Favas were the only harvest from main plot, besides one seed of summer squash. Even the harvest from favas wasn’t huge for the ones a sowed, but it’s a clear seed increase. I can’t remember how many I sowed, but I think it was little less than 100. Maybe 40 out of those grew, but not all made seeds or many of them. Still enough to try and fill up the plot with favas as much I can next year. Some of the seeds have faults or discoloration from ripening so late, but this time I didn’t make any selection based on that. Anything that grows is fine and then at the end of next season I can be more selective on how they perform. There were also some spotty/striped that possibly are crosses, although I can’t say I have paid enough attention to the ones I sowed to say for certain that I didn’t have any like those before. Still I’m selecting these and some others that I have just little of to grow in more certain conditions in the main growing area.
I just googled (try google diverse favas) for more diverse looking fava seeds and came across some that had quite a bit of different colours and patterns, but unfortunately none available in EU. Even if colours are little irrelevant, new colour compinations are always good way of picking out crosses.
About a quarter of the Savitaipale I grew this year have the same pattern as those spotty purple favas, so that colouration might come from there (I mean, if you have some Savitaipale in your landrace - didn’t seem like an unreasonable assumption though). I had my first bean aphids this year though - made for a very welcome selection event - and had potentially attributed those markings to that, but I’d be happy to accept that it might be genetic.
Anyway, looking good! I might need to get myself some green favas too, I kind of like how they look like in there.
Not that I know of, but very well might be. Seeds are from @polarca so she might know better. There are some where irregular colouration is definetely from bug damage or discolouration from moisture, but the ones that I signled out certainly look like it’s from the inside, genetic. Looking at some pictures of those diverse favas it looked like some patterns, that are genetic, might be easily confused to some damage. Those still had some uniform pattern. Greens on my seeds might be just immature. I didn’t make any selection. If they aren’t ripe or damage is too much that’s fine. The plot is probably still quite patchy.
Found some of the earlier seeds of this year that I saved that had little more clearly two colours on top of spots/stripes. Couldn’t get any better picture. In real live the contrast is more clear and is visible without extra lighting unlike the others that are more one shade of purple on other shade of purple and can be seen clearly only with extra light. Well, atleast now that they have fully ripened. They aslo were easier to spot after harvest when they weren’t completely dry.
Spreading the cardbord before winter didn’t go quite to plan. Or those that I spread before winter did survive the longest, but with the snow melting early and some high winds, I had to remove all from where I had sowed carrots and parsnips. I don’t know what to do with them other than wait and see what I can get. Those that are from my own seed I can lay cardboard and hay on top like I have done with the rest of the plot and just sow again. Unfortunately those I got from @marcela_v have to fend for themselfs against the weeds. Probably try to make some mulch cover between the rows once the seedlings emerge. Otherwise it’s a learning experience and current method at least works agains wind. Yet to see how much of the weeds it can supress.
Newly covered and made some sowings with carrots from @malterod and some mixes of beetroot and swedes to test how they winter. Still this style of covering is quite interesting as I just made a long cut couple cm wide to the cardboard. put some cm of soil on top and hope the seedlings go directly down.
Carrots planted for seed seem like they have rotten save one. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t seem to be from the cut. My theory is that I stored them too long in too hot before I planted them last fall which made the skin shriveled. Maybe it killed all the rooting potential? Definetely will do something different next year. The one that survived likely is the one I found as a volunteer and planted then and there. Parsnips are all alive and growing on the other hand.
Utilized the older part to sow some of the favas that @mtttthwww_vdp provided plenty of. They did well enough last year that I trust at least some will make seed. I selected the least weedy spot, but otherwise it’s quite tough conditions. There has been effectively no rain in the last 2 months that the ground has been exposed and not much forecasted in the coming weeks. Maybe little bit next week, but with how dry it was when I sowed the seeds, it really would need much more.
I have had my greatest success with cucumbers when I plant the seeds around the margins of my squash patch, then no further intervention. In my garden cucumbers seem to prefer competing with weeds rather than having weeds around them suppressed. I do clear some weeds, particularly ground ivy aka creeping Charlie, before I plant the seeds but after planting I’m really not interfering at all anymore. It’s very possible that some particular species of weed might not make good companions, but i haven’t observed this in my garden.
Some weeds would be ok, but parts are overgrown with grass. Since the ground is quite poor, my season short and there is no watering, it seems quite hard for them. First year some cucumbers did do quite well, but after that weeds have had time to establish and last year the delay was too much in my short season. I will use that plot to something that is little more tough and use the other part for those that are little more particular about the conditions.
After sowing grain corn and squash. Made a hole to the cardboard, 2-4 seeds per hole and around 5cm of soil on top. Reusing soil from last years potted plants so that there aren’t many weed seeds.
Seems like I had forgot to updete so first pictures from 8.6 when I sowed beans next to corn. Corn had emerged quite well, squash more patchy, but some at least. Carrots and beets sown to the hay mulch were quite even, but swedes were eaten by bugs. Probably they were too small at the time their pests came and should have been sown earlier. Warm spring so everything was early. Not too many weeds coming through and I removed/covered those that had.
It took me 2,5 weeks to visit the plot again. Little longer than expected/hoped, but at the same time there wasn’t really any rush. Corn and squash had germinated a little more patchy and grown a little slower so that there wasn’t that much hurry to cull the weakest. Also first problems with the method are visible. Seems some/many seeds germinated too high and roots are developing half over the cardboard. The mulch isn’t so thick that it is still quite dry next to the cardboard. There is plenty of moisture after all the rains under cardboard so those that are tougher or were sown deeper have good amounts of moisture available. It seems that many of the corn are starting to get established and should grow better. Also there are some summer squash that are doing exceptionally well. Didn’t mark them, but I suspect I sowed there seeds from the 2024 survivors. Overall I’m happy if at least something grows well so that I know I’m on the right track with the method. Next time I can make sure that the seeds remain below cardboard level and so all should have chages of doing as well as the best this year.
Little more weeds pushing through, but could remove and patch the holes with newspaper.
Some corn really struggling with lack of access to water. Even if some corn can have more reddish/purple leaves, this is mainly caused by lack of water.
Cleaned the sides little for expansion for the next year. I’ll put up fences, expand the beds and cover area of around 150m2. If all goes well, I have more space to grow pretty much all the same species I’m growing now. Probably also moving cucumbers here.
Added some hay/cut weeds on top to cover it more. Right now little harder to do because plants are so small, but will keep covering later. Hopefully it will help with the moisture and adds some more weight to the weeds.
