Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Re-planted "Lincoln" Peas today
I planted a bunch of Lincoln peas in my Earthbox on Jan 8th and we had a few heavy rains that pushed the pea seedlings up and out of the soil. Of the 35 I planted only one sprouted. Today I went out and planted 15 in place of the 34 that didn't make it. I also moved the earthbox to prevent the water from the roof from uprooting the seedlings. Hoping for more success this time!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Lisa, my wife wanted to plant most of our garden with corn this season as we have canned as much as we need for more than a Mormon would need of the rest of the stuff. (We are not Mormon). Anyhow, I haven't had much luck with corn here in Odessa ( barely north of Tampa in the past. So doing a search I ran across you blog entry from last year. How did your corn do?
ReplyDeleteWe raise chickens, Tilapia, and do some gardening. Much of what we buy though comes from the farmers market, here in Tampa. I put up a blog page several years ago as a visual aid for my aquaponics system to help me talk to those I needed information from that had no idea what I was talking about. I don't update it any more but here is a link to it if you are interested. http://aquadonics.blogspot.com/
PS I see you have Moringa. I thought about getting some seeds from that place down south of here. How do you like it and what do you use it for? I was thinking maybe as a supplement for the fish and the chickens.
ReplyDeleteHello Don! It took me a few years, but I was finally able to get corn to grow last season. I planted lots of seed and unfortunately only got about 6 ears total, which I was glad for. I had a hard time knowing when to pick them and we only had one that was remotely edible so the ears I did get went to my chickens. :) The bugs here LOVE corn, but if you put a drop or two of oil (veggie oil, olive oil, any oil really) on the emerging silks it will keep the bugs from eating the ears. I'm going to try corn again this year, but am going to research the best varieties for our zone and for taste.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a chance to grow Moringa please do! It is AMAZING! Most of my moringa is put into the dehydrator at low temps (95 degrees) and then I grind it with a spice grinder and put it in a salt shaker which we leave on the dining room table. We put it on everything. Meats, sides, whatever. It all gets a dusting of moringa powder before we eat it. You can eat the leaves fresh in a salad too. I recently made a moringa tea to clear up a fungal infection my daughter had, and it worked great! In fact, she has been using it on her face (she is 12) and it has cleared up her skin enormously! The tree itself is SO easy to care for. I ignore it until I want to harvest it, then I chop about 1/3 of the top of the tree off and I'm done. I've never had anything easier to grow than moringa. It thrives in our sand. The seeds can be used for water purification, and the sap in the branches is an antiseptic. There is seriously not a single thing bad I can find with this tree. I just gave away all of my seeds or I'd offer to mail some to you, but there are several gardening groups on facebook that often offer the seeds or even the plants for free (which is how I got mine). It grows very quickly too, ours was almost 15 feet tall in the first 12 months. :)
Thank you for the link to your blog! I love aquaponics. I've been considering it for a long while, but haven't found the time, space or money to add a system of my own.
Hi Lisa, I didn't realize you had answered my questions until I got the news letter this morning and checked back, I didn't get a notice that you had replied.
DeleteAnyhow, thank you so much for the info. I ordered Golden Bantam Corn seeds. It is an old sweet heirloom that some say is one of the easiest and matures in 80 days. I know all about the worms as well. I think I will try a few screen ties around the ears made of window screen to see if I can beat 'em. The screen should allow enough pollen thru to build the ears. I am planting nearly the whole garden with corn, so I probably won't be able to do it all. But I will let you know how well it works. Got some Edamame soy beans I want to try as well. My wife bought some frozen ones from Sam's and we really love them in salads as well as snacks by themselves. They have a nutty flavor and still have their crunch even after steaming. Could be a good supplement for the livestock in a pinch as well as wormy corn.
You said you were interested in Aquaponics but were concerned about the cost. My first little system was a 110 gallon rubber tub I bought at tractor supply for $89 on sale, a 40 watt magnetic drive pump from 500 gallons/hour for $49 and two 10 gallon Rubbermaid tubs for the grow bed and solids collection for less than $10 at Walmart and couple bags of pea gravel I got from Homedepot for around $3/bag. You can grow out about fifty Tilapia in a year's time to about a pound and half each. You can find stuff on Craigslist that can be used for aquaponics for very reasonable prices. Also, look up "barrelponics" on the net as well. I believe you can get the barrels from the county extension service, as rain barrels, for free.
Or you can build a wooden frame and use pond liner from Homedepot or, an old child's swimming pool (or new if you are a snob). :-) The point is you can use just about anything that will hold water for very little cost. Thanks again.