So Tomorrow I am Putting Up a Scarecrow

I am putting one or two of these up in my garden tomorrow. I’ll add pictures then. I put a couple up last year, before the dog fence, and they worked until Clover (my dog) realized that she liked chasing water. Then they didn’t work so well.

In any event, I love them. A humane way to keep squirrels, possum, raccoons, birds, and deer off of you plants. My zucchini is already getting nibbled and it not two inches high. I’m gonna fix that. But I love the scarecrow. The videos of it in action are hilarious. You can also sit out back, pour a glass of wine, and entertain yourself. My suggestion entirely.

Man do I live growing season. The sprout-lets are making me happy!

Organic Tomato Success Kits…More Stuff We Love…

I used to have an earth box. This looks like an pretty version of that. I am a big fan of anything that helps people get into gardening and have success. This is just the ticket…

The Organic Tomato Success Kit in Terra Cotta. The Gardner’s Supply Company’s Our Tomato Success Kits have helped thousands of gardeners from beginners to experts grow big crops of delicious tomatoes. They recently improved the kits by using all organic growing medium and fertilizer. Field tests prove that tomatoes grown in these success kits out-produce garden-grown plants by 30% or more, with fewer disease and pest problems. The kits include everything you need for a bumper crop. The heart of the system is our patented self-watering planter with a 4-gallon reservoir that lets you enjoy self-watering convenience, while your plants receive a steady flow of water and nutrients all season long. A strong, rust-resistant steel support cage clips on to prevent plants from toppling. Also included are 40 quarts of OMRI-certified Organic Self-Watering Container Mix, 1 lb. of our Organic Tomato Fertilizer, and a sheet of red plastic mulch to speed ripening and help boost yields.

Organic Tomato Success Kit, Terra Cotta

Use the special noted previously and save money! Eat fresh organic tomatoes!

Upside down tomatoes seem to be all the rage these days…

The upside down tomato planters seem to be everywhere these days. I must say that I am intrigued. The planters are being sold many places. Here are two examples…

and

I am thinking of making one myself, though at the price in my store, it may be cheaper to buy. If any of you have made one, let me know!

The Hori Hori Knife: My New Favorite Garden Tool

Evidently, this multi-use tool originated several hundred years ago in Japan. It was originally a mountain farmers tool and bonsai gardeners seem to most prevalently claim it as their own. It is said that the bonsai gardeners/farmers used to climb high into to mountains with their hori hori knives to dig promising specimens off of the rocky cliff faces. Another story that I ran across indicates that an ancient Shogun grew fearful of the farmer-warriors and ordered that all swords be confiscated from anyone who was not samurai. It was then illegal for anyone not of the sword bearing class to have a sword. In order to protect themselves, the farmers designed tools that were legal and could double as weapons.

Some folks tell us that the Japanese verb to dig or excavates is horu. The name of the knife, hori hori, is derived from the verb to dig. I don’t know which, if any of these stories is true. I do know that there are many uses for the hori hori knife. So, first, what is a hori hori knife?

It is traditionally a wooden handled, wide bladed knife made from carbon steel. The blade is between four and seven inches long and is wide. The blade is thick and concave for strength and ease of digging.  One side of the blade is smooth and sharp. The other side is serrated for sawing off those dang big roots. It is the most versatile garden tool that I own. I use it for planting, weeding, digging rows, digging out roots, digging holes for roots, cutting irrigation pipes, dead-heading, pruning, digging rows…I carry it with me all the time. When you buy one you will want to get a sheath for it and keep it sharp.

Over time, some garden genius put measuring markings on the blade of the hori hori so that you can properly space your plantings. Then they started making them out of stainless steel for those of us who are tool maintenance challenged. If you have trouble remembering where you put down your tools, you will want to be careful with your hori hori knife. I have read stories of folks who inadvertently bury their knives under plants and have to borrow metal detectors from their mother-in-law and get mercilessly ribbed at family gatherings for years to come. So, in order to avoid my ‘friends’ fate, you may want to paint the handle of your hori hori knife a bright color, or purchase one that has a brightly colored handle.

