Update on the garden. Some successes, a couple of failures.
Firstly, one of the items I have to put in the "failure" category, since nothing is as it ought tn be.
One of my co-gardeners didn't seem to get the message about leaving a certain portion of the land fallow, due to the over-fertilizing, massive poisoning, and complete ignorance of crop rotation practiced by the previous owner of the land.
A few days ago I went out to sow ten pounds of yellow clover seed on one of the fallow spots, and found the that "Randy" had beaten me to that part of the garden. And instead of a green manure crop** like clover or hairy vetch, he had planted melons. He put cantaloupe seed on the same ground where the previous owner of the place had for several years running planted - melons.
(** A "green manure" crop one which is planted and grown for the express purpose of turning it under after it has matured, to aid in recovery or fertilization of the soil. Clover and vetch are often used for this because they have "nitrogen fixing" bacteria on their roots, which actually take atmospheric nitrogen out of the air and "fix" it in a solid form as small nodules on the roots. These sorts of crops or plants help doubly, by adding their carbon to the soil, helping to break up the clays or silts, and also adding a dollop of nitrogen fertilizer in its most usable naturally-occurring form.)
Plus, he did it completely BACKWARDS to boot.
(Continued after the Orange Cheesy-Poof of Death.)