought herbs at the store.

Looks like we might get some more rain this evening, glad to get it.

George

In article ,
George Shirley wrote:

Our raised beds are four feet wide, one sixteen feet long, the other two
eight feet long, takes up a lot of lawn for raised beds, thank goodness.
Would rather grow grub than grass.

I agree that food is better than lawn, unless your lawnmower is food,
which I suspect would cause a major freak out in George's HOA.

I have personally shrunk beds multiple times. The 5 foot by 50 foot bed
was based on "I can reach 30 inches" which was true, but not so useful
in practice as it was hard to _do_ much at that reach, actually. It was
also unmanageable (this may be my brain's limitations, but there you go.)

A giant bed/block is hard to stay on top of. My current bedding is 3
feet wide (straddle-able) and no more than 10 feet long - so I can "do"
a bed, deal with all its weeds, whatever, and move on. I'd find the 4x16
a bear to deal with, but, as I said, this may be mostly in my head.

I burn a lot more path space relative to garden space (one reason for
the giant bed, originally) but I can get more done in the garden space;
and total space is not a particular constraint, so the "need" for "path
space efficiency" was entirely made-up, in hindsight.

I plan to annex more lawn this year, as we are adding more perennial
items, but still want some space for the annuals we grow with more or
less success depending on the year. The things that are planted once and
harvested for many years are far less work after the planting year, but
they do occupy space all the time.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

On 3/15/2016 9:39 AM, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
George Shirley wrote:

Our raised beds are four feet wide, one sixteen feet long, the other two
eight feet long, takes up a lot of lawn for raised beds, thank goodness.
Would rather grow grub than grass.

I agree that food is better than lawn, unless your lawnmower is food,
which I suspect would cause a major freak out in George's HOA.
Luckily we're required to have a six foot tall fence, most of our
neighbors are shorter than six foot plus so we grow what we want in back.

I have personally shrunk beds multiple times. The 5 foot by 50 foot bed
was based on "I can reach 30 inches" which was true, but not so useful
in practice as it was hard to _do_ much at that reach, actually. It was
also unmanageable (this may be my brain's limitations, but there you go.)
The four foot wide beds have side walls that are one foot high. We only
have about six inches of Square Foot mix in each and we add composted
cow manure annually plus little dabs of compost when we plant something.
My only problem is my wife, she wants to plant more stuff than we can
handle. She is the middle child of five, I think she was always hungry
as a child because two older brothers and two younger daughters could
reach the grub before she could. G I shouldn't have taken so many
psychology classes in college.

A giant bed/block is hard to stay on top of. My current bedding is 3
feet wide (straddle-able) and no more than 10 feet long - so I can "do"
a bed, deal with all its weeds, whatever, and move on. I'd find the 4x16
a bear to deal with, but, as I said, this may be mostly in my head.
I don't try to straddle, have a tractor seat on wheels and just scoot
around the sides. I can reach halfway across from outside the bed. Works
pretty good plus the scooter has a basket and a tool shelf so I've got
everything I need. My climbing plants only climb five feet on trellis
and I can reach that high sitting. If it weren't for a bad back, bad
knees, arthritic elbows I could really get going. It only hurts when I move.

I burn a lot more path space relative to garden space (one reason for
the giant bed, originally) but I can get more done in the garden space;
and total space is not a particular constraint, so the "need" for "path
space efficiency" was entirely made-up, in hindsight.
We set our raised bed walks one and a half times the width of the
electric lawnmower plus I can weed whack the grass right up against the
bed sides. I thought about the beds for awhile and then did what my wife
said.

I plan to annex more lawn this year, as we are adding more perennial
items, but still want some space for the annuals we grow with more or
less success depending on the year. The things that are planted once and
harvested for many years are far less work after the planting year, but
they do occupy space all the time.

Lucky man, we have no more space, the whole property is only 6500 square
feet with a 1960 square foot home on it plus driveway and sidewalk. I
miss the 14,000 square foot property we had in Louisiana and the
majestic cherry bark oak in the back yard. I also miss my sassafras tree
so brought a cutting with me and it's almost three feet tall now.
Sassafras leaves are the spice called bay leaf and we use a lot of it.

