Very rainy season = lots of fungal disease!

This summer crop started out very good and ended not so good. We had so much rain on a daily basis for weeks and weeks this summer. The rain made it impossible to battle the fugal viruses that are so common here. I could not treat the plants with copper fungicide because it would quickly be washed off by more rain the next day. Unfortunately, we lost almost all of our tomato plants to septoria leaf spot. This was the largest harvest of tomatoes we had in the pictures above. By early July, all my tomato plants were turning brown and dying. The squash did fantastic until the squash bugs moved in. I tried treating the squash plants with Kaolin Clay but it did not seem to bother the squash bugs. By the end of July, all the squash plants were dead. I still have peppers growing, a few tomatoes and an abundance of herbs and marigolds. I had planted the marigolds with the tomatoes to see if that would help repel the bugs. The tomatoes died but the marigolds are huge, in full bloom and beautiful. I was told that I could eat them but I don't know if I want to. They are pretty but if they taste like they smell, then I don't want them in my mouth. 

The corn was a disaster. I tried to start the corn in the greenhouse to get an early start. Apparently, transplanting corn does not work. The corn tasseled too early when I set it out and the cobs never got over 2 inches long. I eventually just mowed over all the corn.

I harvested several really juicy and sweet cantaloupe and watermelon. We also harvested a lot of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. My small pie pumpkins and acorn squash did pretty well but squash bugs destroyed the larger pumpkins and butternut squash. 

I did harvest enough to can a few pickles, some relish and some tomatoes a couple of times but nothing like the canning operation I had going the previous years. I just did not have time to do it. It takes a whole afternoon and evening to can 6 jars of tomato sauce!

In retrospect, I believe I made the garden larger than I could handle considering my work load this summer but since most of it died anyway, I really did not increase my harvest at all. In fact, it was small compared to the year before. Since my boss retired in late June, I spent a lot of time doing both my job and his while waiting for it to be re-filled. It took until September 1st but we finally have someone to do his job and I feel like I have my life back.

Now I am focusing on projects to reduce our energy usage, recycle more and finish the outdoor kitchen. I will post more on these projects in the next couple of weeks.

Outdoor kitchen construction has begun!

We finally have installed the 1909 900lb. cast iron sink in the outdoor kitchen area. The sink is hooked to plumbing that can be drained in the winter so it does not freeze. The plumbing runs through the greenhouse and then hooks to a hose spigot outside and is cold water only. The PVC drainage has been piped past the lower garden area. The sink will not be used for anything except washing vegetables and hands or filling my canning pot. Any soap used will be camp soap that is biodegradable. I also got a Camp Chef Denali 3X stove that will be used for cooking and canning outdoors. Eventually, the area will have a roof over it that will  match the opposite greenhouse side, walls and windows. There will be two large sliding barn doors that open and a smaller door on the side. There will be a refrigerator next to the sink, a bar with seating and concrete countertop, and a work area next to the sink that the stove will sit on for canning. I am not sure if it will all come together this summer, but at least I have the essentials of sink and stove!

We have already planted most of the upper garden including 113 tomato plants, onions, garlic, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, herbs. We have tilled and raked the lower garden and are installing fence around it before we plant that area. Here are some pictures of the garden work we have been doing and the new chickens.

View from rear of upper garden

Baby Chicks are getting big!

Lettuce, spinach and broccoli garden

Dirty Details

I took soil samples a few weeks ago and sent them to Logan Labs. The report said that we are really lacking some phosphorus and potassium in the garden. We also need to add some lime to raise the calcium & magnesium levels, especially in the areas that have not been used as a garden before. I highly recommend soil testing every year. After reading the book, "The Intelligent Gardener", I have really come to appreciate soil chemistry and biology. Unfortunately, adding compost and more compost doesn't work like they claim in many other organic gardening books. You can not just guess what your plants may need, you have to test the soil, provide the right pH range, and add nutrients in most cases. The test costs $20 and directions on sampling can be found at loganlabs.com We started working some of the vegetable beds in the garden with a cultivator. Based on the results of the soil test, I calculated how much fertilizer I needed to add to those areas. I also added some azomite and composted manure. We borrowed a tractor and tilled another vegetable bed below the main bed and greenhouse area. I plan to use that area to plant most of the squash and melons since they take up so much room. The lettuce, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, arugula, onions, garlic, potatoes and herbs have all been planted outside now. I am in the process of transplanting all the tomatoes to bigger pots because they are already too big for the trays. I will keep them in the greenhouse until mid-May, in case we have another late frost. I have started my cucumbers, corn, squash and melons in the greenhouse. We are experimenting with growing potatoes in towers this year. I created these out of some left over metal fencing, straw, garden soil and compost. You fill the bottom with a couple inches of straw, 5 inches of dirt and compost on top of that and then plant the potatoes. You can keep layering like that until you reach the top. You will need to add straw around the sides of the bin to keep the dirt inside. There are several different  ways I have seen this done online including in garbage cans but I liked the way this design provides air circulation, drainage and light to the plants. I have been making my own potting soil. I use a mix of peatmoss, compost and a bag of garden soil. Then I add a little vermiculite. It is much cheaper than buying   bags of potting soil. We are getting about 5-6 dozen eggs a week from the chickens. The new chicks are getting bigger and are now in the pen with the big chickens. They are fenced off from the bigger chickens but they can still all see and hear each other. I am hoping it will help them adapt to each other before they all are together so that the bigger chicks do not kill or hurt the little ones.

