Get Your Garden Ready!

[Joe_J.]

I have been spreading compost all over my garden spot. Also using a garden claw to do some cultivating with. I don't need a tiller this year. Using a twenty foot by twenty five foot area. That doesn't sound big but you can get a lot in an area that size by wide row planting method, which is similar to what Whites in Rhodesia are doing so they don't starve.

Because we have limited space and want to utilize every inch that is available, we have used this method in our garden for several years. With the rising cost of produce we consider this to be especially important. My vegetable beds are about four feet wide and 20 feet long. Here is an example of how much space this conserves: In one wide-row bed two feet long I can plant the equivalent of a 48-foot single row of garden carrots. Put another way, a bed four feet wide and 20 feet long seeded with carrots is the equivalent of 480 feet of carrots planted in a single row. Wide-row planting also means I can expect to harvest up to six times as much produce per foot.
I find that this method of gardening saves me a lot of time and it is important that I use my time to best advantage. Watering time is cut down because the lower foliage tends to shade the entire area and reduces evaporation. Also, because the crops are planted closer together, they tend to crowd out weeds. Fertilizer is conserved, too, because all the soil that has been prepared is utilized.
Using the wide-row method, more than one row is planted of a particular crop. For example, instead of planting a single row of bush beans, two are planted close together. To make the wide-row even wider, plant three, four, five or more rows close together. Spacing of plants in the rows will depend entirely on crops grown. Directions on the back of the seed packet will specify how close together that crop should be spaced.


As in all vegetable gardening, the key to success is proper soil preparation. Take extra time to properly till or spade the soil to a depth of six to 12 inches. Mix in ample amounts of compost, if available, processed manure, well-rotted manure and an all-purpose vegetable garden fertilizer. After mixing these soil additives with the existing soil, rake the area level to eliminate low spots where water night collect and keep the soil cool. By mounding the planting area you will find the soil dries out and warms up sooner and crops reach maturity at an earlier date.
Plan the layout of the garden before you start planting, keeping in mind that tall-growing crops should be to the north. Otherwise, they would shade lower-growing plants.


http://www.humeseeds.com/widrow.htm

Last year, I had a great garden. I used nothing but miracle grow that you put in a garden hose sprayer bottle. I did that once a week. That was the only water things got unless it rained. No fertilizers at all. No pesticides. If I wanted that shit on my food, I would just nix the garden and buy frankenfoods at the grocery store. Also, look for heirloom seeds that are non GMO and can be reused next year.

I did have an infestation of mexican bean beetles and they eat more than beans. They wouldn't touch tomatoes but everything else was fair game to them. So, I am going to try neem oil this year, which a friend recommended. Supposed to be natural stuff. I am also going to try water and cayenne pepper in a spray bottle. I am told that keeps away pests.

Okay, anyone else got a garden going or have tips?

[Maxine Grey]

I have a herbs that beats the pests to the goodies.



Basil helps repel flies and mosquitoes.
Borage in the strawberry patch will increase the yield.
Catnip repels fleas, ants and rodents.
Caraway helps breakdown heavy soils.
Chamomile deters flies and mosquitoes and gives strength to any plant growing nearby.
Chives grown beneath apple trees will help to prevent apple scab; beneath roses will keep away aphids and blackspot.
Elderberry a general insecticide, the leaves encourage compost fermentation, the flowers and berries make lovely wine!
Fennel (not F. vulgare or F.officionale) repels flies, fleas and ants.
French Marigold root secretions kill nematodes in the soil. Will repel white fly amongst tomatoes.
Garlic helps keep aphids away from roses.
Hyssop attracts cabbage white moth keeping brassicas free from infestation.
Mint repels cabbage white moth. Dried and placed with clothes will repel clothes moth.
Nasturtium secrete a mustard oil, which many insects find attractive and will seek out, particularly the cabbage white moth. Alternatively, the flowers repel aphids and the cucumber beetle. The climbing variety grown up apple trees will repel codling moth.
Pyrethrum will repel bugs if grown around the vegetable garden.
Rosemary repels carrot fly.
Rue (Rutus, not Peganum) keeps cats and dogs off garden beds if planted round the borders.
Sage protects cabbages from cabbage white moth.
Tansy (Tanacetum, not Senecio) repels moths, flies and ants. Plant beneath peach trees to repel harmful flying insects. Tansy leaves assist compost fermentation.
Wormwood (Artemesia, not Ambrosia) although it can inhibit the growth of plants near it, wormwood does repel moths, flies and fleas and keeps animals off the garden.

[Maxine Grey]

Try companion planting


Plant
Good Neighbours
How it works
Bad Neighbours
Apple
Nasturtium, Chives
Nasturtium climbs tree and is said to repel codling moth
Potatoes
Apricot
Basil, Tansy, Asparagus
Basil and tansy are said to repel damaging insects

Asparagus
Apricot, Basil, Chives, Comfrey, Lovage, Marjoram, Parsley, Tomatoes
Basil and Parsley are said to improve flavour. Onions and garlic release substances reducing growth.
Garlic, Onions
Balm (Lemon)
Tomatoes
Attracts bees, said to enhance flavour and growth

Basil
Tomatoes
Basil said to repel flies and mosquitoes

Beans (climbing)
Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Corn, Lettuce, Lovage, Majoram, Parsley

Beetroot, Chives, Garlic, Gladiolus, Onions, Sunflower
Beetroot
Beans (bush), Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kohl Rabi, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Onion, Peas, Potato, Spinach, Silverbeet
Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth
Beans (Climbing), Tomato
Borage
Squash, Strawberries, Tomato
Said to deter tomato worm and improve tomato flavour and yield. Said to increase strawberry yield.

Brassicas (Incl: Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower)
Beans, Beetroot, Carrots, Chamomile, Coriander, Cucumber, Dill, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Marigold (French), Mint, Nasturtium, Pea, Potato, Rosemary, Sage, Tansy, Thyme, Zinnias
Dill attracts a Cabbage White Butterfly controlling wasp. Nasturtium disguises and repels aphids. Sage repels the Cabbage White Butterfly. Zinnias attract ladybirds, which we love! Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth
Garlic, Rue, Strawberry, Tomato
Capsicum, Chilli
Carrots, Onions, Tomato


Carrots
Beans, Chives, Coriander, Cucumber, Leeks, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Onion, Pea, Radish, Rosemary, Sage, Tomato
Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth
Dill, Celery
Celery
Cabbage, Chives, Dill, Dwarf Beans, Leek, Lovage, Majoram, Onion, Pea, Sage, Spinach, Tomato
Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth
Carrots, Parsnip, Potato
Chamomile
Cabbage, Onion
Deters flies and mosquitoes. Strengthens neighbouring plants

Chives
Apples, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Peas
Prevents Apple Scab. Said to deter aphids
Beans
Cucumber
Basil, Bens, Borage, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Corn, Dill Kohl Rabi, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Nasturtium, Parsnip, Pea, Radish, Sunflower, Tansy
Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth
Potato, Sage, Strongly Aromatic Herbs
Dill
Brassicas (Incl: Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower)
Dill attracts a Cabbage White Butterfly controlling wasp

Eggplant
Beans, Spinach


Garlic
Apricot, Cherry, Mulberry, Parsnip, Peach, Pear, Raspberry, Rosemary, Rose
Deters aphids, especially from roses and raspberry. Repels Cabbage White Butterfly
Beans, Cabbage, Peas, Strawberry
Kohl Rabi
Beetroot, Onion

Beans, Tomato
Leek
Carrot, Celery, Lovage, Majoram, Onion, Parsnip, Strawberry

Beans, Peas, Parsley
Lettuce
Achillea, Beans, Beetroot, Cabbage, Carrot, Chervil, Coreopsis, Cucumber, Lovage, Marjoram, Marigold (French), Onion, Parsnip, Pea, Radish, Strawberry, Zinnia
Achillea, Coreopsis & Zinnia attract pollinators and offer shade for lettuce
Parsley
Marigolds (French)
Numerous vegetables, including tomato
Kills root knot nematodes and eel worm

Melon
Radish, Sweet Corn


Mint
Cabbage, Tomato
Deters pests such as Cabbage White Butterfly, ants and fleas

Nasturtium
Cabbages, Fruit Trees, Radishes, Zucchini
Flowers repel aphids and codling moth. Cabbage white butterfly is attracted to this plant, and will seek it out over cabbages

Onion
Beetroot, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Chamomile, Leeks, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Parsley, Parsnip, Silverbeet, Strawberry, Summer Savory, Tomato
Smell of onion said to deter numerous pestsOnions release substances reducing growth of Bad Neighbours
Asparagus, Beans, Gladioli, Peas
Parsley
Asparagus, Sweet Corn, Tomato
Said to improve flavour of asparagus and tomato

Peas
Beans, Beetroot, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Parsnip, Potato, Radish, Sage, Squash, Sweet Corn
Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth. Sweet Corn has traditionally been used as "living stakes" for peas
Chives, Garlic, Onion, Shallots
Potato
Beans, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Corn, Eggplant, Horseradish, Lovage, Marjoram, Marigold (French), Nasturtium, Parsnip, Peas, Sweet Alyssum, Sweet Corn, Watermelon
Sweet Alyssum and Marigolds attract beneficials and suppress weedsPotatoes release substances reducing growth of Bad Neighbours. Horseradish should be planted at the corners of the patch
Apple, Celery, Cherry, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Raspberry, Rosemary, Squash, Sunflower, Tomato
Pumpkin
Beans, Cabbage, Eggplant, Peas, Radish, Sweet Corn
Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth
Potato
Radish
Beans, Carrot, Chervil, Cucumber, Sweet Corn, Cucumber, Lettuce, Lovage, Marjoram, Nasturtium, Parsnip, Pea, Spinach, Sweet Corn
Radish is said to attract leaf miners from Spinach
Hyssop
Raspberry

[George Witzgall]

my garden is pure clay. so I decided to use my aryan ingenuity to do something about it. I had the local quarry dump ten tons of stone dust in the garden (at $6/ton, the cost was $60 plus $70 for the delivery).

this stone dust was the runoff from the quarry operations, they regarded it as waste, but in actuality it is a good sandy/silty loam. I built two seives (coarse and fine) and have been tilling the sifted loam into the garden at 3-4 inches. soil feels wonderful (although it is now purply-brown since the stone dust was blue and clay was red).

Note: I also plan on tilling in decayed wood chips and rotten leaves to enrich the soil.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Really just started planting a small vegetable garden (tomatos/lettuce/carrots/bell peppers/onions & spices) the last couple of years. I was surprised how much actual fun it is to garden. We had a blast sharing fresh produce with family/friends.

We are going to take Kievsky's advice and really go all-out with the garden this year. We're expanding it, as the neighbors also garden, and we're going to share the work/yield from the extra lot. We even have a road-side stand opportunity available to us if the yields are what we expect.

Stuff grows like crazy around here, and I have a friend that works for a local soil/mulching company, so I always get some great soil ferts.

If you have the room, everyone should have at least a small garden. They pay for themselves with just the price of the tomatoes, which are always inexplicably ridiculously high around here.

Like an Irish George Washington, I am now a retired gentleman farmer. (and brewer)

Git cho' plant on, niggaz! :D

[Joe_J.]

my garden is pure clay. so I decided to use my aryan ingenuity to do something about it. I had the local quarry dump ten tons of stone dust in the garden (at $6/ton, the cost was $60 plus $70 for the delivery).

this stone dust was the runoff from the quarry operations, they regarded it as waste, but in actuality it is a good sandy/silty loam. I built two seives (coarse and fine) and have been tilling the sifted loam into the garden at 3-4 inches. soil feels wonderful (although it is now purply-brown since the stone dust was blue and clay was red).

Note: I also plan on tilling in decayed wood chips and rotten leaves to enrich the soil.

Clay soil here. No problems growing. I did add a couple of bags of garden soil from Ace Hardware every week. But, I still had no problem growing in the clay. Clay tends to hold water more so than other soils and is more dense.

Worms are your friend in the garden. They will aerate the soil.

[Joe_J.]

Maxine, thanks for those lists! I am going to paste and print those for future reference.

We are buying a new home. Close end of March, so I am not doing anything to present garden plot. I will be planting grass seed so the landlord gets it back the way I found it. New place will have to tilled, etc.

[Joe_J.]

Really just started planting a small vegetable garden (tomatos/lettuce/carrots/bell peppers/onions & spices) the last couple of years. I was surprised how much actual fun it is to garden. We had a blast sharing fresh produce with family/friends.

That's a big thing for me. The enjoyment I get out of it. It is the best stress buster I have found and I have tried meditation, etc. Sometimes, its just fun to watch all of the wildlife out there. Praying Mantii(?pl), beetles, etc. The beneficial guys. We also shared a lot of what we grew, canned some and ate fresh daily. Well, well worth it. Good way to connect with the planet if that is what you are in to.

We are going to take Kievsky's advice and really go all-out with the garden this year. We're expanding it, as the neighbors also garden, and we're going to share the work/yield from the extra lot. We even have a road-side stand opportunity available to us if the yields are what we expect.


Go for it and congratulations!

If you have the room, everyone should have at least a small garden. They pay for themselves with just the price of the tomatoes, which are always inexplicably ridiculously high around here.


I agree with this. You can even grow the tomatoes indoors during off season. Cut a hole in the bottom of a five gal. bucket and you have an instant upside down tomato grower! No need to buy it at high price!

