Weekly Garden Thread - October 1-7, 2022 [International Coffee Day Edition]

October 1, 2022 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Best vacation ever was to the island of Kauai. ‘The Garden Island.’

We had SO much fun - rented a car and drove all over the island. It was funny to realize that the entire ISLAND was the size of our Wisconsin COUNTY. Every INCH of it is astonishingly GORGEOUS!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks, Pete!

[GaltAdonis]

10:30 AM - On my second cup.

Just got out and rinsed off the crock pot.
With the Ian remnant slogging through and a chilly nip to the air -
and the fact that it is now October - homemade soup / stew season
is now upon us.

A good hearty beef & vegetable stew is in order - I think.

After my next (third) cup of coffee I shall commence to
chopping and dicing and sauteing - then simmering.

Then on to the mixing, kneading, forming, rising and
baking of homemade dinner rolls.

That's dinner - followed by sliced fruit and raspberry jello
for desert. After that, I and my girlfriend will just have
to figure out something else to do.

But don't worry - I have plans for that as well... (-:

.

[left that other site]

Yes I love that island. I used to own a timeshare in Princeville and visited many times. I loved to rent a Harley and just cruise around.

Those were the days.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Coffee quotes! (Brought over from: Coffee drinking is associated with increased longevity

---

"Coffee is a way of stealing time which should by rights belong to your older self." Terry Pritchard

I’m going to start measuring the complexity of coding tasks in coffee cups. “This was a five-espresso algorithm.” Unknown

"I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless." Napolean Bonaparte

"Coffee.... dark as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love." French...Unknown

Drinking beer in a coffee mug. I feel like I am cheating on my coffee. Unknown

"Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?" Albert Camus (unhuh...A French philospher!)

Come on Camus! Easy...have another cup of coffee! (Well, i guess it would be easy but he "passed" some time ago! We are still alive to have another cup though!)

[goodnesswins]

Morning, gardening FRiends...and thanks DIW for the coffee history..never knew all that. We are having a beautiful Fall and my pituful garden will produce some more tomatoes and a “mini” armenian cucumber ...we are tho, finally moved into our remodeled house and I am plannimg next years Courtyard garden (front entry) with raised beds and trellises...we live in a forest, on boulders, basically, and it is only good place with sun. Wish me luck.

[AFB-XYZ]

Many thanks! Now all that remains is to find a plant. If I can’t, I’ll just print these posts out and wait till spring.

Best, AFB-XYZ

[Qiviut]

A sample from the Chapter 'Artisanal Skills':

"A man who works with his hands is a laborer. A man who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist." - Louis Nizer

In many ways, we are building from the ground up. The richer we make the soil, the more meaningful the harvest. Gardeners live artful lives. Each year that we cultivate, the earth teaches us more about the skills to craft a life and livelihood from seeds and stems. We learn the harmony that comes from turning barren earth into a colorful and fruitful palette. Each season, our roots and desires to live sustainably inform design inspirations framed by the natural world around us - from luscious spring green through harshest winter gray. Apple cider to zinnias.

Garden historian Mac Griswold had it right: "Gardens are the slowest of the performing arts." As performing artists, every pot of herbal tea we make is artisanal, a blend of art, craft, and science. Each garden bed, the artistic vision of our inner painter, chef, and perfumer. Each compost pile, the artist's medium, the activist's plan of action, and a sandbox for kid engagement - and rogue pumpkins. Gardens are bringing back time for reflection and connection. They can offer a snail-paced still life that helps us to savor the fruits and flowers of our accomplishments and remember the gardeners who taught us, even if only for a few sacred moments in a busy week. Artisanal skills can provide a good meal or a livelihood. They offer a form of plan and innovations that keeps us entertained and intellectually challenged throughout the seasons of our life. Artisanal living gives us an opportunity to vote with our forks by supporting the farms, gardens, and agritourism sites that crop up in its wake, not the strip malls, processing plants, and food deserts that sadly remain too prevalent in corporatized dystopian landscapes. Artisans skillfully dovetail hands and heart - and as all gardeners know, that can surely heal the earth, even if only one backyard at a time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Y'all didn't know you were "artisans", did you? :-)

Subject 'essays' & information are alphabetical ... yes, there is a chapter on Apples & one on Zinnias! Also some chapters (58 total) examples: Cordials, Dandelions, Edible Flowers, Fiddleheads, Old Ways, Raised Beds, Thanksgiving Grace, Victory Gardens .... lots of subjects.

[Ellendra]

Mom and I got a lot of harvesting done on the farm yesterday. We spent about 3 hours digging potatoes, and then I spent one more hour tackling the squash and cucumber patch. Lots left to harvest still, but today is a recovery day.

While scything through the squash patch, I also went through the section where the tomatoes had been planted. Looks like they did come up, but they just weren’t aggressive enough to keep up with the living mulch method. Same with the carrots and basil. Good to know! I can still use the scatter-and-till planting technique for them, I just need to make sure I can keep the weeds down by hand.

Everything needs harvested all at once. I really need to get my house built so I can do a little every day instead of these once a week marathon workdays. I don’t have the stamina for this.

[painter]

I love a great cup of coffee.. my daughter and son in law back in 2016 started a custom small batch coffee roasting and coffee shop. They get raw coffee beans from all over the world. I have two or three favorites.It's better than ANY starbucks coffee! You can order on line or call.

