Too Wet!

[Pavel314]

I was complaining that we weren't getting enough rain on the pastures, then we had about two weeks of almost steady rain. You might have seen the vide os of the terrible floods in Ellicott City, Maryland. They're at about 9:00 to central Baltimore and we're located at about 1:00, about the same dista nce out.

I'm sure that in a few weeks I'll be complaining about the lack of rain aga in.

Went out to the garden this morning; looks like a good year for cabbage, wh ich is great, because we're out of home made sauerkraut. We might even have enough red cabbage to make some red kraut, although my wife finds that wei rd. If weeds were a cash crop, we'd be very wealthy dirt farmers.

Had the sheep shorn last week.

Paul

[songbird]

it was pretty toasty for a while and i'm sure glad it has moderated the past several days.

yum, love cabbage and kraut. growing cabbage here, it must be caged, no free-range cabbages here, the caterpillars go to town on it and i don't like to use any sort of sprays on my veggies. i tried growing it one season and spent way too much time each day trying to pick off all the eggs and caterpillars. even with the help of the wasps (which will use them for feeding their larva) searching the plants i still ended up with several heads rotten from the damage.

i like how the red cabbage can be used as an indicator for pH.

i used to know someone who did that for a living in Australia. i know i could not do it... sounded very demanding.

just planting beans here and weeding today. looks like another perfect day out there.

songbird

[Pavel314]

then we had about two weeks of almost steady rain. You might have seen the videos of the terrible floods in Ellicott City, Maryland. They're at about

9:00 to central Baltimore and we're located at about 1:00, about the same d istance out.

, which is great, because we're out of home made sauerkraut. We might even have enough red cabbage to make some red kraut, although my wife finds that weird. If weeds were a cash crop, we'd be very wealthy dirt farmers.

I noticed that if red cabbage is exposed to iron, like a cast iron skillet, it turns blue. I once had the idea to make red, white, and blue cabbage fo r the Fourth of July, but that ended up on the to-do list, like a lot of my great ideas.

Our shearer came to Maryland from Scotland by way of Australia. I used to s hear our sheep but eventually got too old to wrestle sheep.

Our trap range is open on Wednesday mornings so I'll garden tomorrow.

[T]

I am going to get me a sign for my front yard:

Free Weeds! You pick!

:'(

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

weeds are good sign that things are wanting to grow there. compare that to barrens...

do you like dill? i just picked some fresh and it was delicious. if you can grow it and let it go to seed you'll have more edible weeds to pick from. :) it reseeded from a few plants i had last year that came about from some packages of seeds i'd scattered the year before. i love dill.

songbird

[T]

Hi Songbird,

Never really cared for dill. Maybe home grown tastes better. Right now the main issue is cheat grass

Cheat Grass

And cheat grass will grow ANYWHERE. Doesn't mean anything about my soil.

Every night when I come home from work, I clear out a little area of cheat grass. I am starting to see a bit of progress. But there a millions more to go and they are starting to mock me. "Ha Ha! Back hurts, doesn't it! [raspberries]"

But I do also have dandelions. Since a weed is agricultural discard, I tried some organic dandelion greens from the store, thinking maybe I can turn the table on these guys. And well, all I can say is now I know why they are an agricultural discard. YUK YUK YUK.

On the bright side, a lot of spots are glowing red with purslane sprouts. I like misting everything anyway to keep the fire hazard down from all the cheat grass (they are easier to pull that way too) and the purslane really love that.

I am not sue any of my neighbors would fall for my "Free Weeds; You Pick" sign anyway.

:-)

-T

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

every bit you can clear out is that many fewer seeds that can sprout later. but from the read it sounds like it will be a multi-year project to get rid of it. are you planting any other cover crops? if you are watering each day you should be able to grow something else besides grass.

i'm not sure how buckwheat would do, but it is quick growing and worth a try for the shade and bee habitat/food it provides. the big leaves make it tough for other plants to compete. if you are clearing an area, reseed it with something else.

one prolific annual here is called love in a mist. unique plant and blue flowers. zillions of seeds. grows in the gravel along with the annual poppies.

did you cook them according to some recipe or just eat them? i've not ever tried them. purslane i have tried. :)

nobody ever does...

songbird

[songbird]

Pavel314 wrote: ...

hmm... :)

...

it sounded very demanding when described to me. i already knew long ago that keeping animals wasn't for me.

been so nice out. :) one or two more days of inside the fence planting to go. i really need to get back to some weeding and cleanup outside the fenced areas. they're looking pretty bad in places.

songbird

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

oh well... :) not everyone has the same tastebuds. Mom can't stand turnips but i like them just fine. i already know you don't like them too but it's funny how different people have different buds...

songbird

[T]

Oh and you know when I got over the carbohydrate addiction and got on the ancestral diet, my taste changed too. (You sense of taste returns). I use to adore lamb; now I can not stand to be near the smell.