Simple Pleasures

Disease and More Disease! When Will It End

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:27:00 +0000

I have determined it was not actually a calcium deficiency, but disease effecting my precious tomatoes. Out of the 80 I have had to pull approx 10 plants. removed diseased limbs. I am somewhat sure I have the dreaded Fusarium Wilt (no cure), and some Early Blight as seen in pic 5. Also possibly White Mold, according to the county extension agent. I have sprayed everything twice with a bleach spray which is a combo of 1 gallon of water and 5 oz bleach. Most of my plants look good. I am just praying that Fusarium doesnt spread around to everything thats left. I am going to purchase Copper Dragon per extension agent recomendation,and probably Mancozeb as well per someone's advise from a tomato forum. I had such high hopes for my garden this year. I am getting quite a few bloom on the tomatoes and also some setting fruit.

Calcium Deficiency?

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:24:00 +0000

Somebody Ruined Our Paint Job

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 26 May 2013 19:43:00 +0000

My husband pressure washed out back porch to remove lose paint, and we added a fresh coat of paint. First we applied the white to railings and trim last night. Then this morning My husband rushed right in and did the Darker stain to the deck and steps. Everything looked so clean and fresh. He then placed the ladder in front of the steps to try and deter the cats and dogs.

Well the dogs got the hint.
And cats do, as cats please. I don't think they cared one way or the other. Actually I should say "cat" singular. Because the fella was caught in the act. My husband said yesterday, no one would bother it except our black male. He figured he would end up rolling in it, just to prove he could. Well, close.
He left his little gray paw marks all down the upper railing:

Then over the next railing:

Then down the hand rail:

Then down the landscaping timbers framing the walk

But dont feel too bad for the poor kitty, he did finally get his feet cleaned off:

His finished his little trail of destruction down the landscaping timbers then if you look closely you can see where he left the last of it in the grass.
Now it's time for a nap. Funny, he don't look too guilty.

T-Frames For The Tomato Supports Installed

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sat, 25 May 2013 16:02:00 +0000

My husband finished building and installing the T-Frames into my tomato bed this morning. All thats left is to put in the tie wire at the base of the plants and tie them up. Things are really looking good. We plan on finishing the irrigation this weekend as well. The potatoes on the far left are now a whopping 2 foot tall and growing.

This shows the two big beds outside the potager fence, and the T-frames installed in the one bed.

This bed is 5 feet wide so the top of the frame extends a foot on each side. As you can see, he placed 3/4" conduit on the edges between the frames instead of the traditional 2x4's. He thought these would tend to sag less over time. If you were going to make this into a high tunnel or greenhouse sometime later by installing hoops at the top with the pvc, then you would need to use boards. Next year I am only going to place the hoops at the bottom for a low tunnel for an earlier start on the tomatoes.

Potato Comparison, 3 Days Later

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:44:00 +0000

My potatoes continue to grow like crazy. The plants look very healthy and lush. Some of them are already about a foot tall. I just took another updated photo.

the pic added to the far right, shows the plants as they are today. Three days after the middle pic. You can't eve see the irrigation pipes now.

I also gave all 80 of my tomato plants about a tsp of calcium nitrate today. I will gradually move them up to about a tablespoon every 10 days.

How Much Does Mittleider Costs?

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:30:00 +0000

You may have looked at the growfood website, and thought the Mittleider Method was going to be very expensive. I want to tell you, "It's Not". You can make it as expensive as you want tho. There are only a few materials needed. some can be purchased locally at your stores. The only thing "required" to be bought through growfood.com is the Mittleider Natural Mineral Fertilizers. Found HERE. It costs $13.95 plus shipping but should last the entire season. They are simply essential micro-nutrients that get expended out of the soil that your plants need.

This provides two bags. You sinply mix one of these bags with your 25 lbs of fertilizer bought from Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. They recommend 13-13-13, up to 19-19-19. Most people buy fertilizer anyway for the garden, so this really isnt an extra expense. Also add 4 lbs of Epsom Salts which can be purchased at Walmart for a little under $3. This will make up your "Weekly Feed" which will be applied weekly at a rate of 1/2 oz per linear foot in an 18" wide bed. So not a lot required.

