Full Garden Tours 2020 | WEEK TWO | Roots and Refuge Farm
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Have you seen our new show Wilder Still yet? If you haven't, head over and sign up for Abundance Plus to see all our episodes - you get a FREE seven-day trial! rootsandrefuge...
Check out our new blog here: rootsandrefuge...
And subscribe to our weekly email list so you're the first to hear about new blog posts, sticker launches, merch, and special giveaways! (We do monthly giveaways ONLY for our email subscribers!): rootsandrefuge...
Today is our second weekly garden tour of the 2020 Gardening Season. We are gardening in Central Arkansas, Zone 7b using natural growing practices. We primarily grow heirlooms.
Okra video: • For The Love of Okra (...
Our Instagram: roots_and_refuge
Our Facebook: / rootsandrefugefarmfarm
My Infrequently updated blog: www.thehodgepodgedarling.blogspot.com
My Articles in Do South Magazine:dosouthmagazine...
Our Music is by our friend Daniel Smith
/ channel
Email Us: rootsandrefuge@yahoo.com
To drop us a line:
PO Box 4239
Leesville SC 29070
To have a gift sent to our house from our Amazon wishlist: www.amazon.com...
______________________________________________________
Want to Support Our Channel?
Shop for our favorite things in our Amazon Storefront- support our channel at no additional cost to you!- www.amazon.com...
Greenstalk Planter:
This is an affiliate link, use the code ROOTS10 to receive $10 off:
lddy.no/6xhd
If you would like to financially support our channel and farm, you can shop through our Amazon affiliate link, which will earn us a small commission at no additional cost to you here: amzn.to/2NcCBZ4
Also, sometimes I link Amazon Affiliate links in the description. Shopping from these links supports our channel with a small commission without any additional cost to you! So Thank you for using these links!
Roses are dangerous in a good way. It starts with one, then one day you wake up and there's roses everywhere, and you start talking to them xD and eventually they talk back.
Angelika Valo That’s not such a bad thing? 😊
Oh that is funny. And for the most part TRUE. :)
I just planted some roses but they are getting hit by black spots and I find myself talking to them asking them what they need to get better.
@@rafaelarodriguez5801 1.woodash 2.kelp 3 .Rabbit poop
I'm having a shitty night with a little boy who can't sleep cause he's got a blocked nose. And just as I'm about to just start crying 😅 (single mum feels) I see that you've posted a new garden tour and my night is saved 💕🌱
Don’t worry, it will be alright- all us mums feel like crying when things get intense, it will pass and you will look back on this time fondly. Have a great week 🌻
❤❤❤❤
Sorry try to make a game of playing with a box of tissues you can try to teach them how to blow their nose, steam up your bathroom with herbs, and hang out there. Barbies makes a baby safe vapor rub you can put on their back. Mommy's bliss is a great medicine helped my baby last year so much when she was sick.
Been there, done that! He's a grown man now, THIS TOO SHALL PASS baby. Hang in there!
We really have all been there, single mums are hero's...
Honestly, curling up with coffee on a rainy Saturday morning and watching a long vid of ur garden is such a wonderful thing
🙌🙌
I finally have time to binge these older videos! Love this ❤
You truly have the most contagious smile ever. Beautiful lady inside and out xx
seeing people being able to garden so much earlier than I can makes me feel the need to move south even more. People tell me, Oh it’s super hot down south. They don’t understand how much I love the heat and hate the cold. I dread winter all year long.
Hang in there… I’ve wanted to move south for years and we may be blessed to be able to move in a couple years… hopes and prayers are lovely things that can actually maybe come true ❤️🙏🏼💟☮️❤️
I will never un-see Chive blossoms as truffula trees!! 🐘🧡lol
Learning so much from you!! LOVE LOVE LOVE looking forward to the garden tours every Saturday! Thank you so much!! Your awesome Jess!!
Wait.. What? You may be moving?? Did I miss something lol. You have truly inspired me to grow everything I can! I try to watch as much as I can while having my morning coffee. You have been a very big influence in my ever growing garden! Tks Jess ☕
Yes we’ve always planned on moving at some point: we want a big property not so close to the road
I'd love to see luffas gourds in one of those free spaces and what you do with them at harvest time and after they've been dried.
