Saturday, November 1, 2014

November frost puts the kabosh on my SW MO garden!

As November the 1st 2014 rolled on in at midnight the temperatures were well on their way in a plunge into the mid 20's! Outside, my veggies which had bravely survived some cold spells thus far, gave up the ghost. The next morning, all was limp carnage with just a few small peppers that could still be salvaged.

Well, there's always next spring to look forward to!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Growing carrots in 5 inches of soil!

If you select the correct variety for shallow soils like Burpee's Short and Sweet – carrots can be easily grown just about anywhere! This 70 gram specimen was harvested on this posting date for steaming as part of a mix of carrots and broccoli for my dinner.

Carrots are extremely nutritious to eat as one 10 year study revealed the effects of eating this vegetable on heart disease;

“We are fortunate to have the results of a new 10-year study from the Netherlands about carrot intake and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)—and those results are fascinating. Intake of fruits and vegetables in the study was categorized by color and focused on four color categories: green, orange/yellow, red/purple, and white. Out of these four categories, orange/yellow (and in particular, foods with deeper shades of orange and yellow) emerged as most protective against CVD. And even more striking, carrots were determined to be the most prominent member of this dark orange/yellow food category. Participants who had the least carrot intake had the least amount of CVD risk reduction, even though they still received risk-reducing benefits from their carrot intake. However, participants who ate at least 25 more grams of carrots (with 25 grams being less than one-quarter of a cup) had a significantly lower risk of CVD. And the groups of participants who ate 50- or 75-grams more had an even more greatly reduced risk of CVD! We're not sure how any study could better demonstrate how easy it can be to lower disease risk by making a food like carrot part of the everyday diet in such achievable amounts.”

Of course, some of the carrot went into a nice romaine salad creation....

Thursday, September 4, 2014

First day of Autumn coming!

Well, Summer is pretty much over, even though we can expect some 90 days to sneak in now and again. The meteorological beginning of fall began on Labor Day while calendar-wise it is September 23rd. So, the small raised bed areas that grew some terrific veggies this spring and summer are now in decline. That said, I'm hoping for a few more peppers and even a tomato or two before it's time to pull the plants and prepare the soil for the coming winter.

Speaking of winter – this graph from Firsthand Weather, seems to have a pretty good handle on what to expect over the nation! It looks like some folks might have quite a wild ride coming.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Lima beans – a costly item to purchase at the store.

Some people like Lima beans and some don't. I'm cool with that. I happen to like the taste and the fact that eating them brings a load of natural fiber with each forkful. But, at $1.25 for a small 8.5 ounce can, I've been given pause when buying them at the local grocery. What with all sorts of grocery items going up, I make the purchase only once in a long while.

So, what to do.... Well, I guess I could just grow them myself next year. Burpee Seed offers a Fordhook Lima bean that I've successfully grown before. So, that item will go into my 'bucket list' for 2015. They will be added to bell peppers and onions, both which I grew this season and which saved me quite a bit of money at the mart as I used seed from the year before.And, yes! That is an Estes rocket in the background!

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Bermuda grass is what grows in the Mid West!

My lawn was a bit over grown and the Bermuda grass had sent seed heads up all over the place! I was going to let it go to seed, but then remembered the following:
Close up of a seed

Bermuda grass makes for a nice home lawn because it can tolerate a very low mowing height, which is also a reason it is widely used on golf courses in the South. It spreads by both stolons and rhizomes, which helps it to form a thick, dense turf. It is usually found in the south, but may grow as far north as Kansas City. Its maintenance requirements (fertilizing, watering, mowing) are high.
  • Width: 1/8" wide
  • Tip/blade: sharp point
  • Color: deep green
  • Growth: forms a dense, close-cut, high-quality turf
  • Additional: most popular lawn grass in the central US. Rough along the edges. Has a distinctive, 3- to 5-fingered seed head.
Therefor, I don't have to worry too much as this grass will spread, just fine, on its own! Time to get that lawn mower out!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

A hot summer day makes perfect basil drying wx!

