Now that you're relaxed and in the proper frame of mind, let's talk about this in between season that is Late Winter, Early Spring. I'm sure you've all heard the saying "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb" and that certainly seems to be true. Already this month we've had nearly 10 inches of rain. There's another old saying that whatever rain falls in March will also fall in June. Let's hope that's true!
With all this rain and warmer than usual temps, I have already started planting a few things in the garden. In January I set out Onions and on March 1st the Kale, Spinach, Cabbage, Lettuce and Collards went in. Now, I'm really feeling brave because Tuesday I planted corn. We always have a cold snap in March or early April but for some reason I'm feeling safe this year. Even if there ends up an unexpected freeze, I can just cover everything.
Have you ever heard of the Three Sisters Planting Method? It's a traditional Indian planting technique and I find that it's a pretty effective way to grow a lot of food in a smallish space. The technique is to plant 6 corn seed in a 2' circle and when the corn is 5" tall, you plant 4 bean seed (half-runner type beans only!) around the corn. A week later plant 6 squash seed around the beans. The idea is to have the corn provide a trellis for the beans, which provide the nitrogen for the corn and squash, and in turn the squash provides shade to hold moisture and prevent weeds by providing shade with its large leaves. Since I have raised beds I did this on a smaller scale and it still worked well. Give that a try and see what you think.
Since the weather is so warm right now, I decided to go on a little hike through my woods today. I decided to venture off the beaten path and cut through the woods. Now, I've lived here 3 years and have never walked out this direction and was amazed. There's always so much greenbriar (which is 100% edible by the way) that I usually don't trail blaze but today I felt adventurous. I found a creek and on the bank of this little creek were 2 fruit trees. I'm not sure what they were but from the leaves it was obvious they were fruit trees. Possibly a crab apple or wild pear of some sort, not a plum because they haven't leafed out yet. I've heard stories of wild pears in these woods but have never seen one. I tried to mark the location on Google Earth but I'm apparently not savvy enough because I couldn't figure it out. I'll go back in a few days and find it again and just flag it I guess. Near by the creek I found a couple of holes about a foot in diameter and probably 100' apart and they were lined on the surface with flat rocks and I never did touch the bottom of them with the long stick I poked them with< It's a mystery alright! The oddest thing is the area I was walking in was the top of a hill and all cleared of underbrush and there were these holes, too small for a well I think. Just bum fuddles me.
I found Wild Violets, in which a tea made from the leaves and flowers is reputed to sweeten a sour temperament...
And as I was finishing up my walk I stopped to pick sorrel and ended up with about a pound of it. Just enough to make a pot of rich French Sorrel Soup...
I'm headed to a friends house Sunday to gather some Cottonwood buds to make some Balm of Gilead Oil. If I'm not too late to get some, my next blog will be instructions on making it!
Enjoy this wonderful mid season while you can, soon it'll be too hot to breathe!
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