Do our Farmers care about Quality or Quantity?

One of my favorite desserts is to eat fresh strawberries drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. Delicious!!!!!!!!!!! However, there was nothing that the sweetened condensed milk could do to make those juicy red strawberries taste any better and in an instant my dessert went from hero to zero and it just simply sucked.

What are our farmers selling to stores these days? I see a lot of fruit that looks great but taste like cardboard. Apples, Grapes, strawberries you name it. Grant it for many of these fruits they are not in season, but that leaves me to think if they are not in season and we have them available, how are they made available. Farmers, Gardeners should produce vegetables and fruits like a well seasoned Chef prepares a meal. A seasoned Chef constantly tastes his food. Unlike some who just throw whatever is ordered on the table without tasting only to realize they suck from reading bad reviews. Sadly enough I want to say that the over whelming majority of veggies and fruits that I have purchased from the super market really suck. Ok I know I am ruined because I grow alot of my own produce;  But that's my point because I know what a vegetable or fruit should taste like.

I guess as consumers we do have a choice, some of us have more choices than others. in many parts of the states people have the opportunity to purchase locally grown food. I have used a great website Local Harvest.org to find local farms in my area. That strawberry must have really been bad for me to rant this long. But I hate being tricked by good looks and bad taste. Disappointing...... Big Sigh!!

No land; Try Urban Container Gardening

Many people who live in apartments dream of the day when they can have land and grow there own vegetables. What they don't realize is that with a little balcony space they can grow just about anything. There are those individuals like myself at one point that lived where the sun never shown. It was so depressing. I do reccomend if your apartment hunting and wanting to grow Veggies on your balcony try to make sure you get a place with good sun exposure. All green Leafy Veggies can be grown in pots ( keep in mind Cabbage grows big and take up a lot of space, try Brussel Sprouts if space is an issue) Onions, Garlic, Leeks and Herbs can all be grown in containers with proper sun. If you can do that, then the following plants will grow great in containers:
( I have linked the individual vegetable or fruit to a website to view and or purchase)

Beans-

• Dwarf Bees
• Thorogreen

Cantaloupe-

• Minnesota Midget
• Short n Sweet

Corn-

• Golden Midget
• Asian Baby Corn

Carrot-

• Thumbelina

Cucumbers-

• Baby Cucumbers
• Bush Champion

Eggplant-

• Morden Midget
• Little Fingers

Potatoes-

• Fingerling potatoes

Tomatoes-

• Patio Tomatoes
• Burpees Patio

Watermelon-

• Bush Baby
• Petite Sweet

These are only about a few of the varities that have been known to do well in containers. So bottom line if your in an apartent and you want to grow, there is no excuse. Start growing this season..... Happy gardening

Seeds planted today

Im taking advantage of all this 70 degree weather thats going to be around for the next 10 days and planted the following seeds:

Baby Bok Choy
Pak Choy
Kamatsuna
Spinach
Cabbage
Brockalini
Snow Peas 4 different varieties
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic

Coon Hunting

I went over my Buddy Matt's House today for a squirrel hunt and ended up getting two squirrels and two coons. I told Matt it was more like grocery shopping than hunting. Growing up, I was always amazed at the stories my dad told me about coon hunting. Although him and I never got a chance to hunt together, those stories instilled in me the need to be a patron of the outdoors. Although we didn't hunt these coons in the traditional way coon hunters usually hunt them, ( Matt with his eagle eye and the aid of Natural Ice Light, Said, "Hey what the Hell is that?!?!" as we walked to the edge of a beaver pond)  it still closes the circle with my strong lineage of coon hunters. I remember vividly the many coon dinners my dad made when I was a kid growing up. In the south for some people eating coon is as American as apple pie. If you never had Coon before imagine roast beef and BBQ ribs. I can't tell my dad about these guys because he is going to want me to ship them up north. I on the other hand have my own plans and that's baking these jokers the traditional way with yams. Um..... Ummmm..... Ummmmmm..... Goodnesss!!

Product Review- LL Beans' "The Original Maine Hunting Boot"

I want to start off by saying, I don't receive any benefits from endorsing any product. But some of the best things I have purchased or heard about, come from the honest assessment of consumers who are not pressured to sell items.

 I bought these boots a few months ago for hunting, fishing, gardening and believe it or not to wear out when I'm just kickin it at my local pub. These boots have absolutely been the best purchase I have made for a pair of footwear in a long time. I chose these boots because I wanted something that was extremely durable, water proof, and they look cool. This past week I have been hunting hogs in central south GA, and I have been trekking through some nasty bogs at above ankle deep water for several hundred yards. I stepped in what appeared to be quick sand up to my shin and amazingly my feet stayed dry all the way through this. The waxed canvas is amazingly durable, which makes the boots very light and weathers great as you use them more. The best thing about these boots is the fact that they are extremely easy to clean. As we walked out of the swamps to the vehicles, my boots were cleaned by walking through the wet grass. Defiantly a Boot worth every penny spent. They run a bit larger than expected for a boot because they are made for folks who where thick socks. I wear a size 10 and I bought a size 10 and there is a lot of room in there. But when I wear thick socks they are dead on comfortable. If your looking for a sexy pair of shit kickers I suggest you take a look at LL beans Signature Original Maine Hunting Boot.

