tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post4741423573049599705..comments2024-03-11T02:25:25.123-05:00Comments on Living Low in the Lou: Garden conversations for 2018SLClairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17307602613058790026noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-92105568779042727112018-07-15T15:52:47.338-05:002018-07-15T15:52:47.338-05:00Interesting! I haven't read Dr. Ingham's w...Interesting! I haven't read Dr. Ingham's work yet. I wonder if the difficulty for a home gardener is making high quality compost? In my case, compost making happens so slowly that it might be that rain leaches out some of its fertility before I can put it on the garden. Covering it might help, but that adds to the complexity of composting. At any rate, it might be a good idea for me to try not re-mineralizing a bed, just adding compost, to see what effect that has now that I've practiced re-mineralization for several years.<br /><br />I've yet to figure out how to cover-crop my beds, but I keep it open as a possibility. Also thanks for the info about bio-nutrients and Gary Zimmer's work; things for me to look into during the winter. SLClairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17307602613058790026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-56590235866620660472018-07-15T15:40:00.407-05:002018-07-15T15:40:00.407-05:00Hi Pam!
Apologies for getting to this so late. It...Hi Pam!<br /><br />Apologies for getting to this so late. It's been busy here, as I am sure it is for you as well.<br /><br />First of all, thanks for sharing your experience with using wood ash! Your success is good anecdotal evidence as I contemplate delving into the intricacies of the chemistry next winter. Since I studied chemistry, there is no good reason for me to not do this, only that my studies were 40+ years ago so I have forgotten a lot. I put wood ash on two beds this season so far as a start and both look fine.<br /><br />I'll have to add Purple Beauty to my pepper trials next year. As of today, the 'Italian Frying' peppers have a few green peppers on them, but neither of the bell peppers has produced any peppers, as far as I can tell.<br /><br />You mentioned how the animals are always after our crops on Chris' blog. I'm sorry that the rabbit got to your strawberries and the groundhog is eating other crops. I'll be really disappointed if we don't get any peaches this year, because they looked better this year than any year since 2012. They still aren't ripe but any day now, unless the critters get them all first - and if I were a gambling woman, I'd put my money on the critters.<br /><br />It was a difficult spring season for lettuce and all the cabbage-family crops - too hot overall, and sometimes too wet as well. One of the cabbages and one of the bok choys rotted, and the broccoli plants have only managed to produce 2 small heads. Your peas may have had difficulties with heat as well; they are not fans of hot weather, especially prolonged heat. I'm not sure if the metal fence would have made it worse or not.<br /><br />I've not tried growing tobacco but it might be interesting to add it to next year's herb and flower bed. Do you buy seedlings of it? I don't think I have seen them for sale here.<br /><br />Hope your garden does well during the rest of the growing season!<br /><br />Claire<br /><br />On the other hand, the cucumbers have produced very well, the zucchinis are starting to catch up with the cucumbers, and we have enough yard-long beans for the first side dish of beans. I just picked the first tomato today.SLClairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17307602613058790026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-60572723284987465122018-06-26T10:31:47.792-05:002018-06-26T10:31:47.792-05:00Hello,
I want to say how much I appreciated coming...Hello,<br />I want to say how much I appreciated coming across your posts on gardening. I was particularly intrigued by the comparing and contrasting of Solomon's and Jeavon's methods. I read The Intelligent Gardener in early 2017 (and Jeavons years ago) and have been doing the TIG analyses and amending since. <br />I am prolific backyard gardener in zone 4, using a strong permaculture bent. <br />As a chef, I am very interested nutrient density in veggies. Dan Kittredge of Bionutrient.org is one such farmer-researcher who's work I have been following. He talks a lot about re-mineralization as Solomon does, but he also aligns with Dr Ingham whose work on the soil food web is very compelling. Even though I am not tilling and growing field corn, I found the work of soil analyst Gary Zimmer really useful, especially in respect to certain mineral-soil interactions (Ca, B, S).