Lesson No. 1: the items we planted directly into the compost (without tilling it into the ground) are thriving beyond our expectations. We're getting decent results from the other plants (except the corn is a bit disappointing) but nothing to the extent of the mini pumpkins and strawberries that were started directly into the compost. We'll be making some changes regarding soil prep for sure next year.
We've also grown as many weeds as vegatables. Which we expected because we weren't as careful preparing the soil as we should have been. Nonetheless, we enjoy weeding in the cool early morning hours, checking the progress and tending to the various needs of each plant: trimming back the strawberry volunteers, thinning the carrots, weaving the blackberry vines, and so forth. We also started to spread a layer of mulch over the beds to keep the weeds at bay and to allow the soil to keep the moisture longer. I'm not sure what we'll do with this mulch when we prepare the beds this fall (till it into the ground or rake it aside?) but we'll come up with something when the time comes.
We have planted three selections of pumpkins. Strangely this huge flower is from the mini pumpkins. These are planted along the fence in that supper rich compost. I fear we've started something out back we may no longer be in control of. Everyday it's noticeably bigger than the last!
This is the first sunflower to bloom in our sunflower forest. We've planted over 100 sunflowers which sounds like a lot, but it's not nearly enough. This is a shorter flower, the others are expected to be 12-15' or taller. We also mixed in some teddy bear and some red varieties. It's rather exciting to see each one grow and wonder which type it will be when it opens.
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