The Growing Season has Begun

We planted seeds on the 28th, 30th and 31st of Jan and a few days ago my Tomato seeds started sprouting. I bought these guys in from the sun room because even though the ground hog didn't see his shadow it's been really cold these past several days. While reading the Indoor Gardeners' post on seed I saw that he mentioned that he had an addiction. I concur. I have a Seed Addiction. It seems like everytime I go somewhere, whether it's Lowe's, walmart or the neighborhood garden store if I see seeds I have to buy something. It amazes me that when you put a seed in soil add moisture and top it off with a little patience, you get these seeds that are lifeless suddenly sprout forward into the world. It's amazing. I can just sit there and stare at the seeds. I know it may seem boring and pointless, but for me it's just so much fun watching seeds grow. My wife thinks I'm nuts, because the most tiniest things amuse me and catch y attention.. So here we are, the growing season has begun and we are off to a good start.

When should you start planting indoors?

When I started out taking this gardening thing seriously the first thing I came across was trying to figure out what Zone I lived in. I heard all this Zone talk and quickly realized that this Zone word was going to be an integral part of my vocabulary. But even though I started to understand what "zone" meant, I didn't fully understand until last year how I can use the information around each zone for planting. I'm pretty much the type of guy that reads something for the first few seconds and quickly loose steam anything short of brite lights and whistles wont get my full attention. Below is a chart for the last frost date in your area. 

 And pretty much this is easy, simple, stupid for people who are just getting started in gardening.  Locate your zone  and you will notice a starting date and an end date. The first date is the first possible date that your frost will end in your area. The Last date would be the last possible date frost will be in your area. Some seeds have specific guidelines for when to start them in doors; nevertheless, the majority of seeds will fall under the guidelines to start planting indoors 6-7 weeks from the last frost date. Keep in mind these are suggestions. But if you have a sun room or a sunny window sill, this will give you an idea for when you start planting your seeds indoors. There is one thing that separates green thumbs from non-green thumbs and that's timing. Happy gardening!!

•Zone 1: June1 - June 30

•Zone 2: May 1 - May 31

•Zone 3: May 1 - May31

•Zone 4: May 1 - May31

•Zone 5: March 30 - April30

•Zone 6: March 30 - April30

•Zone 7: March 30 - April30

•Zone 8: February 28 - March 30

•Zone 9: January 30 - February 28

•Zone 10: January 1 - January 31

•Zone 11 Frost Free Year Round

Squirrel Control

When I lived in Pennsylvania I had to protect my garden from groundhogs. It got so bad, that I took off from work so I can sit at home and watch when the groundhogs attacked my garden. And I developed a plan to take them out. That is a bit to censored for this blog, but it was a necessary evil to save my first ever garden. When I moved to Georgia, these first few years have been great. I have never had any issues with large pests. I understand the bugs and other insects that will eat up my garden every year. But I never had to deal with Squirrels until this winter. The squirrels in my area are everywhere. I live around several oak trees and pecan trees and the squirrels hang around the area when the trees are in full bloom. But these squirrels have went above and beyond the norm. Squirrels visit my garden all the time but I noticed one day that my lettuce were devoured and ripped apart. I didn't know what happened until one morning I walked outside and saw several squirrels dart away with lettuce in their mouths. I couldn't believe it. I noticed the squirrels stuck to one green leafed veggie at a time, first the lettuce, then the broccoli, then the kale and so on. So enough was enough. I employed the only method I know that works and that's shooting these guys one by one. It has become apparent to e that the word in the tree house is that the urban self-sufficientist has all the goodies. I have watched squirrels run from down the street in a file on power lines headed toward y home. This is not a house party. But they think so. Until they had a run in with my new Remington Crossman vantage.177. This is a pellet gun with a break barrel that absolutely puts the smack down on squirrels. Even though it's a pellet gun this is not a toy, you can seriously hurt somebody with this pellet gun. At 1200fps Squirrels don't have a chance anywhere near my garden. I currently killing at least one a day and my hawk is loving me for it. Shoot responsibly.

Grow $700 worth of Food In 100sqf

Click here to read the article.

As the year starts I have been giving a lot of thought to how much of an impact I want to make on my garden this year. I started searching around the web to see how I can translate my garden growth into dollars and cents and thier is really nothing that stands out except the post above written in the Mother Earth column. I will start to catalouge how much veggies cost per vegetable in another post so that I can translate that into money. I will have to call up mom and tell her that she was wrong; Because Money does grow on trees:)

Winter Fishing, Yes Im out of my mind!!

I had a wonderful time yesterday with my buddy Todd and Scott. Scott works with an organization called Freedom Outdoors Adventures; they provide hunting and fishing expeditions to veterans and really focus their time and energy on wounded veterans. It's a great organization centered around people who really care and put in the work to make dreams happen. So yesterday Todd and myself accompanied Scott on a winter fishing trip. It was cold!!! But we had so much fun!! I have been trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle to target Hybrid Striped Bass. Which by the way are crossed with the White Bass and the Striped bass. As hybrids they don't have the ability to reproduce, but they have all of the tools that make them go through the motions. Currently the Stripers and Hybrids are feeding up getting ready to travel up river to spawn. Stripers need moving water for thier eggs to hatch and thats why year after year stripers leave from Large lake impoundments and the Ocean (Because they live in both) and head up stream to spawn. The Meat is wonderful. but the real treat is the immense size that stripers not hybrids get, which is around 30-50lbs. Hybrids average around 10-12lbs but I am willing to bet that you will never fight a harder fighting fish at that weight class. Pound for Pound they are tougher than any other species of fish with comparable size.

