What did you plant today? Garden and Farming for FOOD SECURITY.

[Antagenet]

Combine global depression + mini ace age cooler temperatures and difficult worldwide growing conditions... now planting a garden is my number one goal. I want to be as food sufficient as possible. Are you stepping up your food production?

What did you plant today? :flower:

Today I planted...
More basil and dill.
yard long beans, moringa, spinach, okra
and transplanted purslane and a passionfruit vine.

Feel free to add photos of your plants,
online seed companies that are selling seeds,
and also gardening instructional videos!

[bettye198]

I ran to the Mennonite nursery in town because they have non gmo vegetable plants and bought arugula, crookneck squash, tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, basil, thyme, swiss chard. Early in the crop season for Tennessee so this is what I could obtain. We are creating an indoor greenhouse in our sun room because nothing grows in the wild with critters around. Hoping this works. Also sprouting seeds and microgreens which you can get all your nutrients from.

[Nenuphar]

Cabbage, kale, and lemon balm. :sun:

We have a short growing season where I live, and we live in a small house, so "milk jug greenhouses" were a game-changer for me when I learned about them. We can sow crops that like cool weather in the jugs, put them outside in April/May, and then transplant them into the garden in late May/early June. It saves a lot of space in the house and the tranplants are already hardened off because they grew outside.

Cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Swiss chard, lettuce, summer savoury, parsley, cosmos, and pansies have all done well for me, started in milk jugs. (Some I start in April, some in early May). I have a feeling kohlrabi would do well, too.

There are all sorts of videos online about how to make them. Here is just one:

Zou2x-wiF78

[Praxis]

A range of cucurbits, eggplants, aliums, peas, beets, and turnips. Some head lettuce and broadcast lettuce. That is only because we are in Zone 5b and so our planting season is just starting.

Several thousand seed blocks made. Several thousand seed blocks started!

https://farmhack.org/tools

and

http://nofari.org/resources/farmer-resources/eliot-coleman-reference-materials/#.XnPYY2B7mpo

[Sarah Rainsong]

Just started a NFT aquaponics system last week off my porch. Not raising fish to eat! We have goldfish and koi, which came with the house when we bought it, so we decided to add in some aquaponics off the little goldfish pond to make better use of it and give me a bit more growing room. Still tweaking it and making sure everything's where it needs to be, but got a fair amount of stuff started already, although a lot of it is herbs.

I've got a fair amount of herbs already growing, and I just started some ginger today (in the ground, not the aquaponics). All of this is not really for food security. It's for herbs (and medicine!) But I figured it was close enough. :)

[Antagenet]

I've never seen this before! What a great idea!

¤=[Post Update]=¤


Cabbage, kale, and lemon balm. :sun:

We have a short growing season where I live, and we live in a small house, so "milk jug greenhouses" were a game-changer for me when I learned about them. We can sow crops that like cool weather in the jugs, put them outside in April/May, and then transplant them into the garden in late May/early June. It saves a lot of space in the house and the tranplants are already hardened off because they grew outside.

Cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Swiss chard, lettuce, summer savoury, parsley, cosmos, and pansies have all done well for me, started in milk jugs. (Some I start in April, some in early May). I have a feeling kohlrabi would do well, too.

There are all sorts of videos online about how to make them. Here is just one:

Zou2x-wiF78

Ive never seen this before! What a great idea!

[palehorse]

A few weeks ago we planted: green lettuce, baby corn, spinach, lemon basil and spring onion, it still germinating, it is all indoor for now, next week we are going in the open field with sweet peppers and
radishes, we still figuring out about the weather where we live, some say it is raining season, but I barely see any raining! ;D
Have a nice day.

[Terry777]

I started my plants early this year using an old bird bath 44 watt heating pad (meant to melt ice on a bird bath). I buried the heating pad in sand in a large plastic tub, and set my tray on top of the sand, and all the little seed pots in the tray. Then I put an old refrigerator glass shelf on top of the tub, and set 2 grow lights on the glass shelf, about 4 inches above the soil.

The tray keeps about 1/2 inch of water in it, keeping the bottom of the seed pots wet, and I mist the seed soil with a spray bottle. The soil temp, which I check with a digital cooking thermometer, stays about 73 degrees in my garage.

My seeds germinate extremely fast with this setup.

My first batch was kale and spinach, which will go into the greenhouse, and can handle cool nights.

I also like to start my corn in little pots, which does much better than starting it directly in the ground. I do plant some in the ground, but the starts always do much better, and I stagger the planting time of my corn (and other plants), so I get things continually becoming ripe through the late summer and fall. I do the corn starts about every week and a half, and about four times.

With my fruit trees and grape vines, I have early, mid, and late varieties, so it's spread out through the summer and fall. Some of my grapes last out to November on the vine.

Frozen grapes make an excellent snack food. I freeze them on a cookie tray, and then bag them up. If you don't spread them out on a cookie tray, they'll freeze in a big block.

[happyuk]

I ran to the Mennonite nursery in town because they have non gmo vegetable plants and bought arugula, crookneck squash, tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, basil, thyme, swiss chard. Early in the crop season for Tennessee so this is what I could obtain. We are creating an indoor greenhouse in our sun room because nothing grows in the wild with critters around. Hoping this works. Also sprouting seeds and microgreens which you can get all your nutrients from.

You might like the following YouTube videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/OldAlabamaGardener/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=1) from Old Alabama Gardener. I would imagine his climate and conditions would not be too far removed from yours? I drool with envy at his results...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ApmJpuG4c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsCJcRKYjrA&list=PLlyvjVdv1CnBG_D8szepvDHva-Y4RhAzt

He even has a video about tackling the coronavirus!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz4TYeHKemI

[NewParadigmGuy]

Combine global depression + mini ace age cooler temperatures and difficult worldwide growing conditions... now planting a garden is my number one goal. I want to be as food sufficient as possible. Are you stepping up your food production?

Absolutely! I have started 5 new beds this spring. Normally I do only one or two each year.


What did you plant today? :flower:


Nothing yet this morning, but I have already planted 3 types of Kale, 5 types of Swiss Chard, Spinach, Various leaf lettuces (and several that make heads), Mustard Greens, Cabbages, Turnips (my "Survival Gardening" book says that Turnips provide the most nutrients per square foot of any vegetable - by far). Two perennials that are coming up now are Rhubarb and Asparagus.

Spring comes late to my location in northern New England (especially this year!), but I have included a picture of the garden, along with a picture of the Rhubarb and some Lettuce coming up in one of my greenhouse cloches.


43608

43609

43610

[Anka]

Gardening is wonderful for both body and mind. A simple analysis find the influence of gardening indicated that the physical activity in the pleasant state of gardening - as well as its ability to take you out into nature - promotes a sense of deep satisfaction of connection with nature and immediate benefits and rewards, growing your own fruit and fresh vegetables can save you money at the grocery store while encouraging a healthy diet at home.

It also gives you total control over your personal food chain and immune system.

Personally, I believe that there is no need for gardening advice, the mystery of gardening addresses history and civilizations over millennial epochs of time and...
I think that any great gardener actually cultivates how much he wants to be that perfect connection between seed and soil in sources like light, water and natural fertilizer (the plant also eats supplements compared to what the soil offers) and good intention is important with which we carefully place the seed on the ground bed as if the explosion of life has already begun

If you always manage to remember that the seed trusts your help, then the plant will reward you regardless of the weather conditions.

Last year, after a terrible drought, it started to rain and the rain lasted 6 weeks, which affected the tomato culture, invaded by an extremely violent rain and huge amounts of water.
We (the husband actually:o) took the water from the root of the tomatoes in a fantastic effort in which he carried away almost a ton of water.
It's hard to explain but the tomatoes recovered, because we thought about saving their lives and not necessarily for the interest of the culture, instead, they exploded in fruit and gave us tomato juice, almost 70 liters for the winter .

In fact, the relaxed attitude, and in favor of every blade of grass, for the benefit of every plant life so short (just to feed us) always redefines the idea of ​​being passionate about gardening.

Gardening is magic, the connection with the earth is direct, the sky "pollinates" our good thoughts and our plants will feel the comfort and inspiration to grow, we just have to learn to grow with them :)

I planted, I think, about 600 peppers and eggplants for an extremely wide variety of dishes and storage for the winter.

https://i.postimg.cc/g02nh6DQ/20200501-19371813.jpg

I grow tomatoes with indeterminate growth that grow on stakes,
I use tomatoes to boil tomato juice that I keep in glass bottles, I put cherry tomatoes in glass jars with tomato juice, baked peppers or cabbage and celery, or I freeze them in late fall.

https://i.postimg.cc/85GXwN72/20200503-1336481.jpg

I grow cucumbers that have to climb on some branches that will take root until autumn and next year they will become trees that in a few years I will plant next to the property and on the hill behind the house (Paulownia tomentosa) so that the wild bees to have enough quality sweet food.

https://i.postimg.cc/BnMvJn0g/20200503-1336191.jpg

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.GHPYfKtxAExkfgmlp2kssAAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I also grow green peas, onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips, parsley, celery, rosemary, oregano, potatoes, beans, zucchini, watermelon, melon, pumpkin for pie, spinach, dill, tarragon, radishes, cabbage, fruit trees. raspberries, strawberries, everything I need :)
The elderberry bushes in my garden, the flowers reserve for me the pleasure of making a sweet refreshing drink from them full of vitamin C.

https://i.postimg.cc/dtFQdyQ6/20200516-183531.jpg

Today a beautiful stork walks through my garden, she was satisfied until I took out the camera to photograph it ... it is said that the stork brings good luck, so from gardener to gardener, I send you a lot of luck and a lot of happiness in gardening!

https://i.postimg.cc/sf7Dvcz1/20200516-115217.jpg

"We are humans becoming, help us to become!" Nature will always help us!

[NewParadigmGuy]

Wow! What a beautiful post, and a beautiful garden, too. :clapping: I can imagine your bliss as you work on it. I have a few comments and questions...


Gardening is wonderful for both body and mind. A simple analysis find the influence of gardening indicated that the physical activity in the pleasant state of gardening - as well as its ability to take you out into nature - promotes a sense of deep satisfaction of connection with nature and immediate benefits and rewards, growing your own fruit and fresh vegetables can save you money at the grocery store while encouraging a healthy diet at home.

Well said!


Personally, I believe that there is no need for gardening advice, the mystery of gardening addresses history and civilizations over millennial epochs of time and...I think that any great gardener actually cultivates how much he wants to be that perfect connection between seed and soil in sources like light, water and natural fertilizer (the plant also eats supplements compared to what the soil offers)

Mother nature is certainly a great teacher. In fact, most days when I am in my garden I feel like I am in school!


good intention is important with which we carefully place the seed on the ground bed as if the explosion of life has already begun

The same could be said about the seeds we are planting for the New Paradigm.


they exploded in fruit and gave us tomato juice, almost 70 liters for the winter.

That's great! I love tomato juice, and I make a lot every year. Last year we had a great crop of tomatoes, and I made about 50 quarts of tomato juice. (1 Quart = .946 Liters). I also make stewed tomatoes and pasta sauce, and can them as well for future cooking projects.


In fact, the relaxed attitude, and in favor of every blade of grass, for the benefit of every plant life so short (just to feed us) always redefines the idea of being passionate about gardening.

Gardening is magic, the connection with the earth is direct, the sky "pollinates" our good thoughts and our plants will feel the comfort and inspiration to grow, we just have to learn to grow with them :)

Yes.


I planted, I think, about 600 peppers and eggplants for an extremely wide variety of dishes and storage for the winter.

Wow!


I also grow green peas, onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips, parsley, celery, rosemary, oregano, potatoes, beans, zucchini, watermelon, melon, pumpkin for pie, spinach, dill, tarragon, radishes, cabbage, fruit trees. raspberries, strawberries, everything I need :)

You're making me hungry... :o

I grow every one of the plants on your list above, except tarragon and celery. But I did pick up some celery seed this year and will try it for the first time ever.


The elderberry bushes in my garden, the flowers reserve for me the pleasure of making a sweet refreshing drink from them full of vitamin C.

I don't grow elderberries here, but I do harvest some wild ones nearby to make syrup for the winter. Your drink sounds interesting. Would you be willing to share the recipe?


"We are humans becoming, help us to become!" Nature will always help us!

Help is always available, just for the asking. :happythumbsup:

[NewParadigmGuy]

I had my first harvest of the year today, a few spears of asparagus:

43632

And more are on the way in the asparagus bed:

43633

[Anka]

Thanks for the question :) and while I was reading I found a seemingly irrelevant quote maybe, but which for me is related to what should define us in a new paradigm
‘We were all humans until
race disconnected us,
religion separated us,
politics divided us and
wealth classified us. ’
However, it is a kind of pure innocence in what defines us as human beings, as well as the seeds that have the authentic capacity to create, to overcome, to endure the transformation that is greater than suffering.

I often look at the night sky, the seeds are like the stars, when they explode in the so-called "death", they turn into a whole story of creation and life in a form like never before.
It's about what completes their new plant life:
To feel the dew of the morning, to give the fruit of life, to laugh in the way of obstacles and in the happiness of the earth, to be lost in the magnitude of the moon and to find themselves in the radiance of the sun, to dance in the impenetrable spirit of their childhood,
to grow in dense judgment of inner and outer resilience, and because I am still talking about plants, to win the miracle of the simple act of being a plant, as the ethics of the genome guide it in the interdependent connection between Mother Nature, the richness of the earth and light, for the simple pleasure to become in the wisest way, so much here, a plant.

Gardening is amazing in every way.

https://sites.google.com/site/leacuridinplante/_/rsrc/1472866404892/retete/suc-de-soc/socata1.jpg?height=314&width=320

The recipe for the soft drink is (I don't have the same recipe because I improvise quite a lot, for example I add mint from the garden that grows alone under an old walnut)
but mostly I use for a large and old 8 liter glass jar,
10 huge flowers, a sliced ​​lemon, a kilo of sugar or honey to your taste, lemon salt (8-10 grams), a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (for fermentation) or some use a pinch of fresh yeast , and add a tablespoon of vitamin C powder or sometimes a vanilla stick or jasmine flowers or lilac or acacia flowers.
Over all the ingredients add plain water and place the jar in sunlight, covered with something non-metallic.
Mix three times a day in the jar with a wooden spoon and taste, if it has a little yeast and has a charming sweet and aromatic taste (on average after 3 days when after mixing, the flowers are placed at the base of the jar) then the lemonade is ready to place in lemonade carafes in the refrigerator.

Cold lemonade goes very well with a sweet cheese cake, a pleasant summer breeze and especially a happy conversation with someone close.:waving:

https://savoriurbane.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cum-se-prepara-suc-de-soc-socata-naturala-de-casa-1-300x200.jpg

The lemonade stays in the fridge for a maximum of one week because it continues its fermentation, but if it is too much quantity, it can be shared with the neighbors.:Party:

This year I will harvest, before the end of the season (wilting of the flowers) to freeze some flowers to see if in winter without sunlight (in the house) I can make lemonade.
Some people also use fruits for jam, but I still don't know how to choose the right ones.
I also made syrup 4 years ago (it helped a lot in the winter to cure cough)
For visitors, elderberries flowers are good at:
Hypertension, high cholesterol, ischemic heart disease, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, atherosclerosis, allergic asthma, chronic bronchitis, fermentation colitis, constipation, adjuvant against intestinal worms, colds and flu, detoxifying the body, magnesium deficiency, or to help the immune system.

The fact that I live in the blessing of a garden is also fantastically related to the fact that I worked long enough as a chef to be able to choose the menu for the current day, so sometimes there are days when I cook more than gardening, and often to the question "What are we cooking today? " I get inspired by a walk in the garden.
Every year I learn something new, although I have been practicing gardening for many years, and there were years when I learned from mistakes, every time I propose something new for next year, the plan changes depending on many factors (the planting place, seed variety, light conditions) so every time I have to plant, I have to take into account more ideas than the act itself, so yes it really is a school.

Celery seeds come out well in a bowl with a mixture of greasy soil and sand, just placed on the ground above and lightly mixed with the soil (they do not need to be covered with soil on top because they are too small and have no power to rise), In light humidity, at a temperature of at least 15 degrees Celsius should come out in less than a week, and the plants left for next spring, give abundant seed for future crops.
My soil here is rich but very solid and calcareous and I can't grow celery for the root, but I use celery for the leaves with hot peppers put in jars with vinegar, or tomato broth with celery.
Your soil there is fluffy and I think it will grow well there especially since you can grow asparagus (I tried here, but I can't)
I'll put a picture of my jar of lemonade tomorrow morning and thanks NewParadigmGuy, again for the question and encouragement ...:flower:
I hope I managed to say everything in English somewhat correctly, and if not, I accept any correction and I am ready to learn and adapt.:happythumbsup:

Thanks also for this thread and forum:heart:

Good luck in gardening, for everyone.:happy dog:

[Bo Atkinson]

Today I planted onions in our largely wild garden.

http://harmoniouspalette.com/OnionPlanting.jpg

[Yetti]

How long take you to harvest from the day you plant them?

[NewParadigmGuy]

Today I planted onions in our largely wild garden.

http://harmoniouspalette.com/OnionPlanting.jpg

Thanks! I hope more people will post garden pictures - this is so much fun! We'll be planting onions very soon.

[Patient]

I am starting raised garden beds tomorrow. I have never done any gardening, so I am embarking on a new journey here!

The one thing that I have forgotten - raspberries!! I have been focusing so much on planning for a vegetable garden that I almost forgot my favourite berry! :)

[Bo Atkinson]

How long take you to harvest from the day you plant them?

I'm almost a reluctant gardener and we should know better, but in past years we always got too busy with income-contracting to tend to watering or mulching, etc, yet it was all well worth it, as over the years the garlic plants have naturalized perennially, all by themselves! (Some of them seemed like onions but I doubt onions ever overwintered here in snow country). The picture shows purchased onion starters, planted extra-close for thinning out over the (short) summer.

[Anka]

How long take you to harvest from the day you plant them?

The onion culture is very easy, I cultivate it in rows, recommended for the temperate weather here, I plant it on March 10-20.
Planting depth is 2-3 cm. Immediately after planting, the bulbs are covered with soil and the soil is well watered so that they take root.
It is recommended to apply 1-2 manual plows per row and three manual or mechanical plows between rows for a substantial development of the bulb.
It is important to note that irrigation is stopped 2-3 weeks before harvest so that the roots have time to mature in their essence (for efficient storage in a dry and cool place for a long time).
Harvesting, under normal conditions, is done in July, but also in August or September, so on average it would be a maximum of 4 months until harvest, but if you plant more, then you have onions all year round (fresh green or in bulb shape)

It is worth the effort to cultivate your own onion, apart from the fact that it is a real medicine, the onion you grow is less treated than the one you bought (sprinkled with different solutions for long preservation, anti-sprouting, against mice or worms, etc.).

I use a complete cycle per year of onion cultivation that starts from sowing small seeds in a well-watered pot, I plant the thin plants in the ground to form small bulbs, which is preferable to the climate here (and winters now milder here) for those bulbs to be planted starting in the fall (October), but I also plant those bulbs in early spring, to have green onions (I use fresh bulbs and leaves full of vitamins in salads and food)
In my opinion, it is worth the effort in general, as long as the plant makes a fantastic effort to grow under normal conditions.

As recipes for onions there are many many uses

onion rings

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.VpGU00FN2LgA-3J3HtsvIgHaGR%26pid%3DApi&f=1

eggplant salad, mayonnaise, sesame and onion
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.p9-eWoB6BxZMamrrCbXl4QAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

red pepper, onion, sesame and tomato salad with olive oil and a little vitamin C that assimilates well with fresh vegetables and fruits

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.d-ko0UfBArBgB1G1SbO9OAAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Any soup (mushroom, beef, pepper) goes with onions and parsley and maybe a little sour cream from neighbors who raise cows.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.ECkm6MkpRD8uGQpd6JwJmgHaFT%26pid%3DApi&f=1

rice with lentils (Lens esculenta), onions and mushrooms

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.JQmDgQO1hyMRWAC6BUBs5QAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Baked pie with sheep cheese, red onions and pleurotus mushrooms.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.r_MfEqFStYGgo_-G1nbj4AAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Red onion jam, goes gracefully on steaks or schnitzel.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.wdfLnnNv-npPfODBCXynagHaFG%26pid%3DApi&f=1

https://agrointel.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/cultivarea-cepei-din-arpagic.jpg

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.R9gPIxD-Cwu5B9DrHzrqcwHaD1%26pid%3DApi&f=1
I hope I helped, because I can write more about onions

[NewParadigmGuy]

Thanks for the question :) and while I was reading I found a seemingly irrelevant quote maybe, but which for me is related to what should define us in a new paradigm
‘We were all humans until
race disconnected us,
religion separated us,
politics divided us and
wealth classified us. ’
However, it is a kind of pure innocence in what defines us as human beings, as well as the seeds that have the authentic capacity to create, to overcome, to endure the transformation that is greater than suffering.

I often look at the night sky, the seeds are like the stars, when they explode in the so-called "death", they turn into a whole story of creation and life in a form like never before.
It's about what completes their new plant life:
To feel the dew of the morning, to give the fruit of life, to laugh in the way of obstacles and in the happiness of the earth, to be lost in the magnitude of the moon and to find themselves in the radiance of the sun, to dance in the impenetrable spirit of their childhood,
to grow in dense judgment of inner and outer resilience, and because I am still talking about plants, to win the miracle of the simple act of being a plant, as the ethics of the genome guide it in the interdependent connection between Mother Nature, the richness of the earth and light, for the simple pleasure to become in the wisest way, so much here, a plant.

Gardening is amazing in every way.

One could think of the seeds we plant as plants becoming, and we help them to become.



https://sites.google.com/site/leacuridinplante/_/rsrc/1472866404892/retete/suc-de-soc/socata1.jpg?height=314&width=320

The recipe for the soft drink is (I don't have the same recipe because I improvise quite a lot, for example I add mint from the garden that grows alone under an old walnut)
but mostly I use for a large and old 8 liter glass jar,
10 huge flowers, a sliced ​​lemon, a kilo of sugar or honey to your taste, lemon salt (8-10 grams), a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (for fermentation) or some use a pinch of fresh yeast , and add a tablespoon of vitamin C powder or sometimes a vanilla stick or jasmine flowers or lilac or acacia flowers.
Over all the ingredients add plain water and place the jar in sunlight, covered with something non-metallic.
Mix three times a day in the jar with a wooden spoon and taste, if it has a little yeast and has a charming sweet and aromatic taste (on average after 3 days when after mixing, the flowers are placed at the base of the jar) then the lemonade is ready to place in lemonade carafes in the refrigerator.

Cold lemonade goes very well with a sweet cheese cake, a pleasant summer breeze and especially a happy conversation with someone close.:waving:

https://savoriurbane.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cum-se-prepara-suc-de-soc-socata-naturala-de-casa-1-300x200.jpg

The lemonade stays in the fridge for a maximum of one week because it continues its fermentation, but if it is too much quantity, it can be shared with the neighbors.:Party:

This year I will harvest, before the end of the season (wilting of the flowers) to freeze some flowers to see if in winter without sunlight (in the house) I can make lemonade.
Some people also use fruits for jam, but I still don't know how to choose the right ones.
I also made syrup 4 years ago (it helped a lot in the winter to cure cough)
For visitors, elderberries flowers are good at:
Hypertension, high cholesterol, ischemic heart disease, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, atherosclerosis, allergic asthma, chronic bronchitis, fermentation colitis, constipation, adjuvant against intestinal worms, colds and flu, detoxifying the body, magnesium deficiency, or to help the immune system.

Thanks for the recipe. I will have to visit the wild elderberry bushes soon and see whether they are in bloom yet. I have never used the flowers for anything, though I know many people do.


The fact that I live in the blessing of a garden is also fantastically related to the fact that I worked long enough as a chef to be able to choose the menu for the current day, so sometimes there are days when I cook more than gardening, and often to the question "What are we cooking today? " I get inspired by a walk in the garden.
Every year I learn something new, although I have been practicing gardening for many years, and there were years when I learned from mistakes, every time I propose something new for next year, the plan changes depending on many factors (the planting place, seed variety, light conditions) so every time I have to plant, I have to take into account more ideas than the act itself, so yes it really is a school.

I think one could garden all their life and still be learning.


Celery seeds come out well in a bowl with a mixture of greasy soil and sand, just placed on the ground above and lightly mixed with the soil (they do not need to be covered with soil on top because they are too small and have no power to rise), In light humidity, at a temperature of at least 15 degrees Celsius should come out in less than a week, and the plants left for next spring, give abundant seed for future crops.
My soil here is rich but very solid and calcareous and I can't grow celery for the root, but I use celery for the leaves with hot peppers put in jars with vinegar, or tomato broth with celery.
Your soil there is fluffy and I think it will grow well there especially since you can grow asparagus (I tried here, but I can't)
I'll put a picture of my jar of lemonade tomorrow morning and thanks NewParadigmGuy, again for the question and encouragement ...:flower:
I hope I managed to say everything in English somewhat correctly, and if not, I accept any correction and I am ready to learn and adapt.:happythumbsup:

Thanks for the celery growing ideas.

I don't think I would call my soil "fluffy", but it is sandy and Asparagus does well. And there are millions and millions of rocks everywhere. There are stone walls all around the property here, from people farming hundreds of years ago. But whenever I dig I keep finding more!

43640

[Anka]

Welcome to my garden:)
https://i.postimg.cc/j2s8CkMq/20200516-183649.jpg

I harvested all the spinach planted in the spring and prepared it for freezing, but it can also be preserved in jars.
It can also be consumed as much as possible when the season is full for a considerable intake of vitamins in the body.
The salad can be eaten with sesame, pumpkin or sunflower seeds with a boiled egg or any cheese you want.
Spinach cooked with chicken breast and sour cream is tasty.

I had to pick the spinach because it has reached maturity, and in its place left empty in the garden I have already planted garlic again, because I need a lot of garlic in winter when we have to make homemade sausages.

https://i.postimg.cc/bwQ6Pt09/20200519-112947.jpg

In two weeks I will harvest the first floor from the peas and in a maximum of one week I will harvest the peas, and in their place I will immediately plant cucumbers again which will bear fruit in late autumn, to put them in jars.
Peas go well in the freezer or jars, simply with salt or tomato juice.
https://i.postimg.cc/ZRDHHFZ4/20200521-202857.jpg
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.explicit.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.NSPmVSeyb8ehXEgCEsAwuwHaE8%26pid%3DApi&f=1

This year I planted several pumpkins in order to get the seeds out of them and the pumpkins I give them to a neighbor for chickens, but they are also good fertilizer for the soil.
From oil seeds (at least 5 kg of seeds are needed) for oil making, to a very old 106-year-old oil press nearby, which still works. The oil is very beneficial to health and you can use it in any food.
https://i.postimg.cc/qMnftgXz/20200524-155818.jpg

There are also home electric presses for processing your own oil in the house, you just have to buy the seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
Pumpkins ripen in late fall and need a lot of water to grow, at the moment they are just plants, and their flowers are extraordinarily beautiful.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.7hQmbQL5I2xwrweiNLCIqQHaFj%26pid%3DApi&f=1

The potatoes have grown, I still haven't sprayed them against Colorado beetles, I don't want to because I go twice a day to pick them from the plants (about 20 beetles) I take them away from the garden but they come back and lay eggs , and in the end, if it can't be otherwise, I will have to stop them, otherwise they will eat my whole culture.
But, if the potatoes are well fertilized in the soil and grow quickly, then the beetles do not like the ripe potato leaf, because it is hard, it also depends on the climatic conditions, if it rains they do not multiply.
I work the potatoes with the tractor because it is easier, all I do is plant them in rows and in autumn the tractor brings them out of the ground to the surface and I have to collect and sort them, the small ones for sowing next year, the big ones for consumption (the red ones and whites depending on what I want to cook- the whites are fluffy and go well for mashed potatoes)

https://i.postimg.cc/0NXXXqdT/20200524-160016.jpg

2d6INxk79XM

Good luck with gardening and good health to everyone!

https://i.postimg.cc/v8N2tMHf/20200516-191318.jpg

[NewParadigmGuy]

Welcome to my garden:)

Thank you for sharing. Your garden is wonderful!


Spinach cooked with chicken breast and sour cream is tasty.

That sounds delicious, and my spinach crop is looking good so far. How exactly do you make it?

[Anka]

Thanks dear neighbor NewParadigmGuy :)!
Spinach is one of the best combinations with other cooked foods - tasty, healthy and you will surely delight your family with it, the best serving is of course with rice, but you can also eat it as such, or with potatoes / pasta / boiled wheat or polenta- (only if you add salted and fatty cheese)

Recipe for 2 servings

Chicken breast 600 g or boneless chicken leg
Fresh spinach 300 g
White onion 1 piece or green 2 pieces
Garlic 6 small pieces or 2 pieces green garlic with leaves
Red hot peppers1 pcs (optional), fresh or dried
Grated ginger (optional)
100 ml of milk
Sweet cream for cooking (as fat and natural as possible)
3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon butter
Tumeric, cumin, (optional) but fresh dill and black pepper required.
Two yolks and 1 teaspoon salt, but mostly to everyone's taste.
preparation:
A pan more than 5-7 cm high, because the milk rises during boiling.
Prepare all the ingredients in advance:
- Cut the onion into cubes, grind the garlic, grind the ginger into small pieces, cut the pepper into pieces.

Chicken cut into small pieces (3-4 cm squares)
In a slightly higher pan, heat the butter well over low heat, add the onion and after a minute the garlic - continue to cook for a maximum of 1 minute so that the garlic does not overheat too much, so that the garlic gas remains in the butter.
Then add the chicken, stir periodically and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the peppers, ginger, turmeric, cumin to the chicken - mix and leave for 2 minutes.
Add the milk, and the fresh spinach, chopped as large as you want, add salt and a little water (about 100g), let it boil for a maximum of 10 minutes with a lid (stir more in the meantime), but depending on how hard the fire goes, more for a short time, so that it remains as a kind of spinach sauce, not too dry and not too watery.
At the end after extinguishing the fire, add chopped dill and ground black pepper and the two yolks and mix, then add sour cream and mix.
Separately fry 4 eggs and sausages or ham and drain well of oil and place over the spinach dish served with a garnish of plain rice boiled with salt and butter in it.
The garnish can be rice (a cup of rice and the same cup three times water) or spaghetti (400 gr thrown in the pot with high walls with boiling water with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of oil for 8 minutes) or polenta (1 corn flour to 4 water) made during the cooking of spinach.

