Drying Out Day 3 - Didn't completely make it

Today went pretty much just like the last two days. Perhaps a few more clouds this morning but not enough to really notice. I took care of a little running and put up another swarm trap in a new location and planned on heading back to the garden by early afternoon to give it as much time as possible to dry out a bit more.

The end result was that by the time I got out there maybe half of the garden had dried out enough to actually get the soil prep going. The low areas on the edges are going to take at least a few more days which as I mentioned in earlier posts it doesn't look like they are going to get anytime soon.

I went to work on what I could and managed to get a bit more done than my minimum goal amount. The tomatoes and peppers are still not going out as we have another possible frost coming tomorrow night but I figured the seeds in the ground should be fine. I wasn't the only one out frantically planting today either. Several farmers, especially those in the bottom lands, were out planting corn in the parts of their fields that were dry enough to work. One old boy in particular was running right up to the edge of half a flooded field.  Regardless of the few giving it what they could I still estimate less than 10% of the fields around here are planted as yet.

Through a herculean effort I managed to get a square of corn in the ground (about 400 feet of rows), all of my beans and the zucchini/squash section done. I used a good amount of old seeds that had been cluttering up my seed storage ammo can. Some of them I think were quite old so who knows if they will actually sprout. I had several half full and quarter full bags of seeds and this time I just mixed em all together more or less. In one row I started with contender green beans and ran out so I threw some other kind of bush bean in there. I figure if I don't see any shoots in a few weeks I will just replant with new seeds. I also sowed the old seeds in at a much higher density but with the combination of old seeds and this screwy weather who knows what I will get.

The one thing that concerns me are my Small-Hold pole beans. As some of you know I have been breeding this particular bean variety from an old bush bean variety that somehow got cross bred and started climbing. I have been cultivating this bean type since 2008 and the 2011 crop was very promising. However last years crop was burned alive and I managed to save very few seeds from it. Between what I had left over from the 2011 crop and the few I saved from last year I barely had enough seed to put up two full trellises of my Small-Hold beans. If this crop fails well the entire breeding program fails with it.

I just hadn't built up enough seed for two failed years in a row. Perhaps I should have waited and not risked so many of my precious 2011 seeds. I did in fact keep back a few dozen just in case, but who knows if they are still viable or not. After going through all the old seeds I sorta got in one of those "go for it" moods. If it doesn't pan out then I guess it just isn't meant to be and I will be in search of a new pole bean staple for my garden.

We still have the melons, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, okra (YUCK!!! the Wife makes me) and whatever else to get in the ground next time weather allows. Any space I don't use this year is getting seeded with sunflowers as a bee crop.

For better or worse the 2013 growing season is now officially started. The latest start ever at this point since I didn't get any cool weather seeds in the ground at all this year. This should be an interesting growing season.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!