Then for your "Pre-Plant" mix, you will use 40 lbs of lime or gypsum, depending how much your average rainfall is. If you get more than 20 " rain per year, then you apply Lime, If less, then apply gypsum from the concrete department of your home improvement store. add this to 2 lb of Epsom salts, again under $3 for 4 lb bag. also add 1/2 lb of 20 Mule Team Borax for the boron , which can be found at walmart or other stores in their laundry supply area. for about $4 for a large box.

Now for the "Recommended". Most will recommend you purchase the "Mittleider Gardening Course" book. For a full understanding of the program. It ranges from $14.95 for a downloadable E-book, to the $19.95 paperback book. some people like that they can take this in hand right to the garden with them.It can be found HERE.

Others like the wonderful SEARCHABLE pdf version which is $59.95. It can be found HERE.

So for a re-cap you need:

20 Mule Team Borax.....about $4

Epsom salts...................about $3

Fertilizer...for 40 lb bag..........$16.99

Micro Nutrients..... ...............$13.95 plus shipping

Lime ( or gypsum) for 50 lb.......$3

So for around $40 you can fertilize your entire garden (depending on size) for the entire growing season. Plus reap the benefits of healthy, strong plants, and dramatically INCREASE your production from the vegetables and fruits you plant. Making the little expense more than worthwhile.

As for raised beds, you dont HAVE to make raised beds or use the soilless mixes, just plant directly into your current garden soil. You also dont have to have the irrigation, you can just water by hand. So why not test this method out for yourself?

Huge Growth Of Potatoes In Just 3 Days!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:19:00 +0000

I tell you, a picture really is worth a thousand words. I have been admiring the before and after pics showing plant growth in the Mittleider facebook FORUM for a few days. Then I would look at some of my vegetables and think I havent noticed much change. I wasnt going to bother taking a pic of my potatoes since it had only been 3 days since the last, and I really didnt "see" any change. Then I thought, "what the heck", take it anyway, then you can compare later. So I did. Then I went ahead and played with Pait, and placed them side by side for an accurate comparison. Whooaa! Look at the change in just 3 days!. I think this Mittleider method, is what I have been looking for. Plants look very healthy, and the growth rate already is unbelievable, literally. I know some will say, its probably just due to the nitrogen, but that doesnt mean you will have an increase in harvest, but look at my strawberry blooms I posted previously. I can't be more pleased.

3 Days! Unbelievable!

Automatic watering System Going In

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:18:00 +0000

We have been working all weekend on getting this system in. Remember in a previous post I showed my plans for the system.

The first two beds to the far left are done. still working on the long narrow one on left side of potager, and the side on the far right. The first two center 4x8 beds are done, but need more connections to finish the 4x8 ft bed on right and the piping to the front of the garden.

This is the 5x16 ft bed on the far left. It has three irrigation lines running down it, with potatoes planted on each side. The Mittleider system usually uses a single line in an 18" wide bed, or 2 lines in a 4' wide bed. But my husband wanted two 5' wide beds, so thats what we did.

This is one of the 4x8' beds in the center with 2 lines. I tend to plant pretty thickly trying to get as much in as possible. This is the bed with the huge garlic.

Information on how to cheaply design and install your own irrigation, check out my other Mittleider posts, and the LINK to the left at the top of my right side bar.

ps: We are expecting temps down to 31 degrees for tonight and tomorrow night, so I got as much of the garden covered with tarps an plastic as I could. Praying my precious plants survive.

Automatic Watering System For The Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Today, we started on the automatic watering system for the garden. I never dreamed it would take as long as it did. We got all the buried lines done and everything is in, except the lines that run down each bed with the holes drilled in them. I worked on getting 10 of the 19 lines drilled. We have one more fitting we were short on, so probably should get it done about mid week. The whole system will be set up on a timer so that the garden can be watered for a couple of minutes every morning. But this timing may need to be adjusted when I see how moist it keeps the soil. So Now when we are traveling, the garden will get watered all by its lonesome. Pictures coming soon.

ps: If your interested in a very detailed video on how to install this system for your own garden, check out youtube video by LDSprepper. I couldnt explain it any better myself. So I will just link to his. By the way, check out his other video's while your at it. Lots there. Same goes for video's by Reaganite71 on youtube. Between these two, I have lots of plans,lol

If you want to try The Mittleider Gardening Method for yourself, you can find lots of info at the link at the top of my sidebar on the right. There are also links there with free plans to build your own greenhouse, and a free gardening journal to download. If you have any questions, I will do my best to help.