When looking for your knife, because you will use it all the time, make sure that the blade extends into the handle. If the blade is welded on to the handle, it will eventually snap off when you are using it. Spend more to get a sturdy hori hori knife and avoid buying three. The carbon steel knives will need regular sharpening. If you don’t have a whet stone, you will want to get one. I am feeling traditionalist recently and bought the carbon steel hori hori knife. Sharpening your knife yourself make you feel more connected to your tool and, as a consequence, more present in your garden when using your tool. As you use your knife more and more, you will enjoy gardening more and more.

How should you sharpen and care for you hori hori knife? You can take it to your local kitchen store or knife shop and pay someone to do it..or you can learn to do it yourself. First you need a whetstone. You want to look for a high quality carborundum stone with a smooth side and coarse side. If you get a cheap stone, you will get mad later and buy a better stone. So skip the cheap stone and get the good one.

If your knife is dull, start with the coarse stone. This is ‘roughing’ the blade. Roughing will leave a coarse edge that will cut fibrous material but not work for fine cutting. When you prune and work with your plants, you want good, clean cuts. So, sharpen your knife all the way – two steps.

Step one is roughing. The rough, you should wet or oil your stone according to the manufacturer’s directions. Hold your hori hori knife at about 20 degrees to the stone (pretend that you are cutting a piece off of the stone and you will get the angle about right). Use consistent strokes in only one direction making sure that you keep the angel to the stone consistent. First in the coarse side, and then on the fine side of the stone. The fine side sharpening is step two.

Okay, now for the safety bit…don’t hold the sharpening stone in your hand, you will cut yourself. Secondly, if you never cut toward yourself, you can never get cut.

If you care for your hori hori knife, it will take care of you and your garden. I love mine and use it all the time.

I Love Chickens and Chickens Love Me!

So, contrary to the wishes of the wife, I am looking for chickens. I need to build a coop. I can’t decide whether to design and build my own or to seek out some plans. There are lots option no matter which way I decide to go. Some of the products that I am looking at can be found Click Here! and here. The first link has some very interesting plans and drawings…here is a sample…

Chickens are an excellent addition to the backyard organic vegetable garden. I prefer the portable chicken tractor because you can move the Chickens in safety and let them work your garden for you. Putting the chickens where you want them also allows you to put the excellent chicken fertilizer to work for you. Unlike dog poop, chicken poop is an excellent source of fertilizer for your garden. Rotating the chickens through your beds after the growing season gets your earth tilled, weeds and varmints removed, and fertilizes for the next growing season. Put the chickens for work for you. Chickens are inexpensive and easy to care for with a bit of planning. Make sure that you design your coop or tractor so that it is easy to clean. Provide suitable roosting for your chickens and provide privacy for your layers. Chickens also are fun for your children. Chickens are silly. It is almost impossible to watch chickens run around your yard without smiling. Chickens can also improve relations with your neighbors…as long as you don’t get a rooster. Roosters crow all the time. In the morning at dawn, before dawn, as sunset, in the middle of the night. As long as you get chickens (not roosters) your neighbors will be thrilled with the fresh eggs that you give them. How do you know the sex of a baby chicken? I’d leave that to the expert at the beginning. As long as you are familiar with a few terms, you can make sure to get the best chickens for your family. Do not buy straight run chickens. The straight run chickens are just selected based upon the order they hatch and are not sexed. You just get a grab bag of boys and girls. You probably know that baby chickens are called chicks. They are not called boy chicks and girl chicks. Cockerels are baby roosters (boys) and pullets are baby chickens (girls). Your local farmers cooperative probably sells chicks. Just make sure they are sexed. Also, depending how many chicks you want, you can order them off of the interest and have them delivered UPS to your door. Pretty cool! Lastly, your local extension service can tell you how to locate a chicken producer near you. Get some chickens, raise them right, and add them to your organic vegetable garden today! Your family will be thrilled!

This is a good looking coop here! Chicken palace…