Garden wishlists and ideas for next growing season?

[imafan26]

Speaking of tools. I wish they made more left handed tools. Most tools are designed for right handers, from weed whackers ( the exhaust and heat from the engine will blow right at your leg when it is used left handed), Hori knife, the serrated edge is on the wrong side for a left hander. Sickle blades that are tilted not straight are made for right handed people. It is what makes most Korean made tools not useful if you are left handed.

[Gary350]

Speaking of tools. I wish they made more left handed tools. Most tools are designed for right handers, from weed whackers ( the exhaust and heat from the engine will blow right at your leg when it is used left handed), Hori knife, the serrated edge is on the wrong side for a left hander. Sickle blades that are tilted not straight are made for right handed people. It is what makes most Korean made tools not useful if you are left handed.

Here is a picture of the sickle I want but picture only shows left hand sickle. Link does not work it says, out of stock. Link will not allow me to download the photo so I used my camera to take a picture of my computer monitor. I want a right hand sickle. $70 is more than I want to pay.

A different company sells the same item for $50 here is the link. Razor sharp blade is easy to use hook it around grass & weeds then easy pull forward cuts is grass off. 50 years ago I could bend over and use a short handle sickle, now I need a long handle sickle.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/SEYMOUR-MIDW ... 0f29877856

[applestar]

I could see in your picture it’s labeled “Seymour” They have good rep for well-made tools but are pricey — I was recently at their website looking for a specific kind of long handled garden hoe, so took a quick look — here’s their page on hooks
https://seymourmidwest.com/hooks/

[Gary350]

I could see in your picture it’s labeled “Seymour” They have good rep for well-made tools but are pricey — I was recently at their website looking for a specific kind of long handled garden hoe, so took a quick look — here’s their page on hooks
https://seymourmidwest.com/hooks/

This is the Seymour grass whip for $14 these work is wide open space but not good near other plants.

https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/8 ... 20Products

[applestar]

Yep. That’s the one similar to the one I got from Ace’s Hardware. I sharpened mine and it works for those pesky tree seedlings as well as tall weeds. (I suppose most people use weed whackers but I don’t like gas powered tools and electric ones only a little bit less)

SeymourMidwest website sometimes offers options of buying the head part of the tool without the handles — to be bought separately or supply your own.

I don’t know if this is the case for the grass hook, but I did notice the website isn’t always clear about size/diameter etc of the handle you need to match up. I’ve read a number of scattered reviews and comments there and other places by “handy” people who fixed it on their own — another reason I’m hesitant to buy just the head for myself, knowing just how UNhandy I am about closely or precisely fitted stuff…..

But the price becomes considerably less expensive especially when looking at long handles tools.

[Gary350]

Yep. That’s the one similar to the one I got from Ace’s Hardware. I sharpened mine and it works for those pesky tree seedlings as well as tall weeds. (I suppose most people use weed whackers but I don’t like gas powered tools and electric ones only a little bit less)
But the price becomes considerably less expensive especially when looking at long handles tools.

I don't like gas power either, a trip to gas station then a trip to Walmart for oil takes about 1 hr. If engine was not started all winter then if often won't start. Battery power works only 5 minutes. 100 ft extension cord is lots of trouble. When I was in high school I had a razor sharp short handle hand sickle I never had to swing it fast just move it right to left it cut every thing down very easy. I can't do the short handle sickle anymore I need a long handle. A month ago I saw 2 of the large hay field & wheat field cutting sickles at yard sales $20 those are too large for small work in the garden. I see lots of those big farm field sickles in TN lots of people have them for collector items then sell them at yard sales when they get tired of having them. Small hand sickles are very hard to find. I will keep watching market place online someone local might sell 1 before summer.

[Gary350]

Look what I found in WV 500 miles away on market place, a long handle grass sickle sold with all the other items in the picture for $125. She will no sell 1 item. She will not mail it. Pick up only.

There are lots of old tools for sale on market place maybe some day I find what I want.

[imafan26]

You have a lot of antique tools. I have a couple of sickles. I don't use it much. The blades are straight so they are universal. I am just not used to using it. It is used mostly to cut California grass, lemon grass and other tall weeds. Usually I use my weapon of choice that has a mattock on one end and a cultivator on the other. I rarely use the cultivator. I have a warren hoe and a regular garden hoe. I don't use those much because my aim is bad and I end up digging up my plants in the process.
It is getting to find one that has good balance. I can find the ones made in China and those have a very light handle and is a little longer so it is not well balanced for me. I can use the Korean hoe. It also has a light handle but a heavier head. I also have a long handled cultivator and hoe weeder, but it is also very light weight and does not have good balance. I only use it if I can't reach between things easily. My least favorite weeder is the Asparagus knife. It ends up getting accidentally thrown away with the weeds too often. The other thing I find indispensable are my garden weeding stools. I would not be able to get up without them. I usually carry one 5 gallon bucket for weeds and another 5 gallon bucket of tools (mattock/cultivator, pruners, loppers, a spray bottle of alcohol, a scrubber, and a can of wd 40 to oil the blade after it is cleaned. For bigger pruning projects, like pruning branches more than an inch, I have the reciprocating saw with pruning blade on standby. It is too tiring to cut branches with a hand saw any more.

