Taters Got Left Out

Just in the interest of completing yesterday's post, I've got a picture of the potato beds. It's nice because the early spuds are starting to flower now. Potatoes have such beautiful flowers it would be almost worth growing them just for that purpose.

Those are two 4' by 8' beds with late potatoes in the one in the background. Outside the fence on the right is tansy which grows into a nice hedge and attracts beneficial insects. In the background on the left is a flamingo willow that I really love. It has leaves with a pinkish cast and sways beautifully in the breeze. It also attracts a number of beneficials when it flowers in the Spring. The tiny wasps go crazy on it. 

And not to totally ignore politics, here's Josh Marshall:

Trump's promises of vast riches got the GOP into a bind relying on him to fund a general election on his own. But that was all a lie. He's broke or near broke. And the GOP is now facing mid-summer with a campaign that is broke, has no fundraising apparatus, no candidate with big bucks and no field operation. He's done the GOP worse than the most screwed over creditor he ever sharked.

Couldn't happen to a nicer more deserving party. 

Making the Bed

Not really into politics today. Responded to a few pro-gun folks at the PS site. Heart's not in it, though. Built a new raised bed in my lawn over the weekend. It's a long process because I don't want to spring for the amount of soil necessary to fill a 4' x 8' by 10 inches deep bed. This is my method and it has evolved a bit or I'm just getting better.

I start by wetting newspaper and putting down a nice thick layer for a weedblock. It saves taking the paper to the recycle, too. Ink is soy-based now so hopefully not too lethal to Mother Earth. I put some saved branches from the brush-pile on top of the paper. I could put them by the road for the village to take, but why let them go to waste. The birds will miss them in the brush-pile, though. It's kind of a variant on hugelkultur.  

And yes, I still have a shit-ton of leaves saved from last fall itching to be put to use. They go on top of the branches. There are lots of earthworms and other small critters amongst them to turn leaves and branches into soil. 

Fortunately, I had a few bags of topsoil laying around to top it. It has been planted with crimson clover now and watered and mulched with a little chopped straw. 

This is a bed I built earlier in the Spring. I guess that would be, in the Spring, since we've moved past the solstice now. It has clover and a small assortment of weeds growing in it. In a bit, I'll throw another layer of leaves on it and then either mulch it good or another cover crop. These two will be ready for planting at least by next Spring. I'll make one more this Summer. That'll give me six of them in the yard. Also have two at the community garden. I believe I'll give up one of those next year. It's not far away, but father than the backyard. 

Two cukes stretching for the trellis. Looking forward to pickles. Hoping to naturally ferment them for all that pro-biotic goodness. 

This is a planted bed with three broccoli, three tomato, three Thai pepper, one Swiss chard and snap peas growing up the trellis at the far end. Snap peas are wonderful. No shelling required. Swiss chard magically grows back after every harvest. Looking forward to everything else. 

This was posted at the Fort Edward Community Garden FB page. Really love the picture. I'll get there someday.

 

Elderberries

These are elderberries still in the flower stage. Recently took a class from co-op extension on canning. I'm looking forward to elderberry jam. The bush is still kind of small and I have several even smaller ones. Never forget the best time to plant was 5 or 10 years ago. Second best is now.

That's a penstemon in the foreground.