Some new pictures

Its obviously been a while since I've posted anything resembling an article here, but when it comes to growing plants, daily updates are just not possible.  That would come down to 'Nothing today!' type of updates, mixed with 'Wow, look at those buggers grow!' updates.

These are some pictures to show just what can happen if you remove the "I can't!" from your vocabulary.

Special note.  When growing inside, there are no pollenators, or insects flying and taking the nectar.  Use a cotton swab, gently swab the inside of the flower, and do the same to each flower on that plant, or plant of the same breed.  If you grow two breeds of the same type, there may be a cross/hybrid.

There are plenty of articles on cross breeds, and hybrids, and the possible benefits, or problems that can occur, such as not getting a stable variety, or the seeds you save will not give you back the plants you were hoping for.

This year, I am happy to say that I didn't say 'I can't!'  I said 'Why not?'.  Now I can say, "I did it, and I don't regret it!"

Some new tomatoes. Cherry. About
three weeks old. Late in the season,
but I want to see what can happen.

Flowers! That means peppers soon!

Look close! Some flowers have dropped,
and started to turn to peppers.

Time to transplant into larger pots.
Sweet Red peppers, Chocolate peppers,
And in the background, Fuzzy Wuzzy
saladette tomatoes.  Seeds from
Annapolis Seeds.

A sweet red pepper plant, with flowers.
Was started in February.

The tomatoes in the background are sitting
on the floor.  They are from two feet from the tops
of the pots, up to almost four feet high.
Started way too early, but I'll have fresh tomatoes
much earlier then I expected.  There are flowers
already blossoming on some plants.

Natural, Organic, but my own definitions

It irritates me that there can be so many different takes on simple words, that manufacturers, and retailers can play with the definition to suit themselves.  There shouldn't be any need for organizations to verify that products are organic!

Natural.  I consider something natural only if the product that is being sold can be found that way in the environment, and that the means to make that product exist in the world around us, without adjustment, or modification by humans.

Tomatoes.  Blueberries.  If a tomato seed were to grow at a forest's edge, with no human to tend the plant, there would be no pesticide sprayed on it.  There would be no synthetic fertilizer used to enrich the soil.  The animals could eat it and it would not poison them, and the bugs could eat the vegetation, and nothing would harm them that was man made, or altered to produce a certain harmful reaction.  Such as death.

If something is organic, that would mean that there were no synthetic means to create that product.  Period.  No loose ends.  No way around it.  No 50% minimum.

And definitely not Genetically modified!

I will leave the GMO equation for a later article, but natural should mean natural, not 'a naturally derived percentage', or a natural byproduct chemically altered to produce this product, or natural ingredients, along with chemical enhancements.

Things are either natural, and organic, or they are not.  No company should be able to interpret the definitions to suit themselves, and make profit at the common man/woman's expense.

And a lie is a lie.  If its not organic, or natural, then the label is a lie.  Don't trust a liar.  Any company willing to bend the rules to suit themselves will do so again.

Hm.  Rant over.

A visit to get more seed

I went to Bloom Greenhouse to get seeds from Annapolis Seeds.

Wow, that was a visit I did not regret!  They have seeds from Annapolis Seeds, Halifax Seed, a large yard with bagged soils, composts, helpful staff, and a wide selection of gardening items to choose from.

I will return for the compost enriched soils, or just the plain compost, but I bought cherry tomato seeds, three different types, and should have about a month and a half head start.  I wished I went three weeks ago, when they opened, but I had no idea other people would want seedlings for cherry tomatoes.  Now I do.

Spent a bit on this experiment, and though the return has been low so far, I still have lots of plants in excess of what I will need, so I may still make a bit more.  If I pay for just one light bank, then I will be happy.  The majority of it was just to figure out what could be done, what not to do, and how to do it better next time.

Unlike last year, this season has not been a complete waste.

The only one stopping me is me now.  I do have a habit of getting in my own way, but hopefully I won't trip over my own feet with my seedling trays in my hands.  I don't care if I break an arm, but don't hurt the sweet red apple peppers!

