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

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

spud time

SPUD TIME
back in the fall i prepared my potato bed
by adding 3 inches of compost
sprinkled it with organic fertilizer
i used ladybug brand 824
medina makes a good one also
i added a dusting of cottonseed meal
i added a good watering of humates
thats basically the brown liquid if you
put compost in water
i added a good watering of molasses
both of these stimulate bacteria and fungi growth
in the soil
then
i covered it with a thick layer of leaves
and
just let it sort of ferment for a few months
like a good beer or a good wine or good cheese

then i went to the nursery two weeks ago
and bought these red lasota seed potatoes
they do good at the country n
compared to the white potatoes
and the colored ones
and
they seem to store well

nurseries and feed stores usually have these
seed potatoes
now i dont cut mine and cover with sulfur
that just seems like a hastle
so i pick out the smaller ones at the nursery
and just plant the whole tater

i let them sit around and grow those eye things out
when they all had eye things growing
and
that also allowed my soil to dry well
i then planted them

i dug a trench that was about 8 inches or more deep
a furrow is the right word i guess

now the instruction sheet i had
read
plant them two inches deep then pull soil up
over the plant as it grows
the new potatoes grow along the stem
so the more soil the more taters you get

however
never known to follow directions well
i plant my 8 inches deep in the furrow
about 18 inches apart
cover it with about 4 inches or so of soil
nothing exact here

i wrote plant
but all i did was just chunk it in the hole
where it landed
was where it got planted

so you have the tater in the hole
covered with dirt
with about 4 inches or so of furrow left
the left side above is all planted and covered
the right side has only been chunked in the hole

as the tater plant grows up
i keep it covered
even as it gets above the furrow soil line
eventually the tater will outgrow your ability
to cover it up

planting the tater deep like that also helps to keep
it warmer under that soil
the furrow also acts as a funnel to catch water
which has been sparse around here lately

if we get a freeze i lay row cover over it
i also will eventually cover the soil with
a layer of mulch of leaves or pine straw

i know its time to harvest when the tops of the
plants start to die
plus
i harvest small new potatoes as soon as i can
so i usually know when its time to dig em up
usually late may or early june
the weather decides the date

but i know from experience not to leave them
in too long
especially if we have a real wet spring
did that once
lost them all

i might fertilize the plants again later in the
spring with the organic fertilizer
if i think of it
but
there is enough stuff in the soil at the start
to get a good crop

you can also grow taters in a 5 gallon bucket
or similar container
here is a link on how to do that

heck you can probably just dig a hole in your flower garden
in a sunny location
drop in some compost
then chunk your seed potato down the hole
cover it up
etc etc

we usually get about 2-3 5 gallon buckets full of taters
from our 15 ft x 4 ft bed

enjoy

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

it wasnt me, taters, abbie

IT WASNT ME
i told my wife she that wasnt me
i know i had cooked some potent pinto beans
but that wasnt me

recently homeowners in the austin area awoke
because of vibrations in their homes
ok one home with vibrations would be one thing
thats why my wife she accused me
but multiple homes
it must be something else

the fire departmeent was called
the sheriff department was called
no it wasnt from a block party bbq
where potent beans were served to all

it as it turns out was from methane being released
from a landfill
methane is the by product of the landfill
apparently a release valve was damaged by recent storms
(thats always my excuse a damaged release valve)

those guys that live in that subdivision sure are lucky
now when their house 'vibrates'
all they have to say
its that landfill again

tried that one on my wife she and she didnt
accept that explanation
we do live close to ft hood and ive blamed 'vibrations'
on them when they are shooting their big weapons

TATERS
last saturday before we went on our chicken tour we had to
go to the farmers market to pick up the map of the tour
while there we picked up some veggies that werent quite ripe
yet at our place

we saw this amount of organic red potatoes for sale for $4

these are from my garden
i couldnt help it i had to come home and dig some of mine
these are from one of my plants
and i have over 30 plants
i cant wait to dig them all up later this month
now if my green beans were ready i could make green beans
and new potatoes for mothers day

ABBIE
tomorrow i will be doing a blog on a special little girl named abbie
it is an inspirational story
read it  tomorrow

the organicgreen doctor

rip, rosemary, update, whew

RIP
rip leslie cochran
the iconic keep austin weird guy
there will never be another one
we have pictures of him in his thong and high heels
heck he even got 30% of the vote for mayor once
wouldnt that have been fun if he had won
talk about keeping austin weird
it would have been downhill after that

do rip leslie
you gave us all memories
helped us forget for a few minutes what else was
happening in the world
well all miss you
well try to keep austin weird in your memory

(for those who dont know who leslie was here is
an article from the austin american statesman)

ROSEMARY

this is about the plant and not some person
a researcher took people and put them in a room with the
scent of rosemary in the room
the chemical is called 1 8 cineole that makes that distinctive odor

those who were in the room with the rosemary did better on
math quizzes than those who did the quizzes in a room without
the rosemary chemical

in one test they did those subtract seven tests
100-7=93-7=85
oops didnt smell my rosemary this am

maybe using rosemary might help someone with
mild cognitive impairment or alzheimers disease

think i reach over and grab a rosemary branch as i walk out
my door each morning
and
maybe ill put a sprig in my pocket when i go back for my
annual followup for the adni study next month in dallas

