Summer Bounty and Fall Forage.
As we round the corner to July 4th weekend, the garden starts to really produce a variety of edible fruits and vegetables that makes all the prep work in February, March and April so worth it. Unique to this growing season this year was an unseasonably warm, dry June. Normally the spring rains and mid-to-high 80’s produce abundant growing conditions for crops, grasses and the garden. This year we saw nearly zero precipitation in June, with temperatures hovering around 105F. It was tough on the grasses, garden and food plots.
July has been much more pleasant. It’s almost like the months got mixed up; we’ve had regular rains so far with temps in the mid-to-high 80s. Go figure.
In the garden, we’ve harvested spring onions, our fall garlic, sugar snap peas, radishes, cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots, herbs, spinach, arugula, green chilis, raspberries and strawberries. We’re expecting a good crop of tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, green beans, painted-like-a-horse beans, onions, cucumbers, watermelons, baking pumpkins and more of the spring harvest that’s starting to peter out.
We’ve fought cabbage moths and caterpillars now for two solid months; and while they’ve done a number on the leaves of our cabbage and kohlrabi, they didn’t seem to affect overall yields. I use Neem oil to manage most pest and fungus issues with pretty good luck. I’ll be switching to bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) next year to manage the caterpillars. A welcome change this year was a healthy population of predator insects. When I was starting to despair in mid-June, like clockwork the various wasps and yellow jackets showed up on scene for a tasty smorgasbord of caterpillars.
As we’ve begun to reap the harvest in the garden, we also start prepping fall forage for wildlife. I’m experimenting with a multi-species forage approach for wildlife we have on our 13 acres. We plant winter rye, hairy vetch, daikon radishes, red clover, purple clover, chicory and sorghum. I round that out with interspersing mesic grasses and wildflowers native to the prairie we call home. All of the goodies together make for a potent draw for wildlife that includes both mule and whitetail deer, pheasant, quail, turkeys and a whole slew of non-game species we enjoy watching.
The end goal of these efforts is tri-fold: one to build attractive habitat for game, two to build soil quality, and three to test which species grow best in our climate and soil. I journal all of my efforts with the end goal to learn while improving soil quality and biodiversity.
Lastly, I site prepped ground on my 13 acres to plant an orchard in 2022. More to come on that front in the future. Until then, enjoy the gallery of the latest harvest and efforts by the Great Plains Omnivore and my special helpers. Cheers.
