The Spring Crops Are Planted! - COME SEE THE HOMESTEAD GARDEN

I was determined that I would get the spring crops in on March 1st. Normally that is too early for us we don't have grow lights or heating mats on the homestead. And sometimes we are in danger of frost for a another month or so here in the higher elevations of the Ozark mountains.

But these are spring crops and they can take a light freeze and germinate in the colder weather. Plus, every year, it seems that my spring crops are coming in during the heat of summer and I'm constantly battling all the pests in the last few weeks. Every years garden is an adventure. Some things are going to do wonderful and some things are going to fail. Even master gardeners fail at certain attempts year after year because every year is different with so many variables. The fun in gardening is getting out there and trying.

This year I'm going to try some different items and switch things up a bit.

Our spring garden with layered mulch, straw and wood chips ready for spring planting.

GARDEN MANURE

Normally every year I put a good layer of rabbit manure purchased from a grower in the city to spread on my garden. But I've been doing that for the past 4 years now and I think the soil is healthy enough that I can skip doing that this year. I will still get some rabbit manure and mushroom compost for a couple of sections of the garden where I have some specialty items growing but it won't be much.

PARAMAGNETIC ROCK DUST

One thing I will be trying this year is putting down paramagnetic rock over the soil. If you have never looked into this, check it out. Some gardeners try to weave in a bunch of new age mysticism with this soil additive. But the reason paramagnetic rock works is simple, It's full of rich minerals that encourage microbial life in your soil. Older volcanic regions on earth are some of the most fertile growing areas because the soil is full of these minerals and nutrients. Adding paramagnetic rock to your garden is like bringing the fertility of the volcano to your veggies. One master gardener I talked to told me that adding paramagnetic rock dust on your garden would add at least 10 years of super charged growing ability.

SPRING CROPS

Japanese Turnips

These were a big favorite last year. Otherwise known as the Hakurei turnip. They were almost sweet with a tinge of spice to them. I loved them raw and Jaimie put them on her salads. You could cook them if you wanted but I tend to think that that raw veggies are better for you if you can eat them that way. I will be growing these every year. But I have yet to find a way to make them produce more seeds. My experiment last year failed to produce seeds. If you have any suggestions, please leave them below.

Until then, I will be happily buying these seeds until I can produce my own.

Brunswick Cabbage

This is a simple heirloom cabbage that we got from Baker Creek and have been growing every year.

They grow amazingly well here but we do have to fight off the pests. My goodness, do the moth worms attack these things! Neem oil and Dr. Bronners Sal Suds works great on keeping these pests off and the plant looking great. I have to put it on after every rain if I'm going to get a good crop with little damage.

We have grown some impressive cabbages in this soil. Jaimie uses the harvest to make my all time summer favorite of egg rolls. Lots of cabbage means lots of egg rolls! We also make cabbage steaks and sour kraut. This year we are going to use the cabbage and other items to make kimchi with the Perfect Pickler.

Oxheart Carrots

I think these seeds were given to me by @papa-pepper and I was looking for a new carrot alternative to try out this year.

These amazing carrots look like a fantastic candidate. So in the ground they went and covered very lightly as carrots have a hard time pushing up through any covering.

We will use these in the making of any kimche and also in those awesome egg rolls Jaimie makes on the homestead!

Jericho Romaine Lettuce

We had an amazing crop of this lettuce variety last year and the big surprise was that the lettuce stayed delicious well into the summer and didn't turn bitter until late. We got a lot of use of the very large lettuce heads to make salads and tacos. This became a family favorite and it seeded really well which made it easy for the boys to harvest and save for this year.

Check out this variety if you can. They sell it here.

Sugar Snap Peas

Not sure what variety this is. I lost track. To be honest, the best harvest of peas was back when we had the aquaponics running. But, I'm going to try this again in the garden in a different spot and see how it goes. We don't can peas or freeze them. I don't like them any other way but fresh. I think they lose so much taste after they have been saved by freezing or canning. But I love them fresh!

Grow What You Like To Eat

I know a lot of people put all kinds of things in their garden because they feel like they have to based on what other gardeners are growing. After doing this and saving our harvest for a few years. We will only grow what we eat and save. Somethings we just grow to eat and don't save any for the pantry. Peas are one of those items. The preservation is a time consuming activity for any produce.

Can't wait to see everyones gardens this summer! Happy spring planting!

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