On a late July day when the temperature was expected to be in the nineties under a sunny sky, I thought it would be a good idea to dry some basil!

Earlier in the spring, I started basil form seed in an improvised cherry tomato container! The basil grew quickly and before long, I was able to transfer some to a spot in a cold frame out in the front yard! That was in April and now in late July my three or four plants are being harvested and dried in the sun!

By the end of the season, sometime in August, I will have enough dried basil to meet my culinary needs all winter long!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Tomatoes coming on strong!

I harvested a decent tomato on July 8th. It measured about three inches in diameter and weighed seven ounces! So, while it was by no means a Whopper, it still worked nicely as a welcome addition for a hamburger I cooked on the grill! Sorry, I have no idea as to the variety...

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Early Cucumber and garlic harvest!


I know that it's still spring, but already I've harvested my very first cucumber of the 2014 season along with a couple of garlic cloves. That's the kind of year it's been – everything has matured early on.

The cucumber was grown in a pot using Miracle Gro potting mix. It's a burp-less variety I got earlier in the year at a nursery as a small start. There is a twin plant growing in a small raised bed, but so far lots of flowers with no cukes!

Of note is the fact that the temperatures for June have averaged a full seven degrees above normal! So, the added heat may have contributed to early crops like cucumbers while other crops like my lettuce have tended to bolt!

The tomato crop continues to look promising – they do love the heat don't ya know. And, with the plentiful rain we been getting, I haven't had to worry very much about them getting enough water.Interestingly, the problems I normally have with insects and worms are pretty much a non issue thus far. Nor have the deer been a problem! I;ll just keep crossing my fingers as the season moves on forward.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Garden looking good in spite of near miss!

OK, it's June the 8th and asteroid 2014 HQ124 termed by some astronomers, 'The Beast', has apparently missed smacking in the earth! (At least on this go around). Somewhat disturbing to contemplate, On average, an object about the size of 2014 HQ124 will pass this close to Earth every few years! Should we be worried? Why no! Obama says he's on top of it! I'm totally serial on that...

There's also no sign of those dreaded Japanese beetles that normally emerge from the ground every year about this time! I'm sure I won't miss them if they were, in fact, killed by the last hard winter. In point of fact and in spite of the rather wet weather, there hasn't been much in the way of pest damage so far. I'm looking forward now to decent harvests of onions, tomatoes and peppers!

A kicked up beef stir fry party prepared in almost no time!

by DanO

For me, a really great beef stir fry consists of just a few basic ingredients. Those would include; steak cut into strips, sliced bell pepper, sliced onion and maybe a few stimulating aromatics including; a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce with maybe a dash of dried oregano and Rosemary. (The items in green are all growing in my raised beds and will be available for summer and fall enjoyment).

But, today Ive managed to get my big boy pants on, and this breakfast soirée is about to get much more interesting!

Please, everyone, welcome the new party crashers:

1 tbsp sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp diced cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp pineapple chunks

All, of which, is served on a bed of rice! [Man, this could get really interesting]! Is anyone hungry yet?

--------------------------
Note: For those of you who haven't tried a beef stir fry like this, it's actually easy and very fast to prepare – (especially if you had the foresight to get most of the ingredients prepared the day before). Then, come breakfast time, it's really a simple dump and cook meal-deal! (I've actually cooked this meal and prepared a slice of toast in about the same amount of time)! Trust me....
---------------------------

Preparing the instant rice was perhaps the most time intensive aspect of the entire preparation. After that, I just heated up some olive oil in a small frying pan and dumped in the meat, veggies and herbs – in just a few minutes it was set to hit the table! Note that I've limited my beef intake for this dish to just 60 grams! Please, give this one a try!

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Basil harvest is good early on!

Even among all the raindrops that have fallen persistently, I've been harvesting Basil like there is no tomorrow and still am managing to get some dried whenever the sun peeks out from behind the ever present clouds!

