Concrete
Kubota is working in the concrete biz. He told me that the yesterday's first "pour" of the day was not scheduled until 11 in the morning. That seemed very late to me. Then the pour was cancelled and the second pour, scheduled for 1 in the afternoon was supposed to be the first pour. It was cancelled. The crew was sent home without putting a single yard of concrete being poured.
Driving around I see incredible numbers of orange cones and heavy equipment tearing up pavement, curbs, drainage ditches and so-on.
It is my impression that flat-work absorbs more truck-time-per-yard than footings and poured walls but I may be way out in the weeds. I am sure I have some readers who can chime in on the subject.
If I had to guess, I would guess that there are not enough trucks to support all of the scheduled concrete work. Kubota's crew pissed away a lot of money with nothing to show for it. Kubota's boss was not in a pleasant mood.
Potatoes
Another four rows into the ground. These were a mix of varieties we have grown in previous years. It is considered bad-practice to save your own seed because virus can accumulate.
I could see somebody getting into the business of making "sampler packs" of some of the newer releases. Say five varieties and however many pounds you can stuff in an USPS flat-rate box. The cost of shipping seed potatoes is a killer if you want to try new releases.
Red Pontiac was the variety Mom and Dad grew. It resisted scab and produced well for them. The downsides were that it was low in solids (high in water) and it got deep dimples when it got large. Dad planted them on 3'-by-3' centers and tilled in both directions between the plants. We always seemed to have plenty of potatoes even though he planted them much later than is the current fashion.
I ate a lot of Red Pontiacs growing up.
Strawberries
Scheduled to be shipped April 19.
Streamlining the yard
I am removing the islands that were landscaped with flowers and such. It will make mowing simpler and a little bit faster.
Steer to market
I cancelled my slot to have my steer processed. I sent a text to the owner of the trailer and told her that life had become very, very busy.
It is better to do three things adequately than to fail four thing.
"Know when to walk away, know when to run..."
Organic/conventional, Hybrid/Heirloom debate
Late in my senior year at MSU (Making Sh!t Up) University I had a non-technical elective that I needed to fill to graduate. I chose "Small Fruit Production" taught by Stan Howell in the Horticulture Department.
Professor Howell's specialty was grapes. Most especially, wine grapes.
He was approached by untold, well-to-do retirees who wanted to start vineyards and open wineries. The well-to-do had been very successful at their profession and assumed it would translate seamlessly to the next stage of their lives.
Professor Howell radiated a gentle cynicism (if there can be such a thing). He had seen many wannabees reach for the stars and come crashing to earth.
The newbies always wanted to grow Johannisberg Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and other "classic" French cultivars.
And while it is technically possible to grow those grapes in Michigan it is very, very difficult to do it profitably. They are just exceptionally fussy.
It is also possible for a ten year-old child to drive an Italian super-car with a manual transmission.
Realizing that he had to deal with egos as well as the physical realities of site, weather, markets and the skill-level of the labor, he developed a "patter" that integrated needs of the clients with his need to be honest.
He said:
Plant a few of the J-berg Riesling or Chardonnay. Maybe 5% of your acreage. What he did not say was "You probably won't kill them TOO fast."
Then, based on the experience level of the retirees...some had never grown so much as a tomato plant...he would either say "Plant 25% of the property into Concord grapes (the non-tomato growers) or 25% of a French Hybrid like Marecel Foch"
Then he explained: The J-berg will win you Gold Medals when you can get a crop. You don't need many grapes to enter wine into county fairs. The Marecel Foch will produce every year and will pay the bills.
Since Michigan is automobile country, he would say "The J-berg's Gold Metal is the Corvette (or Mustang) on the showroom floor that brings in the customers. They end up buying an Impala or Taurus...but the Corvette brought them through the door. Your customers will read about your Gold Metals and will end up buying a case of your Marecel Foch and your blends."
The retirees would say "But you only told us what to plant on a third of our property!"
He would shake his large, bear-like head. "You are going to make mistakes. That is just the nature of trying to grow grapes. You are going to have vines die. Better to learn on 1/3 of your property and still have funds to replant than to blow your entire grub-stake and find yourself on the wrong end of the curve."
So why the long, shaggy-dog story?
Because I think new gardeners need every break they can get. In many cases the place they can garden will have poor drainage and not enough sun.