Second Update On My Garden With Mittleider Method

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:20:00 +0000

I must admit, I am not going to strictly adhere to all aspects of the Mittleider method. I am pretty much following the rules except I have combined a few plants in with others. Mittleider recommends growing like things together. I tend to cram things into all available space. However, I am trying to get the hang of growing some things in Spring and again in Fall, and others in between. In the past I tended to put everything out at once. I am now realizing I can grow things like lettuce,onions, and peas etc early spring, then when they are done the warm loving plants such as tomatoes and beans etc can be placed, then in Fall those Spring plants can be done again. In past years I have planted successions of bush beans which worked out very well.
The parts of Mittleider I am testing this year is the pre-plant mix, the weekly feed, automated irrigation, trellising of vertical growing plants,and plant spacing. I just placed my third dose of weekly feed down. At the advice of a tomato grower I read about on Tomatoville, I will also be added a tablespoon of Calcium Nitrate to each tomato plant every 10 days. Her plants were huge, her fruits were huge, and plants very healthy looking.

This is an updated look at the Potager/ Kitchen garden. I am getting ready to frame in a bed at the front with a shaped brick like stone as soon as the weather permits. I also need to get some junk picked up. I don't have anything on the towers yet. I will probably have to move them outside the garden this year to grow beans on. I think I went a little overboard on the seed starting,lol

My Kenebec potatoes have now sarted coming up. There will three irrigation pipes down this bed and the potatoes are growing with a row on each side of each pipe. This bed is 5x16

This 5x16 ft bed has three rows of tomatoes for a total of 51 plants in this bed. In the other beds I have some more for a grand total of 74 tomatoes planted. I still have about 10 more in cups yet.They are mostly 10" apart. I hope to get the standard Mittleider T-trellis on this bed, to support the tomatoes. I just started the dosing of calcium nitrate on the tomatoes. Since they are only about 6"- 8" tall, I just gave them a pinch each.

I also moved some of the cabbage I had in another bed to the edges of this bed. I also have some beets sown in the upper ,left edge, and some Cilantro, Basil, and Marjoram. They are Chioga and Detroit Red. My first time trying to grow the cabbage, brocolli, and beets.

In the previous post, the strawberries were below the bottom rung of my tower. Eight days later they are now a couple of inches above this rung. They grew probably 6". Roughly 16"- 18" tall. This fantastic growth has to be attributed to the Mittleider Fertilizing method. (see info at end of post) There are 17 elephant garlic in this bed that I planted last Fall from grocery store bulbs. Some of the bases are almost 1 and 1/2" across. There is also some broccoli in this bed, scallions at the edges, and more tomatoes that are planted near where the irrigation pipe will lay. behind the strawberries, along this 16 foot fence I planted more pole beans, Stringless Blue lake.

Look at the growth comparison on these strawberries. see the white line? Thats how high the plants are. This growth was in only 8 days with using the Mittleider fertilizing plan.

This bed gets a little more shade, so I am growing my Buttercrunch lettuce here. This is the first time I tried head lettuce. So far so good.

This bed has my Onions along the edges and either cabbage or broccoli growing down the center. I was so diligent about marking the cups, but got lazy when I put them out, so I am not sure which of these two they are. They kind of look alike to me. I also have 11 sweet peppers planted here, and in the next bed over there are 12 hot peppers. In the bed running long ways on the far left I have 16 feet of pole beans sown. Ten foot are Fortex, and 6 foot of Emerite. Both a first for me. I was surprised they are dark beans. I am used to eating the white.

This cute little 6" tall squirrel statue was bought for me by my now 7 yo grand daughter last year. I glued him on top of a fence post. he appears to be eyeing my growing raspberries.

I tried to get some what of a panaoramic view of the 60 ft long raised bed at the back of the house. Things are just starting to bloom. The table in the center is getting a good coat of charcoal colored textured paint. Hopefully this weekend. You can barely see the cups with plants still sitting on the edge waiting to be planted.

