The Reluctant Homesteader

Drip Irrigation Fail!

2013-04-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

I mentioned at the end of my last post that I added drip irrigation to my revised raised bed.Well, it did not work out. I figured it was no big deal to add 10 small drip emitters to this water line, but it turns out that it was just too much. The pressure dropped substantially and my regular lawn sprinklers wouldn't even pop up completely. The water literally dripped out of the emitters instead of pouring out as they were supposed to.

That wasn't going to work. So, I took a look at the water lines I have. Turns out I have three separate sprinkler lines that run to my back yard from the manifold in the front. These three lines are meant to water my lawn and flower bed. Unfortunately, the people that installed the back yard 15 years before I bought it had all of the flower bed and one third of all the lawn sprinklers on one line. The second line had only 3 lawn sprinklers and the third line only two sprinklers. Not well balanced.

My fix was easy. First, I re-routed a couple of "heavy use line" sprinklers to the other two lines.Fast and easy and cheap (I used scrap PVC I had laying around). Then, I ran shrub bubbler sprinklers (allow you to control how much water bubbles out) to both large raised beds from two separate lines. For some reason, the shrub bubbler sprinklers take away less pressure from the lines than the drip emitters. Go figure!

Anyway, everyone is now getting the water they need. Ultimately, I will have all of the garden on one line and the lawn on the other two. However, that is a bit down the road. I don't feel like doing all that digging this year.

Raised Bed Revision.

2013-04-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

I built a 4ft by 10ft raised bed a couple of years ago against my back fence. A great resource, but there was a problem. The bed was too big for me to reach across comfortably, so plants that were along the back near the fence were somewhat neglected (trimming, pest control, etc.) I few weeks ago, I decided to fix it. Below is the original bed.

It was an easy fix. I just cut out a 2ft section of the bed and added a three sided 2ft by 2ft by 2f cut out. I added a little pond stone to the bottom so it doesn't get too muddy. Now I can comfortably reach all areas of the bed. Below is the after shot.

I also added drip irrigation while I was at it.Cost? About 20 bucks because I was all out of lumber and emitters.

If You Haven't Been Getting Your Hands Dirty......

2013-03-21T20:10:00.002-07:00

DO IT NOW! Even if it is still snowing in your area, start your indoor seeds now. Don't wait much longer or your yields may suffer for it.

I finally got my seeds going last weekend. I also started conditioning my soil with compost and rebuilding my raised beds. Got a lot more planned for this weekend, too. Take advantage of any warm weather you get and start working the ground.

Tomatoes wait for no man (or woman).

Soil Solarization = Fail

2013-02-04T14:31:00.002-08:00

The title says it all. I kept the plastic down for several weeks, but the temperatures just didn’t climb in the soil. So I pulled the plastic up and added new compost to clear out my compost bin. I’ll wait until the temperatures reach 80F during the day and stay above 50F over night. Should be fine by March 1st, I think.

I need to test of the soil to see if the Fungus Gnat larvae are mobile. I know temperatures in the soil are around 70F, so they may be awake. If they are, I’ll add some Gnatrol to the soil and see if I can kill them off before the season starts. It is labeled for organic use, so it should be fine.

Soil Solarization

2013-01-17T14:43:00.001-08:00

I have an ongoing pest issue in my garden and maybe you do, too. Maybe you’ve seen the little black fliers moving to and from along you soil line. These are most likely fungus gnats. Never heard of them? Well, if you have moist, black, nutrient-rich soil, you probably have fungus gnats. I have them in all of my raised beds and even in my beloved composter at times. Of course, they aren’t too much of a nuisance right now during the coldness of winter, but I can already imagine what is going on below the soil line where it is nice and warm and moist.

It is not the flying adult fungus gnats that are the problem; rather it is the soil-bound larval stage. They eat fungus in the soil (hence, the name) and since that same soil fungus, called mycorrhiza, is attached to the tiny plant root hairs, it damages the plant, too. In seedlings it is deadly. In more mature plants, you get stunting, poor production and death in hot temperatures. In root plants, you get really ugly produce.

The best and easiest treatment is through the use of beneficial bacteria. Prepare a soil drench with one of the commercial preparations available and use as directed. This will usually work, but I am afraid I need to go stronger.

