Day 89

This morning was our last Sunday morning harvest.  A little sad, but not so much when you consider all the people who showed up and also how much we harvested.  Today we picked more food than ever, and it was truly a celebration of the ability of the land to produce for us with a little care and fostering.

The bounty was immense and included beans, squash, tomatoes, beets, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, and probably a couple other delights I am forgetting.  The Sunday harvests before breakfast have been tremendous fun, and many different people have had the opportunity to come and enjoy and learn in the garden during these days.  I want to thank everyone for all the help.  I couldn't have done it without you!!!

Day 85

Harvest morning!  People are definitely busy these days with classes, but the garden was still able to draw Sophie out bright and early for some wonderful weather harvesting.  We picked beans, kale, swiss chard, basil, squash, tomatoes and cucumbers.  It always seems to work out that two people can harvest exactly how much they can carry down to the dining hall in an hour.  Today was no exception, though I will admit both my hands were full and aching by the time we made it down to the dining hall steps!

Day 82

A tremendous day for food and preservation!  This morning we harvested many a delicious vegetable, and just hours later we met in the kitchen to preserve those same veggies until the cold winter months.  With the help of former associate director Mark Paddock, we pickled and canned a plethora of dilly beans, hot peppers, and beets!  Mark was a good teacher and we all learned valuable canning techniques, and all the hands made quick work of all the preparation and cleanup. 

It is easy to take for granted all the fresh produce when it is in such abundance.  With a little foresight to the future, we can provide for ourselves a taste of summer even in the cold winter months.  All it takes is a little preparation and some vinegar!

Day 79

At some point I will have to see how many of these early morning garden harvest parties we have had.  It seems like a bunch, and each one has been super duper fun!  Today was no exception, and with a small group we harvested big produce.  Peppers, beets, turnips, lots o' tomatoes, some huge zucchinis, cucumbers, kale, and swiss chard were the bounty.  On Sunday we will be pickling and canning things from the garden, so the beans and root veggies and cucumbers are all being saved in the fridge until then.  Looks like we will have a good amount to play with, so hopefully we'll have a good turnout of people eager to preserve!

Day 75

Harvest day!  We had a great variety this morning, and everything seems to finally be coming ripe.  Lots of delicious greens, kale, beans, squash, cucumbers, beets, swiss chard, and tomatoes.  We even cut two beautiful sunflowers to bring down to the dining hall.  It's amazing what just a few people can harvest in an hour, and amazing how much fun harvesting can be with friends

Day 73

Potato flower

Day 72

Megan and cherry tomatoes

Day 71

Well, another morning without a camera.  Shucks.  Here is a picture from last Wednesday that is pretty awesome.

Today was exciting because we picked the first of the summer squash.  There were two bountiful bushels of both yellow and green.  Also we picked a half bushel of purple, green, and yellow beans, greens, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and kale. 

 Curiously enough, I took a similar picture three years ago.

Day 68

Uh oh!  I woke up this morning and my camera ceased to be functioning.  Just last night I was telling someone how awesome that camera is- maybe I should have knocked on some wood!  Nonetheless, even without the pictures to prove it, we had a great harvest this morning.  There were lots of cucumbers, three colors of beans, wonderful swiss chard, and lots of kale.  I am hoping the dining hall will make some kale chips with the kale, but I will have to remember how to do it first.  Yum!

The sunflowers are blooming!

Day 64

A wonderful harvest this morning!  Greens and beans and cucumbers and peppers, what more could you ask for???

Day 63

Swiss Chard

Day 61

It was a busy day in the garden this morning.  At good number of people showed up for this morning's garden party, and it was a trick keeping everyone busy.  Things that usually take me an hour alone or with someone else get done soooo fast when their are five pairs of hands working together.  Among the things we accomplished this morning are:

1) Transplanting the last tomatoes
2) Planting asparagus roots
3) Major harvesting action- salad greens, turnips, green onions, radishes, green beans, cucumbers
4) Helping train the pole beans
5) Having fun!

