The rainy season is going strong lately. This morning I tried to do some mowing, but got rained out by a heavy downpour that popped up without warning from the TV radar.
The peas look good. I got 100% germination and the plants are starting to shade the ground a bit already. I really should mulch them, but with the lawn areas all overgrown, it's difficult to get to everything. Air quality in the early morning continues to be very poor, there's always a definite odor of smoke during the night and early morning. I have an idea why there is trash burning going on every night, but I won't get into that in this blog. We have trash pickup at the curb here...recyclables, garbage, and yard waste in separate collections once a week. So there's no legitimate reason to burn trash. But it's very widespread here nevertheless. As someone once said..."You can educate people, but you can't fix stupid."
The okra is doing well...great big leaves and thick stalks. They don't seem to grow in the sandy soil in the garden, but do extremely well in my potting soil. It's probably a pH thing. The "soil" here is about 95% calcareous sand from the look of it. My potting soil has loads of humus from all the compost I'm mixed with it over the past forty years or so. I got a lot of it originally by gathering up soil from an old abandoned homesite I found in the woods, so gardeners before my time probably added compost and manure to it as well.
Humus plus sand equals soil, the equation seems to be as simple as that sometimes. You can make humus by cooking compost, so there you have it. Speaking of compost, that open pile I started when I didn't finish sharpening the flails on the chipper/shredder was steaming like mad last time I dug into it. This time of year the rain keeps an open pile moist enough to make it practical, so maybe I don't need to shred everything first. Running the shredder gives me sinus headaches, so I'm always happy to avoid cranking it up. I do need it to process the woody material, so I'll have to finish work on it soon. Woody twigs and branches break down on their own, but it takes years. I chip and shred them all and use the chips as mulch.
I do have my problems sometimes. Right now I'm dealing with some chorosis in my Basella and sweet potatoes, not sure why that is. I'll have to look into it, something could be attacking the roots. Chlorosis is a loss of green color in leaves with the veins showing as darker against a pale background. I'll try spraying them with seaweed extract before trying anything drastic like dumping a container out to look at roots.
My disabilities hold me back or I'd do a lot more. My legs don't work very well at all anymore and I've had respiratory problems. But I don't have the sense to give up, so I keep at things. It's what I've always done.
When I make my vegan soups with molokhia and other pickings from the garden, I know it's all worth it. You can't put food on your table with wishful thinking. Perspiration works better.
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