~SUSTAINABLE LIVING FOR CHALLENGING TIMES

[**D*A**]

Here's an idea for attracting the pollinator. Last year, I left a row of brussell sprouts, a few turnips, and a few cabbage plants in the ground.


In late winter/early spring, I had some sweet tasting, bug free brussell sprouts. They were way better than anything I've grown previously. A few brussell sprouts goes a long way, so I picked and froze a great deal and left the rest in the ground.

I have since learned by leaving these three type plants (brussell sprouts, cabbage, turnips) in the ground over winter. They explode with little yellow flowers as soon as the weather warms in the spring. The bees loved them. I enjoyed watching the different types of bees and how they interacted with each other.

The flowering stopped and now the seeds are drying. Last year, I learned from this board, how to grow potatoes in straw and had fantastic results. LxCimi told me to rotate my cabbage and potato type crops too.

I'm experimenting this year and taking it one step further. I've got my potatoes planted and covered in straw. I'm low on straw and have a lot of potatoes planted. Getting the straw deep enough is a problem, so... I'm cutting the shoots of flowers and seeds from the previously mentioned plants and laying them over the potatoes. They are loaded with seed pods. My expectation is that they will help the potatoes and eventually, the seeds will grow. I'm hoping they wait until later so I can harvest the potatoes with disturbing them? This could create a perma whatever that's called type environment?

I'm also going knee deep in heirloom tomatoes this year. I've always had good luck with hybrids in the past. I figure if I can get a few heirlooms going on their own, I can keep a few of the fruits for seed and also let them reproduce on their own. The hybrids always have volunteers, its a guess what they will be and the productivity isn't that great. I'm trying to fix that with heirloom varieties.

The goal is self sufficiency without jeopardizing efficiency and productivity. I also took Chris's advice with nasturtiums around my squash type plants. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to plant them, so I planted them in the hills and also around. We'll see how it turns out? Those squash beetles are a pain to get rid of.