Life On The Hill

[pa_friendly_guy]

I am at hunting camp now, going home tomorrow. Had a wonderful time with my sons, enjoyed camp, and I didn't have to drag anything heavy from the woods. All in all a wonderful time.

[Myrth]

Sounds like a successful trip.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I ordered something for the garden Yesterday. It seemed like a good way to end the year. I have been wanting to get this for my sunflower garden for the kids for several years now. I bought some Jerusalem artichokes. They grow up to 9 feet high so they will still make the sunflower fort high enough for the grandkids, they come back year after year so I don't have to replant every year, and they provide an eatable tuber that is low in calories and usable just like potatoes. They are easy to grow and prolific from what I have heard. The only down side that I have heard about them is that they give you gas. I have never tasted one, so I figured it was about time that I tried one. I think I will still fill in around the fort with some lower growing sunflowers for color, and to fill in the bare spots. I think they will work out well for my purpose, I am looking forward to growing something new and different this coming year.

[mannytheseacow]

Fantastic, Guy. I'll bet the artichokes will be a good addition to your garden. I planted some last year but didn't harvest any; instead opting to replant them all into a bigger bed. That's my only comment on them... if you are going to plant them, plant a lot. and then plant more! From the few I ate when I received my gifted tubers I can attest to their gassiness. But what the heck, you only live once, right? And they are delicious. So much more rich than a potato.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I did some thing yesterday that I have never done before, I planted Jerusalem artichokes in my sunflower garden. They had arrived in the mail maybe a week ago and had been resting on the back porch. But yesterday I had the time, and it was above freezing, so I hauled two loads of well rotted horse poop to the spot I wanted to plant and made a border about 2 shovels wide all around the 4 sides. The sunflower garden is about 12 feet on each side, I had bought what Gurneys said would plant 50 feet of row spacing them 18 inches apart. I spaded the ground up by hand as deep as the spade would go turning the horse poop in as I went. I raked the area off more or less [ This area is for the grandkids to play in after all ] and opened the bag to start planting. There were 11 artichoke bulbs in the bag. At 18" per plant that did not seem like near enough to make 50' of row. So I figured they grow like potatoes, so I would cut them up to plant like potatoes. I left the little ones whole and the larger ones I cut into 2 or 3 pieces. I don't know if that was right of not, but Gurneys is normally pretty good with the truth, so I did what seemed to make sense. I got my 48 foot of row and spaced them more or less equally around the garden. I am hoping for someone who had done this before to tell me that what I did was ok and they will grow and do well. I am planning on filling in the gaps with sunflowers so the area looks full for the kids fort or play house or space ship or what ever they decide to pretend it is today. Feed back welcome, telling me I did the right thing is very welcomed, telling me that I screwed this up is maybe not welcomed, but it is needed to set me straight. I was flying blind as they say.

[matt walker]

You did great Guy, they will grow back from a little piece. Just try to get rid of them and you'll see! They are going to make a great addition to the fort, and I enjoy eating them so hopefully you and your will too.

Great to hear you not only got out there and did some planting but did something new! I'm trying to do that as often as I can these days.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Thanks Matt, I thought I was doing good, but it is nice to have conformation. Since I retired I have been trying many new things here on the Hill. Gooseberries, hazel nuts, almonds, chestnuts, pecans, mulberries, paw paw, and Bees, have all been tried for the 1st time since I retired. I think I may have too much time on my hands. Some of the experiments seems to be working out well, some not so much. We all live and learn. I am taking a class at the end of the month at the Community College about extending the growing season. We are never to old to learn.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I have been working in the garden sifting out rocks for another Hugalbed. Have a little over 1/2 the sub soil sifted and back in the hole. The hole is nearly filled up so I will have a lot of sub soil to get rid of in various placed around the property. Planted onions and a small patch of lettuce this week. Bought a very cheap, very small green house that holds between 4 and 8 flats. It is plastic covered with 4 shelves, got it at Aldis for $20, sounded like a bargain to me. Hope to get my tomatoes planted today, as well as some flower seeds I bought. After the seeds are sprouted I can see about moving it outside. Its still a bit chilly here at night, but the unit is light enough to move into the garage at night if need be. I went to the class last week, it was not what I expected, he talked about some plants that he tried to winter over, a very small bit about row covers, and the rest of it was slides of his trips to Europe and the gardens there. He did talk about some different varieties of flowers that are good for Bees and Butterflies, so that was informative. I took a few notes so I can check out the stores and green houses for those new varieties. My Bees arrive some time on the weekend of April 18th, I hope I do better with this new batch of Bees. My son got his Bees yesterday, I am waiting for a call as to how it went, I heard there was some excitement this time around. The stories should be fun.

[mannytheseacow]

I'll bet that mini-greenhouse will be beneficial to you, Guy. And that sounds like a good class that you went to, even if it wasn't quite what you expected. I got that "Four Season Harvest" book by Eliot Coleman and Kathy Bray from the library last year and it was really beneficial for me. I built some cold frames and yeah, the varieties make a huge difference. I pretty much had greens all winter, even in sub-zero Midwest (keep in mind I was gone all of January, though). I have oodles of food right now and all my warmer weather spring starts are way ahead of where they would normally be because of it. I think a single 4 x 8 cold frame could keep a couple with greens year round, two frames is extra secure, and adding a third gives you a tempering area for the warm season varieties. Knowing what I do now after using them for a year, I'll go into next winter with a huge surplus.

Definitely a good investment!

[pa_friendly_guy]

I didn't have any wood chips to mulch the garden this year, so I called a couple of local tree guys to get some. Both said they would be happy to bring me some when they were working in the area, but neither one has showed up yet. So I decided to catch the grass and use it as mulch. I mowed the yard and did about 20% of the garden. Today I started to mow the field to get more. I got maybe 1/2 a load and then got a flat tire on the cart. POOP so I went into the garage, get a jack and some tools and a couple of 4X4 pieces to put under the jack. The process went much quicker than I thought, so I took the tire to town, had a friend with a tire shop fix it for me by replacing the tube and I was back home and had it replaced by noon. They were calling for heavy rain storms here this afternoon so I was very pleased to get it done so quickly. Sucked up some more grass after lunch and got it put around the tomato plants just before it started to pour. The rain pushed me inside, so here I am posting on the net. I have maybe 30% to 40% of the garden mulched pretty heavy now. It has been very dry here for awhile now, we can certainly use the rain. I planted grass seed in spots of the yard several weeks ago and it never sprouted, too dry.