Blossom End Rot 08/31/2011
Blossom end rot is just what it sounds like… The end of the tomato that had the blossom on it turns black and nasty, rotting as the tomato grows and ripens. I’m going to look at the reasons why and how to prevent it.
Add Comment How To Store Some Veggies 08/31/2011
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. Mint vs Ubuntu 08/31/2011
Hmm... Lately, I've grown weary of Ubuntu. I know I'm fickle anyway. I'll be posting later about my smartphone migration and we'll see how long that lasts. Right now though... I've got a craving for something a little different. I've really enjoyed Ubuntu. Or I should say Kubuntu since I switched to KDE just before Unity arrived.
Torrent Protection 08/31/2011
 BitTorrent is under constant attack by governments, ISPs, and private industry groups. Many want to shut down this invaluable tool completely. ISPs have been throttling torrents slowing down your progress. They don't recognize the advantages it carries allowing large groups to share data for free and/or open source software, indie artists, and other copyleft material. Its tremendously easier downloading Linux or free indie artists now than it was ten years ago.
Building Materials 08/31/2011
If you're looking at building a new home or renovating the one you have, you can green it up with any or all of these...
Raised Bed Gardening 08/31/2011
 A quick search of "raised bed gardening" will bring up a basic list of its fundamental advantages... Loose soil, warms sooner, less maintenance, better drainage. Those are all fine and dandy. Perhaps you have other reasons. Significantly raised beds are easier to work. Just imagine being able to sit down and work the beds instead of bending and reaching, hurting your back?
Compost Advice 08/31/2011
 Every gardener should have some small part of the garden set aside for all the waste from the yard, garden, and home. This is called composting and here's some help on understanding what it is and how to do it.
In simplest terms, composting is the method of turning organic wastes in usable soil. While one can get highly scientific about creating compost, this is my quick and dirty guide to making easy compost (the compost is, however, not so quick). 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. Where Do Your Seeds Come From 03/12/2011
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. 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. | ArchivesJanuary 2012 CategoriesAll 
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