Homesteading

[Bullet:Mich.]

Not a very good working day today. Raining and temp dropped from 82 degrees yesterday to 50 degrees today. I had to get one of my jackets out that I thought that I had put away for the summer.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

I'm filling in the blanks on the garden layout, things I'd overlooked planting, and things I didn't know whether I'd plant or not.

All these darned tick bites! So, I planted 6 garlic bulbs. I'll be eating garlic daily, in fact have already begun. I don't know whether garlic will actually keep them off me but the experiment begins.... Two months minimum for a bite to heal, ridiculous!

I didn't know where to plant cucumbers, another big space taker..... I'd seen tips on doing this, but for the first time yesterday, I cut the sod in 3' squares, flipped the sod over into the holes with grass side down, and then covered with compost. Planted two good hills of cucumbers with them. This will be a good experiment. I do not have any Zucchini planted and love the stuff, so perhaps I should do the same for them. I'm beginning to crowd myself out there, but surely I can find somewhere to place them

My brother came up with 4 live strawberry plants to replace the 4 I lost, so those are in. Also planted 4 marigolds around the area for bug repellant. The Nasturtium seeds I'd sown did not come up, so I need to try them again.

Haven't looked at the garden yet this morning, still on my 2nd cup of coffee.

I do need to get some Juicy Fruit chewing gum

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

Cucumbers and Zucchini will grow any where as long as they get some sun but they do need a lot of area.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Mowed the grass in the vegetable garden area, and picked weeds.

And, then I planted two hills of zucchini, and a hill of jalapenos doing the sod upside down thing. And then I watered the garden.

May plant a few more things, but my thoughts turn to soil chemistry. I measured the PH in all areas, and made a map of which plant needs what range of PH's.

The garden area proper measures 7.0 to 7.8 in PH. So, I'll be experimenting with PH adjustments. The most recommended is sulfur for lowering soil PH. I'm looking at the performance at each bed location. For example my potatoes are going crazy - stabbed an infant potato when I stuck the PH probe in, average in that bed is 7.5. However, potatoes have a recommended PH of 4.5-6.0. And the potatoes are doing great?

Interesting stuff here. I get to play doctor, and I will be experimenting.

And, I have two packs of Juicy Fruit gum

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Something to think about here.

Why are the potatoes going crazy in that #1 bed when there is such a difference in the PH requirements?

On that bed, and only that bed, what I did is was in the mixing of the soil. After I filled it up with compost, I added one 40# bag of of Biochar compost. and a 40# bag of the cow manure humus. That is the only difference in the beds, added it in only the first bed.

Maybe what that said to me was that regardless of the soil PH, I added the right soil ingredients to make that bed a success.

So, what mattered here? Nutrition versus soil PH?

Something I'll be thinking about for sure!

 

[BIGSCOTT]

potatoes will live and sometimes thrive in a higher ph soil but will get scabby, potatoes get two sets of roots the ones that go down and feed,
and the ones that grow the potatoes,which are right at or just below ground level, if you dont pull dirt to the potatos the potatoe roots have no choice but to go down and mix with the feeder roots to
make the potatos and will not be good keeping potatoes, I plant my potatos, at or just below ground level on the full moon in january, then cover them up with 4 inches of dirt, they will usually pop out
about the end of febuary or the first of march, I let them suck up a few days of sunshine then cover them up with another 4 inches of dirt the next time they poke their heads up they will
have stalks about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, from then on i just let them make taters, keep in mind all my nutrients were tilled in before planting - as with all my garden
potato plants that grow long and leggy wont make many potatos, i have gotten so much rain here my potatoes wont be keepers, not even gonna try, I know better, have had to clean rotten potatos out of the
root cellar to many times, I have canned two cases of green beans and baby potatos, and two cases of just plain green beans, will probably do some more of those, and a few cases of just plain taters.

 

[releventchair]

Much to consider for sure.
Slash and burn sites are most productive in the short term. Rested soils too can produce decent yields but fade over time.
I understand you are very conscious of your growing medium and outgrowing any contribution from myself on the issue.. A curiosity that will have questions lead to questions. A good thing.
PH preference might be reflected in your final product? That's where a control group helps. Reproduction of a plant can depend on multiple conditions. One of which being shorted would affect proficiency, but not fail the whole.
Yes it's a gamble trying to tweek to optimum conditions.. Such is farming, even for high rollers.
Funny, the best results can be under celebrated wondering why something else did not flourish sometimes.

