country n news-late winter plantings

COUNTRY N NEWS-LATE WINTER PLANTINGS

we just finished this week eating our onions from last year
we planted them in mid january 2016
we harvested them in late april 2016
we hung them like onion chimes in our garage
we ate them gradually over the months since

well
if you havent done it yet its time to plant them again
i planted ours about 2 weeks ago
sometimes i wait unitl the end of january
but since its been so warm mostly this winter
i planted them early this year

heck we just had our first peach bloom this week
not good
the blooms will probably freeze
one year i wrapped it good with row cover
put in a warming lamp
it kept them from freezing
even when we got down in the 20s
but
this year ive decided to put my efforts elsewhere

so for my onions
i prep my raised beds
making sure i dont plant where i dd the last 2 years
so
i rotate all my crops

i rake off all the mulch and debris on the bed
i add 3-4 inches of my country n compost
that our chickens make from the leaves some of
you give me
then
i use a garden fork
drive it into the bed
work in back and forth
this allows the compost and fertilizers to get a little deeper
then
i add an organic fertilizer
i use either ladybug 8-2-4 or medinas growing green
both are good ones to use
then
i add a dusting of cottonseed meal
which provides a quick access to nitrogen when the onions
start to grow
then
i add a slight dusting of stuff called rocket fuel
from gardenville
it has a lot of minerals etc the plants need
last year i planted purple hull peas in this spot
so i cut off the plants at the ground so they would
breakdown and leave the minerals stored in their roots
for the onions to use
then
i soaked the bed good with liquid molasses
which provides food for the good organisms in the soil
then
i covered the bed good with a layer of leaves for
mulch
this was allowed to sit for a few weeks to cure

so on onion planting day
i raked off all the leaves
the onions plants i use are 1015s
they well have an almost sweet taste
and
they dont burn my eyes when i cut them

i plant the onions down about an inch or two
one hook em horn sign apart which is about 6 inches
then
i water them in well

i fertilize them about once a month until they seem
to quit growing

we pull the smaller green onions as we need them

we harvest them in late april or may whenever there
stalks fall over

this produces some hand sized sweet tasting non eye burning
onions

then
its also time to plant your potatoes around here
i use red lasotas since they seem to grow well here
at the country n

i use the same bed prep as above for the onion bed
i dig an 8 inch deep trench
in our beds which are 3 ft wide
i make two rows about a foot or so apart
i use uncut potatoes
i never mess with cutting the potatoes and dusting with sulfur
its too much work
i just get the smaller ones and junk them in the hole
scattered 1 foot apart
i put down my organic fertilizer in the trench between the
potatoes
i cover the potatoes with just a few inches of dirt
then
as the plant grows out of the dirt
i keep it covered up
this mounding technique produces more potatoes

each potato will produce about 8-10 potatoes
i planted 22 potatoes
you can do the math

i fertilize them about once a month with my organic fertilizer

they are harvested in later april or may whenever the plants
above the ground start to die

we pick new potatoes when they are smaller
in fact i tend to harvest about a third of them this way
since like the green onions i just cant wait to eat them

then
yesterday i bought my tomatoes
warning dont even try to get tomatoes and plant them
around here right now

this year
i bought i gallon containers of tomatoes
i plan to transplant them to 3 or 5 gallon pots
keep them in my small greenhouse
putting them outside when the days are warm
otherwise keeping them in the greenhouse when
its cold running a heater with a thermostat

i plan on not planting them into the ground until late march
seeing if i can avoid that freeze that seems to kill mine
off each year

oh
for that first early tomato

the organicgreen doctor

bee time to plant

BEE TIME TO PLANT
my bee journey continues
this weekend i went to my third bee class
at the wonderful lady bird johnson wildflower center

now i love this place
i really like to go there by myself so i can just wonder
around and look at things

now this is a larger cistern at the front of the entrance
to the wildflower center
they collect rainwater there in large quantities
to use to irrigate the plants with
and
to keep their small ponds full
its worth the trip folks

it was nice to wonder around this weekend before my
bee class started
looking at what stuff looks like in the dead of winter
and
to compare it to my landscape

