Summer 2024 - Week 6

As we’re nearing the end of July, our plants continue to grow! All 12 of our new tomato plants have made it through the tumultuous storms last week and have just started to sprout their signature yellow fruits, meaning fruit is on the horizon! Leftover red mulch was added around the base of each plant to deter grasses and weeds from choking them out, as well as to provide protection from harmful insects, erosion, and temperature control!

Furthermore, most if not all of our onions have been sprouting many tiny, smaller bulbs around halfway up their stalks, some of which have sprouted themselves to continue growing! After harvesting around half of these peculiar growths, we’ve planted them around each of our trees to act as companion crops - these are plants that when sown next to another plan, offer a beneficial relationship, such as additional nutrients and pest deterrence. While crops such as chives or garlic (which have been sown previously) are often recommended for our trees, I’ve decided to try out these onion bulbs to see how they might help! Any additional bulbs will be sown around our tomato plants once more are produced, as this combination is shown to repel plant-eaters such as whiteflies, thrips, aphids, and spider mites away.

(The above photo was taken before a healthy amount of soil was added on top of the bulbs to cover them.)

Until next time!

(Picture taken on the edge of our Food Forest.)