November 2013 in the lower south

All of you lower south folks please report on what's still growing, your fall/winter gardens and what you are still planning. My house sitters are going to plant my garlic this month.  They have broccoli and cauliflower going.

I'm in  the Philippines now and don't have anything going.  Hope to get some buckets of compost and start some kale and swiss chard.  I'm missing my greens.  I am going to try some tomatoes and cukes as well.  Delay on planting because I'm only in this house till Dec.  Moving to permanent house then.  

Kay

Oooh, a new start in the new house and garden. How exciting. I hope you are enjoying your time with your family.

Kay
If you don't mind, could you list some of the items used in your composting efforts ?

jimmy cee wrote:Kay
If you don't mind, could you list some of the items used in your composting efforts ?

Sure. Here is the stateside list. Don't know yet what resources I'll find in PI.

As I said in another post, I still use some commercial composts IE black kow, black hen and a mushroom compost, a pig poop based one, a Coast of Maine seafood base, and any others I can find that are not mostly peat.   I just buy a bag of anything that looks interesting, mix it together and store in 18 gal bins until time to mix with my homemade compost.

My compost pile consists of leaves, grass clippings, horse, goat, cow and llama manures, coffee grounds from starbucks, kitchen scraps, an unfinished  sawdust/dead crabs/shrimp heads mix I found at a local fish market,  and garden cleanup.  I don't put tomato vines and brassica roots in my compost  or any diseased plants.  I lined my three compost bins with  cardboard boxes so add that to the final mix.  I can't get out and turn the piles, so that's why I have three.  One is over 2 years old and is the currently used pile  The second is over a year old and will be the next one up.  The third was just started this past spring.

i also maintained a worm bin last year that I split into two bins this summer after harvesting the initial bucket of worm castings.  I use this for worm tea for sfg and flower beds.

Kay

Kay
Thanks for that, I was just wondering if there were many differences in composting ingredients on the other side of the globe.

Still trying to decide when to plant my garlic.  We still have temps in the mid 50's to mid 70's so if I plant them now they will start to grow above ground.  I had a garlic bulb left in the bed from this summer and it sprouted last weekend.  So how do we determine when to plant garlic here.  Cold, warm, cold, warm.

I hear the magic number is 50. 50°F soil temp. I just planted mine. I bet you could wait a few weeks.

I told the house sitters to go ahead and plant the garlic this week. I left a bale of straw for mulching. Last year I planted in mid Oct. That was too early.

Kay

jimmy cee wrote:Kay
Thanks for that, I was just wondering if there were many differences in composting ingredients on the other side of the globe.

Lots of vegetation here. One of the local colleges runs an agricultural program and helps support itself by making and selling compost. Don't know yet what is in it.

I have heard that chicken manure and pig poop are available. Soil is very poor and locals use fish emulsion.

There is a caribou living in the field next to the house, but I'm too afraid of cobras to try and collect cow patties.

Before I left the States, I shipped 2 boxes of old dish sets and pots. I cushioned them with vermiculite so I will have about 6 cu ft available when the ship gets here. Maybe in 2 or 3 more weeks.

Kay

Stay safe Kay!

camprn wrote:Stay safe Kay!

Thanks. The Govt is advising everyone to move into cement structures and not native materials buildings. The house I'm in is poured cement walls. If anybody is tracking, I'm in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan Island and the storm is going to be just North of the city. Storm level 2 out of 4. We are more worried about rain than wind.

Kay

The map gives us an idea of Kay's location.  The articles I am reading are mostly of the city of Tacloban.  It seems the typhoon was devastating there.  Early reports remind you of the tsunami a few years ago in Thailand.

The central eastern islands are devastated. We lucked out. The storm moved enough north that it only hit the far northern end of the island. Got lots of rain, but in bands so water had some time to drain before the next squall hit.

We took some relief food aid to my friend's home village of Langogan yesterday. The city mayor sent some but only to the people that voted for him. Since my friend's father was running against the mayor's party, his family and supporters got nothing. All I could manage was a 50 lb bag of rice a case of sardines and a case of raman noodles, but it got divided among 30 families. Enough to last a couple of days until the sea settles enough for the fishermen to get out. The village didn't have major damage and nobody was hurt. My friends also had relatives in Leyte who had property damage but were unhurt.

Kay

Thanks Kay.
Very happy you, family and friends are ok.
The devastation there is unbelievable. My heart cries for the affected people of the Philippines.

Very glad that you'all are ok! We only get the very bad pics from the press. Instead of taking those pics they should be helping out.
I guess the 'Good ol boy system' is going strong over there. I get so tired of it here in the South.
Jo

Good to hear from you and know that you are okay Kay!  You have been on our mind and in our prayers during these difficult past days.  We hope all continues to go well for your safety and commend you on your efforts to help others in need.