Not everything was a loss

well I slightly lifted the pumpkin below to place a board under it and pow the stem broke. I guess it was ready . I was hoping it would get a little bigger . It's a little lighter than a half barrel . I can't lift a Half barrel up onto my shoulder without help and I can't get this behemoth onto my shoulder . I need to find a scale that can deal with this . I'm pretty sure it's over 80 lbs since I can hoist the 80 lb bags of water softener salt easier than I can handle this. I've got two more still growing but I doubt I'll get to my 300 lb target for 1 pumpkin but I'll definitely have 300 lbs of pumpkins this year. I'm not touching the other two until the end of October ground boring insects be damned.

Garden end of the year run down.

I have enough green beans, peas, and pumpkins to take me through the winter. The cool summer has been crap on every thing else . I've had a transistor radio in a plastic bag going 24/7 in my sweet corn. but I had another raid . evidently raccoons like country music. I switched to sports talk radio today . I feel it's pretty cruel to subject the raccoons to morons calling in and talking to morons about the Detroit Lions. Don't get me wrong ,I enjoy watching football ,baseball , hockey, and boxing. But listening to PE majors sitting around talking about it is pure torture.

Organic Insecticide Recipes

Taken from:
"Getting the Most From Your Garden. Using Advanced Intensive Gardening Techniques." from the editors of organic gardening magazine,Rodale Press Inc. 1980
I have not been able to find this book for sale even used . But it is available at your library don't forget about inter library loan . Read it take notes you wont regret it.

1 hand full of tobacco let stand in 1 gallon of water 24 hrs . Strain and dilute to the color of weak tea. Use as spray.
Don't smoke your vegetables unless you wash them first. I suggested this to a friend that was complaining about aphids . I was really surprised at the negative reaction. My dads untimely death from lung cancer has me very anti smoking . But I have serious doubts about the nicotine hanging around long term like commercially available pesticides. It has been 20 years since I had organic chemistry. But if this seems to dangerous to you I say " Quit getting your science from television and radio and read an actual book not written by a limousine liberal that failed out of theology school and read a book written by a biologist, chemist, or farmer".


soak 3 oz chopped garlic in 2 tsp liquid paraffin for 24 hrs ad I pint water in 1/4 oz liquid soap mix well strain store in glass jar. Wire worms , cut worms, slugs & white flies.
I haven't tried this but I have tried diluted liquid soap it works great.

1tbs white glue to 1 gal water use as spray.
Never tried it but i"d use the nontoxic white glue if I where you.

3 oz chopped or pressed garlic in 2 tsp mineral oil for 24 hrs. 1 pt water with 1/4 oz oil based soap stir and strain store in glass jar dilute 1:20 parts water spray
I have no idea where to buy oil based soap.

Chop or grind 1 bulb of garlic or a large onion add 1 tbs cayenne pepper and mix 1 qt of water steep for 1 hr strain and store in jar in fridge for up to 1 week.
I've done this it works until the next rain.

spearmint leaves , green onion tops horseradish roots and leaves red hot peppers 1 gallon water 1 cup detergent dilute 1:2 use with sprayer.
Stinky whew...

Rain Rain Go Away

My garden is drowning. since Thursday we easily had 4" of rain today is Sunday. a The weeds are shooting up but whole areas of my garden is drowning . Walking out into the garden involved sinking in the mud and losing a shoe. If it ever dries out I'll be tilling in 20 % of it or so and re-planting. There are some plants taking full advantage of the swampy goo that used to be my garden. the cabbages are heading up . the peas are sprawling out . The beans are growing leafy canopies . The spinach is curling up and dying . The turnips , carrots, and beets are for all intents gone . I'll till that area under and replant if the night rains ever stop. I'm tempted to put on my swim suit and wade in and pull the weeds which I suspect are wild rice , cranberries and lillie pads . I put on my mud bogging boots and actually saw crawfish in between the rows. It's very obvious that I tilled in a couple of tons of manure . The standing water is absolutely foul filled with algae feasting It stinks worse than the manure ever dreamed of .

It's in , well almost.

