Comments for Happy Farming . com

Comment on How To Grow Squash by Laurel

Laurel — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:36:55 +0000

I planted Gurneys Black Magic squash and the secondary leaves have light colored patches. I had this problem last year, so this year I added soil sulpher,gypsum, and ironite and then sprayed epsom salt solution before planting. I am using a drip water system. What is my problem?

Comment on Building A Better Bean Trellis by Thomas W.

Thomas W. — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:26:11 +0000

@Mary: Just 1 seed by each pole. You could try 1 seed per horizontal pole, but I find that runner beans can’t really figure out how to grow in a horizontal direction (which seems weird). Using wooden sticks instead of bamboo is great too. If your trellis is built in a windy place you’ll probably have to secure it to the ground with strings, like you would secure a tent.
Different types of trellises can be found in my ebook – check out this blog post: http://happyfarming.com/2010/10/08/get-my-ebook-and-email-newsletter-for-free/
More about wind: http://happyfarming.com/2010/08/26/wind-and-blight/

Comment on Building A Better Bean Trellis by mary

mary — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:34:23 +0000

So how many seeds do you plant around each pole? Do you also plant seeds around the horizontal poles? could you use wood instead of bamboo? How do you secure the poles into the soil?

Comment on Raised Bed Designs – Part 2 by Thomas W.

Thomas W. — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:36:01 +0000

I like the fact that they will last so long. I’m wondering why there aren’t any really old ones left, but maybe they were never built 100 or 200 years ago… Maybe they can be found near manors, castles, fortresses etc.
John Seymour traced raised beds back to French Maraichers in the 19th century (1801-1900).

Comment on Raised Bed Designs – Part 2 by garden raised bed

garden raised bed — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:59:40 +0000

Thank you for the tour. You have some really nice ideas here. I like the masonry ones best.

Comment on How to Use Self Watering Tomato Boxes by Thomas W.

Thomas W. — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:25:20 +0000

@Andy: Please take a look at the comments section of this post:
http://happyfarming.com/2010/06/30/tomato-experiment-using-self-watering-grow-boxes/

Comment on Concrete Block Raised Beds by Thomas W.

Thomas W. — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:34:41 +0000

@Kathy: I’ll ask Jennifer who took the picture if she would explain how it was built.

Comment on Looking for a Heirloom Peach Seed by Thomas W.

Thomas W. — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:15:49 +0000

@Dale: I guess peaches are just like tomatoes, which are also self-pollinating.
I’m still looking for peach seeds – I just checked my refrigerator, and the seeds I had saved in there have dried out completely

Comment on Aquaponic Tomato Plants by Thomas W.

Thomas W. — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 09:44:29 +0000

@Joby: I had separate tanks for fish and plants (the system has been dismantled now since I’m moving to a new house):
http://happyfarming.com/2011/01/19/aquaponics-home-system-part-10-water-flow/
I tried raising the pots above the water and let the roots develop down into the water, but the brown stuff still attached to the roots. I made a new filter which was very effective and placed it around the drain of the plant tank. I only tested it for a few days but I could turn out to be the solution in the long run.
And still, I would like to switch to Leca stones, or something else, instead of coconut fibers – I’m pretty sure the fibers dissolve and contaminate the water.
I have a very nice Eheim pump for moving the water between tanks:
http://happyfarming.com/2011/02/22/aquaponics-home-system-part-15-water-pump/

Comment on How to Use Self Watering Tomato Boxes by Andy Carter

Andy Carter — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:28:37 +0000

Where can I get these polystyrene boxes please??

Regards,

Andy