2010 Season

This season started off later than I'd hoped. It's been a wet and cold spring. This is how the year has shaped up so far and what I have planned:

- Soil! Last year I had great success with green beans and tried planting directly into the garden beds with them this year without much amended soil. They've been slow and stunted. You absolutely must have nutrient rich soil, always. Home Depot has garden soil bags for sale right now for about $5 for a large bag (100 lb bags or so). I have 5 raised beds of about 30 sq. ft that, according to these bags, requires 2 each. I put 2 bags into 2 beds, and one bag into the rest. So far so good.

- If you're into this stuff as much as I am, you'll learn to know how to start seeds indoors. It can be as simple or as complex as you have time and money for. It's also useful if you haven't had time to work your garden bed yet or the weather hasn't cooperated. Tips on starting seeds indoors:

1. Plant seeds in small peat moss pots or other biodegradable pot using a "seed starting" soil mix. Place them in a plastic container or tray that can not only hold water but be covered with plastic. You can water them from the bottom up this way, and the plastic covering helps keep soil warm and moist. Seeds generally need 72 to 82 degree soil temps and light, although some (like the tobacco I'm growing) germinate faster in pure darkness (must be the sinful nature of the plant!!)

2. There are special lights you can get to offer your seedlings, but in general the cheapest and most convenient system you can set up is an adjustable desk lamp using a CFL fluorescent bulb that's at least 2700k, higher if you can.

With proper water, light and heat you'll be germinatin' in no time. Sometimes as quick as 3 days under perfect conditions!

- Just spent all day Sunday working over 4 of the 5 beds. Hand tilled about 6 inches and mixed in the new soil. I planted roughly 25 green beans, 10 soybeans, 15 butterleaf lettuce, 10 onion, 4 broccoli, 6 "Big Beef" tomatoes, 3 grape tomatoes, 3 small sugar pumpkin, one strawberry plant and who knows how many sunflowers.

- Growing Pennsylvania Red tobacco this year. Or trying to anyway. Dug up a brand new bed for these, two rows about 40 sq. feet each. I don't smoke cigarettes but love a good cigar once in awhile and the Penn Red supposed to be good for that. I also have 3 other types that I'll try next year. This is going to be a long and interesting project for me. First off the seeds are the size of a pin head. They grow above-soil and in darkness. Once they germinate though you take care of them as you would a tomato plant.

The Penn Red will grow about 4-5 feet high, with long and broad leaves within 90 days. I started late but should be OK. Each plant makes about 4-5 oz. of tobacco. The process apparently isn't easy. First you need to grow the plant successfully, then harvest and dry the leaves which cannot be dried too fast or too slow.

Once dried they can technically be smoked and get a large hit of nicotine, but unless you're Josey Wales or William Munny you'll probably hack your eyeballs out of your skull from the harshness. They call smoking naturally dried leaves near the plants "field smokes", basically rolling it up a lighting it. Apparently this was how it was done for a long time until they figured out that storing it in the hull of a humid, hot ship for months made it taste better!

Tobacco then needs to be cured over time to make it smoother. Most commercial tobacco is cured from 1 to 5 years, but the home grower can successfully do it in 4-5 weeks. But, the longer the cure, the smoother it gets. Just like my beloved scotch!

It's shaping up to possibly be my best year yet. I've learned a lot and I can't believe I'm already in my 3rd year doing this. Future projects this year include making my own composter and small greenhouse to start seeds next Feb/March.