it has been very busy couple of weeks here. Yesterday I found out that the chipmunks found the by now 1ft tall and almost flowering cucumber plants in the high-tunnel and chewed down about 20 of them. They don't eat them or pull up the roots, just leave the dried up plants. We spent a day two weeks ago fencing in the high-tunnel with chicken wire to keep the wood chucks from eating the head lettuce. And we had peace from them in the tunnel. They still eating down about half of the peas, while the other half made it to a height they don't seem to bother. They are flowering and forming peas.
My plan is to put hot pepper sauce water (Steve made a mean hot sauce out of the habanero peppers in the fall) on the lower cucumber stems to spice them up and a fence around the peas. Usually you would put a fence in the middle of the pea rows for them to climb up on.
In the meantime we have our very own Birdsfooter Len Mackey catching three wood chucks so far. There are many more out there foraging on cilantro, parsnips and beans. Cilantro is covered and beans need covering. The challenge is on!
This week we are working hard on getting the last fall carrots, beets and potatoes planted. It requires hours of hoeing with fork like hoes through the fields to get the quack grass out. We break u the hard work with weeding and mulching. We have the following potato varieties planted: Our favorite creamy Carola and Daisy Gold, Red Maria for reds, Burbank Russet for russets and Rose Finn and Ana Rosa for fingerlings. It is fun to be with such beauties and varieties. I had planted buck wheat as a cover crop in the spring and mowed strips of it down to plant potatoes into it. We will mow the rest when it is done flowering.
This is all for now , a days work and workers are waiting. We welcome two new workers for the month : Colin and Tyler from North Carolina. Colin is going to horticulture school and does his internship with us.
peace, Dulli