Sprouting

I moved Between Earth and Sky created by Dwight
 from the back yard where
she kept getting knocked over by the rowdy Shasta.
Her arm was broken off . . . again . . . reglued . . . again.
So now she has a safer home in the front yard.

Many, many, many weeks ago I planted fava beans seeds in the four circles where I plant the Three Sisters beans, corn & squash)

and in both raised beds. 

West most raised bed

East most raised bed

Everyday I have been checking . . . nada green sprouts. And then the rain came with 4.0" falling in 24 hours. You can see from the above pictures that there are now sprouts.

I was advised by a friend and now local neighbor as well that fava beans need moisture to germinate. Well, the abundance of rain of late is just what the fava bean seeds needed to poke their little green heads through their casings and soil.

Once the fava beans mature and are picked, the stocks make for the very best additive to the soil for raising deliciously tasting food. As I did at MuRefuge I will top both raised beds with these stocks. It seems that I recall in one growing season the stocks decomposed. I plan to plant tomatoes through the stocks in the West bed as well as lettuce, carrots, peas in the East most bed.

The rain continues to fall. So far this week over 7.1" has collected in the rain gauge positioned near my front walkway. Every morning I go out early to see what the gauge has collected then dump out the rain. All of Northern California is in need of the rain continuing at the present rate through January, February and into March. This entire area is anywhere from 30% to 50% behind in the "normal" rainfall. So, although it makes for messy walking when Shasta and I go out for our morning walk, I tell her "it is worth it" so our garden reaps benefits from the rains.

May your weather wherever you are be not too intolerable . . . or deadly as in some parts of the Eastern United States. And as we are all more house bound may we