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[Leslie <cayadopi AT yahoo.com>]

Of course, it being my first time, I don't have anything to compare 
production to .....  All I know is everyday I have to pick something... and 
sometimes for hours (beans).  
 
I know I was startled when Bev posted how tall her corn was,,, mine was and 
still is pathetic.   
 
And I do find it really interesting to see what and when others are 
harvesting for comparison, even though zone differences.
 
I didn't have any bugs for the longest time, and suddenly they've appeared.  
So I've gotten in the habit of picked and squishing whatever I find.  
ughghhghghg LOL, but I don't want to use chemicals.
 
One thing I have noticed --------- since I've started eating zero chem 
veggies, is I feel much fuller for longer than the store bought (and 
presumable chemical raised) veggies.  I was thinking it was all in my head at 
first........ until I came across something the other day that claims that 
the chemical raised veggies do not have anywhere near the nutrients that are 
supposed to be in veggies - something like 50% less nutrients.  Does anyone 
know if that true?
 
I don't know if I have a green thumb, at the moment I'm thinking beginners 
luck.  I did spend time looking things up, and even laid out the garden 
planting along the irrigation lines based on which ones need more water than 
others, and which plants are going to need to be watered longer than others 
so I don't waste any water.
 
I thought I planted various curcubits far enough apart...... NOT !!!  But at 
least I have multiple gardens and have the ones that will cross 100' apart 
from each other.... probably a short distance for the bees though,,,, they 
love those flowers.
 
I find honey bees in the curcubits every morning and evening.  And there are 
large black bees that prefer the bean flowers.  I don't have a clue what the 
tiny flourescent green bees are, but those were around more when the potatoes 
were flowering.
 
I have to laugh in the garden some days.... I was digging up some new 
potatoes and found a "soft" one and was thinking, oh no I watered too much 
and the potato is rotting.  It turned out to be a toad.  Now I'm finding them 
all over the garden - good they eat bugs....
 
There were about 40 quail in the garden the other morning... I don't know 
what they were doing, and I'm hoping they were just getting something to 
drink from the drip irrigation lines and not checking to see if the tomatoes 
were ripe yet..... I need to order bird netting....
 
The worst is still the ground squirrels.......... they have tasted & 
rejected, or tasted and eaten every single new veggie.  They seem to really 
like the cukes.  I put mouse & rat traps near anything growing they are 
likely to eat.  They bump into them and the snapping trap scares them away,,, 
for a while at least.
 
Overall though I like going out and just watching how everything seems to 
work in coordination.... the male flowers come out first to attract the bees 
and other bugs that seem to pollinate too, a couple days later the female 
flowers open up.
 
 
Oh well,,,,,,,, I sure am having fun, even on the days that my butt muscles 
hurt from bending over for so long.
 

--- On Wed, 7/8/09, Robert Walton <waltonrp AT gmail.com> wrote:




Sounds like you've had a really good first year there, Leslie. When you
first joined and said it was your first time to grow a lot of this, I
wondered what would happen. Sounds like you have a green thumb (good
skills). Glad to hear stuff is growing for you.

I'm about sold on only planting onions from seed if I can. I never seem to
get good onions from sets and locally never know what type of onion I'm
buying from sets.


Rob - Va

>

> Planted onions sets (no idea what kind - but yellowish) purchased at
> Walmart.... they are all harvested now, but they were on the small side.
> They taste good, and I have lots of them, but I was disappointed in the size
> at harvest.
>
> During the winter I started yellow onion seeds inside, moved them outside
> when the frosty nights stopped, and transplanted them.  Those are close to
> harvest size now as the first couple of tops in the group are leaning over.
> The onions are huge 4" plus in diameter.  Meanwhile about a month or so ago
> I started more seeds in the pots to make my own onion sets, some red some
> yellow, for next spring.
>
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>One thing I have noticed --------- since I've started eating zero chem
>veggies, is I feel much fuller for longer than the store bought (and
>presumable chemical raised) veggies. I was thinking it was all in my head
>at first........ until I came across something the other day that claims
>that the chemical raised veggies do not have anywhere near the nutrients
>that are supposed to be in veggies - something like 50% less nutrients.
> >Does anyone know if that true?

Leslie; I don't have any evidence, but I believe it's true. I've seen
studies that meat raised naturally is higher in all the good nutrients and
lower in fat than meat raised in confinement situations, where they are fed
hormones and antibiotics and foods that the animal wouldn't eat normally.

I'm sure the same must be true for plants. Besides being bad for people, all
the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides aren't good for the soil. I believe
that it's the soil life--the worms, fungi, bacteria, etc. that add the
nutrients to the soil, and therefore to the plants. Chemical farming
discourages the soil life, but organic farming encourages it.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga Co. PA