Soil Balls

My seedlings continue to disappoint. Nothing looks very healthy, low germination; the pineapple guava sprouts have stopped growing and appear to be struck with a blight; the second planting of peppers has yet produced a single sprout; even the transplanted tomatoes seem leggy.

But hope springs eternal: one of the flowers I planted yesterday sprouted overnight!

I planted herb seeds today, mostly newly purchased this winter; I will hope for better success. I do love having fresh basil from the garden; I’m trying anise hyssop and hyssop for the bees, and I am hopeful for lemon balm, which makes a refreshing tea.

One of the good ideas I learned over the winter was using seed balls. First developed by Masanobu Fukuoka, seed balls are a way of achieving adequate germination without tilling. The basic recipe is one part seeds, three parts compost, five parts red clay, and two parts water. Mix well, then form into balls around the size of peas or marbles. Let these seed balls dry, and, when ready, scatter on fields, about one seed ball per square foot.

This is supposed to give each seed an ideal growing medium: mini raised bed, a bit of moisture and food (compost), soil to grow in (clay): by the time the balls have disintegrated in rains, the seeds are growing well.

Happily, we have no lack of red clay. I gathered some dry bits from various swales, and then Isaiah and I pushed the clay through the kitchen strainer to make sure we only had true powder (perhaps not entirely necessary, but we did it anyway).

My first batch was a mix of three year old seeds that I rather doubt will germinate much: many varieties of carrots, as I’ve given up on carrots; the herb borage which hasn’t grown well either direct seeded or transplanted; random plants like salsify and cumin which I somehow accumulated.

This way, I feel like I have given those seeds every opportunity. If they grow: fabulous. If they don’t, well, at least I didn’t throw them away. The seeds can decompose in my soil and enrich it that way.

The boys have been making the most of the beautiful weather. When they're not riding down the driveway in the wagon, they're in their fort.

Or creating spears.

While bringing calcium to the cows, I saw baby Denise for the first time in a week. She looked horrible. Extremely emaciated, wobbly. I felt her mother’s teats, and I don’t think Babe is producing enough milk, despite all the calcium supplement the cows have access to.

I was at a loss for what to do. I couldn’t milk the older cows, though that would have been ideal. I somehow doubt that milk replacer, with its high fructose corn syrup and skim milk solids, would be healing nutrition.

I finally settled on a quart of electrolytes, garlic tincture, aloe, arnica, a bit of molasses. Day will tell whether that boosts her enough.