If you want to try The Mittleider Gardening Method for yourself, you can find lots of info at the link at the top of my sidebar on the right. There are also links there with free plans to build your own greenhouse, and a free gardening journal to download. If you have any questions, I will do my best to help.

Mowing strawberries...The Results Are In

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:10:00 +0000

If you remember, back in mid June of last year, I wrote THIS post about mowing back June bearing strawberries for increased production the following year. For the past two years I have gotten only a handfull of berries from my plants in this 16'x2' bed. I have now got them extended around the backside tho, as I removed new plants on runners and planted them elsewhere. I also read that you should remove runners as well, which I have not done. I just re-plant the stragglers that escaped the raised bed. I have never tried mowing them before, but I knew I had to do something. This many healthy plants should have been producing a lot more.
Well, the results are in. This evening we were mowing and trimming around the backyard and garden. I couldnt believe the blooms on my plants when I had time to check them out. They are LOADED. I am guessing probably three times more berries than I got for the last two years TOTAL! Just take a look:

As always, you can click on the pic to enlarge it.

A Little Birdie Came To Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:14:00 +0000

Little Robin Red Breast came to visit one day. She liked her guest room so well, that she left a little prize. She flew back and forth for hours , and took a lot of care to place every little stem very precise. A lot of pride and hard work went into making her quaint little nest. Everything had to be just perfect for her precious little ones.

This cute little nest with its beautiful blue eggs were left in a large old wreath that hangs on the side of my house on my front porch. I cant wait to see them hatch. Hopefully my kitties wont notice. A couple of them are quite accomplished hunters.

Planted Out 50 Lbs of Seed Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:39:00 +0000

The weather was decent today, so I spent a few hours planting out 50 lbs of seed potatoes. I rhave not gotten my irrigation lines in yet, so i temporarily strung string where they are to go and planted my potatoes out according to the Mittleider recommendations, 8" apart, and 2" deep. This 5 ft bed will have 3 irrigation pipes, so I ran a row of potatoes along each side of where each pipe will be.

I planted them in the far left, new bed where the tractor is sitting. This bed is about 5' x 16'.

Decadent Caramel Apple Crisp

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:26:00 +0000

I am going to start out with an admission. This is not my own recipe, but i did accidently modify it. I am sooo glad I did. It is originally a Butterscotch Apple Crisp, but when I went to the store, I didnt have the recipe with me, and thought I was to get caramel chips. However it was supposed to be butterscotch chips, but I cant imagine it would be near as good as the caramel. I am not much of a food photographer, so forgive me this crappy picture.

Here is where the original recipe can be found. Just remember to exchange the butterscotch chips with the caramel. That is, if you want to. :) Just give this recipe a try. It is seriously delicious.

2013 Early Morning Spring Blooms

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I love going out into the garden in the morning to see what is growing. I also enjoy how the flowers and leaves sparkle with their little droplets of dew. These are some of my first shots of the year.

I love this pretty yellow alyssum, in the back is a few purple Grape Hyacinths showing their faces.

A beautiful blue Primrose. However it looks more purple here.

A gorgeous Fritillaria, Checkered Lilly

I love this gorgeous yellow Primrose.

This Tulip is such a delicate soft pink.

A pretty Lamium given to me my a Gardenweb friend

Mittleider Method Update.....Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:30:00 +0000

I have finally been able to get my fertilizer so I can mix my required weekly feed. I mixed the 25 lbs 19-19-19 fertilizer with the one bag of Mittleider minerals, and 3 lb 12 oz of epsom salts. All the cabbage, head lettuce and broccoli that I have planted got their dose of 1/2 oz per linear foot for an 18" wide bed. I also mixed 2 tsp's in with 1 gallon of water to water my tomato plants that are in lg plastic cups. So they got their meal too. Now, next wednesday I start all over again.

Update on Re-Growing Your Celery

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:16:00 +0000

Remember when I posted about trying to re-grow celery from the base? It can be found HERE.
Well, I just got back from a week vacation at the beach, and just 13 days after my last post,I found a huge difference in my baby.

13 days ago, it was around an inch tall. Now it is close to 4" tall. I will be eating fresh, home grown celery in no time.

Guess Where I am at?

