New way of planting onions, They are up and looking good.

By Dennis on April 30, 2010

After only marginal success with my onions last year, I decided to try something different this year.  So far, so good. 

For those of you following this blog, you know I harvested some free compost this winter. My soil here is extremely heavy clay (more on that in another post), but my onions just would not develop fully in the tight soil.  So this season I (okay, honest moment, mainly my protesting son) scraped up some of the better top soil from unused corners of the garden and mixed this 50/50 in a wheel barrow to create a lighter, more organically rich type of soil.

Once this was accomplished I (another honest moment, my daughter, pulled back the soil about 1 foot wide by 75 feet long on the south facing side of my garden.  I put this strip on the south so that my corn, okra, beans, and tomatoes would not block the sun from my ground dwellers.  This strip is serving as the home to my onions and cucumbers this year.

As the dirt work was being done, I soaked my onions sets in a mixture of 1 tsp of Monty’s 4-15-12 and 1 TBSP Monty’s Liquid Carbon in 16 ounces of water. (I did this for both my white and yellow onions. 

Once the soil was pulled back, I (okay, this time it was me) dug one inch deep holes in the earth spaced 1 inch apart in all directions in a grid about 1 foot by one foot.  Then I placed my onion sets in the indentations.  Once they were in place, I covered them with 3-4 inches of my newly created soil/compost mix.  Two weeks later they are up and looking good.

Without having to fight through the hard East Tennesee clay, the onions are emerging early.

For those of you who grow onion regularly, you will know that onions spaced only 1 inch apart will not develop fully as the bulbs will crowd each other.  However, my plans are to make my first harvest in about two weeks.  This will give us some good, early spring onions, or green onions, and leave those remaining with the space they will need to develop into good sized bulbs.

If you are doing the math, you know that my 2 onions patches must look awfully lonely in a 72 foot row.  Indeed, they do.  But my plans are to plant similar subsequent patches every three weeks into early/mid June so that I will have a continuous harvest of fresh onions this season.

Keep checking back and I will keep you posted on how this experiment is working, but so far, so good.

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Garden Cheaply, Garden Well

By Dennis on January 18, 2010

Welcome to a Monday morning.  I am a little sore this morning from an unexpected opportunity to get out in the garden and lawn this weekend. It’s not too often that we get sunshine and 50+ degree weather in January in the mountains of East Tennessee.

This weekend I had the chance to compost and line out some of my flower beds, prune some bushes, etc.  But it was the composting that I wanted to talk to you about.

Free compost My kids and I unloaded this weekend. It recieved about 1.5 inches of rain over the weekend

Free compost My kids and I unloaded this weekend. It received about 1.5 inches of rain over the weekend

Many of you want to compost but you are afraid of the process, have heard horror stories or don’t have enough plant material to get your pile started.  For me,these reasons and the fact that I live in a neighborhood and don’t really have a place to establish the size pile I would need got me searching and asking questions.  The question I asked:  What does the city/county do with all of those leaves and Christmas trees they collect throughout the year?

The answer:  In many communities, they have established FREE compost areas.  In my community, they have a location about 5-10 miles or so outside of town where they take dump-truck load after dump-truck load and pile up the leaves in long rows.  The trees and limbs they pick up through the year are run through a chipper/shredder and blown onto the same piles.

There are rows that are three+ years old and some rows of fresh (this season) and everything in-between in various stage of decay.  The only thing it cost me was the gas to travel out there, and a few hours of work loading and unloading this free source of good quality compost.

When I used to live in Frankfort, KY they had a similar program but it was located in the heart of town so it was more accessible. This brings me to a couple of points to consider.  In many cases this is a ‘free’ or tax-subsidized program so its existence in your area may vary.  I had to call several agencies from city hall, county government, park and recreation department, and sanitation until I found someone who could tell me about it.  Strangely enough, none of these bureaucrats knew anything about it…they all told me that we did not have anything like that in our area.  It was not until I met one of the truck drivers for a leaf collection crew at McDonald’s that I got the answer I was looking for.  Point is, you are likely going to have to look for it to find it.  I have also discovered that some cities charge a nominal fee for the compost while others operate it as a completely free service.  Further, (especially in the free service areas) management of the piles can vary widely. So, know what you are looking for when you go pick it up so you can tell if it has been turned regularly, etc.