[Jenna Christensen]

Oh i love gardening! I just got started on a herb garden to use with my meals :)

[RabbitNoMore]

I am in the process of preparing my planting beds as well.


DTZ, I've found it's unnecessary to till your plot more than once every five years, especially if you tend your garden meticulously,like I do. Once the soil is softened up, you should be able to turn it with a garden spade, or even a hand shovel for many seasons.

Like DTZ, I too employ a roughly 20x25 foot plot.

Though it may sound small, you can indeed reap a bountiful crop, if you maximize your space, and learn all you can about companion planting.

This year I will be harvesting tomatoes (My absolute favorite, and I enjoy growing many different variaties), beans, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, and squash to name a but few, as well as a very well stocked herb garden.

(Yea mint, catnip, elderberries and thyme!)

Fuck the goddamn kikes and their koser food scam, additives and pretty poisons!

Grow your own food, and live longer! Plus any money you save by growing your own, is money not going into the pockets of greedy, shiftless kikes.

Growing vegetables is almost too easy (if you're White, of course, because then you can actually read gardeining books :D) if you have the right information.

Do a soil test before you plant anything. Test kits are cheap and available everywhere. A .7 ph reading is ideal for most vegetables, and herbs.

I would reccomend Rodale's complete gardening manual, or any Rodale books, on this subject.

I believe that while their publishing house is certainly jewish, the authors are not.

There really are some great techniques there, so look into it.

Good luck, and happy harvesting!

[Joe_J.]

I am moving end of the month. Buying a new house. I will have a garden there. I should be able to get it in just in time.

I have several gardening books and they made it very, very easy to do. I really didn't have to do much to it once it was planted. Just harvest. Like I said before, it is great relaxation.

[Francis Galton]

Well, I wish I didn't have much to do- I'm in the process of finishing the summer garden- only Okra and cucumbers still bearing- and digging out the entrenched root mass of kikikui and giant parramatta grass that has invaded the unused areas.
But on the plus side, the soil is great and the climate sub-tropical. Fellow aussies will know what I mean if I say I have ATSIC soil ( ATSIC was the now-disbanded marxist-run Aboriginal Black racial control agency )...it's black, it's very very rich, and full of worms.:D

[Wade Thalweg]

I am going to try growing shitake mushrooms in a friends wood lot. Takes about two years, things should be real bad two years into Bami.

[Wade Thalweg]

Check out

http://rareseeds.com/

I grew their Cream of Saskatchewan

WATERMELON (Citrullus vulgaris) 25-35 seeds per packet. We're #1 in heirloom watermelons–check our selection! Thrives in summer heat. A long-standing crop in the South, where it was originally transported by slaves from Africa. Sow the seed one-half inch deep outdoors after frost-season is over and soil is warm. Soil should be rich and well-amended with compost or manure. Sow the seed 6 inches to one foot apart, in rows 6-8 feet apart. Or sow in hills 6-8 feet apart, 5 seeds per hill, and thin to the best three plants. Where summers are short or cool, try "icebox" (very small) types; or try any variety that comes from cooler, northerly climates. May be started indoors from seed no more than 2-3 weeks prior to setting-out date, and never let watermelon seedlings become root-bound in their pots. Watermelon is probably ripe when the light patch on the underside has changed to pale yellow, and the tendril immediately opposite the stem from the fruit has withered.

Attention, Watermelon Farmers: Due to Watermelon Fruit Blotch, growers who want watermelon seed in quantities over 1 oz (per variety) must sign and return a waiver before shipment. For information call: 417-924-8917

Cream of Saskatchewan
80 days A beautiful little melon with sweet, tasty, cream-colored flesh! An excellent variety for the North. Fruits around 8-10 lbs each, with a striped, green rind. A favorite of those who grow it! An old heirloom.

Item Code: WM133
$2.50

It was excellent and it had a very thin rind, ie will not ship well. You would never be able to by something like that in the store. Latter this fall I was paging through a book of Ostfront pictures there was a soldat digging into a watermelon that look exactly like it.

An old trick used by the Mennonite Farmers in Russia was to boil down watermelons for the sugar and use it to make bread. Like I say sugar may be too expensive for us if we have to buy it over seas and we need to save our ZOG Bucks for Whipping.

[Maxine Grey]

I am moving end of the month. Buying a new house. I will have a garden there. I should be able to get it in just in time.

I have several gardening books and they made it very, very easy to do. I really didn't have to do much to it once it was planted. Just harvest. Like I said before, it is great relaxation.

Good luck and how big a land block will be your next house?

Don't forget put some fruit trees in too. :D

I have chickens and a duck to keep most pest out and free pooh too.

The chickens turn the soil when it is in rest.

My garden is a Premaculture one. So no waste what so ever.

[Joe_J.]

Good luck and how big a land block will be your next house?

Don't forget put some fruit trees in too. :D

I have chickens and a duck to keep most pest out and free pooh too.

The chickens turn the soil when it is in rest.

My garden is a Premaculture one. So no waste what so ever.

The only area I find usable (southern exposure) is about 65' by 65', so I have plenty of room. I am still going to keep doing wide row planting to get more in. So, I should be able to add even more things in.

Apples are an industry (uh, well, before China dumped their juice apples in the US) here, so they are a suitable tree. Can't do oranges, etc, though. Too cold in the winter.

I have room for chickens. I will pass on a rooster, though, for my neighbors' sake.

I will have to look up premaculture. I am not familiar with it unless you have some info you can post on it?

[Maxine Grey]

I will start a new thread on it :D

[George Witzgall]

today I put in my peas and potatoes, onions, beets, turnips, spinach, collards, and lettuce.

[Joe_J.]

Where are you at, roughly, Witzgall?

It is almost time for me to get planting, but not quite, due to my elevation, etc.

Besides, closing on a house tomorrow. Have to till in a new garden.

[George Witzgall]

Where are you at, roughly, Witzgall?

It is almost time for me to get planting, but not quite, due to my elevation, etc.

Besides, closing on a house tomorrow. Have to till in a new garden.

I'm in the DC metro area, zone 7. I put the early spring veggies (spinach, peas, etc..) out in raised beds with a black paper covering to better absorb and keep in the heat so as to get an early start.

Keep in touch and let me know how your garden comes along. I only just started gardening seriously last year, so I'm still in the learning phase.

[Joe_J.]

I'm in the DC metro area, zone 7. I put the early spring veggies (spinach, peas, etc..) out in raised beds with a black paper covering to better absorb and keep in the heat so as to get an early start.

Keep in touch and let me know how your garden comes along. I only just started gardening seriously last year, so I'm still in the learning phase.

Metro DC? Well, plant some collards and maybe that's all the niggers will steal;)

I only asked because of your timing. Yes, it is time for the early Spring veggies, like spinach, radish, etc. Swiss chard is pretty good, too.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Gonna prep the garden this weekend, as the weather is going to be perfect.

I have a friend who has one of those small roto-tillers that we are going to use to till the bed, and I am going to add the initial ferts now.

Won't be able to actually get anything into the garden before the second week in May at the earliest, as frost is still an issue this far North.

Looks like we will be planting:

Tomato (several varieties, beefsteak and cherry, of course, as long with several heirloom strains)

Lettuce (red sail & green sail, bibb)

Potato (fingerling/red)

Bell Pepper (red/green/yellow)

Onions (vidalia/green)

Jalapeno Pepper

Cabbage

Cucumber

Eggplant

Watermelon (2 varieties)

Pumpkin

Will also have a large herb garden. We have more room than we really need, so if anyone has a suggestion for something we should consider growing please let me know.

Also going to plant a few apple trees this spring.

[TwistedCross]

I dont know how well they grow in your area, but my family loves green beans, zucchini and other squash varieties. Spinach and/or Swiss Chard go over well too.

Maybe some other melons sense you have the room. Musk melon (cantaloupe) honey dew and other sweet melons are always a summer favorite.

Carrots? Corn? Beets?

Again I dont know what your climate will hold, but all these are what I would grow, had I the space and climate.

[Alex Linder]

You could throw in a row of carrots and radishes, if you like them. They grow easily. Strawberries are also nice, altho they take a bit more room. Once they get going, they will spread pretty quickly.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Carrots. Duh. Of course.

Gonna look into the Swiss chard as well. Never had it in my life.

Everyone grows corn around here, they damn near give it away at the numerous road-side stands which abound out here in the country, (12 ears for a buck) & I just never got the taste for beets.

[TwistedCross]

Carrots. Duh. Of course.

Gonna look into the Swiss chard as well. Never had it in my life.

Everyone grows corn around here, they damn near give it away at the numerous road-side stands which abound out here in the country, (12 ears for a buck) & I just never got the taste for beets.

Try buying a bit in the store before you plant and see if you like it.

Good point about the corn, When its that cheap its better to buy. Maybe you can find something that few others plant to use as trade? Its always nice to have a network.

IMO, the best way to plan what you want to grow is to look at what you eat, give to family and friends or can trade.

As a kid, we had several cherry, plum, apricot and peach trees. There was no way we could eat it all as it was ripe. We made fruit roll ups, jams, jellies, pies... you get the picture. As events like birthdays, holidays or just family get togethers came about during the year, one highlight was having a taste of the garden on the table. From my grandmothers pickled beets, to the kids eating fruit roll ups we didnt waste anything we planted because we didnt like it.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Supposed to wait until May 15th to avoid any possibility of a frost, but got most of the garden in on Tuesday. I think we have had our last frost.

Perfect weather, there were six of us digging and planting, so it went very quickly and a great time was had by all.

Besides beefsteak, we put in a bunch of very cool looking heirloom tomato varieties we found on sale at Meijers.

The peppers/lettuce/onions/carrots/taters/cukes are in.

There has been a steady soaking rain the past couple of days, which I hope will help to get the garden off to a good start.

On a side note, I saw one of those "Topsy-Turvy" upside-down tomato growers for $15, so I bought one and put a large Cherokee Black tomato plant in it, and filled it with Miracle-Gro potting soil, and hung it off the porch.

I'm very curious to see how well it does.

[Alex Linder]

Supposed to wait until May 15th to avoid any possibility of a frost, but got most of the garden in on Tuesday. I think we have had our last frost.

Perfect weather, there were six of us digging and planting, so it went very quickly and a great time was had by all.

Besides beefsteak, we put in a bunch of very cool looking heirloom tomato varieties we found on sale at Meijers.

The peppers/lettuce/onions/carrots/taters/cukes are in.

There has been a steady soaking rain the past couple of days, which I hope will help to get the garden off to a good start.

On a side note, I saw one of those "Topsy-Turvy" upside-down tomato growers for $15, so I bought one and put a large Cherokee Black tomato plant in it, and filled it with Miracle-Gro potting soil, and hung it off the porch.

I'm very curious to see how well it does.

Great stuff!

I did a tomato bucket last year and doing two this year. In 08 had a nice grape tomato plant, grew to about four square feet out of a 3.5-gallon bucket. Didn't use any stakes or fence, and it sprawled all over the place.

Doing two buckets this year, oneapiece. with 'Sweet 100' 'hybrid tomato.' These are cherry tomatoes, about 1" sized. The grapes are just a bit small. Going to try a second plant, some kind of bush tomato, once it comes in at the garden store.

Interestingly, the garden guy told me that some varieties of tomato only fruit once. Others fruit til frost. Same with strawberries. I thought all tomatoes just kept going until it got too cold, but not so.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Thought I would list the varieties of heirloom tomatoes we planted:

Black Krim

Yellow Boy

Cherokee Purple

Green Zebra

Mr. Stripey

Red Brandywine

Livingston's Golden Queen

If we get the yields we are hoping for, we have a perfect location for a road-side stand to sell some of our crop.

[Mark]

Anyone have experience adjusting soil pH? I need to go from 7 to 5. What's the easiest and cheapest way?

[Kievsky]

Anyone have experience adjusting soil pH? I need to go from 7 to 5. What's the easiest and cheapest way?

Mark,

7 is neutral. 5 is so acidic that only blueberries and potatoes will be happy. Everything else likes neutral to alkaline, which is 7 to 7.5. Go to your local County "extension" which is the government farm office,buy a soil test envelope, take a soil sample and mail it in in that envelope. You'll get a detailed report back of what to do with your soil.

The ways to get a more alkaline soil is to add lime or wood ashes.

Here's how I prepare my soil-- I take drums from dead clothes dryers, which are like bottomless barrels. I dig down about 4 inches and put the native soil in a large wheelbarrow, a Rubbermaid Agrifab cart I got from Ace Hardware. I killed the cheaper wheelbarrows and had to get something good. I put the dryer drum in the shallow hole, put in horse manure, add in native soil and layer horse manure, light sprinkle of lime (if not blueberries or potatoes) native soil, and so on. Fill the dryer drum, pull it off and I have a mound. Do a row of mounds and then rake them together -- raised beds done.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/rfreez/2.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/rfreez/Hand_tool_gardening/3.jpg

I have a lot of garden where I did this last year, and this year that soil is really soft and spongy and moist. Real easy to pull weeds out of such loose soil.

I'm not sure if loosening the soil is really necessary for the plants, but it makes it a lot easier for the gardener. I've seen gardeners around here getting plenty of tomatoes and eggplants and peppers out of soil that looks like dried up, cracked pavement. But the weeds that grow in such soil are really hard to pull.

Here's my garden from June of last year:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/rfreez/Solstice_garden_2008/bush_beans_and_potatoes.jpg?t=1241755032

[Kievsky]

I want to mention something that a lot of us individualistic White men need to understand.

