Michibacy Grow Blog 2015

[Michibacy]

Dear oh dear I've been busy.

I do apologize for not being on here as much as I would have liked to been. Been busy getting the house ready for mortgage inspection, getting plants started, working at the office overtime since it's spring time and that's our busy season (welcome to Farming).

Babies are doing very well, and we have the baby shower tomorrow, we have picked names, Ruby Louise and Yvette Pearl. (Yvette pronounce yuh-vet, the German pronunciation). Got the baby room all painted (that was a nightmare, I used a half gallon of spackeling to repair holes in the walls underneath the dry wall. Getting carpet Tuesday, then onto assembling cribs .

We built an automatic watering system using an air-lift pump that provides the float trays with a constant drip of water. This helps the soil stay moist but not wet. (also pictures to come soon)

Now onto some tobacco/grow room porn.

Tobacco seeds about 12 hours before the first noticeable shoots came out

Tobacco seeds prior to transplanting into trays

The Greenhouse, right now we have our grape plants started in there, we are making a small arbor that will provide us and our youngins' grapes, wine and jam for years to come

These little guys are apparently welcomed in the grow area. I have not seen a single bit of evidence that they hurt the plants, they even benefit the grow. Any centipedes, flies or other creepy crawlies are quickly eaten up by the Lady Bugs.


More updated pictures probably tomorrow, of the float trays, air lift pump, drip tube set up, grow light set up and a preview of where we will be planting.

Our area we are planning on planting in was corn field up until last year. We will be shredding down any corn stubble, and plan to be planting using no till techniques.

Cheers folks!

 

[Knucklehead]

Good to see you back. Good luck with your season.

 

[Chicken]

I look at seeing a ladybug....as a sign of good luck for any gardener..

I like it when they land on my arm....its like they are trying to tell me something

 

[Michibacy]

Indeed Chicken! If you need some I can ship you some! We have a small lady bug farm now

Also, we are planting a full garden as well, tomatos, squash, hot peppers (Anaheim, Ancho, Red Cayenne, Jalapeno, Hungarian wax), Okra, Beans (stringless).

Should be a good grow year!

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Gardening with a new baby on the way? You and me both, brother. I know the special insanity that is your life right now, but maybe not on the scale that you do. Looks like you have quite a growing operation going on there. Can't wait to read more.

 

[Michibacy]

Hey ProfessorPangloss, don't think I've met you before! Congrats on the baby as well! That special insanity you speak of - - - Yep. Everyone I've talked to tells me I'm insane for doing what I'm doing, but gardening and farming brings me peace and tranquility....if everything goes according to plan...ah...nevermind...this is mother nature we're talking about!

When is your wife due? Know what you're having?

Also, love the Avatar, Van Gogh was a terrific artist. Even though he was on the deep end of the pool, I guess all of us are though

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

We're having a little girl about any day now, in addition to our two year-old son (budding gardener). I've been rushing to get all sorts of stuff done (drywall, roto-tilling, transplanting, mulching, etc), but if we can pull it all off, I'll spend a summer raising plants and babies, which is as close to my ideal existence as I ever imagine being.

How are your Moby Wrap skills? I don't think I'd work in tobacco wearing a baby because of nicotine absorption, but you can get a lot of other pruning and deadheading done with a baby wrap. Or just do like I did for our first - park self against a wall, open adult beverage, and read books while the baby gets a nap. You don't have to move around because that might wake the baby. It is the ideal work avoidance technique.

Thanks on the avi!

 

[Michibacy]

The pictures I promised you folks.

I've been learning the past few years, I start my plants WAY too early for our environment in Michigan, When I get these planted, I don't think they'll go through as much transplant shock. Hopefully my learning has been true.

Also, you'll notice the closely clustered Xanthi Yaka, Even though the "weaker" ones get choked out, the ones that survive have much stronger stalks, high leaf count and strive in low water situations. That is - - - after they have been planted in close proximity to one another.

 

[Hasse SWE]

Hi Michibacy funny to see your new workers!
I have been thinking of those little"thing". In Sweden they call's "nyckel-piga" directly translations would be "keyWench" but I think"lady bugs" sounds better..
My son did find one last year, he picked it up and happy he run screaming"Daddy, daddy look I have found it,it's mine" but it have a security guard.. One "ladybug" flying and landed on his neck, took a bite, I don't think my sons will ever take those again..

Are U really successful growing em up? How do you do?
They are a big help in every garden!!

Chicken: I guess they tell you to grow mere tobacco... Can't you show em google-translation? It's possible they have more to tell..
LOL

 

[BarG]

I look at seeing a ladybug....as a sign of good luck for any gardener..

I like it when they land on my arm....its like they are trying to tell me something

You grew up with the same wives tales I was told. They do eat aphids. Thats good.

