Posted on 04/09/2022 6:15:09 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
I could eat that every day!
Pepper Steak in the Crock Pot for supper, tonight. Also something I could eat every day! :)
Mmmmmm......I love the Asian version made w/ various
hot peppers and hoisin sauce.......served over rice.
For anyone starting out here are some things that might help.
Use good quality seed. Sometimes I will pre soak seed in a paper towel in a baggy for 1-2 days. (Damp, not sopping wet.)
For starting seed I use a good bought potting soil. Sterile! This year I used the jiffy pots. Worth the expense.
I use a soil innoculant to fight damping off. I also use something in the pots called "Mosquito bits" to kill any fungus gnat larvae that might eat the roots and grow up and fly around spreading fungal or viral disease. (I loosen the tops of the jiffy pots, and put it in, or put it in what ever pot I am using before seeding.)
https://greeneden.co/damping-off-defense/
https://themicrogardener.com/what-is-damping-off-how-to-prevent-it-causes-symptoms-treatment/
Heat mats. Do not overdo it. Use under the tray only until the seeds start to germinate. (For my tomatoes it was about 3 days!)
Immediately Move your trays somewhere cooler. 58 to 65 degrees. You do not want to cook the roots or dry out the pots.
Put a light above, but very close to the seedlings, 3-4 inches above. If you wait they get leggy and fall over. (Diane's comments from several weeks ago.) Short and squat is the objective. I try a south window on my back porch but still use the lights. If warm get away from the lights and you can set them out side without squirrels or chipmunks bothering them to get direct sunlight that is good. Do not allow to dry out. If they are not used to the sunlight, gradually expose them until they are used to the direct light.
A small fan or open window on reasonably warm days will flex the plants and encourage them to get stockier. (Again, Diane mentioned running her hands over them several times during the day.) Plants subjected to wind grow more rigid. Outside in the wind is good. Do not leave them alone, squirrels and stuff. Let them aalmost dry out in between waterings. Water seedling pots from below. If you water from above, use mist or gentle shower.
Do not overfertilize young plants. Use a very weak 1/4 solution at perhaps 1 1/2 to 2 weeks You want them to eventually seek out fertilizer in the soil around your transplant hole so they send out roots! You want them to have an incentive to leave your potting soil and explore your garden soil for nutrients.
Liz, nice! (Hold the steak on the side please!)
Ok........
Why is that? The work involved? I've got a 20 year old son if that helps. Didn't intend on becoming one of those "6 figure market gardeners". I see how much work that is and I would have to drive 80 miles to St Louis and pay $1000/yr for a spot for something like that. I was joking about the wash/pack station and walk in cooler. I do want the rest though for myself.
Good. Just making sure you hadn’t gone completely insane this week, LOL!
I did Marker Gardening with my In-Laws for many years. Yes, it was profitable but man it was a LOT Of work.
We sold tomatoes and herbs and peppers to a few restaurants in the area, which was easy enough - pick and deliver within hours - and also sold at one of the major Farmers Markets in Madison @ Hilldale.
MIL & I would pick raspberries for 6-8 hours A DAY for five days in a row, get everything into quart berry boxes and sell them all in about two hours, LOL! It wasn’t unusual for us to come home with $3K on a Saturday - but it’s no way to have a life.
Looks like there would be some stiff competition at this market. Rolla is the college town not too far from us. 45 miles - one hour.
https://rolladowntownfarmersmarket.com/index.php/vendors/
https://www.facebook.com/Meusch-Farms-LLC-853910938022921/photos
https://thehalftreefarm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beardfarmsrolla/photos
Meusch does everything and does it pretty well. Half Tree isn’t too far behind Meusch. Last one is maters and peppers and more peppers. Would take several years for me to approach those levels and I see Meusch has some Hispanic helpers. Another place not linked above specializes in microgreens and mushrooms. FB register/login popup can just be closed to see pics.
