Hobby Farms Forums / Gardening and Crops / HobbyFarms.com Forum Topics

Hobby Farms Chat #1

HFfriend — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:36:51 GMT

We hope you have enjoyed swapping knowledge with other hobby farmers on the message boards. Now here's a chance to put your knowledge to work.

We at HobbyFarms.com want to know how this year's rainy weather has affected your crop harvest. Tell us about the crop you harvest. Was your harvest time delayed? What happened to your crops? What challenges to harvesting did the weather pose? Is the weather still causing problems?

Please let us know and you might be contacted for an article to appear on HobbyFarms.com. Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

The Hobby Farms team

Fava Beans

cweick — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:31:45 GMT

Well last week was our Fair and P2 did great. I even walked away with some free fava bean pods.

First, how do you dry them (with or without the pod being on)?

Second, when to plant them?

Third, is it true that they will take over the garden?

Fourth, does any cook with them?

So how do you can?

txmisshorsey — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:05:41 GMT

So now that I know some of you can veggies I am wondering if anybody could give me a run down of how it works. The biggest one I am looking at is tomatoe sauce, even better would be spaghetti sauce because I use many, many jars of it a year.

When I was younger all we did was make grape jelly and I don't really remember much of that. So do you cook the tomatoes? I know my mom used to put the jars in the oven to make them seat. How does all this work?

Thanks in advance

Who here cans thier own veggies?

txmisshorsey — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:13:40 GMT

I am more talking about staples such as corn, green beans and peas but anything really? How do you think you come out money wise and also food quality wise?

Row covers for fall veggies

Woodswoman — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:35:48 GMT

I am in central NC. this is my 2nd year gardening and my first attempt at second season veggies. I've planted broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, winter squash and brussels sprouts. Will i need to set up row covers for frost protection for these? I don't want to get caught at the last minute if we get a frost in late Oct'r early Nov'r.

P2's lime tree

cweick — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:39:06 GMT

Well we picked and used and now there are still more a coming because of the rain. The limes are turning yellow is that normal? If not, what does that mean?

Thanks.

Advice on a grass or legume to grow in shade

Douggifford — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:49:37 GMT

I have about an acre of land next to my house that I would like to plant in some type of grass or legume. The area is fenced in welded wire fencing and I would like to raise turkeys there, seperated from my chickens. This area is shaded most of the time by a mature oak-hickory forest typical of NE Missouri. Currently there is no ground cover of any type. the previous owners did not take care of their property. The area is muddy when it rains. I want my turkeys to live in a grass-covered pen, not an unhealthy mud hole. Does anyone have any suggestions on what grass or legume would grow well in an environment that is mostly shaded?

container gardening

prettypalfrey — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:15:17 GMT

I believe something like this was posted so if it the same please feel free to remove it. I would love to know what can be put in containers together. Can I start them now or should I wait until spring. Also Could someone please tell me other than apple trees what trees can I plant in containers. I will have a cold winter where I will most likely be hiding indoors, I am hoping to do winter (or at least) indoor gardening.

Thanks

Garlic in the North East

Charlene — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:20:02 GMT

I was hoping to start some garlic beds this fall and want to make sure I time it right, does anyone know if it's too soon or late to start in NJ? Thanks ahead of time.

Gardening around Walnut Trees

SmilesALot — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:33:25 GMT

Has anyone ever gardened successfully around Walnut trees? Any suggestions? Cutting them down wld just be silly...it'll take 7-10 yrs for the toxin to dissipate. My veggie garden is bordered by them and my only other option is to take part of our pasture for it, and that's not really a viable option for us. I also considered trying to work my veggies into my flower gardens, but sun is an issue in those areas. Any suggestions or help wld be appreciated:) Thanks

Urban Farming

vigilant20 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:39:29 GMT

Since the urban farm crowd is slowly trickling in, I thought it might help to have a thread to identify yourself, share your blog (if you chronicle your adventures), and network with each other :) I'd love to hear what other urban homesteaders are up to.

Chickens in the Garden

hotrodryder — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:04:30 GMT

I was recently reading an article in a gardening magazine I subscribe to that advocated letting chickens have run of the garden once the plants are established. Now this sounds well and fine as we are run over with squash bugs and Japanese bettles, but won't they assault the produce? Especially tomatos and other red vegies/fruits when they ripen? I am sick to death of seeing all my hard work become bug houses but also want to not turn it into the chicken's smorgasbord. Anyone ever try this? Results? Thought on the idea? Next year, it is no till for me but til then I would love to salvage some of this year's crop!!

