Behind the scenes: Rinsing pots

Washing pots between seasons may or may not protect against pests and diseases, but it's a very good way to kill a few hours on a hot summer day!

Garlic harvest

This year's harvest includes four varieties: German Red, German White, Music and "mix" which is a mix of garlics from last year's SCCG garlic crop. Thanks to Steve for the photos!

 

A+ team

On June 6, 2023, a team of 21 hardworking gardeners, including an adorable miniature person who pulled his first weed, prepped hills with compost/fertilizer and planted some 264 tomato/tomatillo and 250 sweet & hot peppers and eggplant plants, laid/tested irrigation, weeded/strawed fingerling potatoes, as well as direct-seeded some 5 rows of beans and okra, all by about 1 pm! 

May work day

 A big thank you to Bobo who captured the gang hard at work in May, tending the garlic patch, laying down fresh straw and weeding.

Summer harvest in full swing

 

2022 has been a particularly good year for beans. The tomatoes are looking good too, though the jury is out on whether the marigold bushes have had any impact on their quality and resilience. 

A most impressive caterpillar

 Gwen found an awesome-looking, hand-sized caterpillar today. It belongs to the cecropia moth - "North America's largest moth," according to Wikipedia. 

Look at the way it hangs from the branch! (There may be more on the way, judging from the larvae that were resting in a sack below. Look for them in the tree that's just behind the butterfly bush, near the blackberries.) 

Garlic Harvest '22

 Thanks to Andrew (in boater's hat) for documenting this year's garlic fest. Let the good times roll!

Spring time at River Farm

 

Flowering turnip tops welcomed us back to the farm in April. 

This spring's salads were wonderful, flavorful and bountiful. A second seeding meant the salads stayed edible and sweet even when the heat picked up in May. 

The big tomato planting included French marigolds, in between tomato plants, to try to ward off pests and diseases. If anything, the orange flowers will look nice and attract pollinators. 

Weeds, Inc.

We made good progress pulling up wiregrass and replanting the strawberry plants in our strawberry patch this weekend (see the neat rectangle on the left vs. the furry patch on the right). A thin layer of straw will hopefully help control the weeds, add warmth and retain moisture over the winter. 

Bonus picture: Victory over a big weed pile in the recent past.

Weeds aren't all bad. Look at the milkweed going to seed - to help feed future butterflies. 

Strawberry patch recovery

 It's hard work, but fall/winter is a good time to tackle the wire grass that has invaded the strawberry patch.  The results are worth it!

Cover cropping

 Got the hardpan tilled and added cover crop

Special attachment to till the hardpan

Al Tucker and his tractor

Lloyd and tractor

Hand seeding the cover crop

Coming soon: green striped cushaw

On a sweaty Saturday in August, Gwen announced a newcomer in our garden this year - a prized gourd known as a green striped cushaw. It may be too beautiful to eat. There are several lurking beneath broad leaves or hanging in cloth slings. Check them out! 

Behind the Scenes: Weeding, killing bugs and dragging a wet rag along irrigation lines

John suggested that the blog feature mainly mouth-watering pictures of our harvest; but Lloyd wanted to show what gardening really amounts to: weeding, squashing bugs, and taking up irrigation lines. Here's a selection from July 3, 2021, a day with cool temperatures and a partly cloudy sky, perfect for garden chores. 

Lloyd and John work as a team taking up spring irrigation lines

Dennis weeding beens

Mark weeding the cherry tomatoes

Gwen weeding the winter squash and looking out for bugs (see previous post)

Sunflowers doing what they're supposed to do

Even though most potato plants have lost their leaves, they are still producing lots of spuds - including beautiful Yukon Golds

The sweet potato plants are slowly coming along