Pleas forgive me if I missed pinging any new FReepers to the Gardening Thread.
I got my Zuchinni, cukes, and squash out of the greenhouse and into the ground yesterday ahead of the rain ;-)
I also planted sunflowers along one fenceline with sweet-peas as an enticement for bees.
Now Grow!
Talk your friends into planting barley instead of wheat and you can combine hobbies.
Long time no post, RD!! Were your ears ringing yesterday?!!! My littlest one asked me to bake her a Red Devil Zucchini bread....
All my stuff is in except my corn. Will do that this weekend. I plant seed in the ground, I never start seedlings indoors. I never had luck with them so I simplify.
Still nursing my sore knee. Life further complicated by my 98 yo mother who fell in CA and broke her leg. She had surgery last night and is in a lot of pain this AM. Trying to keep tabs on her by phone. Hard to do because her hearing is really bad.
Had planned to clean out garden beds and plant this weekend. Now, undecided. If I plant, I’ll most likely be called to CA imminently, and everything will die from lack of water. Might just skip the garden this year.
I am in need of advice, especially those who live in SE Texas where I live. I would like to garden and in the past have attempted to have tomatoes and a few other things in pots. I can never seem to actually grow anything. Our house is situated so that we get morning sun in the front of the house, but a large tree shades most of it, and the back of the house bakes in the afternoon sun. In the past the sun has cooked any plants I have back there, or bugs/birds invade them. How do you garden in hot climates? Right now I have a tomato plant in a pot in the front of my house to see if it does better there. So far it looks good but it doesn’t get a lot of sun, but it does get some. I would like to grow other things but am frustrated with the weather problems I am having and not knowing what to do about it. We can buy vegetable plants in February and get started before the heat of spring and summer, but I don’t want to invest in a raised garden till I can find a place to put it. HELP!!
We had two days of rain this past week which totaled a little over an inch. Our rainfall total this year is about normal. That’s a big deal here in the Texas panhandle. Last year we had drought and wildfires. This year has been very nice.
Our winter squash, green beans and cucumber popped up out of the ground this past week. Life is good!
I found a summer-blooming Lilac at the nursery and bought it for my better half for Mother’s Day. I didn’t know such a thing existed. It should be nice having Lilacs during the summer and fall. Hoping the hot sun and high-plains winds don’t beat it to death. LOL!
I recently purchased kamut and spelt (non-genetically modified grains) from www.waltonfeed.com to eat.
If I had land, I would try planting some.
Our ancestors lived off a grain diet for a long time.
Welcome Home RD232. I’ll get back to the thread later...
I need to vent to no one in particular. :)
We have a tiny little garden on a tiny plot in a small town. So I need to maximize every square inch.
Now I dunno if it’s squirrels, rabbits, or that groundhog I’ve been seeing around, but we are getting massacred. Lettuce plants....gone. Strawberries...gone. Fennel...tops neatly trimmed off. Blueberries...last year I didn’t get a one, and this year’s crop is almost ready.
Beyond frustrated. I’ve been trying to let my cat out more, and putting some netting and fencing up, but I need a better solution. Plants are scattered all over to make use of space, so they will have to be fenced or whatever individually.
Totally wasn’t prepared for this war...I’d been growing raspberries for years with no trouble. I guess whatever it is can’t reach them.
And before my friends in normal states chime in with the entirely appropriate sentiment of “shoot the dang things”, please note that even BB guns in the people’s Republic of New Jersey are considered firearms and can’t be discharged in town.
Hope your harvest went well.
I had a good day today Brewed up a Honey Bee Ale, bottled my Cranberry Mead and just pulled a couple of the best looking loaves of bread out of the the oven I have ever made. The bread will be great buttered and served with the spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce I am making this evening! Sitting and sipping on a Homebrewed Nut Brown Ale right now. It is extremely tasty and strong at about 8.3% alcohol content. The one I am sipping on and maybe one more may do me for the rest of the evening. It is quite smooth and could sneak up on the unaware.
Hello folks,
Just wondering if any of y’all have any experience with small scale grain raising? I have Gene Logsdon’s book ‘Small Scale Grain Raising’ and I’m prepping about 1/10th of an acre for raising some different grains next season. My intent is to eventually raise a year’s worth of wheat, sorghum and, maybe, barley probably pretty much like they did 100+ years ago.
I’ve got an eye out for a good fanning mill and a grist mill, too. My soil prep got rid of most weed seeds in the soil seed bank and I’ve got a stand of oats as a nurse crop over alfalfa and sweet clover to increase tilth, nitrogen and drainage (clay soils). I broadcast seed and plan to cut with a scythe and snath and rake into windrows. I’m also insane. . .
What I’d like to know is: Has anyone has raised small grains without mechanization (i.e.; tractors, threshers, driers, etc); at what scale; and how did you clean and store your grain.
Thanks much!
WCF
First, please permit me to proudly announce that I completed the Master Gardener program this week, passed the final exam and plant identification test! Whew!
Took a few photos this evening at sunset...
Banana plants growing tall
The last two blueberries...sniff
Ruby red grapefruit recovering nicely after assault by citrus root weevils last fall
White bunch grapes--harvest within the next 1-2 weeks
Hoophouse gone wild:
Cukes and beans:
We've already harvested summer squash, peppers, and zucchini. Acorn squash, ebony squash, and cukes will be ready to start harvesting soon. The melons and corn will probably be ready in mid-summer. The peanuts are so-so. About half the plants look chlorotic, even though I've amended the soil with ferric sulfate and super phosphate.
We've already suffered an attack by the deer.They jumped the fence in a small enclosure by the back door to the house and ate the Morning Glory......missed the grape plant though ☺. I think we have a rabbit in the neighborhood too.
The ducks have been nesting like crazy. One duck has already raised two clutches of 6 ducklings each, and the second female duck is currently sitting on another clutch. It looks like we'll have duck in the freezer this fall.
Okry planted and watered in this morning. Five varieties, five rows. It should be interesting to see how our new garden in the way outback does. I did not invest in a drip system and timer yet, I ran soaker hose down the rows and will manually start and end the cycles. If we leave town for a few days, I will put a timer on it though.
Of course, the lettuce and garlic are the main spring crop growth, but I plant them in late fall in a sheltered location, and top with a row cover. Just finished pulling all the garlic.
We have eaten all the lettuce, except one plant which I have allowed to bolt to eventually collect seeds. Strawberry crop is just about finished.
All the tomatoes have been transplanted. I have seeds for a few varieties that I will plant directly in the ground.
Rosemary, Tarragon, Lavender, and Stevia have been transplanted to a sheltered location as well. I will be sowing a bunch of herbs in the front of that bed.
Next week, I'll finish the newest raised bed, and begin to plant the corn, beans, and melons.
Hubby has been busy cutting down trees to make way for some more fruit trees, and has planted about 140 tomato plants. Have a great week. God Bless.