Southerners: When do you plant your fall gardens and what do you plant?

txmisshorsey — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:24:25 GMT

I live in south Texas so it is still in the high 80's some 90's and I was just wondering if I still had time to get in a small garden for fall? Also I am new to the whole gardening thing so I don't know what you plant in the fall?

Japanese Millet

cweick — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:45:47 GMT

Any body knows where to purchase Japenese Millet? Need it put it on a duck plot. What time of they year do you plant it? I thought millet was planted during spring.

Thanks

Harvest by the light of the moon

Drawbar — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:31:38 GMT

Its been a long time since we harvested 24/7, but with a heavy storm brewing and due to hit on Saturday and Sunday, the last few days have been a fury of harvesting. The corn is just past dough and now into milk and its time to harvest..optimum time actually. That is pretty hard to do when the trucks are stuck in the mud.

So this year the boys went for the muddiest fields and hit them hard and fast. They were also running relentlessly, harvesting all day Thursday, into the night and then all day Friday and Friday Night. Today (Saturday) we harvested until noon but finally the rain came at noon and we stopped.

Its been a long time since we harvested corn 24/7 but its also pretty cool. The chopper can light up a few acres so light is not a problem, and there is a deep feeling on contentment as the towers blink on the distant mountaintops and the frost bitten leaves of corn rustle in the wind. Even in the trucks there is a odd feeling of an asleep world as lights pierce the darkness as they thread their way up gravel roads that were laid out when American's were still called colonists.

Crop wise we survived a summer with solid rain and are averaging 18 tons to the acre for those that are interested. Its down from our typical 22-24 ton to the acre, but its enough to get by and the ears are looking really good. We can't really complain I guess, and after the rain stops, and we finish up the harvest, we can take a deep breath and grin upon winters rest.

Another year, and all is well in the world.

Who Duck Hunts

cweick — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:33:43 GMT

Okay. P2 isn't old enough to get his Hunter's Safety Organe Card yet. But we are looking into making a couple of plots for traveling ducks. I know it's the wrong time of the year and this should of been planted several mths back, but we've got next year.

So with that being said. What seeds do you plant in a plot for ducks?

Thanks.

Washington Parish, Louisiana

Heirlooms

Charlene — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:21:20 GMT

I've been an avid gardener for 4 years now and have always bought my small heirloom plants at our local 4H in the spring. I was hoping to start my own plants in the spring and was wondering if anyone knows of a good source for heirlooms

Urban Farmers in Lexington, Kentucky area?

Farm Guy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:15:49 GMT

Curious if anyone else is in my area and is a urban farmer?

Companion planting with winter wheat

Douggifford — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:05:08 GMT

I will be planting a small patch of winter wheat this fall. I’m wondering if annual rye grass would be a good companion crop for the winter wheat. My goal is to have a good thick stand to out-compete weeds before winter. I then hope the dead rye grass will serve as mulch to further reduce weeds when the wheat begins to grow in the spring. Does this make sense?

Spider Webs in Pecan Tree

cweick — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:01:07 GMT

We have several pecan trees and like the years before we are getting spider webs in them. We don't spray them. We wait for a rain and light the webs on fire. I have a pecan tree in the chicken yard and is very close to the shed/coop. Don't want to spray because of the chickens and don't really want to lite a fire since it's to close for comfort. Any suggestions, besides just leaving the webs along? The caterpillars that fall only the ants will kill and eat. The chickens don't eat them like some of the other small insects.

Tomato Cages and How to make them

Farmboy24 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:12:15 GMT

Looking for information on making tomato cages. I know it is late in the season but want to get ahead for next year. I am tired of staking up and tying up each plant. I am looking for information on what type of wire to use and how to go about making each cage. Also how to fasten them or put them in the ground. Also looking for ideas on what to put around the plants. ie, mulch, newspapers. What to use to keep them weed free and growing best

Biggest Mistake

Mosaics — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:25:21 GMT

I'm new to gardening. We bought our farm last year with no prior experience. I planted our first garden last spring, then a fall garden, too. I was given a book authored by Howard Garrett (supposed to be a Texas organic gardening guru) and since I knew virtually nothing about gardening, much less keeping it organic, I enthusiastically embraced his advice, which led to my worst mistake so far...planting hairy vetch.