UPDATE
was asked a lot recently how im doing so heres an update

i still notice some subtle changes on memory that are not
noticeable to others even my wife she

i function normally doing all the things i like to do and some i
dont like to do like dishes washing etc

i am still on aricept (donepezil) and have noticed fewer of the
side effects as i use to-no nausea, less leg cramps, less restlessness
but still have some problems with sleep which i compensate by
doing a short noon nap (just try to call me after lunch)

hopefully this is not the calm before the storm or
hopefully im not gettting a placebo pill that the manufacturer
is screwing up on

i keep up with alzheimers research and whats happening with
alzheimers and try to write about some of it here in this blog

my annual visit is next month where i will do a 1 year follow up on
the alzheimers disease nuclear imaging initiative
adni
it was started about 6 months after i was diagnosed
so i have a baseline that was done 18 months ago

i will have a neuropsychological exam, blood work by the gallons
a neurological evaluation and a mri scan

its another year before i get a spinal tap again
(know my wife she is looking forward to that one since
she fainted last time-how could she do that when she
was way down the hall and didnt ever see or hear
anything-guess she just cares a lot)

also in a year i will get the beta amyloid pet scan and the
glucose metabolism pet scan done
well something to look forward to there

what i realize is clichéc but
you have to seize the moment
each day i do what i like to do (except for the dishes) and try to enjoy the day

maybe thats what everyone should be doing huh

WHEW
well i know i told everyone dont get your plants yet and
stick them in the ground cause the cold weather will come
back and get your plants
dont succumb to the good weather fever

i went to my favorite organic nursery to get some good garden
soil for a project here and for the square foot garden im doing for
the habitat home owner

oh my goodness omg those tomato plants were so beautiful
just run your hands across those plants and then smell your hands
man i could do calculus in my head after doing that
didnt need no rosemary for this

those peppers egg plants herbs
sorry i just couldnt help myself
i bought all the plants i needed for my garden then went home
it was so nice and warm then
i said to myself
dont do it dont do it
remember your potatoes just got nipped by the frost this week
so
i didnt plant them in the ground but instead put them in my little
greenhouse with my heater and decided to wait

am glad i did or they would look like my taters do now
all black and shrivelled up (dont worry theyll come back out)

guess i learned my lesson after the last 10 years of planting my
maters too early
maybe ill plant them next weekend or the next

the organicgreen doctor

crop failure picture, plant potatoes, dreams

CROP FAILURE
here is the picture of my cole crops doing well this fall
this was the best crop ive had in a long time

here is the picture of my cole crops after they failed
they were attacked by aphids, white flies, and neglect

its important when gardening to make frequent visits
looking for problems such as diseases, insects, moisture levels
etc
this is what happens if you dont

PLANT POTATOES
its tater time
a few taters planted now can yield a large harvest
in the early summer

i use the kiss method of planting taters
i buy small whole taters that are recommended for this area
these are texas la soda (red), pontiac (red), and kennebec(white)
your local nursery or feed store will usually have the correct ones
for your area

i dont slice mine but select out the small ones when i buy them
saves time and makes it simple

my soil and bed was prepared a few weeks ago with 4 inches
of compost and organic fertilizer(i use the lady bug brand)
this was mixed in well into the bed

the taters are planted 8-12 inches deep one foot apart in rows
1-2 feet apart
i take my hand and open the soil and just drop the whole tater in
then cover it up with soil      thats it

when it grows up through the soil abut 6 inches i will cover
the growth by bringing soil from the sides of the row but will leave
about1 inch of plant tip exposed
will do this again when the plant grows out
the total bed is covered with pine straw to provide a blanket in case
of a bad freeze
when  the tater plants have broken through and the weather looks
like it will freeze i cover the plants with row cover or sheet (if my
wife she is not looking and i can get by with it)
i usually will fertilize again once the plants are up good

then its just making sure they get watered correctly until harvest
time which is usually some time in early summer when the plants
start to die back

usually i cant keep my hands off them though so will dig some
early      these are called new potatoes
yum yum    sometimes will just eat them raw in the garden

we usually make enough to last for several months into the late winter

you can also plant these in five gallon buckets or barrels or whiskey
barrels
put in good dirt, dig a hole, and drop in the tater
youre done except for watering

enjoy

DREAMS
these are side effects of taking aricept
usually these are good dreams
but have had an occasional disturbing dream
like my last two
am reading a book about the chicago worlds fair and in it
theres a serial killer
nuff said
if have more like this will stop the meds

but last night had a good one
the high school girls basketball playoffs were going on and
one of the local teams (top team in the state) was playing

the game had ended in a tie
they could not go on because the rims were all torn down
so it would be decided by a free throw shot with a deflated
basketball shot into the air
it had to land on the line under where
the basket was
if it landed on the line and did not move then the team that
did that won and got to go to the state tournament

well the players were not allowed to shoot the free throws
but instead had to select someone from the stands to shoot it

know who that was right----me

the player that chose me was the top player in the state
she was able to use her old beat up basketball (one of the
old leather ones that was all worn and pealing) that was
partially deflated

i stood on the line looked around at the kids and the fans
looked at the line and said no way

i found a principal in the stand (thanks becky) who took us next
door to a elementary gym to shoot the free throws then:

i woke up and did not find out what happened

hopefully i can finish this one at my noon time nap
to be continued i hope