Mother Nature or Robot Sprayer?

I have been out of town for a little over a week on a spring break excursion to visit my sister and family in Colorado. We spent some time in Boulder and visited the National Atmospheric Research Center. I highly recommend their guided tour. While there, we had a conversation with the guide about weather modification. For all of you who believe this is some sort of untrue conspiracy theory, I am sorry to burst your bubble but it is true. The guide explained that scientists are unhappy about the ongoing weather modification which includes the spraying of metal oxides into the atmosphere from airplanes. He said that it is an uncontrolled experiment that is being done mostly by private industries, especially hedge funds and huge agricultural companies, to make bets on weather related industries, such as crops. They call it cloud seeding and believe that they can produce more rain or  cloud cover in areas by spraying these chemicals. I believe it should be illegal. Not only is it unethical to modify the weather, it is unethical to poison the land and people with metal oxides of aluminum and barium. I am trying not to use my blog as a place to rant and rave but I recommend educating yourself if you haven't already. A good place to start is at this website:  http://aircrap.org/list-companies-engaged-weather-modification-related-patents/331939/

It is March 27th, the week after "spring break" and still snowing across the US. There is talk of firing the little ground hog that lied to us all. This time last year, we had warm spring weather and were able to start gardening outdoors with a few frost and cold tolerant crops. Not this year.  While we were in the Rocky's over spring break, it snowed 2 feet in one day and the weather dipped below 0F with windchill of -18F. It was an unusually cold spring weather event, even for the Rocky Mountain areas. The news in Denver was reporting it as a great thing because of their severe water shortage, every bit of snowfall means it will eventually trickle downhill and hopefully replenish their drought stricken area. It also kept the ski areas packed with business. On our way back home yesterday, it snowed in Kentucky. The ground was too warm to allow it to stick but it is still too cold to plant anything outside yet. The night time temperatures and frost will kill just about anything you try to plant right now. I have to wonder if it is Mother Nature or the Robot Sprayers. If it is the robot sprayers, then what is their objective this year? Drought, killing frosts, heat waves, water shortages, floods, hurricanes, wild fires. Who knows? I guess we need to watch their stock market bets instead of read the farmer's almanac nowadays.

Since the cold weather is so persistent, I am happy to have my greenhouse going. I already have broccoli forming heads and lettuce ready for harvest. Several herbs can be harvested anytime too. My tomatoes and pepper plants are booming and will be a good size when the ground finally warms up enough to plant them. While we were away, a friend came by to water my plants and check on the animals. I had tried to set up some irrigation in the greenhouse before we left but I couldn't get it working right in time. Irrigation in a greenhouse requires a lot of tinkering with different nozzles, lines and devices. It also requires good areas for drainage. I believe in order to make it work well, I will need to build some benches that drain instead of using the plastic tables I have now. The tables are starting to sag with the weight of the plants and they hold water in the middle if I use the irrigation. I have a seedling heat mat under the tomato and pepper seedlings that are keeping the soil a comfy 75-80F. It is big enough to warm four trays and has a thermostat so that it doesn't overheat the plants. My greenhouse heater was also installed before we left so that the ambient air temperature can be set at 65-70F. I also have a fan and vent installed for when the greenhouse gets over 90F. It is nice to not worry about it being too cold or hot anymore. Once I get the irrigation worked out, I will only need to worry about fertilizing and checking for signs of bugs and disease.

March back to life and plant some seeds!

Seed tray started

Lettuce, Broccoli & Spinach

Lettuce getting bigger!

Happy, happy, happy plants!!

I am so happy it is finally March! February seems like a very long, long, month to me. March means longer daylight hours, spring weather, grass starts to green up, trees are budding and the first blooms of the year open. It is also seed starting time! I am starting lots of seeds this year and I am so excited about using the greenhouse to get them going. Even though it is dipping down in the 30's at night, I already have several seedlings planted for my spring crop of lettuces, spinach, broccoli, onions, radishes, carrots, arugula, and a few herbs.  Some of the lettuce is doing so well, I could start harvesting it now but I think I will wait until next week when its even bigger! This first week of March, I will start all my tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and summer bulbs. The first week in April I will start the melons & squash plants. Last year, I lost all my tomato and pepper seedlings to a late frost. This year I will be able to wait until Derby to set those out permanently because of the greenhouse. I plan to have more than I have room for, so I will be giving away a few seedlings to some friends and family. I am also excited about the varieties of tomatoes and peppers this year. I have picked a few organic open pollinators and also some disease resistant hybrids. Hybrids are not the same as GMO. They are crossed to combine desirable qualities and it is something that could have happened in nature, much like evolution. It does not involve putting a fish gene in a tomato plant. I buy most of my seeds from Johnny's select seeds. johnnyseeds.com They are an excellent employee owned business in Maine and they have a great website. Their catalogs are well written with information about each plants growing needs, taste, disease resistance, etc.They provide excellent customer service and package all items with great care.