I didn't find any picture that looks exactly right, so if we were neighbors, I would be happy to cook your recipe for you, so you can see how it's done :)
Until then, I wish you good health, joy in gardening, and good appetite!
Oh, I forgot to tell you that although you have something to work with the stones there, I still think that the stones have a strong energy there, close to the forest.
I have small marble stones (it was a marble quarry here in processing in my area, years ago) and I have a lot of pebbles in the plowed land( and many ceramic objects), but I put them at the root of the tomatoes when I plant them along with my intention and energy of marble, all for a positive purpose for the short life of the plant!

I like the forest there, it seems to offer a special and rare protection.
I also went to the forest the other day to pick acacia flowers and I found some beehives and the seller of honey in the area, honey costs about $ 5 kg and is natural.
The forest is the love of life, poetry and legend in every leaf in every tree root, the forest is a monument of Nature, the symbol of secular love of unity, the inspiration of every soul, something that someday, we will all learn in the unity of our spirit, the true value of human nature.
:heart:
Anca
https://i.postimg.cc/NGSPTdSf/20200514-101152.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/ZKNsLrzP/20200514-101204.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/T3qkzfwp/20200514-102934.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/7LHBDdGX/20200514-103332.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/MT4t7Gsr/20200514-104008.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/zDs03VHy/20200514-104026.jpg

[NewParadigmGuy]

if we were neighbors, I would be happy to cook your recipe for you, so you can see how it's done :)

You are so nice! But I think you are pretty far away... If your language is Romanian, I guess that means you live in Romania? Your climate sure seems warmer than it is here - my spinach is nowhere near mature. But it is doing well and I will post a picture of it soon. In the meantime, your recipe looks most interesting and I will try it once the spinach is ready.


Until then, I wish you good health, joy in gardening, and good appetite!

And I wish the same for you! :)


Oh, I forgot to tell you that although you have something to work with the stones there, I still think that the stones have a strong energy there, close to the forest. I have small marble stones (it was a marble quarry here in processing in my area, years ago) and I have a lot of pebbles in the plowed land( and many ceramic objects), but I put them at the root of the tomatoes when I plant them along with my intention and energy of marble, all for a positive purpose for the short life of the plant!

Oh, I love my rocks, too. It's just part of being a New England gardener to complain about them!

[NewParadigmGuy]

Today I planted 6 rows of black beans, a row of yellow string beans, and a row of green string beans. Yesterday I transplanted 43 tomato plants.

[Bo Atkinson]

https://www.wildedible.com/sites/all/files/chickweed.jpg
The picture is borrowed from www, and actually shows tiny leaves with bulky stems.

Some things have sprouted here, but nothing that much... Today I harvested a big pail of chickweed plus some over wintered garlic, which energizes me quite well, with a small bit to freeze for the winter. The chickweeds taste a little like spinach, but with stems difficult to separate, so I ate it all! MY wife doesn't like this kind of food, but I steadfastly hone towards a more stoic diet, but less accented than in my youth.

Nutrition level is great, see: https://www.google.com/search?q=chickweed+%2B+nutrition

[Lilybee8]

4371743718437194372043721Howdy Avalonians! :happythumbsup::Avalon:
Just wanted to share a little bit of my sprouts, it’s not a joke! :blushing:So please don’t laugh (ok you can giggle) for someone that had never planted anything and had the horrible thought that my hands were not good for gardening, I am very exited.. I live in the desert, temperatures here will go from 60* to 114* in a blink of an eye.. and my biggest problem is.. no good soil here it’s just sand... so we depend on saving to buy good soil.. but anyway! I did it! It’s , Spinach, cucumber, tomato’s, and watermelon for now.. :clapping: Next week we are building our raise Beds with recycled pallets, will share pictures when done!

[Nenuphar]

I transplanted some lettuce, kale, chard, sage, cabbage, and basil this past week, as well as sowing carrot seed. I am still hardening off the tomatoes and peppers. I am looking forward to it being warm enough to plant those in-ground so they can really take off! It has been a cool Spring.

[NewParadigmGuy]

https://www.wildedible.com/sites/all/files/chickweed.jpg
The picture is borrowed from www, and actually shows tiny leaves with bulky stems.

Some things have sprouted here, but nothing that much... Today I harvested a big pail of chickweed plus some over wintered garlic, which energizes me quite well, with a small bit to freeze for the winter. The chickweeds taste a little like spinach, but with stems difficult to separate, so I ate it all! MY wife doesn't like this kind of food, but I steadfastly hone towards a more stoic diet, but less accented than in my youth.

Nutrition level is great, see: https://www.google.com/search?q=chickweed+%2B+nutrition

I like to add edible weeds to my salads. Lambs Quarters (rich in minerals and essential amino acids), Sheep Sorrel (a delicious lemony flavor), and Purslane (very rich in Omega 3's) pop up in my garden constantly. I have so much lettuce this year, though, that I may not have so much room in the salads for the weeds.

[Anka]

You are so nice! But I think you are pretty far away... If your language is Romanian, I guess that means you live in Romania? Your climate sure seems warmer than it is here - my spinach is nowhere near mature. But it is doing well and I will post a picture of it soon. In the meantime, your recipe looks most interesting and I will try it once the spinach is ready.

I am from Romania, my soul lives in this part of the world with honor towards Mother Nature. Since I was little on vacation with my grandparents, I learned gardening and what a very large farm of animals means (horses, cows, geese, turkeys, ducks, chickens, a few hectares of hay, wheat, sugar beet, potatoes, plums- for brandy
, and corn) the job ends successfully at 10 p.m.
But for the most part they were dream vacations, being part of nature and work no longer mattered when the stars and fireflies came out in the evening.
I am part of the culture of my Dacian ancestors, and for that I feel indebted
to honor living through Nature through every holy grass in this world, for every drop of rainwater that waters my garden and life-giving springs and I still learn to bring Nature to my soul by planting almost every day something, not necessarily for me but for Nature.

Romania has temperate continental climate characterized with hot summers and heavy storms and cold winters. There is a big difference in temperature and rainfall between the different parts of Romania. In summer the temperature is between 23-35 degrees Celsius (73-95 degrees Fahrenheit), while in winter it's between 0- minus 10 below zero (14-32 degrees Fahrenheit). The autumn and spring are milder and the temperature varies between 18-22°C (64-71°F). The average monthly temperature in July is 22°C (71°C) and -2°C (28°F) in winter months.

From here I come, the castle in Hunedoara, it's not so creepy, I grew up playing there and I know every corner of it
(From 0:48 there are 12.29 minutes of my spirit and the Nature of the area I come from)

DXmkOn4NP_Q



Oh, I love my rocks, too. It's just part of being a New England gardener to complain about them!
I wish you success in gardening ! I really wish, from here, from far, that you can have the culture you want and I know that it will all be good!

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.wV3HlQGu2tvCw-bcQjd_ugAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

...because innocence lives in people through Nature :)

I wanted to say about spinach, I planted spinach a second time this year and I will plant it again in October, to have fresh spinach in the fall.
But, what do I want to say and ask at the same time (in my area, on spinach, when the leaves are young and sweet, some aphids are deposited), aphids that are deposited on the back of the spinach at first white and then when they grow, they are black.
Aphids (something I soon found out) are carried there on the backs of spinach leaves by intelligent ants. Why?


Because ants like the sweet and nourishing secretions left by aphids :) I really liked that when I found out, especially since I never destroy ant houses and some have grown like real castles in the garden.

https://i.postimg.cc/W4pcKG69/furnicile-in-gradina-4.jpg

What is even more interesting is that ladybugs eat those aphids, ladybugs being the guardians of several vegetable plants.
But, my suggestion is to look at the back of the leaves daily and at the first sign that the spinach leaf bends, unfortunately, you will have to spray with a less chemical insecticide, because otherwise the spinach will not grow and dry out.
Also, when you prepare the insecticide with water, put a little white sugar in the container, it will help the insecticide to stick on the leaves and so you have to spray once.
Once the spinach leaves grow large, the aphids can no longer feed on the hard fibers of the leaf.
The same aphids (although there are thousands of species) are deposited on beets in the garden.
I can't stop the ants from doing this :) but I also want to have spinach, but for their pleasure, you can leave them a plant to live on (if you want) so that the ants can drink their sweet afternoon juice gracefully :)

But, maybe, I guess not in every corner of the world this happens ... I don't know.
I'm just saying as a prevention measure...
This is the picture of the aphids on my spinach :) today, I left them long enough to feed ...
https://i.postimg.cc/4NKFM7T6/20200527-204656.jpg

I planted the second crop of spinach between the rows of cabbage, because it grows fast, faster than cabbage, and I will harvest it before the cabbage grows big.

https://i.postimg.cc/Y9nbDknD/20200527-204632.jpg

100 g of fresh spinach contains about 25% of the daily requirement of iron, thus being designated the richest source of iron among green foods. Iron is an important microelement, required by the body for the production of red blood cells and as a co-factor for the enzyme oxidation-reduction, cytochrome oxidase during cell metabolism.

Spinach leaves are an excellent source of vitamin K. 100 g of fresh greens providing 402% of the daily requirement of vitamin K. Vitamin K plays a vital role in strengthening bone mass by building bones. In addition, it has also been established that it plays an important role in patients with Alzheimer's disease by limiting the neuronal damage produced in the brain.

This green leafy vegetable also contains large amounts of many B-complex vitamins, such as vitamin B6- (pyridoxine), thiamine (vitamin B-1), riboflavin, niacin.

- 100 g of fresh spinach contains 47% of the daily requirement of vitamin C. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps the body fight against infectious agents, thus helping to increase immunity.

- Its leaves also contain a significant amount of minerals such as potassium, manganese, magnesium, copper and zinc. Potassium is an important component of the body's fluid, which helps control heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese and copper are used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme. Copper is needed to produce red blood cells. Zinc is a co-factor in many enzymes that regulate the growth and development, digestion and synthesis of nucleic acid.

- It is also a rich source of omega-3 and essential fatty acids.

Regular consumption of spinach can help prevent osteoporosis (bone weakness), iron deficiency in anemia. In addition, it is believed that it can protect the body from cardiovascular disease and colon cancer and prostate cancer.
Spinach juice is a tastier and more nutritious form of consuming spinach leaves.

[Anka]

4371743718437194372043721Howdy Avalonians! :happythumbsup::Avalon:
Just wanted to share a little bit of my sprouts, it’s not a joke! :blushing:So please don’t laugh (ok you can giggle) for someone that had never planted anything and had the horrible thought that my hands were not good for gardening, I am very exited.. I live in the desert, temperatures here will go from 60* to 114* in a blink of an eye.. and my biggest problem is.. no good soil here it’s just sand... so we depend on saving to buy good soil.. but anyway! I did it! It’s , Spinach, cucumber, tomato’s, and watermelon for now.. :clapping: Next week we are building our raise Beds with recycled pallets, will share pictures when done!

Our hands can help our soul, giving life in the most beautiful way, you will acquire eternity, so they say.
I think that your plants in all the splendor of innocence have found the right nest in your corner of the world and they will thank you for your protection.

I think that cucumbers and tomatoes will grow very well in the sun, well irrigated and with a loose permeable soil to which you can add a little compost and a little mineral fertilizer, even after they grow.
I wish you the very best of luck!:flower:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/70/38/fc/7038fca69e606e498f55ce303d7a3ba8.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

A personal note. :) When it comes to gardening, I barely know which end of a carrot is up, but now that Ecuador's international flights are reopening on Monday :Party:, my neighbor here may be leaving in a few weeks' time to join his family in France for several months.

He's a GOOD (and ingenious) gardener, and has a huge and complicated project complete with a greenhouse, growing potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, kale, cucumber, garlic, onions (and carrots, too :sun: ) — all enough to feed far more than just himself. So if he goes away for a while, he's going to train me up and teach me exactly what to do with everything he'll be leaving behind.

There are unlikely to be any food shortages in Ecuador — ever! — but self-sufficiency and a healthy fresh organic diet is always important. So it's early days yet, with many things possible to happen here, but this whole thing may be really very very interesting.

[Anka]

I wish you much success!:flower:
It's very nice that you can help and it's very nice that the neighbor can visit his family.

I am convinced that everything will go well, the plants grow on their own with little guidance, but also the plants will feel good intention and will discover your ingenuity and intuition naturally, no matter how vast or complex a project is, the importance and meaning go beyond anything in addition to value and in the resonance of a wonderful emotion.

It really is a beautiful exercise and I wish you a lot of joy!:flower:
Dearfully,
Anca
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/growing-nurturing-young-plant-seedling-hand-watering-love-protect-nature-concept-56389256.jpg

[Lilybee8]

You lucky dog!! :happythumbsup: then you can teach us more!:heart::clapping:

¤=[Post Update]=¤

My Dear & sweet Amiga Anca!! Thank you so much for encouraging me on this new adventure :bearhug: if it wasn’t for how much you inspire us here I would probably had not started.. Thank you so much for all the knowledge you share with us. :handshake:

[Lilybee8]

Hi Nanuphar! Have you heard of the app from seeds to spoon it’s marvelous!! I highly recommend it, give you lots and lots of information from health benefits, weather & critter precautions, And you can creat your journal of crops etc.. Love it!

[Harmony]

Hi, I have really enjoyed everyone's posts. It's great to see and hear about your experiences and all the pleasures of getting right in the soil and planting seeds, then watching them grow. It is so inspiring harvesting and preparing your own healthy food.


My family size garden is in the Southern hemisphere so we are now entering our winter season. It is quite cool where I am but not too far from the coast. We do get frosts and mild summers. This is the second year I have been here and fairly new to vegetable growing, but It's wonderful getting lost in the work and loosing track of time.



I am still able to harvest carrots, potatoes and some greens and herbs at the moment. It's time to harvest seeds and dry and pack them for next season.


Here is a picture of my beans, peas and potatoes and the grapes that were hanging in the sun room this past season.


43766


Also a picture of how I pack seeds. Some seeds that are wet, like tomatoes or pumpkin that you may want to save from your kitchen vegetables, you can easily put them on a paper napkin and then leave them to completely dry out. Seeds that may have adhered to the napkin can simply be cut, napkin and all, when it is time to plant out. Write on the napkin or bag time of harvest, vegetable name and any other notes you may want to include.



Then slide dried paper and seeds into a sandwich snap lock bag, close and store in an old biscuit tin or other container in a cool place. The tin will prevent mice or vermin from making a tasty snack out of your seeds. If the seeds are already dried, like beans and peas, just put a nice layer of them in the sandwich bag, close and store.


Save more seeds than you think you need in case of odd seasonal conditions and some to give away if you can.


43767

[Anka]

Welcome to the forum, Harmony.
The beans look great and the grapes conquer me!


I planted more garlic.
In the climate here, it works, a succession of crops for several garden plants, so I put garlic for the second time this year because this way I have green garlic all the time, and I plant once more in September (it will stay quiet under snow) for next year's spring production.
I planted it on plain adhesive paper tape for considerable lengths, to avoid an effort that requires too much, if you want to plant more. It is easier with adhesive tape anyway.
https://i.postimg.cc/fR3NLFF7/20200521-141513.jpg

I picked chamomile from the hill and planted it in my garden.
After picking only the inflorescence from the plants (for winter teas), I shortened (cut with scissors) the plants to facilitate the flow of substances needed to take root again in the ground.
And they have taken root again and each year they will multiply from the roots.
https://i.postimg.cc/ryQX9M2C/20200604-135955.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/nVdgD2q3/20200604-140738.jpg


In the morning I found in the garden on the poppy flowers a whole "population" of "happy" bees, certainly the pollen was for them a nutritional "eclipse" ...
I grow in my garden poppy flowers for poppy seeds capsules, and when they are picked (when they are dry), I continue to dry them in a tray in a room without light, after which I store them in airtight jars.
BEE SUNSHINE
zH6X7vNgtJg

What are the benefits of poppy seeds
Improve digestion
The outer shell of poppy seeds is an excellent source of fiber. You will get 19.5 grams of fiber from 100 grams of raw poppy seeds, which is more than half of the recommended daily dose. A large percentage of the fiber in poppy seeds is metabolized slowly, which helps absorb water in the digestive tract. Thus, constipation is relieved and the feeling of satiety is maintained for a longer time.

Source of minerals and vitamins
Rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc, poppy seeds help remineralize the body. Only 1 teaspoon of these oilseeds stores 4% of the recommended daily dose of phosphorus and calcium. When combined, these two substances help build bones, and adults need both phosphorus and calcium to prevent diseases such as osteoporosis. At the same time, they are a good source of iron, which transports oxygen throughout the body and contributes to the creation of proteins and neurotransmitters, thus improving the immune system. A teaspoon of poppy seeds provides 4% of the recommended dose of iron for men and 3% of the recommended dose for women.

Helpful in nervous diseases
In the case of people suffering from sleep disorders, poppy seeds provide a natural source of alkaloids, substances that have a natural calming effect. Thus, it relieves nervous diseases and insomnia. In addition, they have a high magnesium content, which improves the quality and duration of sleep, but are also useful in regulating metabolism.

Some remedies and how to prepare them

Stimulates hair growth - you can prepare a simple remedy by soaking poppy seeds in fresh coconut milk and combining them with onion paste. Apply the composition on the scalp and leave it on for about 1 hour. Rinse well with a mild-acting shampoo.
In case of insomnia, warm milk with poppy seeds and honey is a great remedy, which helps you relax before bed.

Poppy cakes

Cake with poppy seeds and lemon cream

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.yrp5EWvY0BxGdCxvJi9ZUwAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Cake with poppy seeds and vanilla cream

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.q2KojWY1m6H_hucNM76u3gAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Poppy roll

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.F-QKI0_SfUdKD7ijuu8MMQAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Traditional "Cozonac"
"Romanian cozonac is a slightly sweet yeast-raised egg bread, similar to houska, that is traditionally eaten for Easter, Christmas, and New Years. Bulgarians call this bread kozunak . It's considered the Italian panettone of the Romanians"

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.UKZzfG5N9pUg-XC-_MoGRQAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I wish you peace of mind, lots of sun and joy in the garden, for Avalon members, for visitors and for everyone!
Nature is on our side! I see and feel this every day!

https://i.postimg.cc/pTq9xrpX/1.jpg

:heart:
Anca

[Harmony]

Dear Anca,

May I ask, did you make those delcious treats in the above pictures? They look great. Also, does it matter which kind of poppy varieties you collect and use in cooking?


When lisening to the bee/poppy video you can hear birds and insects etc. it is all so amazingly alive, thank you for sharing. (a little note: Appologies, I'm having trouble Anca wih the PM so will have to nvestigate problem further). Harmony ❤

[Anka]

Dear Anca,

May I ask, did you make those delcious treats in the above pictures? They look great. Also, does it matter which kind of poppy varieties you collect and use in cooking?


When lisening to the bee/poppy video you can hear birds and insects etc. it is all so amazingly alive, thank you for sharing. (a little note: Appologies, I'm having trouble Anca wih the PM so will have to nvestigate problem further). Harmony ❤

The Poppy seed roll is very popular in Europe.

My mother used to make it when I was little quite often, not only for the holidays, and I continued to make it over time, it is very easy to make, a dough in which I put fresh yeast, cow's milk, wheat flour, lemon peel and homemade butter. After the dough grows, you can spread it on the table in a square sheet and spread on it poppy cream with vanilla and lemon peel then roll and bake it. It goes perfectly with freshly milked and well-boiled cow's milk, especially in the evening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy_seed_roll

During communism, once, here in the area, poppy was intensively cultivated, the seeds have survived since then (over 30 years) so he sprouts every year, everywhere and usually the poppy still grows on large areas of fields.
Over the years, birds (which usually carry various seeds in flight) have carried the seeds everywhere but people no longer consider it a useful or healthy plant and they simply cut or herbicide it.

I use garden poppy or opium poppy (P. somniferum), which is often grown for its capsules, which have a special appearance in floral arrangements and the seeds have an intense specific taste , but this variety has large capsules, a capsule for a cake… The seeds fall alone on the ground and rise alone in spring, it is a plant that finds its own place in the soil and in Nature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_somniferum

Harvesting and Saving Poppy Seeds(2:12)

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Growing garden poppy in the backyard will most likely not bring you into trouble with the law, but there is a possibility. Maybe you grow them for flowers, but according to the list of controlled substances and drugs, it is illegal. The reason? The capsules contain a milky solution, which, once dry, darkens in color and becomes sticky, this being opium. Treating opium with a precipitating agent converts it into morphine; treated with acetic anhydride, it becomes heroin powder, so they say.

I have never seen in our country that the opiate poppy was cultivated, for the trade with illegal drugs, which in my opinion is unimportant anyway. Although gardens are rarely checked, it is wiser not to fill your garden with these plants.
I cultivate a very small area from which I do not extract as many seeds as I needed for cakes and for that sometimes I have to buy the difference and I am not satisfied with the poppy seeds bought, because in the warehouses where it is stored it is intensively sprayed with solutions against mice or bugs, and I have to eat that solution too because I can't wash poppy seeds well before use.
Too bad I can't grow a larger area, the bees would have liked it :)

Thank you Harmony, in my own way, for your interest and I send you a movie made inspired by a rain of poppies (unrelated to the topic but inspiration is part of gardening if you know how to feel Nature in the middle of the garden, then you can make poetry or art out of it, for the sake of good energy)
Poppy rain (0:58)

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I'm sorry, but I like to honor the presence of each plant and its energy in the world.
Each plant has such a short life, for the elementary purpose of only feeding or healing us, that we must be able to somehow thank these plants by blessing at least the food.

The images with cakes are borrowed (just as an idea and importance of the poppy in our lives), but over the years I have often made these cakes and many cakes in which the combinations can be amazing.
The cake top and dough is easy to bake and the creams come from inspiration and your own taste, vanilla or lemon cream goes very well with poppy seeds, but you can easily replace poppy seeds with peanuts, coconut, or walnut.
I always prefer walnuts, because I have 6 old walnuts, and one( an 8-year-old) who gives me enough walnuts for my family and squirrels, so we all share.
I didn't make poppy cakes recently, but an hour ago I made a dark cake with cocoa, chocolate, coffee and honey, vanilla and rum, I like sweets and sometimes it is a disadvantage that I can make them…I try not to gain weight...
I wish I could invite anyone to a cake, although only 14 pieces will come out of it after I cut the edges, but I can always bake more :)

https://i.postimg.cc/hPq6jtbq/20200606-213611.jpg


-Returning to the topic, lettuce (Lactuca sativa 'Lollo Rosso') is very resistant to high temperatures and grows very large.
To her left I have some tomato plants for which I have already stretched the first level of thread from which I am going to catch them for further growth.

https://i.postimg.cc/WbjYVfTN/20200605-190056.jpg

-Lettuce Great Lakes, a very popular head lettuce that is an outstanding performer - crisp heads have the perfect crunch that makes it perfect for garnishing sandwiches or vegetarian pizza.
And leek, which is still small, is the first time I plant it next to the carrots and it grows more slowly, but in the end they will all grow nicely next to each other.

https://i.postimg.cc/CKWJQccV/20200605-190118.jpg


-Green peas, sweet delicious green peas, also popular as garden peas, are one of the ancient cultivated vegetables grown for their delicious, nutritious green seeds, In general, the pods harvested while just short of reaching maturity, at the point when their seeds are green, soft, sweet and edible raw. Peas are starchy, but high in fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc and lutein.

https://i.postimg.cc/Dy8JS72B/20200605-185932.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/j2C5nhrL/20200605-185957.jpg

[Harmony]

Hi, Thank you Anka for the information about poppy seeds, how to harvest them and nutritional facts, recipes and videos.


Your garden is looking fabulous and I hope everyone is having great success with growing food.



I noticed the weather was very different the two seasons I have been growing vegetables at my present location. We had a very cool cloudy spring which made growing vegetables that like warmer conditions like pumpkins and zuccinis very difficult to grow. Neighbours have told me it has not been like this for the past 35 years that they have been here. They are also keen gardeners and would, I think, notice changes



That lesson has made me consider how easily crops could fail and the need for flexibility in the time and the way we may have previously planted out seedlings etc. It is possible we may get irregular weather patterns. I'm thinking of how to adapt with the changes.


Below is a picture of some apples that I have been able to harvest. Also, some preserving methods I've been trying my hand at. I tried drying and bottling some apples. Both worked quite well. The drying is quite straight forward using a commercial dryer. The bottling, as I am new and in an experimental stage, takes a bit more know how and practice.:rolleyes:


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Best of luck gardening,

Harmony :flower:

[Karen (Geophyz)]

I am harvesting zucchini, green beans, onions, tomatoes and peppers today! I feel a lovely sautéed dish coming on today...with some fresh deer meat sausage!

[Anka]

It's been raining here for two weeks.
At the beginning of spring there was a certain programmed drought so that the plants did not have the necessary water to germinate.
When the plants finally managed to germinate and grow, they grew hard under a gray sky and so beyond the normal sowing period during the year, the rains (and severe flooding elsewhere) began.
Last year it rained for 6 weeks and my tomatoes were going to die, if I hadn't carried almost a ton of water, far from their roots, it was wonderful in the end that the tomatoes resisted and gave me the scheduled harvest.
This year, I hope that history will not repeat itself, anyway, the plants will definitely survive, because I will not let them drown in the water (at some point the stems and roots rot), but I will not let them.
Anyway, I made a movie, walking through water and soft earth (it was slippery), the rain just doesn't stop, but the plants still stand heroically.

JUST RAIN(1:47)

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At least the potatoes and peppers are still good.

https://i.postimg.cc/rFQwZgwd/Presentation1.jpg

Among these, I harvested some sour cherries (in the absence of the sun they spoil, and not all ripen), but I harvested a few to make only 2 liters of sour cherries with alcohol. I always put 1 kg of fruit to 1 kg of sugar and they leave a syrup for 12 days (the jar should be shaken daily), when we have the syrup, add 200 ml of 96 percent alcohol, store, and use in winter as a vitamin C supplement.
I had to pick all the green peas from the rainwater and freeze them for the winter. 250 g of grains as seeds in the spring brought me 9 kg of green peas, it is enough for my family, for that sometimes I grow peas in late autumn.

The cabbage for autumn harvest it has time to grow, we put it in barrels and make sauerkraut, for food and salad, it has a lot of vitamin C, helps intestinal circulation and is a comfort for stomach problems. Just add salt, black peppercorns and dried dill to taste.
Oregano is very easy to grow, you plant it once and you have it for life, and it multiplies on its own, I cut it as it grows, twice a year to dry it, and I use it for tomato sauces, pizza and for hot peppers with vinegar in a jar, sometimes even for tea.

https://i.postimg.cc/3W5mSTCH/gqe.jpg

[Harmony]

Wishing all gardeners happy days.:heart:


Dear Anca, hoping the rain has subsided and your tomatoes are happyily growing again. What a nice harvest of peas and a great idea with the sour cherries for vitamin C syrup.


The past growing season in the Southern hemisphere, where I am, was very late to start. There were many more days than usual that were cool and cloudy and the fruit was very late ripening. Apple growers were picking at least one month later than usual. Where we are it was more like one and a half months later for the apples when they finally ripened enough to pick. The summer finished up early as well and went straight into coolish weather and sort of forgot Autumn.


I'm including a picture of some fruits I used to make preserves and cordials and syrups from. You can use them for different desserts and drinks later in the year, and give some away too. They are sweet, but you can use them sparingly on special occations.


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May you have good growing weather and a great harvest.:flower:

[Nenuphar]

How are my fellow gardeners faring? It has been a cool, overcast, drizzly summer so far, so most things in my garden are a bit behind. It's hard to be patient, sometimes. :blushing: The brassicas, garlic, peas, greens, and carrots like it, but the beans, squash, and peppers do not. The tomatoes seem to be doing fairly well despite the cloudiness (yay!).

[Anka]

How are my fellow gardeners faring? It has been a cool, overcast, drizzly summer so far, so most things in my garden are a bit behind. It's hard to be patient, sometimes. :blushing: The brassicas, garlic, peas, greens, and carrots like it, but the beans, squash, and peppers do not. The tomatoes seem to be doing fairly well despite the cloudiness (yay!). I'm having trouble posting pictures on the thread, but there is a link in my profile to pictures if you'd like to see what's going on in my little garden.

I just had a hard time for my entire vegetable garden, because it rained for almost a month, almost without stopping in significant amounts of water.
And it wasn't sunny for the tomato and pumpkin flowers to open in time, the bees couldn't pollinate them, I helped them get through the flood, and they recovered very well from what they looked like, but I lost quite a lot of cabbage that had managed to grow large, but the moisture made some of it almost disappear.

https://i.postimg.cc/527wh91z/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200609-124415.jpg

Due to the humidity, the potato plants melted, but they remained to grow from the rhizomes a little in the ground for a few more weeks.

I'm not talking here about the weather or the loss of a crop for me, I'm talking about the lives of some plants that live quite a bit in their "diligence" just to feed us.

https://i.postimg.cc/zfHR4nxm/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200622-115747.jpg

Of course, I'm happy for every plant left alive, and I've been working in the garden for 3 days now, since the rain stopped and I'll make it a happy garden again.:flower:

https://i.postimg.cc/nLNqLdXc/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200622-115638.jpg

I wish all gardeners every success in their passion for plants!:heart:

[Sarah Rainsong]

How are my fellow gardeners faring? It has been a cool, overcast, drizzly summer so far, so most things in my garden are a bit behind. It's hard to be patient, sometimes. :blushing: The brassicas, garlic, peas, greens, and carrots like it, but the beans, squash, and peppers do not. The tomatoes seem to be doing fairly well despite the cloudiness (yay!). I'm having trouble posting pictures on the thread, but there is a link in my profile to pictures if you'd like to see what's going on in my little garden.

I just had a hard time for my entire vegetable garden, because it rained for almost a month, almost without stopping in significant amounts of water.
And it wasn't sunny for the tomato and pumpkin flowers to open in time, the bees couldn't pollinate them, I helped them get through the flood, and they recovered very well from what they looked like, but I lost quite a lot of cabbage that had managed to grow large, but the moisture made some of it almost disappear.

https://i.postimg.cc/527wh91z/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200609-124415.jpg

Due to the humidity, the potato plants melted, but they remained to grow from the rhizomes a little in the ground for a few more weeks.

I'm not talking here about the weather or the loss of a crop for me, I'm talking about the lives of some plants that live quite a bit in their "diligence" just to feed us.

https://i.postimg.cc/zfHR4nxm/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200622-115747.jpg

Of course, I'm happy for every plant left alive, and I've been working in the garden for 3 days now, since the rain stopped and I'll make it a happy garden again.:flower:

https://i.postimg.cc/nLNqLdXc/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200622-115638.jpg

I wish all gardeners every success in their passion for plants!:heart:

Will the bees still be available to pollinate now that the flowers are opened? (All those flowers look gorgeous!)