Soil solarization is a way to nuke every living thing in your soil without using harmful chemicals. It is very simple to do as long as there are no plants growing in the area you plan to solarize. All you have to do is wait for sunny days to come, stretch some clear plastic over the area like a mini-greenhouse, then allow the soil to be baked inside by the sun. High temperatures will kill all the living things in the top 6-inches or so of the soil. The longer you leave it, the better it is. An added benefit is you can kill a lot of weed seeds, too. You can find much more detailed instructions here.

There are some drawbacks, though. You are actually killing everything that is alive including the beneficial fungus the gnats are eating. So once you are done, you will need to add compost to your soil to build up the soil profile so it is healthy. Also, in colder climates you may lose that area for the season because your temperatures aren’t warm enough. However, even if you solarize for a short time and kill most of the bad guys it will benefit you. Follow that up with the beneficial bacteria soil drench and the garden should produce treasures untold.

How do I keep the little buggers out? Well, the best way is to buy seeds instead of seedlings. There are no gardens anywhere near mine and I suspect that my original infection came from my store-bought tomato seedlings or at least the soil surrounding them in the pot. If you do use store-bought seedlings, you can look closely at the soil first for obvious signs of gnats. Also, you can wash the roots carefully but thoroughly before you plant them. An additional step would be to continue to drench your soil at least once a season and even add some beneficial fliers to your garden.

Good luck and good hunting!

Growing Mushrooms

2012-10-23T23:09:00.001-07:00

In your garden, mushrooms are generally a good thing. They tend to pop up when the soil is wet and in shaded areas (underneath the foliage, for instance). Mushrooms are not a reason to flip out. The vast majority are safe for consumption or composting. The mushrooms and its underlying fungus are normal in soil and absolutely expected in composted wood scraps.

If you are interested in eating them or just curious, you can use a book or website to help you identify them. I would be very careful, though. I am well-versed in mushroom identification and love their flavor, but I wouldn’t eat them unless I bought them. Being decomposers, they do make great compost.

If your soil is healthy, there is fungus growing under the surface. These beneficial microbes help your plants to reach water and nutrients faster and more efficiently. They are a good thing, so don’t run out and buy a mycocide to kill them. You may be simply watering your garden a bit much for the current weather conditions. Reduce your water and the mushrooms will likely go away.

Some people love to grow their own mushrooms. There are kits available that are far safer. Fox News recently did an article on a small company that sells kits for your backyard or patio.

Sorry......

2012-10-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yep, I’ve been absent. Really, though, I like to think of it as really, really tardy. I will be updating the blog soon, I promise. Lots of lessons learned this season. Can’t wait to share them.

Oh Those Tomatoes...

2012-07-23T22:56:00.001-07:00

      So far this year I have had some ups and downs with my tomatoes. Since I have had more time than normal this summer, I have spent more time studying the growth and development of my tomatoes.

      The run of the mill Better Boy hybrid tomatoes are available at any nursery or home improvement store. They are fast growing, fast fruiting, and a hearty plant overall. I have had at least a dozen good tomatoes so far. My wife made a great tomato sauce from them. No issues at all with this plant except that it grows really fast and some of the fruit tops have split.

      A new variety I am using is the Pink Brandywine. This is a Heritage variety and not a hybrid. It is the same plant grown in locations around the world for thousands of years. The fruit grows up to a pound and a half in weight. My plants have been loaded with tomatoes and take quite a bit longer than the hybrids. The real drawback has been no bug resistance. I have spent a lot of time bent over the plant pulling Cabbage Looper caterpillars off the leaves by hand (at least until the birds noticed them). However, the wife made a sauce from them that tastes INCREDIBLE. A far greater tomato flavor and I wholeheartedly endorse them.

      The real heat is now upon us here in the valley. Temperatures above 100F mean that most tomatoes stop producing much. The next month or two will not see much in the way of tomatoes. However, the Fall will bring an increase in production. Can't wait.

You’re into Urine?

2012-06-18T19:52:00.003-07:00

Yep, it grosses people out, but you should be peeing in your garden. Typical urine is very high in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, the elements that makes plants grow so thick and lush and fruitful. Why use fertilizers, even organic ones, when you make a great fertilizer that you just flush away?

I know what you are thinking. “But my dogs pee on the grass and it burns it!” OK, you are right to an extent. First, the pee needs to go into the soil, not on the plants. If pee gets on plants and sits there for too long, it forms ammonia which will “burn” the plant. Second, what do you do to keep the dogs’ pee from burning your lawn? You water the heck out of that spot. You need to dilute the urine as much as 15 to 1. In the summer time, it’s not really a problem because you are probably watering every day and that will dilute it pretty well. Think about how much your dogs pee (but not too long or it’s weird). If urine burned grass on contact, you wouldn’t have any grass left. Watering your lawn dilutes it to a point where it doesn’t burn the grass and the lawn is healthier because of it.

