Companion Planting: Carrots Love Radishes

Companion planting is more of an art than a science.  Take my garden, for instance.  Contrary to what a very popular book would tell us, my carrots don't love tomatoes.  (Presumably, other people's carrots do -- that's why the book is popular.)  My carrots, on the other hand, love radishes.

Carrots can be a pain to grow, especially in the clay-y soil that we have in Ohio.  They take so long to sprout, and if that ground gets rained on and solidifies, it is hard for the fragile little carrot seedlings to break through.  Plus, carrot seedlings look like grass, and they take a long time to get those characteristic frond-like tops, so it is very hard to weed the carrot bed until it is almost too late.

Enter the radish.  Everything carrots lack in speed, the radish has.  They sprout quickly and finish quickly, often up and out within a month.  Along the way, they provide some shelter to the fragile carrot seeds and loosen the soil while displacing weeds.  Plus, you will yank and eat the radishes just when the carrots are needing the room to form their roots.  Finally, planting carrots with your radishes lets you start two crops simultaneously in the same space, so less use of your precious garden space and less effort spading or tilling or broadforking up the land.

What companion planting works in your garden?

I Think We Have Apples

As part of the micro-orchard, we have two dwarf apple trees.  I selected these trees because they were recommended as able to pollinate each other, and they are in their second or third year in our care.

Last year, they blossomed at wildly different times, which we attributed to the fact that they wintered in different parts of the sunroom.  This year, we were careful to keep them close together, and we trotted them outside to enjoy the attentions of the bees as soon as it was warm enough, bringing them back inside to avoid any frost.

And lo and behold:  I think we have baby apples.  Certainly, I don't see anything else that could account for these cute little swellings that formed at the base of the blossoms.  Some never got much bigger and eventually fell off, but some have continued to grow to grape size.  Fingers crossed that they hold on, continue to grow, and ultimately give us some apples.

But what do I know?  I'm nervous because last year was a bad fruit tree year in our area, with several tree and orchard owners reporting that their trees never set fruit or never finished gestating a crop.  I'm as anxious for these little darlings as I am for every fruit and vegetable from my garden, and I hope everything works out.

Is it wrong that I pray for my garden right alongside my prayers for friends, family, and country?

Broadforking Update

Three years ago, we bought a broadfork with the intention of discontinuing the annual rental of a rototiller -- we hoped we could leave the soil structure a little more intact while avoiding any petroleum residue in the garden and foregoing the cost of the rental.  Three years later, I'm happy to say that it is a real success.

The first couple of years we broadforked instead of tilling, it was not hard, but it was some work to get the soil into a nice consistency.  As you can see at right, this year the soil really forked up nicely.  I did a significant patch of the garden last night, broadforking in two directions (at right angles), then working the soil over with a warren hoe.  The soil looks and feels like we tilled it, but we just used the power of muscle and fuel of body fat instead of relying on a machine.

The Analysis
Fast:  Broadforking is not faster than tilling, but as Mr. FC&G always says, it is slower, quieter, more pleasant work.

Cheap:  No investment in a tiller either through purchase or rental.  At the end of three years, I'd say the broadfork has nearly paid for itself in foregone rental fees.

Good:  A little (well, a lot, really) of exercise means the garden is already paying off in better health this year.  And I have the peace of mind of knowing I'm not dripping petroleum on my soil.

How Much Does a Garden Grow: April 2013

Oh my gosh, y'all, I am so excited!  The garden is making money!

With $200.44 in initial seed and plant expenses, we probably have a bit more to come in the negative column.  I need to get basil plants, a rosemary plant to replace the one I accidentally killed this winter, and no doubt a few other things that I just have to try.  But I think the expenditure part of the year is nearly over.

In the positive column, you can see that in April we brought in 2 oz. of potatoes, 3 oz. of leeks, and 5.5 oz. of greens, for a total of 10.5 ounces and a store value of $4.05.  Wheee!!!  Now we're starting to make some money.

The reality is, I do consider this my summer job.  Even though we are currently sitting $196.39 in the hole, I am looking forward to a day very soon that we are in the positive column.  I believe that took until mid-Summer last year, but I have my fingers crossed it will be much sooner this year.  Early positive indications include a fairly wet spring, so there is a lot of moisture in the ground, and a wonderful compost year, so I am able to put fresh finished humus on all of my garden beds.

What are you harvesting right now?

Top Ten Things I Love About Line Drying

I have finally gotten to dry a load of laundry outside for the first time this year; this has been a strange year in that regard.  We've had a pretty cold spring, and even when it was warm enough to line dry, I wasn't in a position to do laundry.  So I'm getting my first load out there about a month late this year.  If past experience is any guide, I should have a good five months of line drying yet ahead of me, and I will love every minute of it.

Why do I love line drying?  My top ten reasons:

10.  The bamboo sheets have a wonderful texture after line drying.
9.  I finally get to whiten my whites with sun bleaching after a long winter.
8.  I get a chance to walk outside and clear my head during the work day.
7.  I don't pump any drier heat into my house to make it harder to sleep at night.
6.  I don't use any additional electricity beyond that I used with the washer.
5.  I get a smidgen of exercise and burn a few extra calories.
4.  Hanging laundry is a good chance to stretch!
3.  I can get a fair amount of sun in a couple of 20-minute bursts, so I work on my tan while I get some extra vitamin D.
2.  Sunshine wards off depression.
1.  Hanging laundry on the line means summer is here!

What are your favorite things about line drying?

The Sock Loom Revisited

One of the things that is fun about blogging is that you have access to so many analytics.  It is really cool to spend some time getting to know which posts are the most popular, where your readers come from, and even what kind of browser they use.  (In case you are wondering, my readers come, predictably, largely from English-speaking countries, and they typically use Internet Explorer.  You can see the most popular posts in the sidebar to the right.)

Somehow, over time, a post has gained unexpected popularity:  my post on my  hatred of the sock loom.  I'm a little surprised, but I'm also pleased that so many readers have written in to suggest ways that I can knit our socks without jamming this hard, rectangular piece of wood framing into my stomach while I sit watching TV.  (Apologies to those of you who love it -- if it works for you, you should absolutely ignore me and keep rocking that sock loom!)

As for me, I am still not using my sock loom (anyone want to buy a gently-used sock loom?).  Instead, I have tabled the project because most of my free time for needle arts is now spent crocheting yoga socks for my Etsy store, Carrot Creations.  However, I'm thinking it would be easier for me to crochet socks since I'm more comfortable with one needle than with two.  I plan to give it a try pretty soon.

So let's hear from you again -- are you knitting your own socks?  Crocheting?  Using a loom?

Shifting into Spring

See that scraggly vine?  That's what happens when a gardener has a long winter to get through; at one point in January, I shoved a potato in a hanging planter just to see what would happen and maybe add a little green to the sun room.  The result is a long, ugly vine.  But hey, I hadn't grown a potato vine with no hopes of getting a potato since that awful experiment they have you do in elementary school; you know, the one where you suspend a potato in a cup of water with toothpicks?  I still don't know how the teacher could stand that, with the smell of 30 rotting potato pieces filling the room.

But now it is officially spring, and the microfarm is up and running.  I have potato and tomato seedlings growing in the greenhouse, and we are eating regular salads out of the greens bed in the sun room.  This weekend, I plan to start some of the squash that is ultimately destined for the garden.  The dill is started, as are the peas and the container potatoes.  We are starting to bring some of the early crops in as harvest, so I will have a true "How Much Does a Garden Grow" column at the end of the month.

I feel so much better being able to get out and work on our property.    What are you working on this month?