What had been drought conditions for much of southwest Missouri is rapidly turning around and stands to make a real dent in the yearly rainfall department by months end! The way the rain has
arrived has also been a major boost to all things growing! We'll get a short rain followed by some sun followed by more rain. That's a pattern that started up in late May and which looks to be repeated as we head for mid month!

Friday, June 6, 2014

No Japanese beetles sighted in early June 2014!

Every year, right at about the start of June, my garden areas have been assaulted by Japanese Beetles. These insects crawl out of the grown and then go after about any thing they happen to land on. I've had entire raised bed crops decimated overnight! So, this year, I've keep a sharp eye out for these distinctive looking little critters. Only, they somehow must have missed the wake up call. I've not seen a single beetle thus far!

My theory, as to what happened, centers around the very cold winter we all just went through. It might be possible that the deep and prolonged freezing of the ground may have killed off the larvae. If true, then it may take them a number of years to make any significant return. A possibility that I can live with! At any rate, I still plan to watch for them for another week or two!

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Only from a human mind!


Four vegetables on fours swatches of paint on a slate gray surface. Dramatic, interesting and even inspiring. Something that only the creative mind of humankind could produce! Credits to Christine Skuban for get me this most excellent piece of art!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

My garden in southwest Missouri is still free of bad bugs!

As we get ever so close to the first of June, the traditional start of the bug season, I have some good news to report!

Japanese beetles = 0
Tomato cutworms = 0
Flea beetles = 0
Leaf miners = 0
Aphids = 0
Tomato hornworms = 0

This is the first season where my small planting of leaf lettuce, tomatoes and peppers have remained relatively unscathed from any form of attack. Usually there have been problems by now – Note the following May 20th, 2013 log entry:

11:14 AM – The temperature was 70.7°F. Winds were calm and the sky was overcast. I grilled four chicken drumsticks this date. I also cooked a hamburger for lunch. I also published a post about comparing burgers.

I planted out 2 Park Whopper tomatoes of the original four into RB2. All 4 are infested with flea beetles that have left a shotgun pattern of holes in their leaves.

This year, all the plants have been free of these tiny critters as well as larger animal critters that seem to like to dig and uproot plants! So, so far so good! However, June will be coming around and when it does I can expect to see a few of the bad bugs make an appearance!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Four to go! Four vegetables and herbs for the small garden!

Part of what I find to be the most fun about a small vegetable garden are the surprises one gets when they find veggies that are ready to eat in the late spring an dearly summer.

Egyptian onions – the top setting onions are one of the earliest plants you'll see growing in the
spring! You can harvest some of the green side shoots early on while waiting for the shallot sized onion at the base of the plant in the fall. When the stalks turn brown you can eat, store or transplant the small onion sets for another harvest the following year! If you have friends that also have gardens and they have there already growing, just see if you can borrow some sets from them for free!
Hot peppers – I generally make it a point to plant three varieties that will be mild, spicy and really hot by harvest time in late summer. This year I planted BananaRama peppers from Burpee, Portugal Hots and a few very hot Habanero's from local greenhouses. These peppers are all destined to be used in chili recipes and beef stir fry. This will be the first time I grown the Portugal Hots and I'll plan to do a report on them at season end!


Basil and Oregano – Here are two, must have, herbs if you like any tomato-based recipes like spaghetti or
chili. The basil is sown from seed while the Oregano was purchased as starts! The leaves of both can be collected and then dried for use all year round! For that reason, I grow a good number of these plants! A nice thing about these plants if the fact that bugs will often leave them alone and you can plant them in any odd nooks or crannies you might have as a fill in that is also quite attractive!

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Steam those babies!


After years of boiling the heck out of my garden harvests, I discovered the joys of steaming! The cause of my new found knowledge occurred when I purchased a simple vegetable steamer a few years ago and then took the time to research steamed versus boil versus raw! The one method that gives your body the biggest bang for the buck is by steaming in many cases. Your body still gets all the fiber and nutrients while the steaming process makes digestion a breeze! So, if you don't have one of these appliances in your kitchen, please consider getting one!  There are many nifty models out there these days and most are under $40.

