Devv's Dirt Grow-Almost done..

Weekend March 2-3:
I’ve been working on the garden for years; it was dormant for a few years (like 10) while I changed careers. The base soil if you want to call it that is sand. I added heavy black dirt to the upper 2/3 years ago; I’ve since added heavy red dirt (clay ) to half of the lower 1/3. For two years straight I’ve added 4”s of compost to the upper 2/3 and this year 4”s to the bottom 1/3. I clean horse pens for the free manure; kitchen waste is added to the compost. Our property is on a slope and heavy rains cause erosion problems. Above the garden the land is heavily terraced to divert water runoff.
Finished concreting the base of the fence, used 22 80lb bags, the Waskily Wabbits should be done, until they find another way in. They have been a real menace! I tried a hot wire system, it was not too effective and killed birds and squirrels; I didn’t like that.

Planted the Onions January 15th, Garlic was planted September 15th. They took a beating with the 30mph winds, 55 mph gusts last Monday.

Tilled and my wife planted corn, cukes, watermelons, bush beans and cantelope.

Bush Beans above

Cukes, and Melons behind the Rosemary above.

Corn below.

I started these the first week of January; I think I got carried away.

The Potatoes, planted February 15th are coming up. I planted then 8”s deep and I keep covering them up, and will do so until the ground is level where planted.

Never ending mulch pile.

Hmmm.. too many images...

 

[Devv]

That's a couple of votes for the mineral oil, I'll have to read up on the subject so I don't kill em!

Thanks,

Scott

 

[WalkGood]

Mineral oil works...I used it along with aspirin last year trying to rid of pest and strengthen the plants. It's about as effective as Neem...you just gotta hit the bugs with it.

Can you tell me about the aspirin? Uses, mix, etc. ... thanks

Edit:

That's a couple of votes for the mineral oil, I'll have to read up on the subject so I don't kill em!

Thanks,

Scott

Yea, works good ...

 

[stc3248]

The aspirin (salicylic acid) works to boost the plants immune system. Willow tea does the same thing. Have to be real careful, too much or too often can burn or cause smaller fruits. I dissolved about 1/4 aspirin into my 1 gallon sprayer and it helped my plants fight off the virus they had longer last year.

 

[Sawyer]

The way I was taught to use mineral oil was to use an eye dropper and place a drop or two on the end of the ear of corn just as the silks begin to show. The idea is that the mineral oil either inhibits hatching of the corn earworm egg or prevents the newly-hatched larva from getting into the ear of corn. I think that is substantially, but not entirely, correct. This site has some good information on corn earworms and specifically has this to say about mineral oil, "Mineral oil, applied to the corn silk soon after pollination, has insecticidal effects. Application of about 0.75 to 1.0 ml of oil five to seven days after silking can provide good control in the home garden."

 

[Devv]

The way I was taught to use mineral oil was to use an eye dropper and place a drop or two on the end of the ear of corn just as the silks begin to show. The idea is that the mineral oil either inhibits hatching of the corn earworm egg or prevents the newly-hatched larva from getting into the ear of corn. I think that is substantially, but not entirely, correct. This site has some good information on corn earworms and specifically has this to say about mineral oil, "Mineral oil, applied to the corn silk soon after pollination, has insecticidal effects. Application of about 0.75 to 1.0 ml of oil five to seven days after silking can provide good control in the home garden."

Thanks for the info,

I can deal with the ones that get in the ear itself. What's been really hurting the corn the last few years is they get into the center of the plant, where it puts on new growth, they damage the tassels before they even emerge.

In the past I've poured a BT solution into the center, but it hasn't been as effective as I would like. Would the mineral oil work there?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Sawyer]

I've never experienced that. That might even be a different bug altogether. I misread your original post and assumed you were talking about earworms, my bad. Looking at this site, it seems you may be dealing with the European corn borer, though it could be earworm. They recommend, "Destroying the crop stubble by tillage eliminates this overwintering site and aids in control. Spray whorls twice weekly with B.t." It's probably too late if you have old corn stalks around (I'd burn any just in case, or at least till it), and it sounds like the Bt isn't working well for you. How often do you apply Bt? Maybe try increasing the frequency?

 

[Devv]

I've never experienced that. That might even be a different bug altogether. I misread your original post and assumed you were talking about earworms, my bad. Looking at this site, it seems you may be dealing with the European corn borer, though it could be earworm. They recommend, "Destroying the crop stubble by tillage eliminates this overwintering site and aids in control. Spray whorls twice weekly with B.t." It's probably too late if you have old corn stalks around (I'd burn any just in case, or at least till it), and it sounds like the Bt isn't working well for you. How often do you apply Bt? Maybe try increasing the frequency?

I always pull up the corn, root and all and throw it in the mulch pile covering it with fresh Horse manure. During the fall and winter I plant at least two cover crops, of rye and oats, tilling them in when they reach 8" high. If I wait longer the root system makes it murder to till.

I've applied the BT 3 times a week starting with first sign and continuing through harvest.

I'm gonna take a pic of the area. I think this is the issue.....

Scott

Ok how does one stop bugs coming from this?

Ha I wish that was all my land

Scott

 

[Sawyer]

That's a tough one. Maybe try different strains of corn in the hopes of finding one somewhat resistant? Nice looking back yard, though. Almost makes the corn issue worth the hassle.

Edit - Or maybe find a preferred catch crop. If you can interrupt the life cycle a few times, you might be able to get them down to an acceptable level. Maybe even to the point of sacrificing a few stands of corn.

 

[Devv]

That's a tough one. Maybe try different strains of corn in the hopes of finding one somewhat resistant?

