Persimmons. 3 Nov 2023.

 Here is the Nikita's Gift persimmon tree at ten years old.  It doesn't really get any maintenance now, other than minor pruning.

Here is the Saijo persimmon tree, same age.

Now I just need so e good persimmon recipes.

The Garlic Is Mulched With Leaves. 3 Nov 2023.

 I was able to collect some tree leaves from the yard.   Most are yet to fall.   It was enough to cover the garlic beds.

Now the work is completed.  They are ready for winter.  The leaves will even out the soil temperature and prevent weeds.  This year's garlic needed almost no weeding at all for the entire growin season, a big benefit.

Raised Bed Renovation Is Completed. 3 Nov 23.

 This raised bed is completed now.  I finished stapling in the plastic chicken-feed bag liners.  In total, I've added ten 5-gallon bucket loads of good garden soil, to raise the level.  I mixed in some chopped marigold "green manure".   The soil surface is now smoothed.

I'll add more eggshell, then cover with a nice layer of tree leaves.  Then it's ready for winter.

When dry season begins in Spring, I'll stain the "new" treated (reused) 2x4 braces.  I think this is the strongest, most likely to last, method to keep the sides vertical and square for the long term.

Bone Meal And EggShell Meal. 3 Nov 2023.

 About every ten days, I make a big batch of dog food with chicken thighs as the main meat ingredient (for the taurine). I portion it out into 7 oz portions, refrigerate a three day supply,  and freeze the portions to because later.  As a vegetarian, I don't have bones from my own meals.

The chicken thighs are slow cooked overnight, and the bones just fall off.  I dry the bones.  In the past, I threw them into the woodstove, to supply minerals in the ash, which I scattered onto the garden beds.  We decommissioned the woodstove (breathing is a good thing), so now what to do with the chicken thigh  (femur) bones?

After drying thoroughly, I pounded and ground them using a granite mortar and pestle.  The came out like this.

They are a bit crunchy and a bit fluffy.  Not that different from purchased bone meal, except less dense.

I also grind eggshells the same way.

Bonemeal is mainly a phosphorous source, especially good for bulbs, roots, flowers.    From wikipedia, the NPK is about 3:15:0 and calcium content is about 12%.  (a sobering, sad, macabre comment in Wikipedia, "In desperation, farmers collected the bones from major battlefields like the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of Austerlitz to crush them and refertilize the soil.")

From The Spruce, bone meal promotes flowering, fruit, and seed production, and is slow release over about four months.  I imagine that is slower in winter months, and is retained in the soil for later.  There is also some magnesium and zinc.  Acidic soil (which mine is) is needed to break down the bone meal.

Eggshells are mainly a calcium source.  They are 95% to 97% Calcium Carbonate (Wikipedia).   My soil tests low for calcium, due to Pacific NW rains and other factors.  Eggshell is also a soil conditioner.

Here I added both additives to the recently planted German garlic bed.

It would be better to add before planting the garlic, but I didn't think of it.  I used about a cup of each.  Then used a small stirrup hoe to work it into the top inch of soil, well above the planted garlic cloves.

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.