We had a great time out there and Scott is a first class individual. In a month or two the stripers will be headed up river to spawn and I will be there with pole and carolina sinker waiting for them.

8 Cheap and Easy Raised Beds for under $100

I really don't like spending a lot of money on things that seem so easy to make. I am a retard when it comes to building stuff, so when I engage in a project, the scales need to tip my way for success. And I came up with a pretty nifty outfit that cost me under $100 to make eight 3' x 6' raised beds. If you do a search online you will quickly see that most raised beds will cost you $50 to $100 for ONE raised bed. Who has that kind of money? So with a little time and ambition I figured this all out and will like to share it with anyone thinking of giving it go this year.

Materials to make 8 raised beds 3'x 6' each:
(48) six foot privacy fence planks

(32) one foot 2"x2"x 12"

Box of Wood screws

Drill

Skill Saw

For the first two years I only used half this order and it worked great, but looking back at it, doubling up on the height of the planks makes a lot of sense from the beginning. The privacy foot planks cost me $1.59 at Lowe's for one piece. I purchased deck material at .99 cent a piece and cut them down to 32 one foot pieces.

3 x planks are needed to make one raised box and 4 x one foot 2"x 2" pieces to support the raised beds structural integrity. Take one of the 3 planks and saw it in half to a three foot section. Take the 2 six foot pieces and attach them to the two three foot sections forming a rectangular box to make one raised bed. Take two raised beds and place them on top of each other or build the second raised bed on top of the first one.

Raised beds are a great way to grow veggies in small places and especially if your soil is not of the best quality. The Raised beds give you the ability to manage your dirt appropriately and build it This particular design can also be used to compost organic matter and direct grow right in the box.

Composting done Right

When it comes to compost there is one thing that you have to put into it that you can't purchase from the garden store and it is called patience. With out it you just wont get the desired effects your looking for. Two years ago I decided to make my own compost and I have a system that works for me. In the pic there are two bins. On the left are all the leaves I have collected from this fall along with grass clippings and veggies from the kitchen. On the right is what it will look like after one year of having worms, microbes and moisture work it. That deep black crumbly chocolate cake look is the desired effect. In a few days when it stops raining I will take all of my black gold "not oil" and lay it in my garden beds ready to prep for this growing season. What a growing season it will be. In theory I should be able to do better than I did last year. We shall see. Lately I have been plagued by squirrels eating my kale and and other greens. The Garden Wars have begun- Such is the life of a Urban Homesteader:(

2010 Falconry Season

This hunting season I trapped another hawk it turned out to be a Female Red Tail hawk. I named her Koto after my wife protested me naming her Madia. Two of her tail feathers were broken when I trapped her, but I didn't care to much about that because she was fearless, I trapped her in town harassing the local pigeons and causing hell to the city squirrels. As a wild hawk she didn't pay me any mind as I watched her closely one day hunting squirrels. Hawks who are accustomed to the city tend to be a lot more tolerant of people and the busy life that the city brings. It makes great for a hunting hawk. She has manned very nice and is very calm around people and dogs. All of these are big plus. Down here in GA we have alot of leaves that are still on the trees. It makes hunting squirrels really tough. However today she scored on a huge buck squirrel. That guy was fat. When I released her into the canopy I saw the squirrel shoot up the tree and Koto saw the squirrel jump into it's nest. Immediately Koto flew to the tree examining the nest for a few minutes. I guess she realized that there was a big huge squirrel in there and the risks might outweigh the benefits of slamming the nest. I shot a BB into the nest and that peaked her interest as it got the squirrel to move around in the nest. Koto Slammed the nest throwing her talons into it, but that ol buck squirrel grabbed her leather jess and pulled it into the nest. She had a look on her face like, "What the Hell!!" there was just a pause she didn't know what to do as the squirrel was holding onto her jess inside the nest. After a couple of minutes of analyzing the situation she became furious and started tearing the nest apart. The Big Buck Jumped from the nest circling the tree towards me with Koto in hot pursuit crashing through limbs. The squirrel stopped short of coming down the tree as him and I did some sort of Mexican standoff, He was just out of reach for a good stick whacking and would not move knowing Koto was on the other side. I pulled my daisy BB gun out so that I can pop him and get him to move and when I popped him he stood still holding his ground not moving an inch. Koto Swung around the tree to a branch to see what I was looking at and the squirrel immediately lept towards me. EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! I jumped out of the way and Koto slammed the ground just missing the squirrel as it bounced from the ground and back onto the tree. But what do you know Ole Buck squirrel was too heavy to move faster than Koto was and she nailed it as it tried to scurry back up the tree. A great hunt and looking for many more this season. Now all I need is 4 more squirrels for my amazing stew.

We Love Fish Heads!!

Ok sooo I know I am pushing this fish head thing but I honestly think this is the best kept secret. Just thinking of all the fish heads that people throw away, in fact the day we caught these monsters people were just happy catching them and releasing them back because as they stated, big blue fish are not as good as the smaller ones and other big game fish like striper aka Rock Fish.

