Delila Jahn-Thue

I have a tree perimeter on east, north and west sides of the garden.  Lots if borage, comfrey, strawberries and asparagus grow interpolated with tomatoes and carrots.  Also many perrenial flowers on the edges. Wet enough that slugs are large. After heavy frost this year I let the chickens graze this garden as well as the adjoining orchard. There is heavy clay but the growing beds have been heavily amended. Visitors have called my garden a jungle so there is no shortage of confusion and distraction for pests.
Anyone ever ammendmemded with trace minerals or done lab soil testing? I know our ancestors heavily tilled and weren't afraid to dust with ugly chemicals. That can do long term damage.  I have applied lots of flax straw and wood chips in the past. Woodchips have mostly been consumed.

Excited to learn more about the Chinese greenhouse.  I understand they roll out blankets over top for insulation at night. I don't know why I never considered this. Makes perfect sense. Especially where I am in zone 3b. We need every trick in the book to stretch the growing season.  May the good word grow about the possibilities.  Thanks for what you do!

I have been gardening vegetables for decades. No till, heavy mulch, even composting and swills and teas. But again this year my efforts were mostly consumed by cabbage butterflies and flea beetles.  Yes, I've used many hoses and tents of mesh. Yes I've rinsed with the hose. No I will not spray with chemicals.  I have used neem though.
I'm in zone 3b. Studying regenerative farming.  The belief that if I get the soil right the pests will leave my plants alone leaves me scratching my head and continuing to search for the holy grail of soil health.
Currently thinking: trace minerals and looking at Steve Solomon.  I understand (especially on our 100+ year old family farm) that agricultural chemicals of the past have rendered zinc inert or so I am told. Also get that some say the minerals are all still there, we need only the bacterial and fungal friends to deliver them.
Anyone get the brassica soil formula right? I wanna learn.  

Hey Dave, where you growing? I hugled in all my greenhouses this year too. Pleased with the results and the stuff that self seeded from last year. Thanks for the borage tip. I have comfrey in some of my greenhouses but that hummingbird sold me on trying some borage all over the yard too. Thanks for sharing the video!
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This has to be the most BEA-U-TIFUL pooper I have every seen. Love it. You understand two holes if you have small children. Waiting for a slow pooper when you've really got to go would teach you that 2 holes are better than one. My hubby bought two old phone booths we are converting into poopers on our farm. We left the TELEPHONE signs on them. Very handy behind the greenhouse and near the kids' sand box. You people inspire me.
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Tough row to hoe. Reminds me of trying to get an honest day's work out of a teen glued to a cell phone and hard wired into any excuse for a day away/party. Holy hell. On the topic of farm hands, I have tried to "hire" help in exchange for farm goods. People expect to be given produce and I haven't found many interested in actually helping harvest in exchange. Wish I lived closer. Fantastic opportunities to learn and be a part of something great are wasted on those who do not appreciate the potential and possibilities of working with nature. Even so, miracles do happen, don't they?

God they're beautiful.

Hi! Thrilled about eating wild plants. Husband calls me cracked. Mallow, pigweed (amaranth) and lambs quarters grow in abundance here. I am thinking of starting to eat quack grass roots. Digging them out of the garden lots. I understand a bread was made with these during war times in Europe. Curious about your thoughts on that.
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Yes, I let my chickens have the run of two attached (recycled from other life times with plastic and a few windows) greenhouses. They love the extra sunshine and room to roam in winter months, fertilize the areas and scratch up bugs. When it's time to kick them out into their outdoor run (before I pasture them) I wash the insides of the gh walls with a garden hose, amend the soil and plant early. Bees set up a home next door and are in there early too. I found they can be hard on plastic though and strung chicken wire up the walls to protect the plastic wherever possible. They like to peck frost off the walls and this really degrades the plastic fast.

raspberries are very independent. transplant before they leaf out and they'll do better - that is early in the spring or bring it in dormant from a supplier. All they seem to need is room away from the grass to get established. Mine flourish with no care but I started them heavily mulched. Very useful preserved fruit to get one through a long winter.
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