tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42748466737949520472024-03-19T05:31:32.825-07:00Tallahassee GardenerJust a little place to post pictures and notes about my garden.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-7069042728896729222012-06-04T17:48:00.000-07:002012-06-04T17:48:17.817-07:00An update on wormsI have upgraded the worm bin to worm bin 2.0. It was previously a toybox but it has been storing blankets and discards for a year or more. My wife wanted it out of the office so she could move the futon there.<br />
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This is a huge upgrade. The old plastic worm bin had poor ventilation and a lot of moisture problems. I had placed a new sponge and a dessicant pack from some recent electronics purchase (not the tiny sugar packet size, the resin bag size) inside the bin and it still glistened from moisture.<br />
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The new bin has no such problems. I used the doorknob hole bit on the drill to put ventilation holes along the bottom of one end and and along the top of the other end. I duct-taped screen in place across all holes and made a rather tidy job of it. The bin has no moisture problem. In fact, I fear I might need to add water. It sits up off the ground about two inches. I drilled a few quarter inch drain holes in the bottom so it could drain water if needed. It is a wooden bin, or as close to wood as anything is anymore: some kind of laminate. The hinge on the top is designed to not open more than about a 60 degree angle, which is the only annoying thing about the box.<br />
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The worms are thriving, even though the heat is already into the 90s. The bin is in the garage and I have stopped worrying about the worms overheating.<br />
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Here is the best new thing about the worm bin, though: black soldier fly larvae. Yeah. I opened up the bin last week and had that Indiana Jones moment. "Why does the floor move?" The bin was crawling with these black-and-white maggots. Big ones. Not housefly maggots. Not "That's not rice. Michael, you're eating maggots." Not those kind. These look almost like mealworms.<br />
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A first I was worried and then I read up on the BSFL as they are called. They're cool. They're buds with the wigglers. They help with the composting. And that's the goal. I mean, I'm not a worm farmer. The goal isn't to have lots of healthy worms. The goal is to compost the kitchen waste and have awesome castings for my plants. So let the BSFL help.<br />
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Here is my only worry. Larva are just kids. Someday they grow up. When that happens, I will have black soldier flies. I don't want a lot of them in the garage. I guess the larva I have had to come from somewhere. That implies I already have black soldier flies in the garage in some quantity. I just don't want these cute little fellas to grow up and fly away. I want them to keep working for me.<br />
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One final note which will seem obvious once I point it out. Black soldier flies are insects. Their larva are immature insects. Not worms. Eisenia fetida are roundworms, not insects. These are completely different phyla from the animal kingdom. They are all small critters, so it is easy to lump them together but they are fundamentally different. This is a good lesson for the kids.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-53340710474702249872012-06-04T01:47:00.001-07:002012-06-04T01:47:22.750-07:00New bin updateNymphs on parade<br />
A couple of weeks after I noticed the black soldier fly larvae, they started leaving. They were crawling out of the box and all over the garage. Apparently you can make a bin specifically for them, but you have to provide an escape route for them into a collection bucket. Then you collect them and feed them to your fish or your chickens. I don't have fish or chickens. I fed a few to one of the dogs. Mostly I just throw them out in the yard.<br />
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The problem is that a couple dozen of these suckers would crawl around the garage each day and invariably get squished. We don't want a garage full of squashed immature black soldier flies. It turns out the answer, as is so often the case, is Velcro. I bought some hooks and loops at the craft store and ran it around the rim of the box It turns out the larvae can't climb over it. I won't know for sure that it has worked for a day or two. I hope to see a significant reduction in escaping larva.<br />
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Still, it is only natural for them to crawl out, so I still need to add in the escape tube and collection bucket. Also, I have seen several adult soldier flies. I must find them right after they crawl out of their pupae because they are very easy to catch and don't fly so well. I have only found a dozen or so and I just put them outside. There have been a couple of fast flyers hanging around the box--no doubt laying eggs for the next generation of garbage-eaters.<br />
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Planting and harvest<br />
I've been pulling in a steady handful of strawberries each week from the conventional bed. The linear feeder is nearly empty because the plants there have mostly died and the remaining ones have not been putting off fruit. The vertical planter is a disaster. No fruit at all since I put it up. The weedcloth and small amount of soil mean that the plant roots dry out much too quickly. I'm going to relocate those plants back to the conventional bed and try a pilot project in the vertical planter with plastic bags inside the weedcloth pockets to see if I get better water retention and maybe more successful plants. If that doesn't work, I will try planting something else there.<br />
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I have put a bunch of tomatoes in the ground and yesterday the girls and I pulled in a few handfuls. We ate most of them while we were still in the garden. The yellow heirloom cherry tomatoes from Goodwood are fantastic. The Celebrity tomatoes come in at a good size for snacking--about three times the diameter of a regular cherry tomato. I even have some of the heirloom green zebras that are nearly ready to pick.<br />
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Last week I transplanted all of the tomatoes from the nursery into the garden. Over Memorial Day weekend I got a scare with the hot peppers. I didn't water for four days and everything wilted. Most of them came back. That was when I determined to get them out of the flats and into the ground. I planted a big patch of them out front yesterday. I had not planned to each the hot peppers, but to use them for pesticide and to discourage the raccoons from going after my bell peppers.<br />
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I brought in some plants to the office to give away and someone mentioned how good the chilis are stuffed with cream cheese. So I tried it and it is fantastic. I just cut off the top, take out the seeds (and save them) , microwave them for 30 seconds and fill in the middle with cream cheese and some fresh basil. Delicious. Yes, I know they are better deep fried but there is plenty of cholesterol and fat in a big lump of cream cheese.<br />
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I'll have to put up a current picture of the garden, but the new Blogger interface seems to not like my pictures.<br />
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Fruit trees<br />
By now I should have a good idea of how much fruit I'm going to harvest this fall. The pomegranate blossoms have set and I have about a dozen potential fruit. I think I need to ramp up the watering early in the spring so more of the blossoms stay on the tree. Some of them could still drop. I'm just hoping to beat last year's harvest of three pomegranates.<br />