If you don't personally own land, chances are you could make a connection with someone who does. Some older person, or someone who doesn't want to work in the dirt but has some land. Check out "Spin Farming:

http://www.spinfarming.com/

SPIN stands for S-mall P-lot IN-tensive

It also stands for s-mall p-lot in-dividualistic because everyone implements SPIN in a different way. It is highly adaptable and compliments any other growing system. It transfers food production to backyards, front lawns and neighborhood lots and shows how to turn a garden into a significant source of food and/or income. A common denominator between both commercial and home and community-based farming operations, SPIN is both a call-to-good-eating and a call-to-farm.

What is SPIN-Gardening?

SPIN-Gardening™ is a do-it-yourself vegetable food production system that enables you to grow a steady and dependable supply of vegetables that have all the quality of farm-grown and all the convenience of store-bought. It shows you how to adapt the professional sub-acre farming techniques of SPIN-Farming® to your home outdoor space or community garden plot by working part-time or full time, working alone or with family, friends or a like-minded group. All that is required is a modest investment in gear and a radically new understanding of what it means to be a home gardener. Best of all, SPIN-Gardening can be implemented wherever you happen to live!

Who is SPIN-Gardening?

There is no one profile of a SPIN gardener. Some are high-minded and others are plain thinkers. Some are motivated by principles; others by pragmatism. Some seek purposeful exercise while others want lower food bills. What unites them all is a desire to re-identify with the basics in life and create a place for food production within their families, neighborhoods and communities.

How Much Space Does a SPIN Gardener Need?

The typical starting size of a SPIN-Gardening operation is 500 - 1,000 square feet and a productive land base can be assembled from multiple locations. If you don't have a big yard – or any yard – one of the ways to obtain prime backyard cropland is Craigslist! Average going rate is $100 per 1,000 square feet per season, water included.

So Is This a Movement?

A society not only must have its ideals; they must from time to time be re-constituted in a way that sparks our imaginations and guides our strivings. That is what is happening now. Across several countries, at countless sustainability forums, eco-expos and green gabfests, people are coming together to think things through again, make certain re-appropriations, create a new ideal. For many, especially those in cities and towns, this new ideal includes meeting more food needs locally. SPIN can help. While the last few decades have seen many last harvests as cropland was turned into concrete, SPIN is for those who will tend cropland amid concrete. May SPIN-Gardening pave the way for many first harvests...

[Alex Linder]

Good stuff, guys. I'm insanely jealous of the room you have to grow!

But I have one thing you guys don't...

...a garden guy who is one neckerchief short of being Mr. Furley.

http://www.geocities.com/threescompanynumber1fan/23.JPG

It cracks me up every time I see him how much he looks like Don Knotts. Today I went over to try to get a second tomato plant. He has recommended an Early Girl Bush tomato, which produces larger fruits and is somehow designed for limited spaces. Unfortunately, it's still not in yet. I have my first plant up and running. I feed it miracle gro once a week.

[OTPTT]

Over the last couple of days I've been preparing my seeds for sprouting and ultimately planting once it's clear they're going to grow.

Bought some of those small trays (empty) peat moss containers that have 10 compartments per tray. Also bought a bag of organic planting soil\material. Planted 10 different vegetables in each of the 10 trays.

Hot Pepper: Serrano Tampequino
Okra - Jimmy T
Radish - Japanese Minowase Daikon
Pink Tomato - Arkansas Traveler
Tomato - Homestead
Eggplant - Louisiana Long Green
Squash - Crookneck Early Golden
Cucumber - Japanese Long
Brussel Sprouts - Long Island Improved
Broccoli - Calabrese Green Sprouting

On advise from Kievesky I purchased a pack of Southern Medium from http://rareseeds.com They even have forums for those who need help.

I'll post some pics as my plants sprout and (I hope) thrive.

Also bought one of these on Kievesky's recommendation.

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/products/28/thumbnails/250x250/28_3926t%20hig%20res.JPG (http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/9-Tray-Large-Excalibur-with-26-hour-Timer-3926T-28-37-regular-prod.htm)

http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/9-Tray-Large-Excalibur-with-26-hour-Timer-3926T-28-37-regular-prod.htm (http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/about.htm)

Once I'm out on the property I'll have at least an acre for my garden. Might clear more land but I'd like to keep it as wooded and private as possible.

[TwistedCross]

He has recommended an Early Girl Bush tomato, which produces larger fruits and is somehow designed for limited spaces.
....
Interestingly, the garden guy told me that some varieties of tomato only fruit once. Others fruit til frost. Same with strawberries. I thought all tomatoes just kept going until it got too cold, but not so.


Your Early Girl is one of these types called determinate (http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/g/Determinate.htm). All the tomatoes will come at once.

If you would like your harvest spread out so you can enjoy it over a longer period of time, look for indeterminate (http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/g/Indeterminate.htm) types.

[Alex Linder]

Your Early Girl is one of these types called determinate (http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/g/Determinate.htm). All the tomatoes will come at once.

If you would like your harvest spread out so you can enjoy it over a longer period of time, look for indeterminate (http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/g/Indeterminate.htm) types.

Ah, thanks. It says that on the little plastic spike, but I didn't know what that meant.

What I want is an indeterminate variety with large fruit. And preferably a sharper taste rather than blander.

[Kievsky]

Ah, thanks. It says that on the little plastic spike, but I didn't know what that meant.

What I want is an indeterminate variety with large fruit. And preferably a sharper taste rather than blander.

go for heirloom brandywine, Alex.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/subcategory.aspx?category=1&subcategory=498

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/Images/catalog/thumbnail/2845_Th.jpg

[Donnie in Ohio]

go for heirloom brandywine, Alex.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/subcategory.aspx?category=1&subcategory=498

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/Images/catalog/thumbnail/2845_Th.jpg


Planted a couple Red Brandywines this season. Never really planted anything but Beefsteak or Cherry before.

We have a total of 19 tomato plants.

All the plants seem to be doing exceptionally well. I think the rain we had the past week really set them in good. The Cherokee Purple in the "Topsy-Turvy" has absolutely doubled in size, so I have high hopes for it as well.

Does anyone save rainwater?

[OTPTT]

Does anyone save rainwater?

Yes, and when that's not available I use filtered tap water.

[Antiochus Epiphanes]

i laid in some asparagus last year. it sprouted this year but weakly, I need to boost the yield somehow.

I have perennial chive, strawberry, and green onion going like crazy now. I thought my dog dug up my whole garlic patch but he must have missed twelve cloves because they're sprouting well now.

I got some tomato seedlings going with the kids then somebody stuck em in a dark spot and they all wilted. I will just go buy some starts from the hardware, which works fine and is well worth the buck each I pay.

I live between engineers in suburbs and both guys plant crazy successful gardens compared to my piddling beds. Oh well, better than nothing eh-

[Alex Linder]

i laid in some asparagus last year. it sprouted this year but weakly, I need to boost the yield somehow.

I have perennial chive, strawberry, and green onion going like crazy now. I thought my dog dug up my whole garlic patch but he must have missed twelve cloves because they're sprouting well now.

I got some tomato seedlings going with the kids then somebody stuck em in a dark spot and they all wilted. I will just go buy some starts from the hardware, which works fine and is well worth the buck each I pay.

I live between engineers in suburbs and both guys plant crazy successful gardens compared to my piddling beds. Oh well, better than nothing eh-

Asparagus is fantastic when it goes, and it requires no effort and tastes great snapped and eaten, compared to that mushy gunk in cans. it does seem to have some weird root system, but when you get it going, you get multiple spears every few days.

I found strawberry to be remarkably quick spreading. That's one thing you have to get to quick before the animals do.

[Alex Linder]

go for heirloom brandywine, Alex.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/subcategory.aspx?category=1&subcategory=498

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/Images/catalog/thumbnail/2845_Th.jpg

Thanks. At this point I need a plant, but in the future I might try from seeds.

[Joe_J.]

My garden is in at the new quarters and coming along pretty well. Trying a new, heirloom bean that is supposed to produce a nice red flower to add visual appeal as well as food.

I dug a bed of lillies (?) up and put spinach and artichoke in place of it. Also planted some dill on a bank with nothing else on it.

Planted corn but I get some really nasty washouts from hard rains we have had, so it may not come up. Not sure. Had some potatoes there, but the wet got them.

Swiss Chard is up, radishes about ready (I eat four or five bags a week from the grocery store, so I plan on getting more in) and I will be doing some Daichon radishes this fall. Beans, beans and more beans, watermelon, some pumpkin for the girls this fall, cucumber, zucchini, yellow squash, mustard greens, Thai peppers, cayenne peppers.

This year, I am trying to do about all heirloom stuff, so I can save seeds. I found some heirloom pear tomatoes and Black Krim black tomatoes from Russia. Looking forward to seeing how they do as I have never seen a black tomato before.

I hope that everyone is having a successful garden, except for Kievsky because I think he must have been born with a green thumb. :D

For those with limited space, consider "wide row" methods with boxes, etc. Some White man in Rhodesia has been teaching other Whites there to do that so they won't starve with the niggers. Apparently, the whole thing is very small but has big production.

EDIT: Watch for freaking ticks when you are done working outside!!!! I got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever last year. The bacteria is gone but I have serious problems with muscle pains and joint inflammation. I got this from crushing a tick I found on my pants last year. If you live in the northeast, watch for deerticks (very small) that carry Lyme disease, which is worse than what I had. The only good thing about RMSF is that nonWhites have a high chance of dying from it within the first five days!

[Kievsky]

My garden is in at the new quarters and coming along pretty well. Trying a new, heirloom bean that is supposed to produce a nice red flower to add visual appeal as well as food.

I dug a bed of lillies (?) up and put spinach and artichoke in place of it. Also planted some dill on a bank with nothing else on it.

Planted corn but I get some really nasty washouts from hard rains we have had, so it may not come up. Not sure. Had some potatoes there, but the wet got them.

Swiss Chard is up, radishes about ready (I eat four or five bags a week from the grocery store, so I plan on getting more in) and I will be doing some Daichon radishes this fall. Beans, beans and more beans, watermelon, some pumpkin for the girls this fall, cucumber, zucchini, yellow squash, mustard greens, Thai peppers, cayenne peppers.

This year, I am trying to do about all heirloom stuff, so I can save seeds. I found some heirloom pear tomatoes and Black Krim black tomatoes from Russia. Looking forward to seeing how they do as I have never seen a black tomato before.

I hope that everyone is having a successful garden, except for Kievsky because I think he must have been born with a green thumb. :D

For those with limited space, consider "wide row" methods with boxes, etc. Some White man in Rhodesia has been teaching other Whites there to do that so they won't starve with the niggers. Apparently, the whole thing is very small but has big production.

EDIT: Watch for freaking ticks when you are done working outside!!!! I got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever last year. The bacteria is gone but I have serious problems with muscle pains and joint inflammation. I got this from crushing a tick I found on my pants last year. If you live in the northeast, watch for deerticks (very small) that carry Lyme disease, which is worse than what I had. The only good thing about RMSF is that nonWhites have a high chance of dying from it within the first five days!

If you did raised beds like I showed you with teh dryer drums, they won't wash out even in hard rains.

Here's a good book appropriate to North America on growing maximum food in small spaces:

Amazon.com: Mini Farming for Self Sufficiency: Brett Markham: Books

[Joe_J.]

Thanks for the info, Kievsky!

I am going to do some raised beds in the front yard. I just haven't bought the lumber yet to put them together.

I am also considering a greenhouse for year-round production.

Also composting everything. We don't eat meat much at all so most leftovers that don't get eaten, get recycled. Also, coffee grounds, paper, tobacco, etc.

A local guy in my area that rolls his own cigarettes is so pissed about the new tobacco taxes that he is growing his own tobacco.

[George Witzgall]

gardening is fucking hard work.

[Joe_J.]

gardening is fucking hard work.

I guess it depends on what you do. Working in someone's 140 degree attic, or crawling around in places full of insulation, just big enough to squeeze into are hard work to me. My garden comes as a welcome relief and stress reliever. And read my post above about having gotten RMSF a year ago. If I can wield a garden rake, a hoe, etc. on days when my hands are swollen and hurt like hell, or I can barely walk because my foot, or knee is inflamed and hurting like a sonofabitch, then you should have no problems at all. That's my nice way of telling you not to be such a baby.

I take it you are an office worker kind of guy, George. The "hard work" will do you good.

[George Witzgall]

I guess it depends on what you do. Working in someone's 140 degree attic, or crawling around in places full of insulation, just big enough to squeeze into are hard work to me. My garden comes as a welcome relief and stress reliever. And read my post above about having gotten RMSF a year ago. If I can wield a garden rake, a hoe, etc. on days when my hands are swollen and hurt like hell, or I can barely walk because my foot, or knee is inflamed and hurting like a sonofabitch, then you should have no problems at all. That's my nice way of telling you not to be such a baby.

I take it you are an office worker kind of guy, George. The "hard work" will do you good.

haha it's good for me. I'm just fearing when the mosquitos start to come out. nothing like sweating your ass off under a searing sun, with a backache and a swarm of voracious tiger mosquitos.

then I say: where da fuck be my slaves?!

[Joe_J.]

haha it's good for me. I'm just fearing when the mosquitos start to come out. nothing like sweating your ass off under a searing sun, with a backache and a swarm of voracious tiger mosquitos.

then I say: where da fuck be my slaves?!

Yeah, mosquitoes are bad. The slaves are worse, though. I'd like to have a time machine so I could go back and strangle the jews and the plantation guys that brought niggers to America.