[Anka]

Will the bees still be available to pollinate now that the flowers are opened? (All those flowers look gorgeous!)

Yes. There is always hope, especially when we have great confidence in our bee family around the world!:flower:

:raining::Music:
and :heart:

Anca

[Harmony]

:heart:Dear Gardeners,

It is great to hear how your gardens are faring with the seasons. I would like to dedicate this post to dearest wnlight. I will think of the cycles of life and renewal as with our friends and our plants and all our earth.:flower::bearhug::heart:


Thank you for the news of your gardens. It is nice to hear of all the positive results as well as the unexpected issues that arise along the way.


Potatoes and carrots are still keeping well under the soil, so are nice to dig up fresh when needed. We had a few frosts this past week and alot of cloudy days and some rain. July here is usually clear, cold, and frosty so we shall see what happens!


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Also, I would like to add a little about Cistus Incanus plants, which alot of folk may know about. Sometimes it is called Rock Rose. With vitamins and medicines expensive and hard to get with short supplies being experienced, it seems like a good idea to check out our own areas and see what nutritional plants may be right outside our doors.

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I have harvested some Cistus Incanus from beachsides and roadside "wildish" growth. If you harvest some, remember to just lightly prune tips with fingers or cutters, better not to take too much so the plant will stay healthy and there will be plenty when you need more.


The leaves can be made into a tea after drying. I have included a picture of some I have dried. Cistus Incanus is claimed to be excellent as an anti-viral, antibiotic, antifungal and biofilm buster. Cistus Incanus breaks down the protein envelope around the virus which encapsulates the DNA or RNA viruses use to replicate in a host cell. It is also a good antiinflamatory and subdues pro-inflamatory cytokines. Also it breaks down mouth plaque for dental use and even has great uses for pets if you check that out.


Here are a couple of links. One is an easy informative read and the other more on actual lab studies. I encourage anyone to check it out. click here (https://acuintegra.com/cistus-incanus-prevents-viruses-from-docking-onto-host-cells-membrane/) click here (https://www.prohealth.com/library/cistus-a-natural-antibiotic-antiviral-and-biofilm-buster-6292)



Also a picture of a potato I harvested which I will be patenting as the fish and chip potato. :bigsmile:
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Good gardening to all :flower:

[gord]

Acorn and butternut squash.

[Anka]

I picked some cucumbers to put in the jar for the winter, this year is the first time I tried a recipe with vitamin C as a substitute for vinegar and it worked, of course, a natural apples wine (cider) is also perfect.

Cucumbers are more productive climbing on the net or thread, but there have been years when they have produced large quantities spread on the ground.
Tomatoes begin to produce but rainy weather delayed their fruiting by about a month due to lack of sun, but it may be a longer fall to be able to harvest the entire crop.
https://i.postimg.cc/6p5LjRc3/F2.jpg
I treat the tomatoes with copper sulphate water and lime (100 gr. each 2 solid parts per 10 l of water), sometimes with bicarbonate (if necessary) and often with hydrogen peroxide (16 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide concentration 3 percent is put at 7, 5 liters of water) this is good for all plants in the garden for a surplus of oxygen, and the difference is very clear the next day.
https://i.postimg.cc/cLhZZqfh/macese.jpg

Peppers and eggplants still need to grow, they still have time, now they just make a lot of flowers (more than they could carry) but they are cute and "hardworking".
Eggplant can be made into a multitude of food recipes and can be preserved in winter.
https://i.postimg.cc/xC00MfYW/F11.jpg
You can make eggplant salad with mayonnaise, baked moussaka with cheese or eggplant stuffed with rice with vegetables, or you can make a mixture of eggplant and peppers baked in a jar for salads or a stew in a jar ready to eat in winter.
The bean pods can be preserved very well in tomato broth (boil the beans beforehand) and continue to boil in tomato broth and add greens that you like (I use celery), place in airtight jars and in winter they are cold and full of freshness.

https://i.postimg.cc/vmXRRWFN/ff.jpg
Dill should be picked soon, it is important not to wait for the seeds to dry completely and to harvest it with the plant(but you certainly already know that), to hang it in a cool and dark place, so the seeds will retain all the aromatic oils in them, in food and pickles they are very tasty.

https://i.postimg.cc/Vkd00F4j/F3.jpg


Lavender is very practical, you plant it only once and you have its pleasant smell every year, but it is very good for making tinctures at home and is beneficial:
- through the comforting, calming and invigorating effect it can induce a state of deep relaxation and attenuation of anxiety, worry, fear, sadness, discouragement and irritability;

- supports the improvement of cardiac function, with a favorable action on the activity of the heart, helps to normalize blood pressure;

- contributes to the improvement of digestive functional disorders

- contributes to the induction of a restful peaceful sleep;
And lavender tea is very fragrant, it can also be used in hot relaxing baths.

Rosehips are everywhere, and I will make marmalade in the fall from them, they are easy to pick if they are in separate bushes, if you find places near the forest.
Rose hips are used for herbal teas, jam, jelly, syrup, rose hip soup, beverages, pies, bread, wine, and marmalade. They can also be eaten raw, like a berry, if care is taken to avoid the hairs inside the fruit.
Wild rose hip fruits are particularly rich in vitamin C. Rosehip oil is rich in fatty acids such as omega-3, omega-6, omega9, but also in vitamin C, E, A, B-complex vitamins and minerals essential for skin health.

https://i.postimg.cc/xC00MfYW/F11.jpg

Mint is also easy to grow, I have wild mint (it is much stronger and resistant to any frost), I use it for teas (dry and green) and it does not require much maintenance if it has the perfect living conditions (semi-shade and plenty of water) , is used in cosmetics, food, insecticide and in the treatment of many diseases.
Trifolium pratense, the red clover helps with cough, asthma, indigestion, gout, wounds, but like any other medicinal plant it has contraindications for other diseases.

Raspberry leaves help with a few teas to normalize the secretion of gastric juice and protect the gastric mucosa or to eliminate excess fluid retained in the body, I mostly use them for any small stomach ailment.

Tropaeolum majus is a plant with beautiful flowers, they are grown for decorative purposes. Leaves and fruits can also be used for culinary purposes. The leaves can be used in salads, with a peppery taste. The seeds are also edible and can be used as a substitute for capers, but I only plant them for flowers because they remind my husband of his childhood.

https://i.postimg.cc/K8rwLnz8/F1.jpg
I encourage anyone who has time to try gardening, it's fun and healthy.:flower:

I wish you all much success in gardening, and for the sake of plants that bear fruit only for us,

Let it be rain and sun as Mother Nature knows best for the Earth to be healed!

:heart:
Anca

[Sarah Rainsong]

So I'm not really sure this is "food security," but I figure it's close enough...

Historically, I have not been very good with growing vegetables, though I am trying a bit more this year. With Anca's suggestions, my (one!) tomato plant looks beautiful and is producing lovely red tomatoes! I have a cantaloupe vine that is looking very hopeful. Both of these are grown in pots on my porch, because I have limited sun where I live: a small (about 3/4 acre) lot in a subdivision.

https://i.postimg.cc/hj1yqYS9/IMG-20200710-120847186-HDR.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xJqyvtNC)

But I do pretty good with growing herbs. I have a huge line-up of herbs that I grow and use! Many of these I cultivate, but some grow wild in my yard and are simply welcomed and appreciated: rosemary, yarrow, oregano, thyme, mints (peppermint, spearmint, strawberry mint), dill, catnip, lemon balm (melissa), parsley, horehound, sage, stinging nettle, tulsi/holy basil, sweet basil, motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), black cohosh, violet, turmeric, ginger, horseradish, mullein, St. John's wort (hypericum), chamomile, hibiscus, blue vervain (Verbena hastata), passionflower, echinacea, vibernum (cramp bark), pokeweed (yep! that stuff grandma said was poison is actually a very strong medicine!), sweetgum, usnea, mahonia (a berberine), heavenly bamboo/nandina (also a berberine), Japanese honeysuckle... that's all I can think of, but I may have missed some.

I also recently started some (late!) seeds: valerian, marshmallow, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum,), spilanthes, bee balm (monarda), sweet annie/sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), lemongrass, calendula, comfrey, and boneset. So far, only the calendula and sweet annie have sprouted.

These are just a couple pics of my herb garden and labyrinth:

https://i.postimg.cc/ydKJZQ0p/IMG-20200710-122410472.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GBMh0j7v)

https://i.postimg.cc/bvkDdcS2/IMG-20200710-122419603-HDR.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Lq460WTH)

I also have an NFT aquaponics set up on my porch being fed by the goldfish pond. It's been a learning process. My pond looks lovely, but the aquaponic plants are not doing as well as I'd hoped. The broccoli raab/rapini has done well as have the green onions and dill. I'm hopeful that some michihili cabbage (smaller version of napa) will do well. Leeks and garlic are okay-ish... they started off great but seems to have stalled. The spinach is not happy at all. I don't know if it's too hot for them or what. My lettuce--which is supposed to be the prime aquaponic plant--I have yet to get to sprout. I put 9 bare-root strawberry plants in the system (another plant that's supposed to do well in aquaponics) and all but one died, and the one that lives is still very small.

I love the aquaponics (and my cute little pond is very soothing), but it's definitely got a learning curve.

https://i.postimg.cc/1XQDj8pH/IMG-20200426-190537826.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/NMcJStws/IMG-20200710-121155301-HDR.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Mc9mfhTN)

I have well over fifty different dried herbs and at least that many of different extracts (tinctures, oils, syrups).

https://i.postimg.cc/k6pQ5K4b/IMG-20200710-122841141.jpg (https://postimg.cc/k6pQ5K4b)

[Anka]

Your tomato plant really looks very healthy and very productive Sarah and is really a food security because it is grown carefully and naturally.
The natural features of a plant that gives an organic food are very important and very complex to sustain and the difference will always be felt in taste.
Did you know that children in the city being accustomed to industrially grown fruits and vegetables, can't stand the strong aromatic taste of my apples and tomatoes?
Starting from the texture, color, pulp content, juice, aroma and perfume, the difference is seen and felt.
A plant grown with water, natural fertilizer, sun, clean rain, wind, fertile soil, positive energy, music and a lot of care, looks and feels much better when it also gives you the original essence of exploded seed in the ripe fruit, it is a blessing not always food.

Organic farming is a complete recycling process and a carefully maintained ecological balance, so when we say Bio we mean the method of growing in harmony with the soil, air and energy, and not a context of agriculture of chemical certifications and genetic interventions lost in extraporportional mechanical hazard.

I met restaurants where it is mentioned that the food is Organic.
This would have meant that the potato grown without chemicals and without too chemical fertilizers was removed from the soil no more than 10 minutes before it was prepared for eating and serving on a plate.

For example, spinach loses its properties and vitamins even from the first minutes of harvest.
I worked as a chef and served à la carte "Bio", this being one of the reasons why I gave up, being a lie, but Bio is too easy to use, not in the context in which a plate of food really Bio has in it the art of the Earth, a of the plant, of the one who prepares it and of the one who eats it. The art and patience of appreciating it when you eat it is real nourishment, at least that's how I feel.:flower:

So yes. Every Bio plant is a blessing for the healing of the Earth and ours of all. Thank you Sarah for your care!

I think it's too hot for spinach now, maybe that's why he's unhappy, but you can let him to make seeds for next year, but a new spinach can be planted in the fall two months before the cold arrives, because he really likes the coolness and the water in large proportions.
Depending on the variety, the strawberries go well in the soil that is not very fertile, and in late autumn almost two thirds of the leaves are cut so that the rhizomes grow happily in the ground and come out in spring, usually near the old plant (as well as raspberries), but the strawberries in the soil are replanted every three years in another new location, because the rhizomes are reinvigorated when they receive a new soil and other new minerals.

You also have a real live natural herbal pharmacy at home, and that combines nutrition with medication, treatment for all ailments and especially health combined with the beauty of Nature that always gives us everything and never takes anything away from us.

Sarah, you have a full stock of health benefits there in case of an emergency and in the long run it provides the prevention, amelioration and elimination of other diseases, which for me is a perfect and safe feeding security.
You have a great variety of medicinal plants (I will have to look for each plant in the popular name according to the scientific name) but especially you have there a medicinal showcase that brings comfort and safety to health.:flower:

Food safety also takes into account quality and not only quantity,
and I suspect that every farmer knows how much good energy means to each plant he grows and what that entails.

You Sarah built there a small corner of the world where plants heal people, especially through the labyrinth that descends into the deep space of the idea of ​​gardening and climbs into the wide universal space of the idea of ​​healing, it is really important because it can not be confused with idea of ​​style or leisure, but on the contrary, I feel that the labyrinth builds and places the garden in the right space.
I will build one next year in an absolutely clear and definitive way!:bearhug:

Each plant has its own living thread, and also the role of feeding us, it is interesting how you can see in each plant the role of feeding and healing at the same time, so we have medicine and taste on a plate, if we take care of this planet .

Last year I thought that maybe flowers suffer if I pick them, but if I let them bloom completely first, it is very good for bulbs and roots because they grow better and multiply, here are some flowers with dew picked this morning for everyone, wishing much sun and health to all!:sun:

https://i.postimg.cc/JhpjYrTC/fl.jpg

I also picked poppy seed capsules and it seems that more than a bucket of poppy pods produce almost one kg of poppy seeds.

https://i.postimg.cc/CxVCz6ZX/mac.jpg


Have a nice day everyone ~!

:heart:
Anca

[Antagenet]

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Our garden is mostly raised beds. (really helps with back problems)
We even grow papaya trees, and cherry trees in raised beds.

[Sarah Rainsong]

Thought this was very appropriate. Gardening and farming are not the same, and planting for FOOD SECURITY is the latter, not the former.

Farmer’s Daughter: Gardening and farming each have value, but don’t confuse the two (https://www.agdaily.com/insights/gardening-farming-each-value-dont-confuse-the-two/)



It was only a couple of years ago when I started searching for my first home to purchase. It was definitely a seller’s market, as it still is today, with houses usually selling within the first 72 hours of being on the market. So when I found the one I wanted, I had to snap it up (though even that didn’t stop the eventual bidding war).

I was immediately drawn to the extensive garden tucked in the property’s backyard. It boasted a shed with a potting bench and 12 large raised beds surrounded by stoned pathways. It was a small consolation for moving away from the farm; I could still enjoy the fresh produce I was used to as well as get my hands dirty.

I moved into the house too late in the season to do much the first year. But by the second year, I dug into the garden with gusto. I grew strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, gourds, cut flowers, and pumpkins. The results were mixed. I enjoyed lots of asparagus from spring through early summer. I had a bumper crop of tomatoes. I grew the most delicious cantaloupe ever. And the pumpkins were huge (if oddly shaped). On the other hand, my dog Mischa ate my peppers before I could pick them. The gourds were a total bust. And I never had enough time to actually cut the flowers.

Overall, I loved it. It kept me busy while Mischa enjoyed the outdoors (try keeping her inside when the weather is nice), and there’s really nothing better than eating fresh produce you’ve grown yourself.

But let’s be totally clear: I was gardening, not farming.

I know the difference because my family ran a farm market for over 25 years. Almost all of the produce we sold was grown on our farm. Our year started with seeding the plants. It continued as we transplanted the small plants into the field, nurtured them as they grew, and harvested the produce when it was ready. Most was then sold at our roadside stand, with a smaller portion going to local grocery stores.

So how is farming different than gardening?

It starts at the very beginning. I bought plants and plugged them into the ground. On the farm, Mom started seeding in March. Each seed was carefully inserted into a cup of dirt. We had an older heater for the greenhouse to keep them warm on cooler nights. Sweet corn was planted in stages, so we had a steady supply throughout the summer. Tree fruits were protected from late frosts.

For my garden, I had to weed my raised beds regularly. I’d don my leather gloves and get to work. The entire process took half an hour. On the farm, it was never so easy. We usually laid down a biodegradable black plastic that both kept the soil warm and stopped the weeds. But there were still times when we spent hours on our hands and knees pulling weeds.

I didn’t really worry much about pests in the garden. Sure, the rabbit had his fill of my produce, but insects weren’t an issue. But pests are always a problem on the farm, especially for fruits and vegetables. Dad had to keep a strict schedule for spraying; even waiting a day too long could make a huge difference. I mean, people get pretty squeamish about worms in sweet corn.

Harvest in my garden was different too. Each day I grabbed my little basket and walked to the garden. I filled it up with yummies and was done in about 10 minutes. But harvest on the farm is longer, harder, and a logistics game. Just for our small cantaloupe patch, it took an hour and five people to accomplish daily. We overfilled anywhere from six to eight bulk bins each day (there’s about 200 cantaloupes to a bin). And we had to use a forklift to move those bins from the trailer into the cooler.

In other words, gardening is a fun hobby; farming is work.

Don’t get me wrong, gardens are great. They can be good for mental health. They teach kids how food is grown and raised. They’re a source of fresh fruits and vegetables, which we should all eat more of. And it’s a great way to just get outside and feel productive.

But my garden will never do the work of a farm. It will never be more than a hobby. It will never produce consistent and sufficient crops to keep me fed. “Grow food, not lawns!” might be a fun slogan, but it isn’t practical or realistic to think my raised beds can replace farms.

Gardening doesn’t make me a farmer.

[Constance]

I don't eat fish but I loved the efficiency and effortlessness of this. I love the way that this project involves creativity, innovation and improvisation.

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1 MILLION pounds of Food on 3 acres. 10,000 fish 500 yards compost

[Anka]

Just some information for those who want to try, of course I only describe my example.

Somewhere between gardening and farming I am with my garden, more towards gardening, but which covers my needs (for two people) all year round, until the harvest next year.
Farming is a very organized and strict work indeed and with all the auxiliary equipment it still requires a lot of work and efficiency.
Work must be planned on industrial quantities of planted areas, and the techniques applied to protect the plots as a whole are clear.

Gardening a little more intensively, in order to ensure complete healthy food for a year (almost 8 months / year fresh vegetables and fruits and the difference of months canned vegetables in a wide variety) seems practical enough for me.
So that I can plow and work the land with a tractor (not mine, because it needs maintenance ... parts and fuel), it costs me around $ 60 / year, and the seeds and fertilizer cost me about $ 32-38 / year, the land is the property of the house we bought 19 years ago, at an annual tax paid to the mayor's office of $ 56.
In early spring in February, we plant (even under snow but not below temperatures below -8 degrees Celsius),
-pea beans-250 grams of seeds that cost $ 1, gives us an average of 15 kg of peas for food and preservation that would normally cost (to buy) almost $ 60.
The care work for growing peas is few, but a plot of about 3 square meters is needed.

The same goes for the potatoes where the work is done only with the tractor, which we grow in such a way that we must have a quantity (110 kg / 200 pounds) and for the necessary planting next year (we bought potatoes for planting long ago 18 years), we have a very good and old potato seed that resists any frost (sometimes they sprout only from potato peels). At an area of ​​approx. 100sqm (approx. 330 sqfeet) reach a harvest of apox.250 kg / 500pounds which are usually too many.

For tomatoes, we have very old seeds (over 40 years old) we do not know the name of the variety (no one knows it anymore), we call them by their location of origin, but the seeds that fall on the ground resist very harsh frosts and grow on their own in spring (when they think it's time), of course I plant about 1000 plants that provide fresh tomatoes for almost 5 months a year and preserve an average of 280 liters of tomato juice over the winter and the rest of the year.
For tomatoes, the works are wider, but from the experience I have had over the years, I can total approximately a maximum of 12 full days of work / year.
Onion seeds cost about $ 2 and I harvest somewhere between 40 or 50 kg (if the onion gets enough water) is more than enough.
Peppers have the same character as tomatoes, they need a lot of care and fertilizer (I collect for free from a neighbor, natural fertilizer from chickens). Peppers can be eaten fresh or preserved in a wide variety of dishes.

I grow in the garden, without fruit trees and medicinal plants, over 51 varieties of plants, and sometimes it is quite work with weeds, watering with a hose or loosening the soil (water is free from the fountain but I use it carefully, I do not like to consume resources), but as a vegetable food, I personally consider that the best one is the one raised by "my hand" because I "know" my plants and my work.

As for work, it takes a lot, but every 10 minutes spent in the garden can be a pleasure divided between work and relaxation (of course I sometimes work, if I can for two hours continuously), I have learned this over the years and it requires a certain amount of release and adaptation, which, for me, is worth it.
Looking at the "Food security" part is more than I need, looking at the cost side, I save a few thousand dollars a year, and finally, looking at the part of the effort required,
well (because I got older) I can always adjust this :) but I will never give up the idea of ​​gardening, it is a real and complete meditation in the background.

Some of the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, after I watered, the rain came :), and some pink lilies that grow every year (I leave bulbs in the ground over the winter)

https://i.postimg.cc/nzjNn8Mr/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200720-124209.jpg

I want each of us to have enough food resources and, in the future, to become healthier and healthier, as Nature and the earth help us!
Good luck to all gardeners (of any plant!)

https://i.postimg.cc/s20tFfjb/fljc.jpg

Love,
Anca

[Harmony]

How wonderful to hear about everyone's gardenning adventures. All the different gardenning methods of each person is interesting to ponder. 🐜🦋🦎

Sarah Rainsong, I can just imagine opening your cupboard of tinctures and having so many to choose from.

Antagenet, I like the above ground easy to reach garden beds.

Constance, I enjoyed the video about how much food can be grown in a reasonably small place recycling each stage to the next.

Anka, you have a mighty productive garden with all of nature in tune working together, and it never fails to amaze me. Thank you for information on how you manage, alot of experience no doubt.

My fruit trees are taking a rest at the moment, being in the southern hemisphere, but the leaf buds are getting ready for spring.

I have planted some lettuce and spinich in boxes in the sunroom to see how they fare for some extra winter greens, so we shall see. Also working on getting an inexpensive greenhouse made with some used materials to help with the seasonal changes and make it warmer for the raspberries.

There looks like there will be enough potatoes and carrots to carry us through the whole year. Also silverbeet and onions and herbs. Other greens that have been frozen like beans and peas should also carry us through the year as well. The preserved apples and fruit jams and sauces are in good supply along with some fresh stored apples and still picking kiwi fruit for fresh desserts.

I'd say we have about 1/4 acre only under food growing and fruit trees and even with a cooler climate it is possible to have enough food salad, fruit and vegetables for 2 people and give away quite a bit during peak harvest times. Each year could be different though.

In the beginning of the growing season it is fairly busy getting the compost into the beds and some natural goodies and getting your seeds sprouted on time etc. Then it's mainly watering and weeding throuhout the season. I can't overdo it and pace myself, but it's surprising how it all adds up and some delicious produce is very healthy and satisfying. It definitely connects you and keeps you grounded with nature!🌹🐝🐛🐌

[Sarah Rainsong]

How do you save your tomato seeds? (any other seed saving tips to share?)

Here's an article I found. It talks about fermenting the seeds as the best option. Do you find that necessary?

How to Save Tomato Seeds (https://www.permaculturenews.org/2014/07/08/save-tomato-seeds/)


Fully ripe disease-free tomatoes are the best candidates for seed saving. Seeds can be saved casually by squeezing them out onto a paper napkin and then air drying them, but fermentation is a better route.

Fermentation removes germination inhibitors and the gelatinous sheath from seeds, and it may treat some seed-borne diseases. Properly stored tomato seeds may remain viable for over six years.


Rinse tomatoes in water to remove dirt before harvesting seeds. Cut off open or damaged parts of fruit. We collect tomatoes in five gallon buckets then fill them with water. Cleaning any dirt off becomes a natural sweeping motion with your hands as you grab tomatoes from the water.

Cut open ripe tomatoes one variety at a time and squeeze the pulp, juice and seeds into a container. If you have strong hands, you may crush the tomato in a five gallon bucket. Try to develop skill holding the tomato right side up and opening the tomato from the bottom blossom, and, with your fingers, then milking the germplasm gel which contains the seeds off the central column. This is the fastest method.
Pour into a container with a lid. Do not add water as a substitute for tomato juice since dilution slows fermentation.
Label and set aside the containers for three days at a temperature not more than 70°F (21°C).
Stir the fermenting juices to submerge the pulpy material, once or twice daily. This prevents the build up of mold which is not harmful to the seeds but may discolor them.

After three days decant. Pour into a larger container that allows you to add three or more times the volume of water and pour off the pulpy water but not the seeds at the bottom. Viable tomato seeds will sink. Repeat two or three times until seeds are clean. Note: not all viable seed varieties sink in water.

If selling seeds commercially, soak clean seed in water with a cap of antibacterial bleach, 10% bleach solution, for 30 minutes to kill seed-borne disease. Then rinse seed under cold running water for seven minutes, constantly agitating and stirring the seed. This post-soak rinsing is needed to reduce total residual chlorine to below the National Organic Program (NOP) standard of four parts per million. Sanitize equipment thoroughly between uses to eliminate Late Blight contamination.

Pour the seeds into a fine mesh sieve or window screen. Lightly spray off remaining gel or debris. If drying the seeds on a screen, spread out with water spray, not your hand. Wet tomato seeds will stick to your hand.

Tap the strainer or rub your hand under it to remove excess water. Flip the strainer over, smacking it on a paper plate to deposit the seeds or allow seeds to dry on a screen.
Label drying plate or screen with the variety name and date harvested.
Let the seeds dry for five to six days at room temperature in a well-ventilated place.
Stir and crumble seeds with your fingers daily to prevent them clumping together.
As the seeds dry, lightly rub clumps together between your palms to separate seeds. We also rub dry seeds through a #2 cleaning screen .132 to separate remaining clumps before bagging, available from www.horizonherbs.com.
Store in zip lock plastic bag in a cool, dark, dry place. Place label inside the bag. Refrigeration of seeds is not necessary but okay. Do not freeze seeds.

[EFO]

How do you save your tomato seeds? (any other seed saving tips to share?)

Here's an article I found. It talks about fermenting the seeds as the best option. Do you find that necessary?

How to Save Tomato Seeds (https://www.permaculturenews.org/2014/07/08/save-tomato-seeds/)


Fully ripe disease-free tomatoes are the best candidates for seed saving. Seeds can be saved casually by squeezing them out onto a paper napkin and then air drying them, but fermentation is a better route.

Fermentation removes germination inhibitors and the gelatinous sheath from seeds, and it may treat some seed-borne diseases. Properly stored tomato seeds may remain viable for over six years.


Rinse tomatoes in water to remove dirt before harvesting seeds. Cut off open or damaged parts of fruit. We collect tomatoes in five gallon buckets then fill them with water. Cleaning any dirt off becomes a natural sweeping motion with your hands as you grab tomatoes from the water.

Cut open ripe tomatoes one variety at a time and squeeze the pulp, juice and seeds into a container. If you have strong hands, you may crush the tomato in a five gallon bucket. Try to develop skill holding the tomato right side up and opening the tomato from the bottom blossom, and, with your fingers, then milking the germplasm gel which contains the seeds off the central column. This is the fastest method.
Pour into a container with a lid. Do not add water as a substitute for tomato juice since dilution slows fermentation.
Label and set aside the containers for three days at a temperature not more than 70°F (21°C).
Stir the fermenting juices to submerge the pulpy material, once or twice daily. This prevents the build up of mold which is not harmful to the seeds but may discolor them.

After three days decant. Pour into a larger container that allows you to add three or more times the volume of water and pour off the pulpy water but not the seeds at the bottom. Viable tomato seeds will sink. Repeat two or three times until seeds are clean. Note: not all viable seed varieties sink in water.

If selling seeds commercially, soak clean seed in water with a cap of antibacterial bleach, 10% bleach solution, for 30 minutes to kill seed-borne disease. Then rinse seed under cold running water for seven minutes, constantly agitating and stirring the seed. This post-soak rinsing is needed to reduce total residual chlorine to below the National Organic Program (NOP) standard of four parts per million. Sanitize equipment thoroughly between uses to eliminate Late Blight contamination.

Pour the seeds into a fine mesh sieve or window screen. Lightly spray off remaining gel or debris. If drying the seeds on a screen, spread out with water spray, not your hand. Wet tomato seeds will stick to your hand.

Tap the strainer or rub your hand under it to remove excess water. Flip the strainer over, smacking it on a paper plate to deposit the seeds or allow seeds to dry on a screen.
Label drying plate or screen with the variety name and date harvested.
Let the seeds dry for five to six days at room temperature in a well-ventilated place.
Stir and crumble seeds with your fingers daily to prevent them clumping together.
As the seeds dry, lightly rub clumps together between your palms to separate seeds. We also rub dry seeds through a #2 cleaning screen .132 to separate remaining clumps before bagging, available from www.horizonherbs.com.
Store in zip lock plastic bag in a cool, dark, dry place. Place label inside the bag. Refrigeration of seeds is not necessary but okay. Do not freeze seeds.


The first tomato that plant is producing will be the best for collecting seeds and not quite using fermenting,simply take out the seeds,wash them well in a fine mesh sieve to remove as much as possible of the gelatinous sheath,then spread as even possible on a plane surface.Dry them in a sunny ventilated space.

Attention!From time to time,check them not to stick on the surface,otherwise you will need a scraper for recover them.

After drying you can store them as any other bought seeds.

[Constance]

I have to admit something. I am very lazy when it comes to gardening. :) It all has to be effortless now when it comes to a veggie patch or (anything else in the garden for that matter) or I won't do it.

I've planted more fruit trees and herbs than I can count now and I did it all with a cordless drill attachment. :bigsmile: I bought an auger drill bit that attaches to the drill. It changed my life!

It cuts through the hardest, rockiest soils like butter. I recently dug some fence posts with the auger bit too. I can't believe that I've had to resort to hiring jackhammers and giant augers in the past for fence posts when one tiny cordless drill auger could do the job.

I do almost everything via the 'no till' method. Actually, most of the time I do even less that.

Although, upon saying that, I've been experimenting with a Hugelkulture mound (which the rats have now tunnelled through and made a nice cozy home in) just because I'm curious about that method of gardening. I've planted a few seedlings in there just to see how they will perform and I will also plant some seeds directly into the soil too, to see what does better.

I try to mimic nature as much as I can, wherever I can. I noticed that tomatoes will always self-seed if I leave them to rot in the ground.

In my newish garden, I've thrown some (organic) tomatoes into an open compost heap on the ground, in a sunny spot, waiting for spring. What I have observed is that the lazier I am, the better things seem to grow :bigsmile:

I've grown avocadoes, and dates and all other kinds of things in an open compost heap, that were left in a shaded area. I don't worry if the heap gets a bit stinky or slimy because after a while, nature just seems to sort it all out.