<br /> <br />I would just like to mention a few questions on gardening/soil health/nutrient density that I have been thinking about and trying to research/test of late:<br /><br />I would like to see more tests/accounts of yield and nutrient density on those gardens grown exclusively with Dr Ingham's methods - mainly, add no minerals, only highest quality compost. <br />How long does a garden soil take to get to a fully activated/healthy place using the Dr. Ingham methods. It seems like its a longer term method on par with ecology zone shifts. I believe with are in the infancy of a totally new understanding of soil - the biological one.<br />Do domesticated garden vegetables stand apart entirely as a class of plant in the paradigm Ingham talks about? Don't these plants need soils that humans modify with (more) fertility vs trees, shrubs, other perennials we may consume. Its perhaps a question of how and where a plant's genome evolved. <br />Better to do 1-2 polycultures of all garden plants (save carrots...) or monocrop them with rotations as per Rodale? I practice more of the former and will increase that so.<br />In my 4 year test beds of sheet mulch, double dug, lasagna bed and cover cropped 3 years, the bed with the best soil and production is by far the cover cropped bed. <br />My practice now will be to leave out 25% or so of garden to cover crop it. But here in zone for I might be able eek out some Favas which can fill two roles. <br /><br />Lastly, having gardened 15 years in many community gardens before more own home for the last 5, I can really see how the excess carbon (compost, chips, etc) that is high in potassium, really does make a poorer soil with less tasty vegetables. Calcium and sulfur and boron are very much neglected in some of these tough urban locations. All carbon is not equal was one such take away from Solomon's work.<br /><br />Thanks for your posts and contributing to your garden wisdom.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446286292561595941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-33503002656573705962018-05-31T11:22:37.107-05:002018-05-31T11:22:37.107-05:00Hi Pam! Thanks for your comment! I'll answer i...Hi Pam! Thanks for your comment! I'll answer it more thoroughly later but wanted to let you know I have seen it.<br /><br />ClaireSLClairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17307602613058790026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-7697653840285903592018-05-31T11:20:20.243-05:002018-05-31T11:20:20.243-05:00Hi Chris!
Thanks for the good wishes re the garde...Hi Chris!<br /><br />Thanks for the good wishes re the garden tour! Apparently the recent very warm weather is expected to continue into early June. If it's too hot attendance will be low.<br /><br />I actually don't know why the Japanese prefer certain varieties of eggplants. The Japanese eggplant I grew last year had a purple calyx as compared to the green calyx of the European varieties, so it looked prettier. Who knows - maybe that's it.<br /><br />I've grown wheat in the past but prefer to grow corn. Corn grows very well here, it is easier to plant and keep weeded, easier to harvest and to remove the seeds, and easier to grind than wheat. But I like to eat both. <br /><br />Your idea to grow several OP varieties together would be likely to result in a landrace that would be suited to your area, if I understand correctly what Carol Deppe says in her excellent book. If my popcorn doesn't yield well, the next time I grow it I might grow another similar variety or two along with it and let them cross, in an attempt to restore the genetic diversity. Or I might try another variety.<br /><br />While I grow bush rather than climbing peas, I find they can use a little support. The pea fence is supposed to provide it, but I have to do my part and plant the peas at the right time. I'll try again in 2019.<br /><br />The raspberries do support one another in a clump; they aren't lying on the ground. The problem is that I leave only a small space between them and the beds to the north and south, so they end up leaning over into those spaces, stealing sun from those crops. Raspberry rows are supposed to be something like 4 to 6 feet apart, but there is only about 2 to 3 feet between them and the crops to either side. Consequently, I need to be proactive to keep the clumps from bushing out. It's also easier to remove the suckers that snake outwards that way, thus keeping them out of the beds next to them. I don't believe it has anything to do with minerals or rain; it's my wanting the raspberries to confine themselves to a smaller space than they would take on their own.<br /><br />ClaireSLClairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17307602613058790026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-6734713003117653242018-05-29T07:43:10.518-05:002018-05-29T07:43:10.518-05:00Hi, Claire!