According to Garrett's book, you should plant hairy vetch in your garden in the fall, letting it grow throughout the winter. Then, in the spring you're supposed to cut it down and let it lie on the ground forming a mat. The benefits are two-fold (1) put nutrients back into the soil, and (2) the mat acts as a mulch to keep the moisture in and weeds out. That sounded like a very good plan to me, so I ordered some seed and planted away, happily watching it grow through the fall, winter, and spring.

Unfortunately, when it came time to cut the vetch down, I found it nearly impossible. First I tried a weed eater (string trimmer as some call it). Pretty much all it did was chop the vetch into tiny pcs. flinging them all over me (which pretty much puts paid to the idea of forming a mat). What wasn't chopped into bits was wrapped around the weed eater in a big wad. Then I tried a manual grass whip, which did nothing but whip the vetch and not cut it. Then I tried crawling on my hands and knees and cutting it with shears. And, while this did work, it was exhausting and slow. I gave up on the mat mulch aspect and tried to mow it with my riding mower. The mower got stuck in the soft soil and had to be towed out.

I ended up resorting back to the hand shears, doing a little each morning before it got too hot. Luckily, my garden is not huge (30 x 60) and I had only planted the vetch in half of it. But, but the time I got all the vetch cut out, I discovered that it had allowed the bermuda grass and other weeds to get established underneath it. It took me up through July to pull out all the weeds and grass. I had to leave some rows unplanted because of it.

Lesson learned...no more hairy vetch and no more blindly trusting a guru.

Lime Tree

cweick — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:47:29 GMT

For Easter P2 wanted a lime tree. So off to the co-op we went and he found one with a lime on it. We got it home and planted it. It flowered and limes formed and then the dry spell came. I went to the tree and plucked off the limes. Between work, animals and others I could not walk water to it for a couple of days. So, I thought it was best to take the limes off of it. It reflowered, to my surprise. Now we've been getting some rain.

Does any one take care of lime trees out there? If so, what do you do to take care of them during the winter. I heard that you can wrap the trucks, but what do you use to keep the fungus from growing in sometimes soggy weather?

Thanks in advance.

How are your crops doing?

ValerieJean — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:24:21 GMT

I do tons of canning every year. Some I get local and some I get from a couple of fresh market places in town. Because we live in an area where warmer climate produce doesn't grow I buy from a coop and the market places. I also end up buying tomatoes since we need to increase out tomatoe plot.

This year, I received an email from the coop telling me that there would be no peaches or tomatoes coming. The BC valley had a total crop failure of both products due to weather.

We've also noticed some of our garden isn't doing as well as usual and the local hay producers are having to bring it in... all due to weather.

How are your crops doing?

Gardening in Iraq

quickstrike06 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:11:06 GMT

I'm going to Iraq later this year. While there I'd like to pass some time by trying to grow a few vegetables ina garden. With poor soil and extreme heat (130degrees+), I'm not sure of how to best go about it.

I figure I will have to do some sort of composting to amend the soil, develop a watering system, provide a sunshade/screen so plants don't get scorched, and then select the best types of plants to attempt growing.

What do you think? Anyone with suggestions?

Oh, and did I mention, I'm in the Army so access to space is limited and this attempt is all based on what I can grow on a forward operating base.

How to keep wild rabbits out of flowers

Lyndsie — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:20:08 GMT

Does any one have any ideas on how to keep rabbits from eating my flowers.

Here's a delemia for you

Farmermom — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:48:35 GMT

How do I catch someones ferret that's living under my garden eating my squash, cukes, & pumpkins?

I tried a Hav-A-Hart trap and got nothing but a few chickens I do have a squirrel size Hav-a-Hart I could try but I'm afraid it might be too small (I'm not sure how big a ferret gets?) we know it's a ferret it has been seen running from the garden and we know from past experience if it was a weasel that it would be killing chickens & eating eggs before it would eat veggies.

companion gardening

ValerieJean — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:33:14 GMT

I've read about companion gardening for years.

This year I finally have a truth about companion gardening. To me, if you read about something, that's a philosophy. If you experience it, that's your truth.

Well, usually we have no trouble growing onions. We plant lots and use the thinnings for green onions. This year the onions just aren't growing and we've been finding it very odd.

This year is the first year in a very long time we've grown peas. We placed the onions right next to the peas. All summer we've wondered why those onions just aren't doing well. They actually have never gotten past the green onion stage and then the tops die. I was out picking peas the other day and it dawned on me to check the companion gardening books. Sure enough - onions hate peas. Never did read further to find out why but at least now I know what's been happening.

So... we have another crop of onions in a different spot and we'll see how they do. There isn't enough season left for them to develop much, but at least we should get something.