Thanks so much for the help everyone!!!  I couldn't do it without you

Day 60

Holy smokes, 60 days of gardening at the Biostation!  Am I a lucky man or what?!  The garden is thriving and everything looks so beautiful.  Today I spent some time with Mike weeding and mowing down the grass between beds.  Everything is lush and green thanks to the many diligent volunteers who are up in the garden every day watering.  The plants (and I) thank you!  A greater variety of things are coming ripe in the garden now, and Mike and I shared the first cucumber and green beans as a garden snack.  Doesn't get much better than this.  Tomorrow morning we will have a work party at 9am to harvest, weed, and even plant (some tomatoes from the greenhouse).  Only one more month of classes to go, but the garden will be there the whole time providing for us all. 

Day 58

Another grand harvest this morning.  The highlights today were the many beautiful hot peppers Jen picked from both the greenhouse and from in the garden.  The varieties are hungarian hot-wax and red rocket, and they will hopefully make it into the chili we are eating tomorrow for lunch.  We also cut many greens, more radishes, and some very wonderful swiss chard.  Tasty tasty tasty!!!

Day 56

Garden party at 6am???  Could be the earliest party in Biostation history, or at least so says Knute at dinner tonight.  It was indeed a party of four with myself, Jen, Lisa, and Jill.  We harvested so much, including two bushels of greens, boatloads of radishes, green onions, turnips, and beets.  After harvest, we brought all the produce down to the dining hall to display while people were coming in to breakfast.  The effect was awesome, and the garden was publicly applauded by Knute (the director of the Biostation) at dinner.  Here is the spread:

There were some of the first cherry tomatoes ripe in the garden in the morning, but those never made it to the dining hall as they were reserved for party-goers along with a little basil to make scrumptious sandwiches!

Day 55

This past weekend I spent at the music festival Blissfest, so I was not around to play in the garden.  I did get to show the garden off to many of my good friends on Sunday, and was very excited to see their reactions.  Unfortunately some things in the greenhouse did not fare well without water and were pretty zapped.  But for everything else things grew to epic proportions and it was time this morning for a large harvest.

Bright and early I went up to the garden with Jill, and we harvested an enormous bounty.  Beets, turnips, lots of radishes, and tons of greens all went into baskets, were displayed in front of the dining hall during breakfast, and then made it into the kitchen.  This evening dinner featured greens exclusively from the garden (including swiss chard harvested last week) as well as radishes and kohlrabi.  It was sooooo yummy and there was even enough to restock the greens once they were all gone. And the best part is that there is plenty more ready to harvest, so tomorrow morning we are going to have a little harvest party at 6AM! 

Day 51

Today we had a whirlwind tutorial on watering in the garden.  I have been recruiting help with things like watering and composting, and I wanted to show people what can be done when they are helping out.  Unfortunately we were a little stressed for time, as the all-camp photo and volleyball games were happening shortly after the tutorial.  Hooray water!

Day 50

Another great harvest this morning.  Some of the swiss chard needed thinning, and between four rows I cut just under a bushel that will hopefully go into some kind of soup later this week.  I also harvested the first peppers from the greenhouse as well as a whole bunch of radishes.  Bon appetite!

Day 49

A great harvest this morning!  Woke up to early morning wet and went to the garden alone for some meditative time.  I harvested a bushel of beet greens and spinach which made for a very hardy lunch salad.  With the combination of rain and heat, things have been growing like crazy, though some of the cool season crops like spinach are starting to bolt.  That's all for now!

Day 47

Happy 4th of July!!!  Today we had an excellent work party in the garden.  Starting at 9am people came up to the garden to help plant tomatoes and onions, weed, thin, and harvest!  With advertising by word of mouth and through the message board, about eight or nine people showed up enthusiastically.  We accomplished lots of things I have been meaning to do but lacking the time for, and the garden is happy for all the help.  There are now more cherry tomatoes in the ground, more green onions, thinned swiss chard and beets and much more!  Thanks so much for the help everyone! 

Best of all, we were able to harvest a bounty that we will likely eat tomorrow night for dinner.  There was almost a bushel and a half of greens, the first few beets, radishes, the last of the kohlrabi, and the first of the green onions.  Delicious!

