[gardeners] New here, (organic type)
flylo@txcyber.com (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 27 Jun 2001 07:09:12 -0500
I'm on the OGL list with Lon. I'm on a Biodynamic NOW! list with
probably several others here also.
I garden in Texas, which means I'm just fumbling around with year
end stuff right now. Still putting in okra, bush beans, squash, some
quickie melons, etc. Tomatoes are being harvested by the
'wheelbarrow loads', ditto the corn, chili peppers and bell peppers.
My one peach tree was so loaded up, I've been tossing out 'every
other fruit' since Feb and it still almost broke the limbs. My peach
jelly turned into peach syrup but it's still pretty good. I also canned
2 dz quarts of peaches. About to start on the (cutthroat) grapes.
Garden is in a new section, so the weeds think they need equal
opportunities to grow when any bare soil is exposed. With horses,
dairy goats, llamas and macaws, I have a continuing supply of
compostables and with 132 acres of farmstead, no excuse for not
mulching. My current 'rave' is chipping up cedar limbs for top mulch
over compost. Our soil is fertile enough without any additions
except water, but all that bedding straw and manure needs to go
SOMEWHERE!
I make goat milk soap for gardeners and the occasional cheeses
for ourselves. Experimenting with mare's milk but they're not as
'dairy' and don't particularly enjoy routine milking. (Fools haven't
figured out the chow is better in the dairy parlor.) Oh, I do ride them
also. Do a lot of Paso Fino demonstrations for Scout Troops, local
stables, parades, etc.
comment on using chemicals such as Roundup. As someone
sandwiched between large scale agriculture and small gardener, I
can see a very near future when our water sources, streams and
groundwater, are contaminated from runoff due to chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. If you can find a safe
alternative, it might be best to do so before you become 'part of the
problem, not part of the solution'.
To wipe on or spray on plant pests such as poison ivy, try using a
strong pickling vinegar. It'll take a couple of applications but it
breaks down in the soil much quicker than anything Dow could
conjure up. (I use vinegar routinely underneath the solar electric
fencelines, and I have about 6 miles of the stuff!) ((My Grandfather
worked at Dow, died early.))
Martha, (Texas)
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/5505/index.html
See TexCat Web page:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/5505/Texcat_home.html