One Alaskans greenhouse

[Alasgun]

The Bee’s arrived today! It‘s 45f, cloudy with a little wind and i couldnt think of a poorer day for hiving lest maybe it were raining too!
None the less it went without a hitch. I feel sorry for the poor things; being shipped in from California last night and waking up in Alaska!
I do put every effort into their proper care and sure enjoy having them nosing about the property!

 

[Alasgun]

Things have normalized in the hive now and all the Gypsy looking additions are gone. They’re flying well and we say a little prayer that it will be a decent year for them.

Spring is far enough along that im comfortable connecting the hose to the timer manifold; which worked perfectly the first time. Now im only hand watering what’s still in trays which is still about half of it. But; having the water in the greenhouse is better than operating out of a hose, can by can!

Started some Chocolate mint root cuttings today in case the outside beds don’t come back.

 

[heirloomgal]

LOVE the goose. But, I guess I'm a little biased.

 

[Alasgun]

Right now we’re in between our two important planting times, greenhouse is rocking along nicely and haven’t done much in the garden yet. Probably won’t for another couple weeks so this time is spent doing a number lesser important “gotta be done things“.
With today being the deadline for studded tires, they were changed out yesterday; and im beginning to build a yard fence around the fruit trees, replacing the individual baskets previously around each tree.
This comes into the “Heavier work” category for a mature fellar which would have involved Jackson (the wheelbarrow). However, Jackson was supplanted with the purchase of a riding mower this spring. During the winter i built the trailer just for this sort of thing and am finding it useful already! Once the fencing is done i’ve got a new lettuce / spinach bed that needs filled and the trailer easily carries 24 cu. Ft of dirt; so it will be appreciated at that time as well.
At some point i’ll even get to mow the yard with my new toy.

The Lord’s been real fair with us over the years, even back during those years we had to cut the toes out of the kids shoes so they’re feet had room to grow! In today’s crazy world we just keep our heads down and keep keeping on. Yea, we’ve got our share of health issues; like most, but for the most part are trying real hard to adapt to life as old people as gracefully as we can. With the Lord’s help we’ll probably be just fine!

 

[Alasgun]

If you use your imagination you can see a couple elf’s sitting on little stools; playing tic-tac-toe! As this stump goes away.

While we were having the morning fruit cup we noticed some of the new bees discovering the cucumbers.

 

[heirloomgal]

@Alasgun I was so inspired by your gorgeous tomato plants, how deep green and vigorous they are (not to mention huge) that I went out and bought some amendments I haven't yet tried. I've only ever really used fish emulsion, granulated chicken manure, and some liquid worm casting solutions (a few times). When you do potted veggie plants what kind of soil/medium mix do you put together for them? Peat with manure added and then the amendments?

My new amendments

 

[Alasgun]

@heirloomgal i’d be happy to help. Kelp and Alfalfa were staples for me from the start along with a number of other things. Tomorrow i’ll post that recipe for you; but should warn “it’s deep”.
This is the year im transitioning to the Rabbit products and now use the amendments more for compost tea than anything else, to jump start the micro herd. (microbes)
For several years i’d put between $1000 and $1400 in “additions” onto the garden and greenhouse beds. The math told me, if any of the hype id heard about rabbit waste was true id be able to have the same results with a lot less effort and at a savings. After several years of contemplation i started the Rabbitry and began earnest experimentation last year.
Everything you’ve seen so far this year was achieved with Root’s organic 707 potting mix and my Rabbit wine recipe; which is much easier to use than anything prior.
I buy a years worth of Modesto milling rabbit pellets (20 bags) for $940.00 and along the way get all the rabbit i want to eat, all the poop / urine i need and a small cash crop of bunnies each year in trade for 10-15 min of chores daily. Yea, it’s like milking cows (gotta be here every day) but im ok with that.

i still make and use fish emulsion and a few worm castings; mostly in teas And they’ll alway’s have a place in my “tool box” albeit a smaller place.

Until tomorrow!