Next year... the onions will be place away from the peas.

This winter I think I'll do more investigating into the why's of companion gardening.

Crops like ginseng

ValerieJean — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:27:43 GMT

The ginseng post got me thinking about other crops one could plant, let sit with little attention and then harvest. We did plant some mushrooms logs this year and will see how they produce

Does anyone have other suggestions?

black fungus

squanto — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:02:30 GMT

Lost the entire garden in 2 days to the black fungus that started with the hot house plants on the eastern seaboard . The only thing to survive were the beets. They had a news article on this a few weeks ago so i pulled an entire plot to stop it but being an airborne disease couldn't stop it farmer lost a whole field of tomatoes. oh well there is next year. Just very mad because they knew of the problem but sold plants anyway.

Strange Bean

vives — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:47:58 GMT

Hello Everyone!!

I have some questions about a type of bean I bought from a korean market. It was an impulse buy so I don't know exactly what kind of bean it is.

It markings look like pinto beans only darker, and it has a funny looking light colored lump that looks like a "rear end". I'm concerned because I read in a seed catalouge that certain asian beens are toxic!! Another question: I tried to grow these beans and had four healthy seedlings, but one just died suddenly, but the others look okay. What could have caused this?

Deer in the garden

ValerieJean — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:51:08 GMT

In the last couple of years, the deer around here have multiplied and we now have to make sure they stay out of our gardens and stop eating the fruit trees.

We'd rather not have to put up big fences to keep them out. I've heard about the 'hanging smelly soap', 'putting up tin plates to rattle in the wind', 'hanging tape', 'spreading human hair', etc

Anyone have any suggestions.

Don't mind them being around, but they could pick a different spot for their lunch - like the field next door or the woods behind us.

Maybe it'll come down to meat in the freezer.

EQUIP-Crops Project Report

Drawbar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:20:31 GMT

As many people know I got a grant under the NRCS-Crops Program to put an access road on my farm to a field that is very difficult to get at. The field in question was only 2 acres in size because a rock wall split two fields in half. After removing 60 cords of wood, and moving and adjusting 1400 feet or rock walls, significant progress has been made.

This week we were able to remove the rockwall and put that rock into my roadway as sub-base. That took an entire day with some pretty big equipment. Now the two fields (6 acres) and (2 acres) have been merged into a 8 acre field. I gained a little more by cutting 30-50 feet of trees around the outside of the fields and stumping them to soil. Now this single field is big enough to turn from grass ground into corn since it is big enough to do so now.

For those concerned with soil quality, this is huge. Crop rotation breaks up compaction from 40 years of hay/haylage harvesting, and sub soiling breaks up the hard pan allowing the soil to drain better. At the same time the exposed soil allows us to get cow manure and lime products down into the soil where rain and run-off will not carry it away. It will stay in corn for a few years and then be rotated back into grass ground.

This is where going around and removing the trees that have encroached over the last few years really helps. Because I cut all the trees back to the original stone walls, once we drill this field back into grass, we will be back to the original field size from the 1830's. This maximizes the amount of arable acreage on the farm.

While we were at it, I had a rock I had been driving over for the last 40 years. Considering the sizes of some of the rocks on the stone wall, (the size of an average couch) I knew if my forefathers left this one, it was big. I was right. From the soil I had pushed out from around it, it was clear that they had buried it below the surface by hand. I dig and dug with a d-4 but the boulder would not budge. It took a Cat Excavator and the D-4 to bust it from the ground. In the end it was about the size of my Ford Focus...no wonder that rock was left in the field...no team of oxen could pull it in 1830!

As for the road, we started hauling gravel today and got the middle layer of gravel started. (sub-base...then a foot of coarse gravel...then a few inches of finish gravel over that). In the end it has to be 15 feet wide, 16"-24" deep of gravel or rock, and will be almost ¼ mile long. It will definitely be a major farm improvement and help soil and water quality along the way. It's just amazing the amount of work it takes to get the maximum amount of yield for a given field now.

Ginseng?

imperialfarms — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:42:30 GMT

Greetings, I am new to the forum and have a my farm page (imperialfarms) and have a question with adding ginseng to our farm.

I have done some research on ginseng and found it would need to be grown wild, in our "forest area" that consist of 14 acres and read the States (Pa.) required permits and inspections.

My questions is this: Is this a good "crop" to add to our unused woods or would it be more time consuming than profitable?

