February 10th, 2024 Issue
Season Extension #1 Seedlings / Making Biochar / Wintergreen /Float Fishing Lesson #19- Chumming / Fly Tying Lesson #19- Deer Fly
Season Extension #1 Seedlings
Many people don’t realize that the process of producing seedlings, is really a season extension technique. Living in Michigan, it would be impossible for me to grow peppers and eggplant to maturity, if I tried to direct seed them in my garden beds. There just isn’t enough time in the growing season. But by starting them inside my seedling greenhouse, I can get an extra eight weeks start to the season before I have to plant them outside.
In fact my seedling greenhouse was one of the first structures I built on our homestead, because I realized that super high quality seedlings, were going to be the life blood of my farm. Plus taking care of young plants from sowing, through germination, to transplant time, can be so much more nuanced and nurturing for them.
Some of my favorite seedlings to grow, are my brassicas. Cabbage, Kale, and Broccoli to name a few. They can be very susceptible to cut worms when they are small. I like to grow them in seedling form, so that they are quite large when I put them out. The photo below shows them in my seedling greenhouse just thriving and ready to be transplanted to the garden. They are in my 32 ounce yogurt size block. They are large enough that if a cut worm comes along, generally all that will happen is that I will lose a leaf, not the whole plant.
Even during summer, a seedling can still be used to extend the season. You can sow cool loving crops like lettuce, beets, and peas, in transplant form. You can keep the flats in a cool place while you wait for them to germinate. Planting them directly in the garden bed, may prove to be too hot for them to get consistent germination.
This brings me to another aspect of how they extend the season. If I were to plant that lettuce seed in a soil block and keep them as transplants for four weeks. Another crop can occupy the space they will eventually be in for those four weeks. In essence extending your growing time by an extra four weeks.
As I expand into more advanced season extension techniques, you will see how I will back up my seeding dates earlier and earlier. Getting to the point I can teach you how to put tomato and pepper plants in unheated hoop houses, while there is snow on the ground outside. It will be fun to teach you these tricks.
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Making Biochar
More and more gardeners are talking about Biochar. This is a very important concept that you should learn about. In fact the Koreans have been using Biochar in some very amazing ways. I will be taking you through the process of making a calcium foliar spray from eggshells, and a calcium phosphate spray from ruminate bones like deer, and another spray for potassium from sunflower stalks and flowers.
In order to extract these minerals from the different resources, you must first turn them into Biochar. I make mine in a dutch oven in my wood stove. I can heat my home with the gasification that is released during the process and have a beautiful carbon rich charcoal when I am done. This video series will show you how I make this in my wood stove. I will be referencing some of the other videos in this series as I begin to show you how I make the special mineral rich sprays.
https://rumble.com/user/Schaafcraig?q=biochar
Wintergreen
This link will take you to a video I made on harvesting wintergreen. Enjoy!
https://rumble.com/vwlzwb-wild-harvesting-wintergreen.html
Float Fishing Lesson #19- Chumming
As a fishing technique, the Europeans have taken chumming to a very detailed science. When I fished on the United States Fishing Team, and we went to Ireland, we would buy large buckets, full of different special colors of dyed maggots. And large bags, with special ground bait recipes with secret ingredients. Having the right ground bait mix, with the right maggots or small worm chunks, can really make a difference, when it comes bringing fish to your swim during a competition, and keeping them there, feeding. Then learning how much to feed, and how often was very critical.
During a competition in Europe, often the fish have been caught at least a half dozen times before. The fish know that there is an element of danger, when all the free food starts to come. They just learn to be savvy enough to figure out which bait has the hook in it. It is very rare to find someone in America that actually utilizes chumming techniques. I will be going into more detail with this in the future as I share specific fishing situations with you.
This video is from a expat from England that lives in Australia. He is a match fisherman that has very informative videos. I appreciate him. In this video he shows you how he makes his basic ground bait recipe. I am showing you this, so you will have a point of reference in the future, as we go through ways we can use these techniques in different situations.
Fly Tying Lesson #19- Deer Fly
In this lesson we tie the Deer Fly This is an excellent terrestrial pattern when the pesky insects are out in abundance. I have caught some really nice fish on this dry fly.
https://rumble.com/v103gcx-fly-tying-class-lesson-19-deer-fly.html
I finally was able to watch your videos on making biochar. I had some technical difficulties for some time. Your videos break it down nicely and I'm hoping our Lord allows me time and energy to make them before spring gets here. I'm lacking sunflower seeds, but that's not an insurmountable problem. Great videos and you give a thorough explanation on how we can do it. BTW, I don't think 'roasting your iphone is covered under the warranty.' Thank you very much, Craig!