I have a FB account for infiltration behind enemy lines. ;)
This gal has some smart and do-able ideas for making $ off of your homestead:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/?s=make+money+from+your+farm
https://practicalselfreliance.com/garden-income/
https://practicalselfreliance.com/homestead-extra-income/
Beau is SO good with a chainsaw and a maul. He used to do those ‘Lumberjack’ competitions in the past.
I wish I could convince him that we need to be selling firewood. I’m a great hauler and stacker! ;)
Been thinking about opening a new account for the same reason plus the ability to someday have FB pages. Unfortunately, most people still use FB and it's still one of the best ways to connect with people based on subject and/or locale.
Finally found some Yukon Gold seed potatoes. I can’t be bothered growing a russet type as those are so cheap and we’re not big on red potatoes so I grow Yukons. Got the only 5 lb bag at the grocery store. Feed store and other grocery stores only had Kennesaw which is a russet and Red Pontiac.
5lbs will be easy enough to do in three open bottomed sections of a plastic 55 gallon drum. I’ll remove sod, loosen the topsoil, add a little compost but not too much, stick seed potatoes in and use leaves chopped up by the mower as cover.
There are 9 seed potatoes of varying size but all only have sprouts on one end so I’m using the bigger ones whole and do three in each container. One of the three biggest, one of the three smallest and one in between size in each container.
They say 7 lbs of taters from 1 lb of seed taters is a good harvest so if I get 25-30 lbs, I’ll be happy. If I get 35 lbs, all the better.
woke to snow on the ground this morning....:(
It is cold, gray and WINDY here in the SW corner of Wisconsin.
Uncle! I want to play in my garden! :)
LOL!!!
For potatoes I like the Kennebec and Red Pontiac.
They do VERY well in this area, or at least in my garden.
I’ll have to take some pictures and figure out how to post them.
Kennebec and Red Pontiac are most popular here as seed or eating potatoes. The stores do sell Yukon for eating but they’re not very cheap. Reds are cheaper aside from cute packages of tiny red new potatoes. We just like Yukon best and I’ve had good luck growing them. Nice sized and smooth. Did really good one year when my soil was extra fluffy from having dragged forest humus from nearby onto the garden and tilled it in. Yukons as big a baking russets, nice and smooth and good oblong shaped. We do bake(microwave) the big ones. Good all purpose potato. When I get a root cellar built, I’ll grow Russets because they do store best.
The forest humus is basically leaf mold so that ought to be a good amendment for these container potatoes. In fact I may use that as cover instead of mowed up leaves and also add the forest humus to the soil to lighten it up. Leaf mold humus is fluffy and drains well. Maybe do a 90/10 mix of humus to very aged goat manure which is about 1.3-1.0-3.0. Then add a tiny bit of bone meal to bump up the P to about 3 to match the K of goat manure. Use that as cover and also mix that 50/50 with the soil. Or just use that mix to add to the soil and use straight leaf humus to cover.
I’ve got low spots I’ve been raking leaves into for 10 years so I have plenty of leaf mold humus. Being low spots that run parallel to the slope, they have had a lot of water run through so I imagine the humus is pretty neutral having been thoroughly rinsed. Oak leaves start out as 0.8-0.35-0.2 but N doesn’t last long.
My neighbor, who’s big on white powder fertilizer/pesticides, tilled a bunch of leaves into his potato plot one year and said it was the best crop ever. We have oak/hickory forest here and it’s 90% oak / 10% hickory.
That trick with the fence bent at an angle, and laying flat is what we have to do. I put up the regular fence (long sides are repurposed dog kennel panels, short side green coated wire garden fence.) then I got some 4’ chicken wire - and did the bottom 2ft of the fence, and out 2ft on the ground. THEN I covered the edge of the wire with sod, which was more about keeping it in place. The garden is 35x30ish, so it was a lot of chicken wire - and it gets rather wavy.
And then my husband decided to buy a house outside of NY, LOL.
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