I'm 1,000... Wow... Rewatching this and making the 1,000th Comment on April 2021 eleven months later!!! Jess, you are the Best and have changed my life along with so many with Realistic Encouragement to become A True Gardener ands to help others to do the same! Becoming World Changers!!!😁 ❤️ 🙌🌱🌿🌷💐
nothing like sitting down with my breakfast and enjoying a roots and refuge farm video
I definitely think you should plant flowers in the square beds, it'll look great. I think a good idea would be to put an arched cattle panel between two of the beds and grow climbing roses over it then you can put a bench under the arch and you'll have an amazing place to sit underneath the beautiful roses and just appreciate your lovely garden.
I want to buy your farm when you sell! 😆. My husband would never move to Arkansas. 😕
Someone is going to be very blessed by all you have done! ♥️
I recently started watching your channel, I got so excited I sent one of your videos to my daughter who also gardens and she said mom this is the blog I’ve been trying to tell you you need to start watching. So we are both big fans! Thank you so much for this garden tour, your smile and disposition just brighten my day. Love all you are doing! 🌿🌷🌺
I love that!
Plant small blocks of corn, in the square beds!
reluctantlysocial kristina Espinoza great idea
if I bury a chicken, would it grow eggs? IDK I only have tried it with dead ones, do you know if it has to be live?
Your videos are so nice and refreshing. Our family has been working on a homestead for a few years. It has had many trials and heartwarming times. We are working at raising more for our family and friends. Plus teaching the kids to have a concept of pride in hard work. I would love to know how to collect some of the seeds from our plants, like tomatoes, squashes, beans without cross pollinating. :)
Suggestion for the empty long beds with cattle panel: Luffa gourd! And maybe in the fall do a processing video once they are dry and you cut them up
I second this! They were my favorite thing to grow last year and the flowers! Beautiful!
I was going to recommend that as well then I saw your comment 😊 another option that might be fun for the kids are the bird house gourds.
This is you at your best. I love every video you make, but my very favorites are you doing what you're doing here: demonstrating, explaining, teaching, showing stuff. Clearly, teaching is one of your spiritual gifts. 😘
Roses are amazing. My mama always had a huge rose garden in our yard growing up. Now that she has passed it is mine, and it's such a wonderful thing to look out of my kitchen window and see roses that were planted by her hands.
You are so blessed to have your mom’s roses, we always moved for my dad’s jobs with the government… and I have sweet memories of her love for roses and plants ❤️🙏🏼❤️
Every year for my husband and my anniversary he buys me a rose bush. I have a gorgeous yard with a different kind of rose for each and every year of our marriage. I highly recommend Don Juan climbing rose if you can find the room for it. It is a beautiful deep red double blossom rose that is an easy keeper and comes back year after year with little care to create a spectacular climbing rose for your amazing garden.
Plant corn for sure, I love home grown corn😋
Anyone else here watching Jess' old videos while she takes a well deserved break, because you're caught up on all the new ones lol 😊🎉
I love that you post your garden tours on Saturdays. It gives me needed motivation to work in the garden over the weekend 😊
GIRL. 😃😃😃 NEVER FEEL GUILTY ABOUT MAKING USE OF YOUR GROWING SPACE FOR ROSES AND FLOWERS. That is space well invested in your MENTAL HEALTH. VERY MUCH WORTH THE SPACE and EFFORT. Our eyes and hearts NEED FEEDIN too. PLUS EVERYTHING WE GROW FILTERS CARBON. I SAY WE GROW EVERYTHING WE CAN, ESPECIALLY ROSES...THANKS FOR THE TOUR AND THE LIGHT. 🙏🙏🙏😊💡💡💡🦋 🌹🌹🌹
How about planting medicinal herbs/flowers? Also I'd love to see you all plant fruit trees somewhere on the property.
Rain country channel covers herbal plants alot
Yes plant the roses, and plant a white rose where the last rays of sunlight fades to night and it's blossoms will glow, and the smell of roses in the evening air is lovely. yes I have roses too.
FIRST TIME EVER I'M Setting up FLAT DRIP TAPE IRRIGATION in half my garden TO GROW WATERMELONS, SQUASH and Beans! PLEASE PRAY FOR MY PROGRESS DOING THIS ALONE WITH SOME BLESSINGS OF STUFF FROM A DEAR SISTER IN CHRIST! I LOVE YOU SHARING YOUR GARDEN and family Life with me while I'm Enjoying my Garden and Life!