Organic gardening is a higher art-form than conventional methods. Heirlooms rarely possess the disease resistance of modern hybrids. In some cases (sweet corn) they don't even taste as good. A good, solid gardener can be a successful organic gardener but there is more art-and-craft...and luck involved.
If I were approached by a new gardener, I would set him up with mostly conventional techniques. I think there is a huge place for mulch and compost for weed suppression and fertility but I think there is plenty of room for other methods, too. For something like tomatoes I would suggest two or three hybrids (like Celebrity, Jetsetter or "Mountain" hybrids to name just a few of the hundreds available) and one heirloom (like Brandywine or German Pink or Kellogg's Breakfast or Carbon of the thousands available). A cucumber plant. A zucchini plant (only one, OH PLEASE, only one). Maybe a pole-bean "tee-pee" for fun. Onion sets for green onions for salads. A few flowers. Then...whatever else they wanted to grow...although I would discourage full-sized pumpkins.
I would keep the garden small to keep the weeding manageable and the venture "fun".
The key to riding a bicycle is to get it rolling. If that means starting off rolling downhill AWAY from your final destination, then so what. You got it rolling.
The key to introducing people to growing food is to make their first effort (mostly) successful and to not micromanage. Even if they are sure they only want to grow heirlooms...try to sneak a few, bullet-proof hybrids into the effort.
You hit the nail on the head with your characterization of a newbie like me. So it is year two and I have half my 17 by 17 garden turned and augmented. The soil is red clay silt. Half the dirt was mixed with expensive store bought "Raised Bed Garden Soil" along with a bit of sand. The other half has been improved the slow way with layers of card board covered by wood chips with some red clover mixed in. Worms love cardboard. My most challenging question is when to harvest. Last year's mistake was to plant tomatoes on the spot that hosted green beans the year before. They would not ripen until removed from the vine and set on the counter. Cherokee Purple is what we have decided to work with. I figure the name implies a tolerance to cold. This year's crop is sitting out there asking me for cold frames which I do not have time to build. When I want to give a little boost I use aquarium water. Makes happy plants. Roger
ReplyDeleteGood advice!
ReplyDeleteBeen gardening for decades as well. Still learning every year. I am now trying to move past the 'I wonder if I can grow this?" to "can I grow this commercially?" Just a hobby farm, but making that next leap. Whole new range of problems.
I like the idea of baiting success (by shooting for achievable goals), and agree - tickle the fancy with one or two unusual items. One of the things that has kept me interested is trying new seeds. My favorite new crop so far is peanuts. Why? Because I can! The chickens seem to appreciate my efforts but whatever... I have been challenged by cotton, not so easy to grow. Why do I even try? Because I can! Its fun to challenge myself, learn new skills or fields of knowledge (pH anyone?) We tend to have a negative view of people and their mental skills of late, so finding a novel way to challenge and hook people into the hobby is important. Delayed gratification is complete when that first bite hits your tongue!
Joe, gold metals or medals? Either makes sense in the given context.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your summation about flat work simply because it is a quick turn for concrete truck, whereas placing footings, et al, is slow work for the truck.
I'd tell newbie gardners to start with making compost. Its a low cost fail, teaches gardening skills, and makes a fine soil amendment.
Circa 1990s, the price for wine grapes went through the roof. Itt was no surprise that everyone and their brother started putting in vineyards. Most were very ignorant of the whats and hows and why fors. Very expensive mistakes were made. More than a few simply walked away from multi-million dollar investments.
Assuming everything went perfectly to plan (ha!) many would still fail for simply not having a contract to sell their grapes. Or not being on the schedule to crush.
The majority of growers, even hobby growers, don't have crush facilities, or even a harvest crew. Contracts and schedules for sell, harvest, crush are tight and in high demand. If those aren't in place, you've already lost. Someone may take your spoiled grapes either for pennies on the dollar or charge you to haul them away.
I work for an architect so take my advice as one away from actual concrete pouring but am familiar with the trade.. I live in the deep south, where concrete slab on grade construction is commonly done because of lack of danger of soil frost line causing issues.
ReplyDeleteWeather has a huge impact on pour timing. Especially rain.