I'm thinking of petitioning the HOA directors to allow me to put in two
doe and one buck rabbit. Rabbit is only second to human meat in protein
plus their manure does not burn and can go right into the garden and I
can sell the hides to boot. Ran a commercial rabbitry back in the
sixties and seventies and really like rabbit meat. I'm sure they're
going to say no but it might be possible. Rabbits don't make a lot of
noise and they don't stink.

On 3/18/2016 1:16 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

I also miss my sassafras tree
so brought a cutting with me and it's almost three feet tall now.
Sassafras leaves are the spice called bay leaf and we use a lot of it.
Yours is the first time I've seen sassafrass referenced as "bay
leaf". In cookbooks I've seen, kitchens I've inhabited, as well as
he
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2468/
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/search?q=Bay%20Leaves
"bay leaf" is, well, bay leaf. That is the leaf from the "sweet bay"
tree (Lauris nobilis), native to the eastern Mediterranean and the
so-called "middle east" and is not the misnamed magnolia that grows
widely in the Southern flood plain. It is the stuff sold in grocery
stores as "bay". Sweet bay (Lauris nobilis) leaves never are lobed.
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), OTOH, is native to NA and also is a
member of the Lauraceae family but its culinary uses are more limited
than bay. In their fresh native state, sassafrass leaves' essential oil
contains a known carcinogen.
http://www.bellarmine.edu/faculty/drobinson/sassafras.asp
However, dried and powdered, sassafras becomes a finishing seasoning
known as "filé" along the Gulf coast. The "Zatarain's" brand of filé is
what's available in supermarkets here but I suspect home-grown might be
more flavorful.
I have a container-grown dwarfed Lauris nobilis that is eight or
nine years old. Although it has modest nutrient and water needs and is
native to warm latitudes, I must protect it from strong summer sun as
well as heavy summer rains. The oils in fresh bay leaves absolutely
brutalize the soft tissue inside the mouth but that instantaneous burst
of pure tutti frutti flavor that precedes the discomfort can be worth
it.

Yes, you're right, lost my mind at night. It is a true bay tree, should
have said the sassafras leaves are used for gumbo file'. That's what I
get for not getting enough sleep the night before. Had the two of them
side by side in Louisiana, both useful trees.

George Shirley wrote:
On 3/18/2016 1:16 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

I also miss my sassafras tree
so brought a cutting with me and it's almost three feet tall now.
Sassafras leaves are the spice called bay leaf and we use a lot of
it.
Yours is the first time I've seen sassafrass referenced as "bay
leaf". In cookbooks I've seen, kitchens I've inhabited, as well as
he
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2468/
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/search?q=Bay%20Leaves
"bay leaf" is, well, bay leaf. That is the leaf from the "sweet bay"
tree (Lauris nobilis), native to the eastern Mediterranean and the
so-called "middle east" and is not the misnamed magnolia that grows
widely in the Southern flood plain. It is the stuff sold in grocery
stores as "bay". Sweet bay (Lauris nobilis) leaves never are lobed.
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), OTOH, is native to NA and also is a
member of the Lauraceae family but its culinary uses are more limited
than bay. In their fresh native state, sassafrass leaves' essential
oil contains a known carcinogen.
http://www.bellarmine.edu/faculty/drobinson/sassafras.asp
However, dried and powdered, sassafras becomes a finishing seasoning
known as "filé" along the Gulf coast. The "Zatarain's" brand of
filé is what's available in supermarkets here but I suspect
home-grown might be more flavorful.
I have a container-grown dwarfed Lauris nobilis that is eight or
nine years old. Although it has modest nutrient and water needs and
is native to warm latitudes, I must protect it from strong summer
sun as well as heavy summer rains. The oils in fresh bay leaves
absolutely brutalize the soft tissue inside the mouth but that
instantaneous burst of pure tutti frutti flavor that precedes the
discomfort can be worth it.