I have been eager to try those peppers since I saw the seeds on Annapolis Seeds' website.  Thick walled, sweet red pepper.  Can't wait!

Now all I need is the land.  And I can't forget patience.  Nothing more important then patience when gardening.

Grow lights - Second update

The more light, the better.  That is now apparent.  It was definitely a season of learning curves, and one thing is common throughout.  More light.  Do not skimp on light.  Start seeds early, in small shallow cups, like egg cartons, and when sprouted large enough, put the sprouts deep in the transplant cup.  the stalk will thicken and grow roots from it, making it more stable.  Without enough light though, the plants will grow a thinner stalk, trying to reach higher for any source of light available.

I will need to really plan next year's seedlings, as well as get more shelves, and more light banks.  I will have to keep an eye on sales for soil, but not the cheap garbage.  Stuff I know is good.  Maybe buy it as the planting season starts to wind down for next season.

Here are some pictures to show what indoor lights, even fluorescent, can do.

The cups contain Sweet Chocolate Peppers
The tomato plants are plum, non GMO

Tomato plants, from seed, non GMO, red plum
To the right and back, Sweet Apple Pepper seedlings.  Early stages.

This is the middle of the forest.  My new focus.
Tomato plants, Clear Pink, from Annapolis Seeds.

Don't settle for another industry's garbage

A few years ago, maybe more then five, I purchased only two bags of soil that was on for a 'good deal'.  When I opened the bag, it ended up being complete garbage, but I didn't recognize at the time what businesses will do.

This stuff hardened to almost cement like quality, did not mix into the soil, and I would have been better off using it as pothole fill then garden soil.  Watch out for great deals on soil.  This might have been the dust from cement that was crushed for fill, but the dust was added to a soil as a filler.  If it wasn't, it definitely behaved that way.

Three days ago, I purchased five bags of "Great Value Black Earth" from Walmart.  Absolute garbage!  It was not black earth.  Black earth is the fertile soil that usually comes either from completely composted debris, or its the stuff under trees that has absorbed loads of organic matter, and acidic content from the needles of evergreens.  This stuff is great for soil, but needs to be sweetened with lime for plants that do not like the acids there.

What was in the bag was bark fines, probably from mulches that no longer acted like mulch and needed to be disposed of, and muck.  Not soil.  Not dirt.  Muck.  Stuff that is scraped off the bottoms of mud puddles, or maybe even city streets by the street sweeper.

I bought five bags.  I'm returning four, as I opened the first, and used most of it before realizing just how poor a quality this stuff was.  It wasn't soil, or top soil.  I don't know where they actually got it, but its not even worth the plastic it was wrapped in.  I ended up mixing it with some potting soil that was already used, but there was no quality ingredients in that bag.

If you must, open a bag to look inside before you buy.  Great deals are often just wastes of money.  I think I'm going to try a U-bag soil seller next time.  Small scale sellers like that have their soils outside, in the elements, but you can see what it is, and what it isn't.

Another case of buyer beware.  Bloody hell.

Grow Light Update

Well, one thing is for certain - Standard lights do not work for seedlings.  Too dim.  Tried CFL's, but their light is too diffused to work properly.  You end up wasting much of the light into the room rather then on the plants.

Bought a shop light fluorescent fixture, with two T8 tubes, 6500 spectrum, which is supposed to be daylight.  That worked quite well, but there wasn't enough coverage, so I purchased a second bank this weekend.

They are perking up quite nicely now.  The first picture is with only lamps, the second and third is with one light bank with added seedlings, and the fourth and fifth are with two.

This year is only an experiment to see what can be done, what doesn't work, and what does.  As far as I can see, after making more then a few mistakes, I will still have several seedlings that I won't be able to use, though they will be healthy.  Will sell those, or give them away.

Every one is non GMO, seeds acquired from Annapolis Seeds, or saved from non GMO vegetable plants.

