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Mike's Garden Blog
Questions, Answers, Musings about gardening. |
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Subscribe Subscribe to receive email notifications of new postings. Home 2007 Archive Posts About Just a little bit about me and what I do. Terms of Use A few simple guidelines for the use of our site. Links to Previous Posts An Introduction Posted June 9, 2007 January 2008 Brings a New Year and New Garden Challenges Posted January 3, 2008 12:06:59 Yes I Am a Musician Also Posted February 12, 2008 12:58:17 Winter Cold and Rain Posted February 17, 2008 10:40:42 Coming to a Field Near You - Switchgrass Posted February 19, 2008 18:36:19 And Winter Just Keeps on Coming Posted February 26, 2008 13:15:44 March Goes Back and Fourth Posted March 20, 2008 09:16:13 First Planting on March 25 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 17:07:48 It's Early It's Late My Lettuce is Up in the Garden Posted April 7, 2008 09:33:21 Finally, A Break to Get Something Done Posted May 6, 2008 10:10:35 My Tomatoes in the Garden and How They Are Planted Posted May 7, 2008 08:49:54 Volunteers in the Garden Make an Easy Crop Posted May 8, 2008 08:34:02 May 12th With A Fire in the Stove Posted May 12, 2008 08:37:09 Environmental Destruction for the Hell of It Posted May 20, 2008 12:19:51 |
Environmental Destruction for the Hell of It Posted on May 20, 2008 12:19:51 Number of comments 0 Look at the picture below. It is a maple tree on a neighbors farm. The tree is probably 150 to 200 years old. It stands off the edge of a field that is used for grain farming. 
Over this past winter the landowner and the farmer who rents the land had someone come in with a large large back hoe type machine and break off trees and push them over away from the field. The rationale for their actions was they were gaining more farm land. Well, some quick figures showed they had gained mayber one half acre for all their work and had detroyed a couple of hundred trees and considerable habitat that had coexisted with the farm operation for years................. Read More ....................................................................... May 12th With A Fire in the Stove Posted on May 12, 2008 08:37:09 Number of comments 1 We have a flower bed in front of the house that has some large yellow poppies. Those poppies are always blooming on my birthday which is May 5th. They are not open yet this year and today is the 13th of May. While we have had few warm days this spring our weather has mostly been cold and damp. I had some peas rot in the ground before they germinated and I am concerned about some sweet corn that I planted last week. Since we had a another big rain Saturday night it is too wet on this Monday morning to go out and try to determine what is happening with that corn................. Read More ....................................................................... Volunteers in the Garden Make an Easy Crop Posted on May 8, 2008 08:34:02 Number of comments 0 Below is a pic of a patch of collards that have come up on their own this spring. Last summer I allowed a row of collard greens to mature and go to seed. Once they were done I tilled them all in. We had a nice bunch of collards last fall from that seed. I did not expect to have another bunch of seed germinate this spring................. Read More ....................................................................... My Tomatoes in the Garden and How They Are Planted Posted on May 7, 2008 08:49:54 Number of comments 0 I use the same method on tomatoes as I go potatoes. The tomatoe plants need to have plenty of room. Consequently, there is a lot of open ground that will just grow weeds and you have to keep getting those weeds out of there. Unless, you just mulch the whole thing. Then there is no weeding and the ground will stay nice and moist long after the rain stops................. Read More ....................................................................... Finally, A Break to Get Something Done Posted on May 6, 2008 10:10:35 Number of comments 0 It has been a wet cool spring here in Central Illinois and a lot of the Midwest. For the month of April we have had rain about every 3 days. Sometimes a little and some times a lot. At any rate it has been hard to get anything planted in the garden in a timely fashion. I planted stuff in little patches where the ground would be dry enough to work................. Read More ....................................................................... It's Early It's Late My Lettuce is Up in the Garden Posted on April 7, 2008 09:33:21 Number of comments 0 April 7th and my lettuce is just coming up. It was planted almost two weeks ago. Considering we have had only 4 days of sun those past two weeks I guess it is OK. I was concerned though because we have had several cold rainy days and not very warm nights. Also you can see in the pics below the ground has been beat down on this seed. When it gets like that it is probably best that it keeps raining so the seedlings can push through................. Read More ....................................................................... First Planting on March 25 2008 Posted on March 25, 2008 17:07:48 Number of comments 0 I looked at this spot in the garden this morning and thought I probably would not be able to do anything today. About 4 PM I went out and looked again and decided I could probably scratch the surface and get some seeds in. I used the decrepit old push cultivator to work just the surface enough so I could cover the seed. I made three passes and planted half rows of each thing I guess about 8 to 10 feet apiece.  ................Read More ....................................................................... March Goes Back and Fourth Posted on March 20, 2008 09:16:13 Number of comments 0 The month of March will give you fits sometimes. I have planted all my early stuff in March during years past. It would take a week of sunshine to get to where I could work some ground and plant something. We seems to get one day a week of sun and six days of clouds and rain so far this year. Older folks like to say you should have your potatoes planted by St. Patrick's Day but I spent a very rainy St. Patrick's Day playing Celtic music with friends at none other than the little community of St. Patrick, Missouri. A garden too wet to work.  ................Read More ....................................................................... And Winter Just Keeps on Coming Posted on February 26, 2008 13:15:44 Number of comments 1 With temps to be down in the teens tonight and tomorrow in the twenties for a high it is certainly still winter time. I guess about this time everyone starts getting a little tired of it all. At least we have not had it as bad as places farther to the north. Madison, Wisconsin has had about 8 feet of snow this year which is a lot more than normal with lots of cold temps. I suppose it will make for a whole new group of global warming deniers. ................ Read More ....................................................................... Coming to a Field Near You - Switchgrass Posted on February 19, 2008 18:36:19 Number of comments 0 Sounds kinda nice doesn't it. Big fields of waving grass across the landscape replacing the corn and soybean desert. But, you know what, I was reading in a farm magazine today an article about the production of ethanol from switchgrass and guess what, the agribusiness industry is right there talking about applying herbicide and fertilizer to this crop the same way they dump it on their current darling, corn. You bet. There won't be any change in agricultural practices and I am sure farmers will buy it lock stock and barrel. The more you poison the whole thing the more you get out of it................. Read More ....................................................................... Winter Cold and Rain Posted on February 17, 2008 10:40:42 Number of comments 1 Everyone complains about the weather and if you wait a little while it will change to something else. We have had a lot of variety this winter but a near constant has been the cold temperatures. This morning it is about 45 degrees and it seems pretty nice and warm. We had a lot of rain overnight and no one in this area can complain about that. Soon we will have had enough rain for a while. The Illinois river is full to its banks. We crossed it on Friday evening on our way to Quincy to play music at a pub. I was surprised how much the river has come up in the past week. We are done hauling water. Our well is about full now and we should be working on acquiring some reserve soil moisture................. Read More ....................................................................... Yes I Am a Musician Also Posted on February 12, 2008 12:58:17 Number of comments 0 Yes, I am a musician also. You may notice at the top of most of my pages is a link to download music. My wife, my son, and I currently have some recordings we have posted for interested folks to listen to and purchase if they so desire. We mainly play traditional celtic music with some original tunes mixed in. We will have more music posted in the near future................. Read More ....................................................................... January 2008 Brings a New Year and New Garden Challenges Posted on January 3, 2008 12:06:59 Number of comments 8 By no means do I have this gardening thing mastered. Each season brings new challenges and surprises. When you deal with the weather and growing living things you are a participant rather than a boss. No matter if you know it or not. There are some new things I would like to try this year and some old problems still to be solved or at least worked on................. Read More ....................................................................... |
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