Seed starting is pretty simple if you have the right equipment and a little time. You need a good soil starting medium, some pots or tray cells, a water sprayer to lightly mist the seedlings and a warm area with some light. Dome covers and seed heating mats will speed things up but they are not necessary. Most seeds will germinate well between 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Even though it is 37F outside right now, it is 65F in the greenhouse. The soil needs to be kept moist but not real wet or the seeds or small roots will rot. Once the seedlings emerge, remove any domes or covers so the seedlings get the proper air and light. Light requirements are a minimum of 10 hours. Any less than that and a plant will stay dormant and not grow. I have two lights in the greenhouse with T5 bulbs and one High Pressure Sodium Light. If you just use a regular shop light, you will not see the same results. I have tried the windowsill growing in the past but it doesn't work well. The seedlings end up very spindly and tall trying to stretch to the light. If they survive, the plant's main stalk will be flimsy or thinner and the plant will always be stressed and disease prone. If you are going to invest money in seed starting, I recommend putting it in to proper grow lights and set them on a timer that comes on before dark to extend the daylight hours.


Seed starting is much less expensive than buying all your seedlings at a store. By selecting varieties online, you can grow something different than the neighbors and select varieties resistant to diseases or insects that are common in your area. We always have a lot of fungal problems here in Kentucky. Particularly where I live because of the mixed hardwood deciduous forest in the Daniel Boone. I have tried to select varieties that are more resistant to the fungal diseases. I am also going to set up some irrigation lines this year so that I am not wetting the plants leaves so much which can cause a lot of disease problems. In the past, I have planted some varieties too close together while experimenting with the square foot gardening books. This just doesn't work well here because plants that are close together will stifle air movement and cause disease. You either have to pick off a good portion of the stems and leaves to open it up for air movement or you end up spraying fungicides more often.

I try to buy all organic seeds, if possible. Even if they were not raised organic though, they will be raised that way in my garden. Most crops grown for seed take longer to mature than food crops – the plant must go through its entire life cycle before seeds are mature, and even then there is often a period of curing or drying before seeds are ready to harvest. This lengthy process results in a greater window of time during which any number of pests and diseases can destroy the seed crop.  In conventional seed production, pesticides and fungicides are applied, often at much higher levels than are allowable for food crops.  As the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association asks: “Is it fair for those of us in organic agriculture to want our own farms and environments to be as free of toxins as possible, but expect seed production communities to carry a heavy toxic load so that we can plant cheap conventional seed?" Seed that is produced organically will yield plants that are more adapted to, and more likely to thrive under, organic growing conditions. Increased demand will lead to an increase in variety selection and development, and increased availability of more organic seed!

Some of the seeds I am using this year are leftover from previous years. If you keep your seed in a cool dry location then you can use it more than one year, even if the seed packet is outdated. This can save you money on seed every year. Seed packets sometimes have 100 seeds or more and most home gardeners don't have space or time for that many plants. It is wasteful to throw out perfectly good seed and then buy the same seed again the following year. Generally, here is how long seeds will keep well in the right conditions:

Onions: One year 
Corn and peppers: Two years 
Beans, carrots, peas: Three years 
Beets, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, watermelons: Four years 
Broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, cantaloupes, radishes, spinach: Five years 
I am posting a list of the varieties I am growing this year. I will probably add a few more varieties later this spring, especially of the melons. My chickens love to peck and eat melons and squashes so I have to grow extra for them. I always get this ambitious about growing stuff in early spring, but by the end of summer, some things just don't make it to my plate for one reason or another.

