In article
,
Wildbilly wrote:

In article ,
(EVP MAN) wrote:

I'm new here and have been looking for just such a group as this to
discuss vegetable gardening. I'm a 61 year young male who lives in
central Pennsylvania. Last season I decided to grow some tomato plants.
Didn't know much about it though. Just dug some holes right through the
sod in my back yard about 10" in diameter each and planted (14) plants.
I wasn't expecting much but to my surprise, they done really well
especially the Jet Star plants. Needless to say, this got me hooked on
gardening big time! I've been digging up sod every chance I get. Sure
is a back breaking job By this spring I hope to have about 175 sq.
ft. of planting rows dug each being 30" wide. I even ordered 35
asparagus crowns and plan to start a bed. If possible I'd like to try
and grow all the vegetables I enjoy eating. The bug bit me hard. I got
a Tumbleweed composter, grow lights and heat mat for starting seeds and
lot's of different seeds from the net. I plan to grow tomatoes (all
kinds including heirlooms) leaf lettuce, sweet bell peppers, eggplants,
cauliflower, parsley, copra storage onions, ground cherries, turnips and
cantaloupes. The wife say's: that's enough so it looks like I have to
stop now! LOL My soil is clay so I been digging in lot's of shredded
leaves from last fall and also some home made compost. I may also mix
in a bit of dry bagged cow manure and some bagged garden soil. Any
hints or tips on any of the veggies I'll be growing will be much
appreciated ........... Rich From PA

As you must be aware, all the plants have their own needs when it comes
to soil temperature, pH, watering, N-P-K, ect. Learn about these needs.

Two good books that you can get from your library a
"How to Grow More Vegetables" by John Jeavons
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/...=search-alias%
3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=How+to+Grow+More+Vegetables&x=0&y=0

Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web
Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis
http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microb.../dp/0881927775
/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206815176&sr= 1-1

Teaming with Microbes is important in understanding what is happening in
the soil, e.g.:
Chapter 1

Most gardeners think of plants as only taking up nutrients through root
systems and feeding the leaves. Few realize that a great deal of the
energy that results from photosynthesis in the leaves is actually used
by plants to produce
chemicals they secrete through their roots. These secretions are known
as exudates. A good analogy is perspiration, a human's exudate.
Root exudates are in the form of carbohydrates (including sugars) and
proteins. Amazingly, their presence wakes up, attracts, and grows
specific beneficial bacteria and fungi living in the soil that subsist
on these exudates and the_ cellular material sloughed off as the plant's
root tips grow. All this secretion of_ exudates and sloughing-off of
cells takes place in the rhizosphere, a zone immediately around the
roots, extending out about a tenth of an inch, or a couple of
millimeters (1 millimeter = 1/25 inch). The rhizosphere, which can
look_ like a jelly or jam under the electron microscope, contains a
constantly changing mix of soil organisms, including bacteria, fungi,
nematodes, protozoa, and_ even larger organisms. All this "life"
competes for the exudates in the rhizosphere, or its water or mineral
content.
At the bottom of the soil food web are bacteria and fungi, which are
attracted to and consume plant root exudates. In turn, they attract and
are eaten _by bigger microbes, specifically nematodes and protozoa
(remember the _amoebae, paramecia, flagellates, and ciliates you should
have studied in biology?), who eat bacteria and fungi (primarily for
carbon) to fuel their metabolic_ functions. Anything they don't need is
excreted as wastes, which plant roots are _readily able to absorb as
nutrients. How convenient that this production of_ plant nutrients takes
place right in the rhizosphere, the site of root-nutrient_ absorption.
---

Gardening is a fascinating subject. Enjoy the ride:O)

From the last issue of "The Sun".

Sunbeams section.....

Random quotes folks mail in.

Here are three.

...........

"I am I plus my surroundings, and if I do not preserve the latter I do
not preserve myself. "

Jose Ortega y Gasset

" Increasing, the world around us looks as if we hated it."

Alan Watts

"For every person who has ever lived there will come, at last, a spring
he will never see. Glory then in the springs that are yours. "

Pam Brown

Aging hippy Bill

www.thesunmagazine.org

If after your hands are dirty your mind may be enquiring as to others
see the mystery. Very small paper mag.

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/757.html What is Global Dimming??
Less light more shade world wide food implications
Reduction of Vitamin D too?