Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 4 Entries. Monday, April 23 View Page I have long believed that the stirrup hoe is God's gift to weeding (some may argue glyphosate takes this title). Regardless, the stirrup hoe is a champ at slicing weeds off just below the soil surface, where it matters most, ensuring demise rather than regrowth. Stirrup hoes at the local garden center come in one size: a 6" wide blade (shown on left). Wanting to be more efficient & productive with my time, I asked a coworker's husband, who happens to be pretty crafty in the metal shop, to hook me up with a supersized hoe. he fashioned the beauty on the right- a sturdy tool with a 12" stirrup. Twice the width = twice the weed death = 1/2 the time necessary. Feels like one of those "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" moments...ruh ruh ruh.   Tuesday, April 24 View Page Soil heating cables are expensive. And i grow back-to-back, so I use one 40-ft heating cable per 2 plants. I have dug a 6' x 3' x 6" deep area to lay the cables in. My hot houses are 3' x 3', so this layout coincides with two hot houses butted up to each other. The cable is coiled 3 times around a center planting hole (top of pic), starting with the far end of the cable and working my way back towards the thermostat/plug in. After the first three coils, the cable is strung along the edge of the site (left side of pic) and coiled around the second center planting hole (bottom of pic), ending with the thermostat/plug in dead center of the 2nd hole. As I am laying the cable, I grab a fistful of dirt and use this to "clamp" the cable to the soil. This prevents the cable from wiggling out of alignment. You can see the clumps holding cable in place in the photo. I use the pitch fork to fracture the soil before refilling the hole. Fracturing allows necessary oxygen into the soil and minimizes some of the compaction caused by trouncing around in the hole. After fracturing, I add 1 cup of kelp meal to the hole site and another cup to the dirt on the fringe that will be used to cover the hole up. I also add 20lbs of worm compost to ignite the soil food web. The original soil is scooped back into the hole and voila, its ready for hothouses and seedlings. I'll plug the cables in a day or two before planting. Tipping the hot houses down and banking up soil along the edge will make for some potent greenhouse effect, heating up the soil surface while the seeds germinate indoors.   Wednesday, May 2 View Page 801.5 Stelts 1997 Seed Germination Project. Using an adaptation of the "Deno Method", I am attempting to germinate 3 801 Stelts seeds. This method employs the use of 1000ppm Giberrellic Acid solution to facilitate germination. I have also added hydrogen peroxide at a 1:10 dilution for proposed synergy between the GA3 and H2O2. Two reliable germinators (light colored seeds) have been added to this program to serve as controls. The pie pan germination incubator will be enclosed in a gallon-size ziploc to preserve humidity and placed inside an oven with an oven light on to maintain ~80 degrees. I will remove the incubator after 24hrs and transfer seeds to potting mix. Then cross my fingers. Thank you to the generous growers who entrusted me with what must surely be the last few remaining 801 Stelts seeds.   Sunday, May 13 View Page This is a photo of the carpet-covered blocks i use to support the developing seedling. These blocks sandwich the stem, preventing the plant from the ravages of ground level wind.