The nerve of these people to suggest such a thing. For those of us in the know; fish like blue fish, tuna and salmon heads possess something that is soooo exquisite and Divine and has been virtually untouched by the food market except by those of us in the "know." You might ask, "What is this secret?" Well my friends it's called the fish cheek and OMGG!! it's so unreal. For all of you New England folk and all the way down to the Jawsy shore who have access to monster blues in the surf you will want to smack yourself for throwing the demons back into the sea or even filleting these guys and throwing the heads away. I know, I know, eating heads is not the most desirable meal, but it all depends on who shows up for dinner. When we caught these guys I caught three huge monsters, they averaged around 20 lbs plus a piece. My cousin caught an additional 2 and at the end of the day I made a deal with him to give him the whole fish minus the heads if he would just give me the heads. To a normal person like my cuz that was a great deal. But to someone like my in laws who just visited us from Japan a few weeks ago, I would have came across as a con artist trying to keep the best part for myself. Come to think about it thats exactly what I did with my cousin; but hell he doesn't care about heads. At the end of the day we were both happy. And short of dragging a mammoth leg into my den to please my wife with, she was extremely happy with the heads. (For someone just reading this snippet it sounds like we are a bunch of cannibals) The above photos are showing the technique for using parchment paper to grill fish on the stove. All was needed was a sharp knife to cut the huge heads in half; Moderate sea salt and crushed black pepper, wrapped in a paper towel for a day or two and then grilled with parchment paper on medium heat, skin side down until brown and crisp and flip over. After it was all said and done. Served on a bed of rice, garnished with some fresh cut veggies and Bon appetit!!!! Sorry no end photos, I dropped the ball on that one. It smelt so great and my wife and I just started to dig in and half way through I remembered to take a photo. Wooooopsss;)

Look underneath your leaves for Pests.

While Hunting the other day I happened to notice a female house wren flying from tree to tree looking underneath every leaf. It seemed like an efficient way to hunt because she knew bugs would just love to hang out underneath leaves to protect themselves from the elements and and avoid being eaten. This got me thinking about my garden and after an uneventful day of hunting I came home and started looking underneath the leaves of my vegetable plants and I was surprised. There were many mosquito's, I guess due to the cold weather setting in the mosquito's are lethargic but nonetheless, they were there hiding underneath the leaves. I killed about ten. yessssss!! To my surprise I also saw these little buggers. I am doing research on them. They look like aphids but Im not sure. I noticed that many small holes were on my eggplant leaves and when I looked underneath them I noticed that there was an infestation of these leaf suckers. Going forward I plan to use insecticidal soaps and stronger applications as needed if beneficial bugs can't keep these vampires at bay. But at least I know where these guys love to hang out now and be ready for war as I plan for next years garden

Backyard remodel on the Cheap

Our Backyard mini farm in the city has needed a face lift for a longtime. Due to work, vacation, and watching the cooking channel we really didn't have time to address the issue. Butttttt as the law of averages will have it anytime im home for any extended period of time, the wife is gonna have a list of honey do items for me to engage myself in. Lord KNOWSS that I shouldn't be just sitting around the house without doing anything. My wife is a communist!! But anyway, we have been researching products to lay down in the back to offer proper drainage and to keep the dust down from the dogs running in and out. Our first choice was rubber mulch or rubber bark as some call it. You may have seen this stuff inside play grounds or at military bases where servicemen do their workouts. My area total is 2100 sqf which includes the house, garden, hawk house and cottage. So I wouldn't need coverage for 2100 sqf but I wanted to see what the cost would be to fill that area with 1 inch of material. The rubber bark came out to $200-$400 to fill the area butttttttttttt it was going to cost me $1200-$1600 to haul it from South Carolina. (Thats alot of Pizzas) So that was out of the question. We wanted the Rubber Bark because it was recycled tires that they have found use for and many people are using them for ground cover and landscape as a part of a "Greener Environment." Our second option was River Rock, fortunately enough for us we live approx 10 minutes away from a landscaping rock company called Durty Wurks that was able to fullfill our needs for a great price of $490.00 that included tax and delivery. From the time of purchase they were there the next morning with two truck Loads of the river rock. When I saw all that rock I just did a deep sigh. But hey the only way to get er done is to get er done and so I did. Wheel barrel after wheel barrel, a few beer later and 10 pounds lighter; I got er done. And just in time for our first down pour. It was a success; prior to laying the rock we would walk out into a huge messy swamp, after the rock we walked outside and there was no standing water. It was amazing!! Great invest!! I added some landscaping timber to put a little more texture to the back yard and created little outside rooms or areas and now our back yard took on a whole new look. The cherry on top was adding the bird feeder. All in all for my area to include bird feeder and landscaping timber cost me $572.00 and a few pounds:)

Chickens need a break too!!

This year I experienced an unexpected phenomenon with my Chickens; their feathers fell out and and they stopped laying eggs. This went on for a approx 2-3 months. I didn't know what was going on. It was apparent they were going through the molt. Egg production stopped a few weeks before the molt, I suspect they were getting ready. So what was actually going on inside Ezelle and Esther? After doing some research I found out that although chickens molt every year which is the process of replacing damaged feathers, they go through a complete molt approx every two years. This would explain the almost baldness of my girls running around. While the complete molt is taking place there body uses all the protein it can get into growing feathers instead of producing eggs. I was concerned because I thought the gals were done with egg production forever and that raised a huge issue me because im an extreme carnivore. But even though the thought of preparing the gals for dinner crossed my mine, I couldn't do it because they are my gals; so I am a big Sap after all. Esther and Ezelle for chickens as all chickens do are amazing creatures, able to produce eggs everyday, that is alot of work for their bodies. During the molt their systems repair themselves, getting ready for another two years of production. So one day when I came home I saw two freshly layed eggs in the nest. That brought a smile to my face, but there is one thing that is evident and that is Ezelle and Esther are family now and even if they stop producing which they will one day, they will never end up on a dinner plate. Damn, I can't believe I said that:)

Start Planning Next Years Veggie Garden Now!!