Their facebook is

Twin Pikes Roastery

or their web page

https//twinpike.com

[Ellendra]

"Coffee.... dark as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love." French...Unknown

This is actually a Turkish proverb. It's the equivalent of the American saying that a fence should be "horse-high, hog-tight, and bull-strong".

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Has anyone here used a broadfork?”

I know it is a favorite tool of Elliot Coleman and wife Barbara Damrosh. (All of their books are great, BTW.)

Hobby Farms says:

https://www.hobbyfarms.com/broadfork-farm-uses-ways/

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Everything needs harvested all at once.”

I feel that way all season long! Glad you had a good day at your farm. The upcoming weather looks fantastic; this might be a nice, long, cool Fall. Perfection, IMHO.

I had a terrible potato crop this season, but all of the small ones so far have been delicious, steamed.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I am so ready for soups, stews and bread baking!

[Qiviut]

Nope .... not me. I’ve seen someone use one in a video ... if the soil is soft, maybe I’d think about it. The guy in the article says he’s “plowed” a quarter of an acre with one ... it was “work” & he was nine years younger ... LOL! Twenty years ago, maybe I would have tried it.

Found fencing at the local Tractor Supply store - exactly the kind I need to refurbish my garden plastic mesh fencing that’s starting to come apart. They also have 15 rolls of the stuff in stock, so I don’t think they’ll run out before tomorrow when I can pick it up. Now I just need to find the metal “zip ties” (Amazon has them, but would like to find them ‘local’). Whew - big project coming up!!

[Qiviut]

BTW, I found a question for the girls in Sunflower Houses - what is a difference between damselflies and dragonflies? (Hint: wings). Got some interesting, cute answers LOL. I don’t know who is going to enjoy the two Lovejoy books more - me or the girls. :-) I did tell their mom to save some garden space for them next Spring.

[Pollard]

All the no-till market gardeners use broadforks. They're made for their standard 30 inch bed which I think is also something Elliot came up with. Walk behind tractors have attachments for 30 inch beds. Most of Johnny's tools are set up for them. Neversink farms came up with a rolling bed marker he calls a gridder for 30 inch beds. Roll it down the bed and it marks a grid for planting.

Since I'm a metal fabricator, I plan to make a broadfork and gridders.

No-Till Growers channel, broadfork videos; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLhu5JoRWPgEGDoUFfQHTPQ/search?query=broadfork

One other thing pretty much all of these no-till market gardeners do is use copious amounts of compost. The soil is always covered. They buy a couple of dump truck loads every year and it costs them a 4 digit price but they also grow in areas where trendy people will pay $6-8/lb for veggies. They do use a tiller once for setting up new beds and then they might till lightly again every several years. They also might use a "tilther" which is basically a tiny tiller that runs off a cordless drill and only goes down 1-2 inches to mix amendments in.

If I left my heavy soil bare, a broadfork wouldn't cut it. If I cover it with wood mulch, straw/hay or even chopped up leaves, the gridder won't work but broadfork would if it wasn't wood chips. Since I'm not growing for market, I could probably make enough compost to cover beds or at least beds where I'd want to use a gridder. Don't need it for maters etc. Just the small stuff like carrots, onions, baby greens.

During our nearly two months of 100 degree temps this Summer, having mulch made a huge difference. My neighbor was watering every evening while I watered every week or two. I watered the plants, not the garden. Just had a hose on low and moved it from plant to plant. His plants in bare soil were stunted. Maters got 1 1/2 foot tall. I had cherry mater vines 10-12 foot long.

IF this little area I gardened wasn't rocky, I could use a broadfork on it next Spring because it's still covered with mulch. When I get back to gardening out back where it's rock free, I'll definitely be able to mulch and broadfork.

I think it's the way to go. Nice and quiet. Get a little excersize. Improve soil tilth and biology. Don't have to design around maneuvering a tractor. No machine maintenance. No fuel cost. No smelling/inhaling exhaust.

[Pollard]

Coffee to beer, have no fear. (me)

[Pollard]

Same channel, more videos, in this case, “flip” as in flipping a bed to a new crop which pretty much always entails using a broadfork. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLhu5JoRWPgEGDoUFfQHTPQ/search?query=flip

This one’s pretty good as far as having a system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qrf4_weSYU

Different broadfork design; https://youtu.be/YdH3rhiGIl8?t=192

[FamiliarFace]

About 5 or so weeks ago, my husband was going out of town to take care of his mom for a long weekend. I decided it might be good timing for trying out intermittent fasting. So I decided on a schedule that I thought might work for me, since I am an evening snacker when he’s out of town. (I call it lonely eating.) So my schedule was start eating at 2 pm and consume all the calories allotted by 10 pm. Well, I learned one thing. I love coffee in the morning, and I’m grumpy after going without for 6 days.

I had to forgo it, because I like coffee with sweetened creamer or not at all. Those calories break the fast, so I could have it at 2, but who needs coffee at 2? I’m already quite awake and alert by then. It was a good learning experience for me. I did lose a couple of pounds, but they came right back on once I got back to my regular eating schedule. I don’t think I can keep that IF up. Coffee is really really comforting first thing in the morning. I wish I could drink it black, but it doesn’t appeal to me that way.