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2009 plug for Earth Juice

by on February 18, 2009 in Tools, Products & How To

fe500infopic1While I wish I was getting paid for this, I’m not. This stuff is just that good. It deserves a post of its own. Good gardening practices and good soil is always better then using fertilizer, but if you need it, use this stuff. Organic, uses nothing “bad”, no chemicals or artificial crap that you don’t want in your food and body. And it works so well! My soil last year was blech and I tried to kill the garden a few times by severely over and under watering, using Earth Juice really helped me out. Use it from seedlings to fruiting! earthjuice.com/vegetable/index.html

I bought mine at www.americanag.com, and was pleased with their fast, free shipping (located in Portland, Oregon), or you can find a dealer here: earthjuice.com/buy/index.html

Greenhouse, mini sized

by on February 10, 2009 in Tools, Products & How To

51wnopetn6l_aa400_ While at Lowes getting a few things for hanging curtains and stopping drafts, I found this nifty little “greenhouse”. I have a SERIOUS lack of space in this house for starting seeds…after I get unpacked, I might be able to use one counter for one tray of starts – not enough! This is only $35 and will let me move it where ever in the house I have the most room, and outside when it’s time to harden off the baby plants. Of course I stopped myself from actually buying it so I could think about it, but I’ll go back soon and get it. This exact one pictured is from Target (same price, Lowes doesn’t have theirs listed), they also have a 4 teir.

And Google finally got a clue and started show GARDEN ads on my GARDEN blog. Whodathunk?

New home, neighborhood, garden!

by on February 9, 2009 in General, Tools, Products & How To

Now that the toilet and bathroom sink work, we’re settling in well. The move wasn’t bad at all. Except my ex-landlord stalking me. But I blocked her and she doesn’t know our new address so it’s all good now.

Our new neighborhood seems excellent so far. One neighbor said hi the night we moved in and another came by today and welcomed us and told us all about everyone (without being all icky-gossipy), and I guess there are regular neighborhood get togethers during the summer, block parties and yard sales and stuff, so it’ll be fun for the kids.

The yard needs a lot of work, it’s been neglected at least 6 months. Lots of leaves for the composter. We had to leave our compost behind (it was beautiful compost too, kind of sad about that), and we have very clay soil here so I’ll be getting a lot of amendments for the garden. Once the temps get above about 55 and I can stand being outside (I’m hypersensitive to the cold – one of the big reasons I am SO GLAD we didn’t move to Idaho), I’ll get off my duff (hopefully by then I’m completely unpacked) and get the yard and garden going.

Thanks to Compostings for posting a link to Skippy’s Planting Calendar, super useful tool!!! Now that I know I need to be starting some seeds pronto, be watching for actual garden updates and pictures :bounce

Redneck Pole Sprinkler

by on July 22, 2008 in The Growing Garden, Tools, Products & How To

The soaker hoses got completely nixed. This is my latest high tech invention and does a much better job of making happy plants:

To build a trellis

by on June 10, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

Stephanie asked me to write up how I made the new pea trellis. I was glad to have something to pull me away from work, so I got right on it!

I’ll start with a list of supplies (I got everything from Lowes):

  • ($10) 6′ steel fence post x2 (the ones sold as 6′…they are actually longer, with the part that goes in ground)
  • ($8) 1″x4″x10′ boards x2 (this means they are 1 inch thick, 4 inches wide and 10 feet long)
  • ($3) 1″x2″x8′ board x1 for the center post
  • ($3) Wire – old metal hangers and a couple spare landscape staples is what we used.
  • ($4) Twine…the stuff from Lowes is far from spectacular and breaks if stretched too far, but it served it’s purpose, cheaply
  • drill with drill bits, pliers, a couple screws, and scissors or a knife
  • ($6-30) Post driver. We made our own with a short piece of pipe, maybe 3-4″ with a pipe cap screwed on it (cost a little under $6). Top the post with that and hammer away. Or you can buy a premade one, but those are over $20. Up to you. It protects the post from the blow of the hammer.
  • A helper tall enough to reach up to 6′ (I know your toddlers would love such a job but they’re a little short!)

Assuming you’ve got a spot picked out, weeded, amended if needed, and any other soil prep done, measure just short of 10 feet…don’t make this a permanent mark, just a rough guideline. Drive the first post in so the anchor plate is a little underground. Lay one of the 10′ boards down so the end of it sticks out about an inch from the edge of the post you installed and move down to the other end. Drive the second post down so the other end of the board also sticks out about an inch.

Now measure to the middle (approximately) between the 2 posts and hammer the 8′ board down so it’s sturdy… mine only needed to go down a few inches so I plan on making my “Garden of Eatin’” sign to hammer on the top chunk sticking up.

With your helper, hold up the board to go on top so it’s almost to the top and the edge is about an inch overlapping the post – check to make sure the other end also overlaps the other post! Adjust as needed (you can pull the posts in a little if needed), then drill 2 holes just big enough for your wire, on each side of the post…I think a picture might be needed here to illustrate what we’re trying to accomplish:

Hopefully from that, you can see how the holes are drilled, with wire pushed through and twisted (enter pliers)….if you get it tight enough the little nobby things will keep it from sliding down (good technical manual I’m writing here, eh?). Finish that side, then do the same on the other end.

