Here in Sacramento, cool weather and a European holiday mean that us urban farmers have plenty of energy in the garden. So yesterday, we drove out into the county and bought a couple of bales of clover straw to use in our garden. They were $3 a piece from a farm we found on
Craiglist.org. Apparently, clover straw is
not that valuable when it comes to feeding animals; luckily, I hate animals so much, I won't even eat them. So it is cheaper than the fancy straws they were selling at the farm. Clover straw
may help us with nitrogen in our soil (in the long term), and an organic mulch is supposed to:
- help reduce the amount of water needed for plants, by reducing evaporation;
- increase the biological activity in our soil, by adding organic matter;
- reduce weeds, by blocking out the sun.
Here you can see the straw mulch under the zucchinis and yellow squashes. We also spread mulch over at our community garden spot, but we haven't remembered to take the camera over there yet, so you'll have to wait for pictures.
In other news, things are exploding into bloom and fruit all over the show in our backyard. We've eaten two of our Early Girl tomatoes now (just had one for lunch), and we've also had plenty of basil and various squashes. We had our first chili pepper, an Anaheim, the other day, and the chili plants are getting bigger and bigger.
Here are some Early Girl toms lurking in the undergrowth. In the next photo, you can see our corn going great guns and also the chili plants and a bale of clover straw. It smells nice...
The corn are against the fence and the chilis are closer. Our neighbours over that fence have recently changed, and the new ones have removed the amazing weed jungle that was developing over there, which is probably good for our not having to do as much weeding. They are planting some trees, so future gardeners in our spot will have even more shade to contend with.
The corn looks funny. I don't know what else to say about that fact.
Here is a
cornflower flower.
And a tomatillo has volunteered and is flowering its little heart out.
And that's all she wrote.
This is the area right outside our back door. There are a few succulents from my grandpa and a nasturtium cutting I took from the community garden.
This is one of four tomatoes we have going. I don't remember what type this is, but the plant is very full of fruit, however they are all green.
Stawberries!! This plant has made some delicious ones.
The cornflowers came back! They are growing from a crack in the concrete, but doing well.
Here is our most healthy looking tomato making some biggies. This variety is called Cherokee Purple.
This is that same healthy plant. I am very proud of how well balanced it is growing.
Aubergine looking fine.
Our poppies! they took over the planet a few weeks ago, but I gave them a massive haircut.
This is a Zephyr squash. It grows green on the tips as you can see. They started the season weak, but are doing fabulous now.
And here is a tiny basil that popped up between the cracks. I am so proud of you little basil!
In the background, you can see the community compost heaps, the rules for which Maddy has resolved to make a nice display of. What to put in, what not to put in etc. In this shot, you can see (near right) a sunflower volunteer, a few eggplants of different varieties (foreground), a tomatillo volunteer (mid left), and the plants on our frame.
This is our 7-8 year old grape vine which we hear doesn't produce. Maddy gave it some fertilizer and we have been pruning it, but advice about how to make it produce grapes would be well appreciated.
This is a picture of one of our black zebra tomatoes that is yet to ripen. Lovely!
Here you can see the straw mulch under the zucchinis and yellow squashes. We also spread mulch over at our community garden spot, but we haven't remembered to take the camera over there yet, so you'll have to wait for pictures.
Here are some Early Girl toms lurking in the undergrowth. In the next photo, you can see our corn going great guns and also the chili plants and a bale of clover straw. It smells nice...
The corn are against the fence and the chilis are closer. Our neighbours over that fence have recently changed, and the new ones have removed the amazing weed jungle that was developing over there, which is probably good for our not having to do as much weeding. They are planting some trees, so future gardeners in our spot will have even more shade to contend with.
The corn looks funny. I don't know what else to say about that fact.
And a tomatillo has volunteered and is flowering its little heart out.
And that's all she wrote.