looked closely at some thunderturf lawn that was dormant
i was impressed at how compact it was
its made up of blue grama buffalo and curly mesquite grasses
nice lawn
drought tolerant

after roaming around for awhile i went to my bee class
a beginners class
which built upon the last two bee classes i have been to

now
i am ready to read more on beekeeping
order my bee suit
get my smoker and hive tool

then im all set to go

i have an upcoming class in march on handling the hive
a four hour class with an experienced beekeeper
its a hands on class

i also am increasing my bee friendly plants in my landscape
i already have most of them suggested for this area

i recently planted a mistflower a mexican oregano lantana
mexican mint marigold and firebush
i will  let my arugulas broccoli lettuce go to seed and flower

i want to keep those bees happy and busy

i have a ton of bees at my place already
wonder where they live
im not sure what kind they are
but hopefully soon i will be able to identify them

its that time of year
to plant the onions in this area

i use onion plants like these since they do better here than the sets do

in our kitchen we are close to using up all the onions we planted
at this time last year

we hang them in panty hose and hang them from the rafters in our garage
using them as we need them
last year many of ours were the size of a softball

i choose the 1015 onions for this area
since they are sweet
dont seem to burn my eyes when i cut them up
eg
today i will use two of them from last years crop to make some
anasazi beans along with last years garlic and last years poblano pepper
using my organic bean recipe

so be looking at the nurseries or feed stores for these onions
they can be planted in the garden or in flower beds or in flower pots

its well worth it
to go out
cut down an organic onion that you have grown yourself
they just taste better that way

the organicgreen doctor

beating the heat

BEATING THE HEAT
this is the time in the summer garden when its almost
too hot to garden


some things do well right now
like okra the hotter the better

other things in my garden like basal peppers like banana
bell poblano jalapeno and egg plant are doing well
my left over tomatoes from the spring are ending their
tomato producing careers
so


i have placed a solar cloth over them to keep the hot
summer sun off of them
the tomatoes probably will shut down soon but
the other things will continue on until the fall then
take off when those fall temperatures start to drop

in fact in the fall they are more productive and the fruits
are so  much bigger than in the spring

if of course i can keep those pesky grasshoppers off of them
im trying nollo bait which has a fungus in it that infects the
hopppers when they eat it
they die
other grasshoppers will cannibalize the dead ones
the cycle continues

i also have sowed black eyed peas on the beds that have
been harvested like the onions and potatoes and garlic

the peas are a cover crop that fixes nitrogen in the soil
plus if im lucky i will produce enough peas to have a
mess or too for eating with my wife shes cornbread

yes she cooks it in an iron skillet and flips it over
half way through the cooking

speaking of onions
my mom in law is here visiting and one of the jobs
we save for her is to put up the onions
so we had close to 200 onions to put up
how do we do it
we place an onion in an old pair of pantyhose
in the leg
swing it around
tie it off
then add another onion etc etc etc


thats how we get our onion chimes

i know its hotter than hell here but its also time here in
central texas to plant the fall tomatoes
so
i went of course to one of the top nurseries in the us
the natural gardener in austin texas to get my tomatoes
they are hard to find anywhere else this time of year

i planted them in a bed where the peas were growing
i cut off the peas at the ground leaving the roots in the soil
to continue to breakdown and provide nutrition to the soil
i then added 4 inches of dairy cow manure i bought since my
country n compost isnt ready yet
then i added a scattering of an organic fertilizer over the compost
i used ladybug 8-2-4
then i added a light dusting of cottonseed meal
then i gently worked this into the top 2 inches of the soil
sometimes i just plant right in the compost
in the hole for planting i sprinkled the earthworm castings
thats worm poo
then i watered the tomato plant in well with liquid seaweed
then i put a small collar around the base of the base of the
tomato plant with a sliver of wet newspaper to protect it
from being cut down by the cutworm

then i  covered the soil with a thick layer of mulch
which was leaves that had been partially composted
and made that layer about 4 inches thick
to hold moisture in and to protect the soil from the sun and heat

then i set up pvc pipes and covered that with some row cover
to block off that mid day and afternoon sun

