This is a short post but it has a lot of pictures. Hand watering a lot of my garden and the start of my teaching schedule has left me little computer time.

We have a very big garden and it’s really not practical to water the whole thing. I have decided to concentrate on the plants that matter most from a long-term perspective and they have been getting a good soak once a week. I have only one of the Oregon Sweet Meats that looks healthy so I’m babying her along, hoping for at least one squash that will provide me with seed for next year. The same goes for three of my tomatoes. These are heirloom varieties that seem to be the most disease resistant. I’m running a trial with sweet potatoes. I planted a bush variety and a vining type to see which gives me a better yield. Unfortunately, I added a second variable so the trial is hardly scientific. The bush plants are in the greenhouse and the vines are outside. I know that sweet potatoes need a lot of heat which they have had this year even out of the greenhouse. There’s actually a third variable which is soil. I planted the vines in a spot that held corn last year (a notoriously heavy feeder) and it’s an area that was severely flooded during Irene. The greenhouse soil is outstanding. I also mulched the greenhouse to help retain water. I hope to get a crop this year. When planning for a warmer climate, it makes sense to learn about crops I may not have bothered with before. My potatoes seem to be having a good year. I harvested some volunteers from the compost heap a week ago and they were perfect. Onions are also thriving and I have the best broccoli ever.

You will certainly notice that nothing here looks like a design star winner but it’s all functional.The kitchen will look a lot better next week when the final walls go up and the rest of the bee supplies are relocated. For now, what you see is what you get.

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