Baby Plants

Some gardeners run out and buy full grown plants. I like to plant them by seeds and watch them grow up. A young plant may not have pretty flowers but nevertheless, they should be appreciated for their foliage, textures and leaf design.

Look at these small would-be flowering plants. Are they not adorable? With a little care, they will show me their extraordinary colors.

Strawberry Plants

This strawberry plant has very pretty foliage. I'll have to check for the name. It is a white strawberry variety that I got from an Amish store. I think it is an Alpine Strawberry plant.

This is my loran strawberry plant I got from Burbee. 

All my strawberry plants are doing well living in straw bales and buckets.

Have you got your iwatch yet?

iWatch Sales Could Hit 60 Million, Some Apple Analysts Project

As gardeners we need to be modern. What's a few hundred dollars from some of us. We save our money and like to buy the latest gizmos. We work hard and deserve to treat ourselves. 

Just the other day I bought a watch for a dollar that turned out to be an eye-watch. I can see why everyone would want one. 

I now enjoy the thrill of owning a new watch that is one of its kind. I can't wait to show all my friends my new watch. I am proud to present my new eye-watch that cost me only a dollar:

Adult Content: Disney Lovers Do Not View

Moles have destroyed more gardens than most people realize. They like to eat grubs and earthworms and they do a lot of digging to find them. The problem they give to gardeners is by means of their tunneling. Their tunnels leave pockets of air close to your plant's roots. The plants unable to get moisture, shrivel and die. More water will not help your plants with tunnels close to their roots. The water you give your plants in order to save them will be diverted by the tunnels. You can cave in the tunnels and then water your plants but the mole will quickly return to restore his tunnels.

An unsuspecting gardener may wake up one morning and find all of his crops dead. He may even blame himself for not giving his plants enough water but the real reason for his plants demise is due to the mole. Most traps cannot kill the mole. Some of the older traps with spring loaded long daggers are the best way to kill mole.

Basically the mole killing machine is spring loaded device with a flat trigger. To set the machine you first depress the soil on top of the tunnel. You then trigger the trap a few times to make sure the knives go through the tough soil. Set the trap and you're ready to kill. When the mole presses upward to move through the compressed tunnel he will trigger the trap.

This trap has too short of knives. In Missouri the moles dig deep. Find the older traps that have longer knives.

These bagworms are a real problem in my area. They can demolish a tree by eating all the leaves. Sometimes their nest are so high there is not much to do. Insecticides is the recommended treatment for bagworms. Get a pressurized tank and spray all their bags. Be careful of wind direction. I have had insecticide blow back in my face many times. I think I sprayed myself more than the bagworms.

The torch is my preferred choice of treating bagworms. If the bags are low enough to reach, torch them all to hell.  The torch is also great for starting a fire in your garbage pile or burn can. The lighter I use is from Menards. Did you know this cheap lighter is refillable with butane? This red lighter pictured to the right is a keeper.

The ticks are my worst enemy. I'd rather live more north than live among ticks. It is best to keep your yard mowed short and always wear boots. Ticks like to cling to doors while waiting to brush up close to you and latching on. One bite from a tick is enough to give you a red hard bite that takes weeks to go away. No privacy is allowed when ticks get a hold of you. They get inside your clothing and look for the most vulnerable and softest place to bite. 

Free Book on April 30

I wrote only one book in my life that is a thriller. It is the kind of book I would like to read. It has non-stop action. It is the first of a three part series of small books. The first book I hope gets you addicted to buy and read the other books.

Star of the Book

It is called, "Federally Ordained Exorcists."  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QKNVI7A

Villain of the Book

I got my first review:

i didn't finish as i didn't realize it was a tween book. but i don't know that i'd let my grandkids read seems intense.

The person was so upset by the book, he or she called it a tween book. No this book is the first of a series of small books. When you watch a series on TV, the pilot sets up the story for the rest of the series.

Have medical help near by in case you pass out from reading the book.