 

[BIGSCOTT]

The higher your ph the faster and better your nutrients and organic matter work, also the faster they deplete, if you want good keeping potatos,
pull lots of dirt to the plants, so the potatoes make up in the soil you pulled to them and not down in with the feeder roots, if you are getting
late afternoon showers during the time the potatos are making they may not be good keepers, when they are done making cut the vines down
but leave the potatoes in the ground about two weeks, this will let the skin harden up, then dig your taters ( i dig mine with a middlebuster )
and take them straight to the root cellar, DO NOT WASH THEM - DO NOT LET THEM SIT IN THE SUN SHINE.
My mom grows potatos in boxes, the potatos make in hay so you dont even have to wash them, if you ever want to do this the plans
are in territorial seed catalog, it works great for small scale tater farming.

 

[BIGSCOTT]

well said releventchair, we trick plants into doing what we want some times, Like onions we grow them high and dry (well drained soil), with a high ph and lots of nutrients,
did you ever see them growing wild like that? no they grow in low lying cool dank ground, but dont get very big, and greens if you plant them this time of the year in the
lower 48 they will just bolt, thats what mother nature put in all living things to reproduce.

 

[Oregon Viking]

While my daughter was up yesterday, we toured the garden, identifying what was where. I was watering the plants, and was unaware she was snapping pictures, and she posted this on her Facebook page She was pretty shocked by my weight loss, haven't weighed myself in over a month. This picture does kinda send a message to me....

View attachment 1158824

I knew my pants kept wanting to fall off and I needed to punch new holes in my belts. I feel great, juicing, eating better, and plenty outside time. The first of March last year I weighed 208 lbs...

Well now. so your in your 40's?
Weight is a tuff one. I weighed in a few months ago at 293. So I started working out....still 285 but stronger! what the? I'm starting to think light beer...ain't that light!
Nice garden. My mother in-laws garden is just getting planted. I suggested using starts, although they planted seeds last year at this time and it turned out fine.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

potatoes will live and sometimes thrive in a higher ph soil but will get scabby, potatoes get two sets of roots the ones that go down and feed,
and the ones that grow the potatoes,which are right at or just below ground level, if you dont pull dirt to the potatos the potatoe roots have no choice but to go down and mix with the feeder roots to make the potatos and will not be good keeping potatoes, I plant my potatos, at or just below ground level on the full moon in january, then cover them up with 4 inches of dirt, they will usually pop out about the end of february or the first of march, I let them suck up a few days of sunshine then cover them up with another 4 inches of dirt the next time they poke their heads up they will have stalks about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, from then on i just let them make taters, keep in mind all my nutrients were tilled in before planting - as with all my garden potato plants that grow long and leggy wont make many potatos, i have gotten so much rain here my potatoes wont be keepers, not even gonna try, I know better, have had to clean rotten potatos out of the root cellar to many times, I have canned two cases of green beans and baby potatos, and two cases of just plain green beans, will probably do some more of those, and a few cases of just plain taters.

Thanks Scott, that's great information. You'd mentioned the scabby taters before - I was forewarned! I don't know if I can do anything to prevent that at this stage. It's still very early in the season. My largest tater plant is 15" tall now, with all but one runt near the same height. The runt popped out at the same time as the others, but then took several weeks before it finally took off. I'm going to hit the stores today hoping to find sulfur, though it may be too late to help them but it may already be too late. As you said with your experience, you'd added all nutrients when you prepared your soil.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The higher your ph the faster and better your nutrients and organic matter work, also the faster they deplete, if you want good keeping potatos,
pull lots of dirt to the plants, so the potatoes make up in the soil you pulled to them and not down in with the feeder roots, if you are getting
late afternoon showers during the time the potatos are making they may not be good keepers, when they are done making cut the vines down
but leave the potatoes in the ground about two weeks, this will let the skin harden up, then dig your taters ( i dig mine with a middlebuster )
and take them straight to the root cellar, DO NOT WASH THEM - DO NOT LET THEM SIT IN THE SUN SHINE.
My mom grows potatos in boxes, the potatos make in hay so you dont even have to wash them, if you ever want to do this the plans
are in territorial seed catalog, it works great for small scale tater farming.

When I hit a tater with the PH probe it was just below the soil. It's the middle of May, so I'd say that I should start adding soil to the bed. I'd read somewhere (was it here?) about growing them in tires and keep adding tires and soil "hilling" them up, and end the season with essentially a barrel of potatoes.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

On a side note here, yesterday I picked the bottom leaves off my greens, and juiced them Therefore, as of yesterday I have consumed the very first of my garden crop!

