Sheena James

Tyler Ludens wrote:Whole oats and whole sunflower seeds along with bugs and weeds and stuff from the garden.  No processed food at all this year and avoiding corn (though we did accidentally buy a bag of mixed grains which included corn).

Same here. At first, I thought feeding my chickens with corn is good. But when I realized that it is one of the genetically modified foods nowadays, I started giving my chickens whole sunflower seeds, and oats. Though it's more expensive than the usual corn, they actually love it so its just fine with me. At least it is more organic.

Two of the most nutritious root crops I can grow are carrots and broccoli. At first, I thought I can't be able to grow them properly but yay, I did!

Jeanine Gurley wrote:I have now gone back to planting my the moonsigns.

When I originally shifted from ornamentals to edibles I planted by moonsigns on the advice of my aunt. She did not garden, she raised pigs. I don't know anything about raising pigs but, according to her there were lots of things that she only did by the moon signs - and that also extended to her own life, such as when to schedule surgeries, etc.

My aunt was influenced by her parents and her grandparents who always planted by the signs.

I abandoned the moon signs planting over the last year.

I did harvest food - but it was not impressive. Whereas the previous year I was over run with food.

So this fall planting I am back to the moon signs. I am also dry planting. No watering - all hoses are rolled up and put away. I also intend to severly limit the number of seedlings started in containers. I want to start all (except peppers) plants in the ground out doors. Since we are so temperate here this should work for most plants.

The first planting was NOT according to the moon sign. Some stuff came up.

The next plantings HAVE been planted according to the signs. Lots of seedlings have come up - some seem to just jump up in a couple of days.

Garlic is my main squeeze around here - love my garlic. I probably did plant it according to the signs last year since I am so particular about it. This year I will narrow the planting dates down even further to find the best possible moon to plant it in. It too will recieve no supplemental watering until harvest in May/June.

I have never made compost tea using biodynamic methods but I am going to try to find a 'recipe' and try it.

Wow, really? So there's some "technique" or "belief" about planting by moon signs? Anyway, there's no harm in trying. I'll probably try this one too and if I can successfully harvest good ones, then I will also suggest it to my relatives and friends. Thanks for sharing, by the way.

Rich Pasto wrote:its like there is too much organic material in there. Too dense. enough vermiculite to loosen it up. Maybe some peat moss sweetened with some lime.

Yes, I agree. I guess you've planted too much. Maybe it's better to plant it alternately. Maybe two types of plants first (broccoli and radish) then after you've harvested it, then toil and let it loose for at least some time then plant another one again.

I think compost or worm compost fertilizer would be the best fertilizer to use. It's safe, organic, easy to do and affordable at the same time.