https://www.amazon.com/Flexrake-CLA105- ... 1390828921

This is from farm and home hardware in Ohio. The other source is in California.

https://www.farmandhomehardware.com/sho ... YFEALw_wcB

[Gary350]

This is from farm and home hardware in Ohio. The other source is in California.

https://www.farmandhomehardware.com/sho ... YFEALw_wcB

They call it a Grass Hook too. I have always searched for sickle and several other spellings. Amazon grass hooks are $51. Walmart $51. Two other places $122 and $175. Farmandhome hardware is the best deal $32. Ebay Grass Hook $40 free shipping.

[imafan26]

Well, unless you have someone to pick it up for you in Ohio, you may have to find out what shipping will cost you. At least if you get it, it will come by truck so you won't have to deal with is having to go on a boat somewhere along the way.

[Gary350]

Well, unless you have someone to pick it up for you in Ohio, you may have to find out what shipping will cost you. At least if you get it, it will come by truck so you won't have to deal with is having to go on a boat somewhere along the way.

I won't need a sickle until grass & weeds start to grow again about May 20. I might find 1 at a yard sale or marketplace by then. Some people think, if its old its gold. If I find a short handle sickle I can replace short handle with a long handle. I though I had a short handle sickle somewhere but all I can find is a drawknife for making wooden wagon wheel spokes.

[violar]

I'm starting an asparagus bed and also trying cantaloupe and watermelon. Both are varieties that are supposed to do well in northern gardens. We will see how they handle the PNW. I can't wait to get growing this year!
Also, I want Hori Hori knife and a new planner

[Vanisle_BC]

Where are you violar? My asparagus does well here on Vancouver island. It was grown from seed. I think it's 'Jersey Knight'. Was supposed to be all-male but one (of 10) is female. We seldom cook it, it's so good raw. By the way growing from seed was far preferable to the puny roots I previously got by mail-ordering.

I have one of those Hori Hori knives but I'm disappointed with it. The blade is curved across its width, I suppose so that it can double as a trowel; but that shape makes it difficult to cut straight across anything. I find that annoying but maybe others don't; just my 2-bits for what it's worth.

[applestar]

I have Purple Passion asparagus which turned out to be one of the best perennial veg for the northern area food garden (hard to find stuff that are winter hardy).

Be sure to pick good well draining bed for the asparagus bed — mine is in one of the sandiest bed at top of slope.

Not sure how many are female but there have been lots of fruits and seeds (I have not been good at maintenance) and the birds have spread them around — I have some growing under the gate arbor trellises, front porch-side bed, mailbox area …under most of the trees where berry eating birds roost, really

I’ve kept most of them to see how they grow. The one in the front porch-side bed has been producing stalks to harvest since last year

I tend to use the HoriHori knife for making small holes for transplanting little seedlings, cutting stubborn roots with serrated edge in stab-saw motion in the dirt (perennials and shrubs), weeding grown through grass and weeds under wire fencw wires, and close quarter surface weeding around established plants (scrape surface of soil to cut weeds off subsurface. Use serrated edge for thicker stems/roots, hard ground…and smooth edge for easier baby weeds. Point of knife to prick away the weed next to plant)

[digitS']

At one time, AppleStar, harvesting wild asparagus along the river was a regular part of my routine. Once snow runoff decreased and the water level fell, the asparagus spears began to show up. Then, I learned that the Dept of Natural Resources recommended limiting the number of fish being eaten coming from the river. They brought in truckloads of sand and dumped them on popular beaches. All this because of heavy metal contamination from mining wastes upstream.

I still see the mature plants and even some in other locations. Unfortunately, I don't know where these will be because they are growing with weeds and native plants. The spears are grown out before I notice them.

We have been eating our usual store-bought broccoli but have really added gai lan to that this year. I think that I had better grow that in the garden of greens again. I appreciated that vegetable more when it was known as Guy Lon. I used to know a nice guy named Lon .

Steve

[Gary350]

At one time, AppleStar, harvesting wild asparagus along the river was a regular part of my routine. Once snow runoff decreased and the water level fell, the asparagus spears began to show up. Then, I learned that the Dept of Natural Resources recommended limiting the number of fish being eaten coming from the river. They brought in truckloads of sand and dumped them on popular beaches. All this because of heavy metal contamination from mining wastes upstream.

