What's up GC. So I got a chance to grow herbs for the Greek restaurant I work for. All organic and they will pay what Restaurant Depot pays. Anyways I will update what I have done so far and upload some pictures.
SoooHaggard Fresh Greek Oregano (Origanum vulgar) can be very profitable. Trying to make money from dried herbs is challenging unless you have a large growing area to work with. The high-end Greek restaurants will bug you to death if you have organically grown Oregano. Other plants that sell well are the white eggplant varieties from Santorini Island as well as the tomatoes from here. It's just as easy to grow white eggplant vs. regular globe purple varieties which are grown for growth rate, shelf life, etc. - nothing to do with flavor. Having this kind of product, marketed to a specific group in foodservice will win you a loyal following. There's a Greek Red Butternut squash that's also popular with serious Greek chefs and extremely easy to grow. Try and buy your seeds from the best sources you can find. Look for companies that specialize in Greek vegetable seeds. The other thing to consider is that Oregano is a great companion plant in the garden and the flowers make one of the most powerful pesticide you can ever use so you would have that benefit in that you could use some of the Oregano flowers as a tea on the rest of your garden. HTH LD
[quote name='"LumperDawgz2"']SoooHaggard Fresh Greek Oregano (Origanum vulgar) can be very profitable. Trying to make money from dried herbs is challenging unless you have a large growing area to work with. The high-end Greek restaurants will bug you to death if you have organically grown Oregano. Other plants that sell well are the white eggplant varieties from Santorini Island as well as the tomatoes from here. It's just as easy to grow white eggplant vs. regular globe purple varieties which are grown for growth rate, shelf life, etc. - nothing to do with flavor. Having this kind of product, marketed to a specific group in foodservice will win you a loyal following. There's a Greek Red Butternut squash that's also popular with serious Greek chefs and extremely easy to grow. Try and buy your seeds from the best sources you can find. Look for companies that specialize in Greek vegetable seeds. The other thing to consider is that Oregano is a great companion plant in the garden and the flowers make one of the most powerful pesticide you can ever use so you would have that benefit in that you could use some of the Oregano flowers as a tea on the rest of your garden. HTH LD[/quote] Awesome info again LD. Do you happen to have some links to where I could find such a thing?
[quote name='"hope2toke"']nice thread I'l have to check back to it. Right on man grow that italian herb[/quote] Thanks man. Things are going alittle slow right now seeing as I got some snow last night. I will post pictures of the seedlings that have popped though shortly.
Update 3-10-12 So I decided to make two gardens this year. I am doing a mix of double dig and raised bed. My soil is very very heavy, mostly all clay. To lighten the mix I am adding Coast of Maine Lobster Compost, as well as 1cf of CoM Earthworm Castings. Also will also be amending with the following; Espona Plant-Tone Espona Soft Rock Phosphate Coast of Maine Seaweed Enriched Mulch Home-Made Compost To add some arreation, I am mixing Oak Leafs with my top soil. I am hoping that letting them mix in a pile will slowly break everything down and lighten my soil. Also some pine needles are sure to make the mix, this is NE after all. I will update next with pictures, and acutal plants I will be sowing.
Good luck with the garden Haggard, and a thank you for all the free reading material. on the subject of compost, a distant farming relative suggested that you can cut compost with sharp sand if you want to stretch it out and lighten it up a bit. Lots to learn, no idea if that works, can't see why it wouldn't.
Inthedirt4good All potting soil mixes are based on what's called 'The Cornell Mix' that was developed at Cornell University about 75 years ago which was before materials like perlite, vermiculite, etc. were available at a cost-effective price. Sand, specifically Mason Sand, was and still is widely used by horticulturists for a number of reasons. USDA has an agency which helps farmers, nurserymen, etc. move from Conventional to Transitional and finally Organic Certification and horticulture is included. Here's a link to an article titled Potting Mixes for Certified Organic Production Overall it's well worth one's time to read this article and perhaps download it because there's a wealth of information from 'da real world' - here's the cite on sand from this article..... HTH LD
InDirt I agree with you on using sand. I am going to need some builders sand, prob 2-3 cf to lighten my soil up alittle more. But it looks like that will be next season, I am just waiting on my composted manure and I can fully plant away. So anyways heres an Update I germ'd the new seeds I just picked up, and will be sowing these bitches promptly. I have decided to go 2 more steps further and add two more zones to my garden. Sunflower/Wildflowers front of house Assorted Mints & Perennials around porch. 1 Tobacco/Flower garden 1 Veggie Garden And last but not least, the Rose Mountain Herb garden. Muahahaha I bet my landlord will regret telling me to use as much as the yard as I wanted to.
builders sand tends to make clay soils set hard like concrete... Clay soil problems - Tips & Techniques Forum - GardenWeb
[quote name='"ellwilll"']builders sand tends to make clay soils set hard like concrete... Clay soil problems - Tips & Techniques Forum - GardenWeb[/quote] Thanks man.
[quote name='"ellwilll"']builders sand tends to make clay soils set hard like concrete... Clay soil problems - Tips & Techniques Forum - GardenWeb[/quote] I am going to go with Lava Rock now. I figure 20 pounds should do. Also the aged horse manure I am using has about a 15% hay content. When I was double digging her out I came around a giant boulder. So I decided to make it into a large rock display. I am piling and shaping all the large rocks I dug up and forming it into the gravel border. I remember reading (permaculture) about a man in the mountains who used large stones to keep his multiple ponds warm during cold spells. I figured the rocks would heat one another then begin to heat the large boulder. Hopefully this will keep my soil temps up near the end of the season.
Hey. Question. If it really sets all hard as you say, could it be used like adobe to build lets say a fire pit grill? That sounds like an almost free grilling area to me.
I would use lava sand or decomposed granite...... builders sand and play sand are not suitable for gardening The lava and granite add minerals You can also add some greensand which is high in iron
In lieu of sand maybe you can kill two birds with one stone? Seein as granite stone dust is very likely available in your part of the world if you take a ride over to a quarry, or what have ya. More often than not you'll find an open self serve bin (bring your own round nose shovel) Loading your own i'd strongly imagine would be less expensive than buying per the bag where each bag is Maybe 3 heaping shovel fulls. Some quarries may have a minimum, $25? I'll say though, my experience with using SD is pretty much limited to a couple walkways, not gardening or anything in the way of soil mechanics. I'm very interested in learning more and hope to have some experience in the not so distant future to bring back and share.
[quote name='"TexRx"']I would use lava sand or decomposed granite...... builders sand and play sand are not suitable for gardening The lava and granite add minerals You can also add some greensand which is high in iron[/quote] Ill use greensand this winter. I am going to cover crop with winter wheat so I can use the green sand correctly. Lava / Manure it is. Its warming up here. I got maybe another week before the last frost. marigolds were sowed today though.