Josh Mayfield
@joshmayfield.bsky.social
• regen market grower
• ecology
• built environment
• ecology
• built environment
Onions look healthy with good germ and not too many gaps. Need to be thinned still. I decided to use some row cover to encourage more growth since they’re looking a little small at the onset of cold weather. Will remove once they have 4-5 leaves. Hybrids outgrowing OP variety so far.
November 10, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Onions look healthy with good germ and not too many gaps. Need to be thinned still. I decided to use some row cover to encourage more growth since they’re looking a little small at the onset of cold weather. Will remove once they have 4-5 leaves. Hybrids outgrowing OP variety so far.
🌱 This is just your reminder that Sweet Garleek overwinters beautifully and can be perennialized.
- Sow in late summer
- Harvest next spring by cutting at ground level
- It sends up new growth, then dies in the summer
- Several new shoots come up in the fall
- Selectively harvest from each bunch
- Sow in late summer
- Harvest next spring by cutting at ground level
- It sends up new growth, then dies in the summer
- Several new shoots come up in the fall
- Selectively harvest from each bunch
November 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM
🌱 This is just your reminder that Sweet Garleek overwinters beautifully and can be perennialized.
- Sow in late summer
- Harvest next spring by cutting at ground level
- It sends up new growth, then dies in the summer
- Several new shoots come up in the fall
- Selectively harvest from each bunch
- Sow in late summer
- Harvest next spring by cutting at ground level
- It sends up new growth, then dies in the summer
- Several new shoots come up in the fall
- Selectively harvest from each bunch
- Broadcast a cover crop in the fall
- Apply a thin layer (~0.8 yds/100') in germination and increase biomass
- Crimp in the spring.
It’s my favorite no-till method for managing permanent beds in the off-season, and can easily scale with the right attachment for a tractor.
- Apply a thin layer (~0.8 yds/100') in germination and increase biomass
- Crimp in the spring.
It’s my favorite no-till method for managing permanent beds in the off-season, and can easily scale with the right attachment for a tractor.
November 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
- Broadcast a cover crop in the fall
- Apply a thin layer (~0.8 yds/100') in germination and increase biomass
- Crimp in the spring.
It’s my favorite no-till method for managing permanent beds in the off-season, and can easily scale with the right attachment for a tractor.
- Apply a thin layer (~0.8 yds/100') in germination and increase biomass
- Crimp in the spring.
It’s my favorite no-till method for managing permanent beds in the off-season, and can easily scale with the right attachment for a tractor.
It was a crazy amount of work this year, but the fall garden is looking so good right now. First hard frost coming next week, can’t wait for candy carrots.
November 4, 2025 at 3:37 AM
It was a crazy amount of work this year, but the fall garden is looking so good right now. First hard frost coming next week, can’t wait for candy carrots.
Tried both a hybrid (Dragon) and an OP (Fino) fennel for the fall. They look incredible, but both suffered from sunburn as transplants, and I only had about 10% survival. May experiment with direct seeding next year.
October 29, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Tried both a hybrid (Dragon) and an OP (Fino) fennel for the fall. They look incredible, but both suffered from sunburn as transplants, and I only had about 10% survival. May experiment with direct seeding next year.
🌱 I originally transplanted my leeks into trenches made in a fresh layer of compost. These two photos are the before/after of using a hoe to hill them up. Pretty smooth process! I think I’d grow alliums and collards as my only winter crops if I could.
October 28, 2025 at 9:43 PM
🌱 I originally transplanted my leeks into trenches made in a fresh layer of compost. These two photos are the before/after of using a hoe to hill them up. Pretty smooth process! I think I’d grow alliums and collards as my only winter crops if I could.
This photo shows why most of the crop didn’t so well. I thought all radishes were non-hosts to nematodes, but this one is apparently very susceptible. A real shame because this might be my favorite radish. Not sure i have time for another breeding project either 😂
October 20, 2025 at 7:09 PM
This photo shows why most of the crop didn’t so well. I thought all radishes were non-hosts to nematodes, but this one is apparently very susceptible. A real shame because this might be my favorite radish. Not sure i have time for another breeding project either 😂
This door similarly irks me.
October 20, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This door similarly irks me.
🌱 Mantanghong radish looking great! I learned recently (from someone on here?) peeling the outer layer removes the peppery part. Even my daughter will eat them that way!
October 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
🌱 Mantanghong radish looking great! I learned recently (from someone on here?) peeling the outer layer removes the peppery part. Even my daughter will eat them that way!
🌱🌶️ The hybrid pepper I bred is almost ripe! This was a cross between a yellow and a red pepper. The ‘y’ gene that gives peppers their yellow color is a recessive trait, so the F1 hybrids are red, and yellow fruit won’t show up until the second generation.
October 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
🌱🌶️ The hybrid pepper I bred is almost ripe! This was a cross between a yellow and a red pepper. The ‘y’ gene that gives peppers their yellow color is a recessive trait, so the F1 hybrids are red, and yellow fruit won’t show up until the second generation.
🌱 Pulled the rest of the sweet potatoes today due to the cool nights. Variety is Covington, selected for its nematode resistance. Also plenty tasty! We planted these slips into beds with several inches of composted woodchips on top. Very easy harvest, with clean tubers.
October 18, 2025 at 4:43 PM
🌱 Pulled the rest of the sweet potatoes today due to the cool nights. Variety is Covington, selected for its nematode resistance. Also plenty tasty! We planted these slips into beds with several inches of composted woodchips on top. Very easy harvest, with clean tubers.
🌱 It’s not easy growing great lettuce in our climate in the spring, but our fall-planted butterheads are thriving! Next year I’m hoping to trial shade cloth to help us grow the rest of the season.