Tomatoes:
Mountain Merit - Mountain Merit is a medium-large, 8-10 oz., red slicer with an excellent disease package to keep it healthy in the field. Larger than Defiant PHR, though flavor is not quite as good. Mountain Merit has one of the best disease packages around for a variety of field conditions. 
Charger - Large, 10-14 oz., red tomatoes are borne on high-yielding, medium-large plants that stay healthy due to multiple disease resistances. Very lightly ribbed tomatoes are firm and have very good flavor. Widely adaptable. Determinate. 
BHN-871 - Compared to Orange Blossom, BHN-871 is a larger, later plant with improved disease resistance, higher yield potential and larger fruit size. 10-12 oz. flattened globe-shaped tomatoes have good flavor but, like most yellow/orange tomatoes, less acid than most reds. Determinate. 
Granadero - Granadero produces very high yields of uniform, attractive, bright red, 4-5 oz. tomatoes with very good flavor. Thick-walled fruit are good for fresh tomato sauces, salsas, and salads. Broad disease resistances, including IR to TSWV, resistance to Nematodes, and low susceptibility to blossom end rot, keep Granadero healthy even under heavy disease pressure. Indeterminate. Organically grown.
Sweet Mojo - 65 days. F1 hybrid. Red grape type, extra long clusters of 20-21 fruit with nice high sugar flavor. Some tolerance to cracking and fusarium, extended shelf life. Stake indeterminate plants.
Great White - There are a number of heirloom "white" tomatoes, and Great White is the best. we have seen. The fruit is meaty with few seeds, a mild non-acid flavor, and creamy texture. The medium-tall plants are less viney and mature earlier than other "whites". Indeterminate. Organically grown.
Roma - The classic sauce and paste tomato. Certified Organic.Compact plants produce paste-type tomatoes resistant to verticillium and fusarium wilts. Meaty interiors and few seeds.
Beefsteak - Meaty fruits with fine flavor. Certified Organic. Large, ribbed fruits, 1-2 lbs. each, are produced on indeterminate vines. Solid, meaty and juicy tomatoes, an excellent slicer. 
Farmstand - A bright red, 8oz.slicer taht is bursting with sweet flavor. Indeterminate.
Sungold Cherry - Exceptionally sweet, bright tangerine-orange cherry tomatoes leave customers begging for more. Vigorous plants start yielding early and bear right through the season. Tendency to split precludes shipping, making these an exclusively fresh-market treat. The taste can't be beat. Indeterminate. 
Peppers:
Habanero - Super-hot! Avg. 2" x 1 1/4", wrinkled fruits ripen from dark green to salmon orange. This extremely pungent Habanero may be used fresh or dried. Key ingredient in Jamaican "jerk" sauces. Yield potential is good, but can be erratic in the North.
Lunchbox Pepper Mix - Equal amounts of our new red, yellow, and orange Lunchbox snack peppers have been combined in this mix. These beautiful, mini-sized peppers are remarkably sweet and flavorful. They are delicious sautéed, as an addition to salads and, of course, perfect for a healthy snack. All three varieties have tall strong plants that yield well for snack-type peppers.
Ancho - Otherwise known as chili rellanos, productive, most authentic tasting ancho we have trialed. Heart-shaped, thinner-walled fruits are mildly pungent and turn from black-green to red. 
Jalapeno -
California Wonder - HEIRLOOM. The standard bell pepper for many decades, this 1928 introduction is still the largest open-pollinated, heirloom bell you can grow, and a big improvement over the earlier bells. Consistently produces 3" X 4", 4-lobed fruit.
Sweet Banana - HEIRLOOM. An All-America Selection Bronze Medal winner for 1941 and still extremely popular. Large, pointed fruits measure 6 to 7" long and 1½" across. The mild yellow peppers ultimately turn brilliant red. A favorite for pickling.
Rainbow Mix - The collection of green, red, yellow, orange and purple peppers will make and outstanding color addition to the table. Start seeds indoors 8 weeks before planting outdoors. Keep seed moist in full sunlight. Transplant when 3 inches tall. Or, sow directly in the garden in sunny location after danger of frost has past. Plant 2 seeds every 18 inches. Thin to 1 plant every 18 inches when 3 inches tall. Use a balanced fertilizer when 6 inches tall to increase production. Plant hot and sweet peppers in separate areas to avoid cross-pollination. Pick peppers regularly for increased yields.
Cucumber:
Straight Eight - Organic. An All-American Winner! These perfectly straight cucumbers have sweet, mild flesh. The excellent flavor makes this a super choice for salads or sticks for dipping. This packet will plant approximately 20 hills. When plants are 2 inches tall, thin to 3 plants per hill. Plant at 3 week intervals up to midsummer for fresh cucumbers all season. Plant cucumber seed only after all danger of frost is past and ground is warm. They need lots of sunshine and water. Keep weeds to a minimum with straw or leaf mulch. In full sun, sow 5 seeds over a hill 12 inches tall and 2 feet across with well drained soil. For smaller gardens, plant alongside fence or trellis.
Rocky - Parthenocarpic Persian type. Tender flesh with good flavor. Very early maturity with high yields. Pick at 3 1/2" for baby cucumbers. Suitable for field or greenhouse production.
Diva - Diva produces distinctly tender, crisp, sweet, bitter-free, and seedless cukes. Plants are gynoecious (all-female) and parthenocarpic (grow fruits without pollination). Foliage is nonbitter, hence not as attractive to cucumber beetles as some varieties. Adapted to open field production and protected cropping. 
Asparagus: These have been growing two years so they should produce a good harvest this year.
Lettuce/Greens:
Coastal Star - Heat tolerant, full-size romaine. The large, heavy heads are dark green. Suitable for marketing as full heads or romaine hearts. Good, sweet flavor. Corky root resistant. Organically grown.
Claytonia - Cold-hardy salad green. Quantities of heart-shaped leaf pairs, each "wrapped" around a white-flowered stem. Hardiest of the winter salad greens, can tolerate moderate frost and can be grown all winter in mild regions or in cold greenhouses. The taste of the young leaves is wild and fresh. 
Arugula - Long, dark, lobed leaves are suitable for salad mix or bunching. White flowers with dark pink veins make attractive spicy additions to salad mixes.
Vit - The ideal winter salad item. This versatile, vigorous, mildew-resistant variety is excellent at a time of year when greens become scarce. Long, oval, glossy green leaves form tight rosettes. Flavor is mild and slightly nutty.
