Good Friday folklore & phenology

"The fair weather gardener, who will do nothing except when the wind and weather and everything else are favorable, is never master of his craft." - Henry Ellacombe

My Soil Test Kit Results

pH ~ 7.5

N = very low

P = very high

K = medium

I was suprised by the alkaline pH because I haven't added wood ashes to the garden in 3 years, and last years potatoes did not have any scab issues. My theory is test error ( I put too much soil with the water). The nitrogen was so low it was off the chart.  It took me a day to realize why. Three weeks ago when I tilled the garden there was still quite a bit of old straw on the surface. It must be binding the nitrogen as it decomposes. Even though I took the soil sample from 4" below the surface, I still had to skim out bits of straw from the solution to do the test. I already added rabbit poo but I'll also side dress with blood meal when the plants get going. The phosphorous was shockingly high. Last year we added quite a bit of a very fine compost that we bought at the farmers market. It was made from cattle waste (manure, but also bone & blood meal from slaughter) and lumbermill waste (sawdust, which should have been acidifying so, go figure).  With a reading this high I think I'm good for the season. The potasium was right on target.

"Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe." - St. Theresa of lisieux

The full moon on March 29  was the Worm moon. This was the last winter moon. The soil is warming and the worms are coming up. Fortunately I tilled before they surfaced and so disturbed far fewer that if I had waited.
Other names for this moon are:
   Fish Moon, Lenten Moon, Sap Moon (Colonial America)
   Windy Moon, Big Famine Moon, Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow, Crust Moon, Crow Moon, Maple Sugar Moon (Native American)

Since we are in a waning moon phase this is the best time to focus below the ground. Plant perennials since they need good root systems. Plant root crops like carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets & bulbs. Plant strawberries during the waning moon because the especially need a strong root system. Eliminate slugs. Prune shrubs since the water table is diminishing and less sap will flow. Next week, the 4th quarter & darkest of the moon, is the most dormant and best time to cultivate weeds and do other non-planting chores.

Blooming this week:  daffodils, forsythia, maple tree, dandilions.  Peonies are up about 12 inches.  Lilies are up about 8 inches.

Today is the first day anniversary of yesterday

Folklore & Phenology Friday, one day late (totally Bloggers fault!)

My corner of Missouri is running hot & cold lately.  Yesterday I was late for work because there was a hard frost & light freeze that coated and clouded my car windows and froze my doors shut. 

On a more exciting note, look what I found...a mess of moss & brush in a half bushel basket left on the back porch all winter. (The pine cones were mine.)

I started to pull it out to clean up when I discovered this...

Five little cream colored eggs with brown specks.  Yesterday the mother started sitting on the nest.  I got a good look at her.  Its a carolina wren.  Yay!

Also, the daffodils bloomed yesterday. My neighbor across the street had his bloom 2 weeks ago. They are always earlier.  The broccoli was transplanted to the garden last week and covered with milk jugs and is doing fine. No freeze problems.

Spring! Sun! Sprouts!

The arugula was up first.

The onions are just breaking ground.

Rhubarb begins to unfurl its leaves.

The redbud tree is just barely budding.

Also, the lilac leaves are open and the maple buds are beginning to bloom.  This morning I planted asparagus.  Normally it would be planted in an 8" trench and have soil added as it grows, but I planted it shallowly since it will be in the center of my new raised bed. When I get the bed build around it the soil will be 8-10" higher.  Tomorrow is the official first day of spring but today feels more like it.  Sunny and 67 degrees. By Easter the grass will need to be mowed.  I also checked the shitake logs for signs of mushrooms but no luck.  I was hoping that last weeks cold rain followed by this weeks warm weather might start something.  I did find a disturbing amount of bark shedding from the logs which will shorten their fruiting lifespan.

When the lilacs are in first leaf it is time to plant beets, lettuce and spinach.  I already planted some lettuce and spinach so beets are next.

It seems like it takes forever for spring to arrive.  When it does, everything takes off like a rocket and I'm racing to keep up with the garden chores.

It's Tilling Time

We rented a huge tiller for the weekend and tilled up the garden.  Extend garden into lawn? No problem.  Tree roots? This thing ate them for lunch!  It was so heavy I could barely turn it.  The garden only needs a deep till like this about every 5 years.  We were really lucky to get a warm weekend for tilling before the rains started.  Last year we never did get to till because the garden was muddy until the 4th of July.  We just hoed a bit and planted into the mud.

Here is Mom covering the onion sets and seed potatoes.  Look at those straight rows!

Our garden is 15' x 50'.  It has gotten 20 feet longer in the 5 years that I have lived here with Mom.  Today we optimistically planted red & yellow & white onion sets, red & yellow shallots, 2 kinds of garlic, red Norland potatoes, lettuce, spinach, radishes and arugula.

March Comes In Like...?

The rhubarb is on the brink of emerging.  I can see wrinkled nubs breaking.  There have been a few robins hanging around and I saw a formation of geese passing overhead to the north.  Trees, shrubs, and bulbs have arrived at the local garden center. Most days have been in the 40's and nights in the 20"s. Not a windy or stormy first week of March.

If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.
If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion.
  
This week I started in pots:
1) Missouri Pink Love Apple tomaotes
2) Green Zebra tomatoes
3) Patano Romanesco tomatoes
4) Hillbilly or Flame tomatoes
5) Leutschauer Pimento peppers
6) Mississippi brown cotton
7) Giant Musselburgh leeks
8) Sweet potato slips started by Mom
9) Korean garlic

So many mists in March you see,
So many frosts in May will be.
     Traditional English proverb

St. Louis Skyling Hat

Here is the hat I knit for the Ravelympics.  I was running late and just embroidered the Arch on at the last minute since duplicate stitch wasn't working for me that night.

Maples are running!

I didn't  finish knitting my hat this weekend, but I did something way more fun.  We got a call from the Gorse farm that the maple sap started running on Friday so Mom & I went to see the operation.

This is a tapped tree by the house.  2 holes drilled with plastic tubing for the tap, and a hood to keep out rain, snow & squirrels.

The raw sap is collected in these large square containers until there is room in a cooking pan for it.

This is one of three cooking pans in the sugar shack.

I expected the air to be sticky and cloyingly sweet but it wasn't until Mr. Gorse stirred the 3rd-day pan that I could smell the syrup.

Other places online say that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.  Mr Gorse says that he uses between 47-49 gallons depending on the weather and density of the sap.

We brought home 6 of these (pints) which is a year's supply for us.