Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>]

I've been in that mode, too, so even though we've never met, I can "hear" your stress.  I don't know anything but to keep on trying.  In time you'll get things rolling a bit better.

 

I wanted to comment on the "....scary spring this one."  Regardless of the causes of global warming, most of the predictions include more severe and less predictable weather.  As gardeners, I think we need to start more plants indoors and plant them out later, compared to what we've done in the past. This year I bought tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers early, when there was a good selection, planted them in 1 gal. containers, and kept them in an unheated greenhouse until late March.  It was a good thing, because I would have lost everything to the Easter frost.  Even after that, it has often been cooler than past averages, but my plants, being bigger, have done very well.

 

I'm going to read Elliot Coleman's Four-Season Harvest and adapt his Maine methods for Texas.

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

----- Original Message -----

From: Gloria Baikauskas

To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 10:06 AM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Organic Milk Supply Expected to Surge asFarmers Pursue a Payoff

Most of you won't know that our financial situation is horrid right now....but the reason for the post is just to say that when we pick up food from church charities most of the time the dairy products are all organic. 

 

Yesterday we picked up organic yogurt, and organic milk......and whipping cream.  I am guessing the higher prices on it cause folks to buy the nonorganic dairy items. 

 

Maybe that will change soon.  Maybe when most of the dairy is organic....or all of it.....they won't charge more for the privilege of eating/drinking organic food. 

 

All of the crop failures are beginning to worry me in more ways than one.  I have planted beans.....the only thing I got in before the storms started hitting <from seed>....and they are coming up so slowly.  It is to the point that fairly soon they will not produce mature beans at the same time.  That means I would have to gather as I could, but I wouldn't get enough for one meal in one picking. 

 

With luck the corn is going in today.....then more beans and some squash per the Three Sisters plantings.   The good thing is that with the lateness of my planting <corn should be in by Apr. 30th here> I haven't lost the baby corn plants to the storms like so many have.

 

It is so hard to work through the weather to prepare the beds.  My biggest problem is the rye grass that must be pulled, not cropped and planting in the stubble.  Takes more time.  I am also now getting more Queen Anne's Lace than I would have liked. 

 

Because of the way I have my land I get many volunteer trees in my beds.  That means I also have to dig them out.  In the one area where the corn is going I dug out two in one place, and have 4 more to take out. 

 

Anyway....scary spring this one. 

 

Gloria, Texas

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