Fall is making our plants sad
I guess the freezing temps the last week have made our plants get a little motivated in their attempts to embrace fall. Leaf droppage is way up the last couple days too. Next Monday promises a really good haul of carbonaceous material. My new official goal is 120 bags because that sounds like a lot, and there's no such thing as too much compost.
Sad mulberry tree
Sad baby pecan tree (pretty sure it's a pecan, but not 100%)
Sad (and dead) okra
I'm having surgery in the morning that'll supposedly have me resting all weekend. That kinda sucks because it's gonna be warm, and I want to get those seeds in the ground. We'll see. Maybe I'll be able to manage a little light gardening. Can't be too hard to plant lettuce in a raised bed after a vasectomy, can it? Maybe we'll find out.
I'd also like to get the okra added to the hugel bed, but I doubt that'll happen. Actually, I'm really kinda down at the prospect of not being able to get anything done. I've ordered a copy of Gaia's Garden to read, and it was supposed to be here today, but didn't show up. It's what I'll be occupying my time with, so I'm really hoping it'll be here tomorrow...
Yeesh. This weekend is gonna suck. Y'all be sure and post about everything so I can live vicariously through you. Lots of green stuff and chickens and compost to get me through.
Stay relevant
Nate
Sad that you have sad trees. I love fall but winter is a very bleak time of year. At least there's green for your chickens . And the compost of course! I've never grown okra. It's quite an exotic veggie here in SA ;) Is it a perennial plant @nateonsteemit?
No, it's an annual. We had a couple different hybrid breeds this year, next year it's all heirlooms. I've got two varieties so far, but I'm bound to add a couple others by spring. It grows well here, so it was the first thing I planted. First planted, last to die.
Okra is very American to me. The only time I've tasted it was when I lived in Israel. I love them but I think it's an acquired taste. South Africans have not acquired the taste!
It's strange to me that y'all don't have it. Traditionally, it was brought here by African slaves, who called it "ngumbo." Since slaves were mainly a southern thing, okra is too, and there's a popular Cajun soup called gumbo that folks in the deep South love.
Do y'all not have seeds available there? I'd be down to order extras on my next order so I could ship you some.
That I didn't know! Interesting. I'm sure they'll still have them higher up in Africa then. I was introduced to them by a friend from OK who deep fries them in a batter. Although I prefer them less oily and less batter. We have a packet of seeds which I'm going to try to plant. But thanks for your kind offer Nathan!
Yeah, fried okra is my favorite! I hope it grows well for you.
Ours did pretty good and I thought it was going well. Then it rained, and they grew a foot in a week and were rocking hard til the end. I wonder if there's a place where they'd live for years, cause they are some awesome little plants.
This is today:
And the next 5 days:
Nope, not many happy plants out there. And as you can see, rain every 2 - 3 days means I can't get the HUGE amount of leaves cleaned up and to the chicken run. So tired of rain...
I feel you! I saw on the weather channel that y'all are supposed to get blasted with a big winter storm up there.
The wet leaves should compost well in place, but that doesn't help the chicken situation much. That's discouraging. Are there other viable options?
Not really, with our limited energy. Just hope we get a week of no rain and no wind...
haha! sir nateonsteemit! can't keep a good man down! I don't think you'll be down for long but make sure you heal up proper. those freezing temps were shocking! But at least winters are short here.