Kitchen Garden

Use and convenience is key

We have been doing our growing this season at the KU Student Farm. I get many such privileges being a faculty member there. As an experiment, Shari and I decided to try our hands at companion planting. What's companion planting? Glad you asked! Companion planting is where you grow plants next to each other that repel each others pests. The plant that is used most often is marigolds. Herbs are also big. The funny thing is that it seems that if it tastes good together, it's likely a companion plant. For example, tomatoes and basil are companion plants as are rosemary and potatoes and cilantro and peppers.

Anyway, we are coming to the end of our time at the KU Student Farm. We have not planted a fall garden nor do we plan to. As the plants give up their last fruits, we are pulling them without replacing. The herbs, however, we decided to transplant and put in our kitchen garden.

When you grow food for the home and you have enough space, it is likely that you will have more than one garden. The kitchen garden is pretty much what you think it is: a garden for the kitchen. There's nothing better than fresh herbs and greens but there's nothing worse than having to trek across your property to pluck what you need. Instead, find a spot close to the kitchen for a small number of items you are likely to need only a little. Right now we have sage, oregano and basil. Rosemary would be a good addition as would cilantro.

What would you keep in your kitchen garden?

SARE

The SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant call for proposals will be coming out later in August. I will announce and post when it is out.  In the meantime, here are 3 webinars to help producers understand the SARE Farmer/Rancher grant, the grant writing process, what makes a good proposal and answer questions you may have.

Each year there are minor changes for the grant and that is the case for this year.  Funding for the grants have increased!
One producer - up to $7,500
Two producers - up to $14,000
Three or more producers - up to $22,500

If you are interested in learning about the SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant, then join me on Sept 12th for the PowerPoint presentation about the grant and then join me on Sept 19th and Sept 26th to hear from past recipients about their grant.  So mark your calendars now!

Sept 12: 7-8:30 pm - SARE Farmer/Rancher Grants Webinar with Debi Kelly, University of Missouri. To join go to http://univmissouri.adobeconnect.com/r1k1mmdfelf/ and sign in as a guest.

Sept 19: 7-8:30 pm -SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant Webinar with Linda Hezel, a 2008 Grant Recipient of Comparison of Coverings over Permanent Raised Beds to Extend the Growing Season for Year Round Food Production. To join go to http://univmissouri.adobeconnect.com/r5lqdewpa9d/ and sign in as a guest.

Sept 26: 7-8:30 pm -SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant Webinar with Greg and Nancy Rasmussen, a 2010 Grant Recipient of Rainwater Capture and Re-use: Using Gravity and Solar Power. To join go to http://univmissouri.adobeconnect.com/r8qgclfjeik/ and sign in as a guest.

They see me rollin'!

Or as my sister said, "She thinks my tractor's sexy." I guess it's a country song? Regardless, here I am on the new tractor just before I mowed.




I

Storm's a brewin'.

What should I plant?

How much to plant for a family of four?

As a new gardener, you might wonder how much of each vegetable to plant. It's actually hard to say. Plant a ton of what you like and none of what you don't. But I will share with you here some guidlines. My recommendation? Start with this chart next season (or even right now since it's time to put in Fall crops) and then adjust at a later date.

Asparagus	10'	Perennial
Beets	10'	Spring and Fall Crop
Broccoli	5 Plants	Cool Season Crop
Brussel Sprouts	5 Plants	Cool Season Crop
Beans, Bush	15'	Succession Plant
Beans, Pole	3 Poles	Single Planting
Cabbage	5 Plants	Spring and Fall Crop
Carrots	10'	Succession Plant
Cauliflower	5 Plants	Spring and Fall Crop
Chard	5 Plants	Re-Grows after Harvesting Outer Leaves
Corn	15'	Succession Plant and Multiple Varieties
Cucumbers	2 hills	Single Planting
Greens	10'	Spring and Fall Crop
Kale	5 Plants	Single Planting
Lettuce, Leaf	10'	Succession Plant
Onions	5'	Single Planting
Peas	10'	Succession, Spring and Fall
Peppers	3 Plants	Single Planting
Radishes	5'	Succession Plant
Squash, Summer	2 Hills	Single Planting, Multiple Varieties
Tomatos	5 Plants	Single Planting, Multiple Varieties
Turnips	10'	Spring and Fall Crop

Sunshine Day!

I love Sears!

There! I said it! I love Sears. Why, you ask? Because they sold us a Craftsman garden tractor for cheap. And it's a good one.

Let me back up a bit. We definitely need something to mow at least the front two acres. The back four or so can just go to hay, that's fine. But around the house, garage and barn, we definitely need something. Although most of our grass is dead from this lovely heat wave, there are still some patches that seem to be thriving. So we did what any normal couple would do: we went shopping. Our first stop was at a place called Heritage Tractor and there we found a John Deere lawn tractor for an okay price. Definitely something we could pay cash for. Although we would have to buy a small tractor later on.

Side note: there are many different types of "tractors." They range from being nothing more than big lawn mowers to being massive, wheels-as-big-as-your-house earth-movers. At the small end of the spectrum, you have lawn tractors which are like mowers but they have larger rear wheels and have a hitch so you can pull small things. These are good for maybe a couple of acres of mowing depending on the horse power and deck size. Larger than that are garden tractors. They have more horse power and stronger engines making it so that you can not only mow more acres but you can also attach tillers, snow blowers and other such things. Garden tractors are really small tractors where lawn tractors are large mowers.

We then decided to take a quick look at Sears. There we found a Craftsman GT6000 for less than the John Deere. The GT stands for "Garden Tractor" which means it has more power than the John Deere and can actually till. After a bit of research on whether or not Craftsman garden tractors are awesome (they are), we went back and bought one. Well, actually, I opened up an account. No-interest for six months which means we could use our cash for something else we really, really need.

2000 Chevrolet S-10, 176K miles. Aside from the mileage, you wouldn't know that this beauty has been driven at all. And we paid cash.

So now that we have our tractor (or will have... being delivered on the 9th) and our truck, we can actually start some serious work here on the farm.