9SE8RjyTq3A

[Constance]

So I'm not really sure this is "food security," but I figure it's close enough...

Historically, I have not been very good with growing vegetables, though I am trying a bit more this year. With Anca's suggestions, my (one!) tomato plant looks beautiful and is producing lovely red tomatoes! I have a cantaloupe vine that is looking very hopeful. Both of these are grown in pots on my porch, because I have limited sun where I live: a small (about 3/4 acre) lot in a subdivision.

https://i.postimg.cc/hj1yqYS9/IMG-20200710-120847186-HDR.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xJqyvtNC)

But I do pretty good with growing herbs. I have a huge line-up of herbs that I grow and use! Many of these I cultivate, but some grow wild in my yard and are simply welcomed and appreciated: rosemary, yarrow, oregano, thyme, mints (peppermint, spearmint, strawberry mint), dill, catnip, lemon balm (melissa), parsley, horehound, sage, stinging nettle, tulsi/holy basil, sweet basil, motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), black cohosh, violet, turmeric, ginger, horseradish, mullein, St. John's wort (hypericum), chamomile, hibiscus, blue vervain (Verbena hastata), passionflower, echinacea, vibernum (cramp bark), pokeweed (yep! that stuff grandma said was poison is actually a very strong medicine!), sweetgum, usnea, mahonia (a berberine), heavenly bamboo/nandina (also a berberine), Japanese honeysuckle... that's all I can think of, but I may have missed some.

I also recently started some (late!) seeds: valerian, marshmallow, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum,), spilanthes, bee balm (monarda), sweet annie/sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), lemongrass, calendula, comfrey, and boneset. So far, only the calendula and sweet annie have sprouted.

These are just a couple pics of my herb garden and labyrinth:

https://i.postimg.cc/ydKJZQ0p/IMG-20200710-122410472.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GBMh0j7v)

https://i.postimg.cc/bvkDdcS2/IMG-20200710-122419603-HDR.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Lq460WTH)

I also have an NFT aquaponics set up on my porch being fed by the goldfish pond. It's been a learning process. My pond looks lovely, but the aquaponic plants are not doing as well as I'd hoped. The broccoli raab/rapini has done well as have the green onions and dill. I'm hopeful that some michihili cabbage (smaller version of napa) will do well. Leeks and garlic are okay-ish... they started off great but seems to have stalled. The spinach is not happy at all. I don't know if it's too hot for them or what. My lettuce--which is supposed to be the prime aquaponic plant--I have yet to get to sprout. I put 9 bare-root strawberry plants in the system (another plant that's supposed to do well in aquaponics) and all but one died, and the one that lives is still very small.

I love the aquaponics (and my cute little pond is very soothing), but it's definitely got a learning curve.

https://i.postimg.cc/1XQDj8pH/IMG-20200426-190537826.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/NMcJStws/IMG-20200710-121155301-HDR.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Mc9mfhTN)

I have well over fifty different dried herbs and at least that many of different extracts (tinctures, oils, syrups).

https://i.postimg.cc/k6pQ5K4b/IMG-20200710-122841141.jpg (https://postimg.cc/k6pQ5K4b)

Love all the herbs! You are a woman after my own heart :heart: :bearhug:

[Constance]

I'm cross posting this because it is such a good way to effortlessly make your own soil bacteria.

Being strictly a plant eater, I won't be using cows milk when I experiment with this. I know in the video it said not to use soy or almond milk but my intuition tells me that instead, I could use coconut water kefir, powdered probiotics and just to add to it all, mycelium spores.

I'll let you know how it all pans out. :heart:

zsTsnOoXNdk
How to make soil bacteria for your veggie garden

[Anka]

Just some fog and fruit in the morning in my garden. Just for enjoy Nature.

https://i.postimg.cc/SNNNZF8Y/20200729-0709461.jpg

The pear tree on the left is very old. I let it grow as he wanted.

https://i.postimg.cc/SNTQ3T7T/20200729-0710491.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/138RQGv9/20200729-0725431.jpg

[Trisher]

I have been planting Leeks and Kale and Cauliflowers plus more salad things in the gaps left by harvested plants in my polytunnel. I have to step carefully around between the beds as I have found tiny newts and frogs and toads all over. I water the polytunnel daily just for them and have set up little trays of water in some of the beds as it can get extremely hot in there and I wonder how they stand it on hot sauna days. There are very few slugs to be found as they undoubtedly provide a slimy nutritious meal to some of the inhabitants.
Natural gardening with no dig beds (the lazy method) means I leave some plants to grow big and tall and flower and seed. This brings in the pollinators and allows the plants to reseed themselves. Garlic left in starts to multiply into smaller plants. Celery chopped back, once flowered starts new growth. A cabbage chopped off begins to grow new small cabbages and leaves from stalks left in the ground. Tomatoes dropped begin new plants and nasturtiums raise themselves randomly all over from their seeds dropped the previous year. A late frost stopped the courgettes but now they rampage across the beds like triffids producing giant yellow flowers and green fruits. The bees have found their way in and delight in their flowers. I delight in the strawberries that have been continuous this year and watch the many small insects busily nose diving into the flowers.
I ponder sometimes on what would be in there if I left it to just grow for a year or more. Definitely a few weedy giants..but maybe also a complete feast of things growing because they wanted to, tangled and climbing amongst each other in a companionable and supportive way with wildlife and nature working perfectly together. For now though I am breakfasting on strawberries.

Trisher

[Sarah Rainsong]

6 Crops to Plant in August for Late Summer Harvest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaWruG-ZPuo&t=309s) 🌿🍅🥒


cucumbers
beans
squash
basil
chard
zinnias


So apparently zinnias make this list because they are beneficial to pollinators late in the year. The petals are edible, though. Toss them in a salad to add a splash of color.

aaWruG-ZPuo

[Anka]

Hello gardeners!
Slowly, autumn is approaching and the pantry must be filled with canned pickles and canned vegetables, for a winter rich in vitamins.
As the vegetables are ready to be harvested in the garden, gradually, I try to preserve them in different ways, by freezing, preserving in jars or by drying.
I have collected many tea plants to dry, so far (chamomile, mint, nettle, raspberry, linden, black elderberry flowers, lavender, lemon, horsetail, achillea, and more) and in winter no day it should pass without a cup of tea in the morning or in the evening depending on the specifics of the plant.
I also gathered for dry and frozen at the same time, oregano leaves (you can make tea or add it to pizza or stews), lovage, green thyme and dried thyme (which I will need when preparing the barrels of sauerkraut), green dill (dried green, dried with seeds and frozen green) green dill together with sweet cheese cream, sour cream and a homemade mayonnaise go perfectly spread on toast and lime tea.
I picked eggplants that I baked on the grill (they are tastier with wood smoke), cleaned, drained and chopped, I froze them in airtight bags in exactly the quantities I will need in winter (to prepare them in winter, add a small onion cut very very finely and mayonnaise with sour cream, salt and pepper).
Eggplants can be preserved in a jar: Put a layer of finely chopped eggplant with salt and a thin layer of oil and eggplant again and close the top layer with oil and put the lid (boil the jars wrapped in a towel in a pan with water that does not cover them, on low heat for 15 minutes, for safe preservation).
Hot peppers, of any kind, wash very well, cut the tails, choose one or more green leaves (celery, tarragon, thyme, lovage, basil) and place a layer on the bottom of the jar, place the hot peppers, put leaves in the middle, fill with hot peppers and close the surface with leaves, sprinkle a little salt and a little sugar and simply pour quality vinegar over, filling it, and put the lid.
Vinegar in jars is not thrown away because it becomes extremely fragrant from the leaves over the winter and can be used in spring for green salads, in winter hot peppers are suitable for any very hot soup, (a few hot peppers kill any kind of fever):flower:

Onions, I harvested about 60 kg, too much for two people, even for a year, because in the spring we will grow green onions that are sweeter and fresher… usually extra onions, we donate it, and usually all that is left is "donated" in minerals back to the earth.
The potatoes are well in the ground, although it has rained quite a lot this year, the potatoes keep their freshness there in the ground, better than in the cellar, so they will probably stay a few more weeks depending on how much it will rain, we will get help from some neighbors who have a tractor to extract them from the ground.

We gradually gathered green tomatoes to preserve in a jar, they are excellent pickles in winter, full of vitamin C and tasty when cold.
For a jar of 12 l capacity we need 4 kg of green tomatoes, 2-3 horseradish roots, 4 carrots, 5 strands of celery leaves, 2 horseradish leaves, a red beet (give a red shade to tomatoes), 3 hot peppers (tomatoes become spicy), black peppercorns, coriander and mustard seeds, 2 bay leaves or whatever spices you like or find (seeds).

https://i.postimg.cc/TYzD09VC/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200809-021618.jpg

The recipe (for a 12 l jar we need about 5 l of salt water) depends on the type of salt (it should be coarse and without potassium iodate) and in principle (without anti-caking agents or without additives), put a spoon and a third in a liter of water, mix until the salt dissolves and add the juice over the jar already filled with vegetables.
Pickles can be put in juice boiled with vinegar in jars (but for this another process is needed), also, green tomatoes can be put in plastic barrels (plastic buckets with airtight lids) but dill flower is added dry, with seeds, and more horseradish, (plastic does not preserve the same as glass, it tastes different in pickles)

https://i.postimg.cc/xjFHJYcr/ggg.jpg

I gathered tomatoes from the garden, and I made broth, I managed to boil tomato broth and preserve almost 24 liters in bottles, but (I only picked a first round of ripe tomatoes) as the tomatoes will continue to ripen. , I will boil another 24 liters of tomato broth, and if the autumn is long enough (which it seems), I should normally be able to make some liters again. In winter, tomato broth with honey is a fantastic source of vitamin C, cold drinks in winter and hot tea in summer are cool.

https://i.postimg.cc/Y0VmJNJ2/bbb.jpg

Boiling(0:09)

WFMuakC4Xv4

https://i.postimg.cc/yYgR05ZD/Lenovo-A1000-IMG-20200808-091210.jpg

If you have little space near the house, even if it is near alleys, it is worth cultivating a little… onion is the easiest to grow, tomato, pepper and eggplant plants grow like ordinary flowering plants, and are very "obedient" if you take care of them just like flowers, they even like to grow together with flowers.
Try to grow a pepper plant next to a flower, or a tomato plant next to a medicinal plant or an eggplant plant near the root of a bush, you will be amazed by the difference in taste of the vegetable, between those bought and a plant grown by you!

The earth has always heralded our future, Nature will still help us, trust the blue sky, the fresh water that still feeds us and the plants, enjoy the pleasure of taking care of a plant and it will reward you!

In the green spirit and the sunlight that touches us under the same rays, the earth and the air bless your plants and your health!
Anca

[Sarah Rainsong]

This is another great video by Chris Martenson, interviewing Joel Salatin "the most famous farmer in America." Great views on food supply issues, health, and farming.

X-ZXPFvsCXI

[Anka]

I made sauerkraut in barrels.
To the salt water I added black peppercorns, horseradish roots and leaves and dried dill flower.

https://i.postimg.cc/F1tkxqnH/20200816-135320.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/ZnvypZHQ/20200816-141601.jpg

I picked corn and boiled, after boiling, I cut the cooked corn kernels with a knife and store them in vacuum bags in the freezer. It is added to food in winter.

https://i.postimg.cc/jqD8Z7kp/20200816-123343-1.jpg:heart:

[Anka]

The outdoor gardening season is almost over, but it continues in the greenhouses. Winters are getting milder here, so for autumn, we can already plant spinach, lettuce, leeks, celery, parsley, onions, carrots and depending on how heated the greenhouse is in winter, almost anything.
For open field cultivation, it is best to plow in the fall, but in the current climatic conditions, in which the soil does not freeze well enough and instead of a lot of snow as it was 15 years ago (and minus 22 degrees Celsius) , we have a lot of rain and too hot temperatures. In October at 5 degrees Celsius we can plant garlic and onions for next spring.

In autumn, there are usually enough apples to make compote and vinegar.

https://i.postimg.cc/rmNfGr4q/sgdfh.jpg

Cornus mas -The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, containing a single seed.
They have a sweet-sour, astringent taste, a bit like cherries and a diuretic effect. These fruits are also appreciated for their antiscorbutic, astringent, disinfectant, tonic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and healing effect. The amount of vitamin C in these fruits exceeds that of lemons or rosehips.

A good remedy for indigestion, headaches, normalizes the enzymatic activity of the pancreas, helps in the treatment of intestinal parasites, liver diseases, enteritis, enterocolitis, gastrointestinal diseases in general.

They can be made into compote, syrup, or jam, or just dried for tea.

Peanuts, I share them with, mother squirrels that are faster than me :) "we" gathered them for the winter,
and anyway I don't get to pick them on the top branches of the tree, so I'll probably taste less peanut butter this year :)

After harvesting vegetables from the garden, field flowers always sprout for a second time/ year, and every year I let the grass and flowers grow together, so billions of seeds fall to the ground and bless my garden the second year.:flower:
The autumn garden offers me the harvest and flowers that still attract bees, a pleasant atmosphere for the heart of any gardener.:heart: Roses are beautiful in autumn.
In all seasons of the globe, I wish success to all gardeners, and more health for all people!

https://i.postimg.cc/gJWM6DnM/saffdhj.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

This is a totally wonderful new video from Chris Martenson. He's been "The Covid guy" the last 8 or 9 months, but his life really is about teaching, excellence, every kind of personal prosperity, what he calls "resilience", and here, in this video, his take on integrity — which for him means the willingness to let go of fixed ideas and learn new things.

And in this video, that's all about gardening. It's only 9 mins long, but you may be impressed.

:sun: :flower: :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOKAAyhb9a8

[PurpleLama]

This belongs in every gardening thread.

GNU8IJzRHZk

[EFO]

This is a totally wonderful new video from Chris Martenson. He's been "The Covid guy" the last 8 or 9 months, but his life really is about teaching, excellence, every kind of personal prosperity, what he calls "resilience", and here, in this video, his take on integrity — which for him means the willingness to let go of fixed ideas and learn new things.

And in this video, that's all about gardening. It's only 9 mins long, but you may be impressed.

:sun: :flower: :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOKAAyhb9a8

Viktor Schauberger - Bio Plough
(1:28 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDK--YjDEKw

[happyuk]

In addition to well-received advice on getting a good crop of potatoes, Old Alabama Gardener has been good enough to answer a few of my questions concerning the proper storage of potatoes once harvested; something it seems I have been doing wrong for some years.

In a nutshell: don't wash them and let them dry before bagging and storing somewhere cool and dark ;)

He has summarised his answers in one of his most recent YouTube videos shown here:

X1XbzUKHSnI

[Anka]

This is a totally wonderful new video from Chris Martenson. He's been "The Covid guy" the last 8 or 9 months, but his life really is about teaching, excellence, every kind of personal prosperity, what he calls "resilience", and here, in this video, his take on integrity — which for him means the willingness to let go of fixed ideas and learn new things.

And in this video, that's all about gardening. It's only 9 mins long, but you may be impressed.

:sun: :flower: :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOKAAyhb9a8


It's really about integrity when it comes to gardening.
When we moved to the country, many years ago, we didn't know much about agriculture, although we tried to do university studies and parallel courses for a year, even before we moved, the reality on the spot was different. .

But we started with courage and strength and from the first year we cultivated two large vegetable gardens and 2 hectares of corn because we had bought purebred pigs for breeding, turkeys for meat and chickens for eggs.

The veterinarian in the area was an unprepared person, so we had to vaccinate our own pigs and cut their fangs and attend the birth, something that also results in a lot of responsibility and care and love, as well as gardening.
When it comes to learning on a farm (and it is a continuous learning experience) we receive the best re-education "in the field" in the face of the situation, where there is no time for anything other than the best solution.
Responsibility for plants involves many forms of rehabilitation, different forms of responsibility and altruism are mixed with devotion and passion in a way that plants feel, and when we feel that plants feel our care, a fantastic connection is made, which we can't forget.
When we moved here, the neighbors were almost outraged that we started growing plants that they never grew and they always came to the fence to tell us "this will not grow! It is too early to plant that!" .. but in the end, they followed us and they also grew vegetables like ours ...
All I can say is that it is entirely worth the effort to grow your own vegetables. So is planting an orchard of fruit trees.

For me, this autumn was quite rich in fruits and vegetables and for many years I say that sometimes we fail to cope with autumn with everything that is harvested and processed or preserved for a winter full of vitamins, it seems to be a greater effort. than garden maintenance work all year round, because it is concentrated in just a few weeks, and fruits and vegetables "do not wait" :)
I've been "running" for a week to preserve everything I find in the garden, it looks like a marathon, but it's really worth the effort for every gram of health and vitamins our body requires.

It was hard for the "community" in which we moved to accept two young people with a lot of education to become farmers (it was not easy for us to adapt either but we tried, it was really cool to leave the office and all the career possibilities , against all odds) but even though we expected to come here and learn from this community how to do things, in time, with goodwill and kindness we managed to teach them how to do effective gardening, and I'm proud of it because somehow they re-educated themselves for their own needs.

Gardening is a whole suite of learning and re-education factors, it is about goodwill, promise, dedication, passion, compassion, resilience, adaptation, readaptation, exercise of competence and choices, love of Nature and environment, performance, timing, inventiveness, intuition and much more in connections that are also made with everyday life in our existence.:sun:

But in the beginning it's really about trying. I think all people deserve a more natural and vitamin-rich food and I (impersonally) want all people to be healthier.:heart:

If we approach resilience at any time, and these are times for new choices and change, then gardening, if we want, can be within our reach, as it has always been, even with climate change, we still manage.:flower:

[Harmony]

The weather is slowly warming up, but still chilly and windy some days. The spring flowers have been wonderful and the grass is quite green even after the frosts.:flower:


With the worries of weather being unpredictable and a short growing season here, a greenhouse hopefully might help.


Here is a picture of a work in progress greenhouse built from recycled materials. The size was calculated to work with the already used sizes of materials and the roof slant to match the land contours. Materials: treated pine timber, polycarbonate sheeting and some old roofing iron holding the raised bed soil. With the frost mostly gone, it should provide enough shelter hopefully for newly planted raspberry canes and some small lettuce and english spinich so far. Finishing the project will continue a bit at a time.


I have started some of the other beds with onions, radishes, snow and sugar snap peas. So fingers crossed for some decent weather.


I see Anka getting ready for her garden to rest after a busy year of growing, harvest and preserving. And a happy autumn to all the northern hemisphere gardeners and a vibrant spring for the southern hemisphere growers.:heart::flower:


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[Anka]

In Romania, we have a long and sunny autumn.
We have been gardening for many years for pleasure but also for a healthy diet. Autumn involves enough processing and preservation of vegetables, which we use during the winter but also until the fruiting of the plants next year.
I still have peppers in the garden, so I still have to water the garden, my husband picks apples, and there is still work to be done, needing to plant spinach, garlic and onions for next spring.

https://i.postimg.cc/L8dtS2Fn/gradin.jpg

We store the potatoes in winter (after they have been cleaned and dried) in large wooden crates with lids, in which we put thick cardboard and cover them with warm blankets. There were years when we buried them in the garden, at 1.5 m deep in the ground (at 45th parallel north :)), at least the one we use next year for sowing, it is worth it because it maintains its moisture.
At the end of process, the surface at that place of the earth will be covered in hay and dry corn plant and some foil. But because we have enough storage space, we keep them in crates until spring.

We keep the carrots in crates with sand and onions, garlic, beets or pumpkin for pies (which are sweetened only after the first frost that falls on them and are even more resistant over the winter) we keep them in lightly wrapped crates.
Cabbage, leeks, parsley, celery leaves, cauliflower, radishes can remain unprotected in slight frost.
Once upon a time, when the snow was healthy,
we just remove the snow from the parsley a little and take frozen but extremely green and sweet parsley leaves in the middle of winter.

I made a lot of apple cider vinegar, cider, sweet nectar with apple pulp and apple juice without pulp. You can also store grated apples in vacuum bags in the freezer (for cakes in winter), in winter only cinnamon, vanilla and sugar are added and are delicious for a cake.
Apple compote is good with cloves and apple jam with a slice of toast and butter along with hot tea, warms any start of the day.

https://i.postimg.cc/jqF68y86/cxzv1.jpg

Apple cider vinegar is a preparation obtained by fermenting apple juice or apple cider, in which yeast cultures are added. Unlike apple juice or cider, vinegar has far fewer calories and less sugar. Instead, it contains a significant amount of probiotics and enzymes beneficial to health.

The dried beans, I store them in closed plastic bottles kept only 3 days in the freezer, and then they keep very well for even two years.
You can make bean stew in jars: Finely chop onions and peppers, throw in hot oil, add boiled bean puree, pepper, spices that you like (I like basil), mix and put in jars with airtight lid. The bean puree from the jars is eaten cold spread on slices of bread, with salami.


You can make any kind of stew in jars, including eggplant. I collect them all fall, freeze them and prepare them and put them in jars right in the middle of winter.
Here is a recipe:http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?109047-What--s-Cooking&p=1324704&viewfull=1#post1324704

Baked peppers (cleaned and chopped) can be put in vacuum bags in the freezer, for Christmas, thaw slowly in the cold, add a sauce made of 5 teaspoons of sugar, 5 teaspoons of vinegar, a pinch of salt, crushed garlic, oil and 200 ml of water. Baked pepper salad in the middle of winter is a vital supply of vitamins.

https://i.postimg.cc/k458s5Kh/sfecla.jpg

Beets, clean well with a brush, boil whole with peel (we have an outdoor stove), after it cools, peel, cut into slices with a chopper (eg 10 kg of beets), throw in 4 l of water, 15 tablespoons of sugar and 1 kg of vinegar, boil for 10-15 minutes and place in jars with airtight lids.


Gardening can have a special effect on the development of various skills and the promotion of a healthy body for "children" of all ages :)

https://i.postimg.cc/QCwpHrBY/cer.jpg

Healthy eating is one of the basic benefits of this occupation.:heart:

Gardening encourages family togetherness, engages all the senses of this wonderful concept to improve cognitive skills, work training and dexterity, positive emotions, stress reduction in the impact of sunlight, sweet taste, fragrant smell, bright colors, gardening involves patience and responsibility together with the waiting game.:flower:

https://i.postimg.cc/rpM5djmT/noroc.jpg

Help the little ones to enter the adventure of the idea of ​​"little gardener", it can be helpful, in the open air and in the sunbathing, our children can play and grow up healthy :bearhug:, also participating in educational games in "gardening for children " :heart:, they might like vegetables more in this way :)

We want our children's health more than anything in this world, a healthy future generation should only mean joy and fun!
My intention is above all, for the health of children around the world :bearhug:

"Mr. Eggplant, say" Hi little gardener !!! ":waving:

For all gardeners, I wish you good luck!:happy dog:
Love,
Anca

[Sue (Ayt)]

Thank you all so much for sharing some of your garden skills here. What a beautiful thread!
Each year, I am trying to learn and grow just a little bit more.

This year was a disappointment for me, however, due to the dry summer, but mostly due to the squirrels.
Last year, I had a wonderful crop of tomatoes, but this year, we had so many squirrels, and they robbed every single one of my tomatoes!
It was so disappointing. :(
At least they left the peppers alone, so I did wind up with a lot of peppers.

It was a battle all summer long, and sadly, I lost the war.
My question for all the gardeners is this - Is there anything I can do to prevent the squirrels from doing this again next summer?

[Strat]

My question for all the gardeners is this - Is there anything I can do to prevent the squirrels from doing this again next summer?

A friend of mine had the same problem and his solution was to build cages around the tomatoes with chicken wire.

[Gracy]

My question for all the gardeners is this - Is there anything I can do to prevent the squirrels from doing this again next summer?

A friend of mine had the same problem and his solution was to build cages around the tomatoes with chicken wire.

A lot of hassle can be avoided by having a dog roaming about. :)

[EFO]

Thank you all so much for sharing some of your garden skills here. What a beautiful thread!
Each year, I am trying to learn and grow just a little bit more.

This year was a disappointment for me, however, due to the dry summer, but mostly due to the squirrels.
Last year, I had a wonderful crop of tomatoes, but this year, we had so many squirrels, and they robbed every single one of my tomatoes!
It was so disappointing. :(
At least they left the peppers alone, so I did wind up with a lot of peppers.

It was a battle all summer long, and sadly, I lost the war.
My question for all the gardeners is this - Is there anything I can do to prevent the squirrels from doing this again next summer?

Planting walnut and nut trees at the edges of your garden/property will help forever and you will share the fruits.

[Strat]

My question for all the gardeners is this - Is there anything I can do to prevent the squirrels from doing this again next summer?

A friend of mine had the same problem and his solution was to build cages around the tomatoes with chicken wire.

A lot of hassle can be avoided by having a dog roaming about. :)

They have 2 and several cats.

Oddly enough I live down the road from them and don't have this problem. I think it's cause they actively feed the little critters.

EDIT: Maybe I don't have this problem in part due to what EFO said: I have a mulberry tree that they gorge themselves on.

[Anka]

Today is supposed to be the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.
For those who invented this, it can be a warning, for all of us, it can be a good time to reinvent our health, choosing to be the "keepers of the earth" by blessing it with our work. It's not easy, in a system called almost climate, but we can still try. Every gram of natural food matters.:flower:
We all have access to natural organic food!

For the courtesy of all good ideas about healthy eating, I am here, and will always be everywhere, to emphasize the importance of Nature and its power to heal and nourish us enough to not waste good food.

We can even grow herbs in a pot if we do not have space or time. Herbs are not so sensitive and forgive us if we did not water them yesterday.

Pesticides speak "at every step", we must not only think about what we eat but we must find better solutions, there are many examples in which if we did not have a garden, we can buy vegetables and fruits in season and process them naturally at home and to preserve them.

We should look for vegetables from farmers, close to us, maybe it's expensive or maybe not, but we have to weigh our health in a jar preserved by ourselves!

Try the taste and flavor!

Where I live, strange as it may seem, people preserve vegetables and make real and clean liqueur from plums, and sell them all, and then go to the store to buy drinks with additives and canned food (boiled in the manufacturing process together with canned metal)
My apples are too fragrant for those who come from the city, they can't stand the intense taste because they are not used to it.
Also, I bought 3 apples from the supermarket last year and placed them on the window sill, in a plate. They haven't been altered for 8 months! Can you believe that? My apples oxidize in a few seconds, and some, I share with lucky worms :heart: (apples that fall on the ground, remain for hedgehogs) that's nature .. they are very sweet and juicy.

If we choose to grow our own vegetables, we become our own researchers of our body, the difference is felt in time long enough to be worth the effort and time allocated. Quality must not be chosen, we must use it.
After months in which the pandemic changed the way we look at things that were once normal, it was autumn's turn to be greeted with a new perspective for our health. We do not need to travel to know that there are children who die of hunger every day, we also know that individually we can not do much, but together we can choose the responsibility to use the idea of ​​healthy and sufficient food for ourselves and others.:heart:

Because the food system is a big puzzle, in equal proportion to the diseases resulting from food exposed to chemicals, because the expansive transition to organic food can still be made, because every human being has the right to healthy and enough food, above all problems, my intention is in favor of solutions, and I believe that together we could bring about a massive change.We don't have to wonder how. We can start acting now, doing our own research for good solutions.

It's just a milligram of good intentions that I emanate, conscious, awake, present, maybe it doesn't weigh heavily, but I look like all people in having the right to a better, healthy life.

[EFO]

The planting season has almost ended and what was left is planting garlic for next year and giving a try to overwintering some peppers plants;an idea that came out from this guy a few days ago...

Overwintering Peppers - Grow This Year's Peppers again NEXT YEAR!
(16:35 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdmD54Bsu4


Overwintering Pepper Plants Part 2 - What I Missed
(12:02 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTZiKmrZOE8&t=512s

If the experiment will be successful I'll expand it to more pepper plants next year because it have many advantages:less money to spend on seeds,early peppers to harvest,less losses on transplanting in pots and later in field,less care for little plants and so on.I'll be back with results in Spring 2021. :)

[Harmony]

Spring is here, still some cloudy cool days with sunny ones inbetween. There has been quite a lot of rain this season, now up to yearly average. The past 3 years were well below the average rainfall so that was a surprise.


44860


More work has been done on the greenhouse, as it is a work in progress, and now has another bed. The donkeys look on and enjoy company and seeing what’s going on. So far, the salad has been growing well for this time of year, as it is still cool and there was frost last week. I have been able to pick leaves off the lettuce and spinch and rocket for salads and mix with herbs in the garden.
44861


The raspberries are shooting new leaves and the seed potatoes are in the beds ready to grow. There are about 6 varieties of potatos planted to spread out picking times and just for variety. Snow peas and sugar snap peas planted from last years saved seeds have germinated well.


44862
The fruit trees are flowering and a delight to see with hundreds of bees buzzing away in the flowers. This is a Mutsu apple tree pictured flowering, a large sweet-tart apple that is very nice to eat or cook.
44863

[Harmony]

The garden has kept me quite busy this growing season. The weather has been reasonably warm the past month, but we are now having a cool windy week again.
45345

The green house that is still a work in progress, has definitely made a difference in moderating the weather changes. There has been more than enough fresh greens and there are still vegetables from last season in the freezer while I wait for a new harvest.

45346




The potatoes are growing well and stood up to some strong winds this past week.

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Finally the peas are starting to flower and hopefully will be a welcome addition to salads and as a steamed vegetabe with excess to freeze for later next year.




I'll be thinking of the Northern Hemisphere gardener's too and hoping you are enjoying your stored harvests while taking a rest during the cold months ahead.:flower:

[Harmony]

The days are getting noticably shorter now and signs of Autumn are apparent. The summer was cooler and wetter this year so the greenhouse was useful. This was the first season to trial the greenhouse, which is still not quite finished, so there was a bit of experimenting to see what worked best.

46420


The tomatoes and zuccinis liking a warmer climate, were succussful and had quite good production and are starting to slow down nearing the end of their season in a month or so. It was important to have good ventilation, especially on the hot days, and it was surprising how much heat built up even with openings along the top of the highest side of the greenhouse where you would expect heat to rise naturally.


The raspberries are getting used to their new position and will likely fill their beds next season. There was plenty of salad greens and also strawberries hung in pots along the wall.

46421

With the higher humidity due to the extra rain and evaporation there was sometimes a problem with grey mould on the zuccini leaves and needing to be sprayed with a mixture of potasium bicarbonate in the late afternoon every now and again, which is safe for bees.


(Mix 1 tsp of Potasium Bicarbonate with 1 litre of water and a Tbs. Of liquid soap)


Peas and beans harvested have been put into the freezer for later use. Bottling fruits and drying some of the apples, saving seeds for the next growing season is how I am spending time now in Autumn.

