Recent reading

[luzula]

Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow (2024)
Read for book club. I LOVED this! : D I bounced off The Iron Children, but this book was entirely different. It's fun and fast-paced and with a grabby narrative voice, and it turns out that f/f with two characters who don't really trust each other (until they finally do) is just what I wanted to read. Sol and Ruthi have so much chemistry together, and I also enjoy all the details of Ruthi's high society con job! It's interesting how we're so deep in the POV of the main character, and it really colors the view of the other characters. I would probably get along well with Esteban, we could talk about soil and I wouldn't mind his social awkwardness! And obviously Jules fell in love with him, so he must have something going for him. But Ruthi really dislikes him, which very much colors what we see of him.

Trädgårdsboken om jord by Håkan Wallander et al (2020)
And...a book about soil! : D As it relates to gardening, that is. We're still working on where to grow our vegetables, and my sister who has expertise in this area was here this weekend. We did some tests that were in this book, and determined that probably we should just do it on what has been the arable land in the past. Like, there's probably a reason that there was a vegetable field there before. It's fairly clayey soil, which my sister thinks is at bottom good, but in the short term it's quite compacted and will need work. We're thinking about starting out with various green manure crops with deep roots that might help us improve it. Though potatoes and some other crops can be grown in hay/compost beds on top of the soil, too. Er, sorry, this was not really a review of the book.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Sounds like your sister can read the book of your soil.

It's awesome that the farm can tell you its own history. Speaking of which, any berry bushes?

[luzula]

We do have some old maps to go by, as well. There's one from the land redistribution in 1850 when the current property borders were drawn, and one from 1890 which shows exactly the same pattern of open land and forest as now. Then there's a photo from mid-20th century showing where they grew vegetables.

[sanguinity]

It's a personal journal. I'd much rather hear how a book impacts your life than a pseudo-objective review!

We did some tests that were in this book, and determined that probably we should just do it on what has been the arable land in the past. Like, there's probably a reason that there was a vegetable field there before.

We were watching an older British tv series about walled gardens, and one of the details that really stuck with me was that they did a comparative soil test inside and outside the walls, and the soil inside was MILES better (in part, the topsoil being several feet deep inside, and only a few inches deep outside), due to generations of continuous soil-building on the part of the gardeners.

[luzula]

I'd much rather hear how a book impacts your life than a pseudo-objective review!
I figured people were more interested in that, yes! : )

That's cool about the walled gardens! The problem with our field (according to my sister) is that there has been only grass growing on it for years, and then the grass has been harvested every year (perhaps with occasional fertilizing). But there has been little dead and dying organic material left on the field, and thus the earthworms and other critters in the soil have little to work with, so that the soil becomes more static and compact. So basically we need to add a lot of organic material to attract worms etc.

[sanguinity]

Yes, it very much sounds like the time for a green manure! What crops are you considering for growing and turning in?

[luzula]

Well, we're only just starting to think about this! But it seems broad beans and their relatives like clay soil and also have deep roots, so that sounds good. Also sunflowers, and annual lupines (no way am I introducing the perennial ones, which are invasive in Sweden--lupines are not native here). And Phacelia tanacetifolia and various clovers.

[sanguinity]

A couple of those are nitrogen fixers, too, which is also good.

I'm always very tempted to eat the broad beans (and the plant tops -- the foliage is edible!), so it's never quite as good a cover crop for me as it might be...

Sunflowers! I've never thought of them as a cover crop. The neighbor grows them along the sidewalk, and this time of year the squirrels can be seen galloping down the sidewalk, dragging entire heads behind them...

[luzula]

Well, I figured one might eat them as well. : )

My gardening book says that sunflowers are good for having deep roots and thus making the soil less compact, but that they do need a fair amount of nutrients if they are to grow well. And I guess we can save the heads for the birds in winter (or eat some seeds ourselves).

I'm trying to imagine a squirrel with a whole head of sunflower...must be heavy!

[sanguinity]

The ones she plants tend not to be the dinner-plate sized ones, but have a lot of heads that where the seed-plate is maybe... um... *counts on my fingers* 10cm across. Which is still big compared to a squirrel! But not so big that they can't still get them to the tops of fences and up in trees.

[muccamukk]

I need to get around to Lady Eve's Last Con. It's on my e-reader, and I know a bunch of people who've really enjoyed it.

[luzula]

I thought it was great as a page-turney, engaging read! Do try it out.

[chestnut_pod]

YAY for Lady Eve! I am delighted you enjoyed it too.

[luzula]

Yay indeed! Many books which aim to be fun and page-turney fall flat for me (which is probably as much me as the book), but this one was everything advertised.

[feroxargentea]

"Fairly clayey" is essentially good, if you can get it into usable shape! Might get very claggy over winter, though, and take a long time to warm up in spring, so later sowings might do better.

My experimental potatoes planted into a layer of compost did really well this year. Rabbits didn't touch them, foxes/badgers dug up a couple but didn't seem keen on them, and the process of harvesting them up mixed some of the compost into the soil by default. Which perhaps wasn't great for the soil structure, but I can't quarrel with a big sackful of very healthy spuds from 8 seed potatoes. I'm going to get a big delivery of well-rotted horse manure to cover the soil over winter and plant a bigger crop next year :)

[luzula]

A neighbour grows potatoes by just putting a layer of old hay or silage on the ground, putting the potatoes directly in that with a handful of earth, and then covering up with more hay/silage. And then yet more of it when the plants come up, instead of heaping up with earth, to keep them from going green. So we might try that!

[garonne]

I bought Lady Eve's Last Con on your recommendation! Sounds right up my alley.

[luzula]

Well, I do hope you enjoy it, then! Looking forward to your report. : )

[skygiants]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :D

[luzula]

Thanks for writing it! : ) I think most of the people in my book club are in some way acquaintances of yours? The book club is five Jewish fangirls mostly from Boston, and one Swede, heh.