So what is the plan? For guys, it’s easy. At night, when you have to “go,” step outside in the backyard, go to your garden and pee on the soil. If you hit the plants, give them a quick wash-off. Pee in a different place each night and make sure your garden is getting plenty of water. For women, you may need to collect the “yellow gold” indoors in a well-marked mason jar and pour it in the garden in various places each night. In cooler months when you water less, dilute the pee before you apply it. In Africa, they have seen plant yields double using this method!

Some people have worried about medications getting into your soil. Smart thinking, but no need to worry. The small amounts that actually get filtered out by the kidneys will be will diluted by watering.

Try it, but don’t tell anyone right away. Let it be your little secret until AFTER they eat.

Links:

Urine:The Ultimate Organic Fertiliser

Human Urine as a Fertilizer?

For The Motherly Gardeners

2012-05-31T12:10:00.001-07:00

I recently stumbled across a very neat little website for gardeners. If you are a mother and a gardener, you need to visit Bloominthyme.com. What a wonderful resource for women who like to incorporate their kids into their gardening. Diane, who runs the site, has gathered lots of information about gardening, through trial and error, in the Florida. Be warned on that note because the climate in Florida is very different than the rest of the US. She will probably be planting and harvesting at different times than the rest of us.

The site also contains lots of recipes and links to other recipes so you can use your bounty. She also reviews products and has several pages devoted to children. Apparently she has some know of relationships and is a romance writer, but I won’t comment on those aspects. All around it is a good site. For women, it is an even better site.

Pruning Tomatoes

2012-05-12T14:54:00.002-07:00

I never knew it was done until last year. There are determinate tomatoes, indeterminate tomatoes and mixtures. Determinate tomato plants grow to a certain size then stop. Indeterminate plants keep growing into large bushes that fall over and need cages to prop them up. Mixtures do both.

My “Early Girl” plant is living up to its name. It is already a large plant needing a cage to keep it upright. There are a half dozen or so tomatoes growing on it already. Last year this same variety grew and grew until it lopped over the neighbor’s fence. Not this year.

The problem with just letting them grow is that the plant uses a lot of energy to do it. That energy could be going into bigger, better tomatoes. The suckers, shoots that grow from the branches and often fruit, can become so numerous that it is hard to find the ripening tomatoes.

Indeterminate plants need to be planned out a bit. There are many gardeners with lots of space that allow their tomato plants to grow all they want. They do require a lot of water and space as they get bigger, but if that is not a problem, go for it. You will have to search for those tomatoes, though, in the giant plant ball that ensues.

If you have a small space, there are two options. You can keep the indeterminate plant trimmed up (a job that requires daily inspection in the warmer months). Or you can buy a determinate plant usually noted as a “bush variety” on the packaging.

Below are a couple of websites I have found dealing with tomatoes. Check them out. By the way, it is not remotely too late to get some plants in the ground. Go to your local nursery this weekend and get started.

WeekendGardener

Tomatofest

Why Garden?

2012-05-04T09:37:00.003-07:00

It wasn’t that long ago that most people outside of urban areas had small vegetable gardens in their back yards. Potatoes, corn, carrots and lettuce were all vital parts of a comprehensive home garden. Patches of ground, small or large and everything in between were utilized and nurtured in order to supplement dinner tables all across the country. Nearly everyone outside the city was a mini-farmer.

In the last 10 years, the number of home gardens has increased substantially. According to the National Gardening Association from 2007 to 2008 the number of home gardens increased by 10%. From 2008 to 2009, it increased another 19%! Most likely fueled by the sluggish economy, people are looking for new ways to stretch their dollars. The average home garden offsets household food costs by $500.

The rural and suburban areas are not the only areas with gardens any more. Urban areas are filled with raised beds, container gardens and community gardens. If you have a patio or porch, you can grow some tomato plants and carrots. Vertical gardening and square foot gardening have made it even easier to have a bountiful harvest.

Gardening is a great way to ensure inexpensive, healthy food makes it to your kitchen. It is also a vitally useful skill to have and to pass on to the future.

