no irrigation

so it is still spring,

and just rained quite a bit,
so I declare that the drought is over, but others may not agree...

the grain crop is doing well and seems like it only has to dry now, but maybe it has more growing to do now that it rained

this is the pastella and it seems very happy

this is the sprouting zucca melon, and it was not till I looked at this picture that I saw the other one just sprouting on the right side of the picture

this is my apple tree, it is growing fast and straight

this is where I grew the onions last year,
look at the strip of mostly bare dirt to the left side,
that is where I did not add organic matter to the soil, and that green patch to the right is where I tilled in a bale of straw...

here is the sugar pea patch !

this is the first and largest pea, and I hope to save seeds form it

and there are more peas growing

here is a mountain yam, it managed to get over a foot tall before I noticed it growing,
I have 2 out of 10 left still growing, and hope one reproduces soon.

I failed to take pictures of the potatoes that are ready to harvest,
and of the apricot trees( by the way they are doing very well )
and all of it was grown with no irrigation at all,
the winter is plenty wet enough to grow things with no irrigation around here
the trick of mixing organic matter into the soil to get the ground to hold more water got the peas and potatoes through months of no rain,
and that means that I don't need hoses,
and I don't need the well pump,
and all the pipes out to the garden plots,
and to go out watering all the time, 
next winter I will be growing lots of grain in the isolated areas,

now the summer garden that I will have to water has been planted,
and I will have to water it,
but it is just not that big this year,
so far I planted the best squash seeds from last year, a hulless seeded squash, peanuts, sorghum, black eyed peas, basil, cucumbers, and more to get planted later (like rice tomorrow, 2 types)

on another note,
my laptop is not having it's hard drive start to fail, and it is the only thing that can read my camera SD card,
so I either have no more pictures, or I get a smaller SD card that my other computers can read (I have one in an old camera that I might find at some point),
or I replace the hard drive...

I knew the day would show up that my hardware started to break,
but at least it is not a needed farm hardware item,
or a radio I talk on all the time,
sad it is messing up, but not sure need to fix it,

now time to get back to my kombucha tea making,
and I am going to try making miso out of chickpeas,
I got some at the store and want my own now
glad I have this book
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Fermentation-Flavor-Nutrition-Live-Culture/dp/1931498237
I keep making things out of it

cooking is my new fascination,
and trying to get clean water I can drink.

toxic and update

have you ever has someone around that is toxic,
they will rot out everything you have worked for on a whim,
they destroy out if ignorance, belligerence, and insanity,
if everyone here needed to actually live on the food I grow,
this person would ruin it and then blame everyone else for messing it up,
they will drag an entire village down if given the chance,
and in case anyone is wondering, most of the summer garden is not planted yet,
it is warm enough and past the last frost date, I have the seeds, I have the water,
but the toxic person apparently hates me (or just hates everyone)
I hope I get to plant things before it gets to late in the season,
but if not I do have other things I can be doing...
only 2 long season things can't be planted this year from it,

now for the update,

40 % chance of rain in a few days,
the grain is almost ready to harvest (yes I know rain can mess that up)

the sugar podded sweet peas are growing quite well

it is still spring, or at least the miners lettuce thinks so

and one of the zucca melons sprouted !
I am excited

history

think about what has happened in the past,
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2014/04/10/199-years-ago-the-largest-eruption-in-known-history-and-the-year-without-a-summer/
and ask yourself if you can forget the lessons of the past,
nature can be unforgiving

happy easter !

it consumes from below

gophers are everywhere

hopefully it will not bother me this year,
I will find out in a few months

links

http://soilandhealth.org/

http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/historicpublications/

https://archive.org/details/cu31924003695636

chamomile

chamomile grows wild here,
it is pretty
it grows in the hard compacted soil where almost nothing else does, like in driveways and walking paths,
I use to eat it all the time as a kid, my mom would always say it was peed on by the cats, so I eventually quit eating it,

I have yet to see a cat pee on any of it now that I am watching for it, cats pee in the sand, not on hard dirt with plants.

by the way, many things in spring around here have pretty flowers

and I am watching cooking shows lately,
it is the other half of gardening after all.

still spring

it is still spring here

and I found where all the mosquitoes are growing

yes, it is the spring,
I need to go cover it,
will add a pump in it if I get the time.