Winter Bibb - Unique, specialty bibb-romaine type for mini heads. Compact, extra-dark green heads, avg. 8" tall. Very tightly folded. Best described as a tall Buttercrunch. Flavor and texture are excellent. Suitable for all seasons - a top performer in our Quick Hoops™ trials. A unique, long-popular English lettuce, known in France as "Craquerelle du Midi" or "Craquante D'Avignon". 
Elegance Mix - Stunning colors! Colors range from dark and bronze red to bluish green. The combination of flavors and textures makes this a beautiful salad. This mix includes Pac Choi, Red Mustard,Mizuna, and leaf broccoli. 
Space Spinach - medium dark green leaves are upright and smooth to slightly savoyed. Resistant to DM races 1-3.
Tyee Spinach -Standard savoy spinach. Known for its bolt resistance and vigorous growth. Dark green leaves with upright growth habit. Suitable for spring, summer, and fall crops. Ideal for overwintering. Resistant to DM races 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, and 12.  
Cabbage - Green & Red varieties
Root Crops:
Evergreen Scallions - Green threads with an oniony kick.
Picador Shallots - Reddish-brown skin with white flesh. Large, French, half-long style produces single bulbs. Great for long-term storage.
Copra Onions - One of the best onions for long storage. Uniform, "rock-hard" storage onion with early maturity. These medium-sized, dark yellow-skinned storage onions have the preferred blocky round shape with thin necks that dry quickly. Firmness and skin are superior. Copra remains one of the best in our yearly storage trials, staying firm and flavorful after most other varieties have sprouted. Highest in sugar (13°-14°) of the storage onions. 
Red Onions
Napoli Carrots - Ideal for overwintering. A specialized variety with a sweet taste when sown in fall for winter harvest. In cold regions sow in the greenhouse. In mild regions sow outdoors in the open or protected with fabric row cover. Up to 7" cylindrical, smooth, blunt roots with strong tops.
Amethyst Radish - Bright purple skin! There is a striking contrast between the purple skin and crisp, mild white flesh. Amethyst is slow to get pithy, and the medium-sized tops are strong.
Red Norland Potatoes
Gold Russet Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Corn:
Vision - Tender, early, yellow super sweet. The 7 1/2-8" long ears have exceptionally tender, sweet, deep kernels, resulting in more corn and less cob. Each cob has 16-18 straight rows. Great for fresh eating or freezing. Much better eating and a more attractive, refined ear than Northern Xtra-Sweet, which it replaced. Good cool soil germination. Recommended minimum soil temperature at planting 65°F
Beans & Peas:
Tenderpick bush beans
Kentucky Blue Lake pole beans
Snowpeas
Snap peas
Squash:
Dunja Zucchini - Organic, early, powdery mildew resistant. Dunja is a high yielder of dark green, straight zucchinis. Open plants and small spines make for an easy harvest. Higher yielding. 
Slick Pic Yellow - Spineless and extra early. Slick Pik™ YS 26 combines extra earliness with spineless leaf petioles for a better percentage of blemish-free fruits and an easier harvest. The very attractive fruits have good flavor, and are a bit longer than typical, yellow straight necks. Bred by Brent Loy at the University of New Hampshire. 
Honey Bear Acorn - Delicious, small size. 4" round, mini-acorn fruits are just the right size halved for single servings. Weighing just 1-1 1/4 lb. (500gm.), Honey Bear has a deliciously starchy and sweet flavor. Promising for direct marketing by name. Compact bush plant resists powdery mildew. This innovative acorn squash was bred by Dr. Brent Loy at the University of New Hampshire.
Waltham Butternut - The standard butternut. Light tan-colored winter squash with small seed cavities and thick, cylindrical necks without crooks. Uniform fruits avg. 9" long, avg. 4-5 lb. The flesh is smooth-textured and has a unique sweet flavor, particularly after 3 months' storage. This 1970 All-America Selections winner from Massachusetts is still deservedly the most widely grown full-size butternut. Avg. yield: 4-5 fruits/plant.
Spagetti - Yellow, spaghetti-like flesh. Skin is ivory changing to pale yellow at maturity. Bake like squash or boil and fork out the flesh, topping the "spaghetti" with your favorite sauce. 3-5 lb. oblong fruit. Avg. yield: 4-5 fruits/plant. 
Big Doris Pumpkin - Good shape with strong handles. Big Doris has smooth, deep orange skin and average 30-40 lb. in weight. Avg. yield: 1 fruit/long-vined plant. 
New England Pumpkin - The classic New England pie pumpkin. Dark orange-skinned pumpkins in a range of small sizes, typically 4-6 lb. Although not as sweet as squash, the well-colored, orange flesh is relatively starchy, dry, and stringless. A well-known mini Jack O'Lantern type for pies. Avg. yield: 3-4 fruits/plant. Organically grown.
Melons:
Moon & Stars Watermelon - Organic. A very unique variety with very sweet bright-red flesh. Legendary variety rediscovered in rural Missouri. Large oval fruits up to 40 pounds. The dark-green skin is speckled with bright-yellow splashes ranging from star to moon size. Leaves are also speckled. This packet will plant approximately 5 hills. Choose a site with good drainage, good air circulation and full sun. Ready to harvest when skin on underside turns yellow and when a thump with knuckles produces a hollow sound. Start seed indoors 4 weeks before transplanting outdoors. 
Hearts of Gold Cantaloupe - The aromatic deep-orange flesh is sweet and juicy. Vines are vigorous and very productive. high in vitamins A, B, and C. This packet will plant approximately 10 hills. Cantaloupe is ready to pick when golden beige, has a distinct aroma, and slips easily from the vine. Start seed indoors 4 weeks before planting outdoors.
Fruits & Berries: These have been growing at least 1-2 years already so this should be a good harvest year.
Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
Grapes
Cherries
Herbs:
Sage - Wide variety of culinary uses. Dusty, green leaves are used in dressing, sauces, salted herbs, sausage, and tea. Make a good base for dried floral wreaths. Medicinal:Leaves are used as digestive and nerve tonics. Edible, lovely, small lavender flowers appear in early summer. 
Genovese Basil - Classic Italian variety. Authentic flavor and appearance. Tall and relatively slow to bolt with large, dark green leaves about 3" long. Ht. 24-30". 68 days to harvest.
Oregano - A true Greek oregano. Heavy oregano aroma; great for pizza and Italian cooking. Characteristic dark green leaves with white flowers. Medicinal: In tea for indigestion. 80-90 days to harvest when started indoors.
Rosemary - Pine-scented, ornamental evergreen. Popular for potted plant sales and with chefs. Medicinal:In tea to treat headaches. Stimulates circulation. NOTE: Germination is naturally low and variable.
Thyme -  Aromatic leaves season meats, poultry, stews, sauces, soups and dressings.