Those orange roses all over your trellis is my dream!!! Majestic is exactly the right word! I lve rt on the boarder of 5a/5b and for some reason roses don't do too well here...I think it's the bugs. But Jess, NEVER feel bad for wanting to plant beauty all around you!!! Whatever makes you heart sing, let it sing!!! I loved what you said about having a sunflower on every end of the beds. We actually decided to add way more flowers to our farm area, just because it is so much more relaxing and beautiful! And I just read an article yesterday that stated sunflowers actually sweeten up cucumbers when they are planted together! So you never know what can go together I guess! It makes sense that many vining veggies do well with sunflowers, mutual help. ;) Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden...and wow do I wish I had a sweet Maya to help me build a greenhouse/hot tunnel/ awesome movable chicken feeder!!! You two are so adorable, you guys make me think about finding someone too. I am soooo happy that your channel has taken off too!!! You deserve it truly!!! Your so authentic and sweet/funny it's a joy to watch this channel, so thank you for making it for us to watch!!! :)
Jess even if you did a garden walk through everyday of the week and posted. I would still watch for hours.
I love your garden and what you are accomplishing. Me and my husband just bought 26 acres and we are planning on following your steps and creating a magical garden like yours, we will record on our youtube channel too, in hopes that someone will watch :)
Me too…I watch them over and over…
Hello dear Jess--I bought J&P roses in 1994 and they are STILL coming up every year with little care. GREAT company. I adore you and Mia. Thank you for all you do for us!
So I did a thing a couple of days ago, and ordered almost 50 seed packets from baker creek. I can't wait to try some of the varieties I have seen on your channel. Holy basil, Paul Robeson, and blue gold berries to name a few
Jess plant all the roses. They will be amazing in your square beds. Remember your own advice to always plant things for the reason that they give you joy💜
I’m blown away by how much you’ve expanded your growing area! You are going to be incredibly busy processing. You are amazing. 🥰
As always, I am mesmerized and inspired. My kids and I have been busy creating our whole backyard into one big creative garden. I can’t wait. We finished one of our fencing made from branches. We are using all natural material from our back yard. It’s so fun. That’s how I am getting through this quarantine.
You can use the roses for the rose hips - make tea with & get some vit c in the process
Kohlerabhi (kålrabi) is best inn soup/stew and as mash. Boil kohlerabhi and mash it whit butter, muskat, salt, pepper, sugar and sweet poteto if you want. Og boli whit salt meat (pig or sheep) , poteto, carrot, (sellerirot og pastinak (Norwegian Word i dont know the english woord)). It is so good🙂
Oh thank you! I'm so excited to try this!
Jess!! What a beautiful tribute to Kitten George 😭😭😭
Jess, I have planted sunflowers since I was four years old!!! I am now a great grandmama, and just planted 20 sunflowers!!! I usually plant all kinds. Some for food, others for color and cutting for indoor decor. I continue to plant them until August. Never had a problem with them. I do plant climbing nasturtiums at the base once they are five feet tall, it's a beautiful site to see. This year I will plant climbing black eye susans with the climbing nasturtiums. Momma use to plant climbing beans and peas with the sunflowers when they got to be six feet tall. I do plant marigolds with all my garden beds. Some animals and bugs can't stand them. We love the splashes of color all over the gardens. We do mix so many of our plants and never had a problem. So many rules for gardening today, I have no rules in my garden, lol. It has never been work for us, all of it is just pure enjoyment. Love and Blessings from south Texas.
Do yourself a favor, plant at least ONE old fashioned tea rose, just for the scent.
Tea roses are relatively modern, and the tea fragrance is not nearly as intoxicating as "heirloom" Damask cultivars.
I love the peace rose.... I know it is a tea hybrid, but still
@@mareamiller6957 I agree that it's beautiful, but it's not "old fashioned."
@@mareamiller6957 thats the one I was thinking of. Grandma's garden. :)
@@SherryEllesson im bad at roses!
Just tuning in after a lot of hard work. Okra: I worked on Staten Island for 3 years. Frequented a Sri Lankan restaurant with a wonderful Grandma. She always hooked me up because i was a vegetarian. The best sauces with okra as a base. That covinced me. Your choices sound amazing, my friend. Totally worth it.
You need a wash and drying station to help with the harvest so your house doesn't explode with food
I just put in my first real garden, this is the first year for us in our first home! I keep seeing that rose archway and I am trying ohhh so hard to remind myself that it's okay to dream for the future! I want so badly to just go build a rose archway for myself right away!!!
Edit: this video is speaking to me so much already and I'm only 9 minutes in!
Love!!! My boyfriend and I are moving into our first home at the end of this month on a 3 acre lot and I am so excited to start landscaping and gardening our space! Thank you for the inspiration and such a peaceful video to enjoy on this rainy Saturday. Subscribed! xx
Cheyenne T welcome to your new addiction!
