LJ seaweed has been used for millenia. It is a localism, but works fine.
I am wondering about your night time temperatures at the opening and closing of your growing season. If they consistantly fall below 50°F some kind of poly tunnel for tomato may be in order.
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Lucius_Junius
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- Location: Nova Scotia - Zone 6a
At the very opening and closing the temperatures dip a little, but it is rare for the majority of the warm season. I am considering starting tomatoes in cold frames this year, but I haven't looked too much into it. Would the poly tunnel be useful for transfering the small tomato plants out of the cold frames when the frost had passed but the temperatures were still occasionally getting low?
Elliot Coleman, the heir apparent of Helen & Scott Nearing wrote several books about growing on marginal cold sites.
Um, um Four Season Gardening may be one of his titles. your local inter-library loan system aught be able to get you one, some, all, of his and Barbara Damroche books about cold site gardening.
EC and BD works were based on heavy lifting done by the Nearings fifty+ years prior.
Definately a read worth doing in the sub-polar northeast.
Um, um Four Season Gardening may be one of his titles. your local inter-library loan system aught be able to get you one, some, all, of his and Barbara Damroche books about cold site gardening.
EC and BD works were based on heavy lifting done by the Nearings fifty+ years prior.
Definately a read worth doing in the sub-polar northeast.
Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman, Revised & Expanded Ed., 1999, Chelsea Green Publishing Co., P.O. Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001; (800) 639-4099; www.chelseagreen.com (Foreword by Barbara Damrosch)tomc wrote:Elliot Coleman, the heir apparent of Helen & Scott Nearing wrote several books about growing on marginal cold sites.
Um, um Four Season Gardening may be one of his titles. your local inter-library loan system aught be able to get you one, some, all, of his and Barbara Damroche books about cold site gardening.
EC and BD works were based on heavy lifting done by the Nearings fifty+ years prior.
Definately a read worth doing in the sub-polar northeast.
I've discussed this book elsewhere on the forum, but the salient point tomc is driving towards is that Coleman gardens and harvests 12 months of the year in the state of Maine. Many of the OP's suggestions are incorporated into Coleman's plans, but why re-invent the wheel? Do take a look at Four-Season Harvest, as well as Coleman's other books since 1999, and take from him what is useful to your situation.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
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Lucius_Junius
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- Location: Nova Scotia - Zone 6a
Thank you for drawing my attention to this author, Tom and Cynthia. This young lady was also recently brought to my attention, and I narrowly missed a presentation by her a month ago while I was diligently writing papers:
https://yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com/
I'll order Four Season Gardening today.
https://yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com/
I'll order Four Season Gardening today.
While certain crops are very demanding and perform better with compost, hauling compost is expensive and uses a lot of fossil fuels.
The long term solution is to choose crops that are not so demanding and get nature to do the work for you.
Growing deep rooted, nitrogen fixing, and C4 plants will sink more carbon per dollar than you can haul in.
Mineral amendments are also a big key: granite dust, rock phosphate, greensand (glauconite), glacial rock powder, etc.
Use animals in place to speed up decomposition instead of hauling manure.
I use no-till and mulching at times because it is a time saver and works well with certain crops, but if used too often, it will actually lower yields.
To be able to make gardening pay, you have to concentrate on the most nutrients per dollar and time spent.
You also need to concentrate on the methods that use the least amount of time and resources.
The long term solution is to choose crops that are not so demanding and get nature to do the work for you.
Growing deep rooted, nitrogen fixing, and C4 plants will sink more carbon per dollar than you can haul in.
Mineral amendments are also a big key: granite dust, rock phosphate, greensand (glauconite), glacial rock powder, etc.
Use animals in place to speed up decomposition instead of hauling manure.
I use no-till and mulching at times because it is a time saver and works well with certain crops, but if used too often, it will actually lower yields.
To be able to make gardening pay, you have to concentrate on the most nutrients per dollar and time spent.
You also need to concentrate on the methods that use the least amount of time and resources.
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rainbowgardener
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I mostly agree with Artemisia, certainly about working with nature.
I love my compost. Since I make my own in bins right next to my gardens, the only hauling involved is my labor in moving it from bin to garden, not very much. No fossil fuels.