46422

As my growing season is slowing down I know all the Northern Hemisphere keen gardeners will be gearing up for the growing season ahead, and I wish you good weather conditions and good harvests to come.

[EFO]

The days are getting noticably shorter now and signs of Autumn are apparent. The summer was cooler and wetter this year so the greenhouse was useful. This was the first season to trial the greenhouse, which is still not quite finished, so there was a bit of experimenting to see what worked best.

46420


The tomatoes and zuccinis liking a warmer climate, were succussful and had quite good production and are starting to slow down nearing the end of their season in a month or so. It was important to have good ventilation, especially on the hot days, and it was surprising how much heat built up even with openings along the top of the highest side of the greenhouse where you would expect heat to rise naturally.


The raspberries are getting used to their new position and will likely fill their beds next season. There was plenty of salad greens and also strawberries hung in pots along the wall.

46421

With the higher humidity due to the extra rain and evaporation there was sometimes a problem with grey mould on the zuccini leaves and needing to be sprayed with a mixture of potasium bicarbonate in the late afternoon every now and again, which is safe for bees.


(Mix 1 tsp of Potasium Bicarbonate with 1 litre of water and a Tbs. Of liquid soap)


Peas and beans harvested have been put into the freezer for later use. Bottling fruits and drying some of the apples, saving seeds for the next growing season is how I am spending time now in Autumn.

46422

As my growing season is slowing down I know all the Northern Hemisphere keen gardeners will be gearing up for the growing season ahead, and I wish you good weather conditions and good harvests to come.

Harmony,watching your images,searching for Heaven became senseless.:heart:

As you experimented with greenhouse,this year we'll try Luffa/Louffah (a natural "sponge" from gourd family - more hygienic than artificial sponge :) ).I'll keep the thread posted with the progress (for the moment only the seeds are planted...didn't sprouted yet).

How Luffa Sponges Are Made
(4:32 min.)
"Luffa Gardens in Reedley, California grows and harvests organic luffa sponges. Luffas are a type of cucumber in the gourd family. They're best used for bathing, exfoliating and cleaning. Farm Owners Nathan and Sherri Pauls show us how luffas go from seed to sponge."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npaci7kPnA

[Harmony]

Thank you for the video about Luffa sponges EFO. I would love to try growing them and look forward to your updates on your new endevour.:flower:

[Karen (Geophyz)]

Today I planted Luffa sponges again....my first batch froze ! Thank you EFO for that video!

[Brigantia]

We're gearing up in the northern hemisphere for the growing season. I have 12 tomato seedlings that are doing well and have just been potted up, and have planted some pea and runner bean seeds. Next week when the moon is waning in either Scorpio or Capricorn I'll get my potatoes, onions and carrot seeds planted.

[Anka]

Today has been a pleasant day for gardening!:sun:

In Romania, the weather has barely become beautiful, after a few good weeks of cold.
A few days ago I planted some seeds of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, thyme, cumin and celery. I like to grow tomatoes the most, and this year I will plant more varieties, some are good for preservation, some are good only for consumption, some are only for decoration.

Today I planted more seeds in the greenhouse outside, I planted more than I would have hoped. I planted cranberries (it's the first year) and I want to grow these little trees, from seeds directly! I bought some cranberries, ate a few, and thought about taking out the seeds and getting some bushes for myself in the garden :)
That's what I did a few years ago with goji bushes and it was worth it.

I put some pumpkins, watermelon, parsley, carrots, more cumin, spinach, lettuce, hibiscus, cabbage seeds, tomatoes, peppers and I don't remember what... but it was cool to feel the sun's rays after a not too cold winter but veeery looong, god how much I love gardening!

https://i.postimg.cc/RFcHD4JT/seeds.jpg

Good luck to all Avalon gardeners and those around the world, we really need healthy food, born of the energy of the earth, blessed with clean rains, sweetened by every ray of sunshine!

Good health to all! I just love spring!:flower:

[EarthGirl]

Hello all, :waving:

I thought I would make my first post on this thread, like Anka gardening is my thing...

I started over 30yrs ago when I had my first garden and greenhouse. Without a clue I planted all sorts inside and out and everything grew!!!

I had no idea how I had achieved it, but I had.

Anyway as always life gets in the way and I dipped in and out of it until about 20yrs ago when I grew a load of flowers from seed, took them down the "car boot" it was a 'thing' then, sold the lot and came home with £30 in my pocket.

I suddenly thought "Hey" can I make a living out of this... I did of a fashion (as a single person then) but no matter how many hours I put into the plants and always having to work at least a year ahead I could never get the balance right to make enough to last me the whole year...

And just when I had thought I had reached my lowest point, ever... I reached out to friend who had had a reading with a lady... I duly had my reading and one of the first things she said to me was "plants get all excited whenever you get near them"

Then it made sense how I was able to visually see what the plant would look like before I'd even grown it. Still no matter how hard I worked I couldn't achieve the right balance and the plants I grew were so beautiful that deep down I didn't even really want to sell them . lol...

Folk started asking me to do their gardens for them, so gardening for others took over and the plants got left behind. UK inclement weather meant that if I'd had a really good couple of weeks work and thought I was ahead, then the UK weather would quickly bring me back down to earth when there was weeks I couldn't work.

Eventually I burned my self out and there was a period of about 4 yrs where I couldn't look at a garden or plant...

Thankfully that passed and we bought our now home enclosed in garden of approx 1/4acre, 5yrs ago. Everything needed work, the garden was a complete jungle, but we could afford it so we set to.

It's still very much a work in progress, it's completely organic (or as organic as I can make it), I share it with many creatures (voles, shrews, field mice) and birds.

To watch the blackbirds creep out from the undergrowth first thing in the morning to feast on some sunflower hearts I have put out for them is a sight to behold (likened to an army of black ants descending on their prey) and then there is the army of sex starved sparrows fleeting from shrub to shrub with their shrill bickering that deafens you most mornings at the moment, not to mention the robin who sits by my lounge window and reminds me if I'm late with their breakfast. I could go on and on...

Aoibhghaire is always saying that nature knows nothing but balance and it's so true, nature will never leave a patch of bare earth empty, it will always fill it. As a gardener it's a fine line with balance and I'm very much still learning, that's part of the joy. Figuring out how it all works.

I'm still eating last years onions and just finished the last of my potatoes. I'm coming to the end of my carrots and still have plenty of sweet peppers in the freezer.

My onions from seed are ready to be planted out. The peas are already in the ground. I finished the potato pots for this year today. The kales are ready to be planted out, as are the cauliflowers. I'm going to have to restart the broccoli as one of the chickens got in the greenhouse and demolished them as a "snack". This week I'm going to sow the more tender crops as I think the worst of the frosty nights have now gone.

If anyone in the UK needs some help or advice about flowers or shrubs (cuttings or seed)or veg I am happy to help if I can x

[Anka]

Hi! EarthGirl, and Welcome to the forum!:sun:

Hello to all gardeners!:flower:


I like your serenity to understand nature and plants and especially flowers! I understand perfectly when you say that you were able to see what the plant will look like before it grows. They have a consciousness of their own.:flower:

I have a thing with tomatoes, I like them and I love them. In recent years, I have begun to grow them with more passion, that is, when I put the seed "I advise" it to withstand all weather, and I place the seeds carefully with the intention of growing to "become".
-the "fruit" belongs to them until it ripens very well and gives it to me and I always thank them, as I thank the water that waters them :) (I like to water the garden manually especially when the seedlings are babies, it is a more intimate connection of intention between me and plants).

It was a year when I saved a few hundred tomato plants from a flood (it rained 6 weeks in a row) and all I thought about was standing with my feet in the mud like them, and save them to fulfill their role at least as a plant, I never asked for fruit. We carried with multiple buckets all the water from their root, and until late summer they offered us many tomatoes, and because we saved them, they no longer emitted the substance with which they protect themselves (to the touch) ... that was their form of defense and they gave it up and they "collaborated" with us to save them, because the next day they looked better and greener. They are really alive.

I also had a company through which I performed the landscaping activity and it worked for a while, but I was not impressed, because I only found people who asked for something in a minimalist extended form (many rocks, lawn with scheduled watering, no trees and without too many flowers,(they having no time for to take care of plants) and I was not lucky enough to meet people who want a little paradise to be maintained with love, a plant sanctuary that generates beauty and love of nature .
In the meantime, I was "specialized" according to "market demands" with street furniture and decorative wells, which "was no longer my thing."

Gardening for me came as a kind of necessity, moving to the country in 2001, where I learned to plant vegetables on my own (I learned from my mistakes every year :blushing:) and it is still a process of learning and adapting to clear conditions of weather and seed quality. The first thing I learned in the first year was how to place the plants to "catch" more sun and I grew more and more varieties of plants until we reached to complete our absolute necessary for food for at least 4 people (even if we are just two, I always share with friends too) in full season cycle (and I also have canned vegetables in all sorts, and a huge fridge with finely chopped peppers, frozen tomatoes, beans, spinach, zucchini and more fruits), pickles and onions and leeks which I still gladly offer.

This year I have over 27 varieties of tomatoes, along with the old ones and we have planned "a big planting" (they are stronger together). We grow almost 2000 square meters of vegetables:
-corn, parsnip, salad, beans, green peas, cucumbers, radishes, beets, spinach, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, potatoes and many varieties as if a small child (from the cartoon) would say: "Wow ... you put the seed in the ground and grow pizza":Party:

https://i.postimg.cc/2y2WrbsV/20210331-183945.jpg

I plowed the land with a tractor (with a neighbor's, not mine) and then these days he will come (if the rain stops), to make the land like sand, so I that can start planting.
A few days ago, a sudden snow came, a "plastic" snow was like polystyrene, and before that it thundered. Something I've never seen, for an already "known" weather system. And I ran to cover the seedling tunnels with extra wool blankets and foils.
I'm glad they withstood the cold overnight, some even sprouted:)

https://i.postimg.cc/9XNR90Zt/20210407-1857591.jpg

When I moved here, the garden was grown with vegetables for animals, mostly corn, and the garden was surrounded by plums from which only alcohol was made.The old owner was only interested in these...and I had pretty much transformed everything.
I don't have many flowers, it's something I'm still planning. I started with decorative shrubs, like many jasmines and lilacs, and wisteria, Albizia julibrissin, acacias and hibiscus, and we planted a linden tree because I drink a lot of linden tea.

I have flowers such as lilies, gladioli, hyacinths and daffodils (these, I picked them all this year, because I noticed that the bulbs grow better if I pick the flowers) .. is it true? or maybe they multiplied for some other reason? The plot of flowers has almost doubled, by itself. But I also have many varieties of wild flowers that I let multiply for bees.

https://i.postimg.cc/yxWD5C4Z/20210331-152055.jpg

In the spring I plant a lot of poppies, and bees, in the form of armies, come from the hill, down in the garden, and some pollinate my plants very well, tomato flowers, peppers and eggplants (sometimes "genetically crossing varieties with pollination"), anyway they are very diligent.:heart:

Some of the plants in the tunnel, tomatoes, cabbage.

https://i.postimg.cc/zXsydQdy/20210413-085550.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/9QyrsBSJ/20210413-085458.jpg
Over the years, until 5 years ago, I worked seasonally in the winter, and I returned home every spring to what I call for myself, the "treasure" :), and every time, every spring, I started the gardening season with a great love of belonging to the awakening of nature, through this work, like many others, that ennobles the soul.
Yesterday I was sitting on a chair in the garden and I was thinking: "Gardening is already becoming a beautiful habit, I was just 'guarding' the seedlings next to me, thinking that I could grow old right there and be happy.
There is a connection with plants and they always feel that.

https://i.postimg.cc/T1SKvNfH/Presentation1.jpg

A week ago, I multiplied the bay bush (just cut some branches and carp a little branch to put a grain, or two of "magic wheat"), probably everyone knows that, but I say it anyway,
because it always works for me, the roots always grow from there.I don't need many bay plants for myself, but after two years of care, I can give them as a gift to my friends.

https://i.postimg.cc/5NYHSJmc/20210404-135321.jpg

I tell you again and again, welcome dear EarthGirl! For a first post, your sincerity is as beautiful as the flowers you grow, and thank you for that.:flower:
I can't wait to see photos of your flowers, to "see" that perfume ...:bearhug:

If you can imagine the scent, I send you a photo of a flowering plum, was just before the storm, I stayed there for a while in the rain...
I wish you much success in gardening, a sunny day every day, a healthy life, and a pleasant evening further.:flower:

Good luck to all gardeners.:flower:
Love, Anca

[Strat]

Hey Anka, question for you: You once mentioned that you "bombard tomatoes with ______" but I don't remember what it is? It's somewhere in my PMs. I would PM you but I thought I'd post the question here, it may be of use to other gardeners. Thanks in advance!

[Anka]

Hey Anka, question for you: You once mentioned that you "bombard tomatoes with ______" but I don't remember what it is? It's somewhere in my PMs. I would PM you but I thought I'd post the question here, it may be of use to other gardeners. Thanks in advance!

Hi, Strat :waving:
We treat the tomatoes with powder copper sulfate water and lime (100 gr. Each 2 solid parts per 10-15 l of water), sometimes with baking soda (if necessary, two tablespoons per 10 liters of water) and often with hydrogen peroxide from the pharmacy or Food grade (16 tablespoons of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide concentration is put in 7, 5 liters of water) this is good for all plants in the garden for a surplus of oxygen, and the difference is very clear the second day. The plants manage to get rid of any disease in a week.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.uMPkntt0InxzK3ObU_au3gHaFj%26pid%3DApi&f=1

I have exactly that (above), at less than a dollar / kg.

You can also extract some information from here:
https://www.verywellhealth.com/copper-sulfate-benefits-4684436

Depending on the severity of the disease, ie how advanced it is or what kind of fungus it is, the solutions are applied, maximum three times a week avoiding high temperatures, ie to be applied best in the evening.

But try only if the plants are mature, and if you have a picture, then I will know better what to do, if not, then try to apply on a plant, leave a day break and then apply the solution again, leave one day break and notice later. I'm here.:flower:
I forgot to tell you that it is possible to find copper sulfate rather at a hardware store, I don't think you will find it at the plant care store (they have to sell their chemicals)...

You can also find this Bordeaux juice for plants on the market in a complex industrialized form, but it is not natural. It should look something like ...

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.KUkIUJv6YtFBl7khIZIYVgHaFj%26pid%3DApi&f=1

Tomatoes can also be treated with nettle juice or aloe verra, but only in mild cases.

Ask me anything, bro'... buy me an orange juice :) and we'll talk!

Love you. Anca

[Strat]

Ask me anything, bro'... buy me an orange juice :) and we'll talk!


Being a Floridian I can definitely supply you with fresh oranges lol. I have a loquat (aka Japanese Plum) growing in my front yard if you want to try fresh tea.

I believe the PM I'm thinking of though you weren't speaking of disease prevention but of soil additives for fruit growth. So, nitrogen? Potassium? Something like that. My memory sucks so maybe I am not remembering this properly and I should just dig through the old PMs.

[Anka]

Oh. I apologize, Strat. Of course, in gardening language, "bombing" is the fertilization of plants. I was not paying attention

Tomatoes need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to grow, all in one place. It is commercially available in many ways.

If you have the opportunity to sprinkle the ashes of burnt wood on the ground around them (with burnt wood, from the grill or some fireplace), that right there is a natural fertilizer.
The remaining coffee grounds also help - 800 grams / 50 liters of water.
Banana peels - you can also make a solution in which you put 6 banana peels in 3 liters of water. Leave the banana peels for 2-3 days in a container that you covered with a cloth. After that, put the solution in a container with a sprayer and give the plants a natural fertilizer. At the same time, you can put this solution in the ground.
A natural fertilizer for tomatoes (and many other plants) is yeast.
Yeast is a group of single-celled fungi, and it secretes many nutrients for plants. In yeast we find amino acids, iron, protein, thiamine, vitamin B, auxin or cytokinins.
These mushrooms are used only for ripening, the yeast can speed up the ripening period of the fruit, and in this way you will benefit from fruit much faster.

The yeast solution * used in a maximum of 10-15 minutes, but one liter of the solution below, is used for 10 liters of clean water.
-10 liters of hot water, 10 grams of dry yeast, 0.5 liters of ash, 75 grams of sugar. An adult plant should receive 2 liters of water with yeast fertilizer, only once every 30 days.

However, an organo-mineral fertilizer for tomatoes should have:
-compound nitrogen - phosphorus - potassium (4 - 2 - 8)
-keratin - a natural source of nitrogen, eg coconut fiber
-mineral components - ensures the growth of green parts, rich flowers, acts in the soil, as many vitamins as possible.
It is also the most effective manure from chickens, rabbits or cows or horses.
If you have a farm nearby or if you find it in stores in certain concentrations and mixtures. But this type of fertilizer is applied before the plant begins to bear fruit.

I hope I was helpful, because there are even more types of fertilizer (homemade).
I sometimes use a natural growth hormone that does not inflate plant cells. This one:

https://atonik.eu/index.php

:inlove: Thanks for the tea!

[EarthGirl]

Dear Anka

I am already jealous the amount of area you have to grow in...

if that was me as well as chickens I would have a pond for ducks and an area that I could raise pigs in for 6mths of the year.

It looks beautiful and I echo your sentiment about being in tune with your land.

As for your question about flowers growing better if you pick them... A flowers soul purpose in life is to grow in order to reproduce... So if the bulb/plant is large enough and happy where it is planted then in theory yes you can pick as many as you can because it will encourage the plant to produce more and grow more (provided it can) although there is a limit as there is with everything but stopping a plant from setting seed means it will be more determined to grow better next year and provided the conditions are right it will grow according to oblige. I hope this makes sense and is probably what you already know x

As for tomatoes you are way ahead of me technically I use seaweed and comfrey, Strat if you are near the coast in Florida go gather some seaweed as with all areas it will appear at some point in the year.

Copper sulphate was used here to stop damping off of seedlings and I'm nor even sure I can purchase it anymore, as for Bordeaux mix that's been banned for use by ordinary gardeners in the uk.

If our potatoes get blight then so be it we now have no access to what the commercial growers use to prevent it and where I live we are potato central and my potatoes get blight every year, so I've bought some supposedly blight free varieties this year to trail and the rest I plant early and hope for the best.

Our climate is akin to the rainforest re humidity and I now accept that. I can't grow any decent tomatoes outside they all have to be under cover so my growing space is limited.

It's all about adapting to our climate and I save and grow my own seed when I can. I am most excited about my watermelon seeds this year, I'm limited of course but I managed to get a 5lb beauty from a 10lit pot on the shelf in my greenhouse last year, although I think that was down to the heat we had early last summer.

The seed is saved and will be sown again this year as it will now be 4th year generation watermelon seed adapted to my own acclimatised conditions.

I have never tried wheat with bay cuttings, interesting, there is usually a point in the year when shrubs decide to sprout of their own accord depending on the conditions and I go out and look at them and then (this sounds silly) I get feeling that the time is right.

How lovely to find a fellow gardener as passionate as me x

[EFO]

Dear Earth Girl,

As a gardener to an other gardener we have to help each other,not only with ideas,but also in physical plane,were available.For example,this year,after many years of growing hybrids (we only have potatoes,garlic and peach trees as pure species),finally this year we found gardeners who grow old species of tomatoes,different paprika,watermelons and melons,carrots,cucumbers and for the first time we'll grow Luffa.
Our potatoes we have the potato taste we were used in the childhood,while the villagers are "infused" every year with all kind of potatoes,of which I tried them,and as me they are complaining that the potatoes don't boil or can't be fried and even if that happened they have no taste at all.With garlic is the same,they lost the "seeds" and now they buy it and having that particular slightly bitter-ish taste instead of slightly sweet taste among its natural garlic taste.As per peach trees,they are so pure that they sprouted from their own seeds.

And you gave me a great idea of growing melons in pots.Thank you!

We're also living in a very humid area (hills shadow,mist or fog,a lot of dew,rains and a large river - practically we live in a corridor of permanent moisture),so humid that every year we have to fight with tomatoes fungi until we found different variants not to kill the fungi,but to highly reduce their influence over tomatoes using copper sulfate for soil and plants,peroxide and sodium bicarbonate among others more or less.So we have to find together a solution for you to be able to grow outside your tomatoes.We have to talk.

[DeDukshyn]

The Geenhouse is almost ready to start planting! Did some patchwork on the roof, got the dirt all turned over, peat moss added, etc. Started several plants inside earlier (short summers in Canada), so far, habenero peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, tomatoes, chard, spinach, and a few others already starting. Peas, carrots, turnips can be planted soon. Also growing turmeric and ginger from some roots I got at the grocery store that started to sprout. Those two will probably have to be house plants though. Potatoes will go outside the greenhouse since the deer don't eat those.

I also have to do a full roof replacement on the greenhouse in the next few days here ... the patchwork was just temporary until we could get it cleaned out and ready to go for the season.

[EarthGirl]

Thanks EFO another tip for your melons is to plant them in 1 lit pots and (as you know melons don't like wet stems) them cut the bottom off the pot and stand it onto of your 10lit pot and voila no more wet melon stems when you water.

So pleased you managed to get some heirloom varieties this year they will make a big difference to your seed saving abilities.

Thanks for the offer of help with the tomatoes and I do plant some outside every year just to see what happens. We always seems to get a cold spells during the summer which means the tomato skin end up tough and hard, not nice. I have tried the soluble aspirin trick and the sodium bicarbonate, oil and organic dishwashing soap trick. I'd rather grown them under cover and I still get plenty to share, eat and 'can'.

I am always happy to share and talk x





Dear Earth Girl,

As a gardener to an other gardener we have to help each other,not only with ideas,but also in physical plane,were available.For example,this year,after many years of growing hybrids (we only have potatoes,garlic and peach trees as pure species),finally this year we found gardeners who grow old species of tomatoes,different paprika,watermelons and melons,carrots,cucumbers and for the first time we'll grow Luffa.
Our potatoes we have the potato taste we were used in the childhood,while the villagers are "infused" every year with all kind of potatoes,of which I tried them,and as me they are complaining that the potatoes don't boil or can't be fried and even if that happened they have no taste at all.With garlic is the same,they lost the "seeds" and now they buy it and having that particular slightly bitter-ish taste instead of slightly sweet taste among its natural garlic taste.As per peach trees,they are so pure that they sprouted from their own seeds.

And you gave me a great idea of growing melons in pots.Thank you!

We're also living in a very humid area (hills shadow,mist or fog,a lot of dew,rains and a large river - practically we live in a corridor of permanent moisture),so humid that every year we have to fight with tomatoes fungi until we found different variants not to kill the fungi,but to highly reduce their influence over tomatoes using copper sulfate for soil and plants,peroxide and sodium bicarbonate among others more or less.So we have to find together a solution for you to be able to grow outside your tomatoes.We have to talk.

[EarthGirl]

I'd be interested to hear how you get on DeDukshyn, as the crow flies position wise on this earth we are probably not that far off latitude wise, but because we have the influence of the Gulf Stream we seems to be warmer. Although this year has proved to be very cold and like you we have limited growing time as regards light, temp etc.



The Geenhouse is almost ready to start planting! Did some patchwork on the roof, got the dirt all turned over, peat moss added, etc. Started several plants inside earlier (short summers in Canada), so far, habenero peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, tomatoes, chard, spinach, and a few others already starting. Peas, carrots, turnips can be planted soon. Also growing turmeric and ginger from some roots I got at the grocery store that started to sprout. Those two will probably have to be house plants though. Potatoes will go outside the greenhouse since the deer don't eat those.

I also have to do a full roof replacement on the greenhouse in the next few days here ... the patchwork was just temporary until we could get it cleaned out and ready to go for the season.

[DeDukshyn]

I'd be interested to hear how you get on DeDukshyn, as the crow flies position wise on this earth we are probably not that far off latitude wise, but because we have the influence of the Gulf Stream we seems to be warmer. Although this year has proved to be very cold and like you we have limited growing time as regards light, temp etc.



The Geenhouse is almost ready to start planting! Did some patchwork on the roof, got the dirt all turned over, peat moss added, etc. Started several plants inside earlier (short summers in Canada), so far, habenero peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, tomatoes, chard, spinach, and a few others already starting. Peas, carrots, turnips can be planted soon. Also growing turmeric and ginger from some roots I got at the grocery store that started to sprout. Those two will probably have to be house plants though. Potatoes will go outside the greenhouse since the deer don't eat those.

I also have to do a full roof replacement on the greenhouse in the next few days here ... the patchwork was just temporary until we could get it cleaned out and ready to go for the season.

I'll keep this thread updated through the summer with some pics! :) I'll watch for yours here as well.

[EFO]

Thanks EFO another tip for your melons is to plant them in 1 lit pots and (as you know melons don't like wet stems) them cut the bottom off the pot and stand it onto of your 10lit pot and voila no more wet melon stems when you water.

So pleased you managed to get some heirloom varieties this year they will make a big difference to your seed saving abilities.

Thanks for the offer of help with the tomatoes and I do plant some outside every year just to see what happens. We always seems to get a cold spells during the summer which means the tomato skin end up tough and hard, not nice. I have tried the soluble aspirin trick and the sodium bicarbonate, oil and organic dishwashing soap trick. I'd rather grown them under cover and I still get plenty to share, eat and 'can'.

I am always happy to share and talk x





Dear Earth Girl,

As a gardener to an other gardener we have to help each other,not only with ideas,but also in physical plane,were available.For example,this year,after many years of growing hybrids (we only have potatoes,garlic and peach trees as pure species),finally this year we found gardeners who grow old species of tomatoes,different paprika,watermelons and melons,carrots,cucumbers and for the first time we'll grow Luffa.
Our potatoes we have the potato taste we were used in the childhood,while the villagers are "infused" every year with all kind of potatoes,of which I tried them,and as me they are complaining that the potatoes don't boil or can't be fried and even if that happened they have no taste at all.With garlic is the same,they lost the "seeds" and now they buy it and having that particular slightly bitter-ish taste instead of slightly sweet taste among its natural garlic taste.As per peach trees,they are so pure that they sprouted from their own seeds.

And you gave me a great idea of growing melons in pots.Thank you!

We're also living in a very humid area (hills shadow,mist or fog,a lot of dew,rains and a large river - practically we live in a corridor of permanent moisture),so humid that every year we have to fight with tomatoes fungi until we found different variants not to kill the fungi,but to highly reduce their influence over tomatoes using copper sulfate for soil and plants,peroxide and sodium bicarbonate among others more or less.So we have to find together a solution for you to be able to grow outside your tomatoes.We have to talk.

Dear EarthGirl,

I need your help,guidance,details and advice regarding melon-ing :)

We have a few buckets of 5 liters with sprouted melons and in each bucket are more or less 15 young plants.My questions for you are:
1-How many plants should I left in the 5 liters bucket?
2-The bigger bucket housing the 5 liters bucket need to me filled with soil or water or should be let it empty and watering only the 5 liter bucket?

Many thanks in advance for your guidance and time to reply.

As a side note,we started plating tomatoes and this year for the first time we used zeolite.After plating them we watering them with a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide already used before with very good results among other things :)

[Trisher]

I have decided to use Humic acid on my soil in the Polytunnel this year. I tinkered with it last year but feel that the soil could use a real boost. Its a brown powder and I can either place a tiny amount into the base of plants when planting or I can water it in as it is water soluble. I am also putting it into my comfrey and nettle barrel as it will pull more nutrients out and make them more available. I have not tried Zeolite but do use Rockdust. Why are you using Zeolite EFO?


oKzwgJMy0sQ

[EarthGirl]

Hi EFO for example I have attached a photo so that you can see what I mean.

This is an old picture and just for illustration.

Both pots are filled with soil, and make it as rich as you can. This year mine will have well rotted cow manure as well as whatever you want to add to the pot to feed the plant.

Melons are greedy feeders and as I use pots I don't expect more than 1 or 2 melons per plant.

Each plant will need as a minimum at least 10 lit of compost. If you can give them more great.

The first flowers that will appear are the males flowers and once the plant feels happy the female (melon bearing) flowers will appear. If nature doesn't help you then wait for at least 2 female flowers to appear and then use a male flower to hand pollinate both of them.

For some reason when confined to pots if only one female flower has appeared and is pollinated then the plant will put all it's energy into the one fruit. It took ages for me to pollinate a second fruit.

Once the melon has set, you will see if it takes within a week.

Once the fruit starts to grow I feed them every other day, as I said they are greedy feeders.

And they love heat, put them in the hottest place in your polytunnel/greenhouse.

I hope this makes sense?


46636

As for zeolite I have never heard of it, I shall have to look it up.




Dear EarthGirl,

I need your help,guidance,details and advice regarding melon-ing :)

We have a few buckets of 5 liters with sprouted melons and in each bucket are more or less 15 young plants.My questions for you are:
1-How many plants should I left in the 5 liters bucket?
2-The bigger bucket housing the 5 liters bucket need to me filled with soil or water or should be let it empty and watering only the 5 liter bucket?

Many thanks in advance for your guidance and time to reply.

As a side note,we started plating tomatoes and this year for the first time we used zeolite.After plating them we watering them with a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide already used before with very good results among other things :)[/QUOTE]

[EarthGirl]

I'll have to look at the vid thanks Trisher.

Are you finding it a cold start to the season? We haven't had a night when the temp has been over 10c yet and we haven't had any rain for 6wks... I though we might get some today but the clouds parted and it went either side of me...



I have decided to use Humic acid on my soil in the Polytunnel this year. I tinkered with it last year but feel that the soil could use a real boost. Its a brown powder and I can either place a tiny amount into the base of plants when planting or I can water it in as it is water soluble. I am also putting it into my comfrey and nettle barrel as it will pull more nutrients out and make them more available. I have not tried Zeolite but do use Rockdust. Why are you using Zeolite EFO?


oKzwgJMy0sQ

[Karen (Geophyz)]

I am trying something different. I am planting in hay! I have my first hay bale planted so I will see how this goes!

[Ron Mauer Sr]

If you are confident the hay has not been exposed to a herbicide it can work very well with a little potting soil.

[EFO]

I have decided to use Humic acid on my soil in the Polytunnel this year. I tinkered with it last year but feel that the soil could use a real boost. Its a brown powder and I can either place a tiny amount into the base of plants when planting or I can water it in as it is water soluble. I am also putting it into my comfrey and nettle barrel as it will pull more nutrients out and make them more available. I have not tried Zeolite but do use Rockdust. Why are you using Zeolite EFO?


oKzwgJMy0sQ

Dear Trisher,we are using zeolite for our health for some years now and I "discovered" a Romanian company which exploit zeolite ore for different purposes and if zeolite is good for health,I thought why shouldn't be also good for Earth/soil and plants.We already plated half of our tomatoes plants (about 350) and only 4 have some "problems,compared with previous years when about half of total plants have to be replaced because they died.So,for me is a more than a huge progress,not only because we have less work to do by replacing,but also the plants continue to live,which is more important than our work.

