taken and posted with the PlayBook
We were very pleased to discover that all 38 garlic cloves we started last fall made it through the winter. Presuming they make it to the fall we should have a good supply to plant as well as a lot for cooking. And there are the scapes to look forward to using.
Our gaillardia were pleasingly happy this year, as this industrious (and in non-stop motion) honeybee attests.
Last night I completed the nitrogen (N), potassium (P), and phosphorus (K) tests on the soil sample. Basically what you do with this Lee Valley Tools test kit is you collect a soil sample, add water, agitate, and let sit until the soil precipitates out. Then you add water to one small container for each of the three elements, add a pre-measured amount of a test powder, agitate, let rest, and finally compare the colour of the resulting solution to colour-coded charts.
The first results suggested deficiencies in all three elements, which was surprising since we have good growth in the lawn. There was turfgrass at the sampled spot until a few weeks ago, when Faye remved it in preparation for our expansion of the vegetable garden. I agitated the samples again and for a longer time to better mix the testing solutions and water samples in the comparators. This time, while the nitrogen test still showed a deficiency, the P and K tests indicated that there is sufficient to surplus levels of these in our soil.
Now to learn how to best add nitrogen to our soil!
We bought an inexpensive soil test kit from Lee Valley Tools because we were curious about our garden’s soil compositon. I took a sample from a spot in the to be garden expansion. Sofar I have tested the ph, which is right just under 7.0. The NPK tests involve testing water from a soil/water mix, and the soil has not yet precipitated out so it will wait until tomorrow. I strongly doubt there are any elements significantly lacking yet it will be good to learn how we could fine tune ojr soil, if we need to.
Our butternut squash are coming along nicely. We may have five or six.
When you run out of room in the garden, you improvise.
Our garden continues to come along wonderfully. I will name some (and likely nowhere nearly all) of the stuff growing in it.
Rhubarb, zucchini (two varieties), habanero pepper, hot hungarian pepper, sweet (or bell) pepper), mesclun (lettuce) mix, carrots, beets, chocolate cherry tomatoes (approaching the top of the 5′ fence), sweet potatoes, basil, kohlrabi. Take a look.
previouslytexan 