Lavender, mints, herbs, medicinal flowers like Echinacea, etc. Watermelons, more greens, etc. So many choices!
Oh girl, y'all need to take an overnight trip to Tulsa & visit the Tulsa Rose Garden. They test new varieties there & its a popular wedding venue. You'll see roses you won't see anywhere else. Woodward Park is nearby & y'all would love that too. And for the kiddos, The Gathering Place isn't far either! (Its closed for cv right now)
I have no suggestion on what you should grow in the garden, but YES on planting the roses!! Dooo itttttt....
Jess have the kids paint red rocks or rocks that look like strawberries 🍓 . Izzy and I did and it really kept the birds and critters away so far. We are on year two.
Cyn and Izzy Noris I'm going to try that, I have three different types of strawberries am lucky if I get one or two berries total!!!!
I have added the white metal shelving around my strawberry patch to keep small critters out and then pick up some netting (dollar tree has some for hawaiian decoration) and attach over the shelving to keep birds out.
I heard about the painted rocks and had my girls collect and make some this year. First year trying it so it's good to hear that it worked for you!
Have ever eaten chive flowers? Cut the flower tops at "first" blossom, break the florets apart and sprinkle over a salad or even better over a baked potato topped with sour cream. These make food look so beautiful.
Thanks for the tips!
And the flowers taste like chives.
JESS.. PLANT THE ROSES.. apart from looking STUNNING .. and SMELLING AMAZING.. if you get aphids you will see them on the roses first. I'm one for having Thornless in the veggie beds and Thorned at the ends.
Oh this is such a good point!
Really?! That would be excellent because you'd know when to start your Neem Oil regiments. Does that work for the Roses or can you use them to draw Aphids away from other plants?
@@Ms.Byrd68 Neem oil kills bees tho
I get aphids on everything all the time :/ hate those suckers
@@OremusFarm Wow. Did not know that. I am planting flowers and clover to attract bees. Guess I won't be buying neem oil, then. What about peppermint oil, or peroxide spray? Will they kill the aphids and leave the bees alone?
Loved in re: to chives, “they look like Truffula Trees and I need them in my life!!” Ahhhh good ole Dr. Seuss. ❤️ I am loving how you leave many things in your garden after they are spent, either to re-seed or for the bees, or to gather their seed. I think I’ll try that with a few plants this year.
We will always support you in planting all the roses 🌹
If you pack chive blossoms into a jar, then add vinegar and let it steep in in a cool, dark place for a few weeks then strain you get a lovely chive blossom vinegar that tastes and looks lovely. It's delicious in salad dressings!!!
You better grow Edamame!
As a Japanese, it’s great for snack or appetizer.
Just boil with some salt or you can sauté whole thing with butter and garlic.
Great beer snack!
"..planting a legacy is so important, even if you aren't sure you'll be the one to reap the harvest." - sage advice. :D
I tried my first kale seed pods today, didn’t know they were edible until I saw you eating them. The bees have been loving the flowers on them.
Jess, if you can find a blue girl rose it’s a bush rose… Actually has blue petals! Gorgeous and so fragrant! It would truly do so lovely in your yard you can literally smell it a mile away. As far as what to plant in your giant vegetable beds how about some hibiscus for tea preservation? I understand that’s a large bed and that’s a lot of hibiscus… But what about turning it into a full out Tea garden or Loofah… God knows you have the cattle panels for it LOL
The beauty of you guys’ design of the perennial garden is that it’s beautiful even before the plants take off!
Roses are great! A four year struggle with blackspot and japanese beetles taught me to just respect the wild roses that were already on the property and not to worry about buying anymore. I miss growing tulips and gladiolas. Another good fertilizer for your garden that you may already have is alfalfa pellets or cubes. As alfalfa breaks down it releases nitrogen. Ben is so sweet! Your garden is awesome, grow what makes you happy. Your high tunnel would be a great area for some grain corn. Baker Creek has some short varieties, it is so very nice to have corn for grits and corn bread, and corn layered with DE will keep for a year in buckets. If planted now it could be done by August... and you could amend the beds before you plant tomatoes in them for next year.
I’d love to see you grow birdhouse gourds and make birdhouses from them. That would be a fun activity for the kids too.
I found your garden trellis video on Easter Sunday. I immediately started pinging the husband abt getting our garden in. We’re in south Texas and I’m still not used to growing anything here. I grew up in SW Mo (hi neighbor!). We keep trying off and on. It was late-ish going in, but is going well. These days the Hubs will ask, “what is your friend saying abt (this or that topic)?” We enjoy your adventures so much. Thank you for this labor of love.
