Saturday, October 10, 2015

Mid Fall

It's still warm for Fall, but we've reached that delightful bit of moderate weather that we enjoy for a few months in autumn. All the fall crops are in except the garlic, and I'll plant that soon. I have to get the rest of the peppers up before then. We have broccoli in 1b, onions in 2b, and cabbage in 3 and 4b. That all went in mid Sept. It's all a lot bigger now! Notice that the ground is wet. We had a smattering of rain: less than a tenth of an inch, but welcome nonetheless.
The "new" girls are getting adapted to mainstream coop life now that they are integrated. They like getting to go in the outdoor run. And... they are all laying like mad. We're averaging about 8 eggs a day. That adds up fast! Fortunately I have a variety of sales outlets, including the Wednesday market. I found that eggs are very good trade goods. I walk down with a basket full of eggs, and walk back with a basket of veggies.
Row 2a has the last assortment of fall veggies: kale, chard, and lettuce. I really should plant more lettuce from seed. I also planted a fall cover/forage crop of crimson clover in sector 3. So Sector 1 is Fall crops (broc, onion, cabbage). Sector 2 is still peppers but will be garlic and more greens. Sector 3 (minus row 2a) will be forage, while Sector 4 will be leaves and chickens. We're talking about putting a citrus orchard right behind the house in Sector 4. It's a perfect microclimate for it, and trees are easier.
We celebrated Catherine's birthday at Momona. It was very impromptu, but fun. I counted it as bar #39.