Fall gardening and beyond
I failed fall gardening, didn’t do the fall plowing, didn’t plant those fall potatoes that are supposed to mature before frost as I’ve been told for so many years, didn’t clean things up properly or finish all the harvesting that could have been done. Just flat wore down late in the summer, will do better this coming season, or not.
Last year was satisfactory all things considered. Had all the tomatoes, carrots, spinach, peppers, potatoes, onions, okra, eggplant, yams, cucumbers, and squash anybody could want. Also a few melons, broccoli, beans, a bit of corn, a few strawberries, a bit of misc. Groundhog ate most of the peas, but the dog ate the groundhog, so it was a wash.
Will probably use about the same amount of ground this year as last and try to be more efficient in planting and harvesting. That alone would double the harvest. Plenty of work for anyone who can tolerate the long drive to get here, and likely plenty of produce for said workers. Odds of another tornado or similar interruption two years running seem low, so should get a lot more done this year.
I’m still motivated largely by wanting to eat the best food that I can get, raising it seems the best option. I know I can go to the local grocery store and buy all that stuff, but I don’t really know what has been done to it before it gets there. I have evolved into a food fanatic, an avid reader of labels, and a semi-vegetarian health nut. (A semi-vegetarian eats no meat except road kill. Stuff run over by semis. That’s a joke. Pretty funny, huh?) The best stuff from the grocery store is pretty lame, and the stuff that people actually buy and eat is mind boggling. I’m amazed that anybody is actually alive.
Not that I am preaching or anything. I ate a lot of that debris and came pretty close to dying I suppose.
My other motivation/problem is that I am a farmer. Folks who grow up on actual working farms, of which there aren’t any left, seem to have one of two reactions.
Some recoil in horror at what they perceive as drudgery, boredom, isolation, and misery. They will go anywhere and do anything to escape, including working at what are called "jobs". I haven’t really had one of those for 20 years or so, but from what I recall it was a nasty and demeaning experience.
Others come to think that any economic activity other than farming is perverted and un-natural and will seek out any possible way to be a farmer. That often involves marrying a patient woman and sending her out to get a "job", living in poverty, or engaging in petty crime to generate actual cash income. I chose the final option, thus my activity selling air compressors. Also, I scaled the farming way down to what I can afford (read gardening) and hope to build it back up from there. (Farming isn’t my only vice, I also carry the "musician/entertainer" virus which causes those infected to engage in non-income producing activity to the dismay of all relatives. That is another topic.)
So I will soon buy seed. I still fantasize about a greenhouse, root cellar, harvest kitchen, well house, shop, orchard, chicken house, etc., etc., etc. One or more will likely materialize this summer and we shall see after that. If anyone has suggestions for the coming season, I’m all ears. Well, partly ears, actually mostly not ears, but what the hell.
Last year was satisfactory all things considered. Had all the tomatoes, carrots, spinach, peppers, potatoes, onions, okra, eggplant, yams, cucumbers, and squash anybody could want. Also a few melons, broccoli, beans, a bit of corn, a few strawberries, a bit of misc. Groundhog ate most of the peas, but the dog ate the groundhog, so it was a wash.
Will probably use about the same amount of ground this year as last and try to be more efficient in planting and harvesting. That alone would double the harvest. Plenty of work for anyone who can tolerate the long drive to get here, and likely plenty of produce for said workers. Odds of another tornado or similar interruption two years running seem low, so should get a lot more done this year.
I’m still motivated largely by wanting to eat the best food that I can get, raising it seems the best option. I know I can go to the local grocery store and buy all that stuff, but I don’t really know what has been done to it before it gets there. I have evolved into a food fanatic, an avid reader of labels, and a semi-vegetarian health nut. (A semi-vegetarian eats no meat except road kill. Stuff run over by semis. That’s a joke. Pretty funny, huh?) The best stuff from the grocery store is pretty lame, and the stuff that people actually buy and eat is mind boggling. I’m amazed that anybody is actually alive.
Not that I am preaching or anything. I ate a lot of that debris and came pretty close to dying I suppose.
My other motivation/problem is that I am a farmer. Folks who grow up on actual working farms, of which there aren’t any left, seem to have one of two reactions.
Some recoil in horror at what they perceive as drudgery, boredom, isolation, and misery. They will go anywhere and do anything to escape, including working at what are called "jobs". I haven’t really had one of those for 20 years or so, but from what I recall it was a nasty and demeaning experience.
Others come to think that any economic activity other than farming is perverted and un-natural and will seek out any possible way to be a farmer. That often involves marrying a patient woman and sending her out to get a "job", living in poverty, or engaging in petty crime to generate actual cash income. I chose the final option, thus my activity selling air compressors. Also, I scaled the farming way down to what I can afford (read gardening) and hope to build it back up from there. (Farming isn’t my only vice, I also carry the "musician/entertainer" virus which causes those infected to engage in non-income producing activity to the dismay of all relatives. That is another topic.)
So I will soon buy seed. I still fantasize about a greenhouse, root cellar, harvest kitchen, well house, shop, orchard, chicken house, etc., etc., etc. One or more will likely materialize this summer and we shall see after that. If anyone has suggestions for the coming season, I’m all ears. Well, partly ears, actually mostly not ears, but what the hell.
posted by tickmeister at 8:28 PM
3 Comments:
Hey I just heard about this great blog site. Thank goodness somebody took the initiative and started a blog that actually may instruct, council, inform, and entertain it's readers...
I wish I knew the address so I could check it out myself but, rest assured, when I find out, I'll write back here and post the contact info on this silly farm/garden blog and let everybody in on it.
Just kidding. Tickmeister/Tickmama. Actually, I have a question for you. What the heck do you do to prevent squash bugs? We planted zuccini and yellow squash for years and they would flourish until about early July, when the stems would promptly be eaten up in two days by squash bugs leaving all the growing (but not mature) fruit to rot. Basically, we just gave up and stopped planting it.
I think we just overpowered the bugs with sheer numbers of squash and vigorous growth. The new garden was a former hog lot that has been in grass for about 20 years, thus is incredibly fertile. Also, we got all the rain we needed, mulched the squash well, and as noted planted a god awful lot of them. We took no de-bugging action that I am aware of, although I didn't do all the work by any means.
I am going to try a spraying method this year that involves pulverizing very hot peppers, soaking them in water, and using the juice as a folar spray. I have heard that will drive most bugs away. Don't know until I actually try it, but it sounds reasonable.
I've tried pepper spray too but not on zuccini. It seems like the bugs come up out of the ground and enter the stem from the bottom. They are never on the fruit or the foliage of the plant. I usually don't realize they are even there until they have eaten the stem completely from the inside out. By that time, it's too late. Maybe I could inject the stems with pepper spray? Or maybe I could elevate the stems with little sticks to keep them off the ground. Or maybe I could try to win over a few squash bugs and enlist them as spies to infiltrate the bug collective and screw up their organization from the inside out.
Seems like a lot of work for a few zuccini.
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