A Texan Asian in Belgium - The Story of the Hippie Stink Homestead

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It took us TWO DAYS but we finally managed to pull up all the weeds in the field. Potatoes are putting out baby spuds (as I discovered when I accidentally uncovered one while pulling weeds around the dirt mound) and the beans have lovely purple flowers on them. Corn is a bit runty but with the weeds cleared out I have no doubt they'll shoot up. I need to get a good organic fertilizer for it because it's a heavy feeder.

Also ordered a bunch of heirloom seed for next year. I pick heirlooms because of Belgium's weird laws regarding GMOs and pesticides and fertilizers, and because I'm an avid seed saver and I love unusual and rare plants. Got some Dutch blauwschokker peas (they're bright purple podded!) and some California white sage for the bees, as well as homesteading staples and European cultivars that are cold-hardy.
 
We're primarily subsistence homesteaders. This year is testing the soil and what I need to do to increase production. Next year I have a map and setup meant for growing enough to feed our family of two for a year.
 
Cool. I've thought about trying that someday, but it seems like so much work. Not that I'm lazy and wouldn't want to try it, just don't know if I'd have the time for all of that. Can't wait to see how your operation works out.
 
It's definitely a lot of work. I'm actually really lazy and got the nickname of "The Neglectful Gardener" in 4H because I basically let everything grow wild. About the only thing I actively cultivate anymore is the chickens, though I'm working on getting better.

Got a hard rain today, which means the corn is gonna shoot up another three or four inches. Tomatoes might get some needed B vitamins from the rain. We will see what this does for the GTE.
 
hippiestink said:
It's definitely a lot of work. I'm actually really lazy and got the nickname of "The Neglectful Gardener" in 4H because I basically let everything grow wild. About the only thing I actively cultivate anymore is the chickens, though I'm working on getting better.

Got a hard rain today, which means the corn is gonna shoot up another three or four inches. Tomatoes might get some needed B vitamins from the rain. We will see what this does for the GTE.
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Haha. And don't worry, when I said "I'm not lazy", I meant I'm not lazy enough where it will prevent me from trying something new, like a garden. With most things, I too and pretty lazy.
Keep updating on the crops!
 
Hard rain this morning which means the corn shot up four inches and the tomatoes swelled a bit. For those wondering which places I get my seeds they're all Etsy-based stores. I like Etsy for their ease of use (I have my own store on there) and the surprisingly cheap prices I got on ordinarily pricy heirloom seed.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmartSeeds
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeanAcresSeeds
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BoxGardenOrganics

I've never had shipping issues or customer service problems with these sellers and the seeds are top-notch quality with an 80-90% viability from my experience. Seeds sprout into vigorous and healthy plants which really produce better than my conventional seed packets from the feed store. These shops are simply the best seed shops for the price and quantity. I recommend the Golden Bantam corn seed from Smart Seeds and the tomato seeds from both Box Garden Organics and Smart Seeds. If you want excellent squash seed then Bean Acres is your best bet.

(ps: they don't pay me to praise their products, this is all on my own. I bought the seed and planted and cared for them, and this is because of my excellent experiences with the product.)
 
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I'm terribly sorry. My thoughts and best wishes are with you and your family during this time. There's not much more difficult than losing the ones closest to us.
hugs.gif
 
The sun shines! This has been a hard week spiritually, mentally, and garden-wise. It's been nothing but cold and rainy but the sun is finally shining and the temps are rising above 50 F. We just got out order of seed for the upcoming year, all organic heirloom. My standard storebought seeds had a really crummy germination rate and so I'm replacing a lot of it in 2016.



I'm actually looking forward to this upcoming year. I'm getting more ambitious in my garden with more cultivars and meticulous planning. I'm doing a biointensive plan with space-saving being top priority. Companion planting is a must if I want to grow the amount of food I have planned.

Corn has started putting out flowers and the beans are beginning to ripen. Melons are spreading and i should have some late melons by the end of the season, just in time for the Last Harvest of the year.
 
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