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:26:00 +0000

We had to bring my DGD back to Myrtle beach after spring break. We aare heading back sunday morning.

Getting Ready For 2013 Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:35:00 +0000

I just took a couple of shots of my almost empty garden. Its still about 4 weeks before my last frost date of may 10. I just wanted to show the placement of the beds and the two new 5'x16' beds at the end of the potager/garden. We still want to till the two new beds one more time yet.

The new beds are off to the left, outside the fence, Below you can see the three 4x8 beds in the center with the 2' wide bed then runs in a "U" shape around the perimeter. There are about 2 and 1/2 ft walkways between.

Then we will start on the irrigation plans. In the drawing below you see the pvc irrigation pipe done in yellow. We are leaving to take my DGD back home in Myrtle Beach then when we return, I hope to get this done. I also hung new sachets of Milorganite around the perimeter of my back yard to renew my deer protection.

Re-Grow Your Celery Instead Of Tossing It

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:32:00 +0000

I have seen posts on the internet about regrowing celery from the base of a grocery store stalk. I tried it once before by placing it in a small amount of water in a cup, but nothing happened. About a week ago, I was cleaning out my fridge , I found an old limp partial stalk of celery. It was starting to look yucky around the edges. Just as I was heading to the garbage can with it, i decided to give it another try. I truly figured that if my healthier stalk before didnt work, this one definitely wouldn't. But what did I have to lose? So I cut off about an 1" thick chunk off of the base and tossed the rest. This time, I just used a old small 1/4 cup measuring cup I had. I just filled the cup partially with water, set the base into it and set it in my kitchen window. Low and Behold......I now have growth.

The edges of the old stalks continued to brown some, but new growth is coming up out of the center. I thought about continuing to let it sit in water until I got roots (which i dont have at this point), but then after reading THIS blog post, I decided to go ahead and plant it. Especially since I am going way for a week on Friday and wouldnt be here to maintain the water level.

Mittleider Gardening Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:13:00 +0000

For the past couple of months I have been researching how to improve my garden. Year before last ( my first year) the garden did pretty well. Then last year, I got next to nothing out of it. It might have been a big part to the dry season we had last summer. I started out watering regularly, then we were traveling a lot, and the garden would end up going for 10 days or more with no water.Neither year did I have an abundance of veggies.
I first stumbled onto this method when I found a post on a tomato forum by someone who uses this method to grow produce for sale. Check out these pics in this thread HERE. Her tomatoes are unbelievably huge and abundant.
Then I found the "Back to Eden" method of using huge amounts of wood chips to grow in. Then I stumbled upon youtube videos by LDSprepper who started out testing Back To Eden, then Mittleider. Check out his comparison results between the two methods HERE. Check out his many very informative other videos while your there.
Here is a website explaining some of the Mittleider process.
http://growfood.com/
I couldnt find any bad reviews on this method, so I am going to test it this year. The only thing I had to special order was the package of micro-nutrients, and a #57 drill bit for the irrigation system. You could wait on the irrigation and just do it by hand, but since we travel a bit, I wanted to go ahead and put this in anyway. The remaining items to buy locally and are fairly inexpensive are 13-13-13 fertilizer, epsom salts,lime or gypsum, and Mule Team Borax for the boron. You can make beds with the alternative grow mix, or just do it in your native soil. I opted to use my soil.
I wanted a couple more raised beds added along side my potager because I wanted to try corn and potatoes this year, and a few other things. Here are some pictures showing my progress.

My husband tilled up the ground where the two new beds are to go. The potager is off to the right, enclosed in the fence. He made several passes. Luckily the ground was a little soft from the occasional rains we have been having making it a lot easier. We are adding in two 5'x20' beds with a walk space between the fence, and another between the two beds.

I had to dig a small ditch from the top edge of my large raised bed and retaining wall behind the house. This is to run some pvc pipe to get the water from the faucet up to these beds for irrigation. Then drop it over the upper wall, and thru the lowed bed, and over the lower wall.

This pic shows the two retaining walls for my 60 ft long raised flower bed.

I am going to keep adding to this line to detail my experiment on this gardening method.

Meanwhile, I couldnt pass up a close-up shot of these beautiful blue primrose flowers showing their pretty faces in my raised bed.