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The persimmon has never had a flower on it. This year has been a victory because its leaves didn't get eaten back to the nubs by white flies. I soaped the leaves early, but only once and I do have two nasturtiums (from the dozens of seeds I planted) at the base of the tree, which are supposed to deter white flies. I also did foliar feeding for the first time this year with the plant food my parents brought me. No fuyus this year.<br />
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The blueberry bushes in the backyard have nothing. No blossoms this year. No fruit. The local U-pick-em place is reporting low yield due to a late frost in February. I don't know if that affected my plants or if they're just having a rebuilding year. The plants have grown and filled out a bit. I've been dressing them with topsoil, watering them conscientiously and mulching them with pine straw. They still don't get much sunlight where they are. I may transplant a couple to the front yard this fall.<br />
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I have one other plant that is coming along. Of the dozens of seeds of the three varieties of sunflower I planted, I had three successful sprouts, two of which survived transplanting to the front yard, one of which is still alive and well and looking to bust out with a big head of seeds later this summer. It is a Mammoth (that's the variety) sunflower so I have high hopes for a big seed head and plenty of seeds to propogate. I'd like to have a small patch of sunflowers next summer.<br />
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That's the latest. I will try to get the photos to embed.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-76989811942430634602012-04-15T04:46:00.003-07:002012-04-15T05:14:51.373-07:00A hodge podge of tasksThe strawberry wall is not working well. I transplanted plants into it from the flat bed and other than the initial berries already on the plants, there has been no new fruit. The remaining plants in the flat bed have continued to yield new fruit and the linear planter has also had a modest yield. Some of the leaves are browning and wilting in the vertical planter. The soil dries out quickly and I have to soak it thoroughly every other day. In the middle of summer, these strawberries will need water daily to survive. Contrast that with the linear planter which contains and conserves water by design by reducing evaporation. <div><br /></div><div>I still like the vertical design, but I think I need a more suitable plant for it. Maybe aloe.</div><div><br /></div><div>Recent progress includes moving my nasturtiums and sunflowers to the front yard. I had tried twice to start nasturtiums from seed and each seed packet yielded only two sprouts. They are spindly and small. I hope they survive to flower. Nasturtiums are annuals and are reputed to deter white flies. I planted them at the base of my persimmon tree which has been very susceptible to white flies in the past. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had similarly bad yield with my giant sunflowers. I have three surviving sprouts now in a pot in the front yard where they should get the most sun. They are spindly and not growing quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>A person at work gave me several aloe plants about three inches high. I planted them in a new bed in the front yard that is made up of compost and reclaimed silt that had pooled at the end of the block near the drainage ditch. Something is burrowing in this soft, sandy patch and the aloe plants have slowly disappeared. I started with a dozen and only one remains. </div><div><br /></div><div>To deter whatever was burrowing, I planted several garlic cloves. It seems I planted too little too late. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I bought the house, two large planters full of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liriope_(genus)">aztec grass</a> that I ignored. It's hardy stuff but it doesn't feed me and it's not particularly attractive. I was able to pull up the whole pot of soil by the massive rootball and flip it. I planted garlic in the bottom just to see how well it would work. The garlic sprouted in a week and when the tops die and fall over I should have a new crop of bulbs that I can harvest and dry and then replant one or two bulbs for another crop.</div><div><br /></div><div>I continued work on the big leaf pile, which is now almost at capacity. I need to begin a regular watering routine and start turning it. I just purchased my garden fork for this purpose.</div><div><br /></div><div>I finally put some tomatoes in the ground. I need to add some additional trellising in the center of the garden beds. I tried a new technique with a couple of the tomato plants. They were about 18 inches long. I dug a trench in the soil about four inches deep and planted the majority of the stem in the trench--horizontally. So only the last four inches or so of the plant sticks above ground, perpendicular to the rest of the plant. The idea is that since the tomato plant can root from the stem, having more of the plant in the ground will make the plant stronger and make it grow better. In the same bed I have other varieties planted the conventional way, well the way I conventionally do it. I start the from seed, get them a foot long or so and plant them as deeply as I can (six or eight inches). They are not all the same variety, so not all variables are controlled but I should be able to compare the success of the plants.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have volunteer squash plants popping up in a lot of places. I don't know what variety they are though they are likely pumpkin or butternut. I know that my Earth Machine has not been composting hot, so seeds remain in that soil and</div><div><br /></div><div> are getting mixed in with my potting mix. I have moved the volunteers to a single, crowded pot. Once the vine borer adults have come and gone I will try to transplant them into one of the beds.</div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-30501396515125110992012-03-29T01:59:00.005-07:002012-03-29T02:58:03.594-07:00The New Strawberry Planter<div>This is the old strawberry planter design--the linear planter. It is fifty feet of four inch pvc black flexible drain pipe with two inch holes spaced six or eight inches apart. It has a sprinkler hose running through it and is filled with soil (organic compost and biochar). The weedcloth underneath it is new. The problem I have had is that the strawberries end up on the ground and in the weeds and though they grow big and beautiful, they all have nibbles out of them. Frustrating. I hope this weedcloth improves the outlook for these strawberries.</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BD986l5uDEqqRVFuHRgVqE-7k87XxBTqlC76ZQkJPi12HR24q7mpTnoSbJZBYN45z0WeRbgzBSPYBdJW0_SB9lkf4PpWFWaXPbHAfn_UoNS0TWAg57q7ch9AgyOVFI9Z9701JjKIElQ/s512/007.JPG" style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibUFULJQhFMZ9OUKM48cvMAF0rOCXjEh8a9KevvXtcRwf94jlgpHLfTOcMiI0u5DixN1GfQvqq80U8XKVPUeDlkWk8cwRM_A7NKF5vQm289Y1dXVgLCdXgc9Z1PMKPaybT9YVj-YNzUxY/s512/005.JPG" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 512px; " /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><div>Not pictured is the conventional strawberry bed. Plants in the center east bed planted through holes in weedcloth that covers the whole bed. This bed is a different variety of strawberries. They are prolific, though the berries are not as big as those growing in the linear planter. Many of the berries are hidden under the foliage of the plants and they spend a lot of time on the ground. Subsequently, the berries are nibbled a lot.