Dragons at PAR Davies! 8/28/13

Hi Everyone,

HARVEST WEDNESDAY 138 lbs

TOTAL YTD 1889 lbs

In spite of the hot weather, we had a good hard-working bunch of gardeners yesterday morning….Jamie, G.A., Susan, Martha, Greg and myself. Don dropped by to give us some really neat plant markers. We are still harvesting a good bit - squash, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, basil, and beans. Martha delivered all to the women's shelter.

In addition to the harvest, G.A. and Jamie got busy planting, which we really needed to get going at. They planted collards, radishes, carrots, rutabagas, purple and white kohlrabi.  Last week G.A. cleaned out half of the purple hull pea bed and planted kale, and we planted the crimson clover in the far bed by the compost.  It feels good to be getting things into the ground, even if it is a little at a time.

Jamie planting our lovely kohlrabi.
This will be a colorful purple and white bed.
Sweet potatoes in the foreground and
middle right is the Crimson Clover.

The tomatillo bed has been pulled up as well. I don't know if we will try these again. They bloomed and produced a lot but were infested with a larvae of some sort of waspy critter. We spent too much time separating the wormy ones from the good ones.

A DRAGON DAY: We got real dragony today when we harvested Dragon Tongue Beans and planted Red Dragon Carrots. Both of these are from our friend Julie and Seed Savers. She brought us so many fun things. The Dragon Tongue Beans are a cross between a big pole bean and a yellow wax. They are tender even when they get big.

Dragon Tongue Beans…they kind of lose their purple spots as they get older.

Last week Jamie was busy shredding in the compost bins. We are going to have some really good compost next year. This is what I've wanted for so long, but we never had time before.

We have a 'system' now!

PEPPERS GALORE: We have been pretty blown away with our pepper crop. We've been averaging between 15 and 20 lbs of peppers a week, with 22 lbs yesterday. That's counting the Bells and all the other varieties. They are very tall and have been producing since early summer. They have been fertilized with comfrey tea and fish fertilizer, and started out with a dose of epsom salts. Peppers are so good for you, and we are glad we are able to provide abundant harvests without the use of toxic chemicals (peppers are one of the dirty dozen). Some of the limbs get so heavy they just break off.

Another crop that has just starting to get prolific is the okra. Picking this okra is no job for the height-challenged person. I don't know what we will do if it gets much taller! We sent 8 lbs. of okra yesterday. Of course, okra kind of grows itself, so we can't take too much credit for it.

Martha and our protector coyote with the lovely okra.

The zinnias were overtaking our few peanut plants. The Saturday gardeners tied them up and now the peanuts have a chance to do their thing. I don't think any of us know what to expect from the peanuts, but we'll find out. I hope peanuts and zinnias are companion plants…oops, I forgot to check that out. Sometimes you just have to put things where you have room.

Zinnias & peanuts

CONGRATULATIONS: I'd like to congratulate all of the graduating MG's. I wish you all the best in your new adventure…especially our friends we have gotten to know in working with you at PAR Davies. I know some of you are very busy and need a breather, but I hope you will come back and join us whenever you are able.

At this point the weather looks good for working on Saturday. I will send out a reminder and a To Do List on Friday.

'Til later,

Dianne