October 17, 2025 at 2:22 PM
🌱 It’s not easy growing great lettuce in our climate in the spring, but our fall-planted butterheads are thriving! Next year I’m hoping to trial shade cloth to help us grow the rest of the season.
🌱 Possibly our last batch of bouquets for the season dropped off at our local coffee shop. Love these colors! I post mostly about the veg side, but the flowers are vital to our market garden.
October 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM
🌱 Possibly our last batch of bouquets for the season dropped off at our local coffee shop. Love these colors! I post mostly about the veg side, but the flowers are vital to our market garden.
Feeling a bit of burnout setting in, but this week should be the last of the busy season. 20 new 100’ beds broadforked. Half of them cover cropped already. Clearing lots 1 by 1 at home, transitioning to overwintered flowers or cover crops. Ready for baby boy to arrive and a slower, sleepless pace 😂
October 13, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Feeling a bit of burnout setting in, but this week should be the last of the busy season. 20 new 100’ beds broadforked. Half of them cover cropped already. Clearing lots 1 by 1 at home, transitioning to overwintered flowers or cover crops. Ready for baby boy to arrive and a slower, sleepless pace 😂
🌱 Tea bush seed pod, camelia sinensis. This is the first year my one little bush has begun producing seed. Time to scale up!
October 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
🌱 Tea bush seed pod, camelia sinensis. This is the first year my one little bush has begun producing seed. Time to scale up!
🌱 Here’s one of the tropical pumpkin hybrids I bred last year. It was easy to grow, productive and very early. I harvested this one just 78 days after transplanting. It’s also delicious – incredibly sweet and nice balance of floral and savory notes.
October 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
🌱 Here’s one of the tropical pumpkin hybrids I bred last year. It was easy to grow, productive and very early. I harvested this one just 78 days after transplanting. It’s also delicious – incredibly sweet and nice balance of floral and savory notes.
🌱 Sweet potatoes still averaging small thanks to our groundhogs and rabbit (our tabby got the rabbit). They grow slower with cooler temps, but I’ll push them another week or so.
October 5, 2025 at 9:05 PM
🌱 Sweet potatoes still averaging small thanks to our groundhogs and rabbit (our tabby got the rabbit). They grow slower with cooler temps, but I’ll push them another week or so.
Onions
- Direct-sown
- Overwintered
- Open field
Research suggests this is very possible here, though it goes against local convention. Spring flooding is a risk too. Now I just need to wait until next June to find out if this will work.
- Direct-sown
- Overwintered
- Open field
Research suggests this is very possible here, though it goes against local convention. Spring flooding is a risk too. Now I just need to wait until next June to find out if this will work.
October 5, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Onions
- Direct-sown
- Overwintered
- Open field
Research suggests this is very possible here, though it goes against local convention. Spring flooding is a risk too. Now I just need to wait until next June to find out if this will work.
- Direct-sown
- Overwintered
- Open field
Research suggests this is very possible here, though it goes against local convention. Spring flooding is a risk too. Now I just need to wait until next June to find out if this will work.
🌱 Rounding out my favorite hot peppers this year, I love the flavor of these Syrian Goat Horn peppers from Commonwealth Seeds. They’re very sweet with a nice kick of heat. Well-suited to dry climates, but tends to wilt in rainy weather like most other hot peppers this year. Another breeding project?
October 2, 2025 at 11:29 PM
🌱 Rounding out my favorite hot peppers this year, I love the flavor of these Syrian Goat Horn peppers from Commonwealth Seeds. They’re very sweet with a nice kick of heat. Well-suited to dry climates, but tends to wilt in rainy weather like most other hot peppers this year. Another breeding project?
Growing a quick cover crop that will serve as a mulch for our garlic. Either the frost will kill it or we’ll tarp it in one month. 
October 2, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Growing a quick cover crop that will serve as a mulch for our garlic. Either the frost will kill it or we’ll tarp it in one month. 
Not generally a fan of 3D printing houses, but this is where it starts to make sense. From artist Ronald Rael, this building has 12" thick adobe walls. Temperature passively modulated quite effectively in a climate with wild diurnal temperature swings.
October 1, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Not generally a fan of 3D printing houses, but this is where it starts to make sense. From artist Ronald Rael, this building has 12" thick adobe walls. Temperature passively modulated quite effectively in a climate with wild diurnal temperature swings.
🌱 This was the only hot pepper that didn’t need trellising this year. Stayed healthy even after the alternating drought/deluges. They’re pretty easy to pick, but I’m making it easier by taking out the whole plants. Variety is Showman.
October 1, 2025 at 1:46 AM
🌱 This was the only hot pepper that didn’t need trellising this year. Stayed healthy even after the alternating drought/deluges. They’re pretty easy to pick, but I’m making it easier by taking out the whole plants. Variety is Showman.
I remember being obsessed with these ones.
September 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I remember being obsessed with these ones.
🌱 More culinary pumpkins coming in from the field! I underestimated my harvest from this plot, it’s actually pretty decent considering:
- No irrigation
- No-till
- No-spray
Works out to 6t/acre. Half of where I want to be, but irrigation should help immensely next year.
- No irrigation
- No-till
- No-spray
Works out to 6t/acre. Half of where I want to be, but irrigation should help immensely next year.
September 29, 2025 at 10:42 PM
🌱 More culinary pumpkins coming in from the field! I underestimated my harvest from this plot, it’s actually pretty decent considering:
- No irrigation
- No-till
- No-spray
Works out to 6t/acre. Half of where I want to be, but irrigation should help immensely next year.
- No irrigation
- No-till
- No-spray
Works out to 6t/acre. Half of where I want to be, but irrigation should help immensely next year.