When the exorcist first came out people who seen the movie became sick with fear and suffered an intense reaction to the movie. When I saw the movie, for some odd reason, I thought it was a comedy.

My book is more like a video game than a boring book. I wish it was intense, but I feel it is more like a fun, action filled, read. I definitely would not censor your kids from reading it. Old fogies might not enjoy it. Those who like flowery romance novels. 

Well anyway, you decide if it is too intense. If you get nauseous, I definitely would not read it or finish it. It's a free book. Write a review afterwards and tell the world if you thought it was too intense.

Let's Juice Marijuana

Marijuana is becoming very popular today. Where-as you could have spent time in jail in the past, now in some states it is legal to use it for your personal enjoyment. Secular Governments are sure fickle minded. Is it bad to use pot, or is it not?

Some laws are just a big sham perpetuated on the American public. It seems like big governments don't care about us. They only seek to manipulate us by their state conditioning in order to fill their coffers.

Marijuana is a plant that has possibilities to be misused or to have beneficial uses. Did you know you can juice the leaves of Marijuana. Look at this site: http://www.leafscience.com/2014/07/18/5-reasons-juice-cannabis/

People have reported cures from using the plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-iU9QN0fEM

Just because some people sniff glue does not mean we must criminalize its use. If a child wants to drink a can of oil, should we ban automobiles?

I'm not for getting high and killing people on the highways. But I am for giving people the herbs they need for healing. We need to clarify our laws as to what is criminal behavior and what is not. Your state law makers are not always right and we should let them know it. If we do nothing, our vegetable gardens will also be banned. All it takes is someone dying from smoking a tomato plant.

This world is getting crazy and we need to shout out common sense reasoning. Maybe its not too late.

My First Salad

Look at that baby lettuce and radishes. They are so young and fresh. Oh, my! That's the wrong picture. That is what I fed the dog: lettuce, cheese, and roast meat....Let's see, I got the picture somewhere. Here it is...

Anybody can grow food. You basically drop a seed in the ground, give it a little care, pray for a blessing and wait. Some of us want magical gardens. Many sell books claiming of no weeding, no hoeing, no varmints, no work and some even claim of using no soil. Gardeners want magic and magic sells. 

Do you see the salad above? I did not use straw bales or hay bales. I used soil and hay that had been composted by my previous hay bale garden. There was no magic to it. It did take a little work to prepare the bed and but it used hardly no well water due to spring rains. 

When you harvest leaf lettuce, pick the outside larger leaves and keep the plant rooted in the ground. Leaf lettuce will grow new leaves for more salads. If your lettuce starts becoming bitter, leave the picked leaves in your fridge for a day or two.  Cooling your lettuce takes the bitterness away.

I Apologize to the Canadian Sphagnum Moss Association

I complained about the price of peat moss. After wood chipping for a while, I can see why the price is high for peat moss. There is a lot of peat moss in Menards 2.2 L bag for $8.00. I'm sorry if I offended the Canadian Sphagnum Moss Association by insulting them about their high price.

Look here Canadians, I'm using peat as a plant dressing.

I still rather use wood chips. That peat is so light it dissolves into nothing. If there is a wind, watch out, the peat is going back to Canada flying on wind currents. Peat is all fluff but I like it, sort-of. 

Where is Waldo the Toad?

Did you spot him? How about this picture?

Can you see him now?

There he is.

He needs to see a dermatologist. Life will always come to your hay, leaf, or cardboard habitat.

Spoof of My Gardening Importance

I grew up in humble beginnings. I lived in a track house in southern California. I was a goodly child born in 1955.

I grew up with a strong desire to play in the yard until I sat in an ant pile under a shaded tree. Thank God, my mother rescued me.

My brother and I would mow and trim yards for $5.00 at  a young age. We were so prosperous in that we were always busy due to the cheap price. We even made money weeding out flower beds for old folks.

Years later...much later I discovered that something was growing among some old cardboard boxes. I said to myself, "Self, I wonder if I could grow in cardboard?