Day 45

After a busy week with my research job, today I was finally able to spend some time with the garden.  After doing a little watering and weeding, Jill and I drove to Cheboygan to pick up some supplies.  We bought bushel baskets for harvesting, in addition to a whole slurry of seeds, onion sets, and asparagus roots to plant.  My plan is to try growing some sprouts this summer, so we picked up some different seeds in bulk for that end.  The types of seeds I will be trying are radish, sunflower, bean, and pea.  I will give an update on the sprout progress as I figure things out.

Day 43

After hearing lots of feedback about wanting to help out in the garden, today we had our first organized meeting for the summer term.  The meeting was very helpful for me to be able to organize help for the garden, because it is impossible to keep track of all the help being casually offered my way.  Lots of people showed up right after dinner, and I was able to get a good idea about the different ways people want to be involved.  There are those who are interested in helping out on an ongoing basis, such as with watering and composting, as well as a contingency of those who can't regularly commit to help, but are interested in coming to help on a day by day basis.  This lends itself well to the garden's needs, as I need help both with regular tasks and also with bigger projects that call for many hands.  I will be posting sign up sheets for volunteers by Friday, and hopefully people follow up on their interests.

Day 42

Jill sorting greens yesterday

Day 41

Harvest day!  I woke up early and went up to the garden with Jill where there were lots of happy plants waiting for us.  We cut several full rows of lettuce and spinach, with a variety of other tasty greens like yukina savoy and rhodos endives.  We also harvested the last of the bok choy none too soon as many were beginning to bolt. 

Right after we harvested, we put the bins of veggies right at the entrance to the dining hall so people coming to breakfast could see directly what they would be eating later on that day.  I think it is a great thing for people to have a greater awareness of the processes that go into creating the food we eat, and I think there is often a step missed between seeing a plant growing in the ground (if you ever get to see that at all) and seeing it on your plate. 

With all the food we picked, Laurie and the kitchen staff were able to create a feast of bok choy salad, as well as to fill the salad bar with greens from the garden.  Not only was everything delicious, but people are aware that their food is actually coming from the garden, and have been duly letting me know how wonderful that is.  What an awesome job!

Day 40

Wow, ten days go by just like that here at the Biostation!  This past week and a half has been very busy for me, and the garden is now in cruise-control mode.  Highlights from the past 10 days include:

1) Harvests of bok-choi, lettuce, radishes, and kohlrabi
2) Lots of rain!  Probably around 4" in the past week.  The plants have been soaking it up and growing like crazy!
3) On Wednesday a group of high school AP biology students helped out in the evening weeding and tasting and harvesting.  The group spent the week visiting the Biostation with their teacher Tina, a former Biostation professor and resident, and filled their days getting a taste of what goes on at a field station.  Thanks for the help!
4) Saturday all the summer session students arrived and the Biostation is busier than ever!  This means I have already had a bunch of people offer their help and enthusiasm for the garden.  I need to think up a few projects and events for everyone to work on together!

I started my research job last Monday, so my time in the garden will be limited to mornings and evenings now, but this will be plenty of time to get things done with all the help arriving.  What a great week!  Keep posted for more pictures as the garden has really matured into a thriving area with all the rain.

Day 39

Message board

Day 38

Native tobacco species, Nicotiana sp.

Day 37

Bok-choi, radishes, and kohlrabi

Day 30

Today was a momentous day for the garden; I harvested the first major fruits of my labor for the dining hall.  I harvested pac choi (bok choy) with Jesse in the morning, and in the afternoon I harvested radishes and greens with the ethnobotany class.  Hip hip hooray!  The afternoon harvest was a little stressful, as the greens were not liking the heat at all, but it was good to have the ethnobotany class up one last time before everyone goes home.  I also offered tomato plants to everyone in the ethnobotany class as a thank you for helping out so much (with the hook that I asked people to save seeds from the tomatoes to bring back to the Biostation next year). 

The signage is up, the plants are prepped, and now I believe I hear the bell announcing dinner.  Time to eat!

