Farming and Homesteading

[Greatshield17]

Onions I found easier to start from sets than seed. So I just buy a bag of sets each year.
Garlic, you just plant the cloves in the late fall and cover them with some hay or leaves or something (in case it's too cold), and they'll poke up first thing in the spring.

Do you know what your growing zone is where you are?
If you want to grow stuff that's more sensitive than your growing zone, you'll want to look at a greenshouse, but for smaller spaces, this little hoop house works great!

I built one of these and actually put it inside my greenhouse, so I can start growing heat loving plants like watermelon, basil, and peppers starting in February.

Thanks, that’s great to know!

 

[Greatshield17]

Oh, I just saw where you are. We're practically neighbours. lol.
I'm over in the Kootenay Boundary area.
You'll definitely want a greenhouse

Interesting, yeah I figured I’d probably need some greenhouses and the like.

 

[Greatshield17]

Okay here’s a photo of some of the seeds I have on hand. I left out other seeds I have including tomatoes and peppers, since I know that those seeds need to be grown indoors first and then replanted. (Which is a shame because I love those foods! ) Are any of the seeds shown here the kind you can just plant right away? (I think I heard that cucumbers are of the type you can plant right away):

 

[Varzar]

Cucumbers you can plant directly or start inside early in the season.
Carrots I usually direct sow, I'm not sure how well they'd take transplanting.
Onions I have started inside early, or used onion sets instead of seeds and put them straight outside. The latter was easier. Never tried direct sowing the seeds.
Cabbage and kale I've never tried to grow. My neighbours grow it in their greenhouse.
Broccoli I had more luck growing in pots in the greenhouse. I also grew some outside, but rodents seem to very much enjoy small broccoli plants, so only the ones in the greenhouse survived.

 

[Greatshield17]

One of the potatoes I’ve cut has started growing mold, is it okay to cut the mold part off and leave the rest?

 

[Varzar]

I've never done the cutting bigger potatoes down thing for planting, I only ever just use small 1/2" to 1" size "seed" potatoes and direct bury them.

I don't see why it would be bad to trim off the mold though. The sprout is going to be taking the nutrients it needs with to begin with from the potato itself, and given a 1/2" nugget will grow into a full plant, it wouldn't seem like the sprout needs all that much to get itself going.

 

[Greatshield17]

I've never done the cutting bigger potatoes down thing for planting, I only ever just use small 1/2" to 1" size "seed" potatoes and direct bury them.

I don't see why it would be bad to trim off the mold though. The sprout is going to be taking the nutrients it needs with to begin with from the potato itself, and given a 1/2" nugget will grow into a full plant, it wouldn't seem like the sprout needs all that much to get itself going.

I’m talking about the mold still being on the potato and spreading to the rest of it. I’ve actually heard it recommended that you should cut away as much of the potato as possible to reduce the chances of it getting mold.

 

[Greatshield17]

I’m running out of room in my compost bin, is it okay to bury some of the paper and food waste in my garden? (Provided I keep the 1:2 ratio) Maybe I should look into bio char, I do have a small metal tin I could use.

 

[Varzar]

I’m talking about the mold still being on the potato and spreading to the rest of it. I’ve actually heard it recommended that you should cut away as much of the potato as possible to reduce the chances of it getting mold.

Sorry, I'm confused now. I thought this potato you cut was a chunk of a potato you're using to plant a new potato plant. Is that incorrect?

I’m running out of room in my compost bin, is it okay to bury some of the paper and food waste in my garden? (Provided I keep the 1:2 ratio) Maybe I should look into bio char, I do have a small metal tin I could use.

In my experience, paper takes too long to decompose, and food waste in a non-enclosed compost (I use one of the plastic tumbler kinds) is a rodent attractor. At one point I was trying to just throw food scraps out in the garden (mostly just veggie cuttings, but also egg shells). The next day, the only thing left would be the egg shells. I live in the middle of wilderness though, so maybe not as big a problem where you are?

 

[Greatshield17]

Sorry, I'm confused now. I thought this potato you cut was a chunk of a potato you're using to plant a new potato plant. Is that incorrect?

No that’s correct.

In my experience, paper takes too long to decompose, and food waste in a non-enclosed compost (I use one of the plastic tumbler kinds) is a rodent attractor. At one point I was trying to just throw food scraps out in the garden (mostly just veggie cuttings, but also egg shells). The next day, the only thing left would be the egg shells. I live in the middle of wilderness though, so maybe not as big a problem where you are?

I see, I’ve read that wood ash and thus presumably, paper and cardboard ash would make good fertilizer; what about ash from food waste (particularly bread and coffee grounds and filters) would that work?

By the way, what’s your connection to the farming community like? There is a farmers’ market here called The Apple Guy, and I think they get some of their produce from the Kootenay Boundary region.

 

[Varzar]

No that’s correct.

Ok, then I'd see no problem cutting off the mold as long as you leave the sprout/eye that you want the new plant to grow out of.

I see, I’ve read that wood ash and thus presumably, paper and cardboard ash would make good fertilizer; what about ash from food waste (particularly bread and coffee grounds and filters) would that work?

