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This has not been the best year for my garden. I replanted the corn 4 different times using 3 different varieties and yet I have MAYBE 10 stalks. That's all. So when the beans didn't do anything either, I was ready to write them off. We had terrible tornadoes here back on April 27, and I've...

This is good to know. I was getting ready to pull them all out. I figured why waste the space and the water on something that wasn't producing. But if they are just long season, then I guess I'd better wait awhile! My watermelons take forever too, but they are worth the wait! Yummmm...

Yep! That's my boy! Thanks for the kind words. Gee, can you tell he's the apple of my eye? ;) Rusty

I planted Blue Lake pole beans along a 6' high wire fence. They are planted in composted horse manure and shavings and were planted on May 6. Today the vines are so thick I cannot find the wire fence under them. They LOOK gorgeous BUT there is not a single bean on any of the plants. Not a...

Thanks for the great ideas! :thumbsup Rusty

I have a couple of sheets of plywood left from coop building and a few concrete blocks. I've been toying with setting the blocks in the ground about half way and placing the structure itself on them and filling inside with gravel about 8-10" deep. I haven't found any old windows yet, so SO...

Sure hope you are right because this has been driving me BATS! I have never had problems getting things to start before. In fact this was my first-ever bout with damping off. I had to go research to find out what was happening to my seed flats. Maybe next year I'll try one of those seedling...

I'm hoping someone can give me some insights on what is going wrong with my flowers. As you may remember, I bought about half a dozen different varieties of flower seeds for a deck garden: different kinds of zinnias, marigolds, geraniums, petunias, and morning glories. I started them under...

Yep. This is what I did--way down close to ground level--and it is brown. But I am gonna wait awhile anyhow before I declare them gone. :hit Rusty

This winter was the worst in 35 years according to the local weather guy. I believe him. While my fruit trees are blossoming, they are only putting out a few on each branch. In previous years the blossoms would be so heavy you could not see the branches. Not this year. Even the ornamental...

I have raised beds because the soil here is so terrible. pH 4.8 and heavy clay. I don't want my plants to reach that, so my beds are 12" high. HTH Rusty

I really like this recipe! :thumbsup

Do you think this would work if I poured the syrup directly on the mound? The bed already has 4-5 mounds starting and I am afraid the boiling water would just encourage them to move to another spot inside the bed. I like the idea of using DE under the plastic, but hesitant to spread it all...

Hmmm. I wonder if I should have spread some DE under the first sheet of black plastic--the one that is under the bed? I have half a dozen or so beds to go yet, so I may try that as a preventative. Thank you! Rusty

My latest venture into raised beds I did a bit differently than before. This time I laid down black plastic, then added the wood sides, and finally filled it up with the offal from my horse stalls. I added 10# of lime and 5# of bone meal and stirred it in. Then I covered the whole thing with...

To obtain true essential oils, you need to steam distill the plant material. I have a steam still but, so far, no plant material. I am hoping to start some lavender and eventually use it to produce lavender essential oil to use in my own soaps. There is a term for the other style (pressed...

This too is what I am trying to do. I started here 5 years ago trying to work compost into my red clay "soil" and succeeded in growing tomatoes so bitter they were inedible! In disgust I did nothing for a couple of years and then tried raised beds. My first attempt I made the beds too...

Are you kidding? Those reports look pretty darn good to me. I was told how many TONS of lime, etc I needed to apply per acre. If those were my reports, I'd be piling on the compost and going by how well the plants did or did not do. I believe (and someone correct me here if I am wrong) that...

The photos were spectacular. I could almost SMELL the lavender right through the screen! TY Rusty

That second link is really great! It sounds like English Lavender is the way to go, altho it will likely take a few years before it produces much. I figure a cup or so of oil will scent more soap than I can possibly use and the rest can go for potpourri. I'm slowly trying to make the farm...