Day 29

What a rainy day!  Over last night and today we had 1.2", contributed to by a steady downpour all night.  Nonetheless, I spent the morning in the garden and found a little more room to plant some beans.  In the afternoon, I spent some time painting pictures of some of the vegetables I will be harvesting tomorrow for the dining hall in watercolors.  They look really awesome!  Later in the day, I went up to the garden with a couple ethnobotany students to harvest some radishes for their wild harvest dinner this evening.  These are the first radishes I harvested, and they look soooo good!  I must have planted them in the right cycle of the moon.  

Day 28

Today was a strange day for me.  Skipping breakfast had the effect of putting me in a daze most of the day, and the gloomy weather only intensified things.  I did manage to create and plant another bed in the ethnobotany section where there was nothing going on.  I planted some of my last last seeds, and I am about out of room anyway. 

I spent the afternoon turning over the ecology plot, and made some good headway.  The process was four parted: 1) turning over the soil with a shovel, 2) removing sod, sticks, and roots, 3) spreading compost over the area, and 4) chopping in the compost.  I got half the 35' X 15' section done today, so I think I'm in good shape for now.  Lesson for the day: don't skip breakfast.

Day 27

Today was a good day in the garden.  This morning I had a complaint about the smell the new compost pile is making, and it was a timely complaint as I was just thinking about adding a layer of carbon to the pile.  With a truck from maintenance, I took some shredded oak leaves from a leaf pile, and brought it down to the garden  to spread out over two and a half weeks of compost from the dining hall.  Then I added a layer of finished compost, and I am ready for more food scraps.  Plus the smell is practically gone (though I didn't think it smelled very strongly in the first place). 

I planted some of my last seeds in the SE section of the garden, and I am nearing the very end of planting time.  Amazingly, I have been working in the garden for almost a month now!  Later this week I am excited to harvest the first veggies out of the garden, including an assortment of greens, pac choi, and some radishes.  I talked with Laurie from the kitchen and they are very excited to start having food available from the garden.  Yah!   

Day 26

Day 25

More work on the south side of the garden today.  I finished transplanting the tomatoes outside, and have supports ready for all of them when they become laden down with fruit.  I also planted dill and sugar snap peas (a little late, I know) along the back south fence, and hopefully they will do well even in the partial shade from the woods nearby.  Made an early start today so that I could go to Petoskey in the afternoon to buy paint for my new (old) sailboat.  Tomorrow I may even take the whole day off to work on it.  Then, I'll go SAILING!!!

Day 24

Ooof and Owwww! Last night after leaving the garden I went for a run which was going great until I rolled my ankle in a bad way. I spent the night icing it and downing anti-inflammatories. The morning began with me on crutches, though feeling and looking better than the night before. Soon I was hobbling up to the garden to transplant more tomatoes and decided to ditch the crutches. I guess it wasn't as bad as it looked initially, just a sprain probably.



The tomatoes look content in their new environment, and hopefully if the bugs don't find them they will thrive. I planted another bed alongside the path, as well as transplanted more tomato seedlings in the greenhouse. Around 3:00PM it started to rain again, and an hour and a half later .2" had fallen. I am really liking this intermittent rain and so are the plants.

Day 23

Today was time to begin planting the last major section of the garden. On Sunday last I planted some cucumbers and squash around the fence and today I began planting tomatoes, a bed of greens and radishes, and set up the irrigation for this new section. The tomatoes I'm sure are happy to be upgrading their space availability and look wonderful in the ground instead of pots.

Elsewhere in the garden, things are really greening up in a good way, with intentional plants ahead of the weeds. Most beds have germinated, and the first things I planted are looking vigorous and are growing quickly. In the next week I will probably be able to do a limited harvest so that people here for the spring term can have a treat direct from the garden. Yum yum yummmm!

Day 22

Things are looking awesome after coming back from Drummond Island. For that matter, I'm doing awesome too. Drummond Island was beautiful, the work fun and educational, and the company jocular and cheery. It was a whirlwind afternoon in the garden, because shortly after arriving it began to DOWNPOUR! Sheets of rain pelted the garden and greenhouse, and within 45 minutes .4" of rain had come down. All the plants outdoors are established enough to withstand the downpour, and aside from a general plant sigh, nothing looks damaged. Luckily I escaped to the greenhouse mostly dry with a wheelbarrow of soil and compost, and spent the duration of the rain transplanting peppers into larger pots. They are looking very happy already, with little fruit on some plants and flowers on the rest, and I'm sure their roots will appreciate a little more space and nutrients. Hooray rain!

