Rock dust

I have been reading quite a few articles on the benefits of rock dust for the garden. The rock dust can provide essential minerals that may have been used up by over farming an area for years. Micro-organisms can benefit and in turn can improve the soils with the plants being the final beneficiary. Some of the best rock dust ( stone that has been crushed to a dust form) is glacier dust. This glacier dust has been created by the glaciers picking up rock ( all types) in there movement and crushing the stone with there tremendous force. The different kinds of stone have different mineral makeups which in turn have different benefits. One example is the limestone. The limestone can have calcium and magnesium. My garden was low in these areas when I tested it. The other day I stopped at a Stone masons place in Kansas City, Missouri and he was cutting a lot of limestone. I asked if I could have some of the dust. I got about a pound. I have sprinkled about a tablespoon around a bunch of my tomatoes. I will watch and see if it has an effect. I am going to also try an experiment I read about in a garden magazine. It basically said if you could find a rock dust from a stone plant or other source you could check to see if the dust gathered has a benefit. Take pots and fill will standard potting soil or dirt from the garden. Add a tablespoon to one of the pots and mix in and plant seeds in the two plants and watch for the next 8 weeks., The one with the dust is suppose to do noticeably better. I am going to try it and see.

Cans for tomatoes

I put tin gallon cans around my tomato plants just like my parents did in the garden. I never gave it a lot of thought until a few years ago. There are a few reasons to put cans around your new transplants. They are as follows: 1) it gives protection from the wind for the first few days. The wind in Kansas can be relentless. The last few days we have 30 to 40 mile gusts. 2) It can keep some small animals like rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks away from digging, chewing or plain eating your plant. 3) Bugs. It can keep ground crawler type bugs away from the plant. 4) They can be used in the watering process. I do not recommend this for the first 30 days, , but after they are close to full size. The one gallon cans are about the perfect quantity of water for each plant once a week unless you have adequate rainfall. The water in the can slowly soaks directly down around the plant and does not run off. The can saves water resources. So you may want to consider cans around your tomatoes. I get my cans from a friend who runs a restaurant and goes through about 50 cans a week. It works so give it a try.

Morels

Its that time of year again. Morel hunting has begun. I found my first Morel yesterday. It is getting to be just about the ideal conditions for morels to sprout. Morels like it moist and temperatures to be about 65 degrees to 75 degrees in early spring. Also morels do not like frost at all. This year is looking great with all the rain in the last couple weeks. Where do you find there mushrooms. You find them in wooded areas with dead tree limbs and leaves scattered on the ground. They especially like ash and maple trees for some reason, I am not sure why. It takes a trained eye to spot these mushrooms. After finding a few you will get your eyes trained to pick them out of the leaves and debris. . Here is a picture. Happy mushroom hunting.

Getting ready for spring

On these wonderful winter ( I mean spring ) days its time to get ready for spring. Here are a few things you can do to get ready for spring:



1) Service your lawnmower. ( sharpen blade, change spark plug, clean air filter, and brush off the dirt.)

2) Turn over your compost pile. ( If you don't have one start one. )

3) Sharpen all your tools for the garden. All you need is a file. ( Sharpen your shovels, spades, hoes, and misc. ) Sharp tools work so much better than dull ones.

4) Clean out your purple martin house. We will probably see purple martin scouts in the next 10 days or so.

5) Go shop for seeds for your garden. It is only about one month till we can plant about anything. I have already planted onions and potatoes.

6) Get some fresh mulch for perennial flower beds.

7) Trim back any dead wood on trees.

8) Hit the lawn and garden shows for ideas for your garden or landscaping.

9) Draw out a detailed layout of your vegetable garden so you know what seeds and plants you need and how many.

10) Rake up old leaves, sticks, dead plant stocks, and thatch left in your lawn. Put all but the sticks in your compost pile.



Hey if you get all these chores done now you can have more fun when it finally does gets nice out there..

Organic pest control

I have a formula of ingredients that I use for natural pest control. This spray that I am going to share with you is not a poison , but a deterrent to small animals and many insects. Caution: this recipe involves the use of hot peppers so be very careful in handling the peppers. Avoid inhaling the steam when peppers are cooking or getting the solution on your skin after it's prepared - it will burn.

First I get 3 or 4 habanero peppers and crush them up in a medium sauce pan. The habanero peppers have a high Scoville rating which means they are at the top end of the hot scale. Small rodents and a majority of bugs do not like the smell or the taste. Next add 4 or 5 cloves of garlic and crush them up in the same sauce pan. The same goes for garlic. Most pests do not like the smell or taste of garlic. Add about a quart of water and bring the mixture to a boil for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let stand until cool. Now you need a t-shirt, cheese cloth or other material you can use to strain out all the solids. Strain the liquid into a pitcher or clean milk jug. Now add to the liquid 2 or 3 tablespoons of dish washing soap. The soap is going to help the mixture stick to the vegetation you spray it on. Finally add another gallon of water to the solution to dilute it before using, and put into a Hudson type sprayer. Set the sprayer nozzle for a fine mist. Take your sprayer into the garden and spray all your plant foliage generously. I like to spray about every 10 days or so. I do discontinue the spraying when plants are in bloom so I do not discourage beneficial bugs during pollination. It has been fairly effective on most common pests. It does not work on the worst pest in the garden , the squash beetle. I have tried many things that are organic on these pests, but I have found no control that is not chemically based that works. The best advice I have for squash beetles is to rotate your crops and pick the eggs off the leaves. If anyone has found an organic control for pests I would love to hear about it. Happy spraying.

Compost tea

Yesterday a neighbor asked me about compost tea. I have read a few articles on compost tea and have used it a few times. Compost tea is basically brewed compost water for feeding plants. This is how I make compost tea. First you need some well-composted material from your compost pile. You'll need a porous bag or nylon stocking to hold your compost. Place approximately a shovel full of compost in the bag or nylon and tie up it up securely. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with water. I prefer water from the rain barrel in lieu of tap water because of the chlorine in our water. Place the bag in the bucket of water and push it down until it is saturated with water. Cover the bucket with a lid or plastic and let the mixture sit for at least 24 hours. 24 hours later open the bucket and you should have a dark, tea-looking mixture. Remove the bag from the water. Now you have a compost tea for fertilizer. I pour this in at the base of the plants I want to feed. Another use is as a foliage spray. I strain the bucket of tea through an old t-shirt and then dilute the mixture 4 parts water to 1 part compost tea. I take that mixture and pour it into a Hudson handheld sprayer. I spray this directly on the leaves in a fine mist. The foliage is supposed to absorb a portion of the nutrients. I would recommend you use this on outdoor plants, and not with new starts. I have had good results with this, it just takes some extra time. Good Luck.