If you want to try The Mittleider Gardening Method for yourself, you can find lots of info at the link at the top of my sidebar on the right. There are also links there with free plans to build your own greenhouse, and a free gardening journal to download. If you have any questions, I will do my best to help.

Companion Planting Chart

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:24:00 +0000

I have been working on gardening plans for a few months now. I have been researching and ordering seeds, studying what plant works or doesnt work with another, different gardening methods (settled on Mittleider method which I will tell you more about in future posts),seed starting, and grow lights. To be honest, i have probably spent way too much time on the online research,lol. But you know how play time on the computer goes.
Anyway, one of my long lists, that i have jotted down, and jotted down again is companion planting. There is lots of information available online. This is an opinion of what plants grow well with others, or may inhibit the growth of a plant. for example, Fennel is not recommended to be planted with other vegetables. Basil is thought to enhance the flavor of tomatoes, some disagree, but it is also considered to increase yield. Rosemary is thought to deter cabbage moths. cinnamon basil is supposed to increase yield of green peppers. Some plants just dont play well with others and need to be separated. I finally got my list into a chart form. So feel free to download it for your own use by clicking on the link below:

Companion Planting Chart Download

My Fall 2012 soil test

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:29:00 +0000

Here are the results of my Fall 2012 soil test. The one for the yard has had NO amendments, ans very little topsoil on it. I am going to work on an area beside the garden to add more beds.

SAMPLE DETAILS Sample ID: GARDEN

Sample Date	9/23/2012	Previous Crop
LAB ID	12-8612	Soil Name
Limed in last 12Months	No	Soil Texture	Clay Loam
Area (Sq.Ft)	120	Tillage Method	Conventional

LAB TEST RESULTS

Nutrients	Values	Rating
Soil pH	5.8	L.R.: 1.9		LOW	MEDIUM	HIGH	V HIGH
P2O5(Lbs/A)	377	VERY HIGH	P2O5

K2O(Lbs/A)	569	VERY HIGH	K2O

Ca(Lbs/A)	3584	HIGH	Ca

Mg(Lbs/A)	531	VERY HIGH	Mg

Nutrients	K	Ca	Mg	H	Total[CEC], BS(K+Ca+Mg)
MEQ/100	1	9	2	4	16
%Sat	5	58	15	25	77

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CROP: HOME GARDENS

Aglime	87.4* Lbs/1000 Sq.Feet
Fertilizer - N (Lbs/1000 Sq.Ft)	2 **
Fertilizer - P2O5 (Lbs/1000 Sq.Ft)	0
Fertilizer - K2O (Lbs/1000 Sq.Ft)	0

SUGGESTIONS

* If pH is above 5.5 do not apply lime to root crops, potatoes, and peppers.

You can use any fertilizer or natural material that supplies the plant nutrients recommended. Your county agent can help you determine suitable grades and rates. Commercial fertilizers carry a label showing percentages of nitrogen-phosphate-potash; For example, a 50 Lbs bag of 5-10-10 contains 2.5 Lbs of nitrogen (N), 5 Lbs of phosphate (P2O5), and 5 Lbs of potash (K2O). If your recommendation calls for 2 Lbs of N / 1000 sq.Ft only, you should apply 6 Lbs of ammonium nitrate (33-0-0) fertilizer.

For best results, retest and loosen the top 6-12 inches of soil every fall and mix in recommended lime, 2/3 of the fertilizer and any available rotted compost. If soil test levels are very high (VHI), use only compost and 2/3 of the nitrogen. Apply the remainder of the fertilizer at planting time. Leafy crops can be sidedressed at early or intermediate growth stages with 3 tablespoons of 33-0-0 nitrogen fertilizer per 10 feet of row. Potatoes and asparagus can take a little more. Do not apply nitrogen to carrots, beets, watermelons, or sweet potatoes.

If K is over 500, Ca is over 8000, and Mg is over 600, you can avoid toxic salt effects by loosening the subsoil and adding organic matter; do not use manure.