In the past I've grown Gurneys "gotta have it", fantastic corn, but this year I went to the feed store and bought G90. I'm hoping it will do better being it's (supposed) to be designed to plant in this area.

Also if they come back this year I'm going to sacrifice a victim and try and find out exactly what it is that's tearing them up.

Scott

 

[Sawyer]

I'll be interested to learn how things turn out.

 

[DesertChris]

My gal and the neighbor wanted to plant that fancy glass corn....I told them "No Corn This Time"....they reluctantly agreed/accepted it
But the neighbor has a friend who grows fantastic corn, and we can trade tomatoes etc for it.

 

[stc3248]

Can't help you with corn pests...hope you get it figured out. Your local co-op should have some info though???

 

[Devv]

I'll be interested to learn how things turn out.

Hopefully we'll get a break this year, yields went from 15 gal bags to 4 last year...

My gal and the neighbor wanted to plant that fancy glass corn....I told them "No Corn This Time"....they reluctantly agreed/accepted it
But the neighbor has a friend who grows fantastic corn, and we can trade tomatoes etc for it.

How come no corn? Too little value for space used??

Can't help you with corn pests...hope you get it figured out. Your local co-op should have some info though???

Hopefully it won't start this year, but I'm gonna keep a close eye on the plants and consult with locals if they show.

One thing is that the garden is too large to effectively treat without chems, I've never used them and won't, so we always have some damage. It's hard enough to keep it watered, weeded, etc. So we plant more

My son came by yesterday with 3 out of the 4 grandkids, egg shells everywhere chocolate finger prints...etc. But we loved having them.

I threw some meat on the pit.

Don't laugh at the tray I can't pry that away from the wife, it's like 35 years old.

7 hours later:

It was gooood!

Some Peepers, all of these are outdoors unless it gets below 50:

Red Caribbeans 10/12 lost one to dampening, planted around Jan 26th, most took 3 weeks to hook.

Orange Habs 6/6, planted around Feb. 2nd, most took 3 weeks to hook.

Reapers, 6/6 Planted around Feb 7th, one hooked in 8 days, the rest took close to 3 weeks. One helmet head damped after surgery. Top left is a helmet survivor strange looking dude..

Primos, 3/3 planted around Feb. 27th they took about 2 weeks to hook and went straight outside.

Bhut's, 3/3 planted around Feb. 27th they took about 2 weeks to hook and went straight outside. One was a helmet head and lost it yesterday.

I'm at the pic police's mercy

The rest of the garden continues to grow, although set back by the winds last weekend.

Happy Easter!

Scott

edit: typo

 

[DesertChris]

yep, corn takes a lot of room. (although there is plenty of space here)
Wind blows it over.
We didn't plant enough last year, so it wasn't fully pollinated.
Pests love it.
We can buy it for 10¢ an ear at the store.
We can trade other produce for it.

Honestly I just didn't want to deal with it...lol

 

[Sawyer]

Good looking plants and food. A couple of years I've (tried to) grow Mirai sweet corn. It is amazingly sweet and holds its sweetness better than most. Not that that really mattered since the raccoons ate almost everything over the course of a single night (both years).

 

[Devv]

yep, corn takes a lot of room. (although there is plenty of space here)
Wind blows it over.
We didn't plant enough last year, so it wasn't fully pollinated.
Pests love it.
We can buy it for 10¢ an ear at the store.
We can trade other produce for it.

Honestly I just didn't want to deal with it...lol

Last year at tassel time a storm blew (no rain either!) them over, they were all pointing West. The wife and I stood them all back up, two days later they were blown over again, this time pointing East. That didn't help the harvest.

So between the bugs and wind and the space, I'm close to where you're at. But we just love corn fresh from the garden...

Good looking plants and food. A couple of years I've (tried to) grow Mirai sweet corn. It is amazingly sweet and holds its sweetness better than most. Not that that really mattered since the raccoons ate almost everything over the course of a single night (both years).

Thanks,

Haven't heard of that one, now coons! They come and visit. They must be mas hungry as they have been raiding the mulch pile every time I add kitchen waste. This is the first year of that, but with the drought I can see why.

They also like Cantaloupe, my wife will go and check them as they are ripening....I'm going to pick this one tomorrow. The next day it's gone, this happens a lot. We didn't know what was happening, until we found the rinds about 50 yds away.

Take care,

Scott

 

[stc3248]

Mmmmm...looks good! I smoked 60lbs of chicken and 50lbs of baby backs yesterday. Ughhhhhh

Plants are looking stellar Scott! Those pic police folks should get off your back now!

 

[Chaosbites]

Tasty goings on there! Plants are looking good.

Michelle

 

[Devv]

Mmmmm...looks good! I smoked 60lbs of chicken and 50lbs of baby backs yesterday. Ughhhhhh

Plants are looking stellar Scott! Those pic police folks should get off your back now!

Thank you sir!

I'm just starting to ramp up the feeding on the larger ones, soon as I'm happy with the roots they hit the real dirt!

Must have been quite a party! We've been on a baby back kick lately, that's some good eatin' !

Tasty goings on there! Plants are looking good.

Michelle

Thanks Michelle!

Of course the grower wants bigger faster and greener, but this is my first year growing hots. So far they survived too much sun and Me!

Thanks both for stopping by.

Scott

 

[Devv]

Some Frankenstein pics:

Now keep in mind this was a zero cost project made from a warped fire box I cut off my pit, hence the title Frankenstein...

Like I said not pretty, but functional...

Fill with wood, well halfway..threw some bones in there too

Shut the door and start cooking...

firebox on the bottom

After six hours

Bones crumble and get tossed into the garden.

OK I'm a redneck...

Scott