Since getting back to work over the last several weeks we have been playing a big game of catch up here at the PMC! Its been really crazy trying to get everything done and its meant some long hours, but we have been doing a pretty good job systematically catching up to where we need to be.
Last week we spent most of the week planting the National Soil Health Study area of the PMC. It was a lot of work and went much slower then anticipated due to some calibration issues we seem to have had with our No Till Drill and getting the right amount of seed out of it. We think that in the end it should be ok though, since we were able to work out most of the kinks. We had to pre-water the soil so it would have some moisture and be soft enough to even drill into. Since the soil was nice and moist the seeds have already germinated and are coming up! I always get excited when I see new life coming up out of the ground!
The end of the week involved getting a germination study of a National Park Service Grass started to try and boost the germination. We were getting rates like 2%, which when you only have about 100 grams of seeds, doesn’t bode well for planting an acre. They have been in for about 4 days now, and half of them will be cold stratifying for a few weeks, so we shall see how they turn out!
This week we have a whole host of things to do, the main one planting Bicolor Lupines for the National Park Service. Yesterday I spent most of the day on my hands and knees putting down weed mat and securing it into place for them, so hopefully we get really good, weed free results with them. I have found that I LOVE lupines. I can’t explain it, but they are such awesome plants with unique leaves and beautiful flowers. I would like to write a plant guide on the bicolor lupines like I did with California Fuschia, but I’m not sure if I will have time now. We shall see though!
Hopefully the rest of the week goes smoothly and we get everything planted and where it needs to be. That would make life much easier and a bit less hectic. Until next time!
Jesse