Trish Dallas

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since Nov 06, 2016
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Biography
Interests: perennial multiplier onions, Apios americana, Dioscorea sp., cassava, fruit trees for zone 8a, moringa, Tithonia diversifolia; pushing the zone for bananas, Texas citrus, bamboo
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Dallas, TX, zone 8a
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Recent posts by Trish Dallas

Thank you all very much for the replies-  there were some ideas I might be able to use, and even when the topic wandered off into mass v. volume v. weight, I did learn a lot!    

If anyone has other ideas just for leveling out the mulch with minimal effort (I'm disabled and not able to handle something as large as a wheelbarrow), please chime in.  I really appreciate the experience and advice that the permies community provides, and again, thank you all-
6 years ago
I can get woodchips delivered to the property from a local tree service, but the trucks leave piles that are a minimum of 4 feet high, even when I ask the driver to move forward slowly while he's actually dumping.

How can I spread all that out so that it is all even, just a foot deep on the ground? We don't have a tractor, or ATV, or garden tractor; I'm not strong enough to do it all with a rake or a shovel. Does anyone have an idea for something I can push or pull that would easily move woodchips around for me? Something like a giant rake or very small plow that I could drag behind me?
6 years ago
Hi all, here's an update on an experiment I tried last summer-  onion maggots were going after my crop, so I pulled and dried the whole lot.  I took one of five different kinds, put them in small pots in the shade, to see whether or not they would sprout into plants and divide.  Four stayed put, but one, the Red Dutch shallot, did grow and produced five small bulbs.

I split out and replanted those in pots themselves, then transplanted them out to the garden in early winter.  End result is that I septupled (? increased by 5 times) my onion production over the course of a year.  Pic attached- several have already divided.  So if I pull all of these plants Midsummer, then split apart the bulbs and replant, for a second mini growing, I'll have multiples of multiples of bulbs… I hope this makes sense!

For the other four varieties, in mid-summer I'll take a bulb from each and put them in the fridge for a few weeks, hopefully tricking them into thinking a season has passed.

On a sidenote, the E Toi onions have four scapes! Maybe I'll get seeds this year!  
6 years ago
Note that compared to all of the other varieties, 2155 – Orson and 1972 – Simon had very few child tubers. Instead, they appear to have devoted all of their energy to growing a giant child tuber directly attached to the parent tuber, on one side of the plant.
6 years ago
Monday, 1/22/2018 - I pulled 2155-Orson and 1972-Simon right before the first hard frost – I can't remember when that was.  I thought that I would post photos of them once the fall season was over, but it didn't happen, and I discovered yesterday that the tubers were starting to get soft! I took photos today, very abbreviated ones compared to the varieties previous, and I hope to replant these poor guys in the next week.  Live and learn...  
6 years ago
Thank you, Amy- I will try the beneficial nematodes this summer.  I'm lucky I haven't had the rot you mention- sounds horrible!  
7 years ago
Hi Amy, this past year almost all my perennial onions were badly affected by onion maggots, which might possibly have been what got yours, maybe-  they do happen in Tennessee The only one with any resistance were my I'itoi onions, though my walking onions that have been growing several years don't appear to be affected.  Just some data for your own experiments- good luck!  
7 years ago
Question about the Lofthouse-Astronomy corn- when left to mature and dry, does it tend to produce a good dent or flint corn, for cornmeal, hominy, or such?  I'm amazed and grateful for your landrace efforts, especially that you keep the lines diverse and not inbred, a real gift to other long-term breeders and growers.  Thank you!
7 years ago