Category: Growing organic

trees and Oregon visit

My interest is moving from annual vegetable crops to tree crops and perennials.  Perhaps the bonanza of pears from my Kieffer, Warren and Giant Korean, plus lots of figs from an old established tree have spurred me on. With the summer heat deterring outdoor activity for much of the day, I have been reading extensively.  Now that "Farmers of Forty Centuries" by F.H King (published 1911)  is behind me, I moved on  to "Tree Crops a Permanent Agriculture" by JR Smith published 1929 (freely downloadable) Read more [...]

new visitors

In the woods I came across losts of fungal growth as a result of the recent rains.  In particular groups of strange flower looking mushrooms - Geastrum means earthstar.  The manual shows them white in color with a note that at maturity the spore case is dark brown.  My visitors are black and I assume I missed their earlier appearance (or my identification may be wrong). The name datura comes from the Hindu dhatura meaning thorn apple. Here is a close up view of the thorn apple Many Read more [...]

a Giant Korean pear surprise

Summer crops have been going well and now I am into the season of the pear.  Though a few setbacks - my assorted cucumber plants delivered the cucumbers - large succulent cucumbers - but the cucumber pickelworm, a small green caterpillar is now resident in almost all of them.  I will probably uproot the plants and start my fall crops in their place and next year keep a vigilant lookout for the larvae which appear at the budding stage. It is nice to be surprised.  I planted four pear trees.  Read more [...]

rethinking contour ditches

I have excavated at least half a dozen contour ditches and, in the months following construction, they performed as advertised.  After heavy rains they dutifully filled with water and, because they are on contour i.e. horizontal, they held the rainwater and allowed it to infiltrate into the soil benefiting the plantings on each side of the ditch (actually the plantings on the side of the contour ditches which adjoined the lower slope did better, probably because there was more topsoil on that side Read more [...]

honey harvesting – mistakes

Yesterday, Sunday, I had my best honey harvest in the two years I have been collecting honey from my bees.  I filled just over 32 pint jars, which equals 4 gallons.  Earlier this year (4/29 and 6/3) I collected 1.2 and 1.4 gallons of honey, so total yield is 6.6 gallons.  If I assume an average weight of 12 lbs per gallon, this is about 80 lbs of honey, which is good going for me.  But my activities were tinged with regrets.  I made some mistakes and regret them. I have two hives.  The one Read more [...]

some summer observations

Each year I learn a little and try out different techniques.  Although 50 miles north of Atlanta and slightly higher, it gets really hot.  So one of the changes was to establish a new growing area which receives full sun through mid-day and is shaded from the afternoon sun by large maple trees (I must remember to check the trees' roots are not invading my growing area).  And I have noticed a difference. I battled last year with cucumbers and this year they are doing much better protected from Read more [...]

timing the tomatoes

My tomatoes plants bear well but usually by August they look bedraggled.  The yellowing of the leaves which begins at the lower limbs progresses upwards and I am left with skeletal remains and a few lonely tomatoes.  A few years ago I tried to extend the harvest by breaking my rule (all my vegetables are from my seed sowing) and buying several large healthy looking tomato plants.  They did poorly.  Perhaps they were nurtured on energetic synthetic fertilizers and could not acclimatize to my all Read more [...]

feeding the contour ditches

I have several contour ditches cut on the side of the hill.  Each ditch is horizontal, catches rainwater sliding down the hill and irrigates plantings horizontally aligned with it - such as tomatoes, fruit orchard, blueberries and blackberries.  Since almost all of my irrigation is with rainwater I try to make every drop count.  I lose water which streams beyond the reach of the ditches, especially down an access road I cut up the hill. Previously I dug finger drainage ditches which intercepted Read more [...]

rat and rabbit patrol

While I attend to the irrigation, Trudy my Heinz 57 canine companion, investigates and patrols.  A few weeks ago, as we returned to the house, I noticed her cheeks were puffed and when I coaxed her mouth open a little rabbit slid to the ground.  It was too mangled to survive, so I despatched and buried it.  This morning at the door entrance was a token of appreciation from Trudy - a rat which she had captured in the vegetable garden.  No despatching was required this time and after a quick photo Read more [...]

toad in the mulch

The heat of the past week is lifting and a breeze and distant thunder decided me to mulch some apple trees.  The trees are on a gradual slope and with  a mattock I create a half circle mound on the lower side and flare the ends of the mound away from the tree so as to ensnare as much running rainwater as possible.  The mattock makes quick work of the weeds and larger stemmed growth and because it is lightweight (I am learning, in the past I would have purchased the heaviest sturdiest implement) Read more [...]