Okra dehydrated is also delicious and a great snack
Faith Buller yes, it is!
Lovely tour! Have you considered having a gardening internship to help with planting, care, and harvesting? You share your valuable knowledge and experience, and there is nothing like hands-on learning. Blessings to your sweet family!
A thought for the empty boxes - ground cherries. I don’t remember seeing them in your garden. They’re complimentary to your ❤️ of tomatoes, which I fully get and support 🤘🍅
Maybe y'all could grow pumpkins. My side yard garden was first covered with wood chips spring of 2018. I buried some pumpkins that had gone bad under 6 inches of woodchips. Buried them probably 1/2 a foot in November. The seeds popped up in spring. And I got so many pumpkins 2019. Now in 2020, there's more pumpkins popping up in the same spot.
Plant Borage, the Bees will love them.
I am so envious of your Rose's. Roses grow well in my location however, we also have a large herd of deer that cross our property daily and they love to eat roses ( along with a whole lot of other plants) Love to look at your roses.....keep em coming.
Mom ALWAYS had Jackson and Perkins roses......they are wonderful!!!
Girl you need to make rose cuttings of your beautiful plants! Do not dig the up until you try to propagate them. I heard you can stick the young stems cuttings into potatoes to create new plants...
I'm going to watch this while I plant my seeds. They just came in today, you've inspired me to start growing my own food.
We are about to buy 10 acres to turn into a homestead co-op farm and I am terrified but obsessed with your channel! Thank you so much for all the effort you put into the videos and details you share.
Watching from my thinking stump in my garden. Planting seed and some Cole crops in Ottawa. Week 2 looks amazing! Bless Ben, you’re raising an amazing gardener! Your thyme beast looks like I just want to plonk myself next to it and just bury my face right in the middle 😍
I think Rose's are perfect. With a little research, you can find some varieties that produce rose hips, not all do, for a delicious tea high in vitamin C. You can also use rose petals to make an infusion and use that to make a wonderful rose petal jelly. This is an especially unique product that is tasty, delicate, and makes a wonderful gift alone or as an addition to a basket of homemade goodies. I like to use one color in each batch. Red and pink, or orange and peach pedals so the colors stay brighter.
I've been hesitant to buy Rose's because I move so frequently- but you have me sold.... someone is going to enjoy these Jacob's ladder climbing roses
Jess you need to grow Joseph's coat climbing rose! There are different shades of yellow, orange, red and pink in one bush. They are magnificent!
Ooh I suggest you plant watermelons and melons in the empty beds..
Our chives are 6 or 7 years old. I’ve never winterized them and they provide several harvests over the summer months. I can dry enough during the summer to carry our family until next spring. Temperature goes down to -40 Celsius (-40 F) a couple weeks during our winter here in Calgary 🇨🇦 . Chives are built tough! I love your channel, always informative 😊. Thanks for sharing!
Plant more roses.It will help you stop and smell them.You can use them when you renew your vows too.
Jess, do you plant Moon flowers? They open at night and the Hummingbird moths show up. The first year I thought they were mutant hummingbirds 🙄Plus, they smell sooo good... And if you want to attract bees plant Anise Hyssop...Blessings back atcha🌹
Jess, look into the Double Delight Rose. They have a delicious fragrance. The petals are cream colored with red along the edge of the petals.
I wish I could put you in my pocket and pull you out whenever I had a question lol...my own little Jess guide to gardening! :) I love watching your videos, your gardens just make my heart smile. I can't wait to see your garden in full bloom in a couple of months. Keep up the good work!
I'd love to see you trellis some passion flowers. Gorgeous blooms and then fruit!
In early ’22 I have always loved roses… I use them for landscaping… I put them all around my house and give them a special place. I ❤️ roses 2 🤣🤣🤣
Another nice rose is"Joseph's coat of many colors."
She said bush - but thats what I was thinking, she needed more climbing rose varieties to sprawl against that back fence area. Infact when she showed her coral climbing rose last week, I also thought she should get Joseph's Coat of Many Colors too!😁
My aunt used to have these and people would stop and ask what kind they were.
I have Joseph’s coat. So beautiful!
I used to have them at the ends of my clothes line
Saving rose hips makes great tea....
I find sometimes the cheaper roses are made from good stalk.
Take cuttings from the arbor rose you love....easy to do.....I put my cuts in water with a willow branch then when it roots I plant in a pot with a mason jar on top of it.......just like my dad did...he grew beautiful roses.......my plants get eaten by the deer so one day I hope to a fenced area for them...