In many parts of the country the weather is cold, the leaves are starting to fall and the length of day light we have is beginning to change. Fall is upon us and shortly thereafter winter will sneak up on us. This is is the time that many of us Urban Gardeners and Gardeners in general start looking for items that we can use for next year. Another mans trash could have not looked so much better. Many homes are clearing there homes before the full onset of winter pulls in and this is the perfect time to locate garden tools, shelves, and planter boxes. You may have to think outside of the box a bit, but pretty much anything with some aesthetic attributes can be used in the garden. Giving some thought to what your garden will look like is the toughest job. But with some careful planning anyone can come up with a good solid plan.

The alarm bells have also been ringing; the USDA has announced that next year food produce will jump from 1.8% to 2.5% all the way up to 3.5%. If you spend $300.00 a month on groceries; at a 3% increase that's an extra $108 a year you will pay for food. You can take that $108 and purchase seeds at $3 a packet (on the high end) and purchase roughly 36 packets of seeds more than you ever will need. Some places that I purchase my seeds from and have produced some great products are:

• Kitazawa- They specialize in Asian veggies


• Ever Green Seeds- They Specialize in Asian Veggies


• Johnnys Seeds- A very informational Seed supplier


• Burpees- The walmart of the Seed world

If your thinking about starting a garden this year and you don't have space for a garden try your hand at container gardening. Infact even if you do have space and you don't want to take on the responsibility of a full fledge garden I recommend you start with container gardening. Container gardening is so efficient and everyone can do it, unless your in jail locked up away in solitaire or something. But the point is anyway can start a garden. Give your kids a project to see who can grow the biggest, juiciest, sweetest tomatoes in a container. Let them do the research on how to prepare soil, what does it mean to fertilize and what types of tomatoes to grow. Of course you have to reward the winner with something but at least you can the creative juices to flow and when your kids are on their off time they will (willingly research how to grow veggies in a container) You never know what seeds you may plant with that one.

Compost-If your on the fence about starting a garden next year it is very important that you think about your composting needs. Plants need nutrients to produce good quality fruit and veggies. Starting your compost now will put you in a great position to feed those hungry jokers next year. With fall upon us, the leaves from several trees can be gathered up and started with compost. There are a few trees that are not good for compost like black walnut. You will need to identify the trees in your area to see if the leaves can be used for compost. For the most part most trees especially oak trees can be used for compost.

The Vacation is over

I have been away for quite some time. I call it a vacation but the truth is I have been extremely busy. Only recently I have finally gotten to take some time off from a very busy year. My ultra-marathon came and went and I was only able to complete 30 miles out of the 50 I trained for due to a ruptured I.T Band. Boy was that run Hell!! I'll do it again next year. I really need to slap myself for even uttering such words. But it goes without saying , That this venture thought me alot about myself and how I deal with pain. In short im a huge vagina but anyway I muscled through to the very last stretch when my knees gave up on me.

My wife's parents visited from Japan for the first time. It was such a pleasure to see them. They were awesome!!! and we had a wonderful time at the beach house. My mother in law was so adamant about eating sashimi from the freshly caught fish. I fillet the fish and she and my wife prepared an amazing dinner that included every piece of the fish. Simply amazing!! I was too shocked with amazement to even take a photo, shame on me:( Nevertheless, this experience has left me longing my time on the ocean and walks on the beach; I have hit the shores of both Jersey and Destin Florida fishing for monster fish. My experince has been awesome and the time with my boys and family have been amazing.

This past summer has been extremely brutal on the garden. The heat was so intense that our garden just suffered. Forget about planting any leafy green vegetables, it was not going to work. My wife planted the tomatoes pretty late this season and learned really quick that in Zone 8 you have to get those tomatoes started early. Tomatoes love heat but not when it saps everything out of them. Amazingly the tomato plants that survived the heat wave are doing very well now. maybe she will listen to me next time. In fact I know she will. It's something about tomatoes that are grown in the garden; the redness that they omit onto painted back drops of green and hints of yellow from flowering plants just brings a smile to my face. I happened to visit PA this past week and my fathers garden was awesome. With all my endeavors I am trying to be as successful a gardener as he is. Those old timers know what it takes to grow everything and do so with so much flare that Martha Stewart would be proud. I was also impressed with his neighborhood; just about every home had a family garden. One thing that I noticed was how green everything was. Down here in the south we are plagued by drought on most days and intense heat. If your not careful, everything green that has a pulse will end up scorched. So all in all these are the pros and cons to living in an environment like mine that has two growing seasons. Up north just has one growing season but it is intense and can prove to produce a bountiful harvest. The lessons learned in the short week has propelled me to give more consideration to my southern garden and maximize on this cool weather that is settling in. More to follow.........................

Fresh Market is refreshing!!