I still have to figure out how to fertilize without the use of chemical fertilizers, so it can be organic too.  Will look up using compost or manure teas from composted manures.  I hate the idea of using synthetic chemicals, so I will see what I can do instead, not what I think I can't.

With CFL lamps only

One fluorescent light bank with added seedlings

Lettuce in the totes, Red peppers in the
top pots, tomatoes near the middle,
and some cucumbers in the bottom cups

Two light banks. The tomatoes are perking up
and so are the pepper plants.

The cucumber are spreading, the tomato have grown,
the red pepper are getting larger.
Might need a third bank to really light up their lives.

Grow Lights?

Now that technology has advanced, and provided a large number of options for lighting that plants find beneficial when sunlight is in low supply, I find the options almost overwhelming.

LED is a reasonable option, but like most leds, they are expensive.  The first time payout for such a new tech, and I will have to do more research to find out if they work, as they are using blue and red light principles, which I know very little about.

Incandescent is an option, but expensive to run in power consumption.  They are also not as bright as less power hungry options.

Halogen is an old favorite, but has a voracious power appetite, and it turns the idea of growing extra seedlings, or an indoor window garden into an not for profit operation.

Fluorescent has been around for ages, and has bulbs available for plant and aquarium usage.  The power usage is low, compared to most other options, save for LED, but without a fixture, there is still a startup cost involved.

I will do a bit more research, and find out how reliable LED's are for growing, as normal lamps and track lighting should be able to handle them, making the fixtures cheaper, but the bulbs the main problem.

Still, considering the lower power requirements, they might be the best and most viable alternative when the sun is lacking.

There go my breaks and lunch hours at work.  In the end, this is all worth it.  I love seeing new sprouts, and not using those fatalistic words that I have come to hate.

"I can't."  Because the only one stopping me is me.

So, bloody hell, you bet I can!

Update - within only half an hour, I found a website that told me why my standard bulbs, although higher power consumption, were doing much less for my plants then the regular CFL's I had started with.

Bloody hell.  What a waste.  Should have did the research first.  Got lots of CFLs, but only a few standards.  As soon as I get home, out go those power hogs, and back go the CFLs.

For those who want the info, here is the site.
http://www.fullbloomhydroponics.net/hydroponic-grow-light-guide-fluorescent-hid-led/

Ew, biosolids and other wastes

This may cause some controversy, but I am not writing for the sake of opinions, or controversies.

When I first heard of liquid fertilizers, I assumed it was a chemical fertilizer that was sprayed onto crops.  Then more information becomes available as I research it, and I was not happy with the information.  Human wastes that were treated, and sprayed over agricultural land for fertilizer.  Not composted.  Not sterilized.  Not incinerated.

Recently, there have been many recalls of vegetable crops from grocery stores, and the reasons have been similar each time.  A form of E coli, or other organism found on the food.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or any other scientist for that matter, to figure out that using human wastes, or even animal wastes in its raw forms, is not good at all!

Some reports have shown that the plants love the stuff.  They love the easily accessible nutrients within the excrement that was sprayed over the crops.  They grow robust, and fast.  However, history is filled with reports, or accounts, of humans using improper sanitation and suffering the consequences for it.  Europe paid that price, and somehow science has decided that the lessons learned from the plagues that inflicted human civilization are isolated from modern society by modern science.

The problem with science is that if it starts out biased, it can prove just about anything with faulty reasoning, or other 'proof' that is too numerous to mention, as well as countless studies that show they are correct.  Well, those who suffered those plagues also trusted the ones who were 'in the know', and the results are recorded for us, lessons we should not repeat.

I am not going to go on a rant about any one farm, or policy that should be abolished.  That isn't my goal here, or a future goal.  You can't fix a broken system that is resistant to all attempts to help, or repair.

The only thing any one person can do is do the right thing, for themselves, and others around them.

My own farm/market garden that I plan will only use compost, composted manures from reputable farmers that I am acquainted personally with, or crop residues from my own crops.  This isn't a pledge, or a promise.