Penny Wise or Pound Foolish?

2012-05-01T13:13:00.003-07:00

I recently came across a website I thought I would share. PennyWise is a website devoted to frugality, but it incorporates a lot of old fashioned, country advice for living. I found a lot of good information in their Homemade/Handy section dealing with gardening, etc. Their recipe section is also full of old-fashioned advice that a lot of people have forgotten including how to stretch out those garden ingredients to last longer.

When you have a minute, check them out.

Pumpkins!

2012-04-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I noticed a couple of volunteer pumpkin plants coming up in the back yard. Last year I had a single vine that I babied along so I could get a few Jack O’Lanterns. I wasn’t really planning on growing more this year as they are a lot of work for me since we don’t have lots of bees and they need a lot of watering. Unfortunately, the spot from last year (and this year) is not well irrigated so I have to it daily by hand during summer months. But they are here, so I will feed ‘em and watch ‘em grow.

Pumpkin seeds or sprouts can be planted as soon as the ground thaws. The more time they have to grow, the greater the size of the vine and, theoretically, the more pumpkins you will have. Don’t be surprised if they grow very slowly at first because they are growing much more rapidly underground. The roots need to establish well before summer.

Warm weather really gets them going. By June their roots should be very developed and ready for the warm sun. Vines will grow quickly, unfurling lots of beautiful leaves used to collect sunlight ready to be transformed into energy for growing and depositing in the pumpkin fruit. I’ve seen vines grow nearly a foot in a single day, so you need lots of space. I usually “train” mine to fit in a smaller area by re-routing the extending vines back and forth along the same path.

Once blooms develop, you better start seeing bees. Pumpkins have separate male and female flowers. The females must be pollinated by the males if you are going to get a pumpkin there. In the absence of bees, like my yard tends to be, you can hand pollinate the females with the male pollen yourself. Look for the female flower first. It will be like all the rest except the area beneath the petals, the carpal, will be swollen like a rose hip. Grab the pollen from a male by pinching the anthers (you’ll see them covered in pollen in the middle of the bloom) and getting the pollen on your fingers. Then gently rub the pollen on the center protrusion (stamen) in middle of the female bloom. That should be enough to do it. If you would rather do it at night, I don’t blame you.

By the end of summer you should be seeing small pumpkins. It will be very sudden. One day, no pumpkin. A day or two later, a softball-sized pumpkin. They will continue to grow until October or November. I like to roll mine a touch to make sure they are growing into that nice, pumpkin shape good for carving.

As far as varieties go, I suggest PumpkinNook.com. They are one of my favorites for learning about pumpkins. Just remember, if your pumpkin is for eating, you may want to go with a variety other than the traditional Jack O’Lantern type. You can eat them, but there are others better for it.

Keep on Growin’!

Protecting the "Babies"

2012-04-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

       Weird weather we are having, huh? Well, by now you should have some stuff in the ground just about anywhere in the country. Snow, rain, cold temperatures, we've got it all in the middle of April. Don't forget about the "babies" outside.
        If you are getting lots of snow, don't be afraid to add some mulch to the top of the soil or around the seedlings, if necessary. Use something biodegradable like shredded newspaper or straw and you can add it to your compost later if need be.
        If you are getting a lot of rain in a short bit of time, don't forget to adjust your watering schedule. If it is automatic, shut it down for a day or two. If you have help (the kids) give them a day or two off. Just remember to turn it back on later.
        Watch for your seedlings to appear soon. Waterlogged soil can rot some seeds. If you don't get something coming up in a few weeks of planting, you might want to re-plant some of the seed just to be on the safe side.

Keep it going, people. If you don't grow it, who will?

Irrigation

2012-04-09T10:30:00.004-07:00

In my part of the world, it is time to start considering irrigation for your garden. Technically, you should have considered it before you ever started planting, but it never hurts to upgrade. If you are small time, like me, you would do well to invest a small amount of money in a drip system.

I am slowly installing a drip system in my backyard homestead. Last year, I bought a simple drip system kit, but ran out of time to install it. It was a very simple set-up very similar to this one. I like the ¼-inch drip line since it is easier to work with. If you have a larger garden, you may want to go with the ½-inch hose set-up. They are essentially the same in design, but the larger hose is more durable and better if you want to bury the line (to keep away from animals, equipment, etc.).