I still see the mature plants and even some in other locations. Unfortunately, I don't know where these will be because they are growing with weeds and native plants. The spears are grown out before I notice them.

We have been eating our usual store-bought broccoli but have really added gai lan to that this year. I think that I had better grow that in the garden of greens again. I appreciated that vegetable more when it was known as Guy Lon. I used to know a nice guy named Lon .

Steve

When I was in 1st grade 1956 in Illinois my mother & 2 aunts would drive the country roads looking for asparagus we lived 8 miles from town. When weather was a certain temperature about last week of April we drive very slow looking for asparagus. There were certain location they remembered asparagus grows every year. The trick was to find asparagus when it was about 8" to 10" tall then bend it over it will break off in the perfect location where the soft stalk became too hard to eat. They picked a basket full of asparagus then acted like they found gold.

[Vanisle_BC]

I've seen asparagus growing wild in the B.C. interior where winters get very cold.

[imafan26]

I have asparagus growing in 1 gallon cans. I have to find a place to plant them.

I have so many seeds in my frig, I am only getting a few seeds, but that might be wishful thinking too.

I did get these large insect bags, so I am going to try to grow some better tomatoes that are determinate. I am waiting on the seeds now.
Rosella purples tomato
Summer Sweet Gold Dwarf tomato.
If I can find my New Big Dwarf Seeds that will be the third one.

They should all be under 5 ft tall so they should fit in the tree net bag. It is the only way I will be able to grow tomatoes that are not resistant to TYLCV. So far the tomatoes with resistance are all determinate and very disease resistant, but are on the mild side. They look pretty, red and round, and they have been productive, and o.k. for my purposes. I have grown New Big Dwarf before and I liked that tomato. It made big beefsteak tomatoes on a two foot plant that were actually tasty.

The tomatoes from Souther Seed exchange had good reviews, so they will be my new trial ones. The only tomato that is TYLCV resistant that tastes good is the currant tomato. That is also the only indeterminate naturally resistant tomato I have.

I have ordered another tower garden. This time, I will make sure it has a stable platform so it cannot sink in the mud.

I have some other greens I haven't had room for Choho, another tatsoi and komatsuna hybrid.

I finally figured out the carrots. I just harvested the first of the Kuroda carrots. The sizes were all over the place from minuscule to short and nubby to nice long 5 inch carrots. They are under planted in pots with tomatoes and cucumbers as a secondary crop. I figured out that the longest carrots grew in the driest parts of the pots. Along the outside edge. Potassium that I gave them did boost root development, but they like to be on the dry side to force the roots to go deep instead of be short and squat. Carrots will still be only a secondary crop for me, but this tells me that I probably don't have to water some of my pots everyday.

I am going to try a few more things organically in the larger pots. I found a recipe for organic fertilizer management. So, I am going to try that on a few select crops. I cannot really do it in my ground garden. I only need nitrogen in that garden anyway, and I don't need much. It is still more practical for me to use sulfate of ammonia since most organic fertilizers will not give me pure nitrogen at an economical rate and on demand for the plants.

[applestar]

Hirochan Noen posted a new video for making home made bokashi fertilizer.

Her recipe is not scientific and her concept is to mix in all kinds of probiotic yeasts and lactobacilli culture, add raw sugar and (sea or natural) salt, and then mix with massive amounts of raw rice bran and fresh rice hulls, then add some additional ingredients for NPK values

She makes a big pile on a plywood panel in her huge storage shed, and aerates daily and adjusts for moisture, etc. until the mass undergoes fermentation and culturing process and the proliferating microbes thoroughly spreads and inoculates.

This is the mixing and blending part. She describes this recipe as “trying to use ingredients you can get at local supermarket” (and leftovers in the fridge) and from local rice milling center.

She added dried yeast and okara which she said she didn’t have enough of but will add more later (soybean hulls from tofu soy milk making is also readily available in Japan) to the liquid, and mixed in dried ground up banana peels, kelp, and used coffee grounds to the mound at the end.


(I tried turning on the autogenerated/translated English cc, and you can understand at least some of what she is saying, though not all.)

…

I think fresh sake must (rung out fermented rice from sake making process) and natto (fermented soybeans and wheat) would be hard to get for me. Soy milk and drinkable yogurt are no problem, as are dried yeast.

- I could also make home made soy or other non-dairy milk — basically boil and liquify in blender — and use the entire thing without filtering.

- I found very old miso in the back of the fridge while cleaning, so this would be perfect. Miso is available at Whole Foods so not a problem

- I would have to go to an Asian market for natto which they keep in freezer section. I bought dried natto powder last? year to see if that works

- I have rice koji so I can culture that in cooked rice and add … or just add any leftovers from making amazake, etc.