Here is what the company said about the product I bought it from them:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ro&tl=en&u=https://zeolitesproduction.com/zeco-ground/

I will update. :)

[Harmony]

Karen, I look forward to hear how your hay bale planting goes.

I would also like to try the double potting method next season in the green house Earthgirl as it is a cooler planting district here, and sometimes the seasons can be short.

Anka and EFO glad to hear your tomatos are doing so well and I will keep an eye for your updates.

I have Humic acid in a natural liquid fertiliser, I hope your humic acid in the poly tunnel work out well Trisher.

Also I will look forward to your pictures DeDukshyn🍃🍀

I've been gathering seeds and making grape jelly and preserving apples this week.

[EFO]

Hi EFO for example I have attached a photo so that you can see what I mean.

This is an old picture and just for illustration.

Both pots are filled with soil, and make it as rich as you can. This year mine will have well rotted cow manure as well as whatever you want to add to the pot to feed the plant.

Melons are greedy feeders and as I use pots I don't expect more than 1 or 2 melons per plant.

Each plant will need as a minimum at least 10 lit of compost. If you can give them more great.

The first flowers that will appear are the males flowers and once the plant feels happy the female (melon bearing) flowers will appear. If nature doesn't help you then wait for at least 2 female flowers to appear and then use a male flower to hand pollinate both of them.

For some reason when confined to pots if only one female flower has appeared and is pollinated then the plant will put all it's energy into the one fruit. It took ages for me to pollinate a second fruit.

Once the melon has set, you will see if it takes within a week.

Once the fruit starts to grow I feed them every other day, as I said they are greedy feeders.

And they love heat, put them in the hottest place in your polytunnel/greenhouse.

I hope this makes sense?


46636

As for zeolite I have never heard of it, I shall have to look it up.




Dear EarthGirl,

I need your help,guidance,details and advice regarding melon-ing :)

We have a few buckets of 5 liters with sprouted melons and in each bucket are more or less 15 young plants.My questions for you are:
1-How many plants should I left in the 5 liters bucket?
2-The bigger bucket housing the 5 liters bucket need to me filled with soil or water or should be let it empty and watering only the 5 liter bucket?

Many thanks in advance for your guidance and time to reply.

As a side note,we started plating tomatoes and this year for the first time we used zeolite.After plating them we watering them with a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide already used before with very good results among other things :)[/QUOTE]

Thank you EarthGirl for your more than crystal clear explanation and your time.You're a TREASURE!All your infos are diamonds!

[EFO]

Just an update about my Luffas...after one month after planting.We added different quantities of zeolite up to none.The soil is the same in all pots.

46649

[Antagenet]

Yesterday we bought 2 adorable little fig trees about a foot and a half high (with little figs on them already) from a farmers son who walks the neighborhoods selling plants out of a wheelbarrow. He also had cintronella plants for mosquito prevention, so we bought 2 of those. I have never liked citronella essential oil but these plants smell a lot better! :-)
It's great hearing about and seeing all your plants!

[Ankle Biter]

I have recently enjoyed some of my home grown Swiss Chard and Silverbeet Spinach but because I planted a bit late this year most of the other stuff is not yet ready... but not too long now I hope.

On the way is Eggplant, Chilli, Tomatoes & plum tree, lemon tree and lime trees are all very full..

Herbs are doing great with lemon thyme, parsley, rosemary and holy basil looking very happy.

Given recent shortage concerns as well as unwanted tweaking with what is on our shelves I am most definitely going to try go self sufficient.

Would appreciate anyone's tips/suggestions or what you've had success with growing during Winter & Autumn (Fall) months.. Where I live in Adelaide we have a nice mix of all 4 seasons, nothing too extreme.

https://www.farmonlineweather.com.au/images/climate/wz_clim_annual_site_23090.png

[Peace in Oz]

Would appreciate anyone's tips/suggestions or what you've had success with growing during Winter & Autumn (Fall) months.. Where I live in Adelaide we have a nice mix of all 4 seasons, nothing too extreme.

https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/ has sowing charts based on region and season. There are hundreds of vegetables, herbs and flowers listed:
https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/assets/files/TheSeedCollection-%20Sowing%20Chart.pdf

[Ankle Biter]

@Peace in Oz. You're a legend mate.

That's perfect!

[Pam]

This was the first year that I dehydrated apples. I sprinkled them with cinnamon and then vacuum packed them. It was a great way to use apples that may have been really small or had a small portion that was uneatable. I am planning to expand this with other fruits and veggies. The vaccuum bags are reusable albeit a bit smaller each time.

I do freeze all that I can but as the trees get larger there is more fruit to deal with. I do like to leave certain fruits for the animals. The birds go crazy over pears!!! I live near the ocean so the gulls come in and just devour whatever they can get!

I know I have said it many times over the years on the forum and maybe on this thread earlier, but sprouting is a wonderful way to always have fresh veggies. All you need are the sprout seeds and and a jar with a lid that can drain water. You can travel and bring them with you. My staples are mung beans (for their protein") and alfalfa seeds. You can literally sprout any seeds. They really are and inexpensive way to keep the live food available for those of us that live in climates where growing year round is not very easy.

I love the knowledge on this thread.

[onawah]

How to Grow Food in the Worst of Conditions
3/7/22
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/03/06/regenerative-agriculture-week.aspx?ui=8d3c7e22a03f5300d2e3338a0f080d2da3add85bca35e09236649153e4675f72&sd=20110604&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20220306_HL2&mid=DM1128070&rid=1425915160
Annual Update for Regenerative Agriculture Week
by Dr. Joseph Mercola
March 06, 2022

TmCPtISInycV/

"Despite not having wells or rainfall eight months of the year, arid, barren Mexico is growing green vegetables year-round and restoring the environment. This is how they're doing it, including the use of 'air layering' to grow trees 7x faster.

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a family of organizations that include Regeneration International. The Regeneration International research farm in Miguel de Allende, Mexico, has started a reforestation project using mesquite trees and agave plants
Agave leaves (which have always been discarded and considered useless) and mesquite pods can be fermented and turned into nutritious animal feed that costs one-third to one-quarter of the price for alfalfa
Donations made to the OCA during Regenerative Agriculture Week will be matched dollar for dollar by Mercola.com
My team and I are even creating access to biodynamic practices and better food sources through Solspring®, an authentic food brand that offers Demeter Certified Biodynamic® and organic ingredients from across the globe

It's our annual Regenerative Agriculture Week again, and to give you an update, I interviewed Ronnie Cummins, co-founder and international director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA). OCA is one of the nonprofits we donate a portion of our revenues to each year.

While giving out information is important, we also want to make sure we can pave the way to make it easier for you to actually implement healthy changes such as switching to an organic diet. That's hard to do unless organic foods are readily available, and OCA is wholly dedicated to that mission.

About the OCA
The OCA is actually a family of organizations that include Regeneration International, which has a research farm in Mexico. It's staffed by about 50 people, mainly agronomists and farm workers. They also have a research farm in Minnesota that operates primarily during growing season. In the winter, they grow foods in a specially designed solar powered greenhouse.

"There is a way to grow green vegetables year-round, but we have to stop prioritizing GMO soybeans and corn in the Midwest and start prioritizing food for real people if we're going to do that," Cummins says.

"In Mexico, it's a totally different situation. We're in a semi-desert area near San Miguel de Allende. Our research on regenerative and organic food here is focused on how you can grow a bunch of food and basically restore the environment when you don't have wells and you don't have rainfall eight months a year.

We only get rain three or four months a year, so it's necessary to use all these permaculture type practices. In a good year, we get 20 inches [of rainfall].

So, we have ponds where we catch millions of liters of water from the mountains. We have cisterns below all the buildings. We catch the water on the roofs and put it into the cisterns. We have composting toilets, recycled shower water, and we try to grow crops and trees that are adapted to low moisture."

The 75-acre farm needs to collect and store about 12 million liters or 3 million gallons of water during the rainy season, which then has to last the rest of the year.

Crops that work well in this semi-desert and have low water requirements include native desert plants and trees like agave and mesquite. Growing these has allowed the farm to re-green the desert landscape and produce fermented animal feed that's both inexpensive and healthy.

Air Layering Project to Begin
The regenerative farm in Mexico is now gearing up for a new reforestation project. By taking a limb from a healthy mesquite tree, adding some natural hormones and wrapping the branch with a bag filled with compost, you will, after three to four months, have a small tree ready for planting as new roots grow into the compost-filled bag. At that point, you can either plant it into a container, or directly into the soil. This process is known as "air layering."

"Our 1-year-old mesquite trees are as big as a 7-year-old mesquite tree from a seed," Cummins says. "It's a method that we're really excited about. People in the Southwestern U.S., Texas and the Southwest, are very familiar with mesquite because there's so many of them.

Texas, I believe, has 55 million acres of mesquite. The bean pods on the trees are highly nutritious. You can make flour and bake with it. Animals also love the pods as an animal feed."

The roots of the mesquite tree can burrow hundreds of feet down in search of water, and they in turn provide nutrition for other plants. As explained by Cummins, they exchange liquid carbon from the tree for the nutrients from the soil.

"The combination of the native agaves and these types of nitrogen fixing trees is the real key to restoring the environment," Cummins says. "Originally, 400 years ago, this was a savanna. It had oak trees. It had lots of mesquite trees. It had a different climate.

The timber was valuable, though. The Spaniards basically deforested much of Mexico over the years, because they needed charcoal for the silver mines. In Europe, they loved the mesquite trees and the oak trees for building purposes — building ships, houses and so on. Once they deforested large swaths of Mexico ... it changed the climate.

Now, the native trees need human intervention to reforest. But if you can come up with a system, which we have, that rewards the small farmer or the rancher right away — in this case because they get low-cost animal feed that's much cheaper than alfalfa or corn silage — you can get people to start adopting this [strategy].

We've planted about 350,000 agave seedlings in the last two years, and we're seeing the popularity of this system now starting to spread. We're actually getting inquiries from all over the world now, including ranchers in Texas who would like to improve their pastures and their ecosystems in general."

Creating a Win-Win Situation
When you hear "agave," chances are your mind goes straight to tequila. As explained by Cummins, the state of Jalisco grows 500 million blue agave plants for the tequila industry. The problem is, they're being grown as a monoculture. All preexisting vegetation is cut down to make room for the agave. They also use chemical fertilizers, typically RoundUp. Together, it degrades the landscape rather than improves it.

Forty percent of the world is arid or semi-arid, and is in danger of reverting to outright desert where nothing will grow. But we can reverse this process using native plants and organic and permaculture techniques. ~ Ronnie Cummins
What OCA and Regenerative International are doing is organic, regenerative and biodynamic. It preserves biodiversity and makes use of the natural potential of the plants. The big breakthrough came when a local farmer figured out that the leaves of the agave plant, which are huge biomass, can be fermented and turned into nutritious animal feed.

A single agave leaf can weigh 40 to 80 pounds, and these leaves were always discarded. "For thousands of years they were considered junk," Cummins says. What they found was that you can place finely chopped leaves in a closed container and ferment them.

To that, you can also add mesquite pods. Cummins has been using a mix of 80% to 90% agave leaf and 10% to 20% mesquite pods. This mix is superior to alfalfa in terms of nutrition, but costs only a third or a quarter of the price.

Cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and even sheepdogs, enjoy it. A big part of the cost-savings is from the reduced water consumption. Alfalfa needs about 26 times more water than agave and mesquite. Most of the animals on the farm eat the natural vegetation and get the agave mash as a supplement. However, by adding garbanzo beans — another low-water crop — you could produce a feed that the animals could live on exclusively.

"We think it's a good idea to graze the animals," Cummins says, "even in the dry season when there's not much vegetation. But we graze them a lot less than has become the custom over the last 100 years.

Sixty percent of Mexico, like the Southwestern U.S., is semi-desert arid, and it's been over-grazed. So, we need to get back to a regenerative grazing situation where you partly rest the land, you're reforesting it and using contours to help retain the rainwater.

Forty percent of the world is arid or semi-arid, and is in danger of reverting to outright desert where nothing will grow. But we can reverse this process using native plants and organic and permaculture techniques that modern organic farmers have developed over the last 50 to 100 years.

Alfalfa is a great perennial if you have plenty of water and you're not draining the aquifer. But that's not the way it's being done. In Southern California, the giant dairy farms, the giant feed lots that are feeding alfalfa to the animals across the Southwest, these areas do not have the water availability to be doing this. We've got to stop that and start looking at the long-term water resources we have."

Bringing the Rain
The amazing thing about reforestation is that it can actually change the climate and improve rainfall. Regenerative ranchers in Northern Mexico, in the Chihuahuan Desert, who have added 1 million acres of rotational grazing, report getting 15% to 20% more rainfall than their neighbors who haven't regenerated their land.

"You can literally bring back rain to a level that was traditionally there, if you regenerate the landscape," Cummins says. "You do this not just with human ingenuity and stewardship, but the animals are totally necessary to speed up this process. We need animals grazing in areas, even the semi-arid arid areas, but we don't want them to over-graze ...

We need to use their natural behavior in conjunction with what we're doing to restore the environment. And we can do that."

New Market Opportunities
Cummins laid out a plan for transforming the U.S. through regenerative practices in his 2020 book, "Grassroots Rising." In the U.S., market demand is one of the primary factors driving regenerative farming and ranching. There is a bigger demand for grass fed meat and animal products now than there was 10 years ago, but it's not growing fast enough.

Feed lots and factory farming still dominate, in part because that's what our government subsidizes. Changing the farming subsidies to prioritize regenerative farming would go a long way to changing the status quo. Encouraging private investors to put their money where their mouth is, is another possibility.

"I'm pretty excited about this. There's a new type of asset being developed on the stock exchange. The rules are being written up by the Securities and Exchange Commission. These are called Natural Asset Stocks, or Natural Asset Corporations.

This is a type of stock different from anything we've seen up until now. The government of Costa Rica, for example, is putting all the lands that the government owns, the forests and the farmlands, into a Natural Asset Corporation.

So, if you're a manager of a pension fund, or an investor, or a corporation, you can invest in one of these natural assets. You don't own the land, you're not having a lien on any of the income that comes from this land. What you own are the ecosystem services that the land provides.

For example, you've got this system of agave and mesquite trees. We are incorporating now to where someone can own the environmental services. In other words, the amount of water that we're saving, the amount of carbon that we're sequestering, the amount of methane that our animals are releasing — they're releasing less when they eat this fermented silage.

Instead of going to a corporation or a foundation and looking for a donation, what you do is you say, 'Would you like to invest in a natural asset?' And then over time, as the forest matures, as the system matures, as you regenerate the soil, your asset is worth more money. If you choose to sell that asset, you can actually make money off of it.

This is very appealing to Wall Street at this point. They're really worried about their reputation, as they should be, but they also are not going to change overnight what they're doing. But this is a way that they can pull some of their assets out of financial assets and put them into ecosystem assets, and still get a return on their money.

But this is like organic certification. You can't just say that you're doing a benefit to the environment and then get people to invest in this benefit. You have to be able to prove it. We've developed a system of verification that is quite accurate scientifically. It involves measuring things like the numbers of plants, the size of the plants. You do soil analysis and so on, the traditional things you would look at.

But then with modern technology, it's possible to fly a drone over the area and take photographs. And then you compare your measurements on the ground with what the drone is seeing through their multiple cameras.

And then you develop an algorithm and progressions to where you can then fly the drone over another area that you haven't measured on the ground, and you get the readings on how much carbon biomass is in the environment. You get a reading on other ecosystem services."

Reasons to Be Hopeful
They're also using a blockchain accounting system to verify the calculations and make it very difficult to cheat. So, anyone who invests in a natural asset will be able to verify, several years down the road, at a very low cost, whether the asset has improved or degenerated.

"When people ask, 'Are you really greening the desert?' 'Are you really restoring the environment?' 'Are you conserving water?' 'Are you producing important food for animals and humans?' you'll be able to prove it one package.

There's $125 trillion out there invested in financial assets. Most of this is degenerating the planet. But there's $125 trillion-worth of natural assets that are not valued right now. We believe that approximately 1% of the financiers and the corporate money managers and pension managers right now are quite concerned about the environment, the same way we are, and are ready to start moving a portion of their assets.

We only need to move 1% in the next decade to get the ball rolling. The benefits of regenerative food and farming are far beyond even just the ecosystem benefits. As we've seen during the pandemic, sales of organic food have grown substantially.

Sales of dietary supplements have grown substantially. A lot of people have learned the joys of cooking at home again, instead of going out to restaurants. We've got a potential market demand. We just need to get the ball rolling."

The Regenerative Network
Regenerative International, incorporated in 2014, has since built a global network of regenerative farmers and ranchers, with some 400 affiliates in 60 countries. You can find a map of these regenerative farms on RegenerationInternational.org.

Much of the energy over the past seven years has been spent on educating the world about the importance of regenerative farming practices, including its ability to improve climate, preserve water and improve nutrition. Today, most people have at least heard about regenerative farming.

The primary focus now is to seek out the best practices and make sure they're shared, publicized and duplicated. The fermented agave idea, for example, came from a local farmer who visited the Regeneration International farm in Mexico. He asked if they'd heard of fermenting the leaves for animal feed. He'd been doing it for 12 years, yet no one had ever heard of this strategy.

As it turns out, it's a fantastic solution that solves several problems at once. There may be other solutions out there that people just don't know about, and Regeneration International aims to find them and share them, worldwide.

It's our annual Regenerative Agriculture Week again, and to give you an update, I interviewed Ronnie Cummins, co-founder and international director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA). OCA is one of the nonprofits we donate a portion of our revenues to each year.

While giving out information is important, we also want to make sure we can pave the way to make it easier for you to actually implement healthy changes such as switching to an organic diet. That's hard to do unless organic foods are readily available, and OCA is wholly dedicated to that mission.

About the OCA

The OCA is actually a family of organizations that include Regeneration International, which has a research farm in Mexico. It's staffed by about 50 people, mainly agronomists and farm workers. They also have a research farm in Minnesota that operates primarily during growing season. In the winter, they grow foods in a specially designed solar powered greenhouse.

"There is a way to grow green vegetables year-round, but we have to stop prioritizing GMO soybeans and corn in the Midwest and start prioritizing food for real people if we're going to do that," Cummins says.

"In Mexico, it's a totally different situation. We're in a semi-desert area near San Miguel de Allende. Our research on regenerative and organic food here is focused on how you can grow a bunch of food and basically restore the environment when you don't have wells and you don't have rainfall eight months a year.

We only get rain three or four months a year, so it's necessary to use all these permaculture type practices. In a good year, we get 20 inches [of rainfall].

So, we have ponds where we catch millions of liters of water from the mountains. We have cisterns below all the buildings. We catch the water on the roofs and put it into the cisterns. We have composting toilets, recycled shower water, and we try to grow crops and trees that are adapted to low moisture."

The 75-acre farm needs to collect and store about 12 million liters or 3 million gallons of water during the rainy season, which then has to last the rest of the year.

Crops that work well in this semi-desert and have low water requirements include native desert plants and trees like agave and mesquite. Growing these has allowed the farm to re-green the desert landscape and produce fermented animal feed that's both inexpensive and healthy.

Air Layering Project to Begin
The regenerative farm in Mexico is now gearing up for a new reforestation project. By taking a limb from a healthy mesquite tree, adding some natural hormones and wrapping the branch with a bag filled with compost, you will, after three to four months, have a small tree ready for planting as new roots grow into the compost-filled bag. At that point, you can either plant it into a container, or directly into the soil. This process is known as "air layering."

"Our 1-year-old mesquite trees are as big as a 7-year-old mesquite tree from a seed," Cummins says. "It's a method that we're really excited about. People in the Southwestern U.S., Texas and the Southwest, are very familiar with mesquite because there's so many of them.

Texas, I believe, has 55 million acres of mesquite. The bean pods on the trees are highly nutritious. You can make flour and bake with it. Animals also love the pods as an animal feed."

The roots of the mesquite tree can burrow hundreds of feet down in search of water, and they in turn provide nutrition for other plants. As explained by Cummins, they exchange liquid carbon from the tree for the nutrients from the soil.

"The combination of the native agaves and these types of nitrogen fixing trees is the real key to restoring the environment," Cummins says. "Originally, 400 years ago, this was a savanna. It had oak trees. It had lots of mesquite trees. It had a different climate.

The timber was valuable, though. The Spaniards basically deforested much of Mexico over the years, because they needed charcoal for the silver mines. In Europe, they loved the mesquite trees and the oak trees for building purposes — building ships, houses and so on. Once they deforested large swaths of Mexico ... it changed the climate.

Now, the native trees need human intervention to reforest. But if you can come up with a system, which we have, that rewards the small farmer or the rancher right away — in this case because they get low-cost animal feed that's much cheaper than alfalfa or corn silage — you can get people to start adopting this [strategy].

We've planted about 350,000 agave seedlings in the last two years, and we're seeing the popularity of this system now starting to spread. We're actually getting inquiries from all over the world now, including ranchers in Texas who would like to improve their pastures and their ecosystems in general."

Creating a Win-Win Situation
When you hear "agave," chances are your mind goes straight to tequila. As explained by Cummins, the state of Jalisco grows 500 million blue agave plants for the tequila industry. The problem is, they're being grown as a monoculture. All preexisting vegetation is cut down to make room for the agave. They also use chemical fertilizers, typically RoundUp. Together, it degrades the landscape rather than improves it.

Forty percent of the world is arid or semi-arid, and is in danger of reverting to outright desert where nothing will grow. But we can reverse this process using native plants and organic and permaculture techniques. ~ Ronnie Cummins
What OCA and Regenerative International are doing is organic, regenerative and biodynamic. It preserves biodiversity and makes use of the natural potential of the plants. The big breakthrough came when a local farmer figured out that the leaves of the agave plant, which are huge biomass, can be fermented and turned into nutritious animal feed.

A single agave leaf can weigh 40 to 80 pounds, and these leaves were always discarded. "For thousands of years they were considered junk," Cummins says. What they found was that you can place finely chopped leaves in a closed container and ferment them.

To that, you can also add mesquite pods. Cummins has been using a mix of 80% to 90% agave leaf and 10% to 20% mesquite pods. This mix is superior to alfalfa in terms of nutrition, but costs only a third or a quarter of the price.

Cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and even sheepdogs, enjoy it. A big part of the cost-savings is from the reduced water consumption. Alfalfa needs about 26 times more water than agave and mesquite. Most of the animals on the farm eat the natural vegetation and get the agave mash as a supplement. However, by adding garbanzo beans — another low-water crop — you could produce a feed that the animals could live on exclusively.

"We think it's a good idea to graze the animals," Cummins says, "even in the dry season when there's not much vegetation. But we graze them a lot less than has become the custom over the last 100 years.

Sixty percent of Mexico, like the Southwestern U.S., is semi-desert arid, and it's been over-grazed. So, we need to get back to a regenerative grazing situation where you partly rest the land, you're reforesting it and using contours to help retain the rainwater.

Forty percent of the world is arid or semi-arid, and is in danger of reverting to outright desert where nothing will grow. But we can reverse this process using native plants and organic and permaculture techniques that modern organic farmers have developed over the last 50 to 100 years.

Alfalfa is a great perennial if you have plenty of water and you're not draining the aquifer. But that's not the way it's being done. In Southern California, the giant dairy farms, the giant feed lots that are feeding alfalfa to the animals across the Southwest, these areas do not have the water availability to be doing this. We've got to stop that and start looking at the long-term water resources we have."

Bringing the Rain
The amazing thing about reforestation is that it can actually change the climate and improve rainfall. Regenerative ranchers in Northern Mexico, in the Chihuahuan Desert, who have added 1 million acres of rotational grazing, report getting 15% to 20% more rainfall than their neighbors who haven't regenerated their land.

"You can literally bring back rain to a level that was traditionally there, if you regenerate the landscape," Cummins says. "You do this not just with human ingenuity and stewardship, but the animals are totally necessary to speed up this process. We need animals grazing in areas, even the semi-arid arid areas, but we don't want them to over-graze ...

We need to use their natural behavior in conjunction with what we're doing to restore the environment. And we can do that."

New Market Opportunities
Cummins laid out a plan for transforming the U.S. through regenerative practices in his 2020 book, "Grassroots Rising." In the U.S., market demand is one of the primary factors driving regenerative farming and ranching. There is a bigger demand for grass fed meat and animal products now than there was 10 years ago, but it's not growing fast enough.

Feed lots and factory farming still dominate, in part because that's what our government subsidizes. Changing the farming subsidies to prioritize regenerative farming would go a long way to changing the status quo. Encouraging private investors to put their money where their mouth is, is another possibility.

"I'm pretty excited about this. There's a new type of asset being developed on the stock exchange. The rules are being written up by the Securities and Exchange Commission. These are called Natural Asset Stocks, or Natural Asset Corporations.

This is a type of stock different from anything we've seen up until now. The government of Costa Rica, for example, is putting all the lands that the government owns, the forests and the farmlands, into a Natural Asset Corporation.

So, if you're a manager of a pension fund, or an investor, or a corporation, you can invest in one of these natural assets. You don't own the land, you're not having a lien on any of the income that comes from this land. What you own are the ecosystem services that the land provides.

For example, you've got this system of agave and mesquite trees. We are incorporating now to where someone can own the environmental services. In other words, the amount of water that we're saving, the amount of carbon that we're sequestering, the amount of methane that our animals are releasing — they're releasing less when they eat this fermented silage.

Instead of going to a corporation or a foundation and looking for a donation, what you do is you say, 'Would you like to invest in a natural asset?' And then over time, as the forest matures, as the system matures, as you regenerate the soil, your asset is worth more money. If you choose to sell that asset, you can actually make money off of it.

This is very appealing to Wall Street at this point. They're really worried about their reputation, as they should be, but they also are not going to change overnight what they're doing. But this is a way that they can pull some of their assets out of financial assets and put them into ecosystem assets, and still get a return on their money.

But this is like organic certification. You can't just say that you're doing a benefit to the environment and then get people to invest in this benefit. You have to be able to prove it. We've developed a system of verification that is quite accurate scientifically. It involves measuring things like the numbers of plants, the size of the plants. You do soil analysis and so on, the traditional things you would look at.

But then with modern technology, it's possible to fly a drone over the area and take photographs. And then you compare your measurements on the ground with what the drone is seeing through their multiple cameras.

And then you develop an algorithm and progressions to where you can then fly the drone over another area that you haven't measured on the ground, and you get the readings on how much carbon biomass is in the environment. You get a reading on other ecosystem services."

Reasons To Be Hopeful
They're also using a blockchain accounting system to verify the calculations and make it very difficult to cheat. So, anyone who invests in a natural asset will be able to verify, several years down the road, at a very low cost, whether the asset has improved or degenerated.

"When people ask, 'Are you really greening the desert?' 'Are you really restoring the environment?' 'Are you conserving water?' 'Are you producing important food for animals and humans?' you'll be able to prove it one package.

There's $125 trillion out there invested in financial assets. Most of this is degenerating the planet. But there's $125 trillion-worth of natural assets that are not valued right now. We believe that approximately 1% of the financiers and the corporate money managers and pension managers right now are quite concerned about the environment, the same way we are, and are ready to start moving a portion of their assets.

We only need to move 1% in the next decade to get the ball rolling. The benefits of regenerative food and farming are far beyond even just the ecosystem benefits. As we've seen during the pandemic, sales of organic food have grown substantially.

Sales of dietary supplements have grown substantially. A lot of people have learned the joys of cooking at home again, instead of going out to restaurants. We've got a potential market demand. We just need to get the ball rolling."

The Regenerative Network
Regenerative International, incorporated in 2014, has since built a global network of regenerative farmers and ranchers, with some 400 affiliates in 60 countries. You can find a map of these regenerative farms on RegenerationInternational.org.

Much of the energy over the past seven years has been spent on educating the world about the importance of regenerative farming practices, including its ability to improve climate, preserve water and improve nutrition. Today, most people have at least heard about regenerative farming.

The primary focus now is to seek out the best practices and make sure they're shared, publicized and duplicated. The fermented agave idea, for example, came from a local farmer who visited the Regeneration International farm in Mexico. He asked if they'd heard of fermenting the leaves for animal feed. He'd been doing it for 12 years, yet no one had ever heard of this strategy.

As it turns out, it's a fantastic solution that solves several problems at once. There may be other solutions out there that people just don't know about, and Regeneration International aims to find them and share them, worldwide.

JJeMEqa46_0

My team and I are even creating access to biodynamic practices and better food sources through Solspring®, an authentic food brand that offers Demeter Certified Biodynamic® and organic ingredients from across the globe.

Not only are we making it easier for the average person to shop, cook and consume biodynamic products they can trust, we're also supporting farmers worldwide by offering a premium price for their harvests. From the U.S. to India, we strongly support their transition to biodynamic practices, and building healthier, more diverse farmlands.

OCA Is Paving the Way
Since its inception in 1998, OCA has worked to educate people about organic, biodynamic, regenerative food. Cummins spent a couple of decades fighting for the organic industry before that as well. They've also educated the public to realize that farming does have a big impact on the environment.

"If you care about clean water, for example, you better care about regenerative agriculture," he says. "If you care about animals, you better care about how factory farming is an abomination, and so on. We've created, I believe, the potential market demand.

We simply have to have the products available, and we have to stop governments from subsidizing degenerate food and farming. The market has the potential to correct a lot of the problems out there, if we work together to do that."

Today's your chance to help us achieve that mission. Every dollar you donate, I will match during this fundraiser. As explained by Cummins, all funds raised are used to further the mission of OCA and Regenerative International.

"Most groups in the world that care about regenerative food and farming are strapped for cash. For example, we have 50 people at this research farm in Mexico. Most of them are graduate students from agronomy schools. We provide housing. We pay them a wage. It costs money to do this, and it costs money to pay for the school buses that come with kids on them, and the small farmers who come in to see what we're doing.

OCA has always tried to be an international organization, so part of the money we raise goes to our international staff. We have one staff person in Africa. We've got one in Southern France, one in Australia, one in Argentina. This is what we use our money for.

I spend half my time exposing the bad stuff ... and the other half on positive solutions. You get frustrated after 50 years in the organic movement of asking the government to please stop allowing cheating of standards. Lo and behold, we're getting to the point where we're going to be able to measure a lot of these things scientifically, and verify them. If USDA organic seal isn't enough, we'll have another seal that you can get behind.

