Work it baby!
3 Jun 2026 05:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursulas_alcoveRome wasn't built in a day. But, I have made progress. Sweet potatoes are planted. 18 fit in the bed. Was hoping for 36, but this is what I have space for. Perhaps next year, I'll do 2 beds worth. I'll have to find a couple more grow bags to put the rest of the slips into.
Upgrading the cinderblock bed took way longer than anticipated. Last year I had grid walls. The tomatoes did poorly. I put in a cover crop over winter. I added worm castings and coconut coir. Five Amish paste tomatoes got planted under the yellow fabric mesh. There are no clouds so protection is necessary. I also planted 2 kinds of carrots and will probably put in a 3rd when I find more boards. Basil went in next to the leeks. I have orange thyme on the edge. Now that the blocs are mostly level, I can add soil and pop in a few more flowers like alyssum or marigolds. That's the plan anyway.
The jungle of cleavers is being beaten back a little each day. Spinach still needs to be blanched and frozen. I finally got a bag of last year's tomatoes out of the freezer. YAY! Tomato jam is cooling in the kitchen. It goes great on grilled cheese sandwiches. It can be used as a meat marinade. So many uses!
Beets got transplanted from my soil blocks. Since the spinach was done and starting to bolt, a nice shady location opened up. Eight new beet plants to be harvested much later in the season.
If I hadn't been pressed for time, I would have done some eco-printing with the grape leaves from wild vines I pulled. But, I am running really late this year.
Upgrading the cinderblock bed took way longer than anticipated. Last year I had grid walls. The tomatoes did poorly. I put in a cover crop over winter. I added worm castings and coconut coir. Five Amish paste tomatoes got planted under the yellow fabric mesh. There are no clouds so protection is necessary. I also planted 2 kinds of carrots and will probably put in a 3rd when I find more boards. Basil went in next to the leeks. I have orange thyme on the edge. Now that the blocs are mostly level, I can add soil and pop in a few more flowers like alyssum or marigolds. That's the plan anyway.
The jungle of cleavers is being beaten back a little each day. Spinach still needs to be blanched and frozen. I finally got a bag of last year's tomatoes out of the freezer. YAY! Tomato jam is cooling in the kitchen. It goes great on grilled cheese sandwiches. It can be used as a meat marinade. So many uses!
Beets got transplanted from my soil blocks. Since the spinach was done and starting to bolt, a nice shady location opened up. Eight new beet plants to be harvested much later in the season.
If I hadn't been pressed for time, I would have done some eco-printing with the grape leaves from wild vines I pulled. But, I am running really late this year.
Go you!
Date: 3 Jun 2026 11:30 pm (UTC)I'm running behind too.