washin greens, plantin time, organic weed and feed

WASHIN GREENS
i am from the deep south and love turnip greens and other greens
in good old pot liquor with corn bread
just cant get them very often

this year i planted turnip greens along with swiss chard, kale, asian greens,
cabagge, asian cabagge, collards and brussel sprouts
cooking them all together in a pot of greens
um thats so good

my motherinlaw she is visiting us from california so as she is from the
deep south and had not had greens for a long time i wanted to cook
her up a pot of greens the day before she left

i went out to my garden and pulled all my turnip greens
if youve ever picked turnip greens you know that somehow they
attract dirt that gets all over the leaves and you cant shake it off
it has to be washed and washed to get them grit free

my wife she decided to help me out
she had read where you could put the greens in the washing machine
and wash them that way

my advise after this experience is dont ever ever do this

after she put them in the machine she left
that was smart of her to do that

i pulled the greens out and put them in a bag
they although shredded some were squeaky clean
good idea she had
then
i went back later
we have a side loading machine
it looked like the machine was still full of greens
i opened the door and it looked like a frozen bag of finely
chopped spinach had exploded inside this machine
what a mess
i managed to clean it up but did a lot of cussing while i did it

think ill just put some of her white clothes in there and wash a
load for her
theyll come out looking like green speckled clothes

decided instead to just wash some of my work clothes i wear to
work out on my property and garden

lesson learned
dont take shortcuts when cleanin greens

the greens were so good
think ill plant more today

PLANTIN TIME
we are on a week to two week run now of nice warm weather thats
unseasonably warm
so ive decided to go ahead and plant my potatoes and onions
i use the kiss method for planting taters
i dont cut them and dont apply sulfur
i just plunk the whole planting tater down the hole and cover it up

i have 4 ft x 12 ft raised bed that was prepared several weeks ago
with compost and an organic fertilizer and was allowed to ripen
i then will dig a 8 inch deep trench and plant the whole tater in the trench
and then cover it up
then as the plant grows i will bring dirt up around the stem which provides
more soil for growing taters

because im planting early and know that cold weather is still ahead i
also will sprinkle some pine straw over the plantings then cover it with
row cover
then just provide water if needed and let nature do its thing
then in may or early june ill have taters

will use a red potato that grows best for this area
the nursery knows which that is

then ill plant my onions
the bed prep was the same
i use fencing that has 4 inch squares and ive cut it in 4 ft widths
i lay this down on the bed and plant the onion plants in each square
using my gloved or usually ungloved finger to poke the hole
i water them in with a sea weed solution
sprinkle some pine straw loosely over them to help keep them
ground warm then
cover them with a row cover to get through the cold weather

we pull every other one as we need green onions and whats
left we pull usually in june
well worth all the effort
we will finish eating last years crop this week as we store them
for later use

will also replant some lettuce spinach broccoli asian greens beets
today for our late winter crop

ORGANIC WEED AND FEED
dont use the weed and feed thats usually sold to kill weeds
besides being toxic to the environment and being banned in
the european countries its always used at the wrong times
this product can also damage your trees and shrubs
and cause frogs to have 5 legs and 3 eyes

always wonder why people who worried so much about their kids
diets and exposure to things would then go out and put this stuff
on their lawn and then let their kids play in it
just doesnt seem right

an organic alternative is corn gluten
its derived from corn
an ingredient in it inhibits seed germination
just put it on your yard and plant new grass seed and youll see
how well it works

the time to put it on is now and the next few weeks before the
seeds germinate
its best put out with a drop fertilizer unit

it also acts as a mild fertilizer
just spill some on your lawn and see how that spot will green up

and your kids can safely play on your lawn

save the frogs, the trees, the shrubs and your kids
use corn gluten to stop the weeds

the organicgreen doctor