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the course of building the new planter, I removed many plants from the conventional bed to add to the new planter. I saw no worms in the soil at all. It was wonderfully dark and rich and terribly devoid of life. One of the problems with using weedcloth is that it complicates adding compost and mulch to the bed. Adding soil and organic material on top of the weedcloth defeats the purpose of the weedcloth. Not doing so precludes building healthy soil. So this is my sea change on weedcloth. </div><div><br /></div><div>Part of the motivation for using the new planter design with no idea how well it would work is that the existing conventinal bed is not working. I am growing lots of strawberries, but most of them are not usable because they are sitting on the ground and getting nibbled.</div><div><br /></div><div>So here is the new design:</div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BD986l5uDEqqRVFuHRgVqE-7k87XxBTqlC76ZQkJPi12HR24q7mpTnoSbJZBYN45z0WeRbgzBSPYBdJW0_SB9lkf4PpWFWaXPbHAfn_UoNS0TWAg57q7ch9AgyOVFI9Z9701JjKIElQ/s512/007.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BD986l5uDEqqRVFuHRgVqE-7k87XxBTqlC76ZQkJPi12HR24q7mpTnoSbJZBYN45z0WeRbgzBSPYBdJW0_SB9lkf4PpWFWaXPbHAfn_UoNS0TWAg57q7ch9AgyOVFI9Z9701JjKIElQ/s512/007.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div>I saw this concept on YouTube. No link, sorry. There were several different approaches. I started with the idea of a wooden frame and burlap. Then I found a discarded piece of chipboard on the roadside and covered it in plastic from garbage bags (waste from the big leaf pile) to weatherproof it. I went shopping for burlap and found first that the big box hardware store didn't have any and second that if they did, it would be right next to the weedcloth. Since I was pulling up weedcloth, I realized it was a perfect material and I already had plenty of it. I cut it very sloppily into approximately one foot squares, folded it into pouches and staple-gunned it to the plastic-covered chipboard. Then I filled the pouches with soil, compost, and strawberry plants. Total cost: $0. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>I am really pleased with the result. The berries are off the ground. Watering and foliar feeding are simple and quick. The real test is what I get for edible yield. Time will tell.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div></div></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-9215184422974520462012-03-24T03:47:00.005-07:002012-04-15T04:46:28.921-07:00Plants native to my lawn: wood sorrelWhat's that three-leaf weed in the lawn. Must be clover, you say? Hmmm, clover doesn't have purple flowers like that. Nope. That is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis">oxalis</a>. This variety, Oxalis debilis, has large trefoils and little purple blooms. I also found another variety that has smaller leaves and yellow flowers. Both are edible. They have a bit of a citrus flaver to them. The flowers are sometimes called sour flowers. If eaten in large quantities, oxalic acid can is toxic.<div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvyLVqR2_wCii3WHAkXl3zRU-sxYgpwE8l1VRDe_S5uzF6kiSGBUedZ56YI7HEsDsdto5xtGnRET3u1vPB_0HDSRqPTyyfT5IntjsiutXmM1vOx1ezKH_JG7dSkGCnHfgKnkHs-zq57E/s640/007.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></div><div>These seem to grow year-round and the flowers are a near-constant source of food for bees. Despite their reputation as a weed, these are low maintenance flowering plants that add a bit of color to the yard.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've also seen another variety in the yard that is much smaller and has yellow flowers.</div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-9135221659023269392012-03-22T18:28:00.006-07:002012-03-22T19:00:37.386-07:00Plants native to my lawn: vetch<div style="text-align: center;"><span ><br /></span></div><span ><span><span>I recently experienced one of my sporadic fits of curiosity about the various </span></span><del style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">weeds</del><span><span> wild plants that make up my lawn. I grabbed a few samples and took some pictures. I have tried to identify them. I will post some of the pictures along with what I know about them.</span></span></span><div style="text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><b>Common Vetch</b></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >I'll start with a little success story. I finally identified this fern-like plant. It looks similar to chamberbitter, but chamberbitter grows individual seeds hanging from the central shoot (on a fern it is called a rachis). This is vetch. I'm guessing it is common vetch because I don't expect anything more exotic in my yard.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTN54Cnq5EkFCCIu3hyE52Bl5aSJB_EyoNqZCv6z-oRlqEFs6a6ElRUywF_minWTvHmBVT8HnDUA1OJmr-YwjTtaQwZNVfBAn7QOPNe-fPgew2d2HpSC6nNNuDF0UHueiVDYl452GPABs/s640/012.JPG" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 480px; height: 360px; " /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Near the top of the picture you can see the seed pod. If it looks like a pea pod, that is because vetches, genus <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vetch">Vicia</a>, are legumes. On the right is a rather sad example of the purple flower that caps off this little plant.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span >Edible? Not for me. Ruminants can eat vetch but people should not. Some varieties are toxic when consumed in large amounts.</span></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-8838186552326236422012-03-17T17:45:00.002-07:002012-03-17T20:17:45.880-07:00Some Light ReadingI've been reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Doctors-Guide-Organic-Gardening/dp/029272781X" style="font-weight: normal; ">The Dirt Doctor's Guide to Organic Gardening</a> by <a href="http://www.dirtdoctor.com/" style="font-weight: normal; ">J. Howard Garrett</a>. I found some useful things that I wanted to make note of. First is his foliar feeding recipe. First choices are fish emulsion and liquid kelp. I don't have ready access to those, but some of his other suggestions are interesting. <div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">He recommends molasses as a biostimulant: 1 pint per acre for broadleaf plants and 1 quart per acre of others. My two beds are about 200 square feet or less than 0.005 acres. Maybe a tablespoon is enough for that.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">Hydrogen peroxide as a healing spray. He recommends 8 ounces of 3 percent solution per gallon of water. In my quart-size spray bottle, that's a shotglass of H202.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">Vinegar has many useful purposes. One tablespoon per gallon for foliar feeding. It is acidic and good for acid-loving plants. So heavy concentrations can actually be used to kill weeds. Garrett discuss many uses for vinegar.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">He offers many other suggestions for foliar feeding, but the ones I've listed are cheap, quick, and readily available. I don't need to make compost tea or purchase fish emulsion. However, thanks to a Christmas present from my parent I have some of the <a href="http://www.gardenguy.com/shop/extreme_juice/index.html">Garden Guy's Extreme Juice</a>. I began foliar feeding with it this past week. Too early to tell how much of an effect it has. I'll have to continue weekly feedings. I'm especially interested in how my persimmon tree and blueberry bushes come along this year.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">One other interesting recipe is for pesticide. You can use garlic spray or garlic/pepper tea. Use the liquid of two garlic bulbs and two hot peppers to a gallon of water. Then use no more than a quarter cup of that per gallon to spray. The pepper can kill some small insects--including the good guys. So this will be a good spray on the front lawn when it is swarming with white flies.