Once again, I certainly wish I could ...Hi, Claire!<br /><br />Once again, I certainly wish I could be on the tour. Missed it last year, too!<br /><br />Ha ha! Irregularly scheduled post!<br /><br />We are seeing - so far - a big difference since we started adding wood ash from the fireplace and woodstove to almost all that we plant. I don't know how much we have added. We toss it all over a bed till it's covered, but not deeply, and dig it in. Conversely, 2 or 3 handfuls are added to each plant as it's planted if the bed hasn't already received any.<br /><br />Purple Beauty bell pepper is the only bell pepper that I have been able to grow, which is strange as the hot varieties all grow extremely well here. <br /><br />It is frustrating about the seed saving. I have huge numbers of old seeds that are from such great varieties, but one can only grow so much. Every now and then I dump a bunch of them on the ground outside the garden so that at least the wildlife can eat them, as you do. <br /><br />You have done well with strawberries! Ours were doing well, for the first time (they finally have a nice, sunny spot). They weren't ripening all at once like yours and we were enjoying small bowls full each day. Then yesterday we went out - and every one was gone, even the unripe ones. Coincidentally, I noticed a pile of droppings under the wineberries and identified it as from a rabbit. We haven't had rabbit trouble in years. This one only got in because my son had not completely closed the section of fence that he pulls aside to drive the pickup truck into the garden to deliver concrete or compost, etc.<br /><br />I forgot about cutworms. I used to put collars around the tomatoes and peppers, but that is so much to do with all the plants we grow now. It actually seems easier just to grow replacements along with the seedlings we start.<br /><br />Our beets are really puny and the daikons bolted about 6 weeks ago. It appears that I planted those things way too early (Feb.). I can't see why else they would have given up way before it got hot? French breakfast radishes performed as they should and did well, even though planted as early as the daikons (beds are next to each other).<br /><br />The cabbages and kale are all under large net-covered boxes and are doing great. the funny thing is, now that they are protected from cabbage moths, I see no cabbage moths, except for one I saw in February. The collards and mustards are not covered and have not been attacked either. In the past, those moths (butterflies?) have been a complete scourge.<br /><br />I grow a bit of tobacco as a couple of family members use it and the flowers are quite beautiful. I wouldn't fool with it, though, if others didn't like it as the plants are huge and heavy and have to be staked. I can never get it to grow from seed sown outside, which seems awfully strange since we are in a tobacco growing state. <br /><br />We just now have small pea pods. It seems kind of late. They are growing on a metal fence. Could they be getting too hot?<br /><br />Thanks for the report and best of luck to you with the tour.<br /><br />Pam<br /><br />Pam in Virginiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00895842137691734477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5138459729531944998.post-17175202692392743022018-05-25T05:23:07.077-05:002018-05-25T05:23:07.077-05:00Hi Claire,
The photos of your garden are beautifu...Hi Claire,<br /><br />The photos of your garden are beautiful. I hope the garden tour goes well, you get great weather, and that everyone has an enjoyable day. It is a nice thing to be able to share a garden, don't you reckon? <br /><br />Out of curiosity what makes a Japanese eggplant a superior variety? Last year was the first year that we grew eggplants and the traditional variety did really well but I'm always interested about other varieties.<br /><br />Yes, absolutely. Cloud coverage is on the increase here too. I closely watch this with the solar power system and I have heard many anecdotal accounts from other people who rely solely on solar power too. Of course I have not recorded this effect and can only rely on my memory of previous seasons and that may bring inaccuracies. Sometimes I have observed really late seasons (my December / your June) and it hasn't made that great a difference to the final harvest. I'm not sure but I suspect the plants are quite adaptable to extremes of weather.<br /><br />I too worry about the loss of genetic diversity with plants. The parrots managed to consume all of the seeds for our perennial rocket recently and fortunately they are still growing and will produce seeds next year (hopefully). Hey, I stumbled across several packets of organic open pollinated wheat seeds a few days back in a store and will experiment with that crop next autumn (2019). Have you grown grains before? Of course you have - the popcorn. You've made me worry about the genetic diversity of corn too. I'm going to try and get around that by growing several different sourced open pollinated varieties of corn all together. Of course that approach may be a disaster? But I don't really know until I've run the experiment for a few years. I read in a book that the old time farmers used to grow the wild crop that corn originated from in order to give their crops a bit of a boost. It is amazing to think that all of these things were discovered by sheer observational skills.<br /><br />Are your peas climbing peas, and do you provide them any supports to climb upon?<br /><br />Very interesting. I'm curious as to your raspberries and blackeyed peas lodging (falling over). I grow the raspberries in clumps as that seems to be what they want to do and they sort of support each other. I fertilised them today with mushroom compost so hopefully they don’t get too much nitrogen in their diets? What are your thoughts about the minerals in the soil which may have caused the lodging? Or as a guess it may have something to do with the spacing or excess water from heavy rain? I don't really know though.<br /><br />I'll be really interested to read in your future post about your efforts to source minerals from within your boundaries. That issue I believe is of utmost critical importance for the future.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />ChrisFernglade Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06950962122594709186noreply@blogger.com