Blistered cup fungi in the raised beds, common in Europe but new to me. They are toxic if eaten raw but do not hurt other plants--except how they crowd them out. I read that yanking them out will release clouds of spoors, but baking soda is effective. And I remind myself that this was always going to be a year of learning: new country, new climate, new beds, new seed companies, new tools, everything. Why not a new fungus too.
#garden #gardening #raisedbed #fungus #horta #jardim #porto

Yay seeds! But... I went into my favorite store with "uma lista!" in English & Portuguese. The seller patiently helped me find things. Reader, I intended to buy six planting potatoes. But in the challenge to express that I would actually prefer red potatoes, despite at first saying either was fine, doing my best with my elementary Portuguese, well: I flat out missed that I was handed a box with 100 potatoes. 100 potatoes! I was so proud to only walk out with *almost* nothing more than what I listed (strawberries & spaghetti squash got past me, but so close.) While not my first #garden, as happens I've never grown #potatoes before, let alone here in #porto. I've drastically rearranged the garden plan. I can now accommodate 18 potatoes, but I'm not sure I should. And even if so... What am I going to do with the remaining 82?! 😳 With a plan for two zucchini, I better figure out an answer I can reuse in a few months! #gardening #raisedbed

A freeze forecast last night sent me running to cover the plants. Silly me thought that any home and garden store would have some kind of basic frost cloth in stock this time of year, Not only did they not have that, but they did not have heavy wire or poly tubing for hoops available in amounts that would be cost-effective. So, I ran home and used an old bedsheet and some bent wires from yard signs. Plants look to be undamaged, though perhaps they would have been fine regardless. In the mean time, I'm having some frost cloth shipped.

Made a small detour to visit Mr. Burdock and the goats at the farm. They had lots to say. #zone6b #zone7a #raisedbed #allotment #gardening #urbangarden

Week 7ish? garden update..
Frost due the first week of November.
It's been three weeks since I put down the winecap spawn, and now when I turn the mulch over it smells like mushrooms and I see some white mycelium strings. Hopefully it's established enough to get through the winter.
My "Daikon radishes" look like an Asian turnip variety, perhaps something like Ganghwa turnip? Some of them are starting to bulb out, but their sizing is pretty inconsistent..one group got hit pretty heavily by slugs. I'm just going to assume for now that they'll take longer than expected.
The gai lan is starting to look really good, though I'm waiting for florets before I harvest. I was hoping to get a couple of cut-and-come-again harvests from them, so..I suppose I'd better see about frost cover. I've noticed a few stems that seem nibbled at the bottom. I don't think it's damping off..maybe slug damage?
My "mixed radishes" are all over the place in size. We had a heat wave after I planted them, so I accepted that they were going to bolt. I was looking forward to eating greens and seedpods and saving seeds for next year. We're on week 7 after direct-sowing, and they've neither bolted nor bulbed up. There are two large ones with green shoulders that seem to be bulbing slightly, so perhaps I can harvest them soon, but I guess I'm just in radish limbo for the rest.
I harvested the field garlic from one square and planted 9x local hardneck garlic. We'll see how it does..it's from a bulb I got in my CSA bundle, so I don't know the variety.
The red orach doesn't seem to have germinated, but apparently they can have lower germination rates, so I'll try again. My poor kale..all three plants look good, but they're just growing painfully slowly. Again, I suppose I'd better put together a low tunnel. I can tell that Mr. Burdock wants me to have an excuse to come up and visit him at the farm during the winter.
#zone6b #zone7a #zone7gardening #raisedbed #gardening #urbangarden #allotment