Thyme is one of the most widely used culinary herbs. It is commonly grown as a decorative and functional plant in many home gardens, and bees use its pollen to make delectable honey. It is easy to grow and adaptable to most soils and climatic conditions and is perennial.

Catnip - Perennial Herb. This plant, which is one of the mint family, takes its name because of its particular attraction for cats. Young leaves and shoots also impart lemony-mintness to everyday cooking and to catnip tea. Can also be grown for bee forage.

Omega Flax - Good source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Golden-yellow flax seeds are used whole, roasted and ground in cooking. Multibranching variety for high seed yield. Medicinal: Ground seeds are a great Source of fiber. 95-100 days to harvest. Organically grown. 

Cumin - Seeds flavor Mexican and Indian dishes. Fragrant, ferny foliage is similar to dill. Young leaves make a nice addition to salad mixes. Grows best in warmer areas, but will produce seeds in northern areas if started early. Medicinal: Seed aids digestion. 

Cilantro - Slowest to bolt. Full, bulky plants provide a high leaf yield. In our trials, Calypso was 3 weeks slower to bolt than Santo.

Trash Talk

Recycling Load

One serious consideration when you live in the boonies; what do you do with the trash? Most people in urban areas have a pick up service at their home. There is no convenient pickup service where we live, so we have to come up with ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and haul off what trash is leftover by ourselves. Unfortunately, many of our neighbors have decided to burn all their trash, including things that do not burn, like plastic and metal cans. You can drive down the road and see their burn piles in their yard with the melted plastic and charred cans scattered about. Thankfully, I live far enough away from them so I don't have to breathe the burning plastic smell. When it gets really windy, which it often does up on this ridge, their trash gets blown into the woods. It is really sad. I wish that our county would provide the pick-up service and educate people about recycling and not burning garbage.

We try to compost all of our kitchen and yard waste or feed it to our chickens. Some things just can't be composted like meat, fat and oils. We put all our eggshells and coffee grounds in our compost bin along with all vegetable matter from the kitchen and leftovers from the garden and flower beds. We also add the chicken poop and used bedding to the compost bin. If you tumble, stir and "cook" the material for 6 months to a year, then you can put it on your garden beds to enhance the soil composition. You can speed  up the process by constructing a solar oven. You simply put the compost in a large plastic bag and place it in a box lined with aluminum foil or some other reflective material. After a few warm days, you shake the bag around so that the material sifts inside and then bake it a few more days. This should kill any microorganisms or weed seeds that remain. Compost making is much faster during warmer months, the process really slows down in the winter.

Soil needs lots of organic matter. Since compost can sometimes be contaminated with persistent herbicides (see my previous post about this), it is best to make your own so you know what is in it. If you are adding any type of manure, even chicken poop, it is best to let it cook for a year or in an outdoor oven to the proper temperature to ensure that you do not transfer any pathogens to your garden. This is how E-Coli bacteria and other pathogens can end up in vegetables, so make sure you are using safe practices with any type of manure. Mother Earth News has a great article about building the compost oven and proper methods of making compost here: Mother Earth News - Compost Made Easy

The rest of our trash is paper and packaging. Some packaging can be reused for other things, like starting vegetable seeds. We save plastic berry containers so that we can put our berries in them at harvest time. Plastic jugs can be reused for watering plants and target practice. Cardboard and paper can be laid down in walkway areas of the garden to discourage weeds. Some packaging can be used for play. My cat loves to climb in a box or pretend like she has something cornered in one. The kids like to beat up boxes for fun. My husband and his friends enjoy shooting at them for target practice. I like to use them for crafty projects and storage.Obviously, we can't save all cardboard, etc for later. We collect it and then use it to start a fire in our outdoor fire pit on those nights when friends are over or we just want to sit outside and look at the stars and talk.

We still accumulate bags of trash that are a mix of plastic wrap, food scraps, food packaging, glass, etc. My next project is to start separating the plastic and glass that we don't reuse and take it to the recycling center in town.

We are fortunate to have friends that own an apartment complex in town and have a dumpster. They have given us permission to use their dumpster for the bags of garbage left over. We usually haul the garbage there once a month. At home, we keep it bagged in very large cans with heavy lids to cut down on the odor and keep rodents out until we haul it away on the trailer.

The Nature of Love

It's Valentine's Day and I am thinking about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful, kind, caring husband who is truly my best friend and soul mate. Everything I write about on here and pictures I post involves a tremendous amount of his hard work. He designed and built our greenhouse, the chicken coop, the compost bin, the deck. He remodeled the inside of our house, fixed plumbing, electrical and other problems. He installed insulation in the attic, fixed the barn doors, moved lots of gravel by rake and wheelbarrow. He chops and splits the firewood, feeds the animals, mows the grass, shovels lots of dirt, hauls the trash out and literally works his butt off. I love him so much and don't know what I would do without him. He made me the most awesome Valentine today and I just had to share it on my blog:

Happy Valentine's Day to each of you reading this. I hope you are also blessed to have someone as special as I do!

