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Straw Bales - Swiss Chard and Squash

7/8/2016

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I am having wonderful luck growing Swiss Chard in the straw bales. We are cutting every other day and the centers continue to grow. Chard tastes like spinach. It can be eaten raw when the leaves are two to three inches. I like to harvest it like my grandmother did - cut off outer leaves once they reach six-to-eight inches. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil. Dice the stems and set aside. Chop the leaves into one-inch strips. Boil the stems for two minutes, then add the leaves and boil just until wilted, about one minute more. Drain and serve with a splash of olive oil and vinegar of your choice. MMM! Now that takes me back to Grandma's house!

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The squash plants begin flowering with the male flowers and I am blessed with an abundance of pollinators, eliminating the need to hand pollinate. The female flowers opened a week later and so far all the fruits have set. I can't wait to taste my homegrown squash!

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Straw Bales Tomato Wilt

7/8/2016

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Three of my tomato plants have wilted. The first one, Sungold, I though perhaps it needed more water due to a string of 90 degree days. After two days of  watering, the plant was completely limp. After some research on the internet, I decided to take the plant out. I cut the stems and looked for telltale signs of bacterial wilt but did not find any. I kept the tomatoes that were beginning to ripen and tossed the rest. More research brought me to the conclusion my bales were waterlogged. This week, two more plants show wilt. They perk up in the morning and night, but once the sun hits them they look like the following picture. Of course on the second day of not watering we had two inches of rain. Today I am hoping the breeze will help dry out the bales. 
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    Kittycooks

    Enjoys life as a dog walker/petsitter,  professional naturalist, author, landscape designer, teacher, and artist. 

    Contact me at 
    kittycooks@gmail.com

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