Tom (Ab Canada) on 08/23/2022
Also there are so many ways to grow food that we all need to know so that food can be for free. Like electro culture, air ponics where most of the root is in the air and water trickles down, salt water is good for plants, Key whole gardens 6 feet round can produce up to 70 tomato plants, If we learned to grow what is called weeds or medicinal medicine in the soil that they already have then why learn to cultivate the land and instead just work with what grows there. We have so much to learn and we have to share it properly with out greed. Because look where we are now. It came due to hidden knowledge.
Let's share this and I am asking the Earth clinic to open a new page for it. Peace
Michael (New Zealand) on 02/02/2022
SOIL HEALTH
Good day.
Here is a BBC article on Soil Health (or the LACK of) which I trust many of you will find as interesting as I did. "The Answer lies in the Soil" etc etc
There is also a book by David Coory entitled "Stay Healthy by Supplying what's Lacking in your Diet" (11th edition 2021) which is claimed to be NZ's top selling health book.
Cheers from Down Under
Michael (New Zealand) on 08/04/2021
Here is a follow up to my ranting and raving from a little earlier to-day.
This "Soil Association" Site has been around in the UK for long enough (1946) to have a track record to be appreciated for what it achieves. My famous Aunt liked it a lot, which has to be an enviable endorsement! Prince Charles possibly approves also.
You could do a lot worse than this one if you seriously wish to get started on your "Growing Journey".
At least their hemisphere is the same as your one and you don't have to convert Januaries to Julys etc like we do down here !!!
Scroll down to their "Top Tips for Growing at Home" for a nice succinct summary (with no padding and dross).
https://www.soilassociation.org/who-we-are/
Go/grow well.
Cheers from Down Under
ORH (TEN MILE, TN) on 06/27/2021
====ORH====
ORH (TEN MILE, TN) on 05/28/2021
Today he also learned why a specific elm tree is called Ironwood. The tree has the appearance of the arm of a muscled man. Since he lifts weights, he understood that. He is coming around and it makes me proud to be a part of his education. At my stage of life, I need him more than he needs me. It is a win-win situation.
====ORH====
ORH (TEN MILE, TN) on 10/20/2020
ORH (Ten Mile, Tn) on 06/29/2020
ORH here, always used epsom salt when planting veggies. Never heard that it will also make your melons sweeter if you spray it on the foliage. It is all over the net and I just now learning. SJS, as all know. Anyways, got the tank filled and ready to spray at daylight. It also works on Tomatoes and peppers. Where the heck have I been? Been a Gardner for over 50 years. My jaw is aching just thinking about the sweetness. Life is a mind game. Just wish all could chomp down a cold watermelon of ours that we keep in our frig. If your jaw is not aching, then are not thinking straight. Close your eyes and just imagine a cold, red, sweet watermelon. It's hell to be pore and have to live off the land. We still barley getting by.
====ORH====
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 08/30/2018
Most know that there is a clay hard pan below the topsoil that plant roots cannot penetrate. If you break up this hard pan then your plant roots can go deeper and live longer in drought times. I thought I would be smart at 65, then 75 and maybe will make that goal at 85. Anyways, I can use this knowledge in my next life, if I don't come back as a goat.
Our fall garden consists of lettuce, radish, onions, garlic, beets, kale, rudabeggers, purple top turnips, mustard greens and collards. All loaded with Vitamin K which takes calcium out of your blood and deposits it into your bones, where it should be. Your cardiologist tells you that it is cholesterol that plugs your blood vessels up. Shame on him. It is calcium in your blood that plugs you up.
Finishing up a 'nother 30 round of EDTA CHELATIONS to clean my vessels out. I have now done over 100 chelations in the last 14 years. And no, it is not covered by insurance. Too cheap and too effective. MD's want you coming back add infinitum, which means forever.
Yo Redneck buddy............. ====ORH====
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 08/04/2018
What most folks don't know it that store bought potatoes are sprayed to prevent sprouting, thus, you eat the skin at your own risk. With ours we eat skin and all. The potatoes we save, we coat with lime to prevent rot and bugs. Common sense using natural products.
Even these natural potatoes have a limited life. You can't eat them when they sprout, but you can replant them and that is exactly what we do every year. We never buy new seed potatoes. We raise them. If this picture does not excite you, then you have never raised potatoes.
ATS ====ORH====
Michael (New Zealand) on 07/28/2017
A photograph for you at long last! (Won't do away with the proverbial 1,000 words though!! ). Others will illustrate bins to the right later on.
I thought I might take a leaf out of ORH's book and try to encourage others to take up gardening OR at least compost some of their green "waste" as opposed to sending it to the "dump" or landfill space which is a crime on several fronts. You know the drill there I imagine.
As a central component of gardening, it cannot be beaten.