Like anything there are some things to consider:

Since these piles are created from leaf-collection services their focus is collection NOT creating perfect

This close-up of the compost after we had pile it around our dogwood tree shows the texture of the free compost and the fact that it was made of various materials which are in different stages of decay

This close-up of the compost after we had pile it around our dogwood tree shows the texture of the free compost and the fact that it was made of various materials which are in different stages of decay

mulch/compost.  Therefore, I had to sort out some various bits of pop bottles, plastic, wires, small scrap metal.  All in all though, I only sifted out enough garbage to fill a small plastic grocery bag so its a small price to pay.

The compost is made of various types of plant material with various acidic conditions like oak and pine so your pH levels can be all over the place.  Therefore, I recommend testing it with a pH meter.  I am taking mine to a friend this week to have it tested.  I will update you once I have the numbers. Plus any info I have on amending it as needed.

Some areas will have staff on hand with a front-end loader, others will not and you will have to load it yourself.  One area I am aware of, does not have a front end loader, but they don’t mind if you bring your own.  For just a few dollars you could probably hire a farmer to meet you out there and load it for you.  I used a pick-up truck to haul my mulch and it held three front-end loader scoops.  It took far longer to unload it than it did to load it.

I used a standard shovel to unload it and it took approximately 20 heaping shovel loads to fill my wheel-barrow.  That will give you an idea of the time and effort it will take if you are loading it by hand.

Bottom line,  this is a good, though not perfect, system for many of you to be able to access compost in volumes that most home-owners/gardeners could not.  This compost is similar to the quality you would have to pay $40+ per front-end loader scoopful at a retailer and it is free and readily available.  Additionally, it is a good use of material that, ten years ago, would have simply ended up in our landfills.  This is the essence of  Reduce Reuse Recycle and is an example of where it works efficiently and effectively.  For these reasons, and because I am always looking at ways to save money on my gardening projects, this is one I wholeheartedly support and recommend.  If you’ve got the time and the labor available and you don’t mind waking up sore on a Monday morning, do the research find the location and go get yourself some good, free compost.

We were able to get most of the compost spread in our flowerbeds and around our trees before the rains began. This pile is adjacent to our garden we will get it spread when the soil is dry enough to walk on. Hopefully we will be adding to it with another load of free compost next weekend, if the dry weather continues.

We were able to get most of the compost spread in our flowerbeds and around our trees before the rains began. This pile is adjacent to our garden we will get it spread when the soil is dry enough to walk on. Hopefully we will be adding to it with another load of free compost next weekend, if the dry weather continues.

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Build Your Own Home-made Automated Irrigation and Fertility Injection System for Under $50

By Dennis on January 17, 2010

Brent Coffee’s farm in Northern Arkansas is a testament togreen production techniques and the cost saving nature of what we used to call ‘southern ingenuity.’  Both he and his wife work full time and his job has him on the road through most of the summer.  He wants the benefits of his home garden but can’t always guarantee he will be home when his crops need to be watered or fertilized.  So, using a recycled chemical drum and some common parts, he built his own watering system that also applies Monty’s Liquid Fertilizer to his garden as it waters.

When we spoke Brent showed me how simple this is to build for under $50.  These applications of Liquid Fertilizer are the only nutrients the garden receives apart from what is available naturally through the compost-based raised beds.

 Home Irrigation and Automated Fertilizer for under $50

Learn how you can build a similar system by watching this video segment from Brent.

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Time to Work Those Glutens

By Dennis on January 15, 2010

So, you’re looking out the window, snow on the ground– a little stir-crazy–waiting to start your spring projects out in the garden.  After you have spent as much time dreaming and planning and going through seed catalogs as you can bear, you just want to DO something.  I understand.

So, here is a project that you can do long before your soil is ready for planting and it will save you hours of weed-work later this season.  As an additional benefit, it will control weeds and serve as a fertilizer while maintaining a natural approach to gardening.

Corn Gluten Meal makes an excellent organic or all-natural weed and feed fertilizer but the trick is to get it

Corn Gluten Meal is an effective all-natural pre-emergent herbicide and fertilizer. It is available in bulk (shown) and in bags or cannisters

Corn Gluten Meal is an effective all-natural pre-emergent herbicide and fertilizer. It is available in bulk (shown) and in bags or cannisters

 out before the weed seeds begin to germinate. Corn Gluten Meal is a by-product of the wet-milling process of corn.  Ethanol plants make it, liquor distillers make it and for years it has been used as a high quality feed for cattle, especially dairy cattle.  In the 1990’s those some enterprising students from Iowa State University discovered its benefits as a pre-emergent herbicide.

