Updates

In the last 17 years of military service, I have see lots of updates to programs or doctrine. Some have been good like the counter insurgency doctrinal changes and the bad like the gender neutral PT test that failed over 50% of all females so had to be illuminated. For us most of them have revolved around spacing or planting guidelines for next year.

The most interesting we have written down lately is about our beets. So the general conscientious is to plant them in 12 inch apart rows 1 inch apart and thin to 3inchs apart 3-4 weeks after plants come up. But with this outline you thin at least twice as many as you leave behind. Now we use the thinned plants in salads as micro greens but that still seems like a waste. So for our second planting I will plant the rows 36 inches apart and then instead of thinning transplant the seedlings to make 2 additional rows. This will minimize loss of seed and maximize the growth of our beets plants.

So with that in mind here are some general updates to our plots and experiments.

Our three sister mound project is showing some excellent progress. The corn is now high enough for us to start the runner bean seeds. While the Squash is filling the gaps in nicely.

Our root crops are being thinned and the greens eaten in salads. We will need to start our second lifting in trays next week to keep up.

And our berries bushes and Mulberry tree are producing fruit and blossoms galore.

Lets hope the rest of the plots will continue to flourish despite the late start this year. Keep weeding, working for your own glorious harvest. Deven