Summer solstice is fast approaching, school is winding down, the river is bursting at it’s seems and our travels are done for the season. We have had so much happening.
First and foremost the food systems are coming to life. We are drowning in crunchy divine buckwheat shoots, which I graze on every visit thought he garden. But we are also stir fry them and have been making lovely spring green salads with them. We have lots more to eat, which we must do rapidly, as they are the cover crop in 2 of the raised polyculture beds. The poly beds are so inspiring to take in. I have never seen a garden box so full of variety and excitement. So far the buckwheat is all up about 5 inches, and as we gently pull them (roots and all) we find lovely lettuce greens, peas and beans, leeks and the tiny tops of carrots and beets below. What a lovely way to garden!
We have had a tree aid week as well. Mulching, baiting and tangle-footing, blow torching and guilding our beloved fruit trees. The old trees got a chop and mulch treatment, and I went to work with the blow torch on the caterpillars that were in mass pulsing on the arms of the plum tree. We taped and tangle-footed the bottom of the trees off to keep the ants at bay, and on the cherry tree we hung little vintage red apple ornaments painted with more tangle-foot to bait and catch the worms that want so bad to eat our juicy cherries. We draped all the trees and guilds in soaker hose to make regular watering a cinch.