This is my way.  I can't change who I am inside, so I would not sell seedlings, or crops, to anyone that I wasn't willing to eat or grow myself.  Therefore, all seedlings I will be selling this Spring will be non GMO, and grown in soil, compost, peat moss, and composted manure(bagged as that is all I can find locally at the moment).

In the future, any crops I grow will be grown in real soil, enriched with compost, composted manures, crop residues (straw or chaff) or naturally occurring minerals, like lime and potash.  Other methods of farming, such as companion planting, crop rotation, and beneficial vegetation that replenishes the soil, will be used to further enrich the soil without destroying the land that God gave us to take care of.

Still deciding, but I know where I'm leaning.

Raven's Rest, or My Father's Yard.

You already know what I think about My Father's Yard, but after careful consideration, and the thought that he would never be healthy enough to even enjoy that setting, along with other considerations, I have started to lean away from this name.

Raven's Rest.  This was something I thought about a few years ago, in a poem that I wrote.  A setting of a simple homestead, disconnected from human civilization, and a place for a friend to rest her weary wings.  The lady goes by a moniker of Raven Shadows, or just Raven for short.

She's been a stalwart friend for the last few years, and though I've never met her, I know her as well as I possibly can without actually meeting her.

I like the name, so I am leaning towards it, even if she will never see the eventual fulfillment of my dream.  She lives in another part of the country, and family obligations, on both sides, would prevent us from actually meeting face to face.

The land was the only part of her nightmare she called life that was actually pleasant.  The land is the only part of my dream that I can imagine, and plan.

Happily enough, outside of this subject, I've planted some lettuces, Buttercrunch, as well as Old Simpson, in a couple of totes I had.  Though its early in the season, and indoors, they are sprouting, and should yield up to six heads of lettuce for each of the two totes.  Well worth the initial investment of the soil, and I can reuse the soil for other veggies when they mature, or fertilize with peat and compost, and grow some more.

The best thing about this is not what I can't do.  I have stopped saying that sentence.

Now, I plan and think about what I can do.  When I say I can't, its time to ask the question "WHY?"

Then its time to figure out if its a preconception, or reality.  More often then not, its a preconception.  Then its time to tear that preconception to shreds!

Just received my seeds!

Well, I've been waiting for an eternity!  Well, not quite.  Just a bit over two weeks, although when I consider the excitement I felt, it certainly felt like one.

http://www.annapolisseeds.com/, is the website I've ordered from, a company located in my own province, and they have a quite robust seed bank.  I placed my order on a Saturday, two weeks ago, and on Friday just passed, the package came in the mail, so I am quite pleased with the quick delivery time.  The only real drawbacks to the ordering process is the website did not update its order or shipping status, which made it a little difficult to curb my enthusiasm.  The other drawback, for me, was the method of payment was only through PayPal.

However, with the packets I've ordered, the owner also sent a bonus pack of Mouse Melon seeds for me to try, and I am quite eager to start planting some seeds, and get some seedlings going.

Their bank has many different types of seeds, from grains, to tomatoes, to lettuce, and herbs.  I would highly recommend them just for the diverse ranges available.

As to the quality of the seeds, I will find that out over the next few weeks, and hope to have some tomatoes, a couple of the sweet apple pepper, and sweet chocolate pepper plants started.  Although I only have a balcony to grow on, its not about what I do not have.

When it comes to learning to grow food, or planning a future, whether it be a self sustaining lifestyle, a market garden, a personalized homestead, or a larger farm, the best start is to learn, plan, and do the things you can do, and do them right now.

No one can move forward if they are always looking back.  That isn't to say that we shouldn't remember our mistakes, or learn from them.  What we should do is do what we can, and think more about making things happen with what we have available now.

I've stopped saying "I can't!", and "I don't have....."

Instead, I am now saying "What do I have to make this work?"

Farming - a series of my thoughts, a little random

I'm still considering options when it comes to farming, but a book called the Market Gardener has pointed me in a direction that my mind is rebelling against.