[Donnie in Ohio]

haha it's good for me. I'm just fearing when the mosquitos start to come out. nothing like sweating your ass off under a searing sun, with a backache and a swarm of voracious tiger mosquitos.

then I say: where da fuck be my slaves?!


1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[Kievsky]

OK, time for some gardening health tips.

1. Mosquitoes come out when it gets dark. The crap that bites you in the sun are gnats. Either way, get yourself a mosquito netting hat. Here's one for only 5 dollars. Amazon.com: Mosquito Head Net Olive Drab: Apparel

2. Put on SPF 60 and cover yourself as much as you can without being too hot or restricted. Peasants throughout history cover up under the sun. Sunburns are bad for you. Avoid them.

3. Qigong and yoga will keep your joints lubricated. Free qigong instruction video on the Internet
http://www.fdm40.net/en-video/ipod/ExeInstr7.mp4 Free yoga video on the Internet:
http://yoga.org.nz/movieclips/highquality/yoga-high-quality1500.wmv
I do both of these regularly, especially in gardening season.

4. Take your time and have a systematic plan for what you want to accomplish. That's why I like the dryer drum method. You accomplish something very concrete, rather than just turning dirt around. You know you haven't left rocks and roots in the soil. My dryer drum method, in which a lot of manure is systematically mixed in, leaves the soil very soft and spongy for future years. If I decided to start using a rototiller, it would till very easily.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Quick endorsement for "Miracle-Gro" plant/vegetable food.

The stuff truly works wonders. I highly recommend using it.

[George Witzgall]

Quick endorsement for "Miracle-Gro" plant/vegetable food.

The stuff truly works wonders. I highly recommend using it.

who needs that expensive stuff. I manufacture a liter of "Miracle-Gro" every day, and it's free! I got a bottle by my toilet, I apply it every night so no one knows but me!! don't tell anyone.

[George Witzgall]

I would ask what the dryer-drum method is but I don't want to make any more work for myself than is absolutely necessary.

[Kievsky]

I would ask what the dryer-drum method is but I don't want to make any more work for myself than is absolutely necessary.

It's a lot of work up front, but more productive and lasting in the long run:

http://vnnforum.com/showpost.php?p=989379&postcount=31

It's a method of ensuring continuous soil improvement, too.

[Joe_J.]

Ok, Kievsky, not to get too far off topic, but I will try the yoga. Might freak out my evangelical wife, but I will do it. I used to do just plain meditation minus the yoga part and it was helpful in dealing with stress. I can tell you that the medical system is a bunch of hooey. They gave me non inflammatory drugs that tried to eat a hole in my gut. So, anything is worth trying, aside from their drugs.

[Kievsky]

DTZ,

Yoga is completely on topic in an organic farming thread.

Be sure to do the falundafa.org Falun Gong exercises before the yoga. The standing qigong exercises loosen up the joints so you can do the yoga stretches with more ease and mobility.

Ever notice how many "workers compensation" claims come out of manual labor jobs? Most of those people aren't faking. Manual labor will wreck a person's body if they don't do yoga. Repetitive strain will get anybody.

If you do 10 hours a week or more of manual labor on a regular basis, you have to do yoga to sustain your body, just as you have to change the oil in your car.

Human life on earth, excepting this period in history with our fossil fuel inheritance, requires significant amounts of manual labor.

Thus I see qigong/yoga as a necessary hygienic practice, like bathing and brushing and flossing, especially for manual laborers. Manual laborers should be valued and to some degree "pampered" with careful diet and exercise regimes so that they don't end up on worker's compensation. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper to accomodate manual laborers with health monitoring and exercise regimes, than to pay them worker's comp for life. If you are a volunteer manual laborer, you need to do this for yourself.

[OTPTT]

Just in the couple of days that I've planted my seeds I came back from a trip today to find that my cucumbers and radishes had already begun to sprout. As they get large I'll transplant them into some containers. Awaiting the other eight vegetables to come to life.

[TwistedCross]

here in Socal I am already harvesting the first of my bush beans, first of the early girl tomatoes are almost ready and the zucchini are flowering and showing fruit.

Unfortunately I think my season will be cut short by the early span of 100+ temps. If I only lived in a more temperate climate.

[Donnie in Ohio]

The morning news just gave a frost advisory for tonight!

Going to have to cover everything.

Unbelievable. Global warming my Irish ass.

[odin]

3. Qigong and yoga will keep your joints lubricated. Free qigong instruction video on the Internet
http://www.fdm40.net/en-video/ipod/ExeInstr7.mp4 Free yoga video on the Internet:
http://yoga.org.nz/movieclips/highquality/yoga-high-quality1500.wmv
I do both of these regularly, especially in gardening season.
How do I convert these files to something other than .mp4? I'm only getting audio now.

[Joe_J.]

DTZ,

Yoga is completely on topic in an organic farming thread.

Be sure to do the falundafa.org Falun Gong exercises before the yoga. The standing qigong exercises loosen up the joints so you can do the yoga stretches with more ease and mobility.

Ever notice how many "workers compensation" claims come out of manual labor jobs? Most of those people aren't faking. Manual labor will wreck a person's body if they don't do yoga. Repetitive strain will get anybody.

If you do 10 hours a week or more of manual labor on a regular basis, you have to do yoga to sustain your body, just as you have to change the oil in your car.

Human life on earth, excepting this period in history with our fossil fuel inheritance, requires significant amounts of manual labor.

Thus I see qigong/yoga as a necessary hygienic practice, like bathing and brushing and flossing, especially for manual laborers. Manual laborers should be valued and to some degree "pampered" with careful diet and exercise regimes so that they don't end up on worker's compensation. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper to accomodate manual laborers with health monitoring and exercise regimes, than to pay them worker's comp for life. If you are a volunteer manual laborer, you need to do this for yourself.

Thanks for the links.

I'm an electrician, so I do manual labor. In fact, I do sort of a specialty, so I end up in all kinds of places. But, my problems didn't start until the RMSF got me one year ago. Lots of people say they have long term issues like I do but I cannot find any research or medical literature on it.

I will give the yoga a try.

[Kievsky]

How do I convert these files to something other than .mp4? I'm only getting audio now.

The yoga one should be a .wmv file. Here's the wmv file for the qigong:

http://media1.minghui.org/media/dafa/en_mpg/All_5_in_Succession.wmv

[Alex Linder]

Ended up adding a second tomato plant, a 'Big Boy' - 1-2 lb fruit, to go with the smaller ones on the first plant. This variety takes 78 days to mature.

[Kievsky]

Ended up adding a second tomato plant, a 'Big Boy' - 1-2 lb fruit, to go with the smaller ones on the first plant. This variety takes 78 days to mature.

Glad to hear about it Alex! You are leading by example.

[Dale VanderMeer]

Big Boy Tomatoes are better on sandwiches and burgers, they tend to fall apart in a salad or any other dish. Cherry Tomatoes are better for that.
Tomato soup is my favorite. It's great on slow-cooking crock-pot roasts.:cool:
What can I say, I'm a tomato-philiac.:D
Ended up adding a second tomato plant, a 'Big Boy' - 1-2 lb fruit, to go with the smaller ones on the first plant. This variety takes 78 days to mature.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Dodged the damn late frost.

We put sheets out covering everything. They were damp in the morning, but I don't actually think there was a frost as forecasted. Better safe than sorry, right?

At any rate, the garden is really doing well.

The heirloom tomatoes we planted have all shown surprisingly fast and hardy growth for only being in the ground for a short while. The peppers are doing nicely (12 plants), and everything else seems green, growing and happy.

I think the 48 hours of soaking rain we had just after planting had a lot to do with our good start.

I've done a meticulous weeding of the garden every single morning with one of those three-pronged tools I picked up at Lowes. I'm in decent shape (for 46) and I can tell you that digging weeds for an hour or so is a very effective aerobic workout.

Been watering (Miracle-Gro once a week) every night after the sun starts to set. It's all quite bucolic. :D

I've always heard that an abundance of worms is the hallmark of "good soil". If that is indeed true, (Kievsky? :)) we have very good soil.

As for my "Topsy-Turvy" experiment, that thing is growing like...Well, like a weed.

The Cherokee purple tomato plant in it has far outpaced everything else, and already has 5 tiny tomatoes, with many more flowering sites. Too early to tell for certain, but it looks like the thing works very well.

[Donnie in Ohio]

who needs that expensive stuff. I manufacture a liter of "Miracle-Gro" every day, and it's free! I got a bottle by my toilet, I apply it every night so no one knows but me!! don't tell anyone.


Are you saying you piss on your parsley, George?

A sincere WTF?, dude.

[Kievsky]

In my opinion is the stirrup hoe, aka scuffle hoe.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31vC89Z%2BoXL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

You can't weed close in areas with it, but it scrapes new weeds off the top very efficiently. It cuts them just below ground level, so they die, but you don't dig in deep or move around too much dirt, so you don't disturb the roots of nearby desired plants. Also, it's good to leave the dead weeds in place to act as mulch.

[Donnie in Ohio]

In my opinion is the stirrup hoe, aka scuffle hoe.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31vC89Z%2BoXL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

You can't weed close in areas with it, but it scrapes new weeds off the top very efficiently. It cuts them just below ground level, so they die, but you don't dig in deep or move around too much dirt, so you don't disturb the roots of nearby desired plants. Also, it's good to leave the dead weeds in place to act as mulch.


Did not know that. Thanks.

[George Witzgall]

Are you saying you piss on your parsley, George?

A sincere WTF?, dude.

haha yeah, I started a few weeks ago, but I haven't really had the time to be consistent with it.

see, I had a real problem with weeds in my garden last year, so this year I got several truckfuls of chipped wood and spread it over my garden to a couple inches.

the only problem is as the wood decomposes it takes nitrogen from the soil. so I applied nitrogen-rich chemical fertilizer overtop the mulch. then I put in my plants.

for greens and beans, actually, I made raised beds in the early spring and I just put the mulch between the rows.

but for the tomatoes, squash, eggpolants, and peppers I have been digging holes in the mulch bed and putting them in.

a few weeks ago I read about using urine, first to speed decomposition of compost, but also as a fertilizer. however, you have to use it immediately (the same day you produce it) or it changes chemically and is no longer good for the plants, plus it smells horrible. (I once left the urine for a few days, and when I applied it it stank up the garden.)

basically, you just mix 1 part (fresh!) urine with two parts water, and pour it around the base of the plants, making sure none of it gets on the leaves or stems since it can burn the plants.

you can't really use it for greens or parsley since you can't get close enough to the base of the plant, but for the other plants it works fine. fresh urine is sterile (you can even drink it in a pinch), but again you have to apply it immediately.

interestingly, you can use old urine (which has a lot of ammonia in it I think) to pour on top of compost heaps to speed decomposition. however, I don't want to keep bottles of urine around because someone might notice. also, I don't really compost that much, and I wouldn't do it anyway because of the smell.

[Steve B]

interestingly, you can use old urine (which has a lot of ammonia in it I think) to pour on top of compost heaps to speed decomposition. however, I don't want to keep bottles of urine around because someone might notice. also, I don't really compost that much, and I wouldn't do it anyway because of the smell.

Good thinking, what I mean is a couple bottles of urine on the nightstand next to the caged gerbils and butt plug collection might look a tad suspicious and give the impression of impropriety.

[Alex Linder]

Glad to hear about it Alex! You are leading by example.

No, you are the garden leader. I am a humble tomato bucketeer. :D

[Joe_J.]

Alex, they tell me that the German black tomatoes have twice the flavor and juice as the regular varieties.

I planted some Russian Black Krim tomatoes, so we'll see if there is any truth to it.

People used to believe that tomatoes were poisonous until more recent times.

[Alex Linder]

Alex, they tell me that the German black tomatoes have twice the flavor and juice as the regular varieties.

I planted some Russian Black Krim tomatoes, so we'll see if there is any truth to it.

People used to believe that tomatoes were poisonous until more recent times.

Let us know. There seem to be a million varieties of tomato.

[SSanguine]

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/tomato1.html

^^^^
Lots of tomato variety information!!!



Blugh, although I hate tomatoes(especially the texture) I do love sun dried tomatoes that have been basking in spices and olive oil.
YouTube - Cooking Tips : How to Pick Sun Dried Tomatoes

[Donnie in Ohio]

Thought I would list the varieties of heirloom tomatoes we planted:

Black Krim

Yellow Boy

Cherokee Purple

Green Zebra

Mr. Stripey

Red Brandywine

Livingston's Golden Queen

If we get the yields we are hoping for, we have a perfect location for a road-side stand to sell some of our crop.

Well, it looks as if we are going to do the road-side stand venture with the neighbors across the road this summer. :D

Should be a lot of fun, and from what I have been told about the history of selling fresh produce at this location, can be quite financially rewarding as well.

Going to focus on offering a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, leaf lettuce and fresh spices. Potatoes, carrots and the big Bermuda onions as they come in.

We have added the following heirloom tomatoes from well-established plants bought at a local greenhouse (paid between 3 and 5 bucks for each plant):

Moonglow

Garden Peach

Red Stripe

Chocolate Stripe

Heartland Beefsteak

Japanese Black Cherry

4th Of July

Abe Lincoln

Also put in more peppers ('California Giant' red & green), onions (green & Bermuda) from plants and more carrots ('Danvers half-long') from seed.

Going to expand the spice garden as well.