Use your drill and a couple screws and connect the center board with the top board. This is particularly important if you go with a more narrow board, like a 2″ instead of the 4″ I used, to keep it from sagging.

Now on the bottom, do the same thing on each side and the middle, but you really only need 1 wire to attach the boards to the posts (they won’t have the weight on them the top ones will)…keep the board slightly off the ground to prevent rotting:

Not to attach the twine. There’s 2 ways. The first way uses the drill to put holes for the twine to go through:

I think it looks nicer, but it takes longer and it makes the board unusable for anything else. For me, it took too long, so I moved on the the second:

In either case, start at the bottom, tie a good knot then carefully stretch the twine around the top board. It needs to be taut, but not too tight. If it breaks on you, you’ll know it was too tight! Consult your seed packets to know how far to space the twine. I did this after my peas were well established, but I would probably plant 2-3 seeds per string if I was direct sowing to ensure they all get used.

In the end, this is what I got:

Fall/winter cover crop

by on June 9, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

Having never been able to be somewhere where I could contemplate the next season’s garden, I had never heard of a cover crop until I started researching gardening this spring. I learned, at a minimum, that planting a cover crop is a darn good way to add vital organic matter and nutrients into your soil with a minimum of cost and labor. Always a plus.

There’s much more to learn about it, so I went off in search of the how-tos and whys and whats.

What and why is a cover crop?

The cover crop (also known as green manure) is generally a single crop planted between seasons over the entire area. There are summer and winter crops and perennials, but I’m going to concentrate on winter crops in my research for now. Once the winter garden is in, I’ll do some summer cover crop research.

Cover crops are used to

  • fix nitrogen problems
  • loosen soil
  • prevent erosion
  • prevent leaching of nutrients (which apparently is called a “Catch Crop”)
  • suppress weeds
  • deter pests and diseases

Fava beans, clovers, vetchs, Austrian peas and other legumes add nitrogen to the soil. It sounds like a nifty scientific process involving bacteria drawing nitrogen from the air and fixing it on the legumes roots, to be released into the soil when the plant dies. Cool. Rye, barley, wheat, buckwheat and other grass and cereal crops are more for the last 5 reasons list above. Many farmers and gardeners combine types to get the benefits of both.

How?

Turn or till your area – hand turn it if at all possible so all your good wormies don’t get sliced up – and rake it smooth. Using a broadcast seeder (I got one from Lowest for $8, nifty little thing), spread seed over the area and rake it in to protect the seed from birds. You can plant in rows if you want, but everything I’m reading says broadcasting is fine….and faster.

When?

Immediately after harvesting…you can even do it in sections if you have one area that will be dormant for sometime, while you wait for another crop to mature. Let the plant grow and start to flower, then depending on the kind of plant, cut it, till it, let it die if it’s sensitive to winter cold, or let it go til spring and kill it then. They must be killed before going to seed.

My conclusion?

Based on the research from my references below, my plan will be to plant a legume with a grass and wait for it to start flowering, the mow it down, let it dry for a couple days, then till it under. After that, the garden will get our compost and the peat moss and sit for a couple weeks, then I’ll plant whatever I can at that time. For me, it looks like I might be able to get in broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, and lettuce, just based on Territorial Seed’s chart in their Fall/Winter catalog…may need to get some row covers, but that’s cool.

References:

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/fs/fs304-e/

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sustainable/peet/cover/cover.html

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s-3-81-789-1-1-2,00.html

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/covercrop.html

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=1036&storyType=garden

2008 Sunset Western Gardening Book

The composter to end all composters

by on May 29, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

Ok, not really. It’s actually kinda flimsy, but I don’t plan on bathing in it so it should be ok. After turning the compost in our crappy 32 gallon can, making a mess and having the can break in 14 million pieces, I went to Costco and got this 175 gallon container. It says 90 on the website – but it’s 175 and the sucker is huge (it’s also about $58 in store). Our nearly full 32 gallon can only filled in a little bit. I’m happy we’ll be able to put all the grass clippings in it, I’ve only been able to put about half in thus far. It’s attractive in an ugly kind of way…at least it’s “90% recycled material”.

Weeding made…….. fun?

by on May 24, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

If not fun, at least tolerable, and easy. I’ve been eying an oscillating hoe for a couple months now but only recently started to get weeds enough for me to consider my weeding options seriously. Chemicals are of course out, I’d rather completely lose my garden then spray anything toxic, so after reading about Tiny Farm Blog’s wheeled hoe, I decided I’d give the cheaper and smaller scale one a try. This one is from Lowes, locally it was $14.92 but at the checkout, the cashier asked if either Chris or I had been in the service and I told her that DH had (so what if they screwed him in boot camp – if it wasn’t for his mother, he’d still be in – LONG story), and we got $1 off that. I assume for Memorial Day. Got home and had all the open areas weeded in about 10 minutes, no kneeling. Nice.