Fresh Market has been the latest venture to set its sights in my area. I wasn't able to attend the grand opening but when I finally strolled through a few days later, I couldn't believe the amount of people that were in the store and now a several weeks later the buzz has still not subsided. I know the rest of the country has been dealing with the bad economy, but where we live being in close proximity to Ft Benning Ga and the infusion of 40,000 personell due to the recent Brac alignment from Ft Campbell Ky along with KIAs first ever car manufacturing plant in the US just up the road, People around here just seem to go on with business as usual. Thats why Fresh market opening up has been a huge step in the right direction. When we first moved here the local supermarket was Piggly Wiggly. Now I am not going to talk bad about Piggly Wiggly but lets just say that Piggly Wiggly image doesn't help it to reach across a very broad spectrum of consumers. And this is the fascinating thing about my area. Because it has become regionalized with all different types of subcultures. You have your North side folk who are so proud of living on the North end of town and your Midtown Folk who are so umm "Posh" to say the least and your Downtown folk who are what we Jerseians refer to as "Booshie" and then there are the Piggly Wiggly Folk. Nonetheless, The introduction of freshmarket has had it's disappointments; for instance a few days ago I walked in there and asked the Seafood manager if he would be able to get fresh or frozen sardines. He looked at me like I was crazy and suggested that the very best sardines in a can was in the aisle. So ok strike one with the Sardines, I tried again by asking him if they would carry smelts (a small sardine type fish from the great lakes) He said He had a box of smelts in the back that he would give me for a great discount because he wasn't going to put them out. At this point I was a bit annoyed with the "Proud, Posh, Booshie, Yuppy" attitude of the Seafood Manager. I figured I dare not ask the Meat manager about beef tounge so that i can thinly slice and grill and serve with a spritz of lime. That experince made me take a step back. Freshmarket is trying to appeal to the masses of people who call themselves organic, leading healthy lives and that subculture of people who like to call themselves foodies. I on the other hand just like good food. Lately I have had a deep passion for cooking and using items from garden in every dish. It has been a wonderful experience of trial and error and Freshmarket even in all its yuppidom has been able to propel my experinces that much farther. I guess piggly wiggly is trying to change thier image also. I walked in there and asked the manager if they can sell me a whole pig. "Oh we don't do that." He said. Come on Piggly Wiggly if there is anything you should sell it should be the whole Damn pig, WTH!!!!

Caterpiller Identification

Woee!! I was walking by my scotch bonnetts and noticed that there were some unusal lines in the dense leaves and whatdayaknow!! A Dagon alien sitting amongst my fruits taking big chops out of the leaves. I let him/her/it be; in a wierd kinda of way this creature is beautiful and even though it may wreck havoc on my leaves from my plants I have seen Hail storms destroy alot more and my plants bounced back. Yes it's kind of Ironic but metomorphisis is amazing to me. I found a pretty cool web site to ID Caterpillers and Larva this joker happens to be the larva from the tobacco horned worm. I learned that these guys are love to gorge on leaves and love to eat tomatoe plants and also pepper plants. I wish homeboy would take a bite into that scotch bonnet.

Zone 8 Second growing season

This morning before my run I went to let the Dogs out and realized I was not being choked by thick Georgia humidity. It was such a relief to breath crisp air with an actual cool breeze in my face. Sometimes we tend to take these things for granted when we have them everyday. I guess its human nature. Nevertheless, this weather has sparked my interest into prepping my garden for the second growing season of zone 8.

Last year I learned alot about planting cool weather plants for the second part of the growing season in zone 8. Although I had great success with the variety of plants and reaped a good yield; my plants were the target of many ailments that had to be monitored. I suspect this was from a few reasons. First, the bugs were gorging themselves on all my leafy cool weather greens; Second, the heavy rains smothered alot of my young plants and caused some others to be water logged causing many of the plants to have ailments associated with over watering.

Farming is tough and I give credit to all the farmers who have to do this day in and out to survive. Throw in organic and its a whole nother animal. Weather, bugs, and a little bit of negligence your crop is wiped out. This year we are planting just a little bit earlier while the ground is still relatively warm. I think with all my amateur experience that warmth during the germination stage kicks start the genetic code of the plants and will give them their real bang for the buck. This will translate into a plant that has a healthier root system and I'm assuming this will enable to the plants to ward of disease opposed to them being planted in cooler weather where they tend to be a bit lethargic and not able to defend themselves as well. This is all based on my experience and a bit of experimentation. During this second season, I have planted:

Butter Nut squash
Tomatoes
Egg plant (Still Producing from first season)
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Sweet Peppers
Brussel Sprouts
Swiss Chard
Kamatsona
Spring Onions
Leeks
Radish
Corn
Lima Beans
Pole beans
Bush beans
Alacante Beans
Sun flowers

Looking forward to this second season. Some plants like spinach just can not be planted in this heat however there are some Japanese spinach varieties that do very well in heat. Unfortunately the seed packet got wet and the seeds prematurely germinated and all died. Dammit!!

Plants are tougher than people

Its been a long time since I had post anything to my blog. As this year is passing along I have been victimized by this intense heat. I have literally traveled the world into some of the hottest regions on the planet and nothing compares to this Georgia heat. It's depressing, my dogs are in danger, we here warnings to refrain from working out doors. The compost bin has suffered, the reports of rain everyday gives us a glimpse of hope but no water has come in sight, temperatures have stayed in the high 90s approaching 60 days with 100% humidity and yet as I complain and look for that bullet to end it all my plants still thrive. There are days they yearn for water and if I am gone too long they let me know by wilting, but with a little mist and and some water on the roots they come back with pride. There is so much to learn from plants with regards to dealing with hardships. I think back to how spoiled I am with AC and electricity when I think of folks who live in the same conditions and do not have the same luxuries. Because of this heat I have begun to reevaluate myself, I may think I'm tough but not tougher than a plant. Besides the other day I was chopping around the garden and almost had a heart attack when a toad jumped out. Really....... a toad!! Go figure.