Thank-you

Joe Sr

Hay Crop Progress

Drawbar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:15:05 GMT

Its been one wet summer and we are a month behind, but slowly we have been getting the high protein fields in. We are working on the low protein fields now, which are smaller, unimproved fields that don't get the attention of the larger fields like getting optimum manure levels, being crop rotated, or being drilled with high protein legumes like orchard grass, clover and alfalfa. We separate the two types of feed with the lactating cows and sheep getting the better feed, and the heifers and beef cows getting the lower protein.

For lack of anyone else to do it, I have been doing the mowing which is a nice change of pace. We bought a smaller tractor this spring pretty much just to run the mower and it does alright. The mower is a 16 foot haybine, so the weight of that mower really pushes that NH 8830 around quite a bit...and just turning the PTO on will bring the 190 hp engine to its knees. But the powershift feature is nice and makes handling the corners a lot easier...just knock the tractor down a few gears with a flick of the wrist, slew the mower around, and then crank back up through the gears after making the corner.

As for feed quality and yield...well the quality is down no surprise there. I think the high protein fields measured out at 18-19% protein while the lower protein fields might get 11% :(. Because it has been so late getting to the fields, the yields are up because the grass has really grown. We figure we are getting about 7 ton to the acre right now, but the grass is indeed stemmy. Its so stemmy that we cannot merge the rows of grass together because the chopper is using every hp it has chop the grass into 1½" lengths.

All in all, we got about 2/3 of of our first crop, hay crop in. It's not great, but at least its not raining everyday so we can get some in. Still lots of mud though, stuck trucks and rutted up fields. :( :(

Adding berries to the Farm Plan?

Drawbar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:17:50 GMT

I just did a tour of another county in Maine and I was interested roughly in two different crops that do not exist on my farm yet and those were blueberries and cranberries.

I am debating if this is something I should get into. I have a few acres of land that are low lying and collect water. This one woman on the farm tour has a 1 acre cranberry bog and averages 10K in profit per year in cranberry sales from that one acre plot. I was thinking maybe this was a sideline I can get into and help improve the over all productivity of the farm.

The second idea was an area located on the highest point on the farm that is very barren. It cannot be farmed because the ledge rock is so close to the ground. The smattering of rock that occurs there though would propagate blueberries quite well since the PH is very low and blueberries do not need soil to grow. I was thinking of cutting and chipping the low growing brush that grows there, spreading it out on the ledge rock and then planting blueberries to help protect the area, keep it in agriculture and grow blueberries. Its only a few acres in size, but even if it was just for the family, maybe it would be worth doing?

What do you guys think? Is this worth researching or do you think developing this would kind of be silly? I do not have the cash resources to do this now, but perhaps with a some ag funding under either equip or whip I could make this land a bit more productive?

Where not to garden???

vives — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:06:09 GMT

Hi everyone!

I know that it is not good to place crops near express ways and the like but what about old building sites? Are places of previous construction completely out of the picture even if the spot was only used as a tractor parking lot and asbestos/ lead are not present? I was just thinking that it would be difficult for urban farmers/ gardeners to work land completely devoid of urban activity. Are raised beds best for this situation?

Anyone else noticing fewer pollinators this year?

Seafield — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:15:39 GMT

Walking through the gardens this morning, checking for ripe produce, I'm beginning to notice a somewhat depressing trend. My beans and tomatoes are flowering beautifully, and have been for a while, but are really not forming any fruits. I interplant with a lot of nectar flowers as well, and I'm just not seeing many bees around my plants. Usually the garden is buzzing in the early mornings, but this year all seems strangely quiet and deserted. Anyone else noticing a definite reduction in their pollinators?

Chocolate Colored Tomatoes

cweick — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:20:56 GMT

My aunt sent a gallon size bag of these brown (chocolate tomatoes). They are sweet to eat. She found them in a Farmer's Market close to her house.

Does any one know their name?

Are they a hybrid?

If they are already placed in the icebox is it to late to dry the seeds for next year?

Can you tell me where to purchase seeds for these tomatoes?

If you have grown them, how hard are they to grow? We like to grow Early Girls, and Lemon tomatoes. Beefy Boys are okay if we can but that's been to hot to do lately.

Thanks in advance.

Green Thumbs Welcome -- and beginners, too!

HFfriend — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:00:35 GMT

Welcome to our new topic all about crops and gardening.

From seasonal gardening and small-farm crops to just about anything that grows in the ground -- post your questions, concerns and advice!

What's your favorite crop or plant?

What's been giving you trouble this season?

We want to know what's on your gardening mind.