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Post by kyredneck on Sept 12, 2014 3:24:59 GMT -5
"...we were up against a sidewalk we didn't want to break up. So we built the "tunnel" to span it, then built the east part of the garden.
The plan was picking beans standing up, in the shade. It hasn't entirely worked out that way, but maybe with the right plants, it will."
Ooohhh, the arbor straddles a sidewalk, or, rather, there's a paved walkway through the tunnel, cool! That's a neat idea, don't give up on it.
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Post by kyredneck on Sept 12, 2014 5:36:46 GMT -5
flowerweaver: "...we put up this 8 foot tall trellis with T-posts and plastic netting, which came down in the tornado. Next year I will go with metal mesh to make it stronger and to be able to torch the spent vines off at end of season (someone here gave me the better idea)."
To get an 8' trellis w/plastic netting takes some creative engineering; did you somehow extend the t-posts to gain the extra height or are there t-posts that are actually long enough to build an 8' trellis?
What sort of metal mesh do you have in mind to use? The cattle panels Mobie and I are using are 50" x 16' 4 ga galvanized wire. Also I would think that torching the vines would damage the galvanized coating and set up rust. Just sayin'.
I'm really sorry to hear about that tornado, did you lose any friends or loved ones in it?
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Post by kyredneck on Sept 12, 2014 5:55:35 GMT -5
Joseph: "...I collect weeds for a medicine woman. She makes tea for me. A shaman gets tobacco for use in sacred rituals...."
I'm curious, what sort of weeds? What kind of tea? Do you grow the tobacco, and if so what kind of tobacco?
Hope I'm not being too nosey; I just find it interesting.
[add]
....that's me in my avatar cutting burley tobacco about 12 years ago. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 12, 2014 10:33:53 GMT -5
The weeds I collect for the medicine woman include mints, nettle, mullein, yarrow, red clover, hawthorn, mallow, etc... I don't know much about what's in the teas. She'll inquire about my physical and mental health and then bring a tea to the farmer's market.
The tobacco is a genetically diverse strain developed by Face of The Earth Seed. I'm growing it this year for the first time. About 4 plants out of 200 seeds that I planted did well enough that it looks like they might mature seed.
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 12, 2014 14:31:45 GMT -5
kyredneck we used 10 footers, which are readily available here where people raise African exotic hoofstock in conservation programs. Our place is high fenced to keep out things like blackbuck antelope, axis deer, scimitar oryx, etc. It certainly puts a twist on singing Old McDonald had a Farm! Other than fracturing my thumb, we and all our animals were unharmed. We lost a lot of big trees which crushed our house and greenhouse roofs, and baseball sized hail damaged all our crops, out buildings and vehicles. The roofing was supposed to begin next week but the contractor passed away so it's still crazy around here.
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Post by steev on Sept 15, 2014 0:15:55 GMT -5
You shouldn't fence those critters out; they're tasty!
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Post by kyredneck on Sept 15, 2014 6:58:30 GMT -5
Ah, Joseph, I actually thought you were joshing about having a shaman, that's OK, I wasn't joshing about my MIL either, she has an earthy midwifery type connection with predictions concerning pregnancies.
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Post by kyredneck on Sept 15, 2014 7:01:26 GMT -5
flowerweaver what is the spacing between the rows of pole beans in your photo?
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 15, 2014 13:55:37 GMT -5
Kyredneck, From long experience I will tell you that onions hate beans. Never plant them together. However I have had grand luck with beans and lettuce
or onions and lettuce. Love the trellis. I think they are great for making shade on one side which makes for better lettuce. I went through an entire farm of runners in Italy that you could stroll through while drinking wine. It was a treat.
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 15, 2014 16:18:31 GMT -5
steev LOL I wouldn't know, being a lifelong vegetarian. Scimitar oryx are an endangered species so I don't think they are being eaten anywhere--even in Africa--where they have become extinct. kyredneck I think they are about four feet apart, running basically E-W. Spacing was mostly dictated by the narrow strip of land I had to work with there, not by plant requirements. The ones on the front side did better because they were somewhat shaded from the afternoon sun by the ones behind. Where I live, a little bit of shade = most people's full sun.
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Post by steev on Sept 15, 2014 19:25:27 GMT -5
Holly: I have a whole farm of weeds you can stroll through while drinking wine; I'd suggest doing some of the latter first, to take the edge off the strolling.
Sage: I'm a member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals); believing that I am related to every life-form on Earth, it seems unfair to exclusively pick on my cousins that can neither flee nor fight. I admit to running into a vulture once, but that was an accident (didn't occur to me to eat it; another opportunity missed that may never come again); I've never hunted, nor deliberately killed anything bigger than a gopher (and I'm growing unsure about killing them, if I'm not willing to eat them; well, there was Guido, my chihuahua-whippet mix, but he was really not having any fun; I didn't eat him, either, just had him put down and buried him by his great love, Spot, a white lab-husky-whatnot bitch that was 7 times his weight; she was the only dog he never attacked on sight, including a bewildered Saint Bernard). On down the road, I'll have poultry and if I can't deal with slaughter, I won't be eating them. I am not looking forward to a flock of geriatric hens on walkers and aged cocks pecking up viagra, to pump up their self-esteem. Nobody ever said the life of a peak predator is easy, nor that of a self-restricting omnivore.
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 15, 2014 21:48:39 GMT -5
Not to worry steev, I'm neither judgmental nor a member of the other PETA, although I do love animals and believe in ethically treating all living things. I lack the enzymes with which to digest meat so I've simply learned to live without it. Some of our best friends here raise grass fed cattle and meat goats, and we lease some family land to hunters to pay its taxes. Last year I was diagnosed gluten-intolerant, and lately I've even had trouble digesting eggs. This is why I'm building a huge legume landrace! |
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Post by steev on Sept 15, 2014 22:49:14 GMT -5
So, are you good with einkorn or barley? I've got those.
Being mostly a zoologist, I also love all animals (gophers excepted), but I recognize the idea of feeding what I don't/can't eat to a critter that I will eat.
I am fortunate in being rather insensitive to physical triggers (it may be that I'm insensitive in general, but I'll not go there, in the absence of anyone speaking up).
Truly, I attribute my generally robust health to being of widely diverse genetic heritage. It don't get much more landrace than me, Europe-wise.
My seed-increase of cowpeas and teparies?; you'll be the first to know, after me, of course.
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 16, 2014 6:32:59 GMT -5
I haven't been willing to try them since being diagnosed. Oddly gluten was causing an inflammatory reaction mainly evidenced by joint swelling and pain. It got so bad last summer I was in knee braces and on crutches. My elbow looked like tennis elbow. It was horribly depressing because I've always been very active. Not to mention it putting a kink in running this farm.
Only after spending thousands of dollars visiting a useless orthopedic specialist who kept suggesting it was bursitis and that I 'moderate my lifestyle' did a new GP suggest it was gluten and challenge me to six months of a gluten free diet. She had the same problem. After three months I could really tell the difference. It's been a year now and I feel great, like my joints have been lubricated. I have the energy of a younger me again. Fortunately there are a lot of gluten free products now and I'm adept at following a special diet. It's just added a layer of awkwardness to social situations and eating out.
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 16, 2014 7:12:35 GMT -5
Here's a funny about being a vegetarian and harvesting your own vegetables by Baxter Black on Johnny Carson in the late 80's: youtu.be/93V717ZVvsc |
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