Nemagon Mustard Groundcover Update. 26 Oct 2023.

 Here's the first raised bed with growing Nemagone mustard.

So far, so good.  I don't know if they will grow through a hard freeze.  Time will tell.  They are reported to die with a 26°F  freeze.  If they don't survive, I'll just cover with leaves for weed prevention.

I'm growing the Nemagone as a sort of biofumigant.  Also here.  It's meant to reduce potential pest and disease load in the soil, as well as being a ground cover to reduce weed seed load, and a green manure crop to return nutrients and humus to the soil.  That's a lot to hope for. It also may not be necessary, since I don't bring in plants or soil from elsewhere (except tree leaves) and I rotate my crops.  But I don't think it hurts, and it might help.

I had these through the winter, two years ago.  They survived, and then grew very well in late winter / early Spring.

Bearded Iris Update. 26 Oct 2023.

 These are the bearded irises that I planted early to mid Sept. in containers.  I've kept the containers on the walls of the cement block raised beds, where they get the most sunlight and also are very easy to pick out tiny weed seedlings before they establish.

These are the rhizomes that I cleaned up from my old iris plantings, which had become weedy and I could not care for the last couple of years.  So far, I think they look excellent.

I don't know if it's good they are putting on so much growth before hard winter begins.  Just have to wait and see.  Irises are rugged.  I don't know that they are even as prone to rot as some writers state.  My main challenge has been fungal and bacterial leaf diseases.  I hope that growing them in a well draining, fresh, potting soil helps with that.  

A couple of those rhizomes are quite large.  Fingers crossed for blooms next Spring.

These are the new varieties that I bought, which I planted in mid Sept.

They haven't grown quite as much as the old rhizomes that I cleaned up, but they seem to be establishing nicely too.

I've also been removing all of the old leaves as they turn brown and soften.  Maybe that will help with disease prevention.

Red Hot Pepper Pepper Sauce. 26 Oct 2023.

 Here's the hot peppers sauce.  I filtered it through a sieve for liquid hot sauce, like Tabasco sauce.  I like this better,  It's hotter and richer due to the added garlic and fermentation.  Fermented hot sauce contains lactic acid (like yogurt and sauerkraut), whereas the commercial version has acetic acid (like vinegar).  

This time it was mostly Serrano peppers (especially the hybrid variety, Altiplano) with some Thai and Tabasco peppers for extra heat.

The pulp is also good for cooking, so I saved that too.

This is a really rewarding project, from starting seeds to making sauce.

Progress On Renovated Raised Bed. 26 Oct 2023.

 Today I installed about 90% of the plastic lining for the renovated raised bed.

My helper poured two buckets of good garden soil in the trench on one side.  I smoothed it.  That will get some trench composting of kitchen scraps for a few weeks, before fully covering.

If one is going to use this type of slotted cornerstone / 2x6 structure, the higher rebar with drilled 2x4s for strengthening are necessary.  I learned the hard lesson, without those strengtheners it will gradually splay outward and fall apart.  Then it's a LOT of work renovating it.

I do want to stain the 2x4s and maybe the sides, but that has to wait for dry season, maybe April or May.

Winterizing The Music and Lorz Garlic Bed. 26 Oct 2026.

 Today I raked red maple leaves and spread them on the Music and Lorz garlic bed.

Before spreading the leaves, I scattered coffee grounds on the surface.  I usually throw the paper filters into the compost, but why?  They are just wood cellulose, which is most of what is in the leaves.  So I laid the coffee filters on the ground before spreading leaves on top, so they would not look untidy.

This year, I kept the leaf mulch on the garlic bed until harvest.  That meant, zero weeds.  Great garlic crop, too.