Winos

I was at a birthday party yesterday for a friend of mine (who will be teaching me how to make mead as soon as I can get my hands on another 5lbs of local honey).

He opened a bottle of rhubarb wine that had finished. I know what you are thinking...rhubarb? Ok, pour me just a small glass. YES, rhubarb. another glass please.

Rhubarb, its not just for pie.

Wow

Jim Cramer, whose prior contribution to society was serving as fodder for the Daily Show appears to think trouble is ahead for Monsanto. Well duh. Anyone in the Justice Dept with half a brain and a shred of ethics is probably eyeballing that beast for antitrust...at least.

I harvested my first tomato yesterday a nice ripe 14 oz brandywine. Cut it up and ate it straight up. Its been almost a year since I have had a real tomato. The pale mealy crap in the stores doesn't even come close. I've got another couple brandywines getting close and a cherokee purple that I think is probably ready too. I cut away all the foliage infected with early blight and so far the last few days have not shown further infection. I can only hope...



The vermont cranberry beans are doing great! Look at those gorgeous pods. My green beans have started flowering now too.

Something old, something new

First the old, as in old friends. I recently got back in touch with an old college room mate who as fate might have it, has also taken up organic gardening. Coincidence? Something in the wind? I'm glad he's into it, but I can't count him as one of my five, so the score is still at 3/5.

Now the new. The first of the tomatoes are almost ripe. Brandywines. No sign of ripening from the Cherokees or Amish paste, though there are several nice plump specimens of each. I hope they ripen soon, I've spotted early blight...not good. Not good at all. This pattern of horrifically damp summers is not just depressing, it could be a definite problem if it continues long term.

Things I've noticed

Some good, some bad.

First the bad news. Something has infected the apple tree. Is it scab? It resembles scab. Are there any organic treatments for scab?



Thankfully it appears on just a few leaves, though the bottom side of the leaf has developed a wart like growth. Should I just remove the few affected leaves?


Second find: Mushrooms! Not sure what kind, and I'm not about to taste and find out, but I'll be sure to take more pics as they emerge and perhaps get a positive ID on it. I own mycellium running and Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms by Stamets and you'd think I would have thought to seed all this much we have with spawn and grow some shrooms in the front yard...you'd think that. Sometimes nature has to remind you of the possibilities you should have thought of.

That is a leek in the background...doing quite nicely.


Third find: The first ripe blackberry! Sorry no pics. It went straight into my drooling maw.

seek and ye shall find

The afforementioned garden/farm in northeast chicago. 1038-ish W ainslie st. Go to the larger map and then zoom to the green arrow. For some reason Google map felt the need to make the "A" marker Uptown Chicago.


View Larger Map

Oh the places I will grow.

I was away last week, very away...chicago to be precise. My church youth group was shy one male chaperone for a service trip, and yours truly had extra vacation time to use up. A really great trip all around. Our base of operations was a parish/school in the northeast side. Heavy population of immigrants and the mentally ill. Very sobering, but it was very productive and I felt like we really contributed. There was a community garden just around the corner that was about a quarter acre. And this was not some allotment "everybody grows whatever" This was a small scale farm.

Unfortunately I do not have pictures, but I was really impressed with their setup.

When I returned I found some pretty impressive sided tomatoes, a pepper plant in full bloom, kiwi vines getting out of control, our daughter had started to transplant the greenbeans where the potatoes used to be, the bee balm in full bloom, and wormwood that...is easily 6 feet in any given direction and in flower. I also found something totally unexpected.



Thats right, the blueberry bushes I transplanted this year produced 3 fruit. The two tiny ones are from a "chandler" bush, and the big (not yet ripe) one is from a variety called "herbert." Last year you may recall I had a scant few blackberries, and this year I am swimming in them (though not yet ripe). Hopefully the blueberries will prove just as eager next year.

its been almost a month? really?

I spend all my winters in anticipation of summer and it disappears before my eyes.

Lets get this out of our system ahead of time. This will not be a spectacular year, it will be another year of lessons.

There is too much of a good thing. that being rain 5 of the last 7 days in july and 17 of 30 days in june. And even when it was only a few drops it has been overcast. Things are moving sllllloooowly. I should really consider adding another row of boards to the raised beds which only sit about 4-6 inches above ground height.

I am willing to try starting peas on st patrick's day again, but only if they are pre-sprouted. It took forever for them to germinate.

I should start my curcurbits in pots first. The soil just does not get warm enough early enough to get them going, I am going to end up with a lot of things just getting in under the wire if at all.

Slugs are a serious issue now. A duck is unfortunately out of the question.

Garlic spray is a great japanese beetle deterrant, I haven't seen them since.

I should have planted trees years ago.

fried beet chips are a reason to get out of bed in the morning!

My frontyard bed definitely needs more organic matter.

I need more grape vines.

The black tips on the kiwi is likely a water issue, too little I think, and with the rain I have not seen any since.