Wood ash and such is good for anything that wants phosphorus (which potatoes do like). I imagine paper/cardboard ash would be similar.. However, I've been reluctant to use it for my food cause of the bleach and other chemicals used in the manufacture of paper products. I don't know if they all burn off when you burn them. It's probably insignificant, but.. I have enough slash piles to burn that wood ash isn't scarce.

I would think burnt food waste would be fine too. At least it wouldn't attract rats then.
Although I've read coffee grounds are good to mix straight into the garden (I don't think rats like coffee)

By the way, what’s your connection to the farming community like? There is a farmers’ market here called The Apple Guy, and I think they get some of their produce from the Kootenay Boundary region.

I'm not a commercial producer or anything. I, and all of the people I know here are just growing stuff for their own family and friends. Subsistence farming essentially.

 

[tree]

Coffee contains caffeine, so you don't want to use too much of it, too
heavy a proportion in your growing soil.

A Common-Sense Guide to Using Coffee Grounds in the Garden

I can't forget working with someone on a 4-H project about coffee.
Was surprised to learn that the area around coffee bushes becomes so
caffeinated that no other plants would grow near them.

 

[Varzar]

Coffee contains caffeine, so you don't want to use too much of it, too
heavy a proportion in your growing soil.

A Common-Sense Guide to Using Coffee Grounds in the Garden

I can't forget working with someone on a 4-H project about coffee.
Was surprised to learn that the area around coffee bushes becomes so
caffeinated that no other plants would grow near them.

That's interesting. I wonder if the coffee plant produces the caffeine for that purpose. I watched a plant documentary a while back where they were talking about a type of grass that releases a toxin into the ground through its roots specifically to make the ground uninhabitable to other plants.

 

[Greatshield17]

I'm not a commercial producer or anything. I, and all of the people I know here are just growing stuff for their own family and friends. Subsistence farming essentially.

I see, what jobs do you do or recommend for a living for someone who isn’t yet a full-time homesteader?

 

[Varzar]

I see, what jobs do you do or recommend for a living for someone who isn’t yet a full-time homesteader?

I don't work myself. But I think what would make the most sense around here for a part-time homesteader would be trades work. Being a homesteader, you're probably decent working with tools to build things. Lots of people around here need decks built, renos done, etc. A lot of the home building contractors in our area are too busy building full homes to deal with the small jobs. And those sorts of small jobs work well for people like us.

In the past around here, I've done a few deck stairs, some deck skirting, and deck roofing for people.

 

[Greatshield17]

My onions sometimes get these yellowish brown-coloured tips and look a bit shriveled, other times they (including when I lasted checked on them a few minutes ago) they looked mostly green and fine, is this something I should be concerned with?

 

[Varzar]

I've seen that on my onions on occasion. I always assumed they were lacking water, but mine weren't in a glass of water. So.. I'm not sure what that is.

Never seemed to affect the resulting onions though. So I've never been concerned about it.

 

[Greatshield17]

I've seen that on my onions on occasion. I always assumed they were lacking water, but mine weren't in a glass of water. So.. I'm not sure what that is.

Never seemed to affect the resulting onions though. So I've never been concerned about it.

Yes that’s probably it, I sometimes take a look at the water level and notice that it is somewhat low, and some of the roots are slightly above the water; although only slightly there’s still a lot of water, maybe they’re just water sensitive.

 

[Greatshield17]

One of my cucumbers is doing quite well, but, it’s leaning over to one side; does that mean it’s time for it to be transplanted, or is it just doing that to get more sun? (As it’s leaning towards the window) I expect my dad to be arriving today with more dirt, and I want to know, how much to use for my cucumber plant, and how much to use for planting my potatoes.

 

[Varzar]

I grew my cucumbers last year in 5 gallon buckets. That's probably more soil than they really needed.
I'd say you could have all these outside any time now, unless you're at significantly higher altitude than we are here, and have a lot later a last frost date. Our last frost date is around May 17th.

I think you might be creating yourself more work than necessary with things like the potatoes if you're starting them inside. Transplanting takes a lot of time/effort. I planted my seed potatoes outside in the garden practically as soon as the ground was thawed enough to dig. They just sprouted up out of the ground aa couple weeks ago. No transplanting necessary.

A lot of people around here also just plant cucumbers straight outside, albeit later than potatoes. They are a bit more cold sensitive. You could probably just plant cucumber seeds outside now and they'd be growing like crazy in no time.

As for soil, the cucumbers seem to appreciate a good soil with organics that'll hold water well and such. Cucumbers like a lot of water. Also, you might want to pick up some Epsom salts for cucumbers. They like the magnesium on occasion with watering.

Potatoes on the other hand are pretty happy in poor soil, but it needs to be well drained. For mine, I mixed sand with some rather poor top soil that I got from a local landscaping company. The top soil they gave me had quite a bit of fine gravel in it, and then I added sand on top of that. The potatoes do fine in that. I had a problem the first year where I gave them a very rich, dense soil mixture. The soil held too much water, and a number of the potatoes rotted. (I was also probably watering them too much, I am good at loving my plants to death)

Also, I grow my potatoes in old car tires. You stack up the car tires and continue to bury the potato plants as they grow. Just google "Growing potatoes in tires" if you'd like to know more on that.