country n news-garden news

COUNTRY N NEWS-GARDEN NEWS

it feels like may around here
looking at the wildflowers and the fruit trees
and the trees and the shrubs that are ablooming
they all think its may also

i must say
that doesnt bode well for this summer
i suspect we will have an early summer
starting in the real may
hitting those hotter temps a month early
slowing down
the garden
the wildflowers
the greenery around here

as i look out around our property
i must say
its about prime for the spring
wish it would stay that way

recently
i took these tomatoes and peppers that i planted
back in the first week of february into large 5 gallon pots
put them in my small greenhouse with its southfacing
open clear wall
those tomatoes went crazy
even making little green ones and some red ones
no
those red ones didnt make it out of the greenhouse
and
i moved them outside under the lacy shade of
my huisache tree
to get use to being outside

so yesterday
i planted them
a cherry tomato
a juliet that produces small ones like crazy
two early girls that are full of green tomatoes
two celebrities that are always dependable

all of these are indeterminate
that means they can continue to produce all year
sometimes based on the hybrid celebrity type
they are indeterminate

but in my experience here at the country n
the juliette is the only one that i have been able to
summer over into the fall to produce tomatoes again
in the fall

the bed i use is about 3 ft x 12 ft
the soil depth is about 2 feet
of pure rich composty wormy soil
that i dig and plant using only my bare hands

no
i dont usually use gloves
i like the feel of the dirt on my fingers
under my nails
it brings me one with the soil

this winter i removed the blackeyed peas that were planted
on this bed
added lots of compost
added organic fertilizer and cottonseed meal and molasses
covered it up with the leaves some of you gave me
then
let it ferment for several months
until yesterday
when i planted my tomatoes

i dug the hole
added some earthworm casting to jump start the tomato plants
planted the tomato plant all of which had several small
green tomatoes on them
well one was red so i quickly ate it

then i watered it in with liquid fish emulsion sea weed molasses
to get the roots agrowing

now
hopefully i will get tomatoes earlier than usual
i already have i thought

i left them unstaked even though they were 3 ft or so long
knowing
that that freeze is coming
all i have to do is put some warm covering over them
then i will stake them up on wire cages

john dromgoole the organic garden guru always says
there is always an easter freeze around here

i agree
having lost tomatoes in april several times

also
here are my green 1015 sweet dont make you cry onions
all 200+ of them
yes
it looks like an early harvest of them
ill know its time when the stalks start falling over

also
here are the potatoes
agrowing like crazy
we definitely will have new potatoes by mothers day
heck
if the weather holds up as warm as it is
we should have all of them harvested by then

if you live around here
you have plenty of time
to prep your garden
and
plant those tomatoes and peppers
just
be ready for that easter freeze

the organicgreen doctor

speaking, produce

SPEAKING
i have several speaking engagements planned over the
next two months on alzhiemers disease

today i will be talking at the senior center where i deliver
meals on wheels from each week

the format today is one i like the best
instead of me giving a talk for 45 minutes then questions
i simply do a short few minutes introductory talk
then let the audience ask me questions on alzheimers disease
letting them decide which direction the presentation will go

these folks will all be elderly and usually they have a lot of
good questions to ask

i usually have a page of items that i can talk about
things i think are important to know
like
what work up needs to be done
what you can do to slow things down
where to get into a research study
do you need an evaluation
what research is going on now
what forms need to be done before you get incapacitated

there always seem not enough time to answer all their questions

i sure enjoy doing these q and as

PRODUCE

these are my garlic
all grown organically
planted in november
there are 67 of them there
@$2.50 per bulb for organic garlic
that makes $167.50 for the garlic i raised this year
plus i gave several away to my rainwater brother

i will let these guys lay there for 2 weeks to dry up some
then i will braid them like a pig tail
and hang them from the roof of my bbq grill for awhile
then move them inside
we usually have enough garlic to last until mid to late winter












then here is the first of my new potatoes organic of course
these were planted in late january
my potatoes my garlic and my onions it seems are having to be
harvested much earlier this year

these new potatoes were cooked by my wife she
covered with crushed pepper and butter
yes i use butter sometimes and its ok to do that
use butter
eaten with meat loaf
made for a great sunday evening meal

next will be my onions
they are getting bigger and bigger
i should have some big hand sized bulbs to eat this year
when the stalks start to fall over
thats when i pick them

then my tomatoes are starting to produce a lot of  small
tomatoes
hoping my wife she doesnt find them as she always seems
to pick them green for
fried green tomatoes

i get so mad when she does that
you know you want to taste that first ripe tomato
of the year as soon as you can
right off the vine

if you are a tomato grower then you know what i mean
however
i do eat those fried green tomatoes anyway

the organicgreen doctor