Do plants feel…? Do vegetables feel…? Do they have thoughts? Do they communicate, feel pain, detect danger, experience fear? What about… love?
It’s far easier to accept that animals have feelings. We know when they’re excited, we know when they experience pain, and anybody who has ever had pets can easily recognise their love. But plants don’t wag tails, don’t lick our faces when we’re feeling sad, don’t run, don’t cry… And yet, how can we be totally sure that they don’t feel? Well, we can’t, and furthermore, we could have already proven that they do indeed have feelings and react to their environment and to other living beings, including Read More
We are always starting new projects here at the ranch. Mainly because I get bored with old projects, but also because some enterprises succeed and others don’t or because we don’t like certain projects after we start them or because we have empty space or…. I think you get the idea. So we’ve always wanted to grow lavender. It’s beautiful, smells good, it’s a good tourist attractor and it’s even edible. You can also reportedly make pretty good money per acre. However, I don’t know anything about it so I’m going to blog about it as we research and discover things. We may or may not go ahead with Read More
I am SO excited. I love summer gardening because squash and melons are so easy to plant and grow (excepting the rabbit attacks), but there is way more variety in the cooler months. Here is what we’ll be planting in the month of August:
Bean, bushBean, polebeetBroccoliBrussel SproutsCabbage seedsCarrotCeleryChardChinese CabbageCorn, sweetCucumberkaleleaf lettuceOnion, green bunchPea, fallRadishRutabagaSpinachTurnip
The total statewide October through December precipitation was 78 percent of average, further adding to our accumulated water supply deficit. The 2009 Water Year (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009) was the third consecutive year of below average precipitation for the state. Annual statewide precipitation totaled 76 percent, 72 percent, and 63 percent of average for Water Years 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively.
On the bright side, January precipitation through the 28th is above average January rainfall.
So what do you do in this situation? Give up gardening all together? Mainstream agriculture uses about twice as much water (and maybe much more!) to irrigate as a small scale, organic and well planned Read More
I decided to try something different this year with my garden. Last year I had raised beds. It worked great for having soft soil and it wasn’t too much work because I just dug out the paths and piled it onto the beds so I didn’t have to bring in soil from somewhere else. However, the point of having raised beds is also to keep the plants roots from drowning in excess water.
As you can see, the plants roots are safely away from the water with the freedom to grow down to the water as needed without the roots rotting.
However, I live in the Read More
Well, I spent yesterday dragging wooden pallets and setting up a fence only to have the wind blow it down today.
The hay pallet fence was a great idea. The pallets were free and just laying around providing a home for lizards.
I wired them together and drove wood stakes into the ground for support. I guess it wasn’t enough though. I’m going to try driving in more stakes before I give up.