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">His primary focus for pest control is biodiversity. Healthy plants and plenty of competition will keep most harmful bugs in check. When that doesn't work, his drug of choice is diatomaceous earth.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div>The Dirt Doctor's focus is mostly on enhancing the soil through adding organic matter and promoting microscopic life. He talks some about pH. The most surprising position he takes is that <b>NPK doesn't matter</b>. This utterly flies in the face of most of the things I've read. Most of those things were not strictly organic. He contends healthy soil with lots of good microscopic life, plenty of worms and a good bit of oxygen. He claims oxygen is what is most deficient in most soil. It makes sense, if the air can get in, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycorrhiza" style="font-weight: normal; ">mycorrhizal fungi</a> can help extract (by hosting bacteria) nitrogen from it and help it get into plant roots.</div><div><br /></div><div>He has me convinced enough to give it a try.</div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-23616050769791793332012-03-11T19:07:00.004-07:002012-03-11T19:17:28.478-07:00Paper PotsI employed a little child labor to help with paper pots. It was mostly an experiment and it went really well. Drop dead simple, too. We just rolled newspaper strips around a can and folded in the ends. We made six pots. We planted seeds from a grocery store apple. Long odds that they'll sprout or grow or ever fruit, but the kids wanted to try apples. Why not.<div><br /></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOo7nvk2iAhbEmKow9VRJW8I0aeaZicX_9HYzOMdd208P2GqyKABxutHsErrktJU51Aq5V8bRba-h5IwCzE0nq7i3vHOYhpn7p2Dhm7dztYWzDVqJNyS_n0TcMrJNf-RZRXeW4MwBcjDk/s640/029.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOo7nvk2iAhbEmKow9VRJW8I0aeaZicX_9HYzOMdd208P2GqyKABxutHsErrktJU51Aq5V8bRba-h5IwCzE0nq7i3vHOYhpn7p2Dhm7dztYWzDVqJNyS_n0TcMrJNf-RZRXeW4MwBcjDk/s640/029.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></div><div>I also added more chicken wire to the leaf pile so it can reach a height of about six feet. It probably has about 200 cubic feet of leaves with capacity for that much more again. I'm piling up leaf bags at the open end so they can keep the volume contained and I can add from them as the pile settles. Turning it might be a hassle but I plan to leave it for a few years before I start mining it. It will be leaf mold, not finished compost. It should be a suitable fall dressing on fallow soil or mulch for winter crops.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best part--I didn't rake any of these leaves. I stole them all from curbside. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVHzE2ijRF7ZwiXfrsumdzLpXA-qrTkKFksy5BwoeRJykFHr79r1i5YsYJsVx3tzWHg7K59x0V0h4ZSeI6_7m1RoyWbJTNyr_fojdE_ErgvYHog_gxAnzH31RoDp2Y-sy0KwMx43UHCU/s640/031.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVHzE2ijRF7ZwiXfrsumdzLpXA-qrTkKFksy5BwoeRJykFHr79r1i5YsYJsVx3tzWHg7K59x0V0h4ZSeI6_7m1RoyWbJTNyr_fojdE_ErgvYHog_gxAnzH31RoDp2Y-sy0KwMx43UHCU/s640/031.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-30705579684217117982012-03-10T17:01:00.006-08:002012-03-11T19:07:37.865-07:00Heirloom tomatoesPlanting has begun. I have a few overwintered tomato and pepper plants in the west bed. Today the girls and I went to <a href="http://www.goodwoodmuseum.org/">Goodwood </a>for the heirloom tomato sale. We got a Concord (little yellow fruit) and a Green Zebra (exactly what you would imagine) and a Hank (pert little red guys). I told the girls to leave the little label sticks in the tiny pots, which they of course removed. So we won't know which is what until they fruit.<br /><br />The nursery is mostly full of hot peppers of different varieties and sprouting seeds that I mostly remembered to label. It should be worth photographing in a few weeks.<br /><br />On the craft front, I researched making newspaper pots, which is quick and easy and lets you make lots of pots (which I am running out of) for no cost that you can stick right in the ground (just like a peat pot). So that reduces the shock to the roots of removing the plant from a pot. It should also be a fun activity for the kiddos.<br /><br />In the world of soil improvement, I've shifted most of the kitchen scraps into the worm composter. To make up for it, I've started randomly pulling weeds and shoving them into the Earth Machine. Today I grabbed a bushel of galium aparine, also known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_aparine">Sticky Willy</a> because it is covered with velcro-like hooks. It's fun stuff for a weed and it has medicinal value, too.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGihGOd38ufiSikCF_l5KxwUMBsGleTrTMT8urL3-Wr5GNlQJV-ugAf8zFmiWBIL1ddzVIqlYVD8epPlb_XA8-GUFNKhtMq_iHb-A78e7YrxpjtlA9eiIAceZtkQEhjgxjvN-VZ_H-NKY/s640/032.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGihGOd38ufiSikCF_l5KxwUMBsGleTrTMT8urL3-Wr5GNlQJV-ugAf8zFmiWBIL1ddzVIqlYVD8epPlb_XA8-GUFNKhtMq_iHb-A78e7YrxpjtlA9eiIAceZtkQEhjgxjvN-VZ_H-NKY/s640/032.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Also, I have kicked big leaf pile into gear. Last week I pulled the idle chicken wire from the strawberries where it failed to serve its intended purpose. I used it to start a leaf pile in a scraggly, dark corner of the yard. Today, I borrowed a truck and swiped a few dozen bags of leaves from curbside to fill it up. Dump, water, repeat. Now I've got another roll of chicken wire to make the pile taller. Pictures when phase II is complete.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-17425555174999275162012-03-03T12:57:00.009-08:002012-03-22T19:06:16.998-07:00More little critters<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">This guy whizzed past me and I tracked him down. He's a beautiful, horny scarab with a brilliant copper carapace. He kept his legs tucked in while I was photographing him and showing him to the kids, but as soon as I put him in the composter, he walked right in like he was home. I haven't heard from him since. I googled him, of course. Phanaeus imperator is his name and he is a professional carrion crawler.</span></span><br /><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height:232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtuyFW8GCmRC0VsPR4bkuir87Mlb2SuKvRITGYhiMUyW9SrT9-8bl4WhVpu5xhpu4NI-CH_uljn0GQfAIbhuygV8HVaHQvs0S73Tk-au0tL1bj8Ugct6RgHrSiWyhaX8NSaGQ8nRFgyo/s640/005.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">This wolf spider was actually in the house, not the garden, although I have seen many of them in the garden and yard. He's a ferocious hunter, so I actually don't mind him and his family being in the house and growing to substantial size. Two inches long, plus a little more for the legs. It is a bit disconcerting that we always seem to meet up in the middle of the night. I groggily flick on the light or look up from my laptop and he sits in the middle of the floor, patiently waiting for me to thank him for the fact that I never have to see living palmetto bugs in the house. If my wife finds him, he ends up dead. If I find him, I throw him outside and tell him where to find the bark lice.</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf7Yyvhfot2fs0FUTPl7VjLCPrf7xhJJp7s005-0ZgrzZWTwp0q0we4SLu3DIi64iQjXHROiJa5_ZFlxROv83Jz4L-pOePse9jFCU-tiMaAb_TwB7FAkbyNuThGzBPoBlbgrF8KDkD34Y/s128/002.JPG" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 232px; " /><div><br /></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-30902846513343382152012-03-01T15:28:00.012-08:002012-03-22T19:07:44.199-07:00Tiny critters<span><span>The exciting news is that I have begun vermicomposting. I bought my worms today from </span></span><a href="http://www.monticellowinery.com/organics.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Ladybird Organics</a><span><span> through </span></span><a href="http://www.nativenurseries.