You will want to apply approximately 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet between Feb 15th and March 15th, depending on your climate.  A second application can be made around June 1st for late flush weed crops, and again post-harvest for any winter weeds that may appear in your garden.  If you are using ‘green manure’ cover crops, wait until after these plants have germinated and started growing before applying Corn Gluten Meal.  The key is to get the product down before the seeds germinate.

Additionally, at 10 percent N content, Corn Gluten Meal also makes a good supplemental source of nitrogen and a nice organic fertilizer

Various sized packages of Corn Gluten Mealcan be purchased at your local independent garden retailer in either a natural powder form or, combined with binders, in a pelletized form.  the powder form is farm more effective and cheaper, but they will be very dusty and messy and a bit harder to work with in most situations. 

As many of you know, there is money to be made catering to the zealous nature of many green gardeners and enterprising business owners have capitalized on this by elevating costs of these products compared to their synthetic counterparts.  So, you can purchase the commercially available forms of Corn Gluten Meal, however, if you are willing to put in the back work and do the research, many of you can find it far cheaper in bulk.  Look for a feed store or feed mill in your county or an adjacent county, this is the place where local farmers will go to purchase raw feed-stuffs for their livestock.  Around Monty’s home office Burkmann Mills is a good source of Corn Gluten Meal.  In your area, just look for a location that will either custom-mix rations or ask a local farm store if they sell it.  Once you find your source they will either sell it in super-sized bags or may even be able to fill up your pick-up bed with lose bulk meal.  Also, if you live near a distillery or an ethanol plant, give them a call and ask if they sell the meal direct to the public.  Most do, but be warned, this is a great cattle feed and many of these locations have a waiting list for everything they spin-off from their distillers.  Finally, if you have a dairy farm in your area and you do not need much, you might talk to the farmer.  He may be willing to sell you what you need, and while you’re at it, you can ask him about picking up some free manure (trust me they have more then they know what to do with!)

That’s really all there is to it.  Just a few notes on using and storing it.

  • Make sure you lightly incorporate it into the soil as it will attract animals if it is just left on the surface
  • Do not let it get wet, and make sure you clean your wheelbarrow, spreader, (and back of your pick-up if buying in bulk) well.  If not, when Corn Gluten Meal gets wet the resultant fermentation leaves an odor reminiscent of REALLY strong stale beer. It is more than a bit overwhelming.
  • Do NOT apply within 2 weeks of planting from seed.  This stuff does not know a weed-seed from a beneficial and it will damage your vegetable/flower seeds.  This is a non-selective herbicide.
  • Do NOT use this in conjunction or simultaneously with traditional herbicides, the synthetic herbicides will cancel out the benefits of the Corn Gluten Meal.
  • Soil sample until you reach a comfort level with using this product but this should take care of most of your Nitrogen needs for the period in which application is made.

Now that you know what to do, how to do it, and where to get it.  You have an activity that can get you outside and get you started on your garden.  Just follow these simple guidelines and precautions and you will be one step closer to the all-natural, weed-free garden you always wanted.

For additional information on the original study and on corn gluten in general, check out this article.

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Making Dirt From Manure in Just 6 months, one Arkansas Gardener Shows You How

By Dennis on January 13, 2010

Brent Coffee lives in Northern Arkansas where he and his family are building a small subsistence farm.  he shares my passion for one day living ‘off-the-grid’ and raises almost all of what he and his family consumes throughout the year from fruits and vegetables to cattle, even the goat milk that they drink is provided by the herd he maintains.

As I was speaking with him, he showed me how he is recycling the manure that comes from his farm.  Each year when he cleans out his stalls in his barn (built almost exclusively from recycled barn wood from an old dilapidated barn he found), he piles the manure in one of his raised beds.  Then he begins treating the manure in the fall with Monty’s Liquid Carbon.(available here)  By the spring, what once was hard-packed cakes of manure and fodder is rich, loose, arable soil.

Learn more by watching this video.Brent Coffee Makes His Own Dirt for Raised-Bed Gardens

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Monty’s Plant Food Brings Sweet Success to Gardener

By Dennis on October 16, 2009

For us at Monty’s harvest time is particularly enjoyable.  Not only are we busy packing, preserving, and canning our own gardens but we get to find out how our hints, tips, advice, and products have helped y’all throughout the past year.  It’s the time of year that we get to harvest stories and pictures.

