Comments for Mountain-Toes Gardening

Comment on Gardening Now – a gardener’s experience of early winter by Joel Russ

Joel Russ — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:59:20 +0000

Yes, coddling a bit. A layer of the heavy remay.

Good to see you posting, again, Jim.

Well, when I started writing the post, the more extreme freezing night temps had just begun to kill the plants closest to the walls of the greenhouse. Our unheated-greenhouse lettuce season has now pretty well come to an end.

I thought I’d finish writing that post to celebrate the results we’d had…

that and comment on the dreary sky and slushy-snow outdoor reality, and how that evokes my appreciation for a warm indoor working environment and electric light.

Comment on DIY Sustainable-Tech Genius by Jim Ross

Jim Ross — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:41:42 +0000

I’ve been watching this one for a while now and it is some great stuff. I’d love to build a lifetrak for use around here but many of the attachments would work on my bobcat so they interest me also. The forums are pretty entertaining to read.

Your first link is to his fundraising page at kickstarter.com and it looks like he does okay raising money there.

Comment on Gardening Now – a gardener’s experience of early winter by Jim Ross

Jim Ross — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:30:20 +0000

As you may recall, Joel, we’ve been tomato-less for two years and can’t wait to read your research on blight.

A project on the back burner here is a winter lettuce box. Your neighbours, Brian and Penny, had a box below grade with glass on top and a 100 watt bulb that grew lettuce all winter long. I don’t think it grew too fast but harvesting in February would be as cool as doing it in December.

Have you been covering or coddling the lettuce?

Comment on Gardening Now – a gardener’s experience of early winter by Bree

Bree — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:40:42 +0000

Nice post. I lived in Winlaw when I first came to the Koots in the fall of ’85. I lived in an old farmstead owned by Chernoff family. I’ve also lived up on Red Mt. Road. Love hearing about the valley life. Cheers, Bree.

Comment on Early Start on Fall Garden Work by Joel Russ

Joel Russ — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:58:31 +0000

Sarah, the beauty of fall rye is that if it gets well-germinated and then well established in the fall, it overwinters. It survives, and it begins growing again in the spring. So then you can at least get a cutting from it in the spring, before you till it in. If you sow it early in the fall, you may be able to get a cutting in the fall, before the snow covers it.

Comment on Early Start on Fall Garden Work by Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:11:05 +0000

Hi Joel,

Will the rye reseed again in the spring?

Comment on Early Start on Fall Garden Work by Joel Russ

Joel Russ — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:37:36 +0000

I cast the seed using a crank-type seed caster, the type you suspend from a strap slung over your shoulder. Then I scratched the seed under the surface a little (using a hand rake). At this point, it’s still reasonably warm during a sunny day, which helps. I used a sprinkler the first day or two, but we had some overcast and rain, after. When the cloud left us, I went back to using the sprinkler.

You should keep the soil pretty moist (but not “soaking”) for the first five days or a week. The shoots initially come up a kind of coppery-red, then they go green within a couple days.

When planted this early and kept watered, I find that the rye starts providing its own shade after a week or so. Once I make a cut this fall, it will also mulch the soil surface and help to retain moisture.

Comment on Early Start on Fall Garden Work by Jim Ross

Jim Ross — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:25:11 +0000

I like this idea. I have a pig pen roughly the same size that is devoid of any vegetation, tilled by pigs and in need of some lovin’.

I am impressed by the rapid germination of the fall rye. Did you do anything special or just toss out the seed?

Comment on Early Start on Fall Garden Work by Using Fall Rye as a Green-Manure Crop « Gardening in the Kootenays

Using Fall Rye as a Green-Manure Crop « Gardening in the Kootenays — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:01:44 +0000

[...] Russ reports on recent produce from his gardens, and on using fall rye as a green-manure crop to build the soil. [...]

Comment on Another seed-starting experiment by Joel Russ

Joel Russ — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:12:44 +0000

I’d definitely be using the stuff in my greenhouse beds, and probably at least a few of the outdoor beds – if I could get a supply. We’re far enough above the river that the soils on our place are sandy, occasionally with some silt mixed in. But they are not the highly desired loamy balanced mineral base.

We can – and we work at – building up the organic content and balancing the content of NPK, calcium, and micro-nutrients. The volcanic rock powder seems to add something else.