 

[Alasgun]

@heirloomgal, bear in mind; feeding the soil and not the plant has always been the goal. During the heavy amendment period each 3X12 ft bed recieved 3cups of kelp, oyster shell and alfalfa, 2 cups of neem seed meal and feather meal, 5 cups of fish bone meal, 4 cups of Agricols 484 and crab meal, 1cup of Langenbite and Mycos. In addition, each bed got 10 lbs of Azomite and carbon. Each bed got the same thing, no matter what was to be grown there, that season and soil test showed no lack in the necessary elements. The produce confirms this too!

we’ll go down this rabbit trail for a couple years and be able to tell which we prefer. In the organic circle there are numerous ways to maintain the feed the soil concept. When i eat too much spumoni ice cream, it “thickens my thigh’s” and when i eat too much vanilla ice cream it doe’s the same thing. Same difference in the garden.
The rabbit waste allows me to be lazier in some ways and creates numerous other helpful building block’s; all benefiting the garden. And i get to eat all the rabbit i want along the way.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal, bear in mind; feeding the soil and not the plant has always been the goal. During the heavy amendment period each 3X12 ft bed recieved 3cups of kelp, oyster shell and alfalfa, 2 cups of neem seed meal and feather meal, 5 cups of fish bone meal, 4 cups of Agricols 484 and crab meal, 1cup of Langenbite and Mycos. In addition, each bed got 10 lbs of Azomite and carbon. Each bed got the same thing, no matter what was to be grown there, that season and soil test showed no lack in the necessary elements. The produce confirms this too!

we’ll go down this rabbit trail for a couple years and be able to tell which we prefer. In the organic circle there are numerous ways to maintain the feed the soil concept. When i eat too much spumoni ice cream, it “thickens my thigh’s” and when i eat too much vanilla ice cream it doe’s the same thing. Same difference in the garden.
The rabbit waste allows me to be lazier in some ways and creates numerous other helpful building block’s; all benefiting the garden. And i get to eat all the rabbit i want along the way.

Thank you! Wow, that's an incredible soil amendment program and clearly it's working very well as seen in your plants. A few of those I haven't heard of, though Azomite I have, and people seem to really sing about its virtues. I am yet to see it in a store, I guess it has to be ordered online. That is something I'd really like to try.

My concern was that in mixing up a filling for the pots in the greenhouse, I might overdo it with some amendment and create a negative effect. I didn't measure much when throwing in the alfalfa and kelp meal, but I was not heavy handed either. Thank you for writing all this down for me, I am going to make notes and do some learning with your list. I've never even heard of Langenbite!

 

[Alasgun]

Langbeinite 0-0-22

downtoearthfertilizer.com

@heirloomgal, on this “down to earth” site you can learn about any of the items listed And the part they play.
Dont be nervous about over doing it, i‘ve never had an issue and my applications were always about half again the recommended rate!

on the other hand; i have had to learn and be more prudent with the rabbit products; but it’s not rocket science either And the plants show me whats going on in the soil. Do you remember my previous mention about the microbes? They are the real hero's in my garden. Strong microbial activity will make up for most if not all of your short comings by balancing the elements and converting them into plant useable forms. The chemical crowd rely on p.h meters and endless adjustments to keep everything in sync because the chemicals kill the microbes which puts all the responsibility on they’re shoulders to keep it all together. I on the other hand get to be my loathsome, lazy self and still look like i actually know something! Win, win from where i sit!
Hands down; the most important thing i learned years ago was “how to make good compost tea”. There are 100’s of perported “compost tea“ procedures out there but i can only speak to an active, aerated version. This stuff is quite simple, easy to brew and apply And will begin working immediately, freeing you up for more of your amazing photo sessions!
The organic amendments are important but not more so than your “micro herd”. They are naturally occurring and prevalent anywhere they’ve not been damaged by chemical usage, these teas simply build on and support healthy populations.


the Azomite is a mined mineral suppliment that you can use for any livestock, all your plants and you can take it yourself! It’s an internet thing but it’s always amazed me that they can get a whole 40 lb bag in a large flat rate box. Most soils will benefit from soil remineralization. This is an easy way to accomplish it. I bought a Milwaukee refractometer to measure the brix in my produce and saw gradual improvements over a couple year period. Brix = flavor.