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Native Nurseries</a><span><span>. My assistants and I put together a worm bin and bedded it with damp newspaper. We fed them some strawberry tops since that was what we had in the cuttings bin. In the past all of the cuttings, refrigerator fossils and vacuum contents went into the </span></span><a href="http://www.earthmachine.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Earth Machine</a><span><span>. Now the food cuttings will go to the worms. In about three months I will try to harvest some worm castings.</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRPUQaveAgQhXDX6D7fvovQ5NEWqJoWj7hxDqKO6mfK5eKetijFLNSMQjhASCeItKxJ5JQMg1QoeI2UfUrfxv2EUPKwa1nhEq8k4dau1Fu-0KXPc_evTqHuo57xnobWSGcaLMJMk7WZM/s640/008.JPG" border="0" alt="" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Here is a picture of one of the little guys. They are generically called red wigglers, though not all of them are</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">necessarily <i style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_wiggler">Eisenia fetida</a>.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><i style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><i style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; "><i style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">The other cool tiny critters we have seen lately are the bark lice on the crepe myrtle in the back yard. I had never noticed these before and was sure they presaged doom for my aging shade tree. A quick googling revealed they are in fact beneficial and live off the fungi on the tree. So, not really beneficial for fungi. But for the tree,<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Y64Hqf6kKPjHnTAPq9wuI91KG4BfBd0wZ0Cnh5lvJE0tiykdeoFeAdPV5yly3Tn52RyNFOHzfSkawQiOhPqyByNydavuvzu6PSrCY4b7ognB2iHLXeMtP72kA6Q1Cd0WaZ1crcOI8MM/s640/012.JPG" border="0" alt="" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 192px; " /><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: normal; ">they're like an egret on a rhino's back. It is tough to see these little guys in the photo. They scrabble around in a herd and if you wave your finger at them they scatter--very slowly. I wish I had a good lens for up-close photos.</div></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-77058630750088000812012-02-28T17:25:00.004-08:002012-02-28T17:36:36.606-08:00I stopped in at Gramlings to buy some seeds this morning and I realized I was really excited about planting them. It was a big contrast to how I felt going to work. I like my job, but I'm rarely excited about it. I just couldn't wait to get home to plant the seeds.<div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; ">I bought nasturtiums and marigolds and sunflowers. My daughter and I planted them, along with columbines and some smaller sunflowers. They'll be in the window case for a few weeks until they get sprouted. The marigolds and nasturtiums are good for deterring a lot of bugs. White flies usually go after my persimmon tree, so I'm going to plant the nasturtiums out front. I usually put marigolds in the garden. Last year I let them all die of neglect. This year I'll do better.</div><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; ">The columbines are something the kids chose at the hardware store. They are perennials, so they will be a nice contrast with the annuals and I can use them to illustrate for the kids how they come back without having to be replanted. </div><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; ">I love sunflowers but the birds always seem to eat them before they sprout or they don't get enough sun. I have a spot picked out in the front yard and I'm going to provide some supports so they don't fall over.</div><div style="font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div>Tom Petty was right, the waiting <i>is </i>the hardest part.</div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-73806680560743585282012-02-26T16:27:00.006-08:002012-02-26T22:25:57.444-08:00Shunning the dark sideThe evils of Monsanto have been documented thoroughly. I've often wondered about the seed varieties I use and which are spawned by the evil empire. I will use this handy reference in the future: <div><a href="http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/02/forewarned-is-forearmed-veggie-varieties-owned-by-monsanto/">http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/02/forewarned-is-forearmed-veggie-varieties-owned-by-monsanto/</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>My local feed store, <span style="font-size: 100%; "><a href="http://www.superpages.com/bp/Tallahassee-FL/Gramlings-Inc-L0099556495.htm">Gramlings</a>, has many seed varieties of its own.</span></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-18434388317272139312012-02-26T13:08:00.005-08:002012-02-26T13:22:05.761-08:00Spring 2012: A New Beginning<span><span style="font-size: 100%;">It isn't that I didn't have a garden last year. I just got lazy with the blog. Last year was characterized by low yields and high attrition. The vine borers wiped out all of my squash, cucurbits, and musk melons.</span></span><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">I finally built a cold frame and overwintered bell peppers and sprouted many tomatoes and hot peppers, as well as a few squash. I also had a cauliflower and broccoli that were suppressed all summer by leaf-eaters and delivered surprise yields in winter.</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">I'm going to try to post regularly and not try to be as comprehensive this year. I think the reason I neglected the blog is because I always tried to post huge, epic descriptions. I'll be more brief. Some things to detail: my experiments with biochar, my expanded composting/leaf molding, sprouts from seed, new strategy for the vine borers and targeted planting. Maybe more.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Here is a start:</div><div><span><a href="http://s570.photobucket.com/albums/ss149/483EVanBuren/Garden/?action=view&current=065.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss149/483EVanBuren/Garden/065.jpg" border="0" alt="Broccoli gone wild. Florets become blossoms if you let them." /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">This is what broccoli looks like a week after you should have picked it. This plant has a thick, healthy root and multiple heads. If I can keep the leaves from being devoured, I may get a summer crop.</div></div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-35177987908950927592010-03-14T21:55:00.000-07:002010-03-20T05:56:48.350-07:00Prep Work<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTIdK5zG7pyNnIQrYjpMTQhyZOeZ8qNSW8645mEDxBTpQsbQWeqbEyOXy_QwGzWfJFB79kBU3ab0IB1xMJNcLeNhbUAFtnxz16in1OJzVverJrC6tlmZwdFqshYq-wpvKvphihYTaw-o/s1600-h/Beds_March.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTIdK5zG7pyNnIQrYjpMTQhyZOeZ8qNSW8645mEDxBTpQsbQWeqbEyOXy_QwGzWfJFB79kBU3ab0IB1xMJNcLeNhbUAFtnxz16in1OJzVverJrC6tlmZwdFqshYq-wpvKvphihYTaw-o/s320/Beds_March.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450696603764540626" border="0" /></a><br />West Bed<br /><br />Last weekend, the wife took the kids out of town and I had a chance to get some things done. I turned the west bed, added manure and blood meal. I didn't lime that one. I guess it slipped my mind. I repotted everything from inside into pots outside. I lucked into a bunch of empty pots and I ended up using them all.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMYcl-Y_8lZH2p7LXZObeN5CIWTX1uxTITIhXPqKqEvC_vVUf2kYNAYXsgZ6FGpAsHxSPG1tGbKxw5-NUfN6NPkRYPxGY5RFYKl03resXK-fm9g_TwhDy0Mo1-V3FUHQR-LzecrnKG1M/s1600-h/Nursery.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMYcl-Y_8lZH2p7LXZObeN5CIWTX1uxTITIhXPqKqEvC_vVUf2kYNAYXsgZ6FGpAsHxSPG1tGbKxw5-NUfN6NPkRYPxGY5RFYKl03resXK-fm9g_TwhDy0Mo1-V3FUHQR-LzecrnKG1M/s320/Nursery.