The 2017 in the Intervale ended on a bit of a bitter note. The community garden site director for Tommy Thompson took exception to the grass in my tomatoes and threatened to till my plot if I didn't clean it out. Consequently, the grain that had sprouted from the straw, the comfrey that I rescued from the compost pile, and much of the straw mulch that has protected the soil this year was removed. I suspect there'll be quack grass everywhere come spring.
There were admittedly some clumps of grass in the tomato rows, the Roadside Leeks experiment was as grassy looking as intended, the radishes that I left as a cover had bolted, and some volunteer flowers that had sprouted over the summer were huge. That said, the quack grass was under control, the pathways were all mulched, and the weeds that were left were very consciously selected. I would put my garden up against 95% of the plots down there as far as the condition it was in, including the site director's.
To add insult to .. well, more insult, while I was denuding my own plot, there was a tractor with a tiller trying to till and broadcast plant rye into a soil bed that was covered with flailed corn tops. Needless to say, I think the birds were well fed and the ground will be bare come spring.
*deep breaths*
Anyway, to close out the 2017 books, here's one of my favorite pics of my Intervale garden this year. These are the Roadside Leeks on August 17, before I let the crab grass grow to support their late summer growth. The rows to the left are onions with some peas and overgrown radishes on the far edge. These leeks were only as thick as a finger but tasted great!
In other news, I harvested a lot of daikons, oodles of leeks, accidentally learned that Cincinnati Red radishes make respectable cover crops, and got some good seed from the tomato side.
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