Well, not quite outright rebellion, but questioning the logical thought processes of certain aspects of the chosen methods used to farm.

Micro Farming, Intensive Market Gardening, uses a seemingly endless plethora of calculations, planning stages, soil tests, and new methods to counteract the harmful aspects of intensive agriculture.

It doesn't seem to make sense.  Harmful agriculture?  Every form of land based agriculture is taking the soil, and planting food products that wouldn't naturally grow there without cultivation.  Each food crop takes away when it is harvested, so that is the real damage, not the cultivation.  Market Gardening counteracts its intensive approach with amendments, compost, manure, and the like.

They do not use the modern method of farming called Mono-culture. I do agree with this. Old methods required crop rotation, and a field that should remain fallow, to allow it to rest, and wild grasses to grow there. In the intensive method, and I'm still learning, they plant cover crops, and turn them into 'green manure'. The green plant is mowed, and tilled back into the soil. The organic material is allowed to decompose on its own, over time.

While this seems logical, fallow fields are given a rest so that the same crops are not grown year after year in the same plot, like in mono-culture. This crop rotation prevents insect infestations from getting established in the long term. If you keep moving your crops around, once a nest is built, they have nothing to eat because the food source has moved on.

The author did lots of crop rotation, on a quite large scale, and with lots of planning, to keep different types of crops from growing in the same plots year after year.

I was impressed. Not so much with the green manure. They used lots of compost, which I liked, but the green manure just seems like a waste. The plant grows, using the soil, taking minerals to grow, gets turned back in, which, in the end, adds nothing to the soil except fresh organic matter. In retrospect, the organic matter was already there, in mineral format, or compost. Maybe I'm not quite seeing something.

Maybe its like yeast, and sourdough. Got to keep adding the food to keep the organisms, the ones that decompose organic matter, fed.

That makes a bit more sense.

I also like the idea of intensive gardening/farming. Use as much of the land as possible, without using large scale machinery, and accomplish the same goal. A good living.

Large scale mechanized agriculture. It seems to be centered on bigger is better. From what I've seen though, that motto has not given bigger balances to the farmer. Bigger machines mean bigger debts, which have to be serviced by the larger crop harvests. Larger land plots to work, bigger machines, bigger harvests, bigger debts. Doesn't seem logical to me. Just working to pay debt. Pretty much similar to what most people in the city do, with different scenery.

Although I do not agree with everything the author wrote, I do believe that his experience is valuable, and gives a different approach that I never even considered before. Bigger is not always better, and staying small may be good as well.

I would prefer self sustaining, but in order to attain his level of farming, its just not possible. So much time must be spent on the farming, and planning processes, that all the extras, to be as self sustainable, it wouldn't work. Something would suffer. Most likely the farm.

I like old ideas, and as modern experience is reinforcing the old ideas once again, its time to revisit some of them.

Not off grid. No grid. No power. We lived thousands of years without it. Why not again? Preservation through use of canning, salt, or honey, and not refrigeration.

However, I'm not a fool. The real reason people didn't use motorized vehicles, or mechanized farming for thousands of years was because it did not exist.

Would I mind sitting back, soaking up the heat of a wood stove during the winter? Would I mind driving to the city in a horse and buggy, with veggies to sell at market? Would I mind milking the cow first thing in the morning, collecting eggs, or preparing feed for the animals?

Not at all. I would love it. But I'm also realistic. That is years off for me, and maybe impossible to accomplish my total dream in my lifetime.

And what does my total dream look like? That is a discussion best left for another day.

Sorry for the randomness of this post. Once I start talking, I can't shut up, nor can I stay on topic. But talking it out helps me to figure out my direction.

Thank you for listening.

My Thoughts

These were my thoughts when I considered what I would do, and what I wanted.  This is a direct copy and paste from my other blog.

