Hello. I’m Haratake, a part-time farmer.
Mornings and evenings have gotten quite cool, haven’t they? It’s already mid-September. I walked along the coast last weekend, but honestly, I didn’t feel like swimming at all lol. While it’s still hot during the day, the autumnal equinox is coming soon. Ah, as sunrise gets later, the time available for farm work becomes even more limited…
Now, onto Field No. 2. The entire 350 square meters was completely overgrown with weeds, but I managed to reclaim the bed closest to the farm road. At first glance, it looks like it’s still full of weeds, but the area covered by the plastic sheet has no weeds growing on it; they seem to be growing around it instead. This must be the survival instinct of weeds seeking sunlight at work…
(Photo: Field No. 2 this morning)
Today’s goal is to plant Chinese cabbage seeds in the bed I reclaimed the other day. The sowing window for Chinese cabbage is limited to just after the Bon holidays until mid-September, so time is running out. I always end up doing sowing and transplanting seedlings at the last minute, which might be why things don’t turn out well. I want to learn to get ahead on everything, not just farming.
(Photo: The prepared ridges)
This ridge was prepared back in May. I spread more leaf mold than on the other ridges, then covered it with mulch and let it rest for about four months. In other words, it’s my ace-level ridge. If vegetables don’t grow well here, it’s my last resort, my back-against-the-wall ridge.
I planted about three melon seedlings in this ace-level bed. I accidentally cut one, another has been looking a bit weak, and the last one is successfully bearing fruit. I carefully pruned off small branches along the way, but I just want at least one edible melon. And unlike the melons in Field No. 1, this one hasn’t been eaten by crickets!! That alone makes it a perfect 100 points. I’ve heard that not weeding can help prevent insects from concentrating on vegetables and fruits. Since this melon is growing in a weed-covered area, perhaps this theory is proving true… That’s why farming is so fascinating—there’s no single right answer.
(Photo: The melon fruit growing)
Until next time~