Greenhouse Gardening in Winter

My Greenhouse in the beginning of February

It's warm inside!

Lettuces, herbs, broccoli, radishes

Green onions, more lettuce & broccoli

Even though we got 3-4 inches of snow today, my plants in the greenhouse are staying warm and growing. I transplanted several root bound lettuces and broccoli today while the kids were sledding outside. I have been supplementing 4-5 hours of light in the late afternoon because we still have very little daytime light right now. Even though some days are very sunny, we still have a majority of gray days. I am hoping that the transplants will be full size plants when I transplant them outside in the spring. I have never had much luck with spring gardening before. In the past I would buy transplants of spinach, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and other cold crops from a local farm store. By the time they grew big enough to harvest, the amount of light and heat would have caused the lettuce and spinach to bolt and the broccoli and cabbage to flower. I believe it is because spring in Kentucky is very short. We will have days in early spring that reach into the upper 80's and 90's but we also have days of frigid weather, wind and frost that prevent you from planting your warm crops too early. The greenhouse will allow me to grow my spring transplants bigger than what I could buy at the store when it is time to plant the spring garden. Hopefully this plan will give me an early harvest of spring crops. When I get ready to put the spring transplants in the ground I will be ready to start the warm season seeds in the greenhouse. I also planted some seeds of cold tolerant lettuces and spinach in the garden in late fall. These have already started to sprout but are growing very slowly. This spring they should start to take off as the daylight hours and soil temperatures increase.

Homestead Security

Gun control is a huge topic right now because of the awful massacre of children, teachers and school administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary. The topic has been brewing in the public domain for awhile because mass shootings are on the rise in America. General craziness is on the rise in America too. People seem to be more pessimistic, paranoid, violent & irrational. Right now we have a situation with a "doomsday prepper" who has kidnapped a 5 year old boy from a school bus in which he shot the driver and took the boy. It is day 3 of the stand off between him and law enforcement and supposedly, the boy is still alive but I am sure he is forever traumatized. We also had a school shooting today in Atlanta and details are just emerging.

Everyone wants to blame someone or something for these tragedies. It must be the NRA, assault rifles, Obama, Bush, video games, movies, TV, the media, the conspiracy theorists, ADHD, Asperger's, psychiatric meds, depleted foods & health, etc. etc. Everyone wants to do something to stop it. We must have armed guards at school, on buses, background checks on everyone, doctors questioning patients about guns, assault rifle bans, ammunition clip bans, swat teams in every town, and so on. It's a sad predicament we face as a nation, as a parent, as a teacher, as a young person trying to grow up and understand this world. How do you protect innocent lives from someone hell-bent on destroying them?

One thing I clearly want to express is that I hate violence. I loath confrontation on a physical plane. I would much rather be intellectually or artistically challenged than physically challenged by some nut. I wish we could all live in a world of peace and love. If only everyone felt the same way, if they could be tolerant of differences in others and embraced life without jealousy, anger and stupidity we might make it happen. Since that is not the world we currently face, it is imperative for peace loving people to try not to make themselves a target for violence. Living in the backwoods is very peaceful but it is also a bit scary. What if nobody could hear me scream, what if it takes the police 30-45 minutes to get here if they did find out I needed help? What if I am a target because I live in such a remote location. These are all things that one must consider when choosing to live in a place like I do.

In addition to people who want to start violent confrontations, there are those that just want to rob you so they can get their fix. We call these unfortunate souls "pillbillies" in my neck of the woods. They are so addicted to their drugs that they will risk electrocution by stealing electrical lines right off the pole. When we first bought our homestead, there was no plumbing hooked up. We thought it was because it was winter and the previous owner didn't want the pipes to freeze. After we bought it, we discovered that someone had robbed all the copper pipes right out from under it. They also took the grounding rods on the telephone polls. Days later, we discovered it was a popular drinking spot for some questionable folks so we installed a gate across the access road. The first year we owned the place, we only came on the weekends so we installed some video surveillance and alarm system after we were told a local pillbilly had been caught trying to look in our windows.

My point is, some people need more than 911 for protection. Some people are at greater risk of confrontation and can't depend on the small local police department when they live so far from it. For these reasons, you have to plan accordingly how you will protect yourself on your own. There are numerous methods and devices available. You have to go with what you are comfortable with and consider the ramifications if you actually had to use it. It is imperative that you consider your family situation, mental and physical abilities and what you are willing to do when faced with the worst situation. You also need to practice what you are going to do. There is nothing wrong with being a prepper! You should be prepared because you can't depend on others to come to your rescue, even though there still are lots of good people  in this world that do it every single day. My background in emergency response and environmental health and safety has given me the privilege of meeting those that put their life on the line every day for the safety and security of those they have never met. I have great respect for those people. I can tell you that they practice a lot and that is how they are able to handle themselves in difficult and/or tragic situation. You also need to know and practice what you would do if things did not go the way you planned. If one of your family  members or friends was stabbed or shot, do you know what to do. If you are 30 minutes away from EMS, that means the victim is an hour away from a hospital. You have to know how to control bleeding and deal with sucking chest wounds if you expect to keep them alive. At the very least, know CPR and first aid. You or someone you know are much more likely to die from a heart attack than to be shot anyway! It amazes me how many people are scared of taking my CPR, AED, First Aid class because they think it makes them liable to help anyone. Check your own state laws but here in Kentucky, we have the Good Samaritan law that will protect you from any lawsuit as long as you act in good faith. You also need to form an alliance with your neighbors if possible. You can't always be home but they watch your back while you watch theirs.