It was then that cardboard gardening started. I have helped many folks in the inner city that are now growing delicious  food out of cardboard boxes. Someday a monument of cardboard boxes will be erected to memorialize my importance to the cardboard movement.

Due to the short supply of cardboard boxes, I have enclosed a map showing you the locations where you can still get your cardboard boxes. They now cost about $3.00 a piece due their short supply, but they are still cheaper than straw bales.

I hope this map is useful. It shows locations where you can get your cardboard boxes. The red dots show you the places that are temporarily out of boxes. 

I have shipping boxes left over from my garden this year. I will be happy to sell them to you for $5.00 a piece. Shipping not included.

Years later, I discovered something new. It was was like a thought fell from the sky and hit me on my head. Plants grow in leaves. So I started the leaf bale society of master gardeners (two members). Many people use to burn their leaves, but thanks to me, they now garden with them. Call me sometime and I'll rake up your leaves for free and then sell them back to you in a plastic bag. I charge nothing for raking, but I do charge 6 dollars for a bag of leaves.

I hope you have gotten to know me better by my fictitious account of my fame. LOL! Seriously, I do call my type of gardening, "The Hay Bale Revolution."  Why? I am revolting against those who think you can only grow in straw bales that cost from 5-10 dollars a piece. That's crazy pricing. And straw bales that we can buy gives us no clues to their history. Have they been organically grown? Are they loaded with pesticides or fire retardant? 

Yes, truly I am revolting against the merchandising of straw bales that say these golden shafts of wheat should be exclusively used for bale gardening excellence. Also I had a straw bale gardener author posting bad reviews on my books like he was a reader without any ulterior motives. I had most of his reviews removed but I suspect other reviews are from him or his family when they say things like, "I thought I was getting a book on straw bale gardening?" Or, "Zoro way of gardening is weedy." What can I say, I dislike the guy and his pernicious ways. He even promotes his own books by acting like he's a customer and posting in his review section.

People should not take their gardening too seriously. We need each other. Each person is unique and has a different take on gardening. We can learn from each other. Anyone that can improve their property with beauty and food is a success and deserves the title, "Master Gardener."  I salute you in all your gardening ways. Thanks for making our world a better and more beautiful place to live in. 

Trip to Town

I went to Camdenton MO and Osage Beach MO today. I was raring to go. My shades were on and I had just finished planting another pepper plant.

First stop was to Wendys. I had two crispy chicken sandwiches and glass of water. It only cost $2.00. I then went to Menards. It is one of my favorite stores. I bought two more bags of manure. I now have four bags.

I then looked for an adapter to fix my 5/8" hose that leaks. I could get a bulky $2.00 plastic hose mender or buy the brass with two steel hose clamps. What do you think I did? I went to plumbing department and bought a hard plastic hose fitting that joins two water hoses. I paid only 33 cents. It was the 1/2" size. The clamps cost 84 cents each. I did not buy them. After all I'm trying to save money.

The grey piece is what I bought. I cut the bad part of the hose out and joined the two pieces together.

It fit so nice that I didn't need clamps. If I do need them, I'll use wire instead and cover any sharp pieces of wire over with duct tape. 

I got a free health bar  ($1.49) at CVS. If you got there membership card and scan for coupons; you will get a free bar.

I went to a few more stores and stopped at KFC for a 2 piece chicken classic meal to take home. 

I see one plump piece of chicken but what is that turd next to it?

  

Close examination revealed a ball of bones that I would not even feed my dog. 

This was their classic meal that I now called, "Classic KFC Crap." I like their chicken when I get some. However times must be hard to have the gall to serve chicken scraps. 

Their mash potatoes were just as bad with only a tablespoon of gravy. Who likes to eay dry mash potatoes with hardly any gravy?

I write and sell inexpensive books on Amazon and have to endure stupid reviews. We should give our own reviews to every store and restaurant that we visit. I always think it is funny when an author gives away a free book and gets a nasty review. This KFC meal cost me over $6.00. 