I still have my 2 prong hoe for deep weeding and use it often. I also get down on my hands and knees and use a hand weeder or just my hands when I need to get close to the plants that should be in the garden. These items have made the dread and loathing I used to have for weeding completely disappear. Nice!

I have a full garden

by on May 8, 2008 in Plans & Getting Going, Tools, Products & How To

I have to write a short review of Highway Fuel Co, here in Salem, Oregon. Our first trip when we started the garden project to get compost was unremarkable, but this time I was very happy we went with them. I wanted to get some sort of soil amendment and was thinking a soil mix (other choices were compost, cheaper, and potting mix, more expensive) and peat moss fromLowes. So I bought 4 bags (1cu ft each) of the soil mix ($10, as opposed to $20+ for the potting mix)…when I went out to get them loaded up, the man asked me if potting mix was ok…they were out of bagged soil mix and he was fine giving is the potting mix. Bags of the potting mix are 5.50 each for 1.5 cu ft, so I really got a good deal and good customer service. A link to their website can be found in my sidebar to the right.

Anyway, we got the soil and peat moss and got it all mixed up and added to the 6 spots for the watermelons and pumpkins, mounded up, watered well, and planted those, then added some peat moss to the cucumber area and planted those. Gave the whole garden a mild watering and called it a day – I’m pooped! Tomorrow the front and back need to be mowed, badly in back, and that’ll give me lots more grass compost! Yay!

Speaking of compost, one of my 32 gallon trash cans (the buried one) is full and won’t be added to, only turned, I’m starting a new one. I can just see it if/when we move, taking these holy garbage cans with us lol

So the garden is close to being “in”…the tomatoes inside are close to being ready to harden off and transplanted, and I need to plant more carrots. Then the waiting game of seeing if the zucchini, squash, pumpkins, watermelon and rosemary come in.

Bumper crop (definition)

by on May 7, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

I assumed the meaning of “bumper crop” meant a large enough crop to reach the bumper of the wagon, truck, whatever was used at the time the phrase came into use.

But, the Farmer’s Almanac says:

Q: Where did the term “bumper crop” or “bumper year” come from?

A: A cup or glass of wine, filled to the brim, used to be called a bumper. Dickens wrote in 1839, “This charming actress will be greeted with a bumper,” meaning a crowded house at the theater.

This site says:

Is it OK to pet the cow?

Dear Word Detective: We recently moved out into the country and have heard the phrase “bumper crop” thrown about. Where did this phrase originate? My husband thinks that there must be something called a bumper at the top of a grain bin and when the bin is full there is a “bumper crop.” What do you think? — Marcia Timmerman, via the internet.

Well, I think the first thing you should do is to warn your husband not to mention his theory to any of the local farmers. Take it from me, nothing launches the average farmer into gales of helpless laughter like the innocent antics of city folks. The first autumn we lived in the country I happened to notice that they were harvesting corn in the field across the road and went over to watch. So shoot me. I was curious. Two years later I am still known around here as “The weirdo who likes to watch corn harvesters.”

Of course, if you just leave out the “gizmo in the grain bin” theory and ask your neighbors what “bumper crop” really means, I’ll bet they won’t know the answer either, because the “bumper” part really doesn’t have anything to do with farming.

“Bumper” in this sense is just a superlative, meaning “unusually large or impressive.” What makes “bumper crop” seem mysterious is that this “jumbo” sense of “bumper” is now very rare anywhere except in the phrase “bumper crop.” But back in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was common to hear shopkeepers talk of “bumper business” in the holiday season or even “bumper traffic” on city streets. “Bumper” as a noun was even used as theatrical slang for a sold-out house at a performance.

The logic of this “large” sense of “bumper” is a little hazy, but a clue may be found in its earliest use. A “bumper” in the 17th century was a large glass of beer or wine that was filled to the brim, i.e., with the liquid literally bumping against the rim of the glass. Such abundance was obviously considered a good thing, as “bumper crops” of just about anything have been ever since.

So it seems it was slang in the 17th-18th century.

Anyway, I’m obsessed with the phrase cause that’s what I want from my garden lol

Earth Juice

by on May 2, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

Ordered late the 30th, and it came today. I was impressed at the fast, free shipping from americanag.com! I mixed 2tsp grow, 1 tsp bloom, 2 tsp catalyst and 1tsp microblast per each gallon of water in our sprayer and liberally doused all the plants and not yet emerged seeds, then gave it all a good watering. I’ve got a rhody out front that isn’t doing well, I’m going to try some on it as well. The grow formula is kinda gross, it’s definitely made from bat poop – you squeeze it out of the container LOL The other 3 are liquid. I will be going out first thing tomorrow and will report any good or bad findings! Lets hope it’s good, my poor tomatoes!

Fertilizer

by on April 30, 2008 in Tools, Products & How To

So I did a Google search for “earth juice free shipping” and one of the links was to americanag.com. I ordered Earth Juice’s Grow, Bloom, MicroBlast and Catalyst formulas to try out. It wasn’t until I just went back to their site to look around again that I noticed they are in Portland and Beaverton (which put them about 45 minutes north of me). I’m so slow sometimes lol.