Many veggies are producing well and like me, you probably have some produce to put back for winter.  But how?  Gardeners.com has advice for potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash, beets, and carrots. Kathy LaLiberté talks about how to grow these crops (good ideas for next year) and then when to harvest and how to store them.  

For example, potatoes should be dug when the plants die back.  Dig them carefully so not to spear them (I’ve lost many taters that way) and lay them out on newspaper or cardboard for a couple weeks in a cool dark place.  This will cure them (toughen the skin) for longer storage.  After curing, place them in a bin or basket covering completely so they’re not exposed to light.  Light causes them to turn green and in turn that’s poisonous.  

Read the article for more ideas.  I’d love to hear how other people grow and store all these.

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Project List 03/27/2011
 
The wife and son are out of town this week visiting friends in Indianapolis.  So what's that mean for the MuddyGeek?  Aside from wasting a bunch of time on the computer, it means tackling projects outside that are probably long overdue.  

I started tearing apart and rebuilding my compost bins yesterday.  My mother and I built the current one many years ago. It was primarily made from scrap lumber and hardware cloth.  It measured roughly 6ft long x 34 in x 32 in.  Divided between three bins, this just wasn't big enough.  Compost bins should ideally be at least 3 x 3 x 3 feet.  My bins filled up too quickly and were too small to properly cook.  The main thing I did was remove the back and replace it.  Its now eight feet long which works out to 32 inch wide bins instead of 24 inch wide bins previously.  It will now be taller as well measuring 44 inches tall.  I'll have photos soon plus more accurate dimensions (something seems off on the old ones).

My other big project is turning over beds for potatoes and getting them in the ground finally.  Even with my raised beds, the garden has been soaked and I will not risk working the beds till it dries.  I wanted to have potatoes planted by St Patrick's Day but I'm going to miss that deadline again this year.  Oh wait!  I still haven't received the potatoes I ordered in February.  I know this year I will be doing a lot more fall work to prepare for next year.  Granted, I'll be planting cover crops this year so I still will probably be late planting.

My minor projects include transplanting some seedlings and resowing peat pellets.  The broccoli and a few tomatoes came up fine but I'm only at 10 or fewer plants out of a 72 pellet tray.  The ones that are up will get transplanted to bigger pots (I have 5 and 6 inch peat/coir pots for the tomatoes since they'll be in here for a while) or just moved out of the mini greenhouse so I can start over with this seed starting business.

Once the compost bin is completed, I'm also going to finish raking the yard and I'll use one of the bins as storage for the leaves and pine needles till I'm ready to use them for mulch.  I also have a compost tumbler whose contents will get dumped out and mixed into with the other compost to "start it over."  The tumbler always seems to make the materials clump together into balls and never breaks down satisfactorily for me.

I have a couple large 3.8 cu feet bales of peat to spread around and work into the garden as well.  Might be buying more of it later in the season too.  This will be the only year, at least for a while, that I intend to use peat since its not really a sustainable product.  I needed to get organic matter in the garden and this seemed like a good start.  This is also why I have coir pots and pellets for seed starting.  Coir is a waste product from all the coconut oil so this puts it to good use.

Shoot!  I haven't even planted lettuce!  AHHH!  See how far behind I am?  I need to get sleep and get out there early tomorrow.
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This article is utterly disappointing to read.  I know there are several large companies that sell most seeds.  In turn, there's a lot of seed producers but they're producing mostly the same stuff.

Anyway, read this Countryside Magazine article for their take on the seed problem.  It really addressed the issue I'm having with Burgess right now.  I ordered seeds from Cook's (which is owned by Burpee) and received them a week later.  I order from Burgess at the same time (maybe five minutes apart) and I'm still waiting on my seeds a month later.  Who knows where they're coming from?!

On the other hand, there's a letter from the owner and found of Johnny's Seeds.

Finally, a guide from Dave's Garden listing just about every seed seller you can find.  There are ratings for the companies as well as a description of what they sell.
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Potato Planting 03/12/2011
 
The weather is warming up and staying dry around Eastern Illinois right now.  I'm expecting to plant potatoes Wednesday if it stays nice.  My potatoes from last year have three to four inch sprouts ready to take off.  

I'm planning on digging three or four inches below ground level.  I already have raised beds so this should put the potatoes around six to eight inches deep.  I'll probably see what compost is ready from the winter and cover the potatoes lightly with that and then dump on pine needles.  

Last year I tried a similar approach.  I used some Jobes or TerraCycle fertilizer around the potatoes then covered lightly with soil.  As they grew up more I covered them with more and more straw.  I planted a 5' x 18' (1.5 m x 5.5 m) bed.  I yielded roughly 30 to 40 pounds of potatoes from planting probably 8-10 pounds.  Not bad but compost will probably do better as well as the pine needles.  

If my order ever comes, I'll be planting all blues, red pontiacs, and yukon golds.  I've had the yukons and some type of reds before but I've never grown the blues so we'll see how they fair.
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Tomato Advice 01/26/2011
 
Tomatoes are perhaps one of, if not the most, popular plants to grow. I have compiled a list of tips to try; many I do myself.
Sun
Its no more basic than this. Lots and lots of sun makes great tomato plants. They can grow in shady spots but the results will not be satisfactory.

Soil
Dark, crumbly, loamy soil is the best. If you have thick clay, work in straw or compost to loosen it (and in time, this will substantially improve all your soil anyway). Adding manure also works.

Planting
There's usually two routes: deep or long. By deep, I mean planting so that the more of the plant is actually below soil level. This lets the plant absorb even more moisture deeper from the ground. Plus the plant will develop roots along the stem allowing it to feed better. The other approach is to dig a shallow trench and lay all but the top part of the plant in it covering it with soil. Be sure to remove leaves from the buried portion though. This has the same effect as the deep dig method without the strain of a dig hole.

Fertilizer
In good soil, skip conventional fertilizers. Instead try adding a couple tablespoons Epsom salt to the soil before planting. Epsom salt adds magnesium which tomatoes love. Try this for peppers as well. Also try adding crushed egg shells to the soil. The calcium in egg shells helps to prevent disease.

Suckers
I'm not talking lollipops...I'm talking about the small sprouts that suck nutrients from the fruit. There are two approaches to these. First, you can leave them alone. Other wise, pinch them off. Pinching them off allows the nutrients to go directly to the fruit and leaves. On the other hand, the suckers do shield the fruit somewhat from the sun and helps prevent sun scald. I prefer to leave the suckers alone simply because I have other things to focus my time on.
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