Rachel and I are learning how to do whip and tongue grafts. We must be doing something right because 101 out of 109 grafts were successful. Thanks to the folks at Cummins Nursery, Redbyrd Orchard Cider, and Daring Drake Farm/Blackduck Cidery.
I'm planting some ginger this year in one of our high tunnels. If all goes well, we'll start digging it sometime in September.
Hot diggedy dog! Dandelions are in full bloom now and it's time to plant potatoes. I dig a trench with a middle buster plow and set the pieces by hand, about a foot apart. Then I hoe a little dirt over the row and the fun begins. The plants can take a few weeks to emerge, but with a little rain they grow like wildfire. I hill them a couple of times, watch for potato beetles and leafhoppers, and before I know it I'm digging tote after tote of tender new potatoes. I dig them with that same middle buster plow. Nothing like watching those gorgeous tubers rolling up out of the ground.
Onions and leeks come first. We're seeding them now in our warm, sunny high tunnel when it's freezing outside; one of vegetable farming's simple pleasures. It's also the signal that our winter "break" is drawing to a close. In another month or so we'll be, ready or not, launched into the annual frenzy of plowing, planting, and then later, picking. But for now, it's low key, and we're savoring it.
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AuthorFarmer Doug has enjoyed growing things and eating them since he was a youngster back in Iowa. Archives
June 2016
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