- I have tried rice bran based horsefeed which can sub for the bran and a good amount of the crude fiber and could be purchased at reasonable price and had good results.

- I’ve tried used buckwheat hull pillow filling in the past with good results.

- Other NPK ingredients I’ve used in the past — fish bone meal, kelp meal, cottonseed meal, soaked alfalfa pellets, hammered crab shells, crushed eggshells, chicken grit oyster shells.

….

Obviously, one of the most difficult to replicate is the volume. Hirochan has posted videos in the past trying to address this and making smaller batches, and she has said that the culturing process doesn’t develop according to her expectations, even though the smaller batches eventually produced results. So I think this is similar to a compost pile that has optimum mass. But that can’t be helped. I also use other bokashi fertilizer recipes as guides, including the anaerobic method in sealed plastic buckets and only occasionally opening and turning.

[applestar]

This guy is using this set up for a corded electric snow shovel, but I see potential for many garden use….

(This is a “short” so I don’t think I can embed the video….)

除雪の神アイテム！電動ショベルがやばい！#shorts https://youtube.com/shorts/vnO9xxykD9U?feature=share

…I guess if you already hike or go camping and have use for the rack, or already have or can totally see yourself needing a small portable generator like this, the math becomes even more balanced.

eta — oops I was basing above comment on the brand name “Montbell” but it’s apparently for more of a professional use (but it’s not as expensive as I thought it might be) —

carrier | Gear | ONLINE SHOP | Montbell
https://en.montbell.jp/products/goods/l ... ory=901000

Logger Frame Pack
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Price ¥28,050 (Incl.TAX)
No. #1132217
Brandmont-bell
Weight2470 g
Drawing knowledge from Montbell's mountaineering backpacks, the durable Logger Frame Pack is specially designed for forestry work and utilizes a proprietary back panel system to provide comfort and stability while carrying loads. Compatible with optional items (sold separately) to match the type of forestry work.
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Lightweight Logger Frame Pack
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Price ¥19,800 (Incl.TAX)
No. #1132218
Brandmont-bell
Weight1150 g
Drawing knowledge from Montbell's mountaineering backpacks, the Light Weight Logger Frame Pack is designed to carry variously shaped loads and provide comfort and stability while doing forestry work and mountaineering. *NOT compatible with optional items.

[applestar]

Just watched this video which I thought was informative. He was thorough enough to mention that he gardens in US Zone 8 equivalent. I’m not very good at building things exactly, but he’s got some ideas stirring in my head ….
Comparing the pros and cons of: cold-frames; low and high polytunnels; g...
[youtuDOTbe]https://youtu.be/dJxMDVLZH48?si=zoFl9A8ncC-KAJ7G[/youtuDOTbe]

[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=1wGX6fFu ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

(Hmmm not awake enough to figure out why I can’t get this video embedded… )

[digitS']

... added gai lan to that this year. I think that I had better grow that in the garden of greens again. I appreciated that vegetable ... .

And, I did and did again in 2023. It was a fairly casual undertaking without much more than including gai lan with the other greens in the hoop house early and setting out plant starts from the greenhouse into the open garden. It was done just a bit more in '23 and there are some plants left to see how they will tolerate Winter weather - outdoors. Started in the hoop house, which was uncovered and taken down, they grew continuously while being harvested of buds continuously. Some of the plants reached the size of the broccoli plants, which were saved after the center head was harvested this year and produced quite a few side shoots. It will be interesting to see how they match Scotch kale and collards cold tolerance through the next weeks.

AppleStar, the video of the gardener there near the west coast of the UK reflected some of my growing -- except, that Steve is doing it better . He is likely to be dealing with less light during the Winter months than here but the -10°C he is talking about have already occurred here and I have seen it below zero Fahrenheit (not Celsius) here by this time in November – we have been having above normal temperatures in 2023.

Yes, keeping things from baking in a small cold frame was my problem with the one I tried. I quickly changed to a small greenhouse. The little covered beds I can deal with here at home but they take quite a lot of attention, especially during the daytime with clouds but sunbreaks that can send temperatures soaring. My hoop house appears every March and disappears in late May or sometime in June. It measures 9' by 20'. That protective growing is a lot easier to deal with than the cold frame was, years ago.

In the greenhouse (really a sunshed with an insulated north wall & roof) there are a few greens in there for the early part of this cold weather, at least. I didn't haul out the heavy central bench to plant the larger bed beneath it for this Winter. Things really slow down by the end of the year with, not only the cold, but the very limited daylight. Then there is need for the space for garden starts by March and I am just unwilling to put heat in there before that time. That doesn't leave something like kale out of the scene but it is surviving outdoors, as well. Now, about that gai lan ...

Steve, on the border of ID/WA