Natural Deer Repellent
April 21, 2009 by John
Filed under Featured, Knowledge Drop
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Put down the mole….step away from the cat..
April 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under Urban Homestead
I was a friend’s house eating grilled pork loin (pig does taste good), having a glass of wine, and telling lies, when we all saw the cat stalking in the back yard. It was an early spring day and the varmits were out and about.
We noticed that the cat was sitting and gnawing in the middle of the lawn. Our curiosity was piqued when the children began to circle the cat. Then the squeal, “Tano is eating a mole…oooohh gross.” This is where the parents intoned, “Step away from the cat,” loud enough for the children to hear 20 yards away, followed by “don’t get near that cat while she is eating,” loudly enough for the grown-up/parents to hear.
A bit later the cat wandered off, climbed a tree, and tried to eat some Robins…unsuccessfully. About this time we noticed the children circling the dead mole. Another parent shouts out, “Don’t pick-up the mole…don’t touch the mole!!!”
As we are finishing up dinner, the four year old boy is approaching the back deck wearing a black evening glove up to his should on his right arm, his arm extended in front of him…wait for it…holding the mole in his gloved palm. The parents are torn between disgust and how to best separate the boy from the mole without him getting too close to the dinner table…
This was the exchange between the father and the boy overheard by the author…
Dad:”So I have a couple of things for you son…First, putting a glove on before you picked up the mole was a good idea and your creativity and thought was good…but, second, didn’t I tell you not to pick up the mole? You didn’t do a very good job following directions…
Boy: “Sorry daddy.”
Now we know why he picked it up…little boys like dead things. The glove was awesome though.
You don’t see that everyday.
Three Different Places to get Fish Emulsion..Go Figure
April 14, 2009 by admin
Filed under Urban Homestead
Organic Vegetable Gardening with Fish Emulsion on Tomato
So my tomato plants, which I planted too early [because I am a thrill seeker, impatient, and suffer from attention deficit disorder], are already mad. They tell me they need nitrogen. How did they tell me? You may be thinking that I am bit touched in the head. You know hearing the plants talk to me and all. No No No au contraire… the lower leaves were yellow. Easy diagnosis. First I looked at them in search of bugs…no bugs. So they must need nitrogen.
Being the good, diligent aspiring organic gardener that I am, off I went in search of fish emulsion. First my local hardware store (shout out to Hillsboro Hardware on 21st avenue in Nashvegas) tells me that they only carry the powdered now because the people in the Belmont Hillsboro complained about the smell. I complained that I wanted the stinky stuff.
Then, due to the children talking nonstop interfering with the successful operation of my synapses, we went to the big box of the despot. No Joy! Then, in a fit of inspiration, the daddy thinks of the All Seasons Garden and Brewing Center. The hippie dippy organic joint. The first time I tried to patronize the establishment, I could not find my destination. Another moment of inspiration later, Sprint Navigation has an animated map up and an annoying voice giving me lovely directions to my destination some 2.7 miles hence.
Oh joy, fish emulsion…click me!
My tomatoes look a bit happier today though you can still see the yellow from the nitrogen deficit.
Raspberries…Yummy!
April 12, 2009 by admin
Filed under Knowledge Drop, Urban Homestead
Who doesn’t love raspberries? Rubus idaeus (red raspberries) and R. occidentalis taste good! Your best bet for growing raspberries is to transplant them. They should be planted in early winter or spring when the suckers are dormant. If you live in zone six or higher (read further south) you can plant in the fall. They should be planted two to three feet apart in rows that are four feet apart. If you use deep beds, you may plant three feet apart. The plant should be mulched about six inches deep to keep the roots warm in winter and cool in the summer.
Raspberries may be propagated by taking cuttings. Make sure to take your cutting from a cane (branch or stem) that did not produce fruit. The fruit producing stems die back after fruiting and cannot be used for propagation. If your cutting doesn’t root, it is most likely due to exhaustion from fruiting earlier in the season. Don’t use tired canes!
Raspberries like on inch of rain per week prior to fruiting and one and a half inches of water while fruiting. The water can be from rain or your watering system. Feed them with slow acting fertilizer early in the season and spray with the liquid seaweed extract three times during the growing season for the happiest berries. Happy berries taste better!
There are numerous pests that may afflict your berries. If your foliage curls, puckers, and turns yellow, and then is also stunted, you may have aphids. If there are ants on your bushes, they are attracted by the honeydew from the aphids. There will be clusters of aphids under the leaves. Dang pestilence. Be gone! They are the about the size of a pinhead and may be green, brown, or pink. They will be destroyed by insecticidal soap sprayed on them every two to three days until they are gone. The big concern from the aphids lies in the virus carrying properties. They bring the mosaic that can kill your plants.
