Govinda's Garden

Sunday, October 30, 2022 High: 56 Low: 51 Mostly Cloudy, rain overnight Cleaned up raised beds -- pulled out dead or dying plants (stevia, some brassicas that were destroyed by caterpillars and have no chance) I realize that harvesting lettuce should be done more frequently. Get it while it's fresh, otherwise, it gets bitter and/or wilts Gave the Chicago Hardy fig a border and put a lot of wood chips on it. Now all 6 of the figs near the back of the house have been remodeled. Replaced the soil of about 8 of the 15G container figs. There were put in raised bed mix, but I changed it to potting soil. I also filled the containers with less soil. They sit low, but I will backfill them with more as the roots grow out and take up more space. This makes the containers lighter and therefore easier to move. I put them in the crawl space, but then I read a post from Ross Raddi that I should wait until temperatures get to 15 degrees, to ensure they are dormant. So I put them back outside and w

Saturday, October 29, 2022 High: 64 Low: 48 Mostly Cloudy Laid the last bit of cardboard and woodchips on the orchard Placed pavers on the edge of the orchard. I like it! Took 20 cuttings from the Celeste near River Arts District and fig popped them Got 8 bags of potting soil from Reem's Creek Nursery (no more blooming bucks) Picked up some bags of raked leaves from West Asheville and Montford. I plan to empty the bags into the orchard area. Was going to take cuttings from the Goumi bush in Montford but the whole bush was cut down :( Foraged some crabapples. First time eating them. Pretty sour.

Friday, October 28, 2022 High: 63 Low: 36 Mostly Sunny Got more cardboard Got 8 bags of mushroom compost and 4 bags of raised bed mix, using blooming bucks Laid cardboard and chips down... Pretty much done with the base layer of the orchard! Starting to think about caring for the fig trees as it's getting cold. A lot of them look dormant. I will probably move some into the crawl space soon. Planted three (and a half) honeyberries on the outskirts of the orchard. Still have one Aronia to plant.

Thursday, October 27, 2022 High: 66 Low: 37 Sunny Did a little section of cardboard and chips Went on foraging walk with Rob Greenfield

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 High: 61 Low: 40 Partly Cloudy Laid cardboard and woodchips Planted two Goumi berries on the outskirts of the orchard (transplanted one from another part of the yard, and planted one from bountiful cities) Placed the honeyberries and Aronia in the orchard (plan to plant these in the next few days)

Tuesday, October 25, 2022 High: 69 Low: 50 Sunny Got 120lbs of cardboard this morning Got "Growing Food God's Way" in the mail yesterday and started reading it Weed whacked one of the last remaining orchard patches

Monday, October 24, 2022 High: 75 Low: 42 Sunny Got some compost (chicken, cow, mushroom) from Reem's Creek with the bloomin' bucks

Sunday, October 23, 2022 High: 72 Low: 38 Sunny Laid all the remaining cardboard and put chips on top of it. I think we have about 4 more loads worth before fully covering the orchard. Edited and published (uploading now) a video on companion planting. Visited the fig tree on Euclid. I think it's done for the year. The freeze seemed to have halted production. There are still figs on the tree, but they are hard. Pulled some bermuda grass around the renovated fig tree area. Also added some more chips inside the ring. We currently have enough bricks for about 4 more of those circles.

Saturday, October 22, 2022 High: 69 Low: 37 Sunny Planted a bunch of garlic around some of the fruit trees and grape vines.

Friday, October 21, 2022 High: 64 Low: 32 Sunny Went to Reems Creek Nursery to capitalize on the bloomin bucks. Got about 12 perennial polinators and a bunch of garlic. I intent to plant garlic around some of the fruit trees. Planted the pollinators in the orchard, one each next to a tree Planted the perennial plants in the evening, with Oslo

Thursday, October 20, 2022 High: 59 Low: 30 Sunny Looked like it snowed outside, but once the sun rose it melted the frost Got some more cardboard. The car battery died while I was there, but someone helped me out by jumping the battery. Hare krishna. Pulled some weeds around the base of a couple fruit trees. Hauled 12 bricks for the 5th fig tree renovation. Covered a couple of spots with extra mulch Observations of the result of frost on fig trees: leaves curl, leaves turn brown and/or fall off.

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 High: 51 Low: 27 Cloudy Laid carboard and chips on the orchard section. Getting close to having all the trees under the covering. Planted garlic in the back raised bed. Elephant on the left, Music on the right. Put some fallen leaves over the top. I added some miracle grow plant food, and watered it in the fish fertilizer mixed in with the water. Got another drop from R&K. Right outside of the fence. I'm well-stocked!

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 High: 42 Low: 31 Cloudy Coldest night of the season so far. Noticed a lot of the fig tree leaves have curled or fallen Got a big load of chips from David, dumped in the backyard Harvested the remaining two potato plants with Hayley, and she cooked them nicely. Didn't do any yard work

Monday, October 17, 2022 High: 65 Low: 29 Light clouds Did another fig remodel, and half of another one Pulled some weeds in the orchard Drained the hose because a freeze is expected tonight

Sunday, October 16, 2022 High: 70 Low: 52 Cloudy, light shower at night Pulled weeds Remodeled 3 fig trees, adding barriers and clearing crabgrass around it (work in progress) Recorded, edited and published a video on weeds and back to eden Put an Azores Dark in the ground, replaced the White Triana Foraged a few figs from Euclid Foraged the last cantaloupe. It was not good. It was neglected. Noticed the heads of two broccoli and cauliflower!

Saturday, October 15, 2022 High: 77 Low: 51 Sunny Pulled weeds in areas around the orchard. I noticed that they start in areas where there were gaps in the cardboard layout. Once they start, they can spread, so it'll be important to keep them in check. Added chips on areas in the orchard that were sparse. I would like to increase the thickness pretty much everywhere. It's tiring. Added 8 loads of chips on the south side of the house (fig section). The grass grows super fast in that section in particular. I didn't add more cardboard or uproot the grass there today, I just laid on a thick layer above it. I want to make that area nice and fertile for the fig trees. Weed whacked an extension of the fig area. Thinking about covering it in cardboard and chips. I think it would be good to create an edging around that area to help stop the crabgrass from crossing over into it. I need to look closer at it tomorrow. Watched a lot of video content about back to Eden gardening

Friday, October 14, 2022 High: 66 Low: 43 Sunny Got more cardboard. Laid a lot of woodchips, mostly covering some areas that were thin and had grass popping up, with the intention of smothering them. Watered the veggie garden. Saw a few caterpillars on one of the cabbages. First ones I have noticed in about two weeks. Foraged some more figs from Euclid. Foraged some of the ones at home that aren't ripening properly. My stance on figs has shifted: I want to put a second row of them  in-ground  on the south side. I realize the necessity of adding fertilizer and drip irrigation to the figs in containers, so I will do that next year. I plan to apply a lot of wood chip mulch on the south side against the house and try to create good soil for about 10 fig trees to grow in. And I'll do containerized figs, too, in that area. I don't care what Hayley says :P Some of the fig pops are starting to leaf out! I think all of the Longue D'Aout are leafed.

Thursday, October 13, 2022 High: 71 Low: 40 Sunny Stumbled into Paul Gautschi yesterday. Wow. There's a lot of content with him on youtube that I plan on consuming. I love how he gives God credit for everything. Laid out the current inventory of cardboard and put mulch over it. Started dipping into the stash outside the gate. Filmed a couple of time lapses. Watered the veg garden. Ate two Olympians. They weren't too bad.