Well, this fall is no different.  Darryl from Indiana sent us these pictures of his sweet potatoes. 

Sweet_PotatoSweet_potato2

He planted his potatoes on May 10th and harvested them on October 4th.  He is fortunate to have deep soil (about 14″ till it hits solid clay).  He planted these sweet potatoes in 6″ hills and then sprayed them three times with Monty’s 2-15-15. These particular sweet potatoes weighed in at 7 lbs., 14 oz.; now that’s a lot of sweet potato pie!  For Dennis’ complete directions on growing great root crops you can read more on the website.

If you have pictures of your results using Monty’s in your garden, flower beds, or on your landscape we woul love to hear your stories. Post your information in our comments section here on the blog or visit our website to contact us for our e-mail address.

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The “Stinking Rose” is actually a lot more like a tulip

By Dennis on October 15, 2009

Even though it is nick-named the “stinking rose,”  the garlic is actually more closely related togarlic the tulip than the rose.  Which means two very important things for you if you ever wanted to raise your own garlic. 1) It is a bulb 2) Right now, October, is the time to be planting it.

I am a garlic lover.  I am not, however, a garlic expert.  I did meet one though. Her name is Ellen Reynolds and she operates Beagle Ridge Herb Farm just outside of Wytheville, VA.  I will tell you more about her and the farm at a later date.

Remember last week I told you about our trip to Wytheville?  It was for our anniversary, and nothing says “Happy Anniversary” quite like going to a garlic festival.  But that is what we did.  Yep, we plant geeks have all the fun, I know.  Anyway, while there, at Beagle Ridge, I had a chance to tour the facilities, the gardens, the store and attend several classes on how to prepare garlic and how to raise it successfully at home.

I talked with Ellen after class and she said that she would post that information on her web site.  So, if you are interested in trying to raise your own garlic this season.  Now is the time to get it into the ground, but before you head to the pantry to go get a bulb for seed read up on all things related to the care and nurture of your garlic garden here.

If you want warm thoughts all winter just dreaming of your garlic garden, then check out Beagle Ridge’s recipe section.

I hope to have a few guest columns from Ellen in the near future.  Till then, wander around their site;  it will suffice until you have a chance to get there.  Again, like the rest of Wytheville…it’s worth the drive.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have some garlic to plant.

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One of the Fun Things About Fall

By Dennis on October 8, 2009

Who doesn't need a granite garden ball, or about 1,300 other what-nots

Who doesn't need a granite garden ball, or about 1,300 other what-nots

So, last weekend was my anniversary.  My wife and I like discovering unexpected places and we road trip alot.  This weekend, while on just such a road trip a discovered a deliciously quirky gift store in Wytheville, VA.  Learn more here.

It is a gift store attached to a restaurant attached to a collection of kitsch.  The restaurant itself was pleasant and carried the ambiance of a place that was actually built in 1776.  The owners have done their best to keep the centuries of history alive.  That is where the ‘neat’ factor went off the chart!

In what can only be described as a backyard garden they had a collection of rabbits and birds and whatever else nature had brought their way.  The

 ummm....because your bird bath looked empty without the Monet print?

ummm....because your bird bath looked empty without the Monet print?

collection of various plants was amazing, I can only imagine what it would

look like in the spring or summer.  You know the way some people are able to keep their gardens perfectly disheveled and have it look wonderful.  That is the best description of this backyard oasis.  Planned chaos.  Organized mayhem.  And that, that was just the entree to what lay in wait inside the gift shop.

The gift shop was 1/3rd garden store, 1/3rd flea market finds, and 1/3rd roadside truck-stop gift-shop.  things are packed in so tightly that you can hardly move, but you have to, because around each tucked away corner there is a new treasure to be found.  Fr

 A very large rabbit will keep you company while you sit and contemplate life in the backyard garden.

A very large rabbit will keep you company while you sit and contemplate life in the backyard garden.

om lawn ornaments and statuary to sun catchers and things that make you say “Whaaaat?”  they have it all. 

That’s what make Fall so perfect.  Good weather and the time to go

discover serendipitous places. So, if you are ever on I-81  going to look at leaves in the Blue Ridge Mountains and you are looking for a great place to spend some time, or if you have a person to buy for that is impossible to surprise any more, I highly recommend you swing by 1176 Log House.