In this day and age, you can know where each piece of meat came from, each fish, each vegetable. That's what we're going to have to move to. We need organic standards that are truthful. We have unfinished business in the U.S. because the government's special interests have blocked mandatory labeling of GMOs.

They're not requiring labels on nanotechnology. They're lying about pesticide residues, and so on. We have to keep fighting the battle for truthful labeling and transparency, [and] thank goodness, we're at a point where we're going to be able to have a better method, not only of farming, but of proving that [organic, regenerative methods] are being employed.

So, please consider making a donation to the OCA today! I'll match all donations, dollar for dollar during this weeklong fundraiser."

[Harmony]

I have been meaning to post here for quite some time. The garden during this past growing season has certainly kept me busy. The increasing unpredictability of the climate has been really important to observe and being flexible in planting and harvesting times has been more important than ever to prevent crop failures.


Having the greenhouse, now the 2nd season I have experimented, was really great and the raspberry harvest from the summer fruiting variety and now the autumn varieties has been very successful with enough for eating and freezing for later use. I was able to extend the growing period for zucchinis, tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce and some other salad vegetables.


Watching the cycle of the seasons in the garden plants, fruit trees, and vegetables, from planting the seeds and nurturing them to harvest and preserving produce and seed saving is quite a satisfying process.


It may be more important also to prepare a compost heap to provide extra nutrients for your garden, especially if fertilisers and other garden supplies become more difficult to acquire over the coming months.


With a few unexpected life issues to deal with, I wasn’t able to get all the photos I would have liked, but I will share what I can here.
48639


48640


48641




Autumn weather is becoming apparent with the shortening days here in the Southern Hemisphere, and soon it will be time for all the Northern Hemisphere gardeners to prepare for growing as much food as possible just in case of food shortages, and the benefit of healthy food that is delicious as well.

[Brigantia]

It's early spring here and I've got seed trays all over the place; onions, plum and cherry tomatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, various herbs, carrots, cape gooseberries - that's what I remember off the top of my head.

I also planted some seeds from some lovely apples and lemons that I had recently and I have 3 tiny lemon and 2 tiny apple trees coming up already, though that's a long term project for them to come to maturity. There's a big reorganisation of our garden underway to give me more room for my kitchen garden, plus the shed needs replacing. It's a wonder that it didn't collapse in the winter storms we had.

I'll be getting some peas and French beans going and I love this idea of a willow support - I found out that there's a willow supplier just a few miles away! It looks like a great craft project to do in an afternoon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9yoLiesDy8&list=WL&index=3&t=971s

[Sue (Ayt)]

I'm not a garden-planting whiz by any means, but I've been having fun learning and growing my small crops each year. Over the past few years, I've whittled it down to mostly planting the things I've found to be both easy, and successful.


49030


I was really pleased with the garlic I harvested recently. So very easy to grow!

[Antagenet]

Combine global depression + mini ace age cooler temperatures and difficult worldwide growing conditions... now planting a garden is my number one goal. I want to be as food sufficient as possible. Are you stepping up your food production?

What did you plant today? :flower:

Today I planted...
More basil and dill.
yard long beans, moringa, spinach, okra
and transplanted purslane and a passionfruit vine.

Feel free to add photos of your plants,
online seed companies that are selling seeds,
and also gardening instructional videos!

OK Here are my updated favorite food production plants we are growing.
Passionfruit vine is my top favorite. Hardy, great flavor fruits, easy to grow, leaves are medicinal too.
Second favorite - cherry tomatoes. I've grown to really love the flavor of the smallest ones and they are so prolific.
Surinam Cherry Tree - Beautiful, dependably productive, Delicious. Best for Tropical climate
Citrus Trees. This was the biggest gardening thrill ever, to grow my first lemon!!! amazing.

[Bill Ryan]

From https://thesoccermomblog.com/foods-you-can-regrow-from-scraps:

https://thesoccermomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/15-Foods-You-Can-Regrow-from-Scraps.png

[Strat]

Bump/What are you guys growing? How're the garden's lookin? I've got some flowers, herbs and 3 banana trees that are on the mend from a freeze.

Gardening is just a fun hobby for me and I don't have the space for serious gardening. But it's nice to see you guys garden, it's inspirational.

[Brigantia]

We've got one more cold snap next week but then (hopefully) it will start to warm up. Yesterday I started off cherry and plum tomato seeds and over the next few days I'm going to start to sow the seeds of carrots, beans, peas and some flowers.

I managed a day trip to France last year and whilst there I bought a HUGE bulb of garlic, so the bulbs of that were planted in November - they need at least 10 days of frost to split the bulb - and they are coming up nicely. The experts say never to plant shop-bought garlic, but whenever I've managed to get some in France it does really well.

In post no. 122 above I posted a vid on a pea and bean obelisk support made from willow, the cost of willow was extortionate but I got some willow for free! So that's a project to get on with soon. I got the free willow from the horticulture course that I'm doing, we were coppicing willow in December and the tutor said that we could take what we wanted. I'll post a pic once it's done.

[jaybee]

We've got one more cold snap next week but then (hopefully) it will start to warm up. .

:thumbsup:

I garden in pots - because the person who lived here before me slabbed over the small back garden...which actually has made life easier because it raises everything up so you don't have to bend down so much - and slugs are easier to control - a small sprinkle of salt around the pot puts them off -

re the weather I'm keeping some bubble wrap over the seeds I've already planted for now... marigold (to dry the flowers)... perpetual spinach... and parsley (so far...) coriander next - the two pots of chives are already coming up again - the large container of watercress that I've established is on the brink of spring growth and flowering ~


**************************

the wormwood that came back up on it's own last year looks like it will be doing that again... there are two slab sized spaces of soil where the lemon balm and mint will be up again soon...

I love to use my own seeds from the year (or two) before... I also like to let a patch of nettles grow and a few dandelions... then there's the nasturtiums that will seed themselves in pots and pop up where they want - some sweet peas will go in soon purely for their scent and beauty...

this is a partial story of my little back garden... when I write it down I realise what a lot is going on :)


*******************************

then there's the large (ish) pots with a blackcurrant and redcurrant in - and the apple tree that I've had in a big pot for about 7 years... you won't have heard of this kind of apple tree (probably not anyway...) it's called a Doddin Apple Tree and is more or less only found around Redditch, Worcestershire... my friend remembers as a child knowing where every Doddin tree in the area was and it is said that children use to take a bag of them to eat in the cinema.... and loved them in war time when there weren't any sweets - my little Doddin Apple tree did very well last year but the year before just had two flowers and struggled to grow two little apples... that seems to be what happens lots one year and just a few the next - someone said if I regulated the number of flowers allowed to produce apples it would be a constant average amount but I let it do it's own thing....

the Doddin is an unusual, old fashioned, elongated little apple that can be seen and magnified on this link for any one who's interested...

https://walcotnursery.co.uk/product/doddin/


more news from a little back garden another time... :flower:

:waving:

[Brigantia]

I garden in pots - because the person who lived here before me slabbed over the small back garden...which actually has made life easier because it raises everything up so you don't have to bend down so much - and slugs are easier to control - a small sprinkle of salt around the pot puts them off:

At one home I had a back garden that was all patio - I grew loads of food in pots and like you say, no slug problem! Thanks for letting us know about doddin apples, they sound interesting and apparently they're very sweet. I have an apple tree that's badly cankered but still yielding a crop, but at some point it will need to be replaced. I might look into a doddin...

I sometimes watch Jag Singh on YT, he experimented with growing potatoes in containers and he reckons that a cardboard box gave the best yield.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Di4h6yIzY&list=LL&index=19

[jaybee]

I garden in pots - because the person who lived here before me slabbed over the small back garden...which actually has made life easier because it raises everything up so you don't have to bend down so much - and slugs are easier to control - a small sprinkle of salt around the pot puts them off:

At one home I had a back garden that was all patio - I grew loads of food in pots and like you say, no slug problem! Thanks for letting us know about doddin apples, they sound interesting and apparently they're very sweet. I have an apple tree that's badly cankered but still yielding a crop, but at some point it will need to be replaced. I might look into a doddin...

I sometimes watch Jag Singh on YT, he experimented with growing potatoes in containers and he reckons that a cardboard box gave the best yield.

{video snipped - see above...}


I think you just read my mind because I nearly said something about growing potatoes but held back because the post was getting long...

will watch the video with interest in a bit... what I was going to say was that I was thinking of growing potatoes in straw in a dustbin (maybe cut in half - the dustbin that is..)... I've grown them in pots before but they went a bit crazy with the green growth above - with limited numbers of potatoes below - I'm thinking of getting a bale of straw and seeing how it goes... I've seen that you can do it and it's easier than using soil + compost (maybe perhaps...).... if you wrapped the bale of straw in black plastic with holes made in it you could probably just do it like that...? anyway will take a look at the video... cheers....

By the way I'm impressed at your dedication to growing garlic - going to France to get it.... lol... :)

[Mari]

We've got one more cold snap next week but then (hopefully) it will start to warm up. Yesterday I started off cherry and plum tomato seeds and over the next few days I'm going to start to sow the seeds of carrots, beans, peas and some flowers.

I managed a day trip to France last year and whilst there I bought a HUGE bulb of garlic, so the bulbs of that were planted in November - they need at least 10 days of frost to split the bulb - and they are coming up nicely. The experts say never to plant shop-bought garlic, but whenever I've managed to get some in France it does really well.

In post no. 122 above I posted a vid on a pea and bean obelisk support made from willow, the cost of willow was extortionate but I got some willow for free! So that's a project to get on with soon. I got the free willow from the horticulture course that I'm doing, we were coppicing willow in December and the tutor said that we could take what we wanted. I'll post a pic once it's done.


Hi Brigantia, the 12ft crack willow that I have in my garden is the result of a pruned branch (just that, no roots) that I plonked in the ground about 8 years ago to 'see' what would happen. It took' very quickly. We have to prune it every year as it's a fast grower, but we use use the branches for screening and making various things. Perpetual willow for free :bigsmile: Try it.

[Brigantia]

Hi Brigantia, the 12ft crack willow that I have in my garden is the result of a pruned branch (just that, no roots) that I plonked in the ground about 8 years ago to 'see' what would happen. It took' very quickly. We have to prune it every year as it's a fast grower, but we use use the branches for screening and making various things. Perpetual willow for free :bigsmile: Try it.

That's interesting - it's often good to see what comes from plonking things in the ground! The only problem is that I have a long and very narrow garden so it's not very good for large trees. We do have a 'river' running through our village - it's just a stream with delusions of grandeur - that has a lot of willow growing on its banks, so there's plenty for me to plunder there for projects. I've not done that yet but I'll remember what you've said, so thanks for that. At college they're creating a 'dead hedge' of cut bits of trees and shrubs, it's looking really good. You just need some upright stakes in the ground to hold it all in place.


what I was going to say was that I was thinking of growing potatoes in straw in a dustbin (maybe cut in half - the dustbin that is..)... I've grown them in pots before but they went a bit crazy with the green growth above - with limited numbers of potatoes below - I'm thinking of getting a bale of straw and seeing how it goes... I've seen that you can do it and it's easier than using soil + compost (maybe perhaps...).... if you wrapped the bale of straw in black plastic with holes made in it you could probably just do it like that...?

That's interesting about growing them in straw, I'll look into that. Last year I used 2 tubs that are about two and a half feet diameter but it took a lot of soil to fill them. I got the tubs from my farming neighbour, they contained mineral feed for calves and they're just rubbish once empty as far as they're concerned, so they were happy for me to have a couple. I just drilled holes in the bottom for drainage.

So, if you know any farmers and need big containers...

[jaybee]

That's interesting about growing them in straw, I'll look into that. Last year I used 2 tubs that are about two and a half feet diameter but it took a lot of soil to fill them. I got the tubs from my farming neighbour, they contained mineral feed for calves and they're just rubbish once empty as far as they're concerned, so they were happy for me to have a couple. I just drilled holes in the bottom for drainage.

So, if you know any farmers and need big containers...

watched the vid you posted - it was good and it made me smile when he was so pleased to see the potatoes... going woah woah wooooooah... look at those potatoes - :)

ok... a plan is now forming - after seeing your video + watching the one below just now... I'm going to get a big cardboard box from a shop that sells fridges and cookers - lay it on it's side - fill with straw but add some soil and chicken manure pellets - - - and see how it goes - - -

(6 mins)

o1gjralE3gA


WARNING! Straw is an awesome resource for gardening, landscaping and lawns...however, it can be potentially detrimental to the soil balance of nitrogen.
~
I'm trying to save you the heartache that I've experienced in the past because I didn't understand this simple yet potentially detrimental bit of information.
~
I hope you don't have to learn the hard way like I did.
~
Blessings, friends!
~
Benj aka Gardenguy

[Jaak]

I got some book suggestions for growers that i have found rather useful for getting better insight into plants and nature etc

How plants are trained to work for man by Luther Burbank (1914).
https://archive.org/details/howplantsaretrai01burbrich/page/n9/mode/2up

Burbank created hundreds of new varieties of fruits (plum, pear, prune, peach, blackberry, raspberry); potato, tomato; ornamental flowers and other plants. He introduced over 800 new plants, including flowers, grains, grasses, vegetables, cacti, and fruits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burbank

Living water by Olof Alexandersson (1982)
https://educate-yourself.org/cn/Living-Water-1982-Olof-Alexandersson-155pages.pdf
This one is more about Viktor Schauberger and his discoveries . Alot of good knowledge about water,soil and other things .

[Sue (Ayt)]

I planted my cold-weather plants and now have spinach, radishes, my garlic, and swiss chard coming up nicely.
I've learned that these all do well for me if I plant the seeds in Feb. I also planted some lettuce and beets which haven't appeared yet.

My parsley is growing from last season (never totally died out), and the oregano always reappears. It spreads like wildfire.

I just love going out and picking our dinner salad, fresh, in the spring!

[jaybee]

.

I've not had much success with radishes in my pots in the past - although the ones that did develop well were very tasty and nice to pick, rub off the soil and eat straight away, there and then ... but the flower is pretty so I let some grow for the flowers - just recently I've tried sprouting radish seeds (got them from ebay)... and this is a great success - they have the taste and heat of a radish bulb - the goodness is concentrated and they're ready in a few days...


************************
************************

https://blog.backtotheroots.com/2018/03/13/top-4-healthiest-tastiest-microgreens-seeds/#:~:text=Not%20only%20do%20they%20contain,fighting%20properties%20to%20digestive%20aid.


Nutrition

Radish sprouts list of nutrients reads like the info panel on a bottle of multivitamins. These are some seriously powerful little greens. Not only do they contain vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, they also deliver calcium iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. But that’s not all. Radish sprouts are rich in essential amino acids and chlorophyll which has all sorts of benefits from cancer-fighting properties to digestive aid. These babies also contain a whole lot of fiber and roughage which we all know is important to help keep things running smooth.

Growing

Not only are radish sprouts full of nutrition, they’re also quite beautiful. Often they are lined with pinkish streaks the color of their older selves. And boy do they grow fast. In a matter of days, radish sprouts are ready to be harvested.

radish :heart:

[gord]

Here's a list of links to the Cooperative Extensions for each of the US States and Territories from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (scroll down below the map):

https://www.nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-colleges-and-universities-partner-website-directory?state=All&field_map_filter_value=Extension&order=field_map_filter&sort=asc

You can find all sorts of information through these links from very small scale gardening to large scale farms. Each state has county level information as well which can be found through each of the state links.

Right now, I have some things started inside around mid February, actually too early for here, because I'm testing some things.

parsley, peas, 2 kinds of kale, mustard, red cabbage, red onions, spinach

about 25 other things to follow soon.

[Eva2]

'Electroculture, Good vibes for Agriculture'

https://www.electrocultureandmagnetoculture.com/?fbclid=IwAR2OHgTguYS1Li6za7e3qu_UZr5oCibLU9Wu-fLhDpjiwBN4ZR4s83M6558

'My site on electroculture that is most up to date in 2022 is the french version you find on https://www.electroculturevandoorne.com Use google translate or the translate button on the site. You can shop on this site too, with many more products.
Electroculture, Natural energetic forces to increase fertility of the land
Earth and Cosmic energies
Electricity & Magnetism
Agricultural applications for soil fertility, healthy crops and increase yields.

This english electroculture website is not so up to date as my french website. You can visite my french website and easely translate by pushing the translation button on the pages. You will also find lots more products on the pages and I send all over the world;
You will find also a lot more up to date information on my original french website : http://www.electroculturevandoorne.com/

Electroculture is a group of techniques that uses electricity and magnetism to assist plant growth. Plants are sensitive to electricity and magnetism. Improved plant growth, quality and increased yields, are some of the noticeable effects. The technology can also be used to protect plants from pests and diseases.

Electroculture synonymous with magnetoculture are generic terms used to describe an assortment of techniques designed to amplify and focus magnetic and natural electric forces of nature to boost soil fertility, and plant growth. In Nature magnetic and electrical forces always manifest conjointly. Magnetoculture refers more specifically to magnetic influences and electroculture to electric influences on plant growth and soil fertility.
Electroculture and magnetoculture are based on a synthesis of recent discoveries in the field of Agriculture encompassing cosmic and telluric energies, electricity and magnetism.'

This article is quite long with pictures and videos so easier to read from the link. I thought it was interesting

[Brigantia]

Freebie plants! I might start my own vineyard...

At college there were vines growing in the horticulture area in a place that is being handed over to another department, so the vines will be ripped up. So, I nabbed a bit of vine. I cut it into 3 just below a node, plonked them in a pot and they're doing nicely. One is budding well and has tiny grape bunches on it, another has a bud coming along, the other doesn't seem to be doing much at all but the buds might come out into leaf.

[Brigantia]

A seedling tip... I love watching the gardening tip vids on YT that are posted by eastern Europeans, they know the old ways and are really knowledgeable. A Polish lady once told me that it's common for families to have an apartment in town, and an allotment of about 2 acres a mile or so away.

One tip from eastern Europe I came across is a free way to boost seedlings - to put chopped banana skins in a container with water, leave them for 4 days in a warm place, strain it and then use it to water seedlings. Gardeners will know the N P K ratio, K is potassium and is highly beneficial for root growth. Bananas are high in potassium so that is what will turbo-charge this concoction.

Here are 2 jars on the go; one is on day 3, the other on day 1 and I'll be applying those to my tomato and bell pepper seedlings.

[Bill Ryan]

I didn't really 'plant' this, and nothing happened 'today'. And one can't eat this, either. :) But what happened does seem to be something worth sharing.

These are bromelias (sometimes locally called tree orchids'), remarkable plants that live on adopted tree branches in every forest in Ecuador. They're described as 'parasitic', but they don't take any nutrition from their hosts, happily sitting there quite independently with no damage to the trees. This is what they look like in the wild:

https://projectavalon.net/bromelias.jpg

I rescued one almost exactly a year ago from where it had fallen all on its own into a field near my house. So I picked it up and tied it to one of my fence posts, doubting it would survive its ordeal.

But since then, it's thrived, reaching for the sky. :muscle: What baffles me is that I have NO idea where it gets its nutrition from. It's just grown and grown. It's nowhere near any soil, and seems to take everything it needs simply from the air and the rain.

:heart:
(I'll replace this photo when the sun's shining brightly so it can be seen a little more clearly :sun: )

https://projectavalon.net/bromelia.jpg

[gord]

I found out recently that in the small city where I live, this time of year residents can get 6 5 gallon buckets each of compost, top soil, and mulch for free every weekday while it lasts. It's converted from yard and household waste collected during the previous year. I might be busy for a while.

[Applesprig]

I live in the Irish countryside on a few acres of land. We are attempting to become self sufficient in veges, but it is challanging to say the least. Each year we build upon last year's mistakes and take note of what works. I love foraging for wild foods and at least twice a week in Spring and Summer I use nettles, wild garlic, dandelion, sticky lizzie and plantain as a substitute greens for a simple French soup, called Leek and Potatoe soup. Nettles is truely a superfood and is so tasty.
We are going through a dreary Spring, not much sun. There have been a few high octain volcanoes lately, spewing sulpher dioxcide over the higher latitudes, I suspect we will see a lot more of this soon which will make gardening more challanging. But it is worth it, the delights, dissapointments and flops makes one all the more eager to learn natures ways.

[Delight]

Sprouts can be grown indoors. Nutrient dense foods heal.

uGGGFRcMuc4

[Brigantia]

I constructed a compost bin for the grand total cost of 60p for 4 angle brackets from the local car boot sale. I've linked below the vid that shows you how to construct it, really easy even for a DIY numpty like me. The pallets came from my local garden centre where they let you have them for free.

Compost is terrible this year - and more expensive - it's all peat-free which is good for the environment as peat extraction ruins the habitat, but I've heard twice that commercial growers they know have lost about £30K of stock with plants they are rearing peat-free. A local expert gardener said that he uses soil-based John Innes no. 2 for everything; he has a penstemon national collection and has been gardening for decades.

So, with my new bin in place I should have plenty of free compost from next year. At college we've been taught that you should have a mixture of greens (green growth but never weeds), browns (twig) and spent compost. Turn it over every now and then to aid the breaking-down process.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGmFXZR8Cxc

[Mari]

I didn't really 'plant' this, and nothing happened 'today'. And one can't eat this, either. :) But what happened does seem to be something worth sharing.

These are bromelias (sometimes locally called tree orchids'), remarkable plants that live on adopted tree branches in every forest in Ecuador. They're described as 'parasitic', but they don't take any nutrition from their hosts, happily sitting there quite independently with no damage to the trees. This is what they look like in the wild:

https://projectavalon.net/bromelias.jpg

I rescued one almost exactly a year ago from where it had fallen all on its own into a field near my house. So I picked it up and tied it to one of my fence posts, doubting it would survive its ordeal.

But since then, it's thrived, reaching for the sky. :muscle: What baffles me is that I have NO idea where it gets its nutrition from. It's just grown and grown. It's nowhere near any soil, and seems to take everything it needs simply from the air and the rain.

:heart:
(I'll replace this photo when the sun's shining brightly so it can be seen a little more clearly :sun: )

https://projectavalon.net/bromelia.jpg

Here you are, Bill, copied online :

Air plants, also known as bromeliads, get their nutrients in a variety of ways. In the wild, they typically grow in trees or on rocks, and get their nutrients from the air, water, and debris that collects in their rosettes. They also have specialized scales on their leaves called trichomes, which absorb moisture and nutrients from the air. Additionally, some bromeliads have developed a symbiotic relationship with certain types of algae or bacteria that live in their rosettes, which provide them with additional nutrients.

Clever critters, aren't they? ;)

[onawah]

Grow Your Own Groceries LIVE SUMMIT online 6/9-6/11
From a Forbidden Knowledge email newsletter: Forbidden Knowledge TV <newsletter@forbiddenknowledgetv.net> via slshare.com
info@forbiddenknowledgetv.net

https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/h0Uag62_pcFx9LkBzEqpBCKjGHCy0t3EP4Ig_QdqtzO645eebOgFWxA9XHwEIrg3Wf_G2AjTKAxjVCCOqQSOzUtc5UxHIokqemkL 3298XoxZmvoxn6WFD9wM5tMsZYUbtjiP6TOtuhf3bhUKok9MHuhuWVANMdrjp-oh8YerWfj4DEvHwF2LMXY1YtRq2e0=s0-d-e1-ft#https://forbiddenknowledgetv.sendlane.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,width=1200/images/forbiddenknowledgetv/FCb6LrEm7O.jpg

"If you have been thinking about making that change and growing your own food, now is the time!

Many of us are feeling the pinch at the grocery store. Prices are the highest we’ve ever seen.

Organic eggs in Michigan are going for $10 a carton. You can, however, make a change for yourself and begin your own homestead.

My friends at the Grow Network are offering the 2023 Grow Your Own Groceries Food Summit – for FREE!

This event is packed full of useful information that will help you to make the changes necessary to grow your own food. You can worry less about the grocery store and get excited about the food in your own garden.

This summit has speakers that are respected experts in their field. The best part is that they are just like you and I – people who wanted to make a change for the better. Their advice is useful regardless of your skill-set or the size of your garden.

Patio garden? City dweller? Apartment living? The presentations steer away from the need to own acres of farmland to succeed.

Instead, they focus on real-world solutions usable by you.

Ready to make the change? Or maybe you simply want to learn more? No time is better than the present. The best part – it is FREE! Click Here Now to Grab Your FREE Ticket!

Here’s a sneak peak of some of the exciting presenters: Jill Winger and Marjory Wildcraft discuss Food Preservation and Storage Methods. They will weigh-in on why you need to do this

NOW more than ever!

Lisa Steele and Marjory will chat about what came first, the Chicken and the Egg. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without… making the most use out of your chicken!

Tom Bartels discusses Growing Food in Small Spaces. He promotes thinking about your garden as a mini ecosystem with plant with diversity in mind.

Stacey Murphy and Marjory Wildcraft discuss Healing, Spirituality and Communing with the Divine through Gardening.

Scott Sexton shares his best tips for Beginner-Proof Foraging. Learn his favorite 12+ edible wild plants and what to do with them and the berry color you should never eat.

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[Alekahn2]

...Bump

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[Dennis Leahy]

I frequently hear people say that they cannot grow their own food, and of course, that's true if by "food" you mean something like grains that require large fields to produce a bag of flour.

One food to remember is sprouts, with my particular favorite (in terms of nutrition, lack of anti-nutrients, texture, and taste) is broccoli sprouts. Even if you live in a tiny house or tiny apartment, you can easily grow sprouts. A 5 pound bag of seeds can be found for about $50US. I'm only guessing on this, but I'll bet that 5 pounds of broccoli seeds sprouted is probably equivalent to the size of a bale of hay. It would be boring to just eat sprouts for weeks or months, so it shouldn't be the only "larder" or "prepper" food you store, but to me, it really makes sense for its aforementioned properties to be one of your key supplies.

The only other thing you need is a jar to sprout in, and cheesecloth or screen and a rubber band to let the sprouts respire and to keep bugs out. You can get a 'fancy' sprouting lid sized for a Mason/Ball jar if you prefer. If there are more than one mouth to feed and if they are getting gobbled-up quickly, you can add a second or even third jar and cycle the process (which takes about a week to grow sprouts.)

[palehorse]

I made a post on another thread "Seeds-think-about-them-now" but I believe that post belongs here, on maybe belong to both.

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?17195-Seeds-think-about-them-now&p=1600796&viewfull=1#post1600796


Here is a turmeric plant, it is about 5 months old, I got older ones almost ready to harvest. I grow them in small vases and they do well with only morning sun and water every 2 days or so.

https://images2.imgbox.com/9b/86/p5aZlJhZ_o.jpg

[Tigger]

Turmeric grows like crazy in my region. This season I dedicated half of one of my garden beds with some roots I had left over from last year. Here is the result so far - see the garden bed on the left:

52737

Plant in late spring. When the soil is warm (or after the last threat of frost), loosen up the soil and plant the roots just under the surface. My method is to make sure the soil is nice and loose (not clay, but not sandy either) before planting. When the upper leaves start to brown off, it’s nearly time to harvest. This is usually during early to mid-fall season in the tropics. I have a small worm farm, and I fertilise ONCE with the worm-juice just after the first large leaves form. I don’t usually need to add any more fertiliser during the growing season, but if the leaves start to turn yellow (and you’re not over-watering), add a small amount of organic fertiliser.

[Harmony]

What a beautiful garden Tigger, it looks so tropical:stars:

[Tigger]

Growing potatoes is well-worth the time and effort if you have enough space to do so. Last year I planted three varieties: Sebago, Royal Blue, and Red Lady. I used seed potatoes that I ordered online from a certified source in Victoria, Australia.

I planted each of the 3 varieties in raised garden beds:

52738

I planted late in the season (July, in the Southern Hemisphere), and harvested in November. The results were pretty good:

52739

This was my first attempt at potato farming. Although I was happy with the result, I felt the yields were low. My next-door neighbour (he’s 500m away across the river), who is a commercial farmer, came over to see what I had produced. He told me that the reason why the yield was lower was because I had not loosened up the soil to begin with, and I probably did not supply enough water during the growing phase. Lesson learned…

However, these potatoes were of incredibly high quality. I baked them in the oven at 240 degrees C, and, oh-boy, they were probably the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten. I sold the surplus to our local restaurant!

I’ve kept some potatoes in cold storage in the basement, and today I’ve planted them out again so that I can keep the crops growing true-to-type. Technically it’s not the season to plant now (so I’m told), but I had an empty garden bed, so I thought I’d experiment. I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out :)

[Ewan]

Turmeric grows like crazy in my region. This season I dedicated half of one of my garden beds with some roots I had left over from last year. Here is the result so far - see the garden bed on the left:

52737

Plant in late spring. When the soil is warm (or after the last threat of frost), loosen up the soil and plant the roots just under the surface. My method is to make sure the soil is nice and loose (not clay, but not sandy either) before planting. When the upper leaves start to brown off, it’s nearly time to harvest. This is usually during early to mid-fall season in the tropics. I have a small worm farm, and I fertilise ONCE with the worm-juice just after the first large leaves form. I don’t usually need to add any more fertiliser during the growing season, but if the leaves start to turn yellow (and you’re not over-watering), add a small amount of organic fertiliser.

What is the average size of the rhizome you get?
If you left them in the ground would they grow on the following season?

We've got our poly-tunnel here all seeded and ready to go.

[Tigger]

<snip>

What is the average size of the rhizome you get?
If you left them in the ground would they grow on the following season?

We've got our poly-tunnel here all seeded and ready to go.

Dear Ewan,

Thanks for asking.

Last year, the average size was well over 20cm. When I harvest this year’s crop, I’ll be sure to add some photos of the rhizome size. I suspect it will be larger!

Mind you, the turmeric harvest from last year was more than enough to supply us with fresh rhizomes until now. We’re still using them in juices and cooking!

Oh, by the way, if you bake your own bread, be sure to add some minced turmeric and caraway seeds into the dough!

I did leave some of them (the old rhizomes from last year) in the ground (in the same garden bed that you see in my photo), mainly because I had far too much for one harvest!), and those grew again, along with additional rhizomes I re-planted this season.

I was actually really surprised that some of the original rhizomes re-sprouted after the ‘winter’. I’m fairly new to this, and I have to admit I was not prepared for the yield!

Now, I really ought to say that, this season, I tried growing ginger from store-bought roots. They are similar to turmeric, but they are growing very slowly in comparison (I should upload some photos at some point). I’m told that many grocery stores deliberately spray some sort of retardant on the ginger so that it doesn’t grow ‘sprouts’ and look ugly in the shop. Perhaps this is why my first attempt to grow ginger is looking ‘lacklustre’.