This something I wrote as I thought about what I would like to do with the rest of my life, in this old world.  Small scale farming, but of course, I became sentimental as I tried to figure out a name.  Memories were dredged up, and this is the result. (After a google translate, and another site, I've changed the name to reflect it better.  I don't speak Finnish, so it may not be clear to someone who speaks it fluently.)

Isani Piha

My Father's Yard

This was not my father's dream. He wanted to retire, live near to his brother, and work around his home until the end. Unfortunately, many things prevent that. His brother died at age 51. At age 58, my father had more then one stroke which left him in a wheelchair, and a host of other physical problems.

Gardening was something I did with him before I left home over twenty years ago. We spent many hours tilling the soil, digging new beds on the so-called unusable hill behind our trailer, and planting.

When he wasn't working at the yard, he was working on the car, or in the shed, or in the gardens.

He eventually planned to retire, to stop working for a paycheck, and find a type of life he left behind many years ago, when he himself left home in his teenage years. To slow down, play guitar, mow the lawn, work in the shed, and in the garden.

This is my dream, a small farm, where I get to witness some of God's great gifts to mankind.  And, its possibly a way to give him a little something to hold onto, something he can not do himself.

When I think of what I would like to do now, its not just about growing food. I have a bit of my father in me.  I want to say "I did this."

And maybe, when I push his wheelchair through the carefully crafted paths, set out so he can see the garden in close up detail, he will see the name I chose and wonder what it means. And I'll tell him.

Isani Piha. Finnish for My Father's Yard.

A Start

I've considered my future for many years, and what was always at the front of my mind is what dictated what would happen. What was going through my mind each and ever time?

That's simple. The things I could not do.

I wanted to garden. To farm. To grow things. To plant, and harvest. To build something.

I didn't have the land. When I had the land, with my ex, I started, but it wasn't long before a small obstacle stopped me cold. Then, I didn't have the land anymore. I moved to an apartment, but didn't have a balcony, or the room. Had a balcony last year, but didn't have the time to start anything.

This year, I stopped myself. I know what I don't have. But what did I have? I have a balcony. Plenty of room for some seedlings, and tomato plants.

How would I grow them? I won't have any seedlings until the garden centers have them.

Stop! Stop right there! I have a table.

I don't have any seed pots. I need to go buy those.

STOP! I have empty containers from cottage cheese. In the recycling bag. Over a dozen.

I don't have soil. I need to buy peat pots to start the seeds, then put in the containers.

STOP, for the love of God, STOP!

What is the matter with me? Egg cartons make good peat pots. Just pressed paper. Not enough light? Turn on a damned light!

After kicking myself mentally, I started to see what I had, and not what I did not have. I had egg cartons, which after experimenting with, I recognize they cause mold and mildew to grow. Not trying those again. Direct seeding into the containers does work.

So, again, its not what I don't have, or need to buy. Its what I do have, what can I use, reuse, or recover, and - how will this help me in the future?

After a first attempt, I have several cucumber seedlings growing, five zucchini, a dozen non GMO plum tomato, and a dozen non GMO sweet red pepper plants. The cucumber was just to see what would happen, and I'm glad I did. I'll keep a few for myself, and give the rest away.

The tomato and pepper plants I will keep a couple and sell the rest, to put towards a down payment for an appropriate parcel of land to have a small garden/farm.

I've ordered seeds from Annapolis Seed in my own province, but they are still processing my order, nine calendar days after I placed it. I'll update this when I receive what I've paid for.

I will take a picture of my plans for the balcony as they take shape, and take account of everything I've spent so far, just so I can find out what it will cost me, and what I might save on the produce I will grow for myself. I'll put what I've saved into a down payment as well.

Its not about what I can not do. If I was to keep looking at what I can't do, I would never move off the couch. No, its about what I can do, and what I already have.

The rest is just patience, persistence, and proper motivation.

As I determine how to best accomplish my goals, I will update with new posts, pictures, and thoughts along the trail.

Any first hand knowledge is welcome, and may be posted so others can learn from your experience. Whether its a success or failure, there is always something to learn.