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450696803390467522" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now I have a little nursery outside, plus some pots that I planted seeds in before the last frost. I don't know if they'll come up. It's just now warm enough for them to germinate, so I'll give them a week or so and if I don't see plants, I'll replant seeds.<br /><br /><br />Fruit Trees<br />I bought some fruit trees. I found a website for a nursery up on Albany, GA. Too far to drive. There is a good one in Medart, FL, much closer. Just Fruits and Exotics. Fantastic place. Wonderful, friendly and helpful people. They've got lots of varieties of everything. They gave me an information sheet for each of my purchases with information on soil and sun preferences for planting, seasonality, tips on pruning and increasing fruit--loads of great stuff.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EQoIfl6YOKY-Mvlf9GjhdtTAPkfMRz783VxuJkDzwRK0Z-qEmb2AGznVYhTnDWks0pD9mG8XvW2E0wa6SiiJgmHROL8YJyXfcXQo5AO1mftv3x5fj_b9428IGIp2-ACiTbmO_cAORYQ/s1600-h/Trees.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EQoIfl6YOKY-Mvlf9GjhdtTAPkfMRz783VxuJkDzwRK0Z-qEmb2AGznVYhTnDWks0pD9mG8XvW2E0wa6SiiJgmHROL8YJyXfcXQo5AO1mftv3x5fj_b9428IGIp2-ACiTbmO_cAORYQ/s320/Trees.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450697036364328802" border="0" /></a><br />I got a fuyu persimmon tree, a pomegranate tree, and two blueberry bushes. I put the trees in the front yard and the berries in the back. They are all just tiny sticks right now, but they should be fruiting by next summer.<br /><br />Mulch<br />I shredded some of my brush pile. The chipper/shredder did not like the green stuff from my neighbor's bush clippings. I guess I have to let the brush sit for a while. Not a lot of yield for a long time of work. I think I need to pace it so I'm chipping maybe two hours each weekend. I got enough mulch to put a circle around each of my new trees and bushes. If I'm going to cover my beds in mulch, I'll have to step it up. I'll keep an eye out for some hay bales at construction sites. They use them as part of the runoff control, but once they're done, the hay just sits in a pile of debris for removal. I have snagged a few in the past and they work out pretty well.<br /><br />Soil Test<br />I was able to recruit my oldest daughter to help with the soil test. She operated the eyedropper and she got to shake the little containers. The only good news about the soil test is that, if it's accurate, I shouldn't have any weeds. That's because, according to the test, my soil has absolutely no nutrients at all. NPK 0-0-0 (blurry pic). Seriously. pH ~6.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZTTA5HrOEfe6kt10SlpXTkkzFoSYoGF0KsbtpKeqc-tsHteJ2QFJ0Xsn6tjtyuOZbuCpSZQANTYoye2slsg0cQCpLYxSlYuwfXy9DCqeK0NOoPJPY_GL-slZbswUjJe9-FkyTHR0Kiw/s1600-h/Soil_Test.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZTTA5HrOEfe6kt10SlpXTkkzFoSYoGF0KsbtpKeqc-tsHteJ2QFJ0Xsn6tjtyuOZbuCpSZQANTYoye2slsg0cQCpLYxSlYuwfXy9DCqeK0NOoPJPY_GL-slZbswUjJe9-FkyTHR0Kiw/s320/Soil_Test.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450698619290061362" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I did the soil test twice. It calls for mixing one part soil and five parts water, then letting it settle for 30 minutes to 24 hours depending on the soil. My mix had been sitting for about two days the first time. The second time I let it sit for maybe eight hours. I could try again without letting it settle. I have nothing to lose. I think I let too much sediment settle out. The other possibility is that my soil test is old and inert. It's been in the garage for a few years. I heard on the radio that I can take my soil to the county extension office for testing. That's the Florida Dept. of Agriculture county office. I don't know when I would do that.<br /><br />Vine Borers<br />I did some more <a href="http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1209.html">reading on vine borers</a> that gave me some ideas for a strategy. In late June or early July, the vine borer pupae in the ground hatch and the adults come out and lay eggs on my vines. A week later, the eggs hatch and the nasty larvae kill my plants. The early detection system is a yellow bowl of water (with a little soap in it to kill mosquito eggs, etc.). The article says the vine borer adults will go for anything yellow and will drown in a yellow bowl. When I find the adult vine borer in the bowl, I go on high alert, check all my plants for eggs, spray them with soap or neem, and put up the floating barriers. Keep them in place for two weeks.<br /><br />The other thing is to have a second round of plants. Around the beginning of June, I can start some seeds indoors. Any plants that fall victim to the vine borers can be replaced. If this works, I may actually get to harvest some zucchini this year. Now that I know more, I will be more diligent about going after these buggers. I can focus my efforts now that I have a narrower timeline. Also, I have not been good about destroying damaged plants. I had tried to isolate the problems and hope for the best. I need to ruthlessly rip out infected plants and destroy all surviving larvae. I don't want their pupae in my soil.<br /><br />So, sprouts are potted. Fruit trees are acquired and planted. Both beds are turned and ready. War plans are drawn up for the vine borers. The cold is gone. Soon I can transplant to the beds.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-22322379127975734582010-02-18T21:29:00.000-08:002010-02-18T21:48:08.035-08:00A New BeginningMy oldest daughter is over 2 1/2 years old. I have recruited her to help with the garden this year. The magic words to get her involved are "get your hands dirty." She will ask me, "Daddy, can I get my hands dirty?" which means she wants to mix soil. I've got some old pots and a half a flat. We mixed some compost and manure and vermiculite and we have some sprouts growing: squash, tomatoes, peppers, cukes. Not a lot of them. She liked mixing the soil and watering the seeds but found the planting rather anti-climactic. Telling her they will have fruit in 80 or 100 days wasn't really meaningful.<div><br /></div><div>I did turn the east bed and cover it with manure, blood meal, and lime. I've got a 55 gallon drum of compost tea brewing. I should get a chance to turn and enrich the west bed here in a week or two. I'll also be able to use my chipper/shredder to make some mulch. </div><div><br /></div><div>Temps are in the 30s this week and though I'm anxious to get onions and carrots in the ground (I may sneak in some beets and radishes) I think they wouldn't do well. I don't have a lot of indoor space for getting things started early, so I'm going to plant seeds, let them sprout, then mulch.</div><div><br /></div><div>Heavy on my mind is the vine borers. Two years ago they shut down my zooks and crooknecks and butternuts and even put a heavy dent in my cukes. When I search online for insect netting, I end up on British websites. Are they only sold in the U.K.? This year I will capture a vine borer adult. I want to get some pictures of the little beastie. I've seen one before. They lay eggs on the vine, then the larva bores into the vine and travels along inside, munching toward the heart of the plant. Everything on the vine away from the root dies. There is no sign of the larva except the pinhole entry wound, often surrounded by some yellow frass, and the dead vine itself. Once the bugger is in there, if you can find him, you can stick him with a pin--just poke it through the vine and kill him. Unfortunately, it would take daily inspection of every vine to stay on top of the problem and save my plants. I just won't have that kind of time. I will have maybe a 20 minute window each morning to water, weed, and inspect my plants.</div><div><br /></div><div>So my strategy is to keep the adult vine borers from getting to the plants by covering them with fine mesh nets. I realize this will keep my pollenators out, as well. I will have to pollenate my plants by hand. I'll get a few cheap paint brushes and make the pollenating part of the routine.