all looking good

Update on Farm 7-11-15

    Went around and took some pictures of how some of my experiments are going. One is the potato tower; another is the tomato tower along with the vertical wall surrounding the pool in the greenhouse.  Also I will be talking about straw bale gardens with peas, and beans planted, along with pictures, hopefully before and after pictures. I have quite a bit to talk about so will get started.

     My potato tower went crazy, the vines have spread wide and occupies almost 8 ft. in width and show little signs of stress except from the weight of the vines. Originally standing straight up has succumbed to the weight of their mass and now resides on the ground, pretty much shading and obscuring all weeds around. The compost has created a mound of potato vines that should give me an ample supply of potatoes for my own use this fall. They are still growing and have no blooms yet, so are still a ways from maturing. I can’t wait to finally get into the pyramid and see just exactly how well it did. But all looks great.

    When planted:

    Now at 7-11-15:

     Next up is the tomato tower and it too has gone crazy. The center core of compost has been completely obscured and like the potato tower the weight of the foliage has dragged down the top of the tomatoes. The vines although contained in the cage are now more like a mushroom shape. Weeds have never been a problem. Picking tomatoes through the mass of foliage may be. One tower  still has plants standing tall . I imagine some as tall as myself if that gives you any indication to the size of the plants. I think 3 plants per cage would have been plenty judging by the size of things. Tomatoes are just now starting to set. I hope to have a heavy production based on blooms produced.

      When planted;

      Now at 7-11-15:

    The vertical wall is coming along in the greenhouse and I need to get back to building more lattice for it to grow on. The one lace vine died but the other took off fine from transplanting. So to balance things out and increase the spread of foliage I introduced trumpet vine to the other side in a large pot using primarily my potting soil as the major growing medium. It has taken off well and I now have vines growing up towards the lace vine. Hopefully between the two this will give me a nice permanent wall in the greenhouse surrounding the pool. The pool has worked out fine and I use quite frequently including when it is raining outside, which has been almost every day this last summer. My first cutting hay is still standing in the field, not being able to gather 3 days of subsequent sun to dry the hay enough to bale. All in all the wall is going great. With the added solar lights it gives a nice atmosphere to the greenhouse and the pool at night.

     Now at 7-11-15:

    The straw bale garden where I planted the green beans of the Kentucky wonder variety, and the peas, are also going crazy from the soil and rainfall. This required me to add extra support to help protect the vines from snapping their stems from the weight. The foliage is heavy and with the extra weight of the rain at times it seems to drag the vines down despite the tentacles of green clinging on to each other and the supports to keep them upright. Originally I had beans on one side and peas on the other side, now I have a mix of peas and beans as the vines intermingle from spreading so far. The peas are coming on heavy and I will have both peas in shell for stir frying, but also to be shelled for freezing to eat alone as a side dish. The beans are now just setting to blooming and small bean pods can be seen. I would like to clear all those vines out by end of month and replant for another crop of same if time allows.

    When planted:

   Now at 7-11-15:

    My other straw bale garden I planted as edge border of retaining pond has also went crazy by the addition of a pumpkin vine that has went on its own crazy venture blocking out my peppers view of the sun and I am sure hampering their ability to produce. Walking anywhere in the garden can be touchy and vine crunching, and has to be taken with caution. weeds has never been a problem , instead it has been more of a problem dealing with unruly vegetables destined to shield all other plants with vines and leaves soaking up all available sunlight making walking or finding an open space of soil almost impossible. In this regard this is what I want. Who really wants to pull weeds or lose valuable plants to weed growth? We would all rather see our plants do well and have very little time involved doing it. In this case I should have left the pumpkin vine out to grow in its own place where the vines won’t interfere with anything else going on. Oh well it looks as though I will have plenty of pumpkins to give away. This was supposed to be little pumpkins but instead from the size of them, imagine they will be just normal pumpkins judging from the size of the pumpkins now on the vine ripening. I also would use straw around the pepper plants as a mulch to prevent weeds as was my intention but the pumpkin took over instead. Kinda obliterating any thought of doing any mulching as it would be of no use.

    When planted:

    Now at 7-11-15:

      In conclusion: most of the projects I started are thriving well except the peppers due to the pumpkin taking over. Fertilization due to compost has generated an overabundance of foliage and has increased the weight on vines. A lot of the vine breakage is also due to the overabundance of rainfall this season, creating a perfect storm of potential for plants to do well.  I would give each individual project with the exception of the straw bale gardens more space. Also the pumpkin should be grown in its mound of compost completely separate from garden on the edge of a lawn. These things can be pesky if soil is fertile giving them all they need to grow. Most of this has been grown on poor soil that has never been part of a garden before. To prepare the area I dumped generous amounts of compost I made from manure and hay waste in a mixture of blended topsoil to create an almost perfect growing medium capable of holding moisture and also providing nutrients to maximize the potential of the plant without hybridization or genetically modified seed. This is all just heritage seed, straight run varieties maximized to their potential by providing all the nutrients needed by creating a perfect soil to allow the plants to grow to their potential. When plants are healthy they have their own built in pest defense as well shade weeds if given a proper start when planted. Companion planting also helps to provide necessary support for plants to reach their maximum potential. I will be doing more of this next season, by starting a straw bale garden with my compost using beans peas an corn and squash all planted together, where the corn acts as a support for the vines of peas and beans. And the squash or pumpkin can vine out as it wants, and hopefully the shaded of the foliage below the corn tops will help keep needed moisture to help the sweet corn grow. Oh well next year.