Friday, May 16, 2014

May garden notes!

Straight Eight cucumber
It's now mid May and my raised bed areas, many of which are now in my front yard for ease of access, are beginning to show some results! Even after we got a milt frost this morning when I arose! Most notable are the cucumber plants I bought a few weeks ago as starts and which are now showing fruit. I also have some tiny peppers of a variety I think are of a California Wonder variety. Many of my tomato plants also now have blooms on them also. The weather, here in southwest Missouri has been agreeable with temperatures running at or near normal for the season. Rainfall, which had been lacking has also picked up and we may even finish the month close to the normal amount of four inches!
Big Bertha variety pepper

At some point, in the near future, I'm hoping to begin harvesting some leaf lettuce, onions, cucumbers and maybe even a cherry tomato or two. Then, by late June, I fully expect that the main season tomatoes and pepper plants will begin to yield a bountiful harvest. This year is already far ahead of the poor results I had in 2013.

Stats for Forsyth MO as of 5/15/14 - Average Hi 78F Low 51 | Avg 64.1F| Rainfall 2.96"

Monday, April 28, 2014

Will early plantings survive a late April 2014 chill?

Tomatoes and more ready to go!
Here it is late April with our feet almost in the door of May and more cold weather seems in store for the few days of the month! As of this posting on the 28th, it's looking like the 29th (Tuesday) and the 30th are going to be the most problematic with overnight temperatures getting down into the upper
Broccoli
Red Bells in da ground!
thirties in some parts. Right at this time, I have some tomatoes and pepper plants in the ground, which will need to be covered. So, here I am, scrounging around for cardboard boxes, towels and such.

That said, my plantings are looking healthy as can be. I have about 15 tomato plants that still need a home in the raised beds along with 12 or so pepper plants. I went heavy on all things salad as the cost of produce has really escalated over the past couple of months.

Update: It's early May - see my short video on how everything is doing!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Why would anyone plant and grow Habanero peppers? Are they insane?

At about a gazillion scoville heat units, you'd think anyone that routinely grew these hottest of hot peppers would be also trying to get their mental elevator up out of the basement! Not me! (I have a basement and haven't found any elevators down there)! But wait. It's not really like that! While these 'Scotch Bonnet like peppers' date back to over 8,500 years ago, after they were discovered by some Spaniards messing around in Columbia, they have since found their way into commercial and home-brewed hot sauces all over the globe! This season, I'm going to be growing four or five plants which should yield enough peppers by season's end to supply my needs for chili dishes and beef stir-fries all through the coming winter. And, while these peppers are really too hot to heat raw, they lose most of that heat when cooked! What's left over is a rather interesting sensation of hotness that is hard to describe and has to be experienced to be understood. Suffice it to say that a good bowl of chili with a pepper or two added will keep a body pretty warm!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A raised bed garden for everyone!

[This space reserved for a picture of the raised bed with plants in it!]

At a time when commercial produce continues to spike in price without seeming letup, many a person might get it in their heads to do a little gardening on their own. After all, raising your own food has got to be cheaper than going to a local grocery just for the privilege of buying a solitary bell pepper for a buck! But, hold on! Isn't a garden a lot of work? Don't you have to buy expensive soil and what about the cost of obtaining vegetable starts from the greenhouse? And oh my, all that work what with the tilling and the weeding and – well just forget about it!

Fortunately, I've got some good news! Almost anyone can install a small raised bed in no time at all! Scrounge together four wooden boards, some nails and dirt and you're in business! The boards pictured at right
were were laying around my garage and measured about 36 inches each – after removing the nails that held two of the board together, I had my 'pre-cut' pieces that when formed into a square enclosed an area of about 2.8 feet by 3 feet or 8.5 (or lets just say) 9 square feet overall! That's 9 one square foot areas into which we can plant all sorts of good eats! So far I'd spent about ten minutes scrounging and preparing... not too shabby!

Next, I needed to assemble the boards by nailing them together – happily, I had eight nice looking nails that came from those little cross pieces, so I was all set in that department. But, I still needed to pre-drill some holes to help make the process of nailing then together a little easier. I'm all about easier....