Breaks My Heart

I'm a hunter, Fisherman, Falconer, and all around Outdoors man and this photo just breaks my heart. For the past few years the Golf coast has been my our favorite place to vacation and the oil spill; now going on more than a month has left us speechless. The last time I was there the Gulf was Emerald green and you can see straight down through the water. Seafood was the driving force for the economy in the Gulf and it was because of this that both my wife and I loved to visit. But now it seems like these stories will be distant memories as though they are like old hunting grounds that have been torn up by mega store chains. It's almost impossible to understand the destruction that this spill has cost; which is more than peoples lively hood. The Ocean is a place of peace and it has always been a place of life. I am by far, no dirt worshiper or tree hugger. I just believe in being fair. My wife said it best, "Mother Nature will recover from this, but it won't happen when "WE" need it most." So Sad....

My First Ultra Marathon- Yes im probably a Retard!

So yesterday started off my official training day in an attempt to complete an ultra-marathon. The course I have chosen is a 50 Mile Trek on the southern most part of the Appalachia. The technical level is 4 0ut of 5 ranking and the scenery is 5 out of 5.

Ultra Marathons; why would any one want to abuse themselves like this? I don't know. But there is one thing for sure; the lure to running a 50 miler is sooooo appealing to me. I don't know why because, I actually hate running. But sometimes when the calling comes you have to engulf yourself in it. So here I am day 2 of training feeling good and a bit tired. Looking forward to some much needed rest and definitely looking forward to tomorrow resting all day tomorrow. Prior to considering if I want to run the 50 miler. I have been doing tons of research on the subject of running ultras. There is so much information on the web about the small but growing elite group of ultra runners, that it was enough for me to formulate and concoct my own training schedule. My wife thinks im crazy. She asked if it was a two day race. The course cutoff is 13hrs. Im trying to do in it 10hrs. Im a big endurance guy and I will see what my body is made of.

From what I gather, Ultras are not about speed like a full marathon. Ultras are about endurance on the cellular level. Training for this race is not so much about training for how fast and long I can go; rather it's about how much I can increase my Mitochondria and make them stronger so they can support me over the long haul. There are many trains of thoughts on how to fuel yourself for the race. Im under the persuasion to use fat as fuel source more than carbs. The trick is to train at a level over a period of time slow enough that your body switches from using it's glycogen stores to using the endless supply of fat and yes skinny people have an endless supply of fat. Me on the other hand I can probably run around the earth 4 or 5 times on my fat reserves. But that's another topic, the point is, fat is a source 0f energy that is waiting to be used and there is no better way to tap into this resource than to train for an ultra marathon. Ok thats a snippet of my .2 cents on this subject. I figure I start posting about my adventures leading up to and finishing this race since there is not alot on the subject from people who have never even ran a marathon before. So im paving new roads. Ohhhh how much my feet are going to hurt;(

Grow Muscadine Grapes on your Urban Homestead

Muscadine Grapes also known as Swamp Grapes are native to the south. Ironically, the conditions for which these grapes grow are considered too harsh and destructive for other sorts of grapes that are more common. But there is a caveat to this and it is; what does not destroy you makes you stronger and the muscadine grape has proven to be a true champion in this arena. If your walking around the Georgia Brush on some hot summer day you may just walk up on a cluster of extremely dark grapes that are sooo sooooo sweet. A variety of the muscadine that many refer to as the scuppernog has a very thick shell with very sweet flesh inside. This thick skin that the Muscadine has developed causes it to develop under the harsh conditions the Southern weather exposes it to. Tons of research have been done on the benefits of grapes and in-particulary the health effects of red wine that are used by grapes. It is said the darker the grape the more health benefits it has. Many people are raving about the studies associated with Resveratrol, this is one bi-product of red grapes that seem to show some promise for anti-aging along with many other health benefits. But there is some caution that should be adhered to because most if not all of the studies have only been in pre-clinical trials using rats and mice. it will take some time for Human clinical trials to produce some real satisfying results. As for now the research has shown that dark red grapes harbor the qualities of Resveratrol. The longer the grapes skins ferment in the mixture the more Resveratrol seems to be extracted. But there is one grape that has been reported to have an overwhelming amount of resveratrol and that's our very own Swamp grape the Muscadine. Growing up my fathers, father who definitely learned the technique from his fathers, father who probably was running barefoot around Georgia at that time made potent concoction that they called Kick-a-boo Juice. Well it's no secret that a swig of the Ole "kick" would probably feel like you have been kicked by a mule. But Dad and his brothers to this day have fond memories of the thick shelled grapes that grow rampant in the south. My muscadine vine is in it's second season and has started to grow strong. There a self fertile vines and female only vines at this point they have to just grow and I will scale them back until I get the main beams to run along the fence line. Hopefully in a couple of years I will harvest enough grapes to make myself blind:)

Second official growing season in Full Swing

In zone 8 the weather is warm throughout most of the day and there has been no let down from the rain; although Bob has had his fair share of producing rays without being hindered by any cloud cover. The robins have figured out that there is a healthy cache of delicious worms just below the surface of our raised gardens, which causes my wife to panic when they are scurrying around the Strawberry patch. Speaking of strawberries; it is our official second season with the patch and I didn't know what to think when we planted a few plugs last year. This year they seem to have taken off and although we are having plenty of flowers that are producing strawberries, they are not sweet for some reason. Maybe they have to sit for a while but I'm afraid that if they do all the berry eating birds will gobble them up once they learn they are there. If its not bugs, dogs, and hail destroying your garden you can count on those birds eating what you enjoy. But it's a trade off. I love looking at the birds make our garden their home.

