The 2014 season is here already.
Shallot, Garlic and Onion seed are in the ground The last seeds and bulbs are in the ground. I have always used onion sets in the early spring. This year I’ll try to grow my own from seeds. They have emerged very nicely. The idea is to not give much room for each plant. Grouping the plants closely will make transplanting easier in early spring. I imagine we will dig up clumps and plant them in rows. Garlic is pretty easy to grow. In the southern US (Oklahoma) we plant in late fall, after the first frost. In a mild or normal winter they will emerge and grow 6 inches high. The magic is below ground where the cloves establish their roots. Garlic loves a rich soil so we have added chicken manure compost before tilling and hilling the soil. They like dry feet so raised beds are best. Plant each clove about 4 inches deep. Next to the Garlic is a row of shallot. It is mostly French Red Shallot that I found at Southern Seed Exchange. They have a nice choice of varieties and cater to a southern gardener’s planting schedule. I have no trouble finding garlic nor shallot. I have until now always planted shallot in the spring. The result is shamefully small bulbs (some of which I have used as seed this fall). Maybe fall planting will finally produce a harvest of shallots. Thanks to Adrian the rows are now mulched with wheat straw that he shreds in a leaf shredder. He has also been busy building more compost piles from shredded okra, peppers and garden debris. We are getting loads of chicken manure from a new round of pullets. Ron Cramer gave me 24 chicks this summer and they have begun producing lots of eggs and poop. Plenty for the compost piles and about 2 dozen eggs per day. The garden is not sleeping. The first section planted in the garden in late 2012 were strawberries. To my surprise they produced some nice berries this year. Next year they should be great – if we can keep the deer out of the garden all winter. The Arapaho thornless blackberries have done very well too.
Part 3 – Estimating Lead Gen Revenue In the field of insurance, companies grow by building a collection of policies. This collection is called a Book. So an established and successful insurance agent will have a large Book of Policies. This Book defines the present value of the agent’s business.
Predicting consumer response In the previous post I discussed how it is possible to compress our knowledge of auto insurance lead consumers into a very compact model. A Bayesian Network, shown here,
Part 1 – the Problem It was years ago, about 2001, when we met with Todd Chapple (now at My Agent Solution, Inc.), who at the time was pioneering auto insurance leads online at Netquote. He is a very smart guy
This season was a very good garden season. Seemed like the garden has been gushing boxes of veggies and melons. Boxes after boxes shipped twice a week. The garden gave it up. Now she and I need a rest. Adrian too, bless him. The okra wants to work more. Each plant 7 feet tall after blooming over and over. Boxes and boxes of okra. But I think it is time to give it up this season. Clean and oil the tools. Compost the too tall okra. Pull down the beans and reclaim the trellis. Call it a day.
Starting a plan for the 2014 garden Variety in the garden is important. Crop rotation is made easy with planning software. It is simple to layout next year’s garden. Looking back at old notes and gardens, variety is not my strong suit. I seem to plant the same varieties year after year. This year will be different. Next year will have 1/3 new varieties. Any failed variety gets booted (Brandywine tomato, Gonzalez cabbage, Tomatillo Roma Verde). I will save seed from our best crops and use some swapped seeds from my family. Row spacing is changing some too. To cultivate between rows, I’d like to buy a cultivator/hiller for the tractor. It uses adjustable tines, disk and blades. We can cultivate our 5 foot row spaces and then also rows space 2 1/2 feet too. It will hill corn in narrow rows and potatoes in wide rows. Still need to buy and plant onion, shallot and garlic to be planted in the next few months before winter.
A simple okra bud shows Nature’s repetition. The buds spiral in space and time.
Pole beans have been planted where the sweet peas had grown. The peas did pretty well on the plastic trellis material. The beans and cucumbers are too.
The cantaloupe are exceeding all my expectations.
People are hungry in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is our hope to provide a source of nutritious fresh food by serving local food banks.
The garden sits in the bottom of Chisholm Creek and shows great promise with great top soil and a nice flat 1/2 acre for cultivation.
Over a long and lucky life I have accumulated a lot...
Since I was a student of mechanics and physics a better...
What is this monster slouching towards Bethlehem from...
People are hungry in Edmond, Oklahoma. There were times as a child that I was hungry. People don't get enough fresh vegetables. It is my hope to provide a source of nutritious fresh food to my community of local food banks, kitchens, friends and family.
The garden sits in the bottom land of Chisholm Creek and has great top soil and a nice flat 1/2 acre for cultivation. We have added a water well, irrigation and electricity.
The setting is my favorite reason to garden here. The old elm tree shades a nice sitting area from which to view the garden and the rich nature that comes and goes in the bottom.
Over a long and lucky life I have accumulated a lot...
Even in prosperous Edmond, food banks do a steady business serving the poor. Most efforts are operated by volunteers. They almost always need help. Please give cash or volunteer.
Great examples:
Regional Food Bank: where you can donate or volunteer.
Other Options, Inc. in OKC
Project66 Community Food Pantry in Edmond