SAMPLE DETAILS Sample ID: YARD

Sample Date	9/23/2012	Previous Crop
LAB ID	12-8611	Soil Name
Limed in last 12Months	No	Soil Texture	Clay
Area (Sq.Ft)	0	Tillage Method	No-Till

LAB TEST RESULTS

Nutrients

Values

Rating

Soil pH

4.9

L.R.: 3

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

V HIGH

P2O5(Lbs/A)

LOW

P2O5

K2O(Lbs/A)

196

HIGH

K2O

Ca(Lbs/A)

1016

MEDIUM

Mg(Lbs/A)

220

MEDIUM

Nutrients	K	Ca	Mg	H	Total[CEC], BS(K+Ca+Mg)
MEQ/100	0	3	1	6	10
%Sat	3	27	10	62	40

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CROP: ESTABLISHED LAWNS OR TURF

Aglime	138 Lbs/1000 Sq.Feet
Fertilizer - N (Lbs/1000 Sq.Ft)	3
Fertilizer - P2O5 (Lbs/1000 Sq.Ft)	2
Fertilizer - K2O (Lbs/1000 Sq.Ft)	0

SUGGESTIONS

You can use any fertilizer that supplies the plant nutrients recommended. Remember that the numbers on the fertilizer bag show the percentages of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P2O5), and potash (K2O) in that order; For example, 50 Lbs of 5-10-10 contains 2.5 Lbs of (N), 5 Lbs of (P2O5), and 5 Lbs of (K2O). Apply all of the recommended P2O5 and K2O and approximately 2/3 of N in fall and the remaining N in spring after the flush of spring growth. Retest your soil every fall. Your county agent can suggest fertilizers that are available locally.

For bermudagrass and zoysia, use fertilizer amounts indicated and change application dates to spring (all of P2O5 and K2O and 2/3 of N) and fall (1/3 of N). For better color of these species, an additional 1 Lb of N can be applied in July. In order to improve color of bluegrass-fescue turf, apply 1/2 Lb of N per 1000 sq.Ft in early summer. One-half Lb of N can be applied to 1000 Sq.Ft by using 1.5 Lb of ammonium nitrate (33-0-0) or 1 Lb of urea (46-0-0). For further information, see WVU Misc. Pub. 406 - Lawn Care and Maintenance.

New $9.00 Grow Light

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:11:00 +0000

As you know I have bought a few inexpensive shoplights to use for growing seedlings under. the shoplights run about $12 each then about another $8 for two bulbs for each fixture. So about $20 per light. To cover the area of a 72 cell seed tray turned sideways it take a min of 2 lights hung side-by-side. Then you still have a couple of inches of the edge of the tray outside the edge of the light, causing these edge seedings to lean a little in towards the light.My 3ft wide shelving unit only holds 2 trays end to end. However , if I hung 3 lights side by side, I could turn the trays sideways and get in 3 trays per shelf. Three lights would cost $60 to set up.
After doing some research on you tube, {especially this one: Reaganite71} I found a way to set the whole 3 tray shelf up for about $9, plus the cost of 4 cheap extension cords for $1.37 each. Thats a WHOLE lot cheaper. I could only find 60 watt bulbs in my Walmart, 75 watt would be better probably.
Here's how it looks on my shelf:

I have a single shoplight on the top shelf for my narrow window box seed tray and some i have in egg trays. the second shelf has 2 shoplights hung side by side. The 3rd shelf shows the box light from the side view.

This is what it looks like from underneath.

This shows the box light hung in my shelving unit. You are looking up under it slightly to show the bulbs. With the foil, it seems pretty bright under here, and i can raise and lower the box over the seed trays to keep the lights close as possible to the seedlings.

Materials list:

4 Plug in adapters to screw the bulbs into.......... .97 cents each

Package of 4 spiral flourescent light bulbs these were about $1.88 for single, or about $5 for 4 pack, daylight bulbs. 60 watts each.{ 14 actual watts used.}Great Value brand

Aluminum foil

4 cheap extension cords about $1.37 each

Bottle of white school glue

Duct tape

Clear 2" wide packing tape

Large cardboard box

My box wasnt quite long enough. i needed about 31.5" long by the length of a seed tray (approx 21")

So I opened up the 4 corners of my box by cutting down each corner after cutting off the top flaps. I layed the one short edge down so I could make my box about 31" long. I used the flaps i cut off to add cardboard where needed to form an open box with the corners cut that was 31" long. My box was about 10" high. tape up pieces as needed with duct tape to hold together. I already had the tape, glue and foil, so didnt add these into the costs.