Many times, the steel forms in foundation beam trenches and slab are placed, only to have heavy rainfall cause a major delay because water has to be removed from pour site. Sometimes, the inspector has to check the steel again because it may have been shifted during the draining.
You always give good advice on gardening Joe. I expect that it will make a significant difference in many peoples lives either in basic survival given the way things are going, or if things work out just in life's pleasure. Good for you ! ---ken
ReplyDeleteYour advice to new gardeners is exactly what we tell people. Start small, you learn every year. We hand out heirloom seeds to those that are interested. We always tell people to call or email us with any questions they have along the way.
ReplyDeleteSouthern NH
Since we live in similar grow zones any suggestions as to "Bullet Proof" Hybrid carrots?
ReplyDeleteCarrots are a tricky crop. Keeping their seeds damp and protected from birds with boards until they show some green seems needful.
I have no good advice regarding carrots. I am trying Baltimore this year because it has twice the beta carotene as most cultivars. My failures seem most related to weed control and lapses of attention.
DeleteMaybe the trick is to sterilize the furrow where I intend to sow the seeds with boiling water. Let it cool. Plant seed. Cover with SAND.
Mr Tumnus (sp) is an occasional commenter here. He grows in the Fraser River Valley and successfully raises carrots.
I grow my carrots in 50 square foot beds, four feet wide.
DeleteVariety: Bolero (winter storage carrot).
Add one five gallon pail of chopped (lawnmower) fall leaves, 1.5 lbs of bone meal and one lb lime if needed and till.
Seed in four foot rows across the bed, one foot apart in late May. One seed per inch in very shallow furrow.
Scatter handfuls of sifted soil over seeded rows.
Cover with burlap with stones to hold it in place.
Keep moist always, peeking under burlap and remove burlap on first sighting of carrots. Continue keeping moist until established then regular watering if needed.
At first weeding (about 3 or 4 inches tall) thin carrots to two inches apart, selecting for the strongest carrots.
Second weeding at about 10 inches tall. After that the close rows will shade out most other weeds. I hand pick weeds trying not to disturb soil and exposing new weed seeds.
Storage: just before first frost, cut tops down to one inch high and cover whole bed with one foot or more of fall leaves with fencing wire to hold leaves in place. After a good rain or two, remove wire and cover with black plastic and replace wire. This protects my carrots all winter, in the ground with my climate’s lows of -14 C. or +7 F. and a howling wind.
Poundage: one lb per square foot or one lb per foot of row = 50 lbs per bed. That addition of a modest amount of fall leaves in the soil can raise it up to six lbs per four foot row. (but too much chopped leaves can make the carrots hairy.)
Harvest every week or two and keep them in the fridge. I’m still harvesting last years carrots now in mid April.
Boleros are very sweet and juicy all winter long though not quite as tasty in late summer and rather crunchy (hard) than other summer carrots.
Thanks Joe for this chance to share.
Pontiacs taste better than Chieftans.
I always figure people will listen once they get hungry.
Any suggestions on how to keep voles and field mice out of your carrots?
DeleteMoles and mice haven’t been a problem for me. But I battle the carrot fly — which is another organic adventure I’ve met with some success.
DeleteI also forgot to mention, I never step in the bed. That’s how weeds can be lifted out with two fingers. Same with harvesting the carrots. I work the bed from the paths between each four foot wide bed.
The grape advice is true wisdom indeed. People (I include myself here) get very caught up in the romance of an idea and are just as likely put off when the first failure happens instead of slowly scaling up. To your point, better 50 small gardeners that are actively gardening that 50 large gardeners of which all but 5 have given up due to failure, not of effort but of the reality of gardening.
ReplyDeleteI have a black thumb, so I let my 'betters' do the gardening... sigh
ReplyDelete"Truck time" for concrete pours.
ReplyDeleteAs with everything, depends on the variables.
Some flat work you can blast out and some you have to wheel by hand.
here in Illinois, footings go down 4 ft, and they can be a time suck just because it's hard to get to.
All I know about growing grapes is to plant on a slope and grapes like dry feet.
ReplyDeleteI basically make about $14,000 to $18,000 a month online. It’s enough tocomfortably replace my old jobs income, especially considering I only workabout 10-13 hours a week from home. I was amazed how easy it was after I triedit copy below web…
ReplyDelete.
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