Liam is to smart, informed and talented to be so young & still not convinced he's not decades older!
To your wife.. big box seeds, soil and fertilizers too often have toxic ingredients.. your soil feeds your food and better to have your own compost to enrich your soil. For seeds you should go with heirloom varieties that are better suited to your growing conditions and investigate easy pest control methods like sprinkling black pepper around the plants. Seed Savers Exchange is the oldest and one I used for ages.. their free catalog is amazing.. forget the big box stores & chemically treated seeds & soil!
I can completely relate to the first garden! My first compost bin, which I cavalierly thought would manage itself, was a sludge like atomic waste slurry. Then, like an idiot, I bought tons of beefsteak seedlings as they looked so small. That ended up well, though, as I took the thousands of tomatoes to the Catholic restaurant for the homeless in Berkeley CA. I haven't given it a shot since, but want to, so this will be inspiring. My niece in California sells microgreens to fancy LA restaurants, and she had a sacrificial eggplant, which seems sadder than a brussel sprout! Sprouts may be in the cruciferous good for the microbiome, good for preventing dementia category, but one can only tolerate so much healthy behavior. They look like little decapitated heads to me and always have lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txfdGlxEsG8
Jul 9, 2022·edited Jul 9, 2022Liked by Mathew Crawford
yes. the practice of growing a "sacrificial" plant to attract insects away from your valued food plants is well known in gardening circles. much has been written about "companion plants" for various crops.
FWIW, I've had mixed results with starting from seed and then planting tomatoes in the ground. some of them grow large and produce well. others are stunted and stay below knee high with minimal or zero fruit. IDK. I find it mysterious.
as far as fertilizers go, I've recently stopped using them on tomatoes and started just pre-amending the soil with a lot of organic matter, compost or dead leaves or whatever, based on the theory that the tomatoes will benefit from all the bacteria and fungi in the soil.
the idea is that plant roots send complex sugars to the communities of bacteria and fungi that live in the soil near the roots. these bacteria and fungi then react to specific sugars given to them by the plant roots in specific ways, shuttling more of certain nutrients out of the soil and into roots. symbiosis. and part of the theory is that adding lots of inorganic fertilizers to the soil disrupts these bacterial, fungal communities so that they cannot help your plants.
IDK if this works any better. I'm no expert. good luck with whatever you do.
My husband has so enjoyed meeting you and I am very jealous!
Excellent garden post Mrs. Crawford. Gardening is so punishing here. I have done a lot of trial and error in the last couple of years in North Texas especially in container gardening and I have reached many of the same conclusions you have- don’t start from seed and transplant it’s almost always a disaster, I tried growing beautiful heirloom tomatoes from seed and they just don’t produce. My recs are marketmore cukes and super sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. I have also had success with hydroponic peppers and basil kratky method . But honestly microgreens and sprouting is the correct solution lol
Do you have chickens???? Do u need chickens? I have chickens. Let me know
Just a quick proofreading pointer that surprised me a year or two ago when I looked closely at how I was used to spelling Brussels sprouts - yes, it's Brussels, like the capital of Belgium.
Congratulations on your garden! The dark magic of turning a brown thumb into a green one involves the ritualistic sacrifice of many plants... sounds like your first round of sacrifices is resulting in a better harvest the second time around :)
Would love to see your current thoughts on Bitcoin.
As for gardening, looks like you're on your way. For someone used to learning and experiment, the difficulty is mostly about maintaining consistent attention over the necessary time scale. And sifting through all the advice. Gardening is a relationship game. You have an implicit commitment and obligation, of some kind or another, to each plant.
I’ve taken to throwing all the herbs and flowers sporadically into the garden. Not sure how much it helps with bugs (some say they do) but it smells wonderful and I don’t have to worry about pollinators.
What a wonderful first post, Mrs. Crawford! I hope it will be the first of many🪴 ☺️👏🏻 (And well done, as always, to your better half reading this - much gratitude!!) 🙏🏻
Ha! Poker. My old man was a fine poker player. During the war, he was travelling on a blacked out train in England; looking for a seat he found a compartment with four GI sin it, playing Poker.
First bluff. Asked if he could join in, and asked for some basic instructions.
Super enjoyed reading about the gardening, Omaha What? Sorry, I can’t even play Euchre. Gardening: just started this year, raised 5 x 5 bed. Next year doing two more, the thing is BURSTING! thanks for the fertilizer tip! I love tomatoes too!!
Oh wow, you're just getting started on your journey of learning about plants!
Pro tip: Compost your food as this makes the best potting soil of all time. Also, follow those watering and sun guidelines very closely (plus the temperature stuff). Lastly, gardeners in America are way, way, way too fond of adding fertilizer to everything. Trust me, you can get plenty of delicious tomatoes without using any fertilizer whatsoever.
I think your opponent likely had the flush. Your bets announced, to him, that you had the straight. He had you in a perfect position for a bluff. At that point you made the correct decision to muck.
Liam is to smart, informed and talented to be so young & still not convinced he's not decades older!
