Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 15 Entries. Saturday, January 3 View Page January 3rd, added about 6 inches of mulched leaves and tilled them under to start off 2026, this really helps my heavy clay soil but doesn't actually add a lot of nutrients. I also took down the fence on one side and move it back a few feet so I can get my riding mower around the perimeter this summer. Sunday, February 8 View Page February 8th, it was dry enough and the ground had thawed. A second pass with the tiller helped work in the remaining leaves that are already starting to decompose. Trying to get a head start on the soil this year when the weather allows. Monday, March 23 View Page Soil analysis to start this year. I plan on adding ammonium sulfate to bring down the pH and add nitrogen, in addition to elemental sulfur, and feather meal. I will add the sulfur now as it takes a while to breakdown and lower pH. I will add the rest of the amendments closer to planting to minimize loss to leaching before I have plants on the ground. Boron was within the normal range, but this needs to be higher to help with Calcium movement. I definitely do not need to add any calcium thanks to all the limestone in our area. Friday, April 3 View Page In the past I have used concentrated hydrogen peroxide as a soil drench to help eliminate any soil borne diseases. New this year I am trying ZeroTol. It is similar to the H2O2, but also contains paroxyacetic acid, which has a longer antimicrobial effect in the soil. This all breaks down to water, oxygen, and a small amount of vinegar. The vinegar also has an antimicrobial effect and breaks down in a few days so should not effect pH. I'll add beneficial microbes back in when I amend the soil here in a few days. Sunday, April 5 View Page Our new baby goats are just a couple days old, 8 on the ground so far. Sunday, April 5 View Page A couple more jumping around... Tuesday, April 7 View Page Mini-greenhouses are set up with improved ventilation this year, should be more automated to keep plants at an ideal temperature day and night. Saturday, April 11 View Page Final patch prep work this weekend. All amendments added, and one final till to mix it all in. Micronutrients added after the soil analysis were: 2.2 oz Chelated copper 1.5 lbs Borax 3.5 oz Manganese Sulfate Also added TerraGrow and mixed in some WOW humic/fulvic acid + seaweed powder, but will mainly water this in during the season as the plant grows. Saturday, April 11 View Page Fertilizer amendments: 25 lbs of feather meal (for a slower released nitrogen source) 2 lbs urea (faster available nitrogen, but short lived) 4.4 lbs Ammonium sulfate (nitrogen + sulfur) 20 lbs Elemental sulfur (pH correction) Saturday, April 11 View Page All amendments tilled in, next I'll work on getting the irrigation set up and about a million other details. The cattle next door were very intrigued... Monday, April 13 View Page This year I will try to grow 2 plants, the 2266 Kisamore and the 2453 Sherwood. I plan on double planting the mini greenhouses and keeping the best. I will also start some of my own seed from last years 1241 (2206 Rodebaugh x 2006 Wolf) as a back up. Monday, April 13 View Page 2026 growing season has started, soaked these seeds about 12 hrs before planting them in some black gold seed starter mix. Fingers crossed! Friday, April 17 View Page One of the 4x4 post to hold up shade cloth had bent significantly as often happens with treated lumber. I came up with a simple solution for this common problem. 1. Attach some short 2x4 scraps to the post at the apex of the bend to act as a fulcrum. 2. Find the old weather head pipe you have been saving for some reason. 3. Chain the weather head to the top of the bent post 4. Wrap a 10,000 lb ratchet strap around the bottom of the pipe/post, and tighten as much as possible without bending the pipe. 5. Tighten the ratchet strap a few clicks each week until the post is in the desired orientation, the leave it in this position several more weeks. 6. Attach another 2x4 along the side of the straightened post before removing the pipe, otherwise the post will eventually return to its original bent position, as I learned from experience. Saturday, April 18 View Page 100% germination, and young plants breaking through the soil. Starting sunlight exposure right away in the mini greenhouse to make hardening off easier this year. 50 degrees outside, but the thermostatically controlled ventilation is keeping the greenhouse in the low 80's. Saturday, April 18 View Page Temperature data from the mini greenhouse. Sensor placed in there this afternoon shows the ventilation system keeping temps between 80-85, with fan set to turn on at 85.