Sorry.
We're working toward getting a business going. Last year was propagation year. Started with 1200ish cloves, lost some to learning processes & figuring out what works in our environment.
Idaho perchance? I've heard allium rot is a big worry there (as it is everywhere). It's one of the reasons we want to transition off bought seed garlic as fast as we can.
We're planning on a long rotation schedule between beds (like 5 years). We also do a 10 minute alcohol dip before the overnight nutrient marinade.
Also, did you know that you can make a hella tasty pesto with garlic greens? One of our target markets is selling greens, scapes & green garlic into restaurants.
We're just starting out. Got the property last year, got water this spring. We're learning at outrageous rates, and still behind.
Our only step off CNG/Organic protocol is small amounts of commercial fertilizer to jumpstart soils and next year 100-200ml of stump-stop to eliminate persistent invasive privet.
The knees hurt less than the back. I deal with the standing stuff more, tilling, mulching etc; my wife does most of the stuff at ground level.
The marinade is organic fertilizer and FishShit brand probiotic. We chose it because we were given a sample case of it. Not sure if it does much, haven't done an A/B test. But after 12 hours in the dip, the cloves are starting to put on roots. 48-72 hours and the roots start tangling in the mesh of the bags.
We talked about doing controlled test with the fall plant sale, but we started those in the house, the product smells exactly as it is named. I'm thinking when we turn over one of the table planters in the greenhouse I don't use as an office.
We keep citrus going all year in an uninsulated poly-tunnel with a 1kw heater for the bad nights. I'll be building a walapini-style sunken greenhouse with a solar powered climate battery (stores daytime heat in the dirt), and hopefully wont even need the heater.
Flushing and checking the mini bog. Everything is pretty well anchored in at this point, but I still got pretty nervous when pouring off the water. TDS (total dissolved salts) was creeping up (lower is better) and pH should be acidic, but might have been bit more acidic before flushing than the Pinguiculas actually like (not entirely sure on that though). I swapped the lighting to a lower wattage also.
Compost tip: grocery stores that have the self-squeeze orange juice machines (like Whole Foods) are happy to give you the trash rinds. They aren’t organic oranges but it is a trash can load of “greens” for your copious “browns” in the Fall. 🍂🍁
I've not found resources about growing sassafras leaf for gumbo file or tea. I harvested a few pounds in the spring, then decided to hold off and see if the flavor changed through the season.
Later in the season is more vegetative and bitter. As fall sets in the leaves look like crap and have fungus & worms. Of 20 branches I cut today, I only put one up for drying. The rest are compost fodder.
This is your seasonal reminder that all acorns are edible. Some need processing, others do not.
In October, I will do a thread on Southern Live Oak, Quercus virginiana. These don’t need processing but do need to be steamed in their shells to remove the nut. Last year, house moths ate most of mine so they need to be well-sealed and frozen after shelling.
I don't often suggest specific products, but we had a major issue with pantry moths last year (like dump hundreds of dollars of food issue). Tried lots of things, this worked. Keep a fresh one open all the time: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GM1LUGS/
None of the [not-tomato] seeds that I sowed in the pot at the onset of summer ever germinated, but apparently some seeds from last year's cherry tomatoes survived the frosty winter and germinated in numbers instead.
Interestingly, one of the plants has “eggplant coloured” leaves and tomatoes (though I don't know what the colour will be like once they're ripe), and I've never had any “black” tomatoes in my garden until now (and the rest of the plants in the rather big pot have the normal green colour) so either the plants last year were promiscuous, or a mutation has happened. Whichever the case, I hope they will be tasty. 😋
Speaking of frost-hardy tomato seeds:
Starting tomatoes from seeds is challenging here because of the peculiar spring climate we have: most often it is too damn cold for too long time, and then at the beginning of June it goes from very cold spring to almost summer in just one day. So what happens is I keep thinking it's much too cold for sowing yet until it's almost too late. When will I learn…
But since tomato seeds apparently are frost-hardy, how about just sowing the whole lot outside in the autumn, then they can germinate at their own pace when they feel the temperature is appropriate. Would that be such a bad idea? Has any of you guys grown tomatoes from seeds that way?
We've had good luck with Quictent poly tunnels. Just make sure to get the heavy duty, the 'standard' ones are pretty flimsy. Also as Cecilia said, anchoring is crucial.
