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Just a few things fruiting or in bloom. 1) future chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans, aka the stuff hummus is made of 2) Sub Arctic Plenty tomatoes. They’re sweet and delicious and can be eaten like an apple, once ripened 3) ornamental but edible millet about as tall as m’belly 4) heirloom cayenne 5) aspiring heirloom black cayenne for comparison. Not pictured but will be when I’m not racing around, flowering pumpkin blossoms; three varieties of corn and popcorn; potatoes; sunflowers; garlic; persistant tomatillos; other tomato and pepper varieties; bush beans; herbs, herbs, herbs; lettuce; and a few dope plants for oil extraction. What? You’ve got your pinky-in-the-air chardonnay, I’ve got my #mota. Aside from generally shaping our property with trees and perennials, that’s about all I’ve got going on #smallbites
Practicing with @jodiontheroad ‘s fancy camera last Friday at the Sussex Farmers* Market. Home-grown cayenne flakes (yes, @way_of_tee , I’m still going to send you one 😬), WONDERFUL Yucaipa iceberg lettuce (sweet, crunchy, delicious) from @veseysseeds , kohlrabi that nobody is interested in, Spicy Globe Bush basil, recommended by @littleboneshomemade , and #lavender from yesterday’s post because I didn’t get the attention I wanted from it. #princeling #ildivo
Lavender. That’s it. I’m growing a few dozen to sell at the Sussex Farmers Market and to transplant the remainder in a perennial row alongside other herb rows that complement my laissez-faire approach to homesteading 😆 Holding my breath they’ll survive the winter. Now accepting suggestions for their use as I’m a “shoot first/‘aw crap!’” kinda antihero. #timemayhavebeenwasted
Garden experiment. I’m getting ahead of myself as there will surely be far sexier specimens, but I’m breakdancingly pleased to see that so far all of the “black cayenne” pepper plants I’m attempting to stabilize into a new variety are producing the most desirable traits I had hoped for: initially blackish leaves, purple flowers, black fruit, and, and, AND they’re extremely hardy. Two frosts didn’t kill them; intense heat didn’t either. They’re growing better than all the other peppers I’ve got in the ground and doing so in our clay and rock-strewn soil. Pretty cool. Hopefully, they’ll retain cayenne’s savoriness but include that unexpected smoky quality I found in last year’s hybrid.
Oregano flowers. Nice, eh? (I’ve accidentally abandoned the American “huh?” after sarcastically using the former for the last three years. Tragic.) I’ve got another variant with white flowers but they don’t pop the way these do. The blooms are edible as a milder version of the fragrant leaves and apparently are used as a fancy garnish for salads, though I’ve never tried ‘em. Good for pollinators and as an accent to the garden, but I’ll eventually be landscaping with herbs like these for both their utility and aesthetic.
Flystrike. Some time ago, I successfully saved this little guy from succumbing to the . . . memorable condition. What is it you ask? Don’t google it. Really. Flystrike occurs when flies lay their eggs on an animal’s injures (or in many chickens’ cases, their filthy butts) and the resulting larvae burrow into the host body and eat the living flesh. It’s a horrifying affliction, visually repulsive, and it activates an ancient aversion to all things carrion. If the bird is particularly unlucky, the other chickens will notice the wriggling maggots before you do, adding an entirely new and painful dimension to the animal’s now accelerated borrowed time.
