Sustainability « Gardenpoiesis: Adventures of a Naturalist

Plant Plot Produce

June 1, 2024

The weather has been excellent for my garden plot this season, so far. It has not been excessively hot and there has been rain on a regular basis – no watering required.

Most of my plant seed is from Baker Creek Rare Seed in Missouri. I have successfully grown plants from some seed that was 3 years old.

I have just harvested my first orange and purple baby carrots, Georgia sweet onion, Swiss chard, Italian chard, Japanese Komatsuna, white turnips, little Gem and Tom Thumb lettuces. I had harvested all the radishes about a week prior to this.

In Baker Creek, Food, Gardens, locavore, Plants, Sustainability

Tomato drama

July 22, 2022

You grow the tomato plants from seed to seedling, then you plant them in the garden plot. The plants have to survive the obstacle course of; squirrels digging them up, rabbits or moles eating the stem, wind and rain beating them down, insect predation, and more…😱

Time goes by…. the plants have grown tomatoes. Looking great. The pruning, correct fertility, adequate water has worked its nature magic. That is; you have TOMATOES.

Now, there is a new set of interested predators. Not sure which, but most likely racoons or opossum came during the night and took bites out of the low hanging, beautiful fruits. What a damn shame!

For immediate protection, “what to do??” Grab some grocery store bags and put the lowest and ripest fruits inside. Next go to Amazon and buy fruit netting bags designed for just this sort of protection. That worked! Only lost 4 or 5 nice size fruits to the critters (so far). Those that survived the ordeal, are delicious.

(well….they didn’t survive being eating by the gardener LOL)