Now cut 4 triangles out of cardboard, the height of your box. You will spread the long sides out an an angle to give your box the extra width needed to allow a 21" 72 cell pack seed tray between. My box was about 6" too narrow, so my triangles measured 3" each on the wide edge, 10" high, and down to about 3/8" at the point.

Using duct tape, tape these triangle into each corner so the 3" ( or your desired width) edge is along the top (open side ) of box, and the point goes into the bottom of the corner made by spreading long sides out to make opening of box wider.

The above shot shows some white glue drizzled over the bottom to glue the foil down.

I started covering the bottom of the box with foil over the glue. Cut pieces so they extend up each side about 1". It took me two pieces side by side. Spread some glue where they overlap to hold in place and smooth everything down. Oh by the way, cutting aluminum foil with your scissors is supposed to SHARPEN them.

Here, I have 3 of the sides down, and now working on the short edge. I made the foil long enough to wrap over the top edge about 2" to the outer side of box. After folding it over stretch a piece of clear packing tape along the edge. You could also use duct tape if you like, but I thought clear tape looked a little neater.

When the entire inside of your box is covered, then I also taped along the edge with clear packing tape, extending it over the top edge to the inside to protect the edges from tearing. Do this on all 4 sides.

Now using a tape measure ( or eyeball it) measure about 9" in from short edge, and about 4" in from long edge, this is where you will center up your plug in adapters.

I thought I could make do with 4 lights 60 watts each. You might like 6. i placed the adapeter on the backside of box and drew around it with a marker. then using a knife, i punched thru the center of the circle, and sliced to the edge of the circle, doing this around the area for the hole, making slits about 1/4" apart. Now shove the adaper thru from the inside, prongs first. wrap clear tape around the backside to hold in place. Be extra careful there is ABSOLUTELY NO foil anywhere near any metal parts of the adapter, such as prongs, or inside where bulb screws into.

After you install all adapters, plus in your extension cords into these on the back side. Hold onto adapter on the inside while plugging in cord to back.Now leave one end loose to plug into wall, plug the other ends into the back of your extension cord. So you have a cord plugged into adapter, then a cord plug from another adapter plugged into the back of this cord. So all are connected. Now you should be able to plug the loose cord end into the wall, and ALL 4 lights work.

This is not the cord i used. mine was a cheap 6 foot one for $1.37 You will plug the adapter into one side of the end on left, and the end from another cord into the other side of same end.

Now hear this tomatoes and peppers, "Start Growing!" . I've got room for ya!

3/20/13 Update on tomatoes started under the new grow light:

These were started 3/9/13. So just 11 days later, I have pretty good growth. The area under the light is nice and warm, and I noticed (on the upper left of photo) there is even some condensation inside. I continue to bottom water all my plants on my seed started. And out of almost 100 tomatoes, 30 cabbage, 20 broccoli, about 40 onions,and about 20 head lettuce, I havent lost one seedling. I think thats pretty good results. I just started about 5 watermelon plants today, and about a week ago i started about 30 peppers.

What a Difference Growing Room Makes!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 21:59:00 +0000

About 12 days ago, I transplanted a few of my cabbage plants. They are "Early Jersey Wakefield". I need to finish the rest of them, but I havent been feeling well for the past week or so. My fibromyalgia has been acting up, so I havent gotten much done until today. So after spending the morning in my garden transplanting 8 red raspberry plants out of the potager to the front of it along the fence, and transplanting my scallion seedlings to one of the beds, i went to work inside. I made a huge, new growlight that will easily cover 3 large 72 cell seed trays. More on this in a bit.
Secondly I took some shots of my cabbage seedlings. I had to! i couldnt believe the differnce bigger digs meant to these little guys.
Here is a pic of the ones I did NOT get transplanted yet:

the little ruler shoved to the bottom of the cell, shows this little guy doesnt even reach 3" dirt and all.
Now check out the growth on the ones transplanted about 12 days ago:

And this one:

Over 4" tall, probably quadrupled in size. nice large leaves too1

Now I gotta get busy on the rest now that i have more room under lights.