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I know that families lived in tougher times and a small family farm crop failure would be devastating. Farmers were often isolated and even if they weren't, there was no local nursery to run to.
I've have this desire to be able to sustain a variety of food that I grow without a nursery to supplement my garden. I've started vermicomposting and I want to grow heirloom varieties so that I can learn to harvest the seeds. I plant marigolds for, hopefully, pest control. I know that there are other plants for pest control, but I haven't got there yet. (Onions and garlic, right?)
What else did they, or could I, do? If I had to do everything without any outside assistance - like buying DE - what kinds of practices should I be employing?
(Please don't try to discourage me. If I fail, I fail. I want to give it a shot )
Well this was after slavery, so I can't say "get slaves." But cheap labor.
A labor pool that is strong, doesn't get paid a lot (or at all) and will do what you tell them is the key to farming success IMO. We still have a lot of migrant, low-paid labor today, I believe. My grandparents had farms and they had a TON of kids. You basically need the labor. Even with all the tech advancements. IMO some of these are too expensive for anyone who is not an "agri-buisiness."
You can either get started on the family, or get migrant labor. I'd think this would be illegal, but there is a program that I've heard of that lets you use foreign labor for your farm. I think they may get paid less than minimum wage. They come in for the farming season and then they leave afterwards.
I suspect that the biggest thing folks did to ensure a crop was to stick to varieties that grew best in their area and that's why heirlooms are so useful. I remember some years ago I planted brandy wine tomatoes and was dismayed to find that they weren't nearly as tasty s the claims led me to believe. I realized later that they were bred for PA and I was in SE MO. Also, if you try to grow okra in northern IL you will surely be disappointed.
Yes. Just like that. The taller the stub, the faster it grows. I tend not to transplant mine because they lose out to bugs, but I've heard of people having success with it.
Google something like 'food plants you can grow from kitchen scraps.'
ok, so do you just leave the celery in a glass or jar? I think I am confused. Do you grow them inside or outside. I am not fasinated with this idea.
Oh, I just read the article and I am excited. I am going to try several things, see which ones work. I have done sweet potatoes many times, but I love the idea of celery, ginger and turnips. Oh, also celantro. I have never had luck growing it from seed.
You got it. It's just that we personally have no luck transplanting outside, so I prefer keeping mine in a glass in a sunny window.
I start a lot of plants from cuttings. I have found that with some plants you may need to transition from water to soil carefully.
Last year I killed 2 dozen elderberry plants by moving them from water to soil too quickly. After spring pruning, all cuttings were 18" and dropped in buckets of willow-water. 3-4 weeks later 80% of them had very nice root balls. So I shifted them to dirt. dead.
What I should have done, was put each in a separate bucket of willow-water and added soil, and gradually lowered the water level daily, to shift the grow media from water to soil.
I start a lot of plants from cuttings. I have found that with some plants you may need to transition from water to soil carefully.
Last year I killed 2 dozen elderberry plants by moving them from water to soil too quickly. After spring pruning, all cuttings were 18" and dropped in buckets of willow-water. 3-4 weeks later 80% of them had very nice root balls. So I shifted them to dirt. dead.
What I should have done, was put each in a separate bucket of willow-water and added soil, and gradually lowered the water level daily, to shift the grow media from water to soil.
I start a lot of plants from cuttings. I have found that with some plants you may need to transition from water to soil carefully.
Last year I killed 2 dozen elderberry plants by moving them from water to soil too quickly. After spring pruning, all cuttings were 18" and dropped in buckets of willow-water. 3-4 weeks later 80% of them had very nice root balls. So I shifted them to dirt. dead.
What I should have done, was put each in a separate bucket of willow-water and added soil, and gradually lowered the water level daily, to shift the grow media from water to soil.
Water to soil is difficult. I usually put them in a peat moss, perlite, vermiculite mix until they get their land legs. Coir works very well, too. That stuff takes a long time to break down and compact. Much longer than peat, which I don't like to use.
Water to soil is difficult. I usually put them in a peat moss, perlite, vermiculite mix until they get their land legs. Coir works very well, too. That stuff takes a long time to break down and compact. Much longer than peat, which I don't like to use.
We tend to have a lot of peat in our soil. I have harvested peat from our property [for home heating]. One problem with peat is that some plants may come to dislike having so much water. Wet-feet is bad for some things.
So we find that we spend more time adding sand into our potting mixes, to allow drainage.
I've had the same problem with clay. You can amend the soil where you plant, but if you're not a little tough with the sprouts, transplants, the roots don't spread into the native soil. You know that. In the clay, I used gypsum (controversial) and expanded shale. It worked for me.
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