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other option I'm considering is neem oil. I have used spray on soap in the past, but it is a tiresome and repetitive chore and never seems to be effective enough. Neem oil is expensive. $10 for an 8 ounce bottle. I'm not sure how far that will go. I'll have to do more research on it. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'll try to get some pictures up soon. Also, soil testing. Maybe my daughter will help me with the soil testing this weekend.</div>hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-89479168334242292652009-04-01T18:36:00.001-07:002009-04-01T18:39:08.063-07:00Nothing DoingI've been planting seeds of a different nature and my two sprouts are now nearly two and six months old. They are a full time job. So much so that I have not yet planted anything. I have a single chinese cabbage left over from last fall that will soon be crawling with slugs.<br /><br />In the mean time, I still have this blog and I can use it to advertise my townhouse, photos of which are on photobucket, which now has a slideshow feature that I am going to test here:<br /><br /><div style="width:480px;text-align:right;"><embed width="480" height="360" src="http://feed570.photobucket.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf?rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed570.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss149%2F483EVanBuren%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif" style="border:none;" /></a><a href="http://s570.photobucket.com/albums/ss149/483EVanBuren/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif" style="border:none;" /></a></div><br /><br />We'll see how that turns out. I do have some recent pictures of the garden. I will try to get them up. I might possibly get some carrot seeds in the ground or maybe a couple of tomato plants.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-19005236734191519152008-12-01T19:06:00.000-08:002008-12-01T19:17:26.891-08:00Still GoingI just thought I'd post to note that I have abandoned neither the garden nor the blog. I pulled in a handful of green tomatoes last week and yanked the vines. Decent tomato crop this year. I've still got one Chinese cabbage out in the east bed. No idea what to do with it. I have no plans to plant this winter. I keep telling my wife that the old sliding glass doors are there for my winter garden. One of these years she'll make me plant one or throw them out.<br /><br />My oldest daughter is eighteen months and she walked around the garden on her own this weekend. I think by spring she may go out there with her watering can to help. When we go to the backyard she always wants to go to the garden ("gar-gar"). I've yanked the dead things except a few dried brown basil plants and the lone still-purple coneflower.<br /><br />I have yet to improve the soil. Fatherhood has cut back my time with the garden. Composting is going well. I hope to run another batch of twigs through the chipper shredder soon. The shredded sticks and leaves have really jump-started the compost. Also, I've started putting more stuff in it besides kitchen scraps: used coffee filters (with grounds, of course), contents of the vacuum cleaner (bagless), dryer lint, and dog hair (beyond what comes out of the vacuum). I have even composted a few cloth diapers that have become too threadbare for diapering. I'm trying to find a better use for them, but the composting works.<br /><br />I keep thinking I'll borrow my father-in-law's truck and get out to a stable one of these days, but more likely I'll have to order a few yards of manure. I just need to do it in the next two months.<br /><br />Seed catalogs are here and I'm getting excited about all of the possibilities. I just have to remember to buy what we eat and keep the experimental stuff to a minimum. Maybe beets. We'll see.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-88887631230948940862008-07-28T18:53:00.000-07:002008-07-28T19:08:39.834-07:00A year gone byWow! Nearly a year since I last posted. I'll have to put up a new picture of the garden. Very bad year. I stopped planting green beans since we weren't eating them. All of my carrots died, only about three sprouted. I put in trellises for the vines which had mixed results. My echinacea came back from last year and looked great, but what the hell do I do with it? I suppose it brought in some pollinators. I had a nice cilantro plant, but my wife hates it and it came early (May) so I had no tomatoes ready to make salsa anyway. It went to seed (coriander) and now is shrivelled up and pretty well dead.<br /><br />The trellises are electrical conduit, ten feet high and five feet wide with a nylon mesh that is supposed to last five years done up with duct tape and zip ties. It gives great support for the vining plants. The problem is all of my squash and cucurbits are bedeviled by vine borers. When the vines are along the ground, you can cover them with dirt every few feet and they re-root, so vine borers will only take out a little bit of the vine if you get them in time. With the trellises, everything from the entry point up dies. So my zook, my crooknecks, my butternuts, and my cukes all got hit hard and early. I was dusting weekly with rotenon and dipel dust, but it wasn't enough.<br /><br />I planted simpsons lettuce and chinese cabbage, which did well once I dusted with dipel and surrounded with diatomaceous earth and that cleared up all of the green worms and slugs. We just weren't eating it. The lettuce has gone to seed and the leaves are all bitter. I haven't dusted the leafies in over a mont, so the chinese cabs are worm food. I've been really bad about maintenance. I'm sure I'll have a bunch of vine borer cocoons in my west bed and the center east bed.<br /><br />I have very weak soil. I really need to boost it this winter. I think that's why all of the carrots died. I need a couple of yards of manure, optimally. My compost program has gone very slowly. The hay bales I picked up at a construction site (from the dump pile) have been slowly decomposing next to my beds. I've gotten some good browns for the pile from the chipper shredder, too.<br /><br />I'm kind of writing off this year. Maybe I can do a winter cabbage or winter squash, but probably only in one bed. I guess if I dump a whole bag of blood meal and bone meal and some phosphate in one bed I can farm it through the winter.<br /><br />Lots of basil came back, so I should have a nice pesto crop. We're having company next weekend and I'll be making a calzone. I can load it up with fresh basil.<br /><br />Strategy for next year.<br />1. Improve the soil this winter.<br />2. Plant early. I need sprouts in February and plants in the ground in March.<br />3. Dig out vine borer cocoons.<br />4. Use fine mesh netting to physically keep vine borers adults off the plants.<br />5. Plan to hand-pollinate.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-75721686066471184082007-07-31T19:37:00.000-07:002007-07-31T20:01:31.412-07:00Reaping What I've Sown<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzmyiP1Wajfz-p4KPpMPJ3-Y8bwagvtukWkqcb6XShPIGtHbImZHVzj9u1lyrHhWCMYrYXA6f1ahQlDmbYz5n-mxrqpposKNt-BUGoOqlBgv0cMqVCJKsUBaemy7Bdj1JKvk3jFbtma4/s1600-h/CannedTomatoes.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzmyiP1Wajfz-p4KPpMPJ3-Y8bwagvtukWkqcb6XShPIGtHbImZHVzj9u1lyrHhWCMYrYXA6f1ahQlDmbYz5n-mxrqpposKNt-BUGoOqlBgv0cMqVCJKsUBaemy7Bdj1JKvk3jFbtma4/s320/CannedTomatoes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093561834406895906" border="0" /></a><br />The roma tomatoes were piling up. I borrowed a pressure canner, picked some basil and got to work. I started with probably 6 quarts of whole roma tomatoes from the garden and 3 or 4 cups of freshly cut whole sweet basil leaves. I blanched the tomatoes, peeled them and diced them. I chopped the basil leaves somewhat coarsely. They filled 9 half-pint jars. I put them in the canner for 20 minutes at 15 pounds. No magic to those numbers. I just made it up. I read a few web sites with various different times and pressures and decided 15 pounds for 20 minutes was good.