The workhorses of the drip system are the emitters. They determine how much water will get to your plants. They can literally bubble out slowly, in a small stream or fan out in a large broadcast. My system is simple. I ran the ¼-inch water line around my plant rows leaving a little slack. At each plant, or the area where I planted seed, I cut the line in half, inserted a Tee and placed the emitter right by the plant/seed on the surface. The 1-gallon per minute (gpm) emitters will run for about 5 minutes, thoroughly soaking the small site. The ½-inch hose requires you to poke a small hole and insert either the emitter directly or a nipple with the emitter attached.

The tricky part was attaching to a water supply. You can attach it to a water hose, spigot or even to your existing sprinkler line. I did the latter. I put a PVC Tee with a ½-inch threaded top into my sprinkler line. Next I added a 2-foot riser. At the top, I placed a microscreen inside a pressure regulator and a fitting that connects the tiny drip line to the regulator. You have to have a pressure regulator because the pressure coming through the sprinkler line is way too high and will blow your system apart.

It took about an hour and required some bending over the raised bed, but now I am wasting a lot less water. The nice thing about purchasing a small set-up is you can easily add to it. Tubing and emitters are very affordable. You can buy all manner of fittings and emitters to get the water exactly where you want it. Many emitters are even adjustable although they tend to cost more.

Happy watering!

My Favorite Homesteading Websites

2012-03-29T23:26:00.003-07:00

I know it seems odd that I would be writing a blog that sends you to other blogs, but bear in mind that I have never intended to be all inclusive here. I’m small potatoes. I talk about baby steps to living a free lifestyle. I love sharing the websites I visit often with people. I have a few listed and a few honorable mentions, as well.

Mother Earth News The original homesteaders guide. I am a huge fan, getting their magazine and buying their How-To books as often as possible. Everything you could ever want to know about Homesteading and gardening in one site. Be warned, the site is slow at times. My guess is it is due to the tremendous wealth of information available. If you have any questions about gardening or the homesteading lifestyle, they are the place to be. You would love their CD-Rom collection that includes 40 years of their magazine (given to me for Christmas by my wonderful bride). I also pointed out in an earlier blog how great their Vegetable Gardening Planner is.

BackwoodsHome.com This magazine and website has been around for some time. The website is decidedly commercial in nature, but the articles are solid. I don’t have a problem with all the ads since you can’t do all that work for free. The articles are a little more geared towards survival, but that goes hand in hand with homesteading.

Honorable Mentions

UrbanHomesteading.org I first became aware of this family (and they are a family) a year or so ago on Facebook. They purport to grow “6,000 pounds of food on 1/10 acre.” From their pics, I don’t doubt it. There is not a ton of information, but what is there is pure gold. If you have ever said “I don’t have room to garden” you need to read their website. Be warned, there are some in the urban homesteading community that do not like the family because they had the audacity to trademark the term “Urban Homesteading,” but you can’t argue with their results.

WaldenEffect.org Anna and Mark have a great website devoted to homesteading. They operate a small homestead and gives very good tips on small scale animal raising and gardening. They also have a monthly magazine available on Kindle.

Raised Beds

2012-03-22T22:58:00.002-07:00

Installing raised garden beds is a good way to make your life easier. Having raised garden beds is like raising the ground up to meet you. You spend less time stretching and bending or having to get down on your hands and knees. For the older gardener or if you just to make things easier, raised beds are the way to go.

That is, after you have built your raised beds. It’s not a simple task or a cheap one, but it’s not that difficult. It’s easier than container gardening, which I could never seem to master. Start small with a custom built raised bed that fits your space. Remember that you want to it to be a manageable size. Too wide and you can’t reach across it. Too deep and it will require too much soil to fill it.

Most beginner beds are 10-12 inches deep. That’s not too bad as most of your roots are going to go much deeper than that. I would suggest that if you really want to keep from straining too much, you go 2 feet deep as a minimum. Also, don’t go wider than two inches or you will have to stretch quite a bit. Your first raised bed shouldn’t be too big or you will be overwhelmed.

The structural material can vary. If you have the means, stone or landscaping brick is very nice. However, it is very expensive and heavy to work with. I prefer pressure-treated 1x6’s or even railroad ties. You can use a plywood bottom or just use landscape fabric across the bottom. Hand-water the bed or tap into a sprinkler line either dedicate a sprinkler to the bed or attach a drip irrigation system.

