Apocalypse: The Farm Report 05-17-2019

Apocalypse!
The Farm Report 05-17-2019

Apocalypse! Well, at least that's what it has been looking like out here for the last month or more. We are lucky here at Oakdale Farm. Our fields are farmable this year. The crops are planted in and sprouting. But! Across Walnut Creek, on the other side, the smoke continues to billow. The floods washed tons and tons (literally) of corn stalks out onto the fields. In order to be able to cultivate and plant the land, the stock rubble must be burned off. It can take days of smoldering and burning. I often have thought what it must be like in Scotland and Ireland when they talk about the peat bogs burning in old romantic novels. 

Let's call this one the May calendar picture.  It is a little smoky, but this is more like it. 

The cherry tree from last time is now out of bloom, and in full swing growing cherries. This tree is North Star. It is a full black/deep red cherry through and through. The juice is almost black, too. It is technically a sour pie cherry, but it is a very sweet pie cherry. Delicious. I also have Balaton and Danube. I'm a cherry fan.

The rye cover crop is at its zenith. It will be killed off in a few days. It really works! This was a cornfield last year. Right where you are looking, we always had a huge problem with giant ragweed and mare's tail weeds. With the cover crop? Almost none. Less Roundup, less fertilizer, more soybeans! 

To see what I see when I'm back at the garden in the evenings. If you could 'stitch' the picture above with this one end-to-end, you'll get a more panoramic view. It is beautiful to me. Often, I see deer lined up at the edge of the timber watching me plant. Then, when I go in, they come down to check progress - and have a taste.... 

These are Sugar Snap peas. I like Chinese food, and snap pea pods in a stir fry is something special. These will climb all the way to the top of the 'pea' fence. 

Or...'Rose' fence in this case. Out here on the knob, wind is a big issue. Have I ever mentioned that before? Well, it is! Chad and I constructed this fence last year as a Rose Confinement and Protection Area. The idea is to protect the hybrid tea roses inside it from the winds. 

That was a great idea last year, but my roses were poor quality and I had a late start, and I think whatever else went wrong was Chad's fault. (I can say that because he isn't here right now, and I'm his Dad.) We never give up though, we just draw a line and start over. Joyce's sister, Nancy, and her husband, David, gave us a wonderful gift for Joyce this year: A whole new start on a hybrid tea rose bed.  Plants are such wonderful gifts and such a wonderful way to have a living memorial. And I also like to raise hybrid tea roses. It sorta scales out to the fact that I seem drawn to try doing just about anything difficult. Is that a character flaw, or is that just what it means to be an Iowan? Anyway....

Wow! Do my strawberries look great this year. That nasty cold didn't bother them a bit. That 3-feet of continuous snow cover all winter long didn't do 'em any harm either. I can taste the shortcakes already! 

I do believe that we have a winner in the broccoli department. Arcadia, from Johnny's, is the broccoli I raised a couple of years ago that was so sweet, and the one that kept throwing off side shoots all summer long and even up until frost. I'm sure of it - I'm sure of it, I think. 

New basil plants are at the ready to transplant and 'pot up.' The parsley is being stubborn (but so am I). 

Deutscher Garten is waiting patiently. I hope I didn't assume too much when I told you about Deutscher Garten last time. Deutscher means German! So, Deutscher Garten means  German Garden, to us in English. These are some of the plants I've grown from seeds Carola sent me from Hamburg - Germany that is! We'll have a whole little dedicated German Garden this year.

These are all cabbages. Homemade sauerkraut anyone? It is delicious - and almost nothing at all like that sour stuff you buy in a can. 

This is the year for red salvia in the shop planter boxes. But I have some marigolds just in case. (I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optimist - with experience. Red Green says, 'The pessimists are more accurate, but the optimists do live longer.) If I don't need the marigolds for the front of the shop, I'll plant them around the roses to help ward off the nasty bugs and nematodes. 

Why am I showing you plants still in the greenhouse instead of out in the garden? This almanac calendar tells the story. (You'll have to zoom it up to see the numbers.) One week ago, we had frost warnings on both Thursday and Friday nights. This week? It has been in the 90'sF. Next week, it looks like we might be back down in the 60'sF for daily highs. I don't like to set out peppers and tomatoes until the night time temperatures are ROUTINELY above 50F. Routinely! So, again, patience.  Let the weather settle. They will catch up and pass the ones that get set out too soon and get chilled. Sweetcorn sprouts better when it is warmer, too. Patience m'boy, patience. 

And speaking of personal discipline: 'Yes,' to answer the question, 'Can you have too much fertilizer in your homemade potting soil mix?' I am afraid I have fried my cauliflowers. I had intended not to fry them until much later when I could dip them into a beer batter and dunk 'em in hot oil. I've got more seeds though, and it is only the middle of May. I'll keep trying. 

My peeps is feathering out. Soon it will be time for the great new world of outdoor living for them! 

You can learn an awful lot from nature and animals. This last shot shows the little peeps reinforcing one of life's most important natural rules: "At all times, keep your fanny warm and dry - especially at bedtime." I try to practice this rule myself; sometimes with more success than others, but I always try to keep that rule! Until next time, all is well here at Oakdale Farm. I hope it is with you, too.