When I uproot those ginger rhizomes I will re-plant some in the greenhouse and see how they grow over the winter. With any luck, I’ll have some ‘untarnished’ rhizomes to plant again next spring :)

[norman]

From 20 to 12 years ago I successfully grew very nice Garlic from a couple of garlic I bought locally from a locally grown producer.

After several years of neglecting my back garden entirely, I bought some garlic from a couple of big supermarkets to try again. The garlic I bought was imported from far away where the seasons and climate are probably very different.

The planted garlic in my garden that year had no idea where it was or what time of year it was. I planted it in November ( as I had always done with the good garlic ) expecting the same result, that is, it would establish a good root cluster and poke a tiny bit of green shoot to the surface and wait all winter before bursting into growth very early in the following year giving it a good chance to mature fully during my short northern England season.

But, that didn't happen. It tried to grow as soon as I planted it and became very straggly and miserable all winter and failed to gain anything from the following spring and summer. It was such a poor patch of garlic I didn't even bother trying to harvest it.

[Tigger]

Bananas

I found some banana plants in a section of the property when I first moved here a few years ago. They were overgrown and in pretty bad shape. I cleared off a lot of the surrounding vegetation and removed the old and dead banana plants, leaving just the healthier young plants:

52751

They are a dwarf-type banana, and I haven’t been able to find out exactly what variety they are. They are rich, creamy and delicious eating! Nobody I’ve spoken to so far seems to know about this banana variety and I haven’t seen it anywhere else, so there’s no way I want to risk losing them. But the plants are in an odd section of the garden and ultimately I want to move them to a better location. So I decided to remove some of the ‘suckers’ (the new young plants that grow near the base of the main plant) and propagate them in pots in the shade-house. Some of these I will plant outside; I have enough room to keep one or two in the shade house (protected from rats and bats):

52750

52749

I won’t remove the original banana plants until these young ‘suckers’ have grown large enough to bear fruit and produce suckers of their own. In the tropics, that’s probably about two more years.

Once a banana plant produces its bananas, it will then die back. So banana plants tend to grow outwards in a ring, with the newer plants on the outside.

With the rapidly rising cost and declining availability of fresh fruit and vegetables, these plants will prove to be a very wise investment.

[Tigger]

Turmeric vs. Ginger

I promised I’d add some photos of the turmeric and ginger plants currently growing side-by-side. These are in a separate garden bed from the other turmeric plants I showed earlier…

I planted both tumeric and ginger rhizomes at the same time (November I think it was). The tumeric is from the same rhizomes I was growing last year. The ginger is from store-bought ginger I had left over in the kitchen. The net over the garden bed is to stop turkeys digging up the roots - I did this AFTER a turkey ripped up half of the garden:

52754

As you can see, the ginger is growing very slowly in comparison to the turmeric. Turmeric is on the left, ginger on the right:

The rest of the garden bed was not cultivated before I put the nets over it. Surprisingly, some carrot seeds and potatoes from last season came up, so I just left them to grow:

52753

[Harmony]

Your garden looks wonderful Tigger, so lush and healthy:shooting star:Thanks for explaining all that you have done, I know how much time is involved in getting things right. It's lovely to see this thread active again:heart:

I have a ffew photos of some of the produce coming out of the garden. It is so great to have things fresh and full of life, and it tastes so good.

I usually grow Red Runner beans and Purple King beans each year, but it was a coolish start to this latest season and I didn't get very many Purple King beans this year. I will be planting against a warm wall next Spring.

52756

This year I grew carrots in a bue plastic barrel cut in half to make two big pots. Its important to drill quite a few holes in the bottom and along the lower side to ensure good drainage.

I used copper tape around the top edge of the barrel lip to prevent slugs from wandering in and eating the carrots when they are just sprouting. The soil should be loose and well drained and not too rich in nitrogen or you might get really good carrot tops and small carrots.


52757


The berries have been quite good this year with daily supplies of two or more berries to eat.

52758
It's been lovely to have greens on hand all year for salads and tomatoes from the green house for quite a few months. I have been growing small cherry type tomatoes that seed them selves each season now as they are easy to grow and produce well in the cooler climates.


The zuccini's are also grown in the green house as the seasons can get just a litle too chilly otherwise. A few more strawberries, blackberries and blueberries pictured as wel.

52759
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/digitalvb/morbid/misc/pencil.png

[Tigger]

This is incredible Harmony! Look at your produce!

It’s really great to see what you’ve produced. It gives me inspiration and encouragement!

Do you grow blueberries? I do not yet have any real knowledge on how to grow those.

Apart from those random carrots that popped up in my turmeric / ginger bed, every time I grow carrots, they fail. I don’t know why. I’m growing them from seeds, and the last three crops have failed. Carrots. Seriously? How come they keep failing? Now that you mention it, it’s possible they’ve been drowned with all the rainfall we’ve had recently.

I found a fig tree seedling in the nursery yesterday, and I was thinking about growing it in the shade house, because I don’t want birds to eat them. But somebody told me that they need full sun, so it’s a compromise between full sun and hungry birds.

Cherry tomatoes seem to grow well up here. Look at this old garden bed that needs topping up with soil:

52761

Every time I come to fill this garden bed up with new soil, there are more tomatoes growing. So I keep leaving them to grow another season. I know I shouldn’t, but I simply can’t resist!

And, in the old potato bed, I grew some radishes (now finished) and some snow peas grown out of season. The rain has not been kind to them and they’re growing more slowly than they do in the dry season:

52760

[Harmony]

Tigger I do have blueberries that I have been picking over the past two months. You can see them in the image below before they are ripe. I have four plants in four pots approximately 14x14 inches. There are many varieties and there should be varieties that will grow in all different kinds of climates, so check out the best ones for your area. I have mine in pots as they need special soil that is acid and peaty or something like that. I use some pine needles in the soil and I mulch the top with more to keep it more acid and use more acid fertilisers like Chicken manure, some compost and small amounts of liquid seaweed with just a pinch of dolomite because that is magnesium and calcium, and it is alkaline so you need to be very careful with that. They need to be well drained and kept moist.



52771


I love growing snow peas too as they are great steamed and eaten raw in salads etc. They enjoy the climate being cool, but not frosty. They don't do so well in the hot months. Some of mine gorowing in the image below. I also grow other types of peas that can grow when it is a bit warmer and I freeze bags of them every year so I have them all year round on hand. The same with the beans.

52772
Here are my raspberries growing in the greenhouse. They are just finishing up now and there should be more in the Autumn with an autumn fruiting variey a bit later on. They freeze well too, make great jams and cordial too.

52773


Tigger, you mentioned having trouble with the carrots, I wonder if you also have slugs that come out at night and eat the emerging seedlings? That's why I had to change over to growing carrots in the 1/2 barrels to keep them away from the ground and use the copper tape on the edges of the barrels as slugs won't go over copper.

[Tigger]

What can I find to Eat in Our Overgrown Vegetable Garden?
Self Sufficient Me

This video runs for approx. 22 minutes. The presenter (Mark) takes you on a tour through his vegetable garden which, understandably, has been soaked with rainfall this year and has become overgrown. He looks for food that he can use to cook a meal for his family.
Mark lives in the subtropics in QLD, Australia and he’s been a very big inspiration for me. At his location (27 degrees South latitude (similar to Florida USA)), his climate is a little different to mine (at 17 degrees South latitude), and he can grow some salad crops in a far more forgiving environment.

3k9y19Kv6Is

[wondering]

I am not a gardener myself, but my neighbor is. He just received a Greenstalk vertical growing system for his patio and he is quite excited. I had never heard of them, but they have quite a following, although I think they may just be in the US. Apparently their quality is quite good. I'm just thinking it might be a nice option for those with little space but a green thumb. I'm sorry I am not showing pictures, but it is easily found online.


From Bill:
Here's the web page, and below are some of the images: :flower::muscle:

https://greenstalkgarden.com/collections/vertical-planters

https://greenstalkgarden.com/cdn/shop/products/img_proxy_e260cdcd-43e2-4c7a-bd46-56516eebb201_5000x.jpg?v=1708604691

https://greenstalkgarden.com/cdn/shop/products/img_proxy_bb498490-eaf2-4e18-8bb0-c521c49fbadb_5000x.jpg?v=1707874058

https://greenstalkgarden.com/cdn/shop/files/greenstalk-59_5000x.jpg?v=1707874120

[Harmony]

I am not a gardner myself, but my neighbor is. He just received a Greenstalk vertical growing system for his patio and he is quite excited. I had never heard of them, but they have quite a following, although I think they may just be in the US. Apparently their quality is quite good. I'm just thinking it might be a nice option for those with little space but a green thumb. I'm sorry I am not showing pictures, but it is easily found online.


Hi Wondering :rose:, that does sound like a really good idea. You could have fresh salad and herbs or strawberries maybe right near your door!
I found this link to Green Stalk Garden (https://greenstalkgarden.com/) and you see there different styles and colours available.

[grapevine]

I've invested in a couple of raised beds (still to be assembled - it's a bit too early here in the UK) to grow vegetables this year and also, following Wondering/Harmony's posts above I've just ordered some vertical planters. My main problem has always been enough sunlight, which disappears over the roof at around midday. Nevertheless there are vegetable varieties which should still do quite well.

The concern I have is that the authorities will make it a crime to grow anything other than Monsanto vegetables, if we're allowed to grow anything at all, and that all food will become part of the digital currency/social credit system. Some systems work indoors although imo the nature of hydroponics infers nutrient loss. Anybody?

[wondering]

Thank you for adding the info to the post, Bill. It is said that they do well for root vegetables, which surprises me since I wouldn't think there would be much room. I trust my neighbor, he has the absolute greenest thumb and everything he touches grows, seriously. I haven't asked him yet what he plans to plant. Being right outside the door would make it great for herbs - they eat a totally plant based diet. Being able to revolve or move them might help with getting sunlight, too.
I read recently that here in Michigan there is some push back to growing your own food, which boggles my mind. At the beginning of Covid, our governor, Gretchen Witmer, would not allow seed packets to be sold in stores....they were considered nonessential, and were "roped off" and not sold.

[Harmony]

I trust my neighbor, he has the absolute greenest thumb and everything he touches grows, seriously. I haven't asked him yet what he plans to plant.
Wondering It seems your neighbour would be just the person to ask in your area what would do best and what soil to use in the posts etc. Carrots can grow quite close together given the right nutrients. It seems potatoes would do better in a separate larger box. It is surprising how many potatoes can be grown in a small area with the right soil and depth.


Even if you just have something to fall back on to give you time to transition if a new situation presents itself, and use with the food you have put away for emergiencies, cans and dried foods etc., that is something. Sprouting can also help with having some nice fresh food. I sprouted seeds indoors on the kitchen windowsill and used them as a salad last winter during the cooler months when lovely lettuces and greens don't do as well outside.


The cabbage family have lovely geens that can be grown during autumn and early spring, like Tatsoi and Pak Choy and are lovely used as or with a salad, especially when picked right before you eat them. In the cooler months.


English spinich is also lovely to grow and eat.


Green onion like shallots are also easy to grow and lovely to add to salads and stir fries. I often just cut off the second leaf to the newest and leave them to grow for years just taking what I need. They will flower and you can save the seeds and replant them too and also they create their own off shoots that you can divide and create more plants.


Those are good questions Miller and Wondering regarding making growing food illegal. I often think also if laws were changed, what would happen to growers? I would hope people who were hungry would disregard them, as that would be the ultimate ridiculous thing to do.


If there was so much going on would anyone even notice what you have in your garden, except to steal food? Would it be the last straw and make people revolt against tyranical laws, especially if there were food shortages? I don't think anyone can be 100% sure, and over the past number of years that has been predicted I just continue to grow and experiment with growing food and ways that food can be preserved and dried etc.:heart:

[wondering]

Miller, How exciting that you have ordered some vertical planters.. they make a lot of sense in some situations. I hope you report back your experience with them. When my neighbor started his raised beds, he used cardboard as a base, and once the growing season was over he laid the sides down flat...I know that due to our mild fall, that they were eating kale into the holidays and beyond.

[Nenuphar]

I read recently that here in Michigan there is some push back to growing your own food, which boggles my mind. At the beginning of Covid, our governor, Gretchen Witmer, would not allow seed packets to be sold in stores....they were considered nonessential, and were "roped off" and not sold.

Wow. That is insanity. This kind of thing only confirms the importance of connecting with others in one's area who save open-pollinated seeds from their gardens, and of encouraging the establishment of community seed libraries that everyone can benefit from.

[Tigger]

Sweet potatoes are growing like mad with all the rain, heat and high humidity:

52788

As an experiment, I planted some of the ‘Red Lady’ potatoes left over from the last harvest. Planting them in December (right at the start of the tropical wet season), I was unsure how they would grow in the off-season. But after a few weeks the plants emerged and they are growing quite well. I’m not expecting the yield to be all that great, but they will make healthy seed potatoes ready for re-sowing in May or June:

52787

[Johnnycomelately]

I doubt that a sentence about “food security” has ever included the word “truffles”.

However, if one could find and sell some nice truffles, one could hypothetically afford to buy their way out of most of those problems. Vid says top price, for the picker, is 10k Euros per kilo.

Not mentioned here, is that pigs are also used to sniff out this edible fungus. Not surprising to anyone who knows pigs (smart, and probably fully cultured), they like to chow down on them too, thus lowering the price of whatever can be salvaged.

Last edit, please see from around 3:00 (of 5:11 total), about how they can be cultivated. Reminds me of how I read, as a young man, that planting Black Walnut trees could ensure a nice future for kids and grandkids.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjcVmkNTCTo

[jaybee]

.

I bought some vertical felt pocket planters from ebay and today I moved strawberry plants out of a big pot where they had been for years - at least 5 years - the planter I used today has 12 pockets (3 x 4).... and I hung it off a tall wooden fence -

I was amazed at the roots on them - a thick and woody main root stem with the thinner ones coming out from it - don't know if they will be happy moving - but will see how they do - they are very mature plants - will be making more effort this year to pot up the new shoots coming off -

...:flower:

In pots - have so far planted rocket, marigold, some coriander, nasturtium, seed potatoes (in a big bag).... covered the pots with bubble wrap while the weather can still be very cold at night (Midlands, UK)....

...:sun:

I had all my own seeds in separate containers on a window ledge last autumn - then a big wood pigeon came in the living room - must have just walked in from the garden through the back door - panicked and flapped it's wings like crazy at the glass and knocked all the seeds onto the floor - I got them up with a dust pan and brush and now have to separate them (but am leaving some mixed and letting them come up together) - I caught the wood pigeon as gently as I could and put it out before it did itself some damage - they are clever and beautiful birds - daily visitors (to the garden not my living room :) ) - I remember seeing a video once where a pigeon out witted and matched flying speeds with a peregrine falcon !!! Might try and find it again to see what kind of pigeon it was not sure a wood pigeon would be THAT fast - but you never know - - they seem quite comical sometimes especially when they stand on the window ledge outside and stare through the glass and look you in the eye -

... :moon:

Established watercress in a big plastic container (2 foot by 3 foot) coming on with new growth from the natural seeding last year... bubble wrap over it to protect the tiny seedlings for a while - 2 pots of chives doing very well and was the earliest of all the established pots... lemon balm and mint on the brink of coming up in the open squares where a couple of slabs were taken up.... parsley went through the winter and is picking up again and growing now -

...:raining:

phew when you write about it all you realize what a lot goes on even in a small garden - and I haven't mentioned everything -

... :stars:

that's all for now - - - and don't forget - this is the time (in the UK anyway) to pick the top buds of the stinging nettle wild plant - I made my first teapot full of nettle tea yesterday and it is good hot or cold - in fact I prefer it cold - going to make an effort to put it as a main ingredient in home made soup any day now -

toodle pip ....:raining: :flower::waving:

[Harmony]

jaybee, you have been busy in your garden.:flower:What is also wonderful, is your wildlife that lives right amongst it all. I have always been amazed at how a small area can support trillions of live forms, from the smallest soil organisms to insects, birds and frogs and lizards. Each little ecosystem develops within all the plants and little pots that provide habitat. I often find it hard to weed because they also seem quite beautiful, but sometimes will take over everything if you don't keep the numbers down. I do hope with the Spring coming on now that all your plantings will flourish and bring you lots of joy and goodness from the sun :sun::sunrise:

[Tigger]

It’s time to start harvesting my turmeric. The yield is incredible; here is a photo of about 10% of the harvest so far:

52922

The rhizomes are quite large. I’m yet to harvest the remaining plants, but it’s safe to say that curries and juices will be on the menu for a long time!

Here’s a recipe for a very nutritious and immune-boosting juice:

My ‘Immune-Boosting’ Morning Cleanse Juice:
5-6 oranges, peeled and diced
6-8 large carrots, diced
1-2 inches (or more) sliced Turmeric root. Note that adding more than this will make the juice more ‘tart’
1/2 inch sliced ginger root

Serves approximately 4. You can store the excess juice in the refrigerator.

Prepare the items above and pass them through a slow (macerating) juicer. Collect the juice and drink within 24-48 hours.

If you don’t have a slow juicer, you can still make this in a standard juicer machine - just pour the juice through a strainer to remove some of the pulp.

If you have a worm farm, the pulp will make an excellent food for the worms to break down.

[Harmony]

Wow Tigger, your turmeric looks great.:star: It's so satisfying when you have a good harvest after all your dedicated work. Is there a way you can freeze or preserve some termeric for future use? Thanks so much for sharing Tigger, I was just wondering how your garden was going yesterday.:rose:

Presently I am picking about a kilogram of cherry tomatoes every couple of days and lots of apples. I am making sure the tomatoes are red and ripe and putting them into small bags whole for later use in cooking. They taste so delicious when added to recipies. I am peeling and slicing the apples and drying them in a fruit dryer, then packaging for later use and it is working well, still preserving the flavour and sweetness and keeping the best apples in a cool dark place to eat fresh for a few months. Also there has been plenty to share with others that appreciate fresh organic produce from the harvest.

[Tigger]

Yes, Harmony, we keep some of the rhizomes in cool storage to re-plant next season. We also freeze-dry some of it and use it for dried spices.

I’m jealous (in a good way) that you can grow apples. They don’t grow so well up here in the tropics (so I’m told) but I do want to give it a try, because at our altitude (870m above sea level) we have cold (but short) winters. Apples are my favourite fruit, and I love to cook with them and juice them. So far I’ve been buying them from the local market, but considering how tenuous the supply lines are running of late, I have nothing to lose from attempting to grow them up here.

I must get a fruit dryer. Freeze-drying is okay, but there’s nothing better than dried bananas, mangoes, paw-paw, etc.

[Nenuphar]

Tigger, your tumeric harvest is fantastic! It seems so exotic to me that someone can grow their own tumeric root, though I suppose things that we consider common here (haskap berries, Saskatoon berries, etc.) might seems exotic somewhere else. My idea of Heaven would be to have lemons and avocados growing in my yard. :sun:

I am just getting started sowing seeds for transplants (tomatoes and peppers). They'll be moved outside in late May/early June. I winter-sowed brassicas (kale and cabbage, mostly) and rhubarb outside in "milk jug greenhouses". Hopefully, those will germinate and start to grow in earnest later this month.

[Sue (Ayt)]

I have been making applesauce today. Our market typically bags up the leftover apples into dollar bags when the new shipment comes in, so if I am there I buy up the dollar bags and come home and make applesauce to freeze in pint containers. I mash the cooked apples and add ceylon cinnamon and sometimes a bit of honey if they are tart.

My spinach, kale, radishes and lettuce is almost ready to start eating. Swiss chard doing well, too.
The parsley came back from last season, as did the oregano, mint and thyme. Had to re-plant basil seeds. I do love going outside to snip the herbs I need for a recipe.
I think I could supply the town with fresh oregano, as it grows so easily and spreads like crazy!

[Tigger]

Dear All,

Can someone please offer some insight to this conundrum? Last year I grew some fantastic ‘Royal Blue’ potatoes from certified seed stock. I kept some of those for re-planting, and I planted these out in November 2023. Admittedly, it was during the summer, and I was not expecting a high yield. All I wanted to do was to create more ‘seed stock’ for sowing in the autumn months (i.e now).

Imagine my surprise when I pulled up the potatoes today:

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Look at the formations. There are ‘nodules’ on most of the tubers. Some look diseased. That’s not normal, is it? I mean, they look more like a ginger root.

I thought about planting these out again this month (April, in the southern hemisphere) in the hope that they will grow more productively and true-to-type, but something tells me I should just scrap them and order some more certified seed potatoes and try again.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Harmony]

Tigger, I do think those potatoes won't be any good to replant. Try looking up potato disease images and you will see there are quite a few things that can cause problems.


It might be a very good idea to talk to the people in your area that know the best type for your soil and climate conditions.


The soil friability and drainage and nutrients will play a big part in the outcome. Drainage and sunshine are very important and the available nutrients, as I am sure you already are aware of.


The right variety can make a big difference, and I find Dutch Creams do particularly well where I am, it is wet cool and unpredictable sometimes. They have a waxier flesh and seem to be able to handle the moisture levels better here. Wonderful for potato salads, frying and steaming. Not as good for mashed potatoes though. I have been able to replant from existing stock potatoes for about 5 years and the potatoes were here in the garden when I came. I always add some new varieties and new seed potatoes as well to keep things fresh and interesting with a good gene pool.


If it is wet or you have had an especially wet season make sure no water can build up in the soil where rot can set in. Don't replant potatoes in that same soil now, refurbish the soil and plant something else there that is not in the nightshade family. The soil needs to be open and loose, so add some compost and even potting mix to get it right. Add a bit more each year and you will notice lots of earthworms and organisms start to build up as it improves. Potatoes like a slightly acid soil.


If you peel the potatoes and they look ok on the inside you could still cook with them perhaps.:rose:

[Tigger]

Thank you Harmony. You make good sense; we’ve had a particularly wet, wet season. Every other potato variety (red lady, sebago) has done well, it’s just the ‘Royal blue’ variety that’s gone mad. I think your analysis is very accurate.

It’s a shame, really. The Royal Blue worked so well over our winter - they are fantastic for baking, and I had good yields with them over the previous winter / dry season. It seems that they don’t do so well in the tropical wet.

Would you believe, I just received a shipment of ‘Dutch Cream’ and ‘Nicola’ seed potatoes last week. I’m soooo looking forward to growing these!

Everything is an experiment for me. Our climate is what you’d call ‘Mountain Tropics’. Yes, we have high rainfall and humidity during the wet season, but our dry season can get quite cool, because we’re at 870m, similar to the ‘Blue Mountains’. Temps can drop to 2-4 degrees C at night when the desert winds roll in...

I still have so much to learn. And your insight is well-received! I must check the soil conditions again this season.

Here’s my potato planting plan for this season:
Sebago (continuation from last year)
Red Lady (continuation from last year)
Dutch Cream (new seed stock)
Nicola (new seed stock)
Royal Blue (from new seed stock- not old)

[Tigger]

Oh, and just on your comment about not planting again in the same (garden) bed. I did that! Oops! The other varieties I planted were in beds after growing beans and peas. That’s why!!

Lesson learned…

[Tigger]

I apologise for not posting any updates recently.

Most of my focus has been on repairing the garden and structural reparations in the wake of TC Jasper and a particularly long wet season here in the tropics. Many crops have failed.

Suffice to say that we have a long way to go to repairing the embankment before the next wet season (we’re up for over AUD$100K for a geotechnical assessment and stabilisation of a key part of our property) and many of our crops failed due to the huge amount of rainfall. There is a a small concession: Tumeric harvest has been better than expected:

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I am yet to harvest the ginger and other root crops.

Also, I have had a bumper crop of sweet mandarins, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, dragonfruit and kumquat. That’s mainly because of the huge rainfall this season.

I’ve sold a lot of fruit to the local markets; the rest has gone into pickles and jams.

We’re running our freeze-dryer hard to preserve the excess, putting a strain on our power reserves (we’re not on-grid).

I am shooting feral pigs for red meat, and I am trading fish from our dam for milk and eggs with our neighbouring farms.

I am really sorry for not posting as often as I’d like to: our farm is in serious preparation mode and I don’t have the bandwidth to upload frequently. But I made a promise to show progress on the Tumeric crop: there you are :)

[Harmony]

You have been busy Tigger.:star: Wonderul crop of Turmeric and so good to hear your fruit crop was so abundant.:sun:


It's great you are getting good practice trading with your neighbours and preserving what you can produce and dealing with the unexpected. We are pleased to see what you are doing and how you are progressing when ever you have that little piece of time.


It's been clearer and frostier where I am this Winter. My tomatoes have been really hit by that, even in the greenhouse, but still able to pick enough for salads etc. The cooler crops in the greehouse of greens have been succussful so far, English spinich, pak choy and other little greens from the cabbage family that make wonderful fresh greens for salads and sandwiches. Kale also provides fresh greens during the colder period, even outside the green house. The half barells of carrots are providing good fresh tasy carrots and hopefully the newer ones I planted will continue into the warmer seasons. It's all about learning from trial and error and becoming flexible with the ever changing conditions:happy dog:

[Hym]

The apricot tree seen in my avatar has been with me for 27 years.
We've gone thru many different seasons together.

With my great appreciation for all of the fruit she has given for my family and friends,

The beautiful leaves that make at least 6 months each year full of her lush color and cover,
white and light purple blooms with thin yellow stamens in the spring,

Lush green leaves thru the summer heat, strong winds and rain, and into the fall with her leaves dropping, back to the stark, barren branches and now thick trunk.

These last few weeks have been another learning....I now understand.

This the business of protecting the green fruit from the sloth of the ground squirrels and the waste from the apricots felled with only one small peck from the magpies squawking at each other, a species here unlike any other species in this area, born to annoy all other species, trees included.

Shooing them off and throwing the wasted fruit over the irrigation ditch/our acequia, so I could see any new fruit on the cleared ground that I am soon to pick up....all the while providing any avian, obnoxious or not, an area far from the tree that would divert attention away from the unpicked fruits left.

In all of that effort to protect the fruit I became intimately aware of a process I hadn't noticed so vividly all of these years...

My worry was allayed when I really saw what was happening here, an interaction that is breath and thought, the subtlety of all living things...

The tree itself has a sensitivity to giving, separate from dropping its fruit....even as it lets go of the fruit it conceived of, nurtured, protected, and offers up to the living.....

Barefoot on the soft, surrounding grounds I recently opened up to add water, more than the deep drink she gets from hugging the irrigation water flowing closely by....

Seeing, admiring, breathing close...
and Inhaling the air that is borne of this Being...

I became aware of the consciousness that we call a tree.

I decided then to address it as the consciousness it has always been.....

[Harmony]

The apricot tree seen in my avatar has been with me for 27 years.
We've gone thru many different seasons together.

With my great appreciation for all of the fruit she has given for my family and friends,

The beautiful leaves that make at least 6 months each year full of her lush color and cover,
white and light purple blooms with thin yellow stamens in the spring,

Lush green leaves thru the summer heat, strong winds and rain, and into the fall with her leaves dropping, back to the stark, barren branches and now thick trunk.

These last few weeks have been another learning....I now understand.

This the business of protecting the green fruit from the sloth of the ground squirrels and the waste from the apricots felled with only one small peck from the magpies squawking at each other, a species here unlike any other species in this area, born to annoy all other species, trees included.

Shooing them off and throwing the wasted fruit over the irrigation ditch/our acequia, so I could see any new fruit on the cleared ground that I am soon to pick up....all the while providing any avian, obnoxious or not, an area far from the tree that would divert attention away from the unpicked fruits left.

In all of that effort to protect the fruit I became intimately aware of a process I hadn't noticed so vividly all of these years...

My worry was allayed when I really saw what was happening here, an interaction that is breath and thought, the subtlety of all living things...

The tree itself has a sensitivity to giving, separate from dropping its fruit....even as it lets go of the fruit it conceived of, nurtured, protected, and offers up to the living.....

Barefoot on the soft, surrounding grounds I recently opened up to add water, more than the deep drink she gets from hugging the irrigation water flowing closely by....

Seeing, admiring, breathing close...
and Inhaling the air that is borne of this Being...

I became aware of the consciousness that we call a tree.

I decided then to address it as the consciousness it has always been.....

Hym, your post about your apricot tree was wonderful to read. It brings the larger consciousness we share with our world into awareness, taking those moments we can open our self to really feel our surroundings and our relationship to all life.
I am usually very aware of this connection, as I am sure many home growers are too, when we see and feel the bees living amongst and with our flowers, the worms thriving in good soil and keeping it alive with the trillions of bacteria and fungi, to the birds and creatures we try and share what we can while still providing for our own needs.
The energies a tree and vegetables share with us as we in turn try and share with them. I often talk and communicate with my garden and let the plants know I am saving their seeds for next season and let them, as much as possible, finish their growing cycle to flower and seed to fulfil their own needs and provide for the whole eco system and miraculously continue in the next cycle of renewed energy movements.
I feel if we are grateful of our relationship and and not just here to take what we need and ignore the whole, the food is filled with more goodness and positive energy in the shared processes. Like we care and work as a whole system. Thank you Hym for this wonderful reminder of the plants and life force consciousness that sourroud us and your wonderful Apricot Mother energy of your garden.:heart::sunrise:

[Tigger]

Last winter (in August 2024) I had to make the extremely difficult decision to remove all of the citrus trees on our property. The tress were overgrown, and many of them were diseased and not bearing fruit. Now that I’m in a position to re-plant, I’d like to ask everyone for advice on… mandarins and oranges.

I know that the soils and climate here in Atherton are perfect for growing citrus, so I know I can grow anything I choose to plant. I’m okay with growing limes and lemons…

BUT, I’ll confess to being an utter newbie when it comes to mandarins, oranges and other citrus: I don’t fully understand the varieties. Ideally I’d like to grow those mandarins with loose skin and sweet fruit, and oranges that provide better juicing. But I don’t know what varieties exist (by name), and I’m wondering if anyone has any advice on this one?

Oh, and what varieties do those pesky Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoos leave alone? :unsure:

[Tigger]

It’s been one of the wettest wet-seasons in tropical Far North Queensland, and I deliberately delayed planting out too many new crops until the wet season is over. Yesterday morning we had the first clear and sunny day in weeks, so I decided to venture down to the back yard to clear out some of the old garden beds.

I found a pleasant surprise waiting for me. Apart from finding that my turmeric and ginger plants have grown exponentially, I found an entire garden bed full of ripe pineapples. And, of course there is a whole jungle of butternut pumpkins and sweet potato, but a lot of those are not fully developed yet. I made this quick harvest, and will harvest the rest on the weekend:

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