The beans have have germinated and in typical bean fashion they have pushed through the earth like line backers ready to grow. The most enjoyable part of gardening this second season is watching my plants from last year that I pulled up and place in containers respond to the season once again. Most notably my Japanese eggplant; it's almost like we have become friends. To me a plant that sets flowers is like my buddies who stop over with a case of beer and meat for the grill. They plan on staying for awhile. Watching these plants grow from one year to the next and preserving plants from one season to the next that have been pulled from the earth and cultivated in containers adds a whole new dimension of possibilities for the Urban farmer. It addresses the issue of space and time consumed with a busy schedule. Not that planting a garden is really busy work to me. I enjoy it. But either way spring has greeted us and our little urban garden is responding wonderfully. The wife is doing things her way for the first half of the year and I suspect everything will be neat and orderly. During our second half of the growing season I will commence to start my Jungle. There is just something about the jungle that I like. Things growing everywhere, dense foliage that can not be seen through appeals to me, but scares the hell out of my wife. I look forward to it:)

Over Wintered Plants looking good

A while back I posted a few blogs about my quest to overwinter some of my veggies in containers. As with everything it was all experimental and I had no idea what the results would be, with the exception of a few actual accounts posted from other bloggers about their success.

Well, spring is here and my Japanese eggplant which I love and pepper plants are doing great. They don't look like much but the fact that they are growing new foliage is a absolutely fabulous. Overwintering veggies plants is a great idea for those who want to jump start their growing season and who want to utilize their garden for veggies that don't do well in containers and need more room. As of now, sweet and hot peppers seem to do well being overwintered along with eggplant and tomatoes. I say tomatoes but I don't actually have any. That's a another bitter story that me and the lady fuss about, to this day. Anyway, moving along...... Tomatoes are a bit finicky, real cold temps put them out, so any place in the house with a good light source and temps comfortable enough for a human should suffice. I had some beautiful tomato plants growing during the winter, but a weekend away here and there and being extremely busy left them to vunerable. And I also have this amazing cat that loves to chew things on spite. I would be one of those kids that told his teacher that my cat ate my homework, because it really did. So know tomato plants. I will start again this year. As for now we are enjoying the plants unfold and sprout new growth. Spring is awesome!!

I can't wait to see what type of harvest we will have this year. speaking of which. My wife and I are splitting up our seasons for the garden. She has went from not wanting to garden to wanting to garden her way. So because GA has two growing seasons she will take the first season and I will take the next. The first step I had to take was get rid of my twig fence;( She absolutely hated that thing. She has sinced replaced it with some Martha Stewarty thing. So oh well, I guess gardening as a couple has turned into this big competition. I must admit we have different gardening styles. Hers is a bit more manucured and mine tends to look like an unkept jungle. But I really love my jungle, for me it's and adventure, but for her she feels like the plants want to eat her;)

Where are all the Lightening bugs!?!?!

Every year spring comes and is greeted by summer. During spring I love to watch the migratory birds head toward their nesting grounds. I love to see emerging butterflies flutter about soaking in the sun. I look forward to seeing those honey bees fill up with pollen. But there is nothing that represents spring and summer more than the neon glow of the lightening bug. I remember as a kid running around in the cities of New York and New Jersey catching lightening bugs and sticking them in my plastic juicy cups. We would have a mini competition to see who can catch the most. Lightening bugs were my introduction to spring and summer and also my gateway to explore the world of bugs period. There was not one place that I have not visited in the US that did not have lightening bugs. But sad to say they are just apart of my childhood memories. It's almost like "Where the wild things are." Tucked away some place and admired from a many memories ago. I can't show a lightening bug to my kids because there are not any to be found. So where did they go? or am I not just looking in the wrong place.


As I was doing research on beneficial bugs in the garden I came across the fact that lightening bugs are at the top of the list for beneficial bugs in the garden. Lightening bugs or as some may call them fire flies are predators who during there larva stage eat a whole host of bad creatures like snails and cut worms. It's a shame that in my adult life I can not give these guys the habitat they need to thrive. Somebody has an answer. I heard from a few researchers on the issue speculating everything from habitat loss to light pollution. Whatever it is, there is a serious decline in lightening bugs so much so I might have a better chance at seeing the Yeti.

Forget about it Gardening

Last growing season one of my main efforts was to grow sage and oregano. It proved more difficult than I expected. I tried everything and it seemed that the seeds just wouldn't take. Big Sigh:( Fast Forward through the winter into the beginning of this spring and my Sage that I had virtually forgotten about, are growing strong. Sometimes it just seems that little means more and I don't know what I did to make them grow but apparently ol Momma nature knew what to do. So needless to say Im happy. I love sage plants and oregano, I think they are beautiful in design and smell absolutely wonderful. My wife, saw the need to water them once a week and from her stand point they seemed to have just grown overnight. I remember just seeing one tiny plant and thought to myself that my Sage would be hopeless. I honestly forgot about them, but apparently they didn't forget about me:)