then all i need to do is keep them watered until the fall
i use drip irrigation with my rainwater i collect

here is one of my milkweeds i planted this year
i have 5 of these planted
to help those monarch butterflies as they migrate through this area
i am looking forward to the monarch display this fall

so there is stuff to do in your garden right now to get
ready for the fall garden
try getting your beds ready with the compost and fertilizer and
mulch so all you have to do this fall is plant the stuff
remember around here the fall is the best time
to garden in this area

the organicgreen doctor

victory sign, produce, prune paint

VICTORY SIGN

those of you who have ever been photographed with me
will appreciate this picture

i received in the mail this card
which said inside

i passed by and saw this card and instantly thought of you

i have enhanced or based on your perspective ruined many
a picture with this v sign or rabbit ears over the years

in fact my daughter in law let me know in no uncertain terms
no rabbit ears in the wedding pictures

man that was a real hard one to do
it was tough
sitting through all those photos
but
she did reward me at the end by allowing me
one picture with my using rabbit ears

i googled
 why do people use rabbit ears in photographs

the urban dictionary said it is what third graders do
hum
what do they know

this person a former patient considers it an honor to be
rabbit eared by the ogd

i think it enhances the photo
however
thats not an opinion shared by wife she
or
my daughter in law

what do you think

PRODUCE

i wear a size 13 shoe
this is my largest onion i have ever grown
i call it my 5 lb onion

this since ive done the anthill garden raised bed
using my own chicken generated compost
and
using the planting instructions from the natural gardener
all using strictly organic methods
this will be the best onion crop i have ever produced
200+ of these suckers will soon be harvested

PRUNE PAINT

here is the official word from many arborists and organic folks

here in central texas only paint the limb cuts on red oaks
and live oaks
to prevent the spread of oak wilt disease

all other tree cuts dont need to be painted

also
november december january is the best time to trim
red oaks and live oaks here in central texas

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

your ps and os

YOUR PS AND OS
this is about gardening
knowing when to plant and what to plant

here in central texas the two things to plant now are
ps
potatoes
and
os
onions

they both need to be planted now here to get them going
good so they can be ready to harvest
before the suffocating heat in texas hits us in the summer

i planted the potatoes and the onions in their own beds
that are 4 ft x 14 ft
the width is 4 ft so i can easily reach across to the middle of the
bed from each side

these two beds are hugelkultur like beds i made last year
click on the link and read my blog on this and see the link
on a newspaper article on using this method

basically each bed is about 2-3 feet deep with layers of cardboard
newspapers logs limbs leaves compost dirt more layers of leaves
compost dirt newspapers until the bed is complete
then its topped off with 3-4 inches of my country n compost
sweet smelling stuff

i put cottonseed meal and lady bug brand 8-2-4 fertilizer on these
beds several weeks ago and covered them with a layer of oak leaves
i let this all cure during this time
then

two weeks ago
i got about 300 plants of 1015 onions a sweet onion that does
well for us each year

we had the best onions ever last year
i figured out over time that 300 is about the right number to plant
we pick every other one as we need green onions












at harvest we store them in those onion chimes ive written about
before

i get the onion plants the size of a pencil that come in bunches of
about 25+

i plant them one hook em horn distance apart the first knuckle depth
yep i have one dirty finger at the end of the day that takes a long time
to get back to normal
about 4-6 inches is the width apart i plant them

i water them in with liquid seaweed
sprinkle them with a light covering of pine straw
and
when its cold i keep them covered with row cover that white sheet
stuff that acts like a blanket to keep it warm but allows the blanket
to breath and allows water to penetrate

on warm days i take the cover off

they are harvested usually in june based on the weather
the plants start falling over so they tell you when its time

pictures will be posted of the harvest

for the ps
potatoes
i use the same beds
prepped the same way

i get seed potatoes from the nursery
i get red lasoda since we like red potatoes and they do well here

i try to find and pick out the small taters so i dont ever cut them
dry them and put sulfur on them
that just seems like too much work
i just take the tater and drop it in the hole

