Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

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On 12/30/2007 at 11:09 AM McBride & Putnam <dragonhill2@netzero.net> wrote:

>All types of lettuces are pretty dependable.  The new bolt-resistent 
>varieties and the varieties like Jericho and Summertime that are supposed
>to 
>stand up well to summer heat have done well for me too.  Collards do well 
>here and carrots will grow in good soil.  Potatoes are almost always a 
>success. In fact, you can easily get two crops.  I plant the first
>potatoes 
>in mid-February and a second crop in August.  The August crop may need
>extra 
>water to get started. Tomatoes usually do well but sometimes it gets so
>hot 
>they won't set blossoms; shade cloth and careful misting may help. May. 
>If 
>you get sweet corn in early enough and it isn't a wet year, it does well. 
>Always a gamble, but worth it. The kales are also crops that should be 
>planted as early as possible in spring, mid or late Feb. even and covered
>to 
>protect from frosts. Heat comes on fast and early here so if you don't get

>cool weather crops going early, you won't get them at all.  And, of
>course, 
>fall is a second chance at those cool weather crops.  For summer we roll
>up 
>the sides and top of the greenhouse and grow vines over the wire panels of

>which it is made to make it a shade house.  Usually we grow cucumbers and 
>melons but I thought I might try to get hops vines started this year.  Or 
>maybe I'll grow the hops vines on the west side of the goat barn to shade 
>it.
>
>Herbs do well.  Dill self-seeds in our vegetable garden year after year. 
>I 
>had a sage plant that survived everything Oklahoma could throw at it but
>my 
>cousin managed to kill it.  I had some daughter plants off it that I hope 
>made it but I'm not sure.  A rosemary plant also survived many years, but
>I 
>couldn't get my cousin to stop spraying it with water.  You just can't top

>water in this heat without killing the plants.  She, being from the north,

>couldn't be convinced that the garden plants didn't want to be cooled down

>by having their leaves sprayed.  Of course, okra will grow here when
>nothing 
>else will--can't stand the stuff myself--can't even touch it without 
>breaking out. Scallions and onions will make it if you can get them past
>any 
>drowning rains.
>
>I guess the trick is just being flexible and ready to adapt to whatever
>the 
>weather throws at you.  Be ready to cover plants if a surprise frost comes

>along, have raised beds to help with drainage in times of heavy rains, use

>deep mulch to combat drought.  And some years you just sigh or cuss, 
>depending on your nature, harvest what you can and hope next year is
>better.
>
>Claudia
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
>To: "McBride & Putnam" <dragonhill2@netzero.net>; 
><livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 11:27 AM
>Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cardboard
>
>
>>
>> Then here's a question: which crops do well either way? What can you do
>to
>> cope with those extremes? Few climates are always perfect and
>predictable,
>> tho yours sounds pretty wild.
>>
>> My concern now is the ground may stay frozen too long in the spring and
>> delay early snow peas, onions, etc. and not get a jump on the market. I 
>> got
>> plastic cover over several beds but not before snow and a very hard 
>> freeze.
>>
>>
>> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>>
>> 
>

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