So, out came the drill with which I quickly made eight pilot holes for the nails to get started in. But, before I did that I needed to clear out the grass in the space where my little garden was to go! After all, I wouldn't want grass growing up through my garden soil – would I? Gosh no! The answer, however was easy – I merely dug a shallow trench where the boards would rest (I used a level to make sure they were level with the ground) and then I merely covered the area with weed block material that was available form my local hardware store for a few bucks! Total time to dig the trenches and install the weed block was about 20 minutes. None of this work was very hard either!

But, what about that soil – how much would I need to fill in this empty space. OK, let me see now. The depth of the boards were about 5 ¼ inches – so I estimated I need the thickness of the soil to be about 4 inches – therefore, I needed 2.8 x 3 x .33 feet which equals 2.8 cubic feet.  Another way to figure this is to know that since the area was about 9 square feet, then a height of 12 inches of soil
would equal 9 cubic feet. However, I needed only a third of that height (4 inches) and so one third of 9 is 3)! Voila! You can get 40 pound bags of soil at garden centers for about $2-$3 a bag – and since each bag will cover about 3 square feet to a depth of four inches – I'd need about 4 bags! In they went, and you can see the nice result – a raised bed! That's $8 spent thus far with labor running at about 1 hour. Now it was time for selecting the plant starts that would go in each square! The soil was then going to get a few days to rest.... and then... comes the planting!

I'd already purchased 2 cucumbers ($2) and also had 8 peppers that cost $4. The basil was sown as seed as was the carrots. The sole open spot was left over for anything that might strike my fancy later on! The peppers that come later this summer, will pay the estimated total cost for this setup of $15 pretty quickly. But, I'm not ready to plant anything in this space yet! I need to test the soil to make sure that especially the pH is within acceptable limits!

Next post: Testing the soil!While you're waiting - run out and buy a copy of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Soda bottle greenhouse for lettuce!

Not one to leave an empty soda bottle alone – I hate to throw them into the trash, I perused the Internet and discovered a simple way to make a small greenhouse for lettuce. It took only a few minutes to make and I'll be interested to see how well the Little Caesar romaine lettuce grows in this bottom irrigated device! If it works out fairly well, I plan to do a few herbs in the same manner.

Updates to come!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

A garden grows in Forsyth Missouri!

Some people would say that the small town of Forsyth Missouri is but a tiny spot on the map and they'd probably be right. However, it is where I call home and I'm thankful because what the town lacks in size, it more than makes for up in a great climate. Situated down in the southwestern part of the great state of Missouri in Taney County I am most definitely in God's Country! The climate is Zone 6 pushing a 7 and so a gardener, such as myself, can get an early start planting out vegetables ever spring along about mid April!

This year, I plan to experiment with a couple of vegetables that I haven't grown before; namely Seed Savers Hot Portugal peppers and a few MarGlobe tomatoes which I'm told are heirlooms. Both of these have gotten pretty good reviews and look promising. While the peppers took right after being sown as seeds, the MarGlobe's were purchased at a local greenhouse and look ready to go out into the garden as soon as the weather settles a bit more. I'm hoping to get them out into the ground within the next week, or around the first of May. The peppers may not get transplanted until late May, however as they are still fairly small.

At any rate, this spring is shaping up to be a real keeper!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Cherry tomato plants go in lightening struck ground!

My motto - leave no unused patch of soil unused!
A few years ago, I think it was 2010, a lightening bolt struck the ground next to a stately bush and killed it. It then took until earlier this year for the heavy wooden trunk and roots to rot out. When they did, I realized that this looked like pretty fertile earth and decided to make use of it!

After prepared the soil (no amendment needed), I enclosed the 15 inch square space with wood framing material that had been left over form another project. This will hopefully keep the aggressive fescue grass from invading the space as as the tomato plants grow and do their thing! As, always, I'll try and update this article as the season progresses, especially if I can get some cherry tomatoes in July or August – a time when a small one pound basket is selling for as much as $4!