We have access to 100+ acres of land, so we are really only limited by the amount of work we want to put into it.

Being retired at 46 can be boring, and I am stoked about the challenge of making the venture a success.

[Kievsky]

Well, it looks as if we are going to do the road-side stand venture with the neighbors across the road this summer. :D

Should be a lot of fun, and from what I have been told about the history of selling fresh produce at this location, can be quite financially rewarding as well.

Going to focus on offering a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, leaf lettuce and fresh spices. Potatoes, carrots and the big Bermuda onions as they come in.

We have added the following heirloom tomatoes from well-established plants bought at a local greenhouse (paid between 3 and 5 bucks for each plant):

Moonglow

Garden Peach

Red Stripe

Chocolate Stripe

Heartland Beefsteak

Japanese Black Cherry

4th Of July

Abe Lincoln

Also put in more peppers ('California Giant' red & green), onions (green & Bermuda) from plants and more carrots ('Danvers half-long') from seed.

Going to expand the spice garden as well.

We have access to 100+ acres of land, so we are really only limited by the amount of work we want to put into it.

Being retired at 46 can be boring, and I am stoked about the challenge of making the venture a success.

If you want to do a commercial farm/nursery/ Internet herbal supply business, you need a dump truck (to get horse manure), a rototiller with a furrowing/hilling attachment, and a large greenhouse. If you have access to 100 acres and you are retired, you should go for it. Become a farmer and garden supply business.

Basically you become the local expert by doing, and sell your vegetables and get your tax break. Make sure you actually hire an accountant to keep your books for you so you comply with the law while avoiding tax overpayment. Farming is a great legal tax shelter!

In the greenhouse you can grow and process herbs. Learn all the medicinal herbs, and how to make tinctures and potions and the like. Basically what they used to call an apothecary.'

Lastly, you can help people in your area get gardens going. You can deliver horse manure with your dump truck, and sell them seedling starts that you grow in your greenhouse, and if you want to get even more involved you can do a rototilling service but make them get a "dig safe" property inspection where the utility guys come and plant flags wherever there are underground lines.

Whatever heirloom tomatoes come out really good, please save the seeds and PM me. I'll send you an SASE to send me some of your tomato seeds. Heirlooms only of course.

Also, plant some Asian pear and fingerling potatoes. They taste very good and sell for a lot of money at the markets. Also, join your state's organic farming association. Maybe become one of it's officers. You'll meeet the coolest people in your state this way. You might even become an organic farming lobbyist this way.

Still bored? I recommend studying energy work -- qigong, tai chi, yoga. Check out this guy -- this stuff is real:

YouTube - Super Human Power, Dynamo Jack

[Joe_J.]

We had a big T-storm yesterday. Twenty minutes of hail about the size of a penny. The tomatoes, potatoes and beans seem okay but everything else looks wiped out. :mad:

[Donnie in Ohio]

Thanks for the tips, Kievsky. I've spent pretty much all day doing research on what is required for creating just such a business.

Here is where we are at right now:

At present, we have 2 absolutely prime locations from which to sell anything we grow:

The neighbors parents ran a very successful produce stand for 15 years here locally that is located just outside a state park. Tons of traffic. They gave up selling at the location due to ill health a couple of years ago, and it has been idle since then. We are going to re-open it, and sell from that location 4 days a week.

We will have to do some cosmetic rehab on the building, but nothing major. It's nothing more than a large gazebo with a lot of room for parking and setting up tables. Will probably purchase a few shade tents to cover the tables.

Also, and this is very cool... My oldest friend of 40 years owns a business smack in the middle of a local town's "Historic District".

Every weekend from mid-August until the middle of October, there is a huge Farmer's Market held in the town (think Mayberry) with Main St. blocked off and people setting up tables, tents, etc. and selling tons of fresh produce.

The sites from which to sell during the market are expensive and almost impossible to obtain, but since he owns the building, we can simply set up right in front of his shop and be in the middle of the Market. For free. :D

This first year we are going to plant as many varieties of heirloom tomatoes as we can.

We have about 20 varieties now, but will head to the greenhouse/order online to up that number to 50 or so. We are expanding the garden(s) to accommodate this growth. We plan on harvesting seeds from these, and selling the seedlings next spring. You are more than welcome to as many seeds as you like.

Late this year we will decide just how large a plot of land we will plant, and build a greenhouse.

It's going to be a busy summer/fall for me, and I have a lot of studying to do.

[Kievsky]

Donnie,

Very good. I think if you do this business officially, which you should, you have to show certain amount of expenses for your tax purposes. Here in Connecticut it's 2500. You definitely want to get an accountant to set you up in Quickbooks and do everything by the books so you'll be OK if you get audited. Farming comes with a lot of tax benefits, and it's a cash business so it's very attractive for tax dodgers. So get your ducks lined up with your bookkeeping/accounting. And save all your receipts from your initial expenses like buying a greenhouse and a rototiller.

Plant an acre of Asian pear. Next time you are in the supermarket, see what Asian pear sell for -- they are 3 bucks for one fruit! And they do taste very good. I have 3 dwarf trees and they each produce about 50 to 100 near perfect fruits a year with very little spraying. I spray once in April and that's it.

HEre's a list of vendors for Asian pear:

OK, here's the list of pear (European and Asian) sources with their GW ratings and websites:

Adams County Nursery ( 11/11 or 100% perfect ) - http://www.acnursery.com/
Burnt Ridge Nursery ( 49/54 great ) - http://www.burntridgenursery.com/
C&O Nursery ( 3/3 or 100% perfect ) - http://www.c-onursery.com/
Cummins Nursery ( 17/18 excellent ) - http://www.cumminsnursery.com/
Greenmantle Nursery (6/8 good ) - http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/
Johnson Nursery ( 23/24 excellent ) - http://www.johnsonnursery.com/
Miller Nurseries ( 66/97 caution! ) - http://www.millernurseries.com/
Raintree Nursery (108/126 fair ) - http://www.raintreenursery.com/
St.Lawrence Nurseries ( 27/29 very good ) - http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/

Here's what they look like:

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ewnUanKQ5vM6AM:http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0007/124279/Hosui.jpg

Definitely do high bush cranberry and a grape vineyard too. Don't restrict yourself to annuals. Fruit trees and berry bushes are great for farming. Here's a favorite book of mine on permaculture:

Amazon.com: How to Make a Forest Garden: Patrick Whitefield: Books

Also, you can let beekeepers keep their bees on your property. The beekeeper will give you a share of the honey, and the bees will pollinate your stuff. You'll really like this. You can read widely, and do experimentation, and maybe even breed your own plants. Definitely save seeds and make yourself a seed bank.

[Joe_J.]

Donnie, in our area, they have "organic road maps" and the same outfit publishes a little magazine. Both publications show the public where the organic farms and ranches are in the area, tell where tailgate markets are, etc. Maybe your area has something similar that would give you some free advertising? Or nearly free? Just an idea. I know we have used the one in our area to find things we couldn't grow.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Donnie, in our area, they have "organic road maps" and the same outfit publishes a little magazine. Both publications show the public where the organic farms and ranches are in the area, tell where tailgate markets are, etc. Maybe your area has something similar that would give you some free advertising? Or nearly free? Just an idea. I know we have used the one in our area to find things we couldn't grow.



I'm sure something like that exists here locally, as this is farm country. I'll certainly check into it, bro.

The plan is to offer picked-that-day veggies & spices that you just don't see anywhere else. Then next spring, we offer those actual plants as 3-pack seedlings.

Last night, I ordered a dozen more heirloom tomatoes (plants) online....Hawaiian Pineapple, Green Sausage, Mortgage Lifter, Purple Haze, etc. Very unique stuff. As Alex said up-thread, there seems to be thousands of varieties of tomatoes.

I'm going to create a laminated placard display for every variety we carry, which will have a picture of the tomato, along with a description of it's qualities and any historical info.

I also contacted a relative that lives within a short driving distance, and has a dozen or so mature apple trees (red delicious & granny smith) on their property. These trees get loaded with big, beautiful fruit every season. We are welcome to as many as we can take when they ripen. For free. :D

[Donnie in Ohio]

Donnie,

Very good. I think if you do this business officially, which you should, you have to show certain amount of expenses for your tax purposes. Here in Connecticut it's 2500. You definitely want to get an accountant to set you up in Quickbooks and do everything by the books so you'll be OK if you get audited. Farming comes with a lot of tax benefits, and it's a cash business so it's very attractive for tax dodgers. So get your ducks lined up with your bookkeeping/accounting. And save all your receipts from your initial expenses like buying a greenhouse and a rototiller.



We'll use the same accountant I had when I ran my previous business. You can bet your ass I'll get every tax break and deduction I possibly can.

Looked into the greenhouses available online. There is a huge variety of them. Have to decide what size we actually need, although bigger is almost always better.

We're all excited about this opportunity. It will be a lot of hard work, but I believe that the rewards will justify it.

[Kievsky]

Donnie,

Go to your local liquor stores and ask them if they have "regulars" who buy large bottles of wine, whiskey or vodka with a screw on bottle cap -- anything from a quart to a gallon. Ask them if they'll have thier regulars bring back their empty bottles and put them aside for you.

You want to hoard glass bottles with screw-on caps. This way when things start going really south in the Kwa, you can store water, and make bootleg fruit wines for drinking and maybe even for sale. You want to choose fruits that don't require extra sugar -- obviously grapes, and pears, and some others. Corn makes a very good sugar for fermentation. Corn sugar is more easily fermented than cane sugar. Here's a book on it:

Amazon.com: The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible: Leon W. Kania: Books

Also, considering collapse may be imminent, there are books and sources for growing stuff like tobacco and a certain very pretty flower, the by-product of which post-collapse doctors will need very much to help reduce pain.

[Donnie in Ohio]

I've been a home-brewer (beer) for years. I actually should plant some hops. Plenty of people around here grow grain.

I get the feeling that Kievsky would be a real good guy to know when TSHTF.

[Kievsky]

I've been a home-brewer (beer) for years. I actually should plant some hops. Plenty of people around here grow grain.

I get the feeling that Kievsky would be a real good guy to know when TSHTF.

Very good. Do you do "all grain" brewing? Do you have a mash boiler?

Definitely look at more than beer. you want to be able to make booze from your garden products, and perfect this process sooner rather than later, and hoard the glass bottles sooner rather than later. Think Joseph Kennedy.

http://tomroeser.com/blog/img/f23640/JosephKennedySr.jpg

I don't know how well I'll do when TSHTF. I'm in the cement death belt between Boston and NYC. As April says, I'll have to "shoot the gap" after the TSHTF. No matter what though, I'm looking forwrard to seeing the liberals punished by circumstance, for their foolish, wasteful, cornucopianist crusades for an impossible equality.

[Antiochus Epiphanes]

Planted these well started seedlings:

4 cherry tomatos, 4 beefsteaks, 4 banana pepp, one salsa pepp, one marconi pepp, 4 serrano, 4 jalapenos.

a rabbit laid its litter in my chive patch and my big dog was there woofing like hell at the little critters. I dont think he ate any, having more of a guard dog instinct than that of a mouser. I kept the dogs out of the yard for two days and they were gone. NOt sure if the mama took em to a new nest or a hawk.

my wife told me to dig out the chive patch because of all the fluff and rabbit germs. I just laughed at that and said no way, and do you expect the rest of the dirt is clean? Anyhow the chives from that part taste like hell anyhow and I usually try to get them from the shady spots instead. Not sure why, but I like shade-chives better.

Soon enough the strawberries will be in and she'll forget about the bunnies.

[Kievsky]

good to hear your progress, AE! It's really great to see how many of us are producing our own food. The "English" (our new term for non-WN's) write a lot of stuff about the WN movement, but they've never mentioned this particular phenomenon.

[Antiochus Epiphanes]

You know it's not so wierd where I live which is just a normal suburb in flyover midwest. Out of six dwellings on this street three have vegetable gardens. Mine sucks compared to my two neighbors, both engineers, you can imagine what a vegetable garden can look like when some engineer takes that on as a hobby.

In these parts, I remember always growing up, in July everybody seems to have tomatoes and nobody buys them at the store. We get a lot of peppers and cucumbers too, from neighbors, who give me vegies even though I know I grow them too. Sort of have to eat crow on that. But my kids pluck the cherry tomatoes right off the vine and most of those never make it in the house. The strawberries same. I need a big strawberry patch, now I just got part of two 4x8 beds. Cool thing strawberry can grow in partial shade. Though it wont yield as much. Makes good cover, even just for landscaping.

If the SHTF though I'm going warlord though. I wouldnt be able to survive on my sorry gardening skills. Luckily I have other talents. LOL

[Donnie in Ohio]

good to hear your progress, AE! It's really great to see how many of us are producing our own food. The "English" (our new term for non-WN's) write a lot of stuff about the WN movement, but they've never mentioned this particular phenomenon.


The "English". Nice. It fits, huh?

Yea, I wonder how the media would spin it if WNist began to be known as avid organic home gardeners? Conserving rain water, composting & recycling, etc? :D

I know they should have been in the ground a while ago, but I planted a couple of long rows of "Kentucky Blue" pole bean seeds this afternoon. Put out the poles (6 foot) and planted 2 seeds in a hill mounded around each one, then connected the poles with trellis netting. I've never planted any beans before, and I am eager to see how well they do. It's supposed to be a very prolific bean, and matures in 57 days.

Also picked up two 18 gallon & one 5 gallon Rubbermaid tubs with which to collect rainwater. This brings our garden rainwater storage capacity to 60+ gallons.