Some of us city folks don't have the option of animals in place. But I do practice gardening with as little outside input as possible, so I don't use any manure. It's not required. I use only compost and mulch, the mulch mostly being fall leaves, and wood chips. The wood chips I make my self, by chipping up fallen branches and stuff. The fall leaves mostly I collect from the neighborhood, so they are sort of an outside input, but very local, no fossil fuel.
Mineral amendments are great, but they are mostly mined products and trucked, if you are being purist about things.
I'm not sure if making gardening pay was meant metaphorically, but in any sense it isn't much of a priority for me. I grow a bunch of flowers that provide me no nutrients per dollar. They provide beauty and pleasure and most of them have habitat and eco-sytem functions as well -attracting beneficial insects, etc.
I do focus on closed loop gardening, that uses no resources except some city water in dry periods when my rain barrels are empty. I do not pay too much attention to efficiency with my time. A lot of the point of the thing is to keep me outdoors, in my garden, in the fresh air and bird song, (away from my computer!), so the time is a plus for me. If I'm not working in my garden, I'm "playing" in it (walking around, looking at things, smelling, clipping the occasional spent flower, moving things just to improve the look in the landscape, etc).
I love my compost. Since I make my own in bins right next to my gardens, the only hauling involved is my labor in moving it from bin to garden, not very much. No fossil fuels.
Some of us city folks don't have the option of animals in place. But I do practice gardening with as little outside input as possible, so I don't use any manure. It's not required. I use only compost and mulch, the mulch mostly being fall leaves, and wood chips. The wood chips I make my self, by chipping up fallen branches and stuff. The fall leaves mostly I collect from the neighborhood, so they are sort of an outside input, but very local, no fossil fuel.
Mineral amendments are great, but they are mostly mined products and trucked, if you are being purist about things.
I'm not sure if making gardening pay was meant metaphorically, but in any sense it isn't much of a priority for me. I grow a bunch of flowers that provide me no nutrients per dollar. They provide beauty and pleasure and most of them have habitat and eco-sytem functions as well -attracting beneficial insects, etc.
I do focus on closed loop gardening, that uses no resources except some city water in dry periods when my rain barrels are empty. I do not pay too much attention to efficiency with my time. A lot of the point of the thing is to keep me outdoors, in my garden, in the fresh air and bird song, (away from my computer!), so the time is a plus for me. If I'm not working in my garden, I'm "playing" in it (walking around, looking at things, smelling, clipping the occasional spent flower, moving things just to improve the look in the landscape, etc).
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Lucius_Junius
- Cool Member
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- Location: Nova Scotia - Zone 6a
Artemesia, I agree basically with what you're saying about hauling compost and using fossil fuels. In general I try to look at every expense I put into producing my own food, as my goal is not to grow food for pleasure so much as to save money. The pleasure is an added benefit. That's why I stopped hauling loads of horse manure from a stable 30 km away. Luckily, however, the seashore is only about 600 meters from my doorstep, and I believe this justifies hauling several loads of seaweed per season. What I would -really- like is a horse or mule to haul with...
That said, I'm trying to use everything I possibly can in yard and house waste for compost. As much of my property is still covered in trees, there's no end to the amount of raking I do every year, and this is all getting put down to compost along with the chicken bedding (rich in droppings) and kitchen waste (which is minimal).
I regret to say I'm not very knowledgeable about mineral amendments. Do you purchase these or produce them yourself? I have a phobia of buying anything except seeds, as part of my food-producing challenge is keeping it separate from my bank account.
That said, I'm trying to use everything I possibly can in yard and house waste for compost. As much of my property is still covered in trees, there's no end to the amount of raking I do every year, and this is all getting put down to compost along with the chicken bedding (rich in droppings) and kitchen waste (which is minimal).
I regret to say I'm not very knowledgeable about mineral amendments. Do you purchase these or produce them yourself? I have a phobia of buying anything except seeds, as part of my food-producing challenge is keeping it separate from my bank account.
Since I do not live in your region I cannot say which local stores carry good mineral amendments. The best thing to do is visit around, see what they have, go back and Google it until you find the best available in your area. Look for granite dust, rock phosphate, greensand (glauconite), glacial rock powder, etc. Seaweed is great. Find out what your soil lacks and which one provides the most of what you lack without supplying too much of what you do not want. Ask for help from local experts who are not trying to sell you anything and who already know your local soil.