Getting ready to plant radishes.Double Digging, Trench composting, Horse manure.

I am experimenting with hot beds. I am filling the trenches with about twelve inches of horse manure. I am curious if it will raise the bed temperature and speed germination. I dig a trench and work up the sub soil with a potato fork. Then I filled the trenches with the horse manure. Everything is covered with 6-8 inches of top soil.

Fall Radishes. Double dug raised beds using trench composting.

This week I planted French Breakfast, White Icicle, Crimson Giant, Easter Egg and Cherry Belle Radishes. The beds are sitting on twelve inches of horse manure. I am curious if the beds will heat up and produce later in the year. The burlap is to help with germination. I have been watering by hand because it is very dry and about 30% humidity. This bed was planted the 22nd of September.

Pole Bean Trellis.

I made this trellis out of electrical conduit, ten feet long. I didnt cut any pieces. They are wired together at the top, anchored with wire tied to wooden stakes, with two poles running horizontally on both sides. The horizontals are connected with plastic wire ties. There is a guy wire at each end tethered to a stake. It made it all summer through every storm. It was wrapped with light weight bird netting for the plants to grow on. To reach the beans, for picking, you can just tear a hole to fit your hand through. I am quite encouraged that it survived every storm, and most of the materials can be reused year to year.

Nine foot tall tomatoes. Eight foot tall tomato cages

I made some eight foot tall cages out of reinforcing wire. They really worked well. The tomatoes grew inside of them and didnt even need to be tied as they grew.

Among others, they are Radiator Charly, and Big Zac.

Venezuelan Corn-Cachapas. Venezuelan Pancakes

This is some of the corn from this years Venezuelan seed. My theory is that maybe it has a higher protein content than U.S. corn. The flavor is very different with U.S. corn and you can  use field corn to make these pancakes, but they taste horrible. All they are is a little bit of milk and sugar mixed in with the ground kernals. I run the corn through my Cuisinart after the kernals get a little doughy. The cachapas are delicious with Mozarella cheese.Here in Illinois the corn seems to take 100-110 days.