My receipt wants me to fill out their survey. I'll do their survey on the limited comment space that they give me but somehow I will get even. When my family wants to eat at KFC I am going to say, "Hell No. They give scraps to eat and I'm hungry." 

Pit Farming

I thought I came up with the idea. But like anything that's great, it is being used by someone else in the world. The only thing I do differently is make a trench and use the trench for irrigation. This picture looks a lot like my new corn growing technique except I have a watering source.

Many I'm sure thought I was crazy pitting out my garden space like craters on the moon. 

Look at this link and tell me who's crazy now?

http://www.bigpictureagriculture.com/2013/02/thirty-five-water-conservation-methods-agriculture-farming-gardening-323.html

A lot of people are now using a compost trench. They dig a trench and fill it with compost and then grow plants next to the trench. Not a bad idea. Mine is similar except with bales, I can grow in the trench. Not along side of it.

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/the-nomad-way-in-bali/

http://scrumpyfarm.com/wp/

It is good to see that trenches are being used and making great compost for plants and trees.

Answers to Help Straw Bale Gardeners

Question:Straw Bales are Too Expensive: Ten days conditioning the bales was a chore. Mine is not a grain producing region, so bales run $8-10 each.

Ans. $8-10 dollars are way too much. I would never buy straw bales at that price. Find old spoiled straw and make a deal. Spoiled hay or straw is already decomposed. No need to cook your bales. They have been spoiled or cooked enough. Lay your old pile of straw or hay in a heap and drill a planting hole in it with my superdigger. Spoiled straw or hay will retain moisture and you'll be having vegetables the way you should. 


Question: I don't ordinarily buy fertilizer of any kind, just use my own compost. But fertilizer is required for the bales. We have had a wet season, and my bales are starting to disintegrate in mid-July. 

Ans. If you don't use fertilizer than use compost with manure. If your bales begin to disintegrate, great. That's what you want. Add more compost to your pile if the shrinkage gets too bad. Did you people grow in compost heaps?

Question: When all is said and done, I will have a nice heap of compost in the location where I should have built new raised beds in the first place. Will do next season.

Ans. Its great to have a heap of compost to grow in. Having wooden frames might look pretty but you will still be growing in a heap of compost.

Question: Completely followed directions on Straw Bale Gardening. I Spent $200 on plants. They all came up green but only three plants produced and we were only able to harvest a total of 8 pieces of produce for the entire season. We tried it. We're over it.

Ans. Try digging a trench to put your straw bales into. It will keep the bales together and help prevent shock that the plant goes through when they shrink and have very little soil. I use a planting hole that is filled with many scoops of soil.

Question: I tried this straw bale gardening and it really takes a lot of water. the book is very informative and I had a lot of fun trying it. I would not do it again, because of the high water usage. we live up in the woods and water is really precious.

Ans. Try the Larry Zoro method of burying your bales in trenches. The ground helps the bales to retain moisture. Growing plants in the ground is also water intensive. You need a lot of humus for the soil to retain its moisture. 

This was question and answer blog was made to help the straw bale gardener. Since I have no critiques to my methods, I am willing to help others. 

Today's Gardening

Last year I had a border of hay bales around my potato patch. I also buried hay bales giving me a raised bed. This year the ground has plenty of humus with very little weeds. Most of my weeds encroach upon my bed by way of yard.

This is a piece of an old elm wood stump that used to be in my potato bed. Like I said in my first book, "Hay Bale Gardening," You can cover old stumps up with hay and soil and they will erode away.

In my first book I tell you how to make a neat garden fence. It alone is worth the price of the book. Look at my fence. When I trim, the trimmer cuts smoothly against the landscape timber.

I planted my first pepper plant today. Like I said before, I am using nothing but leaves in my bales.

So instead of saying, "Join the hay bale revolution," I now say, "Join the leaf bale revolution." 

Those leaf bales are slow at decomposing. I could probably grow in the same bale next year. All I need to do is clean out the growing hole with my superdigger. 

Garlic and a Succulent Plant

I actually did some weeding. I waited till the garlic grew some before weeding. I did not want dig up the garlic along the weeds. I also added some more garlic in empty spots.