 

[BarG]

Indeed Chicken! If you need some I can ship you some! We have a small lady bug farm now

Also, we are planting a full garden as well, tomatos, squash, hot peppers (Anaheim, Ancho, Red Cayenne, Jalapeno, Hungarian wax), Okra, Beans (stringless).

Should be a good grow year!

I love those roma beans Michibaccy. they are stringless and more a snap bean . That is all I grow anymore. They can well. Cook them with bacon ,diced potatoes,onions and tomatoes with a beef buillon cube.

 

[Hasse SWE]

I love those roma beans Michibaccy. they are stringless and more a snap bean . That is all I grow anymore. They can well. Cook them with bacon ,diced potatoes,onions and tomatoes with a beef buillon cube.

Thanks"BarG" Then I known one thing I will try to found till the next season..

 

[Michibacy]

Hasse Swe, sorry, I was exaggerating about the farm of lady bugs. We live in a very old family farm house that has a slight lady bug problem. In the US years ago the government released millions of them to kill aphids and other insects, now we have a very low butterfly population in our state and a high population of lady bugs.

they do help keep the insects at bay tho.

as for the beans Barg, that's all I grow now too, very easy clean up in the spring and it just makes the garden look cleaner

 

[chuditch]

In our vineyard we will find a shoot thick with aphids and a week later thick with lady bugs I have never seen so many lady bugs as I do in the vineyard. We never spray insecticides and the lady bug population comes straight after the aphids appear. Have been told that if we spray the aphids then want the ladybugs as natural predictors back will take 15 to 20 years to get back to the same balance. Amazing that the bad bugs the aphids will reappear a year after spraying but the good bugs the lady bugs will take years to get back to numbers required to control them. We do have to scoop them out of the fermentation vats though as they add a very interesting or should that be uninteresting piquancy to the wine.

Hasse Swe, sorry, I was exaggerating about the farm of lady bugs. We live in a very old family farm house that has a slight lady bug problem. In the US years ago the government released millions of them to kill aphids and other insects, now we have a very low butterfly population in our state and a high population of lady bugs.

they do help keep the insects at bay tho.

as for the beans Barg, that's all I grow now too, very easy clean up in the spring and it just makes the garden look cleaner

 

[Hasse SWE]

Hasse Swe, sorry, I was exaggerating about the farm of lady bugs. We live in a very old family farm house that has a slight lady bug problem. In the US years ago the government released millions of them to kill aphids and other insects, now we have a very low butterfly population in our state and a high population of lady bugs.

they do help keep the insects at bay tho.

as for the beans Barg, that's all I grow now too, very easy clean up in the spring and it just makes the garden look cleaner

Aha.. And I was just thinking you try to get as much ladybug's as possible.. Too bad to hear about the bad things with the butterfly.. Nothing good that don't bring some bad things.. Where I come from we had problems with rabbit, they planted in seek rabbit's to keep em in control. The foxes and hunters had not a chance alone and the eagles had they one problems ( foxes and eagle are one Gotland they only animal that hunting rabbits).. Guess its almost the same thing, but different LOL

 

[Michibacy]

It's all an eco system It's amazing how a butterfly dying can effect the cow population.

It's a great little study to perform

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

That food/animal web interconnected-ness is exactly the reason I don't spray insecticide anymore. I've seen what Sevin does to honeybees, and it's not pretty.

 

[Michibacy]

Exactly Professor P, This year I'm not using anything other than my natural fertilizer. If I have bad bug issues, I'll just wash them off with my irrigator I'm building.
Our new grow area is a hop and skip away from the nearest hose tap, until I can install a hand well, this is what I have to work with. So I'll disassemble some other farm equipment I have a build a irrigation wagon.

 

[Michibacy]

Alright, need your guys' (and gals) opinions.

I understand that watering garden/plots requires quite a bit of water. As before mentioned, it's quite a long distance to run a hose, so I'm working around that. I've done lots of research under many different terms; "watering garden via tank, watering garden bowser, nurse tank" etc but don't see quite what I need.

How many of you guys "strip/band irrigate" vs "broadcast irrigate"? When I used to water my garden growing up with say, a watering can, I didn't water ALL the soil, I just did around the base of the plants, about as wide as the plant was (say our beans were 18" wide, I would water the soil in an 18" wide strip along the plant, with the plant in the center of the watering area, I know I'm over simplifying that.) I know this can help with weed prevention and soil compaction as well.

The "bowser" I'm designing would be similar to the picture below, that I drew on paint. I envision simply attaching large orifice "shower tips" to each boom tip, driving by at a slow pace and dowsing the plant base with water. I need to figure what GPM tip I need, which will let me know how fast to drive. I understand this isn't ideal way of doing it, but it will help me keep an eye on the growing plants, that's for sure. I honestly don't see how this would be much different than "a large watering can". Low pressure, high flow.

Let me know your thoughts!

 

[Chicken]

Looks like a drip line is what you need..

This year I did my veggie garden in drip line...