On a more concerning note, I noticed that the ground in this area of my yard was loaded with grubs!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

So, it's mid April! Can I plant stuff out yet?

Well, it being past the midpoint of April (17th), normal wisdom would tell one that we should be past the last average frost date for my Zone 6 garden in southwestern Missouri! Therefore, you should be able to plant out any and all cold loving plants along with root crops. These would include lettuces, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beans and potatoes to name a few.

The latest graphic showing the highs and lows this year (2014) versus last year shows that we should be seeing a good warming trend from this point forward. For the balance of the week and on into the last week of the month, the weather service is calling for highs close to 70 with overnight lows only down into the 50's! That's good enough for me. Then, by mid May, you should be able to plant out your more tender annuals and vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs and flowers!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Making use of non-recyclables!

After finishing off the the delicious cheery tomatoes that came in this plastic container pictured above, I thought that it might make a good mini-greenhouse for herbs. I used basil seed from a 2012 lot and was surprised when practically all the seed that was sown germinated! I plan to plant some other herbs as soon as I can find the seeds on display at the local grocery store. 

These basil plants will be transferred  out to the garden after I thin them. I've also started a new container with far fewer seeds to keep indoors this summer!

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Southwestern Missouri garden soil: The real story!

If you live where I do, in southwest Missouri near counties with names like Stone, you might guess (correctly), that good loamy topsoil is hard to come by. Most of the soil, when you can find it, has a very high clay content that compacts easily and can be a real trial for a vegetable plant to grow well in. that why a lot of folk add all sorts of amendments and often prefer raised beds where the soil is lifted up thus allowing the spring sun to warm it faster that would otherwise be the case. This picture, at right, is a good representation of what I'm talking about. The clod of soil on the left is mostly composed of very fine grains of clay and sand. It compresses easily and will form long sticky ribbons when wet. Not the best of growing mediums. The soil on the right, while not perfect, has organic matter in it and is looser as a result!

Soil amendments do a number of good things for sub-par soils; 1) they will improve the structure, by increasing the ratio of air and water spaces to solid matter. This allows your plants to 'breath' more freely. 2) they most always include some form of organic matter like humus, a material that can absorb and hold water during periods of dryness. And, 3) they promote the rapid growth of fungi and bacteria that supply roots with the needed nutrients to grow stuff like large tomatoes or bell peppers! As a matter of fact, most everyone has such a great soil amendment right in their homes... it's called
kitchen scraps! Anyone who collects scraps can then add them to garden areas to help enrich even a poor soil. Before you know it, earthworms will make an appearance and then will stay – a sure sign of good soil fertility.

April is not tomato planting out time!

Forsyth MO. - While visiting a local greenhouse (Hills and Hollows Gardens), I bought 2 four pack of tomatoes for fun. One was Better Boy, and indeterminate type tomato I've grown successfully before while the other four were MarGlobe tomatoes. A determinate variety that I later discovered was a popular heirloom tomato. I figured these starts would fit right in with the four Brandywine Pink tomatoes I was already growing from seed! The trouble was the time of year. Early April down here in southwest Missouri can still offer up some frosty mornings right through the middle of the month! So, I was gonna have to wait until near the end of the month to plant these babies outside.
MarGlobes now room to grow while they are waiting!

No problem. I have plenty of pots around my place and merely transplanted each of the starts to its own pot using Miracle Gro potting mix to fill each container. The added room will allow the plants to keep growing at a good rate while I wait for better and warmer climes. Then, later in the month when I can see that the weather has settled, I plan to plant them out into a raised bed out back. My only concerns when I do that will be the local deer that like to eat them. To that end, I plan to put metal cadges around each plant! Then, when the fruits finally mature later in the summer time, I plan to do a comparison of each in a tasting contest with some friends.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Dried Great Northern beans and you!

