Adzuki

The rains finally broke the heat today; from 10:30 until almost noon, the skies opened. My body's first reaction was to want to sleep; though I'm somnolent at high temperatures, the constant sweat keeps me in a state akin to insomnia. Once the storm rolled in this morning, the temperatures sheered downwards. My sleepiness was somewhat justified; once the power went out, PMp immediately dozed off. I read the Golden Valley Agriculture Research Trust (GART) Yearbooks from the past two years, alternately giggling to myself over their experiments and nodding off.

....

No one must be fooled into thinking I know anything about farming. Today, I harvested my first seeds off a crop that I planted back in November, some adzuki beans. The pods came remarkably fast, even for legumes; however, the only reason that particular bush survived is because it was in the shade of a lemon tree. Where I planted the seeds turned out to be some of the most barren soil in all history; the twenty seeds I got off the bush represent a minor victory. Remarkable little plant, that one ... has a short habit, small diameter, and fairly fast maturing; possible complement / supplement to cowpeas?

My method to determining what works and what in terms of legumes, agroforestry species, etc., resembles the bull-in-the-chinashop model: whoops! oops! Du'oh! #$#@! etc. However, I can afford to make mistakes ... no one mocks me, I don't have to rely on the success (or at least lack of failure) of my crops to live, etc., etc. And we are getting some lessons out ... pigeon pea seems to do well, as well as leucaena, moringa, and jatropha (somewhat). Tephorsia, sesbania, not so much. It's a trial-and-error thing, but we are getting some insights into how agroforestry could be integrated into conservation agriculture programs, particularly in our peculiar sands.

Last mention for the night is my nascent experiments with terra preta. Remember some time back when I mentioned how big maize was near households where women daily swept there kitchen waste? I'm seeing if that can't be quantified in a way in which charcoal and/or ash is incorporated into the soil (as per CA requirements) and what effect that might have over the long term.

Anyway, it helps the weekends go by.