Farm update
May. 8th, 2026 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaIt's been insanely busy around here, mostly of course for E, who is setting up his market garden, but also for me, since I have consequently been taking most of the responsibility for the household vegetable beds. Have some photos!
The house, together with the beautifully blooming cherry tree and the old plum tree (to the right).
The apple trees that I grafted! I took charge of this since E was too busy, and it was very cool to learn, although it's too early to tell whether the grafts have taken. I'll report back. I practiced first on other trees, and found it theoretically easy but practically difficult until I tried it using the parafilm grafting tape, which is MAGIC.
The apricot tree I planted last year survived the unusually harsh winter, and might actually give us apricots this year!
So did the nectarine. I pruned this tree, like all our other trees, and I hope I did it reasonably well? One goal is to redirect the branches outwards so it's not growing straight up.
A Ribes odoratum in bloom, which indeed has scented flowers! Very excited to taste this. The species is North American, but this is a Russian cultivar with yellow berries.
Various pre-cultivated crops (corn, celeriac, and tomatoes) standing in the polytunnel awaiting planting. We carry them in and out every day to inure them to the sunlight.
The spring crops in the polytunnel: pak choi, salad, turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, spring onions, overwintering parsley, and Siberian kale. E will be selling some of them at a market tomorrow, and in a week these will all be gone and replaced with tomato, chili, bell pepper, aubergine, cucumber, melon, etc. Meanwhile it's great to indulge in spring greens.
A close-up of one of the salads in the polytunnel.
The new drip irrigation system, yay! You can hardly see them because they're so thin, but I planted leeks there a few days ago.
A view of the vegetable field. We got someone to plough and harrow it for us (after it had been lying under plastic for a year), and after that it's hard work by hand. But all the household beds (there are 12 of them, plus five bonus beds this year) are done, at least! Where "done" means that the earth is loosened with a fork, they are weeded of couchgrass roots if needed, they are manured, and the bed is shaped.
One of the five bonus household beds, where we are experimenting with grain. Half of this bed is rye and half wheat, both of them old landraces.
The household Brassica bed, where you can see that we are being a little bit lazy. We had the plastic anyway, so we are using it for weed control on some of the beds... That's broccoli and Savoy cabbage.
Poor Elvis is limping. She was already the slowest of the ducks, since the others are runner ducks, and now she's even slower! E and I caught and examined her and determined that she has a lump on one foot, and could not resist cuddling a little with her. She looks so cuddly! I suspect that she detested it, but she did not audibly protest. Esmeralda, on the other hand, will let herself be petted just so long as you are giving her food at the same time, and will eat from your hand without hesitation, too. She is incredibly food-motivated.
The Carlin peas, coming up! They were the earliest of the peas to sprout.
The house, together with the beautifully blooming cherry tree and the old plum tree (to the right).
The apple trees that I grafted! I took charge of this since E was too busy, and it was very cool to learn, although it's too early to tell whether the grafts have taken. I'll report back. I practiced first on other trees, and found it theoretically easy but practically difficult until I tried it using the parafilm grafting tape, which is MAGIC.
The apricot tree I planted last year survived the unusually harsh winter, and might actually give us apricots this year!
So did the nectarine. I pruned this tree, like all our other trees, and I hope I did it reasonably well? One goal is to redirect the branches outwards so it's not growing straight up.
A Ribes odoratum in bloom, which indeed has scented flowers! Very excited to taste this. The species is North American, but this is a Russian cultivar with yellow berries.
Various pre-cultivated crops (corn, celeriac, and tomatoes) standing in the polytunnel awaiting planting. We carry them in and out every day to inure them to the sunlight.
The spring crops in the polytunnel: pak choi, salad, turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, spring onions, overwintering parsley, and Siberian kale. E will be selling some of them at a market tomorrow, and in a week these will all be gone and replaced with tomato, chili, bell pepper, aubergine, cucumber, melon, etc. Meanwhile it's great to indulge in spring greens.
A close-up of one of the salads in the polytunnel.
The new drip irrigation system, yay! You can hardly see them because they're so thin, but I planted leeks there a few days ago.
A view of the vegetable field. We got someone to plough and harrow it for us (after it had been lying under plastic for a year), and after that it's hard work by hand. But all the household beds (there are 12 of them, plus five bonus beds this year) are done, at least! Where "done" means that the earth is loosened with a fork, they are weeded of couchgrass roots if needed, they are manured, and the bed is shaped.
One of the five bonus household beds, where we are experimenting with grain. Half of this bed is rye and half wheat, both of them old landraces.
The household Brassica bed, where you can see that we are being a little bit lazy. We had the plastic anyway, so we are using it for weed control on some of the beds... That's broccoli and Savoy cabbage.
Poor Elvis is limping. She was already the slowest of the ducks, since the others are runner ducks, and now she's even slower! E and I caught and examined her and determined that she has a lump on one foot, and could not resist cuddling a little with her. She looks so cuddly! I suspect that she detested it, but she did not audibly protest. Esmeralda, on the other hand, will let herself be petted just so long as you are giving her food at the same time, and will eat from your hand without hesitation, too. She is incredibly food-motivated.
The Carlin peas, coming up! They were the earliest of the peas to sprout.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-08 08:53 pm (UTC)Also, while I have you, happy early birthday!
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Date: 2026-05-09 08:42 pm (UTC)And thanks! <3
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Date: 2026-05-08 09:08 pm (UTC)It looks optimistic! Your cherry and plum are lovely.
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Date: 2026-05-09 08:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-08 11:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2026-05-09 01:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-09 08:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-09 05:17 pm (UTC)Your corn and tomatoes are much further along than mine.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-09 08:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-10 02:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-10 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-11 12:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-11 07:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-13 09:07 pm (UTC)Also, hehe, Carlin peas. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-14 11:07 am (UTC)And ha, I didn't even think of that!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-14 02:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-15 07:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-15 06:56 pm (UTC)I have every faith in your apple grafting. Haven't tried it myself but was shown it in college and the tutor said, "Remember, they WANT to grow", and I'm sure yours will.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-15 07:22 pm (UTC)Re: the grafting, thanks. I worry about the balance between not letting them dry out and letting them get enough air. Also about those bags blowing in the wind and disturbing the grafts, although of course I did put sticks in there to hold the bags up. *frets* I hope they do want to grow!
In other news, I was excited to get to eat leafy greens again after the winter, but then you get tired of them pretty quickly if you eat them in large quantities. *facepalm* And then you just want calorie-dense stuff. Also looking forward to tomatoes--I haven't eaten one since ours ran out in December.