![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMAG0509.jpg\" "\\"IMAG0509\\"")
<\/a>plums. \u00a0It helps avoid brown rot. \u00a0The bees have worked hard, likely laying in one of our better harvests with only a first year colony, one that can be (and I hope will survive) overwintered and divided next spring.<\/p>\nLast year Kate had the idea of growing what we had in diminishing supply in our pantry, freezer and dried foods. \u00a0We decided to focus on garlic, peppers, onions, tomatoes, beets, carrots, leeks with a few sugar snap peas, cucumbers and eggplants for eating during the year. \u00a0It was a good idea, helping us focus our work and give garden space to foods we wanted to preserve in some way for winter.<\/p>\n
The combination of heat and the International Ag labs high brix garden supplements for the soil and foliar sprays have given us a banner year for beets, carrots, greens, a year not over yet which looks like it will give us a great tomato yield, peppers, tomatillos and eggplants, too. \u00a0My best guess is that the leeks will also have a very good year. \u00a0That means we’ve almost run the table as far as vegetable gardening goes.<\/p>\n
The strawberry crop was solid, too, though not amazing. \u00a0I find the cherries hard to gauge Next year I’ll do a soil test and get a program for the orchard, too. \u00a0Bump up production and quality there, too.<\/p>\n The lilies are in bloom now and the new varieties from the Northstar Lily Society sale have exceeded their promise. (see picture above)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Moon of First Harvests We have had heat and just a bit of rain, perfect for ripening stone fruits like cherries and plums. … Continue reading Mid-Season Garden Evaluation<\/span> <\/a>because this is the first year we’ve had many fruits at all. \u00a0My guess is that this is a middlin year for our cherries. \u00a0Our currants are ripe now and the plums have begun to ripen though so far all the ripe ones I’ve seen are on the ground. \u00a0The pears and apples have a good ways to go yet, though we definitely have substantially more pears than any other year. \u00a0The raspberries, the latest crop of all, look, based on the plants, as if they will put out a good yield this year, as well.<\/p>\n