<br /><br />Here is what I learned about pressure canners in the last couple of days. The pressure allows you to boil water at temperatures higher than 100 degrees Celsius. Normally if you boil anything, the temperature of your food can't get above 100 because the water can't get above 100. If it does, it boils off as steam. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_cooker">Wikipedia gives the details</a>, but the advantages to food preservation are twofold:<br /><ol><li>The temperature of the food is raised above 100 degrees Celsius for an extended period of time, thus killing off bacteria that might otherwise grow inside the jar and spoil the food.</li><li>The heating and subsequent cooling of the jars in this environment creates a vacuum seal for the jar that means bacteria outside can't get in.</li></ol>These jars should keep at room temperature pretty much indefinitely. As an added bonus, the fact the the food cooks in the jars means their nutrients don't get boiled away as they cook.<br /><br />I also learned that pressure cookers can cook food much faster than open pots and can use up to 70% less energy to do so. That alone has me wanting to get a small pressure cooker for everyday vegetable cooking. Nevermind that it can also be used to sterilize items like baby bottles and breast pump parts. Add to that the ability to can foods and the pressure cooker is looking like a handy gadget to have in the kitchen.<br /><br />Out in the garden, we got three inches of rain in the last two days. The lettuce is bolting. The tomatoes are petering out. The beans are drying up. Summer harvest is nearly over. I need to begin planning out my square foot garden and start my graduated planting crops, like carrots and onions.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-54672521777688160862007-07-28T09:17:00.000-07:002007-07-28T09:32:39.445-07:00New Plantings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufAZ0L9B8LoYuYT0JsDWwGoP3NFS3m7Q6ftIBxftkBfidHTpHYBZRgXAMtIvgGhdwO_vofE_Bi-mhyphenhyphenCTlbL8stL7a5Qr9Rq2E-t5Yv5IY4kcRMmgziGVQD3NhybSezMMi-wI-JkpFOA8/s1600-h/FallPlanting_2007_07_28.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufAZ0L9B8LoYuYT0JsDWwGoP3NFS3m7Q6ftIBxftkBfidHTpHYBZRgXAMtIvgGhdwO_vofE_Bi-mhyphenhyphenCTlbL8stL7a5Qr9Rq2E-t5Yv5IY4kcRMmgziGVQD3NhybSezMMi-wI-JkpFOA8/s320/FallPlanting_2007_07_28.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092283823938298130" /></a><br /><br />August is about the time to get seeds going for the winter garden, so I've read. The first frost comes to North Florida in mid November and the last one is typically late February or early March. So I have a good 100+ days before the frost.<br /><br />Winter harvest is kind a new concept for me, but I've been reading about plants that do well in the cool and cold weather. The picture above is some plantings I did today. I just want to document them.<br /><br />The 10 pot flat on the right is half spaghetti squash and half butternut. The 8 pot flat is all Hopi squash, which is technically a summer squash, but I'm going to try my luck. The three round pots each have two pumpkin seeds planted and the black flat on the left has six spots with chinese cabbage. I'm going to try my hand at the graduated planting. New concept for me, yet totally obvious and sensible. Every two weeks, I plant another six of those. After I transplant them into the garden, they will mature over time instead of all at once.<br /><br />Squash need to come in more or less together because they need to have blossoms at the same time to pollinate. Though, as I discovered this Spring when my volunteer pumpkins were came up right next to my yellow crooknecks, cross-pollinating squash can cause some undesirable effects.<br /><br />In addition to what is planted, I've got seeds for carrots, onions, cabbage, spinach and other leafy greens. The underground and the leafy stuff do better in the cool weather apparently. Once I turn my mulched beds I can start planting them, though I'm in no hurry. We'll still have daytime temps in the 90s for another month and a half.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-49148687453727891742007-07-28T09:04:00.001-07:002007-07-28T09:17:11.226-07:00State of the Garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuTgquS1bAKawSIulTGTmeAB9JcIbNEgWS9if5_XDLPmX91B3-sf-0PjDbz48wBYjVgn5YExZyn2FosV9pT48HAY8Zvu8NT1iyLv0qFsYdLokVSq5ZMGL4j8foztzsHrNV3x9GOP8M7Q/s1600-h/2007_07_28.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuTgquS1bAKawSIulTGTmeAB9JcIbNEgWS9if5_XDLPmX91B3-sf-0PjDbz48wBYjVgn5YExZyn2FosV9pT48HAY8Zvu8NT1iyLv0qFsYdLokVSq5ZMGL4j8foztzsHrNV3x9GOP8M7Q/s320/2007_07_28.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092279584805576962" /></a><br /><br />To start my log I want to describe the state of the garden as it is. Later I can go back and add the history. I've got good photos for that.<br /><br />My garden is made of six 8x4 foot beds. The photo is facing north so the west bed is on the left. It contains big boi tomatoes and sweet basil in the north bed (1W), roma tomatoes and grape tomatoes, plus more basil in the middle bed (2W) plus a few small pepper plants that didn't do well. And the south bed (3W) contains leaf lettuce, echinacea, chamomile, fennel, and dill. I've got marigolds throughout the garden as a pest deterrent. Also, I had some volunteer canteloupe vines from the compost pile that I let run wild, mainly in 2W and 1W.<br /><br />The east bed is nearer the house and doesn't get quite as much sun. I've got bush beans in the north end (1E) and I'm mulching the rest of the bed with hay. I just pulled out zucchini and cucumbers. The middle bed (2E) is also mulched with hay. It had cucumbers and yellow squash. The south bed has carrots and onions, and some volunteers peppers and butternut squash that did not pan out.<br /><br />Very soon I'm going to be ripping out the canteloupe and peppers. The former are done and the latter never got going. That's the general layout of the garden. I can review bed by bed in later posts.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4274846673794952047.post-30877808845886412002007-07-28T08:10:00.000-07:002007-07-28T11:56:47.136-07:00Starting a Gardening LogWhen my wife and I went house shopping last year, one of my requirements was having a yard with some open, flat space that wasn't shaded so I could start a vegetable garden. Our new house has a spot in the side yard that is perfect. So last fall I built two raised beds, four feet wide and 24 feet long and one foot high. I filled them with new soil and planted my first crops. <br /><br />This year, I planted earlier and did a little better, but I'm learning more all the time. I've gotten some great books from my father-in-law, one of which is <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Garden-Space/dp/1579548563/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-7380731-7723161?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185648848&sr=8-2">Square Foot Gardening</a></span> by Mel Bartholomew. It has completely changed my approach to gardening or at least, it will when I plant next. <br /><br />One of Mel's recommendations is keeping a gardening log of what you plant and when, how you treat the soil, what kind of pest you have, how you deal with them, what the results are, what the crop yields are, etc. The log is a tool for learning what works and having a record of it to refer to. When it came to keeping a log, I wanted to include diagrams and photographs and I thought a blog would be the perfect tool for that. So if no one ever reads this blog but me, it serves its purpose. If someone reads it and finds something of value, then that's great too.hoodwalkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18435847374861519201noreply@blogger.com0