Day 19

Woh the rain! Between last night and today a grand total 1.6" fell, bringing the three day total to 2". With all the rain, I didn't spend too much time in the garden today. Just a little weeding and greenhouse puttering. Late this afternoon I am getting picked up to go on a three day plant survey on Drummond Island, on the east side of the UP. I am thankful to have some help with watering in the greenhouse and checking up on everything while I am gone, so we'll see what three days and some rain will bring!

Day 18

The rain did the garden some good yesterday! It was nice to be able to walk into the garden barefoot and come out muddy. This morning I took a tour of the UMBS Biotron lab with some visiting researchers, and in turn I got to give a tour of the garden. After the tour I planted some pickling cucumbers along the fence on the SE side. Hopefully I can train some of them up the fence while letting a second row trail into the garden. Just thinking about cucumbers is making me salivate! Around lunch Christina is coming in from Alpena, so I will probably take the afternoon off. Also looks like rain again this evening. With how sandy the soil is it will be gladly welcomed.

Day 17

After raising six acres of produce in Wisconsin three years ago, this half acre garden at the Biostation is starting to feel like it is pretty well under control. Today I did some more fiddling around in the morning, planted a bed, worked on my garden borders, and around eleven the Ethnobotany class showed up for a whirlwind visit to help out and check on the progress of the garden. They planted a small triangle bed by the medicine wheel, watered the three sisters mounds, and helped me re-seed a couple rows of beans. Then they were off for their own farm tour to Blackbird Gardens in Petoskey where Matt worked for a couple of years. In the afternoon it rained .4" which was much needed, and I spent my time catching up on the blog and garden map. Check it out!

Day 16

Today was a bit of an organization day. I spent the morning removing the sod from the last bit of garden to prep it for beds and planting. While the ethnobotany class did a decent job turning over the sod, I am worried that if I don't remove the roots we are going to have a big grassy spot again. Also, I spent some time tidying up the entrance to the garden and planting some sunflowers. Once we get the gate up I think it will provide a nice affect when coming into the garden. Today was really pleasant weather to be working in, and I am happy for it. After dinner I organized a garden party (only Jim and Kat showed up) and we finished tilling up the last section of the garden I was working on in the morning. Tomorrow I will hopefully plant some potatoes with Kat that she brought me, as well as some cucumbers and maybe even tomatoes!

Day 15

Oh! Yesterday was the two week point for the garden! It's amazing how fast things are growing. Purslane is coming up thickly in some beds, while others are practically weed free. The green onions have all just about poked through their mounds, and beans are developing lush green leaves. Yum!!! I weeded the worst of the beds today as well as re-seeded some of the greens that did not germinate evenly. Also I planted two rows of pole beans that I will help stake up as they shoot skyward. Things are looking good!

Day 14

A good day to plant seeds in the ground. Today I planted a number of beds in the garden with an assortment of plants. I am experimenting with alternating rows of root and leaf vegetables, and also inserting rows of bush beans to help fix nitrogen and provide some shade for the cooler weather plants. Also I am being more careful in my actual planting techniques to try and get better germination results than I had from the first couple of beds I planted a week ago.

Day 13

It's funny how out of the groove I felt after being away from the Biostation for only two days! The garden is still here, and with thanks to Katie and Lenora it is still green and alive. In fact, the weeds are VERY alive and it was time to get the hoe out. I was pretty tired the whole day from a whirlwind weekend down state, but I managed to weed a couple beds and plant some sunflowers and morning glories. Tomorrow will be a more productive day I'm sure.

Day 10

Short day today, because in the afternoon I headed down state for a wedding on Sunday. I transplanted baby basil plants originally from Renee, in addition to seeding a couple beds with various greens and beans. Things are starting to look green, but so are the weeds. I'm sure I'll have lots to do when I get back on Monday!