Natural Deer Repellent
April 21, 2009 by John
Filed under Featured, Knowledge Drop
|
|
The Hori Hori Knife: My New Favorite Garden Tool
April 20, 2009 by John
Filed under Featured, Our Favorite Products
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.
For the garden rambo
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!
April 14, 2009 by John
Filed under Featured, Our Favorite Products, Urban Homestead
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…
-
- organic chickens
-
- Don’t buy a rooster unless you own ear plugs
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…
Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society – NSAS
April 14, 2009 by admin
Filed under Urban Homestead
I ran across this website. It has lots of cool information and was a pleasure to read. People everywhere are trying to get healthy. Check it out! There is an excellent archive of newsletter articles.
Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society – NSAS.
Colorado Potato Beetles Eat More Than Potatoes, Dastardly Little Buggers
April 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under Knowledge Drop, Urban Homestead
Pestilence
Potatoes taste good. They are good baked, broiled, grilled, hashed, home fried, deep fried, french friend, and stuffed. I really like some potato. They taste even better when you grow them yourself…organically, in your backyard or on your farm. Unfortunately, humans are not the only ones who love potatoes. There is a pestilence lurking out there that will decimate your potato crop and harsh on your garden.
The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is native to North America. Despite it name, the beetle will also eat your eggplants and tomatoes. You know you have them when you see them. They are yellow convex beetles about a half an inch long and are covered with black stripes and an orange head. Their eggs are bright yellow and are laid on the underside of the leaves. The grubs (grubs look nasty) are plump and red with black spots and a black head. The grown ups and the larvae chew foliages leaving your plants looking like skeletons of plants. The defoliation and skeleton-like appearance of your plants is the other way to know you have been attacked by the little buggers.
There are many methods for controlling the potato beetles. Hand pick the early spring arrivals and squash them like the bugs they are (putting them in a pail of soapy water, while less visceral, is equally effective) and put down a thick layer of organic mulch. The beetles can’t climb out through the thick stuff.
Planting an early crop of black nightshade ten to fifteen feet away from your vegetable crop, will give you early warning of the coming infestation. If the beetles come, wait for your trap crop to become heavily infested and then pull and destroy the crop along with the beetles. If the beetles get by your defenses, first manually pluck as many as you can so they can’t lay anymore eggs. You are trying to interrupt the generations. Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) are bacteria that come in powder form and kills leaf eating caterpillars; however there is a new form that does a fine job controlling the potato beetle in its larval stage.
If you sprinkle your plants with bran or cornmeal, the beetles will eat it, the meal will expand in the beetle, and the beetle will explode. Who wouldn’t want to see that? Mechanical and nontoxic control of beetles is cool.
Neem is effective at controlling the beetles. Mix your neem product according to the directions and apply it to the affected plants at weekly intervals until the beetles are under control. Pyrethrum is also effective at controlling the potato beetles. In general two applications, three days apart will get the little guys under control.
If you want to get out in front of the potato beetles and try to prevent them in the first place, you have a couple of options that I will discuss here. You can get resistant potato varieties. The Sequoia and Katahdin are resistant to potato beetles. You can coat your plants with Diatomaceous Earth. Dust your entire plant with the Diatomaceous Earth paying particular attention to the undersides of the leaves. The best time to apply the Diatomaceous Earth is in the evening when the beneficial bugs are less prevalent. Nylon netting or agricultural fleece may be used to completely cover the plants and prevent infestation.
The foregoing is a general discussion of how to control the Colorado Potato Beetle. Remember, don’t be afraid of the pests. You can control them without petroleum products and without compromising your health. Grow your own organic vegetables and save money!