Final dimensions of the garden 110' X 30' . All the plants I started except for the few I was lucky enough to give away are in the ground . The cabbage is growing so fast it's scary . I guess the unseasonable cold weather is driving it . The broccoli is all dead wtf? I thought broccoli was a cole like the cabbage and would love the 60 degree temps also. The corn is spotty in the back I'll fill in with some more seeds this week to help block the sun and keep the weeds out. I created a 16' X 30 ' area out in the hay field to to take on 40 hubbard squash plants. I tilled the holy hell out of it and raked out as many of the roots as possible. the hubbards will be responsible with controlling their own weeds . I'm going for using the mower and hoe as my main weeding tools along with a thick leaf canopy . 3300 square feet is to much for little old me to crawl around pulling weeds.

The Year Frost Increased my Harvest.

Last spring (Memorial day weekend)I slammed in a quick and Dirty Garden . 10 Tomato plants ,4 Cherry Tomato plants, 8 pepper plants , 8 cabbage . A few days later the news called for a killer frost . I slipped a mason jar over every tomato and pepper . It didn't help every tomato and pepper was sheared off at the ground . Since I planted them all deep only leaving the top row of leaves sticking out of the ground I figured a few would come back. So I went out and bought replacement tomato and pepper plants and planted them in between the corpses of the frozen plants. Well you may have guessed they all came back . I had twice as many plants planted half as close together. It wasn't great for the peppers but the Tomatoes loved it . some of the bumper crop of tomatoes still occupies my cupboards in jars mm . This summer I'm backing off on the number of tomato plants but I'm planting them 12 " center to center the second week of June

Garden Plan

What I really want this year is to maximize the use of my mower and tiller for weeding . And also plant the crops in closely planted beds to shade out the weeds. My starter plants have surprised me with their vitality this year so the above plan is scrapped. My garden is Closer to 120 ' X 30 ' and I'm still tilling and planting. I'm using a variety of bed widths cramming in compatible plants as closely together as I dare with massive amounts of manure and mulch. I'll post a sketch of the beast and some photographs the end of June.

Seedlings Popping Up

I haven't been blogging because I've been planting planting and more planting. The picnic table greenhouse is producing seedling at an alarming rate. I still fear and respect the early June frost so Ive only been planting frost resistant seedlings like broccoli , cabbage, and Seeds that shouldn't pop up until I'm well into June. I originally planned on a 30' X 60' garden. I'm gonna have to go bigger or kill some Innocent seedlings. hopefully in the next few days I'll start compiling my garden reading list. I've been able to temporarily keep the seedlings small by limiting the light they receive by doubling up the plastic and stacking the bricks higher for shade. I've pulled a couple of dozen seedlings out and replaced them on the table with cups with fresh seeds. every 5 days or so giving the removed plants more sun by moving them in and out of the garage .So hopefully I'll achieve a staggered harvest giving me more time to can , dry , and freeze my gardens goodness.

Picnic Table Greenhouse Update Seedlings Peeking Up

The seeds have begun to sprout 5 days after planting . The marigolds started sprouting . There are about forty marigold cups on the table . Rabbits are supposed to dislike the smell of them. The packet of marigold seeds were $1.20 and I still have quite a few seeds left which I'll sow directly in the garden . A Dixie cup costs about $.01 . and I probably used a penny's worth of potting soil per cup . I'm well a head of the $.30 cent each price for the marigolds at the garden store. I'm predicting the pumpkins cucumbers and squash will sprout around May 25.

Picnic Table Green House

This is a quick and dirty green house that I thought up this spring so I can save a few bucks on starter plants. Its made from a picnic table some bricks and sheet of clear plastic. I always pick up bricks when I see them discarded so I already had them and I already had the picnic table. The picnic table and Bricks are not harmed by this project so after the frost the bricks go back to the pile o bricks and the table becomes a table again.

Just line the edge of the table with a row of bricks. Stack 2 bricks in the middle of the table. Fill the middle of the table with your starter seeds in dirt . I use Dixie cups just because they are cheap and they biodegrade. Place a sheet of plastic over the table set another row of bricks around the perimeter to hold the sheet down and a brick in the middle. You shouldn't have to water often the bricks and plastic keep the moisture in. The bricks protect against wind. The two bricks in the middle help the rain to drain off the top but it's not perfect but it's cheap.