To your wife.. big box seeds, soil and fertilizers too often have toxic ingredients.. your soil feeds your food and better to have your own compost to enrich your soil. For seeds you should go with heirloom varieties that are better suited to your growing conditions and investigate easy pest control methods like sprinkling black pepper around the plants. Seed Savers Exchange is the oldest and one I used for ages.. their free catalog is amazing.. forget the big box stores & chemically treated seeds & soil!
https://www.seedsavers.org/catalog
I can completely relate to the first garden! My first compost bin, which I cavalierly thought would manage itself, was a sludge like atomic waste slurry. Then, like an idiot, I bought tons of beefsteak seedlings as they looked so small. That ended up well, though, as I took the thousands of tomatoes to the Catholic restaurant for the homeless in Berkeley CA. I haven't given it a shot since, but want to, so this will be inspiring. My niece in California sells microgreens to fancy LA restaurants, and she had a sacrificial eggplant, which seems sadder than a brussel sprout! Sprouts may be in the cruciferous good for the microbiome, good for preventing dementia category, but one can only tolerate so much healthy behavior. They look like little decapitated heads to me and always have lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txfdGlxEsG8
yes. the practice of growing a "sacrificial" plant to attract insects away from your valued food plants is well known in gardening circles. much has been written about "companion plants" for various crops.
FWIW, I've had mixed results with starting from seed and then planting tomatoes in the ground. some of them grow large and produce well. others are stunted and stay below knee high with minimal or zero fruit. IDK. I find it mysterious.
as far as fertilizers go, I've recently stopped using them on tomatoes and started just pre-amending the soil with a lot of organic matter, compost or dead leaves or whatever, based on the theory that the tomatoes will benefit from all the bacteria and fungi in the soil.
the idea is that plant roots send complex sugars to the communities of bacteria and fungi that live in the soil near the roots. these bacteria and fungi then react to specific sugars given to them by the plant roots in specific ways, shuttling more of certain nutrients out of the soil and into roots. symbiosis. and part of the theory is that adding lots of inorganic fertilizers to the soil disrupts these bacterial, fungal communities so that they cannot help your plants.
IDK if this works any better. I'm no expert. good luck with whatever you do.
My husband has so enjoyed meeting you and I am very jealous!
Excellent garden post Mrs. Crawford. Gardening is so punishing here. I have done a lot of trial and error in the last couple of years in North Texas especially in container gardening and I have reached many of the same conclusions you have- don’t start from seed and transplant it’s almost always a disaster, I tried growing beautiful heirloom tomatoes from seed and they just don’t produce. My recs are marketmore cukes and super sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. I have also had success with hydroponic peppers and basil kratky method . But honestly microgreens and sprouting is the correct solution lol
Do you have chickens???? Do u need chickens? I have chickens. Let me know
Just a quick proofreading pointer that surprised me a year or two ago when I looked closely at how I was used to spelling Brussels sprouts - yes, it's Brussels, like the capital of Belgium.
Congratulations on your garden! The dark magic of turning a brown thumb into a green one involves the ritualistic sacrifice of many plants... sounds like your first round of sacrifices is resulting in a better harvest the second time around :)
Ooooh, I would love to read a poker Substack! I have no idea if that was the right decision but I find poker endlessly fascinating. 🙌
Hey Matt Godbless you and all the work youve done for the good guys.
Can you say who it is that has interviewed you and then didnt run the story? Have you been in touch with the people from the darkhorse podcast?
Liam is a rock star and so are you!!!!
Would love to see your current thoughts on Bitcoin.
As for gardening, looks like you're on your way. For someone used to learning and experiment, the difficulty is mostly about maintaining consistent attention over the necessary time scale. And sifting through all the advice. Gardening is a relationship game. You have an implicit commitment and obligation, of some kind or another, to each plant.
I’ve taken to throwing all the herbs and flowers sporadically into the garden. Not sure how much it helps with bugs (some say they do) but it smells wonderful and I don’t have to worry about pollinators.
What a wonderful first post, Mrs. Crawford! I hope it will be the first of many🪴 ☺️👏🏻 (And well done, as always, to your better half reading this - much gratitude!!) 🙏🏻
Ha! Poker. My old man was a fine poker player. During the war, he was travelling on a blacked out train in England; looking for a seat he found a compartment with four GI sin it, playing Poker.
First bluff. Asked if he could join in, and asked for some basic instructions.
Two hours later he'd cleaned them out.
Never trust a prankster :-)
Super enjoyed reading about the gardening, Omaha What? Sorry, I can’t even play Euchre. Gardening: just started this year, raised 5 x 5 bed. Next year doing two more, the thing is BURSTING! thanks for the fertilizer tip! I love tomatoes too!!
Oh wow, you're just getting started on your journey of learning about plants!
Pro tip: Compost your food as this makes the best potting soil of all time. Also, follow those watering and sun guidelines very closely (plus the temperature stuff). Lastly, gardeners in America are way, way, way too fond of adding fertilizer to everything. Trust me, you can get plenty of delicious tomatoes without using any fertilizer whatsoever.
I think your opponent likely had the flush. Your bets announced, to him, that you had the straight. He had you in a perfect position for a bluff. At that point you made the correct decision to muck.