And YES Viking, I'm in my 40's

Been there for a long time now!

 

[rockhound]

My uncle grew potatoes in an old tractor tire. He would plant them shortly after digging them up in the fall. He would lay down hay and plant them directly on the hay. He always used a backhoe to dig his potatoes. When they appeared in the spring he would prune the bottom leaves off to produce larger spuds, instead of leaves. This also works with tomatoes, peppers and other plants that have lots of leaves. I always prune the lower leaves/suckers off my tomatoes and peppers. Potatoes also need pruning for maximum growth. If you are after quality instead of quantity, prune off half the tomatoes and pepper allowing those that remain to absorb more nutrients and produce larger fruits. This works well with cantalope, watermelons and pumpkins too. good luck. rockhound

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Thanks rockhound, another installment of very good information.

Yesterday in order to attempt to deal with my high soil PH I picked up a couple bags of aluminum sulfate. Mixed that into my water jug and watered the potatoes with it. Also watered the hops, blueberry, raspberry, and cantaloupe with it. I'll be doing that again today.

Went to the Farmer's Market this morning. By impulse I picked up 4 containers of multiple wineberry plants. They'll be going in the ground this morning. Forgot to send this. 3 went in the ground here and gave my brother one.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

My brother and I have been eating garlic cloves for over a week in order to hopefully repel the deer ticks. Yesterday I found the tiniest deer tick I've seen yet - just a speck - and I was bitten into. It was under my belt line. Mom picked it off with a pair of forceps, and I sent it to the tick hereafter with flame!.

I ate a garlic clove just a few minutes ago, not giving up on the idea that it actually might repel them little horrors. But I've lost a little faith in that. I'll keep eating cloves....

 

[BIGSCOTT]

someone started a thread '' lyme disease '' in general dicussion, some pretty hairy stories.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

someone started a thread '' lyme disease '' in general dicussion, some pretty hairy stories.

Yes, I was reading that. My brother says he has a big ring around one of his bites. That's a sign of lyme. None for me yet, but I've been bitten around 9 or 10 times this year already. I've seen them on my grass in the garden area. I soak my boots with repellant, does seem to protect some. I guess I should soak the boots every morning and wear only my boots when down there. They are serious $hit.

 

[Oregon Viking]

My brother and I have been eating garlic cloves for over a week in order to hopefully repel the deer ticks. Yesterday I found the tiniest deer tick I've seen yet - just a speck - and I was bitten into. It was under my belt line. Mom picked it off with a pair of forceps, and I sent it to the tick hereafter with flame!.

I ate a garlic clove just a few minutes ago, not giving up on the idea that it actually might repel them little horrors. But I've lost a little faith in that. I'll keep eating cloves....

I have a friend...we call him Van Helsing... that swears garlic repels ticks. He says 5 -10 cloves a day works great.
I'm not sure if it works on chiggers, we don't have those out here.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I have a friend...we call him Van Helsing... that swears garlic repels ticks. He says 5 -10 cloves a day works great.
I'm not sure if it works on chiggers, we don't have those out here.

My brother and I upped our dose! I'm single anyway, so I won't offend anyone

My brother and I were worried about the Fox grape planting - that one he found roots intact - but it had now, today, sent up two shoots, so it is flat out alive

Where we trimmed the creek bank out, cut it all back, and now we have about 100' length of new Fox grape vines going crazy, with the startings of more than we can count grape clusters. The grapes I planted may be for next year, but we won't have a lack of grapes this year. New growth everywhere. I noticed that when I was mowing today. It is what I hoped for. It seems I can mess up all I do, but Mother Nature knows how to thrive.

This morning I took a whole 5 gallon bucket of coffee grinds, and put around specific plants = herbal medicine for these. Coffee grounds bring down the PH of soils, and those plants which needed a little help, I essentially used it as mulch. It won't hurt these plants. It can only help.

My oldest friend owns a convenience store. He's saving me his coffee grounds too. I've a bucket of them to go through as well. Within a few days I should see some kind of response, and have some kind of direction of where to go doing this.

Something I've discovered through reading, it is very possible I will have to move a whole lot of the garden next year. I built the fencing around the shade area of a Black Walnut tree. The chemistry of the roots of a Black Walnut will kill many vegetable plants. At least I'm using raised beds, but some of my plantings seem to be in suspended animation.

It's all part of the whole new world and learning to live with it.

And I'm learning something new every single day.

Ate a few of my radishes today