Planting Potatoes, Guernsey Lilies, Moving A Rhubarb and a Redcurrant. 3.12.22

Today I planted these potato starts that I bought a few weeks ago. They have minimal sprouting so far. I had cut the larger tubers in half, so instead of five starts per type there are eight.

For someone who gardens for nutrition, potatoes yield the highest caloric product per square foot of garden.  They are high protein, high potassium, low fat. I don't know how tree fruits or nuts fit into that equation. As someone who eats about one potato per day, two rows of potatoes will yield about two or three months worth of potatoes. Plus, chickens like them a lot, so they eat the rejects and extras. 

 I also planted the Guernsey lily in the photo. My great aunt Emma grew "Surprise Lilies" which are quite similar but I can't get them to grow here. Gurnsey Lilies take their place. 

 In one of the orchard enclosures, I had planted a Redcurrant and forgot about it. Last year it yielded enough currants to make a small batch of jam, healthy and tasty. I think they are high vitamin C.  It was planted close to the fence, and deer had taken a liking to the leaves. Today I moved it to a sunnier spot in the main kitchen garden. Space there is very precious, but this is a nice fruit that isn't found easily at the stores. 

Last year I had also divided a very nice rhubarb last year, and planted it there too. Unfortunately I kept stepping on the plant. So now I moved it to a better spot. Deer don't eat rhubarb, because they are stupid, so now it's in the deer park among lavendar, sage, rosemary, and others.

Statice Seedlings. 3.12.22

I wondered if these would be difficult to germinate. They supposedly need to be on the soil surface, with just a dusting of soil of seed starting medium. I put them on the warming mat and covered with a plastic sheet. They were showing signs of life in four days.

Some internet references state that Statice germinates in one to three weeks. Maybe the warming mat sped them up. If these grow well, I want to plant half in the "deer park" as a test of deer resistance, and half in the big vegetable planter.

Planting a Mail Order Rose. 3.11.22

I bought this "Tropical Lightning" climbing rose from a mail order catalog. It came today. Overall, it looks very good but I wonder if the pale wood on the rootstock means the bark is rubbed off. That would be bad. I planted it. Now we'll see if it survives.

Testing Flint Corn Seeds For Germination. 3.11.22

With chicken feed prices rising, I thought it might help to grow some feed corn. We'll also try growing sunflowers, millet, and sorghum to see if any of those is worthwhile. I thought about doing that in the past, both regular yellow field corn and Indian corn. We did grow Indian corn 4 years ago and I still had seeds. I had yellow field corn seeds from last year or the year before, but never planted it. The books state that sweetcorn seeds only last one year. I wondered if flint corn might last longer, since it has a much harder and thicker shell. To test these seeds, I placed six seeds of each variety into folded, wet paper towels, then into zipper plastic bags, kept them warm on the seed warming mat. Here is the result.

Here are the original packets.

Within five days, five of six seeds of each variety germinated. That's more than good enough for me to plant both packets.

Mushroom Log Hashtag. 3.11.22

Somewhere between Delta and Omicron I included an order for mushroom spawn with an early seed order. I've never grown mushrooms so it will be an experiment. I bought two types, "Chicken of the Woods" and "Shiitake". According to the instructions, the spawn can be kept in the fridge for up to a year. I had them there for about three months. Mushrooms grow from fungal filamemts that are grown in labs on wooden dowels. To make a mushroom log, drill about 5 holes into a fresh tree log, use a hammer to drive the dowels into the holes, and seal it all with paraffin. Then the log needs to be kept cool and damp for nine months to a year, while the filaments permeate the log, then it will grow mushrooms. Supposedly. According to the instructions, once the logs start bearing mushrooms, they continue producing crops for three to five years. Here is what the mushroom filament saturated dowels look like.

Here is what the logs look like after the dowels have been pounded in and holes and ends sealed with wax.

That took me about two hours. Now I just need to keep them in the dark and moist for 9 to 12 mo ths.