The soil you fill it with is also important. You can buy some prepared garden soil. Depending on the size of the bed, it could get real expensive real fast. You can use clean fill dirt, but you really don’t know what’s in the soil including herbicides or weed seeds. Go with a layer of cheap, bagged mulch with a layer of good Kellogg or Miracle-Gro garden soil mix.

There are some great Kindle books on building raised beds. Kindle books don’t require a Kindle. You can download the free Kindle reader app for your phone or computer.

Seed Starting

2012-03-13T20:30:00.002-07:00

For many gardeners, now is the time of year where you make your pilgrimage to the local nursery and start looking at what you will be planting this year. You’re looking for tomatoes and peppers and onions and broccoli whatever the nursery has that is established. And you will pay for that convenience. But what if I told you that for a fraction of the cost, you could have far, far more plants in your garden? In fact, you could have more than you can handle.

Starting your plants from seeds is a time-honored way of getting your garden going early. I remember reading a article a while back that pointed out how in the winter months we gardeners are just itching to get back to work outside. Well, unless you have a greenhouse, you probably just waited on the sun. It really isn’t necessary.

You’re going to need a few things depending on where you are going to start your seeds. If it is in your house, then you will need something like a Jiffy Greenhouse for $5. You can start 50 plants in one flat with this particular one. However, there are all manner of seed starting flats out there and if you really look around, you can get them cheaper. Mine are just like this except they have plastic cups instead of paper so I can re-use it for several years. Others even come with a peat pellet so you don’t have buy soil.

You do need to be careful where you put the flats, though. They have a clear plastic top to trap the heat and if there is too much heat, you will fry the plants (I can personally attest to this). Also, you need to keep the soil moist, but not “soupy.” I put mine outside under a covered patio with a grow light over the top. On a warm day it some of the tiny sprouts very quickly. If you know it’s going to be warm, you will want to take the plastic tops off.

Now you need seeds. You can get seeds anywhere this time of year, but you want to be a tad discerning. You can get them at your local nursery or you can order them from a seed company. It really just depends on what you want. A lot of vegetable seeds are only a couple of dollars for several hundred seed. You can $4-5 bucks for one plant and $2-3 bucks for 100-200 seed. See the savings there? Sure, you will not likely need that many seed, but they will usually keep for a few years in a warm, dry place like a coffee can with a lid. Or, go ahead and grow too much. The neighbors and your friends will love you for it.

If you want organic or Heritage seeds, you will likely have to order them online. I like to use Burpee. Never had a problem with them and their online product catalogue is fantastic.

Make sure your seed can be started indoors. Some plants, like carrots or potatoes or beans, like to be directly sowed into the ground. Transplanting a plug with these plans disturbs the roots too much and they give out on you.

Tomatoes

2012-02-29T19:47:00.004-08:00

They are the staple of the garden. They are the most plentiful of garden and homestead crops. The only problem is determining which variety to grow and how much you want. Growing a good tomato requires diligence and hard work, but the rewards can be immense. Three or four plants can yield more tomatoes than you can eat all year and many people love to share. I’ll talk more about some ideas for growing tomatoes in a later blog.

My experience with tomatoes is up and down. I’ve only grown two varieties, Beefeaters and Roma. I am a huge fan of Roma tomatoes. I love the flavor raw or cooked. I love the size. And they couldn’t be easier to grow as the plant doesn’t spread as much as others.

The Beefeater is another story. The plant grows very large and continues to spread all summer and into fall here in Kern County. You have to continually clip the new growth or your tomatoes will be small and sad. They also have a nasty habit of splitting when temperatures get high.

This year I am going another way. I bought a few different varieties from Burpee’s catalogue just for fun. In the past, I’ve always bought the small plants so growing from seed is new. So what am I planting?

Black Truffle tomatoes are from Japan and are grown a lot in Russia. They are pear shaped, but not real big. Apparently they have a sweet, yet acidic flavor. They are supposed to grow very well in my area.

Brandywine Pink tomatoes are usually ready later in the season. Their taste is supposedly sweeter than a normal tomato (they are a fruit, after all). I got the heirloom variety because I am told the flavors are much bolder in heirlooms. Also, I want to collect the seed myself.

Now, I may throw some Big Boy or some other variety in later. But I am very interested in how these will pan out. I planted 15 seed plugs and am still waiting from some sprouts. I’ll keep you posted.