i dig a trench thats 8 inches long down the length of the bed
then dig a second one so that they are spaced 2 feet apart

i drop the uncut taters in the hole 1 ft apart

i then cover them slightly with soil
in between the taters i sprinkle some of the organic fertilizer
the bed is then covered with a thick row cover until the weather is warmer

as the plant grows out of the dirt i add more dirt until the plant gets eventually
up to the level of garden surface
so i have 8 inches of depth for the tater to grow new ones

usually in june when the plant starts to die back some i harvest the
taters
however ive usually been digging out new potatoes for a few weeks before
i do my final harvest
i cant keep my hands out of the soil

i plant about 28 taters and i get usually 2-3  5 gallon buckets of potatoes

so its time
you can even plant the potatoes in buckets or barrels or pots

they the ps and os need to be planted now though

so
mind your ps and os

the organicgreen gardener

garden time now

GARDEN TIME NOW

its about time to use this product here
corn gluten is a product from corn
yes its ok to use on your yard if you are gluten intolerant
as long as you dont eat it

my dog used to love it so i guess he wasnt gluten intolerant

of course i dont use corn gluten anymore since i landscaped
away all my grass in my front yard
but
you can use it now in your yard if you live here in central texas as
a weed preventer
dont use the weed and feed stuff since it doesnt work
its use pollutes our water
your kids and dogs will play on the grass and it could harm them

the corn gluten after its spread is watered in and also works like
a mild fertilizer
it inhibits the weed seeds from germinating
so dont use it where you plan to spread seed since the seed
wont grow

weeds that are already in your yard now wont be killed by this or
even weed and feed
the time to have prevented them was in the fall with an application
of corn gluten
you just have to do it the old way

dig em up


its also time to plant your onion plants
i planted mine 2 weeks ago


since were having a run of warm weather i also took a
chance and planted my seed potatoes early
it looks like that was a good decision
unless we get real cold weather in the next few weeks

i plan to keep the potato bed covered with mulch and
row cover if that happens
otherwise ill just leave the bed uncovered in this warm weather

i dont cut my seed potatoes and dust with sulfur
i just find small ones and plant them whole
why mess with all that
and i get good production

last year in my 1 acre front yard it was loaded with these small bluebonnets
at this time
however because weve not had much rain this winter
just a 3 inch rain 3 weeks again
there just are not any bluebonnets to be found in my yard

this picture is the only one that i could find
doesnt bode well for a good bluebonnet showing this year

here is a picture of the first produce from the habitat garden my wife she
and i helped put in for the new homeowner

there is kale swiss chard 4 different lettuces spinach and cilantro that was
usedin her garden salad that day

a lot of nutrition is in this salad
its all organic and was picked fresh
something everyone could easily do

she should be able to get several more cuttings from these plants over the
next few months

this is a picture of my wife shes garden at her school
its 5 ft square and has 20 inches of good garden soil

you cant really see it but in the middle is a central composter
where she adds compost material and pours the water from their
fish aquarium in it

i call this her add garden
i tried to get them
thats my wife she and under her direction her students to plant
this in an organized fashion with one foot squares
but
it didnt work out that way
so
i just removed the 1 foot squares and they just do random scattered
plantings
like an abstract painting

but somewhere in there is a recent planting of onions and potatoes
its growing swiss chard arugula broccoli asian greens cilantro spinach
lettuce swiss chard strawberries and garlic
didnt see anything illegal though

think what ill do is mix up some water in her watering can and
will put in a mixture of ritalin and adderall
some for her to drink and some for the plants
so this garden can get some organization to it

the organicgreen doctor

shes on our side, onion chimes

SHES ON OUR SIDE
elizabeth warren
you should google her
she is on our side
whether you are a democrat republican independent conservative
liberal or moderate you should support her

she is head of the consumer financial protection bureau
so whats the problem with her
well she trying to truly protect us from THEM
you know THEM that screwed us all by almost breaking our
economic system
you know THEM that doesnt want elizabeth warren to be head
of this consumer financial protection bureau as she has done these
terrible things
she gave special counsel to multiple state attorneys in their
investigations of the robo signing scandal
she is the one who thought up and set up this consumer
financial protection agency that would protect us from all
the finacial shenanigans like predatory subprime mortgages
she has made bank disclosures easier for us to understand
she has made no more screwing the consumers by the financial
industry her top priority
she was influential in passing the consumer protecting dodd-frank
reform law