Yes! All the roses. All of them! I got my David Austin catalog finally, so dangerous.
Hey Jess, sunflowers excrete a natural herbicide that deters other plants from growing under them. If you plant a lot of them in a bed you will see other plants struggling near them.
try yacon, they are really lovely warmth loving roots, the flowers look like little sunflowers, and the roots taste like fruit. really tasty. you can eat them raw or cooked.
One of my favorite things about you is that you continue to improve your farm and establish crops that you might never benefit from - that being said, I’d relocate from Vermont to be the next inhabitant of your beautiful farm! 😉
Someone already mentioned dry beans . i vote for them also. Black beans, pinto beans.
I have been wanting to plant black and pinto beans but have no clue how to grow them 😕 any input?
@@christycoalson36 Just 'Goggled' it, there's a ton of info on how to grow them available online.
I dont have any experience with pinto beans so i cant tell u about that. However, i have been growing black beans for 4 years now so here r some suggestions to avoid issues. Let the plant completely dry out before pulling it up. Then lay it out flat in the sun for another day or two. Only then can u harvest the beans from inside the pods. Also make sure u plant them in a space that u wont mind seeing dried up plants later on in the season
I can’t imagine putting all the work into this awesome property and then moving 😳 say whaattt? Girl you are awesome. I need to know where your energy comes from 🤗
Since you have extra space, you could grow dry beans
Thank you for sharing with us. It’s surprising to see how much everything in the back gardens have grown. The pig planter is adorable. I’ve seen him in other videos and didn’t realize he was a planter. Love it!
Suggestions for your garden: Big Red Ripper southern peas or pink eye purple hull peas, good tasting and prolific!
They are in zone 7a, as am I, and the peas really struggle here. I transplanted from an 8a zone and had no issues there. I cannot buy them fresh anywhere in the state of Oklahoma but haven't found Anyone who can explain Why 😩 they won't grow here. I'm trying them again this year. Fingers are crossed (but wish someone knew What it is that makes it so rare to grow here?)
Love them red rippers!
@@sissinoklahoma2057 Southern peas/cowpeas (such as mentioned by Pat, above) thrive in high heat and humidity.
You have to grow moon and stars watermelon! They're incredible, and are the sweetest we've ever had! And they get huge.
I was going to suggest that too! I am doing them for the first time this year. 👍🏻
Your guys' garden season starts so stinking EARLY! We barely have sprouts of anything and cant plant the rest until late may early June and wont start seeing much of a harvest until likely mid- late June and July. I love your videos btw. You seem like a Jesusy person. I like Jesusy people.
I love putting the chive flowers on eggs; just pull apart and sprinkle on while cooking.
Cardoon is a fun vegetable, a lot easier than Artichoke with great flavor. I like making them fried. The leaves are very pretty, but it IS spiky.
I have some I NEED to harvest. Care to share a recipe?
preppingmama i think I found it here on RUclips, just search fried cardoon. :)
Yes! Please tell Miah a how to video on how to make your raised garden beds would be so helpful.. especially for my husband!! 🌱
Will you be growing luffa this year everybody was talking about the luffa sponge last year I even bought some seeds and I'm going to try it for the first time. Also another spinach you could try for the Heat New Zealand spinach
Roslyn, you will love it. they have the most beautiful blooms. we grew three luffa plants on a 40 ft vertical garden and they produced a ton of huge luffa's. we even had people driving downt he road and stopping to see what we were growing. One was an oriental woman who snagged some of the younger ones because they can be eaten like a cucumber or zucchini when they are about 6 inches or less. I've seen many people boil them down into a soup before they start sponging up (as I call it). one thing I did notice the first year that I grew them was when removing the skins when the skin is green- we had an early cold snap hitting that year and we decided to go ahead and remove the late crop and process what we could. the inside of the green skin feels a lot like aloe vera. a mosquito had bitten me and I had some of the fluid from the inside of luffa on my hand and went to smack the critter, the fluid numbed the itching from the bite. Lots of luck and enjoy those luffas, they make great Christmas gifts also.
As for your potatoes, I don't know about the Austrian Crescent, but the fingerlings & the Adirondack Blues are both determinate, which means they only form spuds on the one layer of stollens. Unlike indeterminate potatoes which need to be hilled and will form spuds all the way up til the green growth begins, these determinates will do just fine setting lots of potatoes for you under that first layer of compost and straw. Looks awesome!