Cucumbers starting

[Pulsegleaner]

The answer is, maybe, WITH TIME.

We don't HAVE a farm&feed store, we're suburban going into urban

The main problem is quite a simple one, I don't drive. I've been trying to learn, but basically, until my therapy actually gets somewhere, I have little to no chance of passing a driving test.

That being said, I DO live near Blue Hills at Stone Barn (basically the farm property the Rockefeller's own) and they are always looking for good gardening talent. WHEN my therapy works well enough, and WHEN I have a driving license, Mom is pretty confident they will be glad to hire me and my second planned major act there will be to see if they are interested in some sort of a corn breeding program* (plant my seed, I cream off about 10% for breeding, the ears that don't meet my needs are sold in the fall at their Farmer's Market, the leftover kernels go into the feed for the animals).

*The FIRST thing is to explain to them 1. why letting their back wall be drowned in kudzu is a bad thing and 2. How wheedwhacking it (their first likely impulse) is just going to make the situation worse)

 

[Paula_Y]

I'm sorry. We are starting growing vegetables in the garden, should we till soil with one of these? I mean they are a little bit pricey, but that's just to save some time in the garden, right?

 

[seedcorn]

I'm sorry. We are starting growing vegetables in the garden, should we till soil with one of these? I mean they are a little bit pricey, but that's just to save some time in the garden, right?

These what? You can do it all manually. IF this is a life style and you want grow enough to process, a tiller is a nice piece to own and is cheap in the long run. Otherwise, not sure, dig manually or rent one.

 

[Paula_Y]

These what? You can do it all manually. IF this is a life style and you want grow enough to process, a tiller is a nice piece to own and is cheap in the long run. Otherwise, not sure, dig manually or rent one.

And what about tillers? Won't that be hard for a woman to guide a front tine tiller?

 

[seedcorn]

I would only buy a rear tine. They are easy to operate. The front tine can kill you unless you only use it to cultivate.

 

[flowerbug]

once cucumbers are growing you won't be able to easily till in there. i use a stirrup hoe.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

7/11

Finally a bit of good news. While heading out to the grocery store today, I looked at the circle garden and it looks like one or two cow pea plants and one rice bean plant actually made it through the critter's assault. I move the cloches over them so the are protected (as plants, it is unlikely the squirrels or chipmunks will still be interested, but I saw a rabbit this morning, so I am taking no chances)

I suppose this means that the sprouts I have going inside (another cow pea and two soybeans) will go in the back, where there is still a free cage.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Seeds from Thailand finally arrived. Purple Yard-longs look pretty typical, brownish red seeds
Mottled podded ones have an interesting orca bean color pattern (black spots on white). Not the pale one I had before (since that one was yin yang and the yin was mottled red) but could be a close relative.

Ordered some stuff from Trade winds seeds a few days ago that's on it's way as well. They had seed for actual ebony, so I thought it would be fun to do one of those as a houseplant (I've done mahogany, teak, rosewood, and a lot of other timbers before, but ebony isn't one of them.)

Also when my replacement tree arrived from Sacred Succulents a few days ago, there was a list of new stuff. looks like they got their hands on some interesting blue green corn from Peru that I'll be ordering tomorrow.

 

[flowerbug]

Seeds from Thailand finally arrived. Purple Yard-longs look pretty typical, brownish red seeds
Mottled podded ones have an interesting orca bean color pattern (black spots on white). Not the pale one I had before (since that one was yin yang and the yin was mottled red) but could be a close relative.

Ordered some stuff from Trade winds seeds a few days ago that's on it's way as well. They had seed for actual ebony, so I thought it would be fun to do one of those as a houseplant (I've done mahogany, teak, rosewood, and a lot of other timbers before, but ebony isn't one of them.)

Also when my replacement tree arrived from Sacred Succulents a few days ago, there was a list of new stuff. looks like they got their hands on some interesting blue green corn from Peru that I'll be ordering tomorrow.

it's like Christmas!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Good thing they arrived as well, I took a look and the seller seems to have gone off ebay, so no replacements.

In other news there is a surprise in the pot with the conehead thyme as well as the rabbit's foot clover. It looks like one of the seeds of the thing I planted last year (the sesbania with the palm like leaves) overwintered and sprouted as well. And the other sesbania stuff isn't dead like I feared.

Oh and there is a second volunteer rice bean seedling that has shown up in the back under the cage so I may get some additional seed (it will be ordinary flat red, but at this point I'm too low on seed to be picky.

Plus, cleaning being what it is now, flat red is probably all I can expect to find from now on.

In fact, apart from the speckled eye and painted eye cow peas, I don't think there is ANY of the old variant seed I can still find with any regularity.