Joseph's Doings...

[steev]

I enjoy cacti; nopales go great in a quesadilla and white pitahaya is tasty; mostly I prefer succulents, in a garden, more cuddly.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

I planted my last field today. It's 340 feet long, and averages 22 feet wide. 7500 square feet of cucurbits. steev's Dry Wit melon went into it, and that tiny moschata squash seed that oldmobie? sent, and a small planting of alan's Amanda Palmer dent corn. I got the final irrigation line operational. Taking a break tomorrow, then it's off to weed I go.

[richardw]

Do you let the cucurbits meander over the ground Joseph Lofthouse

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Jun 9, 2016 0:26:49 GMT -5 richardw said:

Do you let the cucurbits meander over the ground Joseph Lofthouse

Yup. I grow them sprawling. I might chop off the vines, or kick them into a different direction to keep them on my side of the fence. Other than that, they grow as they will. That field has a huge predator problem, so the most reliable crop has been squash. Last year the deer really got after the melons, so I only planted a few this year. I'll still get seeds, even if the fruits are not marketable.

This year, I planted it to about 40% buttercups and 40% small moschatas, All small-sized fruits that aught to be popular at market. It's the most-distant field, so the other crops I'm growing in it are intended as seed crops: Something that I can harvest all at once, at the end of the season, rather than having to go out 3X per week to pick.

This is my easiest field to care for... I don't plant until after most of the weeds have germinated for the year. I only apply water to two ditches. The cucurbits are planted into the bottom of the ditches. I'm expecting little rain until fall, so the only place I expect much weed germination is in the bottom of the ditches. I can weed those faster than the irrigation water can run down the rows. The rows are far enough apart, that I can run the tractor between rows for another month or so, which really eases weeding. This is my show garden, therefore I keep it very well weeded, so there are few weedy propagules to sprout.

Here's a photo of that field from two growing seasons ago.


And from yesterday...

[kazedwards]

Joseph I can't get over how beautiful your scenery is. I think that just about every photo of your ms I see.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

My weight this morning was 188 pounds. That's the lowest in decades. I'm down 60 pounds from my peak. I've been biking a lot in the last year. I mostly stopped eating wheat a few years ago. I have never much enjoyed sugary things. I'm not exercizing other than biking and gardening. Moving around is a lot easier these days!

The past week, I have mostly been browsing for meals in the garden, and eating whatever I find there in the field rather than bringing it food home for cooking. I'm really enjoying that!!!

I've been getting a lot of comments this summer about how great I look. My clothes are baggy, but whatever. They'll be wearing out soon enough.

The other day at a party, someone asked me to take my shirt off so that they could admire my chest muscles. My belly is starting to washboard. So lets just say that I'm really enjoying the new me. There is a lump of fat still on my back/side overlaying the pelvis. I don't know what to do about that: Any suggestions?

[steev]

Don't cut off your backside! You'll fall on your face for lack of a counterbalance.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

This spring, I planted seed-grown onion bulbs for seed production. About 20% of the bulbs that I planted haven't flowered. They are acting more like potato onions,

I also planted some bulbs that I grew from seed last year that came to me labeled something like "Egyptian Onions, what are these really?" Two of about ten plants grew like shallots this summer without sending up flower stalks.

So I'm hyped about potentially new shallots and potato onions... I'm intending to harvest them separate, and try growing them as shallots and potato onions. Now I feel chagrined: Because of all the years that I have been growing onion seed, this is the first time that I paid attention to see if any of the bulbs I planted were growing like potato onions or shallots instead of going to seed.

In regards to seed: Today before irrigating, I harvested the first seed crops of the year: earliest peas, hypertendril-peas, fenugreek, and fiber flax.

There were plenty of pollinators on some of the tomatoes today. I've been harvesting a few ripe fruits. I'm sure enjoying the promiscuously pollinating tomato project. I'm loving the natural crosses that are manifesting as the season progresses.

I potted up about 40 grape vines that I've been keeping in buckets of water since early spring. They have mostly all rooted by now.

My garden looks better this summer than it has looked in decades. I'm loving taking care of it. I'm not feeling burdened by other things.

[steev]

It's a pleasure to be burdened only by what you choose to take on.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

I had fun playing in the sunflowers yesterday... I direct seeded them on 12" centers. I'm having to give them more water than my typical sprinkler irrigation can provide. Planting on 18" centers might have been better. They have sure done a great job of suppressing the weeds!!!

[12540dumont]

Nice sunflowers! Little birdy num nums came and ate all the seeds from my sunflowers while I was sleeping! It's the early bird that got the seeds. Your farm and you both look great this year. I'm having a fantastic tomato season. However, my Cherokee Green tomatoes all came up red! I think there must have been some promiscuity going on out in that tomato patch. The new tomatoes taste great, but I really needed the green ones. Really hot here again. Jealous of the rain that the south is getting. Drought drought and more drought.

Joseph, I just finished cleaning onion seed, and I'll be sending some your way. xxoh

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Aug 14, 2016 14:39:59 GMT -5 12540dumont said:

Your farm and you both look great this year.

Today is my one year anniversary of new living arrangements. I'm feeling great, and looking great. Thank you for noticing. A collaborator that has gardened with me for 7 growing seasons says that my garden looks better than ever. I agree with her. Gardening these days is a joy and re-invigorates me. I'm down 60 pounds from my maximum weight. Every week or two, I reach another lowest-weight-in-decades. I'm loving the definition that's showing up in my arm and leg muscles.

[shoshannah]

Happy first anniversary.  Good to see you happy with your life.  You've turned that frown upside down. 

Susan

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Today I cleaned: to make space for a tomato breeding project...

These are the F3 fruits from one mother last year, which was an F2 with a lot of dominant traits, from a cross between Hillbilly and Jagodka. I'm loving the ongoing segregation. Each row is the YTD production from one plant.

Offspring of HX-13 which contains recessive genes for determinate growth habit, and yellow/orange fruits. No open flowers have showed up yet in this line.


And what the YTD harvest looked like about 5 days earlier.

[reed]

Will you continue with all of those lines or pick out a couple favorites?

I'm seeing more results of your work in my garden. I had a patch last year from your seeds but all plants last year had red fruits. One of the volunteers I let grow this year is currently making nice yellow fruits. It is rather late but that is likely because I only recently rescued it from the weeds and melon vines. Will probably be picking the first ones in a day or two.

The one I called Utah Heart last year is one of my strongest producers and probably the highest percentage of the juice we canned came from it. I was glad to see it didn't segregate very much from the year before. It's flowers are open enough to attract the little bees. I saved lots of seeds if you would like some back. Tomato juice is I guess, a cultural staple for us, it's extremely important to have plenty for winter soups and just to drink.