Root Cellars

2012-02-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

If you have a root cellar, count yourself blessed. Here in Bakersfield, CA, root cellars and basements are rare. You see them from time to time in the older houses (my grandma had a large root cellar), but rarely in the newer homes. When I lived in Wyoming, almost every home had basement space and many had either sectioned off space in the basement for storing canned goods or they had hand dug root cellars in a corner of the backyard somewhere.

Why do you need a root cellar? It’s like a refrigerator for your produce and greens. Temperatures just a few feet underground hover around 55°F. That is great for potatoes, carrots, onion, lettuce, etc. They can last for months over winter or summer in that type of environment. It can also be used as storage space for you “back-up” food if you are the forward-thinking prepper-type.

You really don’t need a ton of space. An unused corner of the lot or an unused RV area would suffice. It may even add to the value of your home if installed properly.

I recently downloaded and read a great little tome on building your own root cellar. It is old and probably outdated, but the information is solid. Using the book Building Your Own Underground Root Cellar, you can build a 8 foot by 12 foot root cellar by hand-digging a hole, lining it with cinder block, creating a cement floor and placing a reinforced roof covered in sod over the top. A couple of weekends would be enough to get it done. Be warned, it was written in 1983 and the cost of some of the materials has increased. Also, it may not jive with local ordinances and may require a permit. And for crying out loud, careful where you dig, right? There may be gas or sewer pipes down there.

“But that cellar is ugly!” “I have kids and they would play in it!” True, but what if you built a small shed over it? You could very easily disguise the cellar or the entrance so no one would even know it was there. How about digging out from underneath an existing shed?

If you have the money and the time, a root cellar can be a great benefit. You can store your produce. You can make your own cheese (cool, right?). You can store all the food you’ve canned. You can store your “just in case” food. It really can be a valuable asset.

What To Grow?

2012-02-24T23:40:00.003-08:00

"What should I grow this year?" The question every good gardener asks themselves this time of year. It's a good question, especially when you have limited space. What are some of the things you like? How about your family? How much can you use? Will it go bad before you can use it?

Last year I grew some white onions and some purple onions. Roughly 30 of each. Some of the white ones I grew in clumps so they would stay small and others spaced out so they would become bulbs. The problem was I am the only one in my house that eats onions. The wife will eat a little, but not much. So even though I hung them in a mesh bag in a shady spot outside, they all sprouted before I could use them.

I also grew carrots, but since I didn't stagger their planting, they pretty much all were ready at the same time. Pickles grew well, but with only a few vines there weren't many ready to pickle/can at the same time. And corn, oh how I hate growing corn.

So think about what you can eat and what you want to eat. If you don't like okra, don't grow it unless you now someone who will eat it. Don't grow 10 tomato plants unless you want a lot of tomatoes. Don't grow watermelon or pumpkins unless you have a lot of space for the sprawling vines.

My suggestion is to take a look at the The Vegetable Garden Planner put out by Mother Earth News. It can really help. It costs like $30 a year, but there is a 2-week free trial. Design your garden space and fill it with vegetables. There is tons of information about various varieties of crops you could plant.

Careful planning now can really pay off.

Why Blog?

2012-02-22T17:42:00.000-08:00

Why am I reluctant to be a homesteader? I love gardening. I love building things. I love working outside. I love almost everything about the homesteader lifestyle. However, I have several problems with becoming a true homesteader.

#1. I don’t live on a homestead. I live in Bakersfield, CA, on a small lot, with a family that is not all that keen on vegetables.

#2. I like my career. I’m a science teacher. I really love the job too much to give it up so I can devote my life to living off the land.

#3. As stated earlier, I live in California. Unless you have a sizeable bankroll, you’re not buying arable land. Heck, you’re not buying desert land without a pretty good sized wad of cash.

So now you know why I call it the “reluctant” homesteader. I won’t be slaughtering my own cows or pooping in a bucket for fertilizer. What I will be doing is working what small property I have, growing things I like to eat (and share) and experimenting with various growing techniques.

My setup so far includes two, large raised beds filled with potting soil, sand and a little native soil. One has been used for several years, one is new this year. I also have several patches of dirt that has been worked in the past and several containers. I make my own compost, but I am not above buying fertilizer from Home Depot when necessary.

I have quite a few books on homesteading, gardening and sustainability. I have a Masters Degree in Plant Pathology (didn’t see that one coming, did you) and a sincere love of the art and science of growing things from seed to seeds. Over time, I will update you on what I am doing on my own little “homestead” and giving you good resources for working yours, now or in the future.