My mother when she was alive grew this succulent plant in a pot. It's still thriving. I don't know what kind it is.

Evolution?

Look at this piece of natural art. Can you believe that millions of years of evolution created such a beautiful flower? Somehow the genetic mumbo jumbo of variation came up with this design. Who determines the design? There must have been an evolutionary blueprint. Is it within every living creature?


That accidental designer that determines everything in this world must be real smart. To make such beauty over millions or perhaps billion of years took knowledge and know how. No wonder ancient men, crawling around on all fours, worship the creature. Men made images to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. And rightfully so if you believe in the power of creatures to transform themselves and evolve on their own.

I on the other hand I believe in the creator, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). I don't give glory to the created thing, but unto God. 

People can debate evolution until they are blue in the face. Some people believe God created over a period of billions of years; I believe God created everything in a matter of days. 

Some will object to my faith. It takes no more power of belief to believe God's Word than to believe that bugs and insects have power within themselves to shape their future destiny through the unseen workings of evolution.

Acknowledge God in everything and He will acknowledge you in His kingdom which is to come.

 

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).

I Did It Straw Bale Gardeners

I grew a plant in cardboard. There was no magic that I needed to buy a $20.00 book just to learn how. What is the magic ingredient? It's called soil. You can create your own with fertilizers, potash, bone meal with a touch of potting soil or just use ordinary soil. I have my own soil mixture that I explain in my gardening books.

"Conditioning the bale"  is just a fancy term straw bale gardeners use for saying, "I am making compost in my bale so I can grow a plant." It takes a strong hand to make holes in straw bales in a bale not fully conditioned.

My way adds the soil into the bale with a planting hole previously made. I bury the bale to insure that my bales are drenched with moisture. Not like in a conventional straw bale garden. Why? Bales shed off moisture in dry barren conditions. Bales will become moist with a city supply of water and hours of drenching. That's why I bury my bales. I let nature drench my bales with a little help by me at times they need it.

Nice Day for Gardening

Here in Missouri we can always use rain.

Leaves are a perfect way to cover up weeds and smother them. My way of landscaping is easy. Little plants at the front and taller plants in the back towards the house.

I hate to mow grass. Not because of the work; I like the beauty of clover and other plants growing in the yard. 

The potato bed will have a border or fence of garlic and onions. This bed is only a few yards from the back of my house.

The big twigs that did not turn into biochar I use as mulch around my plants.

The growing technique for cucumbers is growing them on a trellis. Cucumbers get bitter when the temperature goes beyond 80 degrees. They say if your cucumbers get bitter, they are done for the season. I choose to differ. I'm going to place my cucumbers in this cool trench as they form. I believe if the cucumbers are kept cool they will not grow bitter. This year I am going to find out for sure if that is the correct way to grow cucumbers. Otherwise in Missouri, you shouldn't grow them. Our temperature reaches the high temperatures all the time and the cucumbers are always bitter when grown on a trellis.

My strawberry plants are starting to flower. How many strawberries will I get this year? Don't forget to sell some of your plants when they start having strawberries. Every new start should be looked upon as money in the bank. Next year people will not be able to resist buying your potted or hay bale plants when they are loaded with fruit. Fresh food will no longer be picked and sold. In the hay bale revolution  you will sell the whole plant. Join the Revolution and begin to make money.

I just picked up a bale from my pool. It was light and ready for transport. You could put them in a box so they won't dirty up someone's car.  "I'll have four of those strawberry bales. When will cherry trees in bales be available?" 

I'm going to sell my bales for five dollars. They are plants that keep on giving. The price for a pound of strawberries in the store cost $2.50. If you buy the plants they will cost you about $1.50- $3.99 a piece.

Get my baler plans for only $3.00. I'll send you a PDF and you can begin building it and joining the Revolution. http://aaahomebaler.webs.com/apps/webstore/products/show/2463775

For the price of soda pop, you can begin a life of adventure, in growing the hay bale way.