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| just a few of the winter squash harvested in 2015 |
zucchini and yellow summer squash; bushel of green beans, bushel of cucumbers, peck of bell peppers, 30 pounds cabbage, plus lots of parsley, chives, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme and dill.
24 meat chickens; 6 meat ducks; 1 turkey and several hundred eggs.
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The first harvest: cabbages, tomatoes and peppers.... yum!
This is the first year that I don't need to water the garden every day. In fact, due to all the rain this season, I have watered it only twice, and only for a short period.
When it comes to watering the garden look for the signs that it needs water, don't just assume that because the topsoil looks or feels dry and it hasn't rained it in days (or longer) that the plants are in thirsty.
Over-watering is just as bad for the plants as not getting adequate water.
Check the soil at root level. If it is dry, they need a drink. If it is moist, leave the hose turned off.
Another thing I have noticed with the winter squash is when those huge leaves begin to droop and resemble half closed umbrellas they need a little drink. I set the hose a few inches above ground level, set the spray to a wide, medium flow and secure it so it will spray across to all (or most) of the plants and the ground. It usually takes about 1/2-1 hour until the leaves perk up again.
Since the plants are supporting large, growing squash I do not want them to get stressed, so I water them just until they respond.
This method seems to be working well. There has been no sign of white mildew, or other damage caused by over-watering.
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| mulching with hay from the goat pen |
By using the hay from the goat pen as mulch between the plant rows, there has been a lot less weeding to do and the ground has been remaining moist and so it requires less watering.
When the gardening season is at an end the hay will be turned into the ground, along with the hay from their stall, and will compost directly in the garden over the winter months.
Since I do not use any chemicals or pesticides in my garden it is a daily chore to keep up with the
I tried a concoction of soapy water and vinegar which I sprayed on all the leaves of the cabbages. It actually worked, until it rained.
Then I read somewhere that baking soda sprinkled on the plants will keep all the pests away. That also worked well! .....until it rained. So I kept up with either sprinkling or spraying whenever the solutions got washed away and until the cabbages were large and formed well enough to let them fend for themselves.
In the end I harvested 6 cabbages with a total weight of 22.5 pounds and barely a hole in sight.By the way, I also sprayed and sprinkled the Brussel Sprouts too.
The only other insect issue has been Japanese Beetles. This annoying little bugs can eat leaves in no time. The sparrows have found a happy feeding ground in my garden. They can be seen each morning by the dozens sitting on the tomato fencing and feeding on the beetles.
Whatever beetles the birds don't get we try and collect by hand and then feed them to the chickens.
Everything else in the garden managed well on their own with no assistance from me.
The zucchini and summer squash have finally stopped producing! I stand in awe at the amount they produced this year... a whopping 108 pounds from 8 plants. At this moment there are still on vines one giant zucchini and giant yellow squash which I am letting grow as long as possible and then I will save the seeds and remove all the withered plants.
Some of this squash I shared with whomever would accept it. The remainder we ate, or dehydrated, or shredded and froze to use in zucchini bread and muffins this winter. It's amazing how much easier it is to store these veggies once they have been dehydrated. 20 pounds will shrink down to fill a quart sized canning jar.
If you haven't tried dehydrating your surplus vegetables I recommend you give it a try. It is very easy, and there isn't much work or prep time involved in comparison to canning.
Don't have a dehydrator, that's okay, use the oven set on a low 135 degrees for veggies and fruit. To prepare the zucchini and summer squash it isn't necessary to blanch them after they have been sliced to about 3/8" thickness. Last year I didn't blanch. This year I blanched for 6-7 minutes and found that they reconstitute to their original size quicker. They are ideal for slow cooker meals since the extended cooking time allows them to fully reconstitute.
The four raised beds were filled with homemade compost at the start of the season. Then weekly throughout most of the growing time the entire garden was given a heavy dosing of chicken poo tea.
When I planted the cabbages in the first raised bed I mulched them using the wood chips from the ducks pen. First I put all the wood chips and duck poo into a 30 gallon tote and filled it with water.
After a few days the chips were saturated and the poo was mostly dissolved in the water.
Next I spread a thick layer of those chips around the transplants, about 6-8 inches deep, then gave it all a good dose of the poo tea. I did the same treatment to the Brussel Sprouts and Muskmelons.
Not a weed in sight all season!
This was the first time growing these three vegetables. The Brussel Sprouts seem to be doing well, there are tons of little sprouts growing and developing. And the muskmelons have issued several of their fruit (one per plant).
The most amazing development in the garden is the winter squash patch where I planted 4 Blue Hubbard from seeds I save from last year; there are 5+ Blue Hubbards growing and are each about the size of a basketball. The Butternut squash which I have never had success with currently has about a dozen nice squash of varying weights, the largest is at least 5 pounds and still growing.
Another test is the Acorn squash. Since they are small and the plants are large it is difficult to find them and get an accurate count, but there are more than 5 at this time.
To plant these squash I dug up and loosened the soil of the entire area where the seedlings would go.
Then I added lots of wood chip compost mixed with aged chicken poo. After transplanting, all the plants got a good dose of chicken poo tea. At first I fed them weekly for two months, then every other week. Now I just make certain to water the plants when I see their leaves beginning to droop.
And by the way, no weeds here either! I mulched thickly with wood chips soaked in the chicken poo tea.
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