To explain the photo: the lethal contraption on the left is a "Compost Tumbler" which is just a bigger version of the LOTTO gadget that will hopefully make you a millionaire one day!! Into it goes most of our kitchen scraps (minus the bits that shouldn't be composted- can't go into that here). Just don't wear a tie whilst you are spinning it the recommended four to six times per day. You should also include 50% dry / brown / carboniferous stuff to dry it out a bit and to make it aerobic rather than the dreaded anaerobic (which pongs ). I use ground-up twigs from my shredding machine, which I store for this purpose and for mulching. The rats haven't yet found a way in so far! One of my better decisions a few years ago this one. You alternate the use of the two compartments.
The large bins alongside are our garden waste bins and were quite expensive to buy and were a bit of a headache to install, what with chopping out the fronts, installing a sliding batten system and concreting in the four front posts as guides for the batten system. Never mind-done now. Non-treated timbers naturally!!
Because it is the rainy season / winter currently in N.Z, they have their roof on to stop them getting sopping wet and to keep them a tad warmer. (Old roofing materials).
There is no technical "layering" on these ones. Our volume of green waste is quite daunting - hence the need for several bins - some out of sight here.
You can set yourself up with a much smaller operation, naturally and a worm farm is a great option these days. Maybe more on that option later.
The philosophy is that we "Are what we Eat" and we like to grow a certain portion of our food in our garden for various reasons you will no doubt be familiar with. Also I have been trying to MAKE my own soil by composting on a grand scale and hopefully altering my unforgiving, clay soil to make it more suitable for growing vegetables, flowers and fruit trees. Hence the need for a large operation also.
By the way, you can see a tall hedge for shelter but the bins are no longer totally shaded, so they get pretty hot in the summer time during mid-day.
Cheers for now and happy composting folks.
Remember the age-old adage : "The Answer lies in the Soil".
Michael
Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 05/22/2017
My little guy came out to help me plant. Digging in the dirt is fun! Here is a picture of him planting a Tabasco pepper plant. If you can find a Tabasco pepper plant, I would encourage you to plant one. It is the most beautiful plant in the garden when the peppers come in. They are small and upturned and look like Christmas tree lights!
Then you make Pepper Sauce. Super easy. You just put the peppers into a jar and cover with white vinegar. In two weeks you have hot pepper sauce. Not too hot. You are basically making a tincture with vinegar instead of alcohol. And this is so pretty sitting on your table.
By the way Mmsg - my son says we don't have any wild oats growing near us here like we did when we lived in Kentucky!
And Robert Henry, what is the best way to keep down the weeds? I have heard of putting paper bags around the base of the plants to keep down weeds, but should I be concerned about chemicals in the paper? Thanks!
~Mama to Many~
Michael (New Zealand) on 08/04/2016
I don't garden on a large scale but have been gardening and composting for many years and still learning. When I mentioned a few years ago to a neighbor that I was having trouble with the above critters, she gave me some Chinese vegetable protectors. You probably know about them? These are round, green, plastic jobs about the size of a saucer. They taper outwards towards the top and then curve over at the top to point slightly downwards. I have never had a problem with my few lettuces or brassicas since then, by gently pressing them into the soil. I used to protect my young seedlings from the wind, the cold, slugs and snails by cutting out the bases of large fruit or baked-bean tins but these Chinese things last longer and are more efficient. Wouldn't be without them now. But our Army Worms devastated our crops this year. Best way is to go out an hour after sunset with a torch and laboriously go round picking them off with long-nosed pliers and dropping them into soapy water.
I am still battling white fly and will try to invent a solar-powered, yellow light to attract them away from my Kale. Yellow sticky pads cannot keep up with the sheer numbers we have. Any good suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Suseeq (Sydney Australia) on 05/01/2015
Cindy (Illinois, Usa) on 04/30/2015
Anyway, it's only about 20' x 20' and rock dust made a world of difference. I also put it around the foundation along with some diatomaceous earth because I was a little concerned about where those evil-looking little buggers ran off to and didn't want them coming into the house. LOL! So far so good!
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 04/01/2015
Would go into my poverty routine that we pore and jus barely getting by, but most see through my line of stuff.
Blueberries are blooming along with our three pear trees. Folks should not wait until they retire to get started. Then it's almost too late.
Will keep you posted on our goings on... if it does not upset the bosses. As Hippocrates said, " let your food be your medicine".
Your friend, , , , , =====ORH======
Rebel (Somewhere Usa) on 05/04/2014
There has been a lot of talk about the old timers use to dump their ashes from the fire into the garden area and this would make the soil rich in minerals. I am not sure if this is what he was referring to or not.
Thank you.
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn Usa) on 03/17/2012
When corn is processed into various things, a by-product called corn gluten remains. This is then fed to cattle and such. What has been recently learned that when this pellet is ground into a meal and spread on soil it will prevent weed seeds from germinating. Hey, but it will also prevent any seed from sprouting so you have to use it on transplants or wait until your veggie or flower seeds are up out of the ground.
This is what I'm doing this year in my garden and hope you can use this imformation for your health. This was news to me, but all know.... I's smart, jus slow.
=======ROBERT HENRY=========
Susan (USA) on 03/09/2009
Susan (USA) on 03/11/2009
Susan (USA) on 03/23/2009
