-Ryan Blankenship- The very first step in determining if your soil is ready for planting is to simply dig yourself a small hole where you would like your planting site to be. By digging this small hole, you will be able to determine if you have loose or clay soil. Like many people in our area, we typically have a lot of red clay where we would like to plant. I also like to send a soil sample out to our state agricultural extension program to get tested to understand the NPK … [Read more...] about How to Tell if Your Garden Soil Is Ready for Planting
Bone Meal
Garlic: Bane of Raccoons and Vamps Everywhere: Scene 2
Last week, in the first installment of all things garlic, the discussion leaned towards picking the right varieties. Now, it's time to get dirty and put some cloves in the ground. 1)Mise en Place Some of the best ingredients for a garlic garden plot is alfalfa (hay, meal or pellets), bone meal or soft rock phosphate. Bone meal and soft rock both contain a good amount of the delicious phosphorous garlic gobbles up. I prefer soft rock since beneficial microbes (like mycorrhizae ) readily … [Read more...] about Garlic: Bane of Raccoons and Vamps Everywhere: Scene 2
The Tomato: A Fruity Impersonator in the Vegetable Patch
The attraction to the tomato is irresistible. Hobbyists, professionals, and even the heartburn-laden can't resist this fruit disguised as a vegetable. The colors and tastes are fathomless--purples, yellows, stripes, acidic, mild, sugary, and even peppery are used to categorize tomatoes. The challenges in growing the perfect tomato are almost as numerous. Diseases, bugs, and gophers of ill repute flock to it like paparazzi in search of juicy weak spots. Perfection is never obtainable, but … [Read more...] about The Tomato: A Fruity Impersonator in the Vegetable Patch