As for being "Neo-Amish", I bought some clothesline & clothespins as well today, and rigged a clothesline triangle between 3 trees out back. :)

[Joe_J.]

I grow a lot of beans. They are easy to work with, IMO.

Dried beans are part of my long-term food preps. And, I just like beans.

[Donnie in Ohio]

I grow a lot of beans. They are easy to work with, IMO.

Dried beans are part of my long-term food preps. And, I just like beans.


What kind(s) of beans do you plant, "Amish"? :D

How many seeds & what are your average yields?

[Joe_J.]

Last year, I planted a "Romano" pole bean and some lima beans, which are a bush bean.

The Romano beans I planted in a sort of pyramid, or teepee. I don't remember how much I got out of it. I did can two cases of quart jars, ate some fresh and gave away two plastic grocery bags full to some coworkers.

The lima beans I let dry.

This year, I planted some Red Emperor pole beans and Dragontongue (an heirloom). I planted a LOT more than last year. In fact, my beans are one of the few things that survived the hailstorm I got here on Tuesday.

[George Witzgall]

I grew "fortex" green beans from Burpee last year and they were priolly my best crop (after squash and cherry tomatoes). these beans are long long long, like a foot long, but still tasty at that size. because they are so big you get a lot of bang for your harvesting efforts (I'm all about efficiency).

I saved some beans from last year and planted them again - in just 3-4 days they started sprouting, and are already several feet high (after 1 1/2 weeks). they grow like mad. I haven't even fertilized them yet.

these beans are easy easy easy and high yielding - they just kept on yielding all summer long.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Do you do "all grain" brewing?

Definitely look at more than beer. You want to be able to make booze from your garden products, and perfect this process sooner rather than later, and hoard the glass bottles sooner rather than later. Think Joseph Kennedy.

Even through they hated Democrats, my parents thought the Kennedys walked on water. Mom still has a photograph of JFK and RFK taken while talking in private outside the Oval Office framed on her wall. It was part of being Irish in their generation, I guess.

Yea, I've done all grain brews that turned out fine & at least close to style, but I'm a much better extract brewer, and I use fresh (or at least vacuum-sealed freeze-dried sorta fresh) hops & good liquid yeast. Plus it's a whole hell of a lot less hassle.

I haven't done an all grain brew in quite a while. Very doubtful if I even still have everything I would need to do one today, as I belong to a local home-brew club and stuff gets traded/sold all the time.

Never made any wine or any sort of liquor, although a goodly number of the brew club does make seasonal wines also, often made with stuff from their own gardens, or organically-grown ingredients produced locally.

I have however successfully brewed more than a few batches of mead but once again, it's been a while. We have a couple varieties of watermelon in, and if they produce, I might take a stab at producing a watermelon wine.

[Donnie in Ohio]

I grew "fortex" green beans from Burpee last year and they were priolly my best crop (after squash and cherry tomatoes). these beans are long long long, like a foot long, but still tasty at that size. because they are so big you get a lot of bang for your harvesting efforts (I'm all about efficiency).



Thanks for the bean tips guys.

I did some research on fortex beans, and from reading the reviews posted on the various seed sites, it sure sounds like a winner. I think I'm going to put in a couple rows of both fortex & dragon tongue.

So you can save some of the seeds from a fortex and plant them next year? Does that make them heirloom as well?

Also, does anyone use coffee grounds or eggshells in their gardens?

[Kievsky]

Donnie,

Coffee grounds and eggshells are good, but that's for a small plot. It sounds like you are doing something large, in which case you need to contact local horse farms, pig farms, dairy, beef, sheep, chicken -- whatever you can get your hands on. You need a pickup truck, though a small dump truck would be ideal for you. They might load for you, or you might have to shovel it yourself.

I have brought hundreds of loads of horse manure to my land. It's something you need to do year round. Ideally, get a morning job (2 -3 depending on the number of stalls) on a horse farm. It's good exercise, and you get paid cash at the end of the week and a daily load of horse manure, and you do that job instead of a Mexican doing it. Make sure you negotiate weekends off, or some 2 days off so you can sleep in at least a couple times a week. That cash can fund your farm, too, not that you need it, but it might be nice to capitalize your farm without dipping into your own money. Up to you of course. I used to have a job on a horse farm and I really loved it. The horse guy is glad to have you getting rid of the manure too.

You mentioned that you are a bit bored with retirement. I think this is an excellent opportunity for you to become a trail-blazer on non-standard small businesses in the Second Great Depression. You can figure out what small businesses work and how best to do them, and teach the rest of us, because you have the time-freedom to do so.

You should look for things that fulfill practical, even urgent, needs. Food, booze and tobacco are obvious ones. I think doing "gardening services" where you deliver manure and rototill land for people might work, as gardening becomes more popular.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Donnie,

Coffee grounds and eggshells are good, but that's for a small plot. It sounds like you are doing something large, in which case you need to contact local horse farms, pig farms, dairy, beef, sheep, chicken -- whatever you can get your hands on. You need a pickup truck, though a small dump truck would be ideal for you. They might load for you, or you might have to shovel it yourself.



Yea, I understand we'll need a great deal of organic fertilizer. I'm on it.

The same relative that has the fruit trees also boards a bunch of horses, so no worries there. They are heavily involved in the American Quarter Horse Association. The Quarter Horse Congress is held here locally each year. (and yes, I will have to shovel it myself.) :D

I asked about the eggshells & grounds because I also have access to large quantities of these. I learned that Starbucks locations save & give away their used coffee grounds, and I know several people who work in the restaurant business that could provide us with lots of both eggshells & grounds.

I'm not sure yet if I want an actual compost pile, or purchase one (or several) of those large barrel units that you turn with a handle to mix the compost.

One of the things we want to do is offer fresh produce to local Mom & Pop restaurants, of which there are quite a few in the area. We've already lined up a couple of orders for tomatoes.

Also, I'm not bored anymore. :)

[Kievsky]

OK, the commercial organic farmer I know hoardes large piles of horse manure, and mixes in his cow and pig manure with a small bucket loader. You can get a bucket loader, or do it by hand with shovel and rake. Doing it by hand is not a bad thing, like I said, if you are doing the exercises to stretch and strengthen your joints. Otherwise, you'll need a bucket loader.

So you could use horse manure as your base, and mix in the coffee ground and eggshells. Coffee grounds are alkaline, so don't use that compost for potatoes or blueberries, but everything else will like a higher pH.

Get several soil tests from samples in different areas of the plot you'll be using. The tests actually tell you what to add, how much lime, how much nitrogen, calcium, phosphate, potassium. There's a book on composting by Rodale that tells you how much of these chemicals are in stuff like horse manure, food compost, etc, since you will be mostly relying on organic inputs.

Read up on Permaculture, like that Forest Garden book in a post I made above. Permaculture design is the latest and greatest in sustainable agriculture. The best source of books on the science of organic farming is at:

http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm

Here's a really great article on soil management, called "Weed the Soil, not the Crop"

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/June09_Nordells.pdf

It's in PDF so hit "save as" rather than just clicking it open.

Acres USA will pretty much make you a PhD organic farmer. It's the cutting edge of "Eco-Agriculture." Not just books, but they got audio and video of eco-agronomists from the 40's and 50's, the people who figured out soil science and realized that the nascent Industrial Agriculture was monstrous.

Being as you live in the Midwest, kind of the epicenter of the Industrial Agriculture tragedy, this would be a very relevant body of knowledge for you. You can be a scholar along with being a farmer. Farming is one of those things that can be a perfect unity of knowledge and practice.

The stuff from Acres USA is one of the most important bodies of knowledge in existence, and yet there are very few minds that are carrying and transmitting this knowledge. Not even a majority of full time farmers know this stuff!

[Donnie in Ohio]

Thanks for all the links and info, K & others. They're appreciated. I requested a copy of the ACRES magazine. I'll check it (and the site) out.

I've probably spent more hours doing research online in the past couple of weeks since I could see this thing coming together than I have in the previous six months combined.

[Kievsky]

That's great Donnie. You are doing what I have long dreamed of doing.

Anyone who does this sort of thing full time, gets enough original and derivative knowledge to write his own book, and or teach others. There's not nearly enough people doing this.

Research nutrient dense foods. Sweet potatoes are more nutrient dense than traditional potatoes, but much more difficult to grow. Once they get going though, they are sort of like a perennial. It's just a challenge getting them established.

Definitely do fingerling potatoes and Asian pears ASAP, you won't regret it. Just because commercial farming doesn't mass produce a certain food, doesn't mean that it "doesn't make sense" to do so.

One thing you are going to find is that, on the one hand it seems like corporations and governments have figured out just about everything. But on the other hand, it turns out, that they haven't. There is in fact room for new knowledge, new discoveries, and also the need to propagate knowledge that is only known to a few, not well publicized people. This applies to farming and also to many other things, including White nationalist truths. Society only learns slowly. For example, Pepsi dropped corn syrup and has returned to cane sugar. We've been bashing corn syrup for years. They finallly paid attention. It's truly exhilarating to be a propagator of new and rare bodies of knowledge.

[Nick Apleece]

I've been enjoying gardening far more than I ever would have imagined. It's soul-satisfying work.

This is our third year of "serious" gardening. The first year, I bought way too many types of seeds. Everything looks so good on the packets and in the catalogs! I got a late start that year and didn't get much produce, but learned a lot. The only crop we had in abundance was cabbage. I looked around at all the beautiful cabbages ready to harvest and laughed, because I don't much care for cabbage at all. I'm not quite sure why I planted it, just caught up in the fun of starting a garden, I suppose. Luckily the neighbors like it.

The second year I started building boxes for raised beds. The plywood for the boxes comes from scrap, salvaged from the local dump. The system we're using is based on the "Square Foot" gardening books, with some modifications. We did much better the second year, but had a number of things die off in an early Autumn frost. For example, we ended up with loads of green tomatoes and unripe corn. Up to that point we only used heirloom seed, with the intention of saving it for following seasons. Many of the heirloom corn and tomato types have long growing seasons, though.

This year we're trying Early Girl tomatoes (a hybrid) and hybrid sweet corn with a very short season, ~60 days. I'd prefer heirloom varieties, but I'd really like to have some home-grown corn on the cob and ripe tomatoes with my burgers this summer. We've narrowed the variety on the rest of the crops, down to about a dozen different things. That first year with 25 or 30 different types of things growing was just nuts.

One of our big garden projects this year is increasing the height of the fence. Six feet wasn't enough to keep the deer and elk out, so I'm going to raise it to ten feet. I'll probably plant some sacrificial crops outside the garden for the critters.

I'm hoping to finally learn how to make good compost this year as well. In the past it's been getting too dry, I think, and not decomposing quickly enough. This year I've been adding some grey water and urine to the no-turn piles. So far it seems to be working nicely.

[Joe_J.]

One of our big garden projects this year is increasing the height of the fence. Six feet wasn't enough to keep the deer and elk out, so I'm going to raise it to ten feet. I'll probably plant some sacrificial crops outside the garden for the critters.

I am using some spray stuff from Ace Hardware that keeps deer and rabbits out. We have both and it seems to work. I am told that it is made of coyote urine. I also had someone show me some stuff called Bobbex-R, which is made in Kievsky's neck of the woods. It has similar ingredients: putrescent eggs, urea, etc.

Another one I have heard of is to get hair clippings from the barber shop and put them around the border of your garden.

I am trying raised beds for the first time this year. I have one and the regular garden spot. Is there anything special you have learned about raised beds that you can pass along?

Also, I have never heard of a no turn compost pile. How does that work?

Thanks.

[Donnie in Ohio]

I've been enjoying gardening far more than I ever would have imagined. It's soul-satisfying work.



Ain't it though?

The wife and I were talking last night about how much we are enjoying gardening.

It's the perfect way to get some sun and fresh air, do some aerobic work (weeding) and connect with that part of us that makes us want to grow edible plants.

[Nick Apleece]

I haven't tried the commercial deer repellent yet. I've been trying to avoid buying a bunch of stuff for the garden, mostly on principle. I recall seeing a recipe for a homebrew repellent that involved red pepper, that's probably the next thing to try. Hair clippings didn't work at all for me, but it's supposed to be good in compost.

No huge revelations so far with the boxes, but I like them. It makes it easy to quantify how much you've done or need to do, ie., "I weeded 3 boxes today" as opposed to "I really need to weed the garden". :)
I recommend that you double dig your garden boxes, tilling to twice the depth of the box height, to allow roots to really reach down. It's only hard work the first time, in subsequent seasons you'll be able to hand till each box in a couple minutes, easily. For root veggies people recommend putting some kind of screen on the bottom of the box to deter moles and gophers. I used hardware cloth, a kind of thick galvanized wire screen. It was just some scrap I had around, but any screen would work as long as the holes are small enough.

The no-turn compost piles are just chicken wire fencing, cut long enough to make a 3 foot or 4 foot diameter circle if you bring the ends together. Wire or zip tie the ends together, set this little circular fence on the ground, and fill it with your compost. I drove a couple pieces of rebar into the ground around the inside edges, to help it keep its shape until it was full enough to do so by itself. It probably wasn't necessary. The idea behind it is that the chicken wire will allow plenty of aeration while still holding the pile together. Setting up a few of them was fast and cheap. Now if I can just get the kids trained to put coffee grounds into the compost instead of the trash...

[Joe_J.]