I have respect for those that say we need to do something because they are right! What I don't have are the answers to what will work in this complicated world of conflicts. The best thing we can do is protect ourselves within our ability, spread love and peace, teach our children what is right and wrong and participate in our democracy that so many brave people sacrificed their lives and families for us to have.

Cooling off the Cabin Fever

Hiking around the backyard

My family from left to right, Dylan, Jason, Me, Aaron

Frozen Little Laurel Falls

Dylan is almost 6 ft tall but he looks small in this picture

Icicles everywhere!

Cool ice formation on this rock

My boys and their friend, throwing rocks at ice of course!

The weather finally warmed up enough to get outside for awhile. We have had several days of frigid weather and we were getting tired of being inside all day. We are naturally outdoor type people and it is hard to get through the winter months, not just because it is cold but because it gets dark early too. We hiked around the backyard woods and looked at all the cool icicles and frozen waterfalls. I say backyard like I have some ownership but it really belongs to everyone. It is the Daniel Boone National Forest and our backyard backs up to it. It makes it seem like we have an endless yard to explore right outside our backdoor! There are lots of rock shelters, little caves, overhangs and big boulders in the area. There is also some pretty cool rock climbing routes. One of the overhangs used to be the site of a moonshine still and you can still find a few canning jar lids if you know where to look. The hiking around here is not like your typical state park maintained trail. You have to work your way through some prickly briers and climb up and over rocks and downed trees. There are a lot of leaves on the ground so you have to be careful not to step in a big hole. Steep drop offs and cliffs keep you on your toes. Most of the time you are going up a hill or down a hill and some areas are pretty slick so you have to walk slow and sideways in some areas. In the winter, you have an added worry of huge icicles that could potential fall from high above and stab or crush you. It may sound dangerous but it is worth it all. The clean air, the beauty and diversity of the forest and rocks, the exercise you get without even thinking about it, make it an amazing experience for everyone who comes here.

Roosters, Rats & Bobcats, Oh My!

It took us awhile to figure it out but out of the 12 chicks we raised, 3 were roosters, possibly 4. Having this many roosters is just not possible. They were starting to fight and try to kill each other. They were also driving the hens a little crazy. We knew what we had to do but had never culled chickens before. My husband had a good friend who wasn't afraid of the procedure come over and help him. His friend went to get the roosters that were going to be culled. There were 4 of the Plymouth rocks and we thought one was a hen. The largest rooster we decided to keep for protection for the hens. The friend grabbed what he thought was the other two roosters and hung them upside down. They slit the throats and drained them. Then they put them in a large pot of boiling water and removed the feathers and insides. They bagged them up and put them in the frig. My husband then went to check on the chickens and discovered two roosters in the pin. Apparently, either the friend picked up the female Plymouth rock and they accidentally killed her or we were wrong and she was a he. Anyway, now they had to kill another rooster! We are down to 8 hens and 1 very large crazy rooster that is not afraid to take on humans. We have to walk around with a rake if he is out of the pen or he will try to attack us. He likes to start his cockadoodling at about 4:30am. I am a light sleeper and it has taken me a long time to get used to it but I think I finally have. Other than that, we are glad to have him because we think he scares off would be predators with his loud sounds and disposition. The hens don't seem to mind him either. Lately we have discovered that rats are not afraid of him and apparently they are really good at sneaking in the coop to steal food at night without waking him up. Even though we buried hard wire all around the coop at least a foot deep, they have burrowed a hole deeper than that and dug a tunnel into the coop. I have been trying to research ways to get rid of them without possible poisoning the chickens. So far, they have outsmarted our traps. We picked up a homeless kitten on Halloween (named Kit-Kat) that we hope will start catching and killing them. Right now, the rats are probably bigger than the cat.

One morning in the fall we woke to find the male duck missing. Later, our dog Marley came out of the woods carrying the head of the duck. My husband walked into the woods and found the rest of the duck body. It was decapitated with its breast meat removed. Whatever got the duck had to have climbed or jumped over a 4 foot fence, got the duck in its mouth and then jumped back over the fence with the duck to go kill it in the woods. I can imagine all the commotion woke up the rooster. The female duck spent the rest of her days pretty distraught and you could tell she missed her companion. We had to lock her in her Quack House at night so that whatever it was did not come back for her. We discovered some claw marks on the gate and coop and believe it may have been a bobcat. As time went on, we decided the best thing to do would be to cull the leftover duck. She was becoming a burden to put away every night and we had to leave her in there for a few days when we left town for the weekend. We were excited to eat the duck meat but after researching and following what seemed like a great recipe for pan-seared duck, it turned out to be awful. The meat was extremely tough and chewy. I had always heard that duck was really fatty but this duck had no fat on it. That may have been why it didn't turn out to well. We have decided not to have ducks anymore. They are cute but they make a huge mess and they stink really bad. You have to change their pool water all the time because it starts stinking and attracting flies. The algae is also a pain to clean. It just doesn't seem worth it to us. It's all part of the learning process!