Yes, you're right, lost my mind at night. It is a true bay tree,
should have said the sassafras leaves are used for gumbo file'.
That's what I get for not getting enough sleep the night before. Had
the two of them side by side in Louisiana, both useful trees.

We have sassafras growing wild all over the place here ... had no idea it
could be used for anytrhing but root beer flavoring . Growing some okra
again this year , might be a pot of gumbo in my future . I'll be looking for
a bay tree too .

--
Snag

On 3/18/2016 4:17 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

Had the two of them side by side in Louisiana, both useful trees.
I very much would like to have a sassafras tree but they are rare
in these parts. In my youth, when my toes were still webbed, we had
trees in the wetlands that closely resembled what I'm seeing on the w3
but I can't say they're the same or whether any are left. Suppose I
should get out more. We use filé infrequently enough that I usually
just buy a new bottle and compost the old. It'd be nice to pick and dry
for myself as with the bay. I'm not so sure a sassafras tree could
maintain here; too dry and sandy. However a magnolia tree transplanted
in during the late '70's, not my doing and for which I had low
expectations, now shades the garden for most of the year so....

Our property in Louisiana was on an ancient sand dune, probably made
when the Gulf of Mexico was a sea lapping against the high land to the
north and east. Had to dig down two feet of really nice soil, mostly
from plants dying for many years, to get to the sand. There were lots of
clam shells mixed into the sand. We were actually at the highest point
of land in the city at 12 feet above sea level. Pretty much it was toss
a seed in and jump back. In addition we amended the soil with compost,
including cleaning out a few cow barns for friends. They thought we were
such nice people to help, we felt really good for getting several pick
up loads of composted cow manure. Over the 22 years we lived in that
house the gardens were amended at least three times a year with home
compost plus the cow manure. Never took any horse manure, to many drugs
go into those critters that I would not want in my vegetables.

Had a pear tree, a Japanese persimmon, a peach, two plums, and a very
nice kumquat tree, all fed compost on a annual timing. Lots of good
fruit. This place is two inches of sand on top of five feet of gumbo
clay. I don't think I will live long enough to amend so, therefore, the
vegetable garden is raised bed. Works for us but makes me wish we had
bought a house on real earth. Builders did it this way to keep us out of
paying for federal flood insurance.

We have a kumquat, a fig, and a pear here but we have to amend them
nearly monthly to keep them growing. I'm not digging through five feet
of clay to help my plants, don't have a machine that can do it either.
Emptied the compost barrel the other day. The barrel got full so we just
turned it twice a day and left it alone. About a quarter of the barrel
was really good compost when we opened it. Nice, smelled like a good
loam, put some in the trench where I planted the black crowders and then
we potholed it with the tomatoes, etc. It just takes so long to make the
stuff. I think I mentioned the pear tree is totally full of wee pears
and blooms. It's going to kill my soul to have to thin out the pears but
it will be necessary to get a decent crop. Plus will fertilize at least
once a month until harvest.

Waiting on rain again here.

On 3/18/2016 4:17 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

Had the two of them side by side in Louisiana, both useful trees.
I very much would like to have a sassafras tree but they are rare
in these parts. In my youth, when my toes were still webbed, we had
trees in the wetlands that closely resembled what I'm seeing on the w3
but I can't say they're the same or whether any are left. Suppose I
should get out more. We use filé infrequently enough that I usually
just buy a new bottle and compost the old. It'd be nice to pick and dry
for myself as with the bay. I'm not so sure a sassafras tree could
maintain here; too dry and sandy. However a magnolia tree transplanted
in during the late '70's, not my doing and for which I had low
expectations, now shades the garden for most of the year so....

My lovely wife has always been threatened with divorce if she ever
plants another !@#$% magnolia or a %$#@ crepe myrtle. Magnolia drop
seeds annually, crepe myrtle lets them come up from the ten square foot
or more root system The devil made those trees along with ticks and
fleas. G