Thanks for the info on the no turn composter. I am going to make a couple of those. I bought a composter and, much to my disappointment, found a Made In Israel label on it once I got it put together. So, just to warn others, it looks kind of like this one:
http://images.netshops.com/mgen/digimarc.ms?img=master:EX007.jpg&h=383&w=383

In our kitchen, the wife keeps a big tupperware type tub. Anything to be composted goes in it. So, it is just habit for us to put kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, etc. in it. That might make it easier if you have a container in the kitchen. I empty ours out after supper each night.

[Moose]

Donnie, Lowe's donates money to La Raza and about a dozen other anti-White organizations.

http://coderhump.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/the_more_you_know2-300x197.jpg

[Donnie in Ohio]

Donnie, Lowe's donates money to La Raza and about a dozen other anti-White organizations.

http://coderhump.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/the_more_you_know2-300x197.jpg



Damn it! You've uncovered my secret plot to fund La Raza with my purchase of a garden hoe. :D

Thanks for the heads-up Bro, but do you know of a single large company that doesn't donate money to muds?

I live in the real world. Until David Duke opens up a hardware store, I have to work with what I have, you know?

[Kievsky]

Moose,

Growing fruits and vegetables is the next best thing to another Operation Wetback. The food system was the thin end of the wedge that pried open our borders. I have been wanting to connect in the minds of ordinary Whites the following logical statement "More White food gardens = Less Mexicans."

A number cruncher at European-Americans United thinks that every quarter acre of food grown by Whites will reduce Mexican immigration by 1.

The way I see it, is that Agribusiness has a fragile monopoly that would be threatened by 10 million Whites taking up gardening. There's a lot of lawns out there, so it's physically possible. 10 million Whites each growing 1,000 in produce, would be a 1 billion dollar chunk of market share specifically in the produce department. The corn syrup fake food industry is less labor intensive, less Mex-intensive. Produce is specifically the most Mexicanized of the food sectors.

Moreover, agribusiness would do some research to find out "Why did we just lose 1 billion in market share?" One of the things they already figured out is the suspicion of high fructose corn syrup. Pepsi just switched back to cane sugar, and they have a big ad campaign about it.

So our goal should be to popularize vegetable gardening among ordinary Whites, while sending the message to Agribusiness and the Gov't that we are doing this specifically to fight the Mexinvasion. Taking their market share, or even the threat of it, scares them far more than publishing their home addresses, and it's perfectly legal.

If we had enough clout to make demands, it would be to end agribusiness subsidies, or if not ending them, then to give equivalent tax breaks to ordinary Americans growing a garden in their back yards. Corporate farms are getting huge handouts! Imagine if we demanded .50 cents in tax breaks for every pound of vegetables and fruits we grew?

Agribusiness it taking billion in tax dollars while hiring illegal immigrants, and externalizing the costs of these illegals onto American taxpayers. Agribusiness is truly a criminal racket. They also try to impose regulations for "food inspection" that only large corporations can afford, in effect an attempt to outlaw small scale market gardening via expensive regulation, while the fact is, it's agribusiness, not small farmers, that have "food safety" issues at all!

In short, 10 million politically active backyard gardeners could break the agribusiness racket by taking away market share and lobbying to end subsidies. This may happen via shortages of food, specifically produce:

http://www.alternet.org/water/140487/california's_water_woes_threaten_the_entire_country's_food_supply/

Nearly a third of the country's food supply comes from California, but drought there may be a catastrophe for farmers -- and the rest of us.

California's agricultural sector grows approximately one-third of the nation's food supply and is nourished by diverted rivers and streams filled yearly by runoff from its prodigious Sierra Nevada snowpack, as well as groundwater pumping and other less-reliable methods. That snowpack -- which once sparked the first, but not the last, water war that helped transform a semi-arid Los Angeles into an unsustainable oasis less populous than only New York City -- is disappearing fast. Hence Chu's worrisome prediction.

To make matters worse, a crushing drought, now well into its third year, has made simply everything problematic. In California's central valley, home to a majority of the state's agricultural output, farmers are leaving hundreds of thousands of acres fallow, and the resultant economic depression is having a domino effect that could cost California $1 billion to start and is causing residents of a one-time food powerhouse to go hungry.

So there will still be corn syrup based "phood," but fruits and vegetables could become prohibitively expensive in the near future. This would stimulate a mass backyard gardening and small commercial farming movement. Those of us who are already versed in it and have developed local resources would be able to do businesses helping our neighbors get their gardens going -- manure hauling, selling seedlings, getting soil tested, and explaining the larger context of it all -- why the food system failed, and what ZOG is, why ZOG is bad for your interests, and why ZOG will eventually fail. What I would say to people is, "Your job is to avoid going down with the ZOG ship." Framing it as a survivalist thing is less frightening than framing it as a civil war, though who knows how it will all pan out. It could end up as a civil war, but talking like that nowadays just frightens people.

Let me tell ya, there's something deeply metaphorical about gardening. You got your desired plants, and you got your "weeds." Not all flora is equal. A gardener practices racist ethnic cleansing of his garden. If a mass gardening movement is brought about by the California drought, I don't think the metaphor will be lost on the millions of new gardeners.

[Nick Apleece]

What I would say to people is, "Your job is to avoid going down with the ZOG ship." It's apt. Withdrawing from the system as much as possible may be all we need to do to survive as a people. To borrow from the libertarian theme of the thread, if productive Whites act like John Galt and go on strike, ZOG will collapse on itself even more quickly. ZOG requires Whites to support the system. Without our support, it all goes away.


Let me tell ya, there's something deeply metaphorical about gardening. You got your desired plants, and you got your "weeds." Not all flora is equal. A gardener practices racist ethnic cleansing of his garden. If a mass gardening movement is brought about by the California drought, I don't think the metaphor will be lost on the millions of new gardeners.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares applies here too.

[Moose]

Damn it! You've uncovered my secret plot to fund La Raza with my purchase of a garden hoe. :D

Thanks for the heads-up Bro, but do you know of a single large company that doesn't donate money to muds?

I live in the real world. Until David Duke opens up a hardware store, I have to work with what I have, you know?

Ace Hardware and True Value stores are all franchised and independently owned. At least in places like that the guy taking the profits is a small entrepenuer rather than a multi-billion dollar company. Wasn't judging, just letting people know where their money goes. :D

BTW, I am highly intruiged by this business idea of yours to open a greenhouse. I spent several hours researching it last night. Would you mind starting a thread on this and laying out some details as far as the idea/planning stage goes?

[Joe_J.]

MooseAce Hardware and True Value stores are all franchised and independently owned. At least in places like that the guy taking the profits is a small entrepenuer rather than a multi-billion dollar company. Wasn't judging, just letting people know where their money goes.

I do all of my garden shopping at Ace. I buy a LOT of things there, not just gardening stuff. Staff is helpful, store is well stocked. I like Ace.

Kievsky:

The way I see it, is that Agribusiness has a fragile monopoly that would be threatened by 10 million Whites taking up gardening. There's a lot of lawns out there, so it's physically possible.


It is possible. This year, I have seen more gardens in my area than I ever have before. Whether it's economic, or even done by Obama followers (remember the "White House garden" they had all over the jewsmedia?), it adds up.

Let me tell ya, there's something deeply metaphorical about gardening. You got your desired plants, and you got your "weeds." Not all flora is equal. A gardener practices racist ethnic cleansing of his garden. If a mass gardening movement is brought about by the California drought, I don't think the metaphor will be lost on the millions of new gardeners.

Oh, Kievsky, did you ever hit the nail on the head with this one. How about start doing some VNN radio on gardening? Anyway, yeah, one does practice ethnic cleansing as well as not allowing the useless to live. By that I mean that you have to thin down to the healthiest, best sprout. You don't welfare the ones that won't make it. Come to think of it, nonWhites are like weeds in our nations.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Ace Hardware and True Value stores are all franchised and independently owned. At least in places like that the guy taking the profits is a small entrepenuer rather than a multi-billion dollar company. Wasn't judging, just letting people know where their money goes. :D

BTW, I am highly intruiged by this business idea of yours to open a greenhouse. I spent several hours researching it last night. Would you mind starting a thread on this and laying out some details as far as the idea/planning stage goes?




There is a Tru Value a few miles further away, but hell yea. Fuck Lowes if they revel in the multicult. Thanks for the education, bro.

I have a blog now that will detail ( as time permits) the thought processes behind the creation/operation of Life Rune Organic Farms.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Going to post this here, as my fellow Neo-Amish gardeners will appreciate it.

Any known (to me) VNNer who wants a FREE logo T-Shirt from "Life Rune Heritage Organic Tomato Farm" should PM me with their sizes.

I'm going to do a run next week.

The shirts are tye-dyed (we are going for the hippy vote) so be warned. :D

[Joe_J.]

I want one but would prefer to send some ZOGbux your way. You can buy supplies with it. ;)

[Joe_J.]

I have added several raised beds as I don't think I am getting enough sun for certain things in the actual garden area. Raised bed was put together in fifteen minutes and things are coming up nicely. All heirloom seeds. Screw Monsanta, ADM and the others that want to make everything hybrid.

Donnie, the blog is great. I am enjoying reading it.

Where is Kievsky? I was hoping for more tips and insight.

[Donnie in Ohio]

I have added several raised beds as I don't think I am getting enough sun for certain things in the actual garden area. Raised bed was put together in fifteen minutes and things are coming up nicely. All heirloom seeds. Screw Monsanta, ADM and the others that want to make everything hybrid.

Donnie, the blog is great. I am enjoying reading it.



Thanks, Joe.

I want to keep the business-related stuff in the blog, as not to hijack your thread. :)

The gardens are doing great. Every single plant has done very well so far. The tomato plants are huge, and most of 'em already have several fruits.

I know what you mean about heirloom seeds. I had no idea there were so many varieties of heirloom beans, carrots, peppers, lettuce, onions, potatoes, etc. The seeds are affordable as well.

[Nick Apleece]

My area had a frost a couple nights ago. The potatoes planted in the ground look like they've died, but the potatoes in the raised box have almost no damage. I'm not sure why it makes a difference.

[Joe_J.]

Thanks, Joe.

I want to keep the business-related stuff in the blog, as not to hijack your thread. :)

The gardens are doing great. Every single plant has done very well so far. The tomato plants are huge, and most of 'em already have several fruits.

I know what you mean about heirloom seeds. I had no idea there were so many varieties of heirloom beans, carrots, peppers, lettuce, onions, potatoes, etc. The seeds are affordable as well.

Hey, it wouldn't be a thread hijack. That was why I started the thread-to see what other VNNers are doing with their gardens.

Nick Apleece My area had a frost a couple nights ago. The potatoes planted in the ground look like they've died, but the potatoes in the raised box have almost no damage. I'm not sure why it makes a difference.


You in the northeast?

[Nick Apleece]

You in the northeast?

Northwest. North Idaho, in fact. Beautiful country. :)

[Joe_J.]

Northwest. North Idaho, in fact. Beautiful country. :)

And one of the Whitest states in the Kwa. I bet it is beautiful up there.

Well, you guys are known for taters, so I suspect that yours will be just fine. I have a few out. Hard rains actually washed some of mine out! But, the ones that made it are about knee-high. Some of my other stuff got hit with a 20 minute hailstorm that killed lots and put others way behind, though they are coming back.

I killed about four mexican bean beetles today along with two clutches of eggs under a leaf. I had an infestation of those last year and they are nasty! They leave leaves skeletonized and the plants die. They look a lot like ladybugs which is how they got as far as they did in my garden last year. They eat everything but potatoes, tomatoes and hot peppers. I sprayed neem oil on most everything this evening. Hopefully, it will help.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Guys:

If you get a chance to grow "Cherokee Purple" heirloom tomatoes, do it.

They are the best tasting tomato I have ever had, bar none.

We are saving the seeds from the ones we consume, and I will gladly forward seeds to any neo-Amish who wants to grow 'em next year. They are highly recommended.

Also, the T-Shirts will be printed on the 14th. :D

[Joe_J.]

Guys:

If you get a chance to grow "Cherokee Purple" heirloom tomatoes, do it.

They are the best tasting tomato I have ever had, bar none.

We are saving the seeds from the ones we consume, and I will gladly forward seeds to any neo-Amish who wants to grow 'em next year. They are highly recommended.

Also, the T-Shirts will be printed on the 14th. :D

Thanks for the tips on the Cherokee Purple. I will give it a try next year. Maybe I can still find some seeds. I will take your word on the taste and go heavy on them next year. I planted more Russian Krim than anything this year.

Do you know anything about artichoke? I planted some. One survived. It sprouts leaves but stays at ground level. Not sure what exactly an artichoke is supposed to do as far as size or growth. I like artichoke hearts pickled which is why I planted them.

My garden actually recovered from the hailstorm. Getting some squash and zucchini now from plants that I wrote off before. Also, the broccoli recovered, though it is a bit late for growing that. The raised bed is doing best of all. Also, have some corn in. I never did any good with corn until this year and am using an heirloom.

How is your project going? I hope you can work out a viable business. BTW, right down the road from me a family has an organic farm. They are doing well. They issue subscriptions for veggies and the subscription cards get direct mailed and are found at stores. They offer x number of veggies (listing types and quantities) for x dollars. You get weekly delivery. Pay by the week, month, or for the whole season. Thought I would pass that along in case it helps your brainstorming.

Great on the t-shirts. I definitely want to get one.

[Kievsky]

Guys:

If you get a chance to grow "Cherokee Purple" heirloom tomatoes, do it.