If a cane borer comes a calling you can expect to see sudden tip wilting. Closer examination of your plant will reveal two rows of punctures about one inch apart at the tip of your cane. The adult beetle has deposited eggs in your cane and is killing your berry. You just have to cut off the wilted tips below the low row of punctures and burn up the beetle larvae. Nothing to it as long as you pay attention to your plants.
Japanese beetles will make your leaves look like skeletons of leave. The shiny green beetle is about a half an inch long and has copper colored wings. If you put up pheromone beetle traps at least fifty feet from your crops to lure the beetles away. If the traps can’t handle the infestation, the infestation won’t be able to handle pyrethrum. The pyrethrum will get rid of the infestation. Leave traps up id beetle infestation is regular in your garden spot
The raspberry root borer in an insidious foe. Your plant will break off easily at the base and show general lethargy and lack of vigor. You may often find the half inch grubs eating your plant in the crown of roots. Sometimes you and off the buggers by stabbing them with a wire; however the only surefire way to rid yourself of the pestilence is to cut the affect canes below the soil line and destroy them. Dang those bugs.
Whiteflies are another common garden pest that may affect your berries. The whiteflies honey dew encourages fungus growth on your leaves and weakens the plants. You can tell you have them if, when the plant is disturbed, it looks like dandruff is flying around your plant. Insecticidal soap applied daily for a few days will control the outbreak and send the whiteflies to an appropriate end.
Pay attention to your raspberries and take good care of them. Plant them where they are happy and protect them from evil. You will be rewarded with big, fat, juicy fruits! Raspberries are fun to grow, fun to pick, and even more fun to eat in jams, tarts, salads, cakes, breads, and even right off the plant. Plant some today!
Organic Vegetable Gardening: A Few Words About Tomatoes
April 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Knowledge Drop, Urban Homestead
Everybody loves tomatoes. And the taste best when picked from the vine, walked to the butcher block, sliced, and put on the homemade bread with lettuce, bacon, and mayonnaise. My mouth is watering at the thought. First we have to grow the tomato.
Tomatoes come in a numerous varieties, heirloom and hybrid. I just like to eat them. From grape sized and red to gigantic and purple, you can get tomatoes in a virtually unlimited array of colors and sizes. They all grow between three to four feet for you determinate varieties and seven to fifteen feet for your indeterminate varieties. All tomatoes need twenty-four to thirty six inches of space to spread out. If you use deep beds, you can plant a bit closer together and train the vines vertically. The majority of the roots are in the top eight inches of the soil with some fibrous spreading roots going four plus feet down. They like their soil to have a pH of 6 to 7.
Tomatoes love eight or more hours of full sun per day. They cannot tolerate frost and should be started indoors and transplanted to your garden after the last chance of frost. Where I live in Tennessee, that is tax day here in the US, April 15. Did I follow my own advice? Of course not! I planted early and had to cover my tomatoes because we had a frost. Some stakes and old packing blankets over the tomatoes brought them through just fine. They look great and are moving toward the sandwich as I write.
When you do plant your tomatoes, if in rows they should be 18 to 24 inches apart. If you use deep beds as I do, they go 12 inches apart and should be trained up a trellis. Tomatoes love water and should get one to one and half inches per week either from rain or watering. Apply compost or slow acting fertilizer in spring. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and require light supplements every couple of weeks throughout the growing season. Go easy with the nitrogen. You will be well served by spraying your plants with the liquid seaweed extract.
I have had trouble over the years with the tomato hornworm. You know you have them when you see holes in your leaves and black droppings in the foliage of your lovely tomato plant. If you spray your plant with water, the hornworms thrash about and let you know where they are. You will recognize them from the large (3 to 5 inches) , green, caterpillar appearance. The dead giveaway is the horn on their head. They are relatively easy to control by picking of early in the season. You can also dust with BT (bacillus thuringiensis). If the infestation is too awful, use pyrethrum twice, three days apart.
Whiteflies have been the bane of my existence on more than one occasion. The little bugger secrete honeydew that encourages fungus causing the plant to weaken, turn yellow, and die. So sad. You know you have them because your plants start to turn yellow and, when the plant is shaken, a flying could of dandruff flies around your tomato. Insecticidal soap will get rid of the pestilence. If that doesn’t work, use the pyrethrum twice, three days apart.
Hey, have fun and eat the delicious tomatoes. I know I can’t wait.
