Going to Pennsic

Balm, or Melissa officinalis

strawberry, and pot marigold, called calendula

tansy

pinks

rosemary and sage

Rain, and War

Last week we finally had a good soaking rain, which has not occurred in quite some time, so I haven't had to water the garned in a few days now.  I porbably should have tonight, but I was getting plants ready to take to the Pennsic War and thought it would be nice to photograph each of them in their new pots.  But, i came to get the camera, took one pic and ran out of battery.  So here is the rue, also going is melissa, basil, strawberry, calendula, tansy, pinks, rosemary and sage.  Provided of course that they survive the potting up they got today.

Fence and Water

Fence:  did some more work on the fence last week.  Posts were put in last year, assisted by Robert the Artificer and his machine, (dang that thing made a post hole in under two minutes) with welded wire stretched between, 8' high.  Some of the rails went in at that time, but a few of them are just enough over 10' to warrant longer boards.

Two sections now have this.  the bottom rails are plastic decking material, because they will be in contact with the earth.  So at least three sections are ready for the infill, which is coming at least partially from the drainage ditch by the new chickenhouse.

Next i've got to design and build a proper gate.  I do like the one on the front of Sylvia Landsberg's Medieval Gardens book.

Water:   an hour under the sprinkler barely dampened below the surface, so the water's been on for two now.  It is better to water every other day for two hours than once a day for one.

Oh, and the first two cucumbers were picked yesterday, and the first tomato should be perfect tomorrow!

New Chickenhouse

technically this is #3, but the second one was only temporary and has since been dismantled

the view from the house.  Here you can see the ditch leading away from the house

and here the ditch is filled in, there's still some dirt left to move, and that's the relevance to this blog.

Water

This morning's rain having passed my garden by, i've turned on the water.  The Goodman of Paris instructed his young wife to water in the evening, never when the sun is hot.  And Thomas Hill in his Gardener's Labyrinth recommends watering "after a drought, or when many hot dayes have chanced together"  which certainly applies this week.  He also says that "the water best commended for watering of the plants, is the same drawn or gotten out of the river..."   Well I just happen to have a river coming through my property, so i've hauled water from there in buckets.  it's a great lot of work.  He also says that if you need to use water drawn up out of a well or pit that you should let it stand for two or three days, for the newly drawn water may enfeeble the plants becasue it is raw and cold.

Some progress has been made upon the fence as well, some drainage work around the new chickenhouse has left some extra dirt, which will go into raised beds that will be along the fence. 

it's hard to remember the blog when the weather is nice and the days are long, but some pictures are overdue.  But i've got to keep my act together as I am teaching a class on medieval gardening at the Pennsic War, which is an event put on by the Society for Creative Anachronism.  I have no idea how large my audience will be, or how critical, so i've got to be on my game, so i've re-read the books i've got here.

A Medieval Home Companion, translated and edited by Tania Bayard, is from the goodman of paris book, from ~1393, of which there are three copies made in the 15th c. 

The Gardener's Labyrinth, by Thomas Hill, first published in 1577 said to be the first gardening book in English, the edition i have is edited by Richard Mabey

Well it's time to put the chickens to bed, and by then the water will have been on for about an hour, which ought to be enough.

Well-sweep

So yesterday I took a little trip up to port murray to the Well-sweep herb farm.  Got to talk to Cyrus a little about old tools! and picked up a few things.  I was *really* hoping for mandrake and elecampane but they were out, so my haul last night was limited to Tansy, vervain, avens, feverfew, pinks, sage and cowslip.   all of these are well-documentable period plants, and you'll be seeing them here as they come into flower (provided they like where I put them)

Happy Fathers day

Here are some more radsihes, freshly plucked from the earth.  These reseeded themselves from last year, and I don't recall planting white ones ever, so that one was a surprise

This is the strawberry bed, looking straight down at it, as compared to the same bed several posts ago

And here is a closeup of a ripe alpine strawberry.  Very small, but very tasty!

another view of the bed, nicely framed by the chard which is doing quite well, though something other than me has been eating it, wich doesn't make me too happy.

 below is the cucumber, in it's new cage.  i don't want it sprawling all over, it will be difficult to maintain it's surroundings if that happens, so i can train it up the cage and that will do nicely.  it will also keep the fruits from rotting on their bottoms

oo, here are some nice mellons.  i do like nice melons

Here is purslane, oo this stuff is yummy.  and it grows without any effort.  i'm holding it up toward the camera so it appears a bit larger of leaf than it is.  it has a low habit, but it is thick and fleshy and quite tasty.  I usually pick off the end leafs and add it to salads, though frequently i'll just sit in the garden grazing on it.

Here is a bit more purslane, and also you can see the use of radishes to mark the rows for carrots and parsnips (or maybe turnips i forget)

soon the yellow squash will be big enough to eat.  You can see a flower, and several very small squash on the other side of the plant.

This is an issue with the acorn squash.  the stems have been slit open.  i'm sure it's some kind of bug but i haven't seen one yet.  Do you know what does this?  the plants are still alive...

and here the acorn squash is with the corn.  As the beans are elsewhere, this would be then a two-sisters garden. 

Please post some comments so i don't feel like i'm blogging into the wind... 

Thanks for reading!