looks like the administration may let her go under the bus
there will go one of our true protectors against THEM

think about her when you dont have to pay all of those
fees for using your debit card, being able to read credit card
and  loan agreements
she was fought hard against using the tarp money from
bailing out the wall street fat cats as director of the commission
that kept an eye on where the money went

think she may have made THEM real mad at her

she will be missed if she is not kept
as
shes on our side

she gets to go in front of congress again next month
she stood her ground during the last one despite a brutal
hearing
you go girl
thanks for being on our side


ONION CHIMES
so i plant onions every winter and harvest them every june
we store them for use through the summer fall and winter
this was a very good onion year
guess they like hot dry weather
of course i do use drip irrigation with rainwater whenever it
doesnt rain-which this year is a lot
i also use organic compost
this year all the compost i used i made myself
in my chicken composter

(whats a chicken composter-its the kiss keep it simple stupid
method of composting
just add the compost stuff into a bin the chickens can get to and
they keep the compost all mixed up for you and eat bugs and
seeds in the compost and add a little extra fertilizer to the mix
the only work i do is to shovel it into the garden)

i also added organic liquid fertilizer (used johns recipe from the
lady bug brand) every 2-3 weeks and added organic fertilizer every
month

this is what i ended up with-300 onions

so we made onion chimes out of them
well thats what they look like
chimes of onions

actually we take panty hose (buy cheapest i can find)
drop an onion down the leg then tie it off then drop another
one down the leg then tie it off etc
then we hang them up until we are ready to use them
we just cut off the bottom onion and the rest stay hanging
in the onion chime

just love the flavor of these organic green onions

the organicgreen onion doctor

know the 10 signs # 4, onions, crop failure, temple grandin

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 4
4   confusion with time and place    people with alzheimers
can loose track of dates, seasons, and the passage of time
they may have trouble understanding something if it is not
happening immediately     sometimes they may forget where
they are or how they got there

whats typical   getting confused about the day of the week
but figuring it out later
(whew that one had me worried at first)

ONIONS
here in this area now is a good time to plant onions
as always you must have good soil
add 3-4 inches of compost (i make my own-chickens
keep it all stirred up for me)
add some organic fertilizer to the mixture
work all this into the soil
i plant my onion plants (not bulbs) every 4 inches in a
raised bed      then over time as they grow i thin them out
by picking every other one as my wife she tells me she
needs an onion

plant them about 1 inch deep and water in with seaweed
or an organic fertilizer like johns recipe

i will sprinkle with the organic fertilizer and work it in
every month or you can add the liquid organic fertilizer
every 2-3 weeks
i loosely put pine straw over the beds     i remove the
pine straw when the weather gets warm

the onions are ready to be picked when the tops die
here its usually in june

FAILED CROP
go to google to the right and type in cole crop and read
about my cole crop garden
cole plants are cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, caul-
flower, and kale and i include greens
well had the best plants have ever had since ive been
gardening
had them under the white row cover to protect them
from insects and the cold
well little did i know that there were aphids galore and
white flies just loving that nice warm environment
i was busy with work and dealing with my new diagnosis
so did not check on it like i should have
when i did make it to the cole crop they were covered
with the aphids and flies
had to pull every one of them up
the chickens loved them
they got to eat the aphids and flies plus got to eat he
cole plants also
double treat they said

TEMPLE GRANDIN
if you dont know who temple grandin
is go to her website
www.templegrandin.com and read about
her

if some one in your family or if you have
a friends family  with autism or aspergers
you should read all about her
you can see what it is like to have autism
or aspergers
she is now a big advocate for autism

claire danes won a golden globe for portraying her in the
hbo move  'temple grandin'

temple couldnt speak until she was 4 years old
she now has a phd and is an author of several books
see the movie and go to her website

the organicgreen doctor