They are the best tasting tomato I have ever had, bar none.

We are saving the seeds from the ones we consume, and I will gladly forward seeds to any neo-Amish who wants to grow 'em next year. They are highly recommended.

Also, the T-Shirts will be printed on the 14th. :D

Donnie,

Please send me those Cherokee Purple seeds along with the T-shirt! You got tomatoes already? I got some yellow flowers, but that's it.

By the way, you can propagate tomatoes by taking cuttings and just stick the cutting in the dirt. It'll droop for a week, then the roots will establish and it'll green up and come back with a vengeance. "cloned" tomatoes actually seem stronger than tomato plants grown from seed. Once I put up my greenhouse, I'm going to try and grow tomatoes/eggplant/peppers through the winter, and I'm going to try to propagate all of them by cloning.

Anyway, you can definitely sell or give away very large tomato plants with this cloning method, Donnie. 2 weeks after cutting them and sticking them in dirt, it'll be quite obvious that they are going to survive and thrive.

Also, I picked up a beautiful "antique" rototiller yesterday, a 1960's vintage. Thing runs great and starts on the first pull. I'm hoping to have a commercial farm in 2010. I got a bunch of land under weeds, which I'm going to tame by digging out clumps of sod, put the clump in the wheelbarrow, and pull out the weeds and roots and branches and rocks and sift them out from the dirt, and then dump the dirt back on the ground. It'll take a while, but you only need to do that once.

Get some fingerling potatoes and Asian pear trees, Donnie. You won't regret it.

[OTPTT]

I don't know what's happening with my garden. Many of my plants are dying and the leaves on some look as though they have been hit with a shotgun.

This is either my broccoli or brussel sprout plant.

http://concertshooter.com/images/garden/DSC00147.jpg

These are a couple of my tomato plants. I'm not sure what's causing the leaves to turn like you see here. I try to balance the watering so they aren't under or over watered. I planted them in 2/3rds top soil with a 1/3 potting soil on top of the top soil. I occasionally add a measured amount of Miracle Grow about weekly to ensure they receive the necessary nutrients.

I had the plants in a more shaded area before moving them back out into an open area where they would receive more sun light thinking they needed more sun light. Now I'm just not sure what to do with them.

http://concertshooter.com/images/garden/DSC00146.jpg

I may try and salvage what's left by putting them in a raised bed planter. I have some 2x6s that I can use to build one with and I'd hate to lose the potential food if these plants were to all die.

HELP! I need somebody! HELP! Not just anybody! HELP! I need someone ... a gardner!

When I was younger gardens were not so much a maze ... Not it seems that I'm getting lost in all the haze.

But now those days are gone and I'm not so self assured. And now my pretty veggies are dying by the hoard!

Help me if you can my plants are dying!
Can there be any hope of their surviving?

Won't you please! Please help me?!

Thank you, thank you very much ... And now the band and I would like to play for you our next tune 'Happiness is a Warm Gun.'

[OTPTT]

Also, the T-Shirts will be printed on the 14th. :D

Speaking of t-shirts Josh and I have about 100 Obongo t-shirts that we'd like to get rid of if possible. We have all sizes small, medium, large, XL, and XXL. If you would like one you need only pay $5 to cover shipping and handling. They cost of more than that just to have professionally printed.

We also have bumer stickers too that we'll let go at $2 a piece. They cost us more than that to have printed.

So if you're interested in either of these send me a pm and I'll send you the contact information. I took down Obongo08.com as I'm not going to through any more money into it. I think Josh would agree.

[Joe_J.]

I don't know what's happening with my garden. Many of my plants are dying and the leaves on some look as though they have been hit with a shotgun.

This is either my broccoli or brussel sprout plant.


Kievsky can probably better speak to it, but it looks like worms to me. My broccoli got the same holes. I noticed white moths flying around them and, sure enough, found green worms on them. They were almost camouflaged. I picked them by hand and killed them. Those have definitely had something eating on them.
http://concertshooter.com/images/garden/DSC00147.jpg

These are a couple of my tomato plants. I'm not sure what's causing the leaves to turn like you see here. I try to balance the watering so they aren't under or over watered. I planted them in 2/3rds top soil with a 1/3 potting soil on top of the top soil. I occasionally add a measured amount of Miracle Grow about weekly to ensure they receive the necessary nutrients.

I had the plants in a more shaded area before moving them back out into an open area where they would receive more sun light thinking they needed more sun light. Now I'm just not sure what to do with them.I put neem on mine when they did that. It fixed the problem. This is another one Kievsky is better at, but I know that tomato plants are susceptible to mold and blight, etc.

http://concertshooter.com/images/garden/DSC00146.jpg

[Kievsky]

I don't know what's happening with my garden. Many of my plants are dying and the leaves on some look as though they have been hit with a shotgun.

This is either my broccoli or brussel sprout plant.

http://concertshooter.com/images/garden/DSC00147.jpg

These are a couple of my tomato plants. I'm not sure what's causing the leaves to turn like you see here. I try to balance the watering so they aren't under or over watered. I planted them in 2/3rds top soil with a 1/3 potting soil on top of the top soil. I occasionally add a measured amount of Miracle Grow about weekly to ensure they receive the necessary nutrients.

I had the plants in a more shaded area before moving them back out into an open area where they would receive more sun light thinking they needed more sun light. Now I'm just not sure what to do with them.

http://concertshooter.com/images/garden/DSC00146.jpg

I may try and salvage what's left by putting them in a raised bed planter. I have some 2x6s that I can use to build one with and I'd hate to lose the potential food if these plants were to all die.

those leaves are getting skeletonized by a slug, is my guess. Put a bowl of beer out and catch the little monsters.

[OTPTT]

Thanks Kievsky.

I didn't post a pic but my six otherwise healthy radish plants died almost overnight. I think the gardening process will be easier once I'm settled on my property. I can stake out an area, fence it off, and take all appropriate measures to ensure the health of the vegetables.

While I don't want to see these die I was more or less experimenting with the seeds I had purchased as I have never performed any gardening in the past. This should be self-evident.

[George Witzgall]

Thanks Kievsky.

I didn't post a pic but my six otherwise healthy radish plants died almost overnight. I think the gardening process will be easier once I'm settled on my property. I can stake out an area, fence it off, and take all appropriate measures to ensure the health of the vegetables.

While I don't want to see these die I was more or less experimenting with the seeds I had purchased as I have never performed any gardening in the past. This should be self-evident.

tony, sorry but those plants are good as dead. even if you baby them and by some miracle they limp along they will never produce much for you. don't waste any more time on them. dump them out now before you allow them to harbor any more disease/pests. dump em in the sun in a compost bin/pile for use as soil next year (make sure the sun bakes the soil to kill the fungi).

[Joe_J.]

tony, sorry but those plants are good as dead. even if you baby them and by some miracle they limp along they will never produce much for you. don't waste any more time on them. dump them out now before you allow them to harbor any more disease/pests. dump em in the sun in a compost bin/pile for use as soil next year (make sure the sun bakes the soil to kill the fungi).

I had broccoli that a came back after being eaten like that last year. They are not necessarily lost.

As for fungi, they recommend burning the plants and never to compost them. Even the heat of composting (hotter than ambient temps provided by the sun) is not enough to kill it.

[Kievsky]

My .02 cents Tony -- those plants can recover, once you Holocaust the slugs in a nice bowl of cheap beer.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Thanks for the tips on the Cherokee Purple. I will give it a try next year. Maybe I can still find some seeds.

Don't spend any money, bro. I'll send you a bunch of seeds with the T-shirt.

They really are quite exceptional in taste. Everyone we have shared one with just raves about them. We are going to go heavy on them (have 6 plants now) as well next year. They'll be a great seller, no doubt.

Never tried artichoke, either growing or eating.

Glad to hear your garden has recovered from the hail. Ain't Mother Nature a bitch? :D

The project is going scary good, Joe. Like waiting-for-something-to-go-wrong kinda good. We already have several contracts with local restaurants/stores, and everything is growing like it's on steroids or something.

We are setting up the weekend of the 17th for the first time. We are all excited, should be fun.

You are going to get a kick out of the shirts, BTW. The art looked very cool. Can't wait to see what it looks like on a tie-dyed shirt. :D

[Donnie in Ohio]

Donnie,

Please send me those Cherokee Purple seeds along with the T-shirt! You got tomatoes already? I got some yellow flowers, but that's it.



Will do, Rob. I'm planning on sending you seeds from all the heirloom varieties (56) we have planted this year, or at least as many as you want.

As I said in my post to Joe, everyone raves about the Cherokee Purple 'maters. Be sure to put a few in next year.

We've gotten ripe fruit off some of the Cherokee Purple, Homestead, Early Girl & Green Zebra plants so far. Tons of fruit on all the others.

I think I might have a green thumb. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself, and I have joined the local organic growers association.

[Donnie in Ohio]

I wonder how a freshly-picked tomato packed carefully with a T-shirt and seed packets would survive a UPS trip?

[Joe_J.]

Don't spend any money, bro. I'll send you a bunch of seeds with the T-shirt.

Thanks a lot! How about I send you some Black Krim seed once I get some fruits? Also, have some Red Emperor pole beans that make a nice red flower and are growing good. Pics to come. They are heirloom. I'll be happy to pass along seed to you, Kievsky, Tony.


Never tried artichoke, either growing or eating.That's okay. Maybe Kievsky can offer some input. It would be appreciated.

Glad to hear your garden has recovered from the hail. Ain't Mother Nature a bitch? :D
Yes. Things came back with a roar. I am going to post some pics.

The project is going scary good, Joe. Like waiting-for-something-to-go-wrong kinda good. We already have several contracts with local restaurants/stores, and everything is growing like it's on steroids or something.:) That is GREAT! I am really happy to see you success with this project! I know what you mean about waiting for a shoe to drop when things go so good, but people want fresh, good food. And Kievsky had a good idea-kick the legs out from under the agribusiness!



You are going to get a kick out of the shirts, BTW. The art looked very cool. Can't wait to see what it looks like on a tie-dyed shirt. :D[/quote]

I think several of us are looking forward to seeing them.

Okay, since Tony got us started on pics, I am going to add some.

http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp193/inapplecountry/garden/th_IMG_0805.jpg
Red Emperor Pole Bean. As you can see, they make a lot of red flowers. They are vined out way past what I could get in the pic. These are next to the house and are set up to climb the gutter once they climb the twine.

This is a very small raised bed garden I set up about a month ago. I calculated 18 cubic feet of soil. I used ten bags of topsoil, one bag of mushroom compost and one bag of cow manure. I use Miracle Grow (TM) once a week on it. Squash on the left, then some cherry tomatoes and cucumber on the right. There are some habanero and eggplant on the far left but they are still small.
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp193/inapplecountry/garden/th_IMG_0806.jpg

Same bed, but taken from the opposite side.
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp193/inapplecountry/garden/th_IMG_0807.jpg
I plan on adding another layer of wood after harvest.

Formerly beaten down, hail damaged zucchini:
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp193/inapplecountry/garden/th_IMG_0808.jpg

Ditto, but squash.
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp193/inapplecountry/garden/th_IMG_0809.jpg

Also, hail damaged before butternut squash:
http://s411.photobucket.com/albums/pp193/inapplecountry/garden/th_IMG_0811.jpg

I think I might have a green thumb. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself, and I have joined the local organic growers association.

There is real world White activism and it puts money in your pocket along with doing a greater good versus big agri! Congrats, again.

[George Witzgall]

about a quarter of my tomatoes were killed by southern blight. watch for this one.

I have a few fruits that are just now turning red. it's been a wet mild summer with cool nights, so nobody's tomatoes are doing super well here.

[Kievsky]

Donnie,

Take cuttings from your Cherokee purple tomatoes, like the side branches, and stick 'em in the ground. They'll grow into full blown tomato plants in no time. Don't worry when you see them wither the first week. Growing tomatoes from cuttings makes the plant very aggressive once it sets roots.

[Kievsky]

Gentlemen,

I'm sorry, I haven't grown artichokes. This year I got a greenhouse, so I might give it a try. I have never had a space to start plants in pots because the wife doesn't let me, but now I'll be doing a lot more botanical experimenting.

We should definitely all go strictly heirloom and do seed trading. We should exchange mailing addresses as well. i have some fingerling potatoes to send to anyone who wants to get started with them. A few is all you need, heck one would be enough, because they are extremely aggressive. If you leave them in the basement they grow these long shoots, and if you drop even one piece of one shoot in the ground, it will grow into a fingerling patch in no time.

I wrote about tomato propagating above. I want to mention potato propagating. If you dig out a potato plant, you'll see that's it's actually a clump of several plants. Divide them up and plant them individually, and they'll quickly become full sized potato plants in thier own right. If you have a rototiller you can make a big potato patch very quickly this way.

[Donnie in Ohio]

Donnie,

Take cuttings from your Cherokee purple tomatoes, like the side branches, and stick 'em in the ground. They'll grow into full blown tomato plants in no time. Don't worry when you see them wither the first week. Growing tomatoes from cuttings makes the plant very aggressive once it sets roots.


I'll certainly try cloning, Rob. Doing online research on it right now.

A big part of the business next year will be selling established heirloom vegetable plants grown from seed/cloned in our greenhouse(s).

[Joe_J.]

My garden is pumping out the veggies on a regular basis.

Picked up a copy of Mother Earth News today. They have a special on growing fall crops. I am hoping I will find some good ideas in there.