If you have a favorite ‘undiscovered place’, or  a favorite place for garden whimsy, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment or a link in the comment section to share with our community here at mymontys.com blog.

 
 

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(Mis)Use of Herbicides

By Dennis on October 7, 2009

Ran across this story today from ABC News it is all about pigweed and their new resistance to herbicides.  Pigweed is a fairly common weed across most US, particularly southern, farmland.  The only problem is it has now developed resistance to the herbicide traditionally used to kill it.

To hit the high points, resistance-all resistance, happens when an organism comes into contact with something that does not kill it completely.  That is why your doctor always tells you to take all ten days of your anti-biotic, for example.  In this case, let’s say you have 100 weeds in the field,  they all get sprayed either completely or partially.  Let’s assume that the farmer got a good kill and 98 of the 100 plants died.  The two that survived – either due to incomplete spraying or genetic mutation – now are able to cross polinate and reproduce seed.  That seed now carries the trait for resistance.  As more of these plants grow and survive year to year, the numbr increases until all you have left are the survivors; those with the naturally selected genetic trait for resistance.

So, why am I talking about a farm problem on a L&G blog.  For this reason; you are prone to the same potential problems.  Resistance can develop to insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides in your lawn and garden and in a relatively short amount of time you will have bug, weed, and disease problems that you can no longer control.

So, what can YOU do?  Well, here are a few easy steps to decrease the liklihood of raising your own super-pests in your garden and lawn:100_1849

1.  Follow directions completely.  Don’t assume that you can or should cut back on the rate to save a few $$.  If the plant is exposed but not killed, you have laid the groundwork for resistance.  Don’t put more chemical in the tank than is called for, the overspray can linger in the environment and again, give a little exposure in a diluted state and foster resitance.

2.  Change up your strategy.  Whne possible use different chemistries to combat the same problem seasonally (or even within a season when you can).  This will keep the pests guessing and keep them from building defenses to any one particular chemical. Additionally, use the mildest herbicide possible for adequaqte control.  For example, don’t use a total-kill prodcut when a little 2, 4D will do the job.  that will leave the big boys for particularly troublesome pests.

3. Let some weeds survive in areas where their removal is not critical or manually remove them.  This will keep the susceptibility gene alive and well in the genepool.  The resistance gene will start off as a mutation, and be selected against in the breeding process in the early stages.  By leaving these surviors you will keep the population as a whole susceptible.

4. Make sure that the weather is suitable.  Wind can cause drift – blowing the herbicide where you do not want it to be.  This can kill or injure plants that you did not intend but also can give low doses to others who then become survivors.  Rain and temperatures can affect how efficiently different chemicals work.  If the weather isn’t right (consult your garden center or the chemical label) you will not get complete results again, giving rise to survivors.

Chemicals can have benefits for use in lawn and garden settings.  However the misuse of these products can have long-lasting results for you, your gardening dreams, and for the over all environment.  Responsible use should be of utmost importance for those who seek to use chemical alternatives in their gardening practices.

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Fall Application of Plant Food

By admin on October 7, 2009

Helpful information for growing beautiful plants

Monty’s Plant Food application usage in the fall will lead to healthier plants and more vibrant blooms. The fall usually has homeowners slowing down on fertilization of their plants. The rule has been do not over fertilize before winter because the plants will produce new growth that cannot withstand freezing temperatures. This statement should be recognized for the amount of nitrogen and fertilizers that must breakdown before absorption takes place. Monty’s fall formula will provide needed elements to prepare for winter as well as enhance the blooms as well as strengthen the stems. Monty’s 2-15-15 provides the needed nutrients as well as the ability to absorb external nutrients that the plant cannot normally absorb because of the structure that it may be in. A treatment of Monty’s Liquid Carbon Soil Conditioner will greatly benefit lawns and gardens.

The commercial growers can benefit from this product because of the tremendous growth that will result when using on Pansies, Chrysanthemums and other fall blooming flowers. The product can be used by foliar and/or root drench. The application of this product will enhance the grower’s ability to have a premium plant that will generate highly levels of income.

When selling bulbs our product will provide the essential nutrients to bulbs newly planted as well as established. Monty’s Plant Food will increase root development as well as root surface absorption. These applications will assure that the day lily grower will begin establishing stronger vibrant blooms throughout the following season.

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