When ever the mood strikes me, I like to make up a pot-o-beans! I generally use Great Northern beans for a number of reasons; I like the taste and they are inexpensive! But not only does a pot of beans satisfy a hearty appetite, they are actually quite nutritious too! Just a quarter cup of these beans will supply the average person with high levels of protein, half their daily requirement for fiber all at only about 70 calories per serving. And, because they digest slowly, the glycemic load on your blood is very low! Oh, and yes, please make sure you use dried beans out of a bag rather than using the canned varieties. Here's a few reasons why that's a good idea:
  • Lower sodium: Dry beans, purchased in bags, contain no sodium. By contrast, canned beans are quite high in sodium (1/2 cup of canned beans contain about 20% of your daily sodium requirement). If you're watching your sodium intake level for blood pressure concerns or other health reasons, stick with dry beans.
  • More natural: Canned beans can last several years in their cooked state, thus, they have added preservatives. By contrast, when you use dry beans that you cook yourself, you can know exactly what ingredients you've added and how the beans have been prepared. Dry beans are purchased and cooked in a more natural and controlled state.
  • Bisphenol A (BPA): This is a chemical found in the plastic white lining of most cans of food. It has become controversial lately because studies have shown that it may mimic the hormone estrogen and may contribute to certain cancers, insulin resistance and birth defects. If you would like to avoid this exposure, stick with dry beans.
Posing a contrary view and according to Dr. Loren Cordain, founder of the Paleo Diet movement, beans and even all legumes are actually not all that good for you! An article published by him 'Beans and Legumes: Are they Paleo?' goes into some great detail as to why he feels they should be stricken from human consumption all together! As far as I'm personally concerned, the question is still open.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Tomato plant experiment!

Three clay pots marked S for soil, C for added compost and M for Miracle Gro.
I recently got it into my head that since I was already planning to start some Brandywine Pink variety tomato plants from Burpee, that I might as well take a look at how some different starting soil mixes (and populations of microbes) might affect the rate of growth! Note: This is not a very scientific experiment – it's more of a fun project to see what might happen...

For this 'experiment', I started out with three identical clay pots* and then added 3 soil mixes:

100% Miracle Gro potting mix.
A 50-50 mix of Miracle Gro and regular garden soil.
Regular garden soil mixed with compost from my kitchen.

I planted just one seed into each pot ,(yes, I took a bit of a gamble there) and watered each pot with enough distilled water to get the soil damp, but not soaked. A square of plastic wrap was then placed over the top of each pot to help conserve moisture and they were then placed in a room where the average temperature was ~74ºF.

[*Clay pots! I used this type of pot to help insure excellent drainage of the soil mixes – plastic pots tend to stay overly damp and thus promote fungal growth that can inhibit the growth of the young plants! Anyway, that was my call on this experiment.]

[Soil: The soil I used came out of a well established raised bed – it is a clay loam that has a good supply of earthworms in it - a sign that that the soil is fertile with a good supply of organic matter!]

[Water & pH: I used distilled water – 50 ml initially and also tested the soil's pH – it came out to 6.8. This is just about right for the garden soil. I Miracle Gro potting mix was also close to a neutral pH of 7 and it was sterile.]

I'll be sure to add future updates as this experiment progresses! 

Update: April 2nd - All three seeds have germinated with the pot containing the potting mix the clear winner at this point in time!


Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Have old seed? Will plant them anyway!

That pretty much sums up my philosophy on gardening. I hoard seed packets, even those that have gone well beyond their 'freshness' date. No mind, I've been able to germinate Banana-Rama pepper seed that is two years old, and as you can see they are growing nicely! It took these little beauties about two weeks to get going, but I'll tell you true – the effort will be worth it this august when I'm harvesting the slightly hot tasting fruit for my salads!

My older (seed lot 2012) romaine lettuce seeding starts are also doing very well after just a few weeks of being grown indoors under lights! I hope to start hardening them off starting next week (the first week of April) for planting out front. This variety is called Little Caesar and was purchased from the Burpee Seed Company. These hardy and crisp leaved plants bring a lot more to the nutritional table than does the standard loose leaf varieties! They also seem to do very well down here in southwest Missouri!