The Southern Agrarian

Southern Agrarianism and the culture of the Old South

Category: Garden (Page 4 of 6)

Hoop Frames

May 21, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Hoop frames are a great way to support any kind of covering over a garden. They can be used for a cold frame to protect from frost damage, with netting to prevent damage by birds and squirrels and rabbits, and even to prevent insect damage. Hoop frames can be made in various sizes, from small covers for a 4′ wide raised-bed garden, to a full sized greenhouse. In this post, we’ll be making small frames for the raised bed garden. The material will be half-inch EMT (Electrical Metallic Tubing), commonly known as metal conduit.

The trick to bending hoop frames is having the right tool for the job – in this case, we’ll be building a jig designed for the job. Without a bending jig, you end up with kinked pipe and uneven bends. Aesthetics play a big role in enjoying your garden. Make sure that what goes into the garden is neat and attractive looking.

This jig was built using mostly scraps. The plywood was a badly warped piece that probably should have been cut up and thrown away long ago. The 2×4 pieces were various short pieces that I just couldn’t bear to throw away, so they were stacked in the pole barn. The table frame that they are mounted on was originally built to hold a container garden at waist-high level. The clamps were needed not only to secure the plywood base to the table frame, but to flatten down some major warp in the plywood.

Materials Needed

  • 10′ section of 1/2″ EMT for each hoop
  • 1/2″ PVC 1120 pipe (thin wall) for in-the-ground legs
  • 2×4 to make the arc of the jig
  • Plywood for the base of the jig
  • 1/4-20 x 2 1/2″ bolts and nuts and washers

In the next post, we’ll show how we used it to add netting to prevent damage from squirrels and birds.

Measure from the center point at the top of the arc to find where you need to start the bend.

Start bending the EMT around the jig.

Continue bending the EMT, making sure that it stays flat against the base and doesn't slip.

When the bend is complete, make sure that you don't bend it any more since it is no longer supported by the jig and you will have an uneven bend.

Remove the hoop frame from the jig and adjust if needed.

The finished hoop frame pushed directly into the growing mixture. For taller hoop frames, you may want to insert lengths of PVC pipe over the ends.

Installing The Bison Pump

May 11, 2012 / / 3 Comments

As we saw in the Bison Water Pump Review, this is a very well designed pump system – for use, installation, and servicing. It comes with a well-written installation manual with drawings and parts list. The Bison pump is made in America – specifically, it is made in Maine – and it shows. The workmanship is excellent and shows an attention to detail that is seldom seen in today’s “Made in China” world. The level of quality is top-notch all the way around. In a word, it is solid.

The objective was to have, in a single well:

  • A conventional electric pump that was immune to the pitting and holes that result from having sulfur in the water. Last year, after only a few years in place, the bottom section of galvanized drop pipe had to be replaced due to at least 13 holes in the pipe.
  • A hand pump to function as a backup in case electricity was not available. The hand pump needed to be very sturdy and able to function for many years without the need of servicing or parts replacement.

This project consisted of pulling the existing submersible electric pump and its galvanized drop pipe and replacing it with the following:

  • At the bottom – the submersible electric pump.
  • Just above the pump – a 5′ section of stainless steel pipe.
  • Above the stainless steel pipe – the Bison in-line pump cylinder.
  • Between the Bison pump and the surface – 1 1/4″ Schedule 120 drop pipe with 3/8″ stainless steel sucker rod.
  • At ground level – the Bison pump head.

This project was done by:

Trentham Well Drilling
2150 W Lime St
Deland, FL 32720
Phone 386-775-3571

The cylinder and pistor that does the pumping

Rick Trentham holding the Bison pump cylinder. The design uses external rods to hold it together, making it a very strong and easy-to-service pump.

The Bison pump head

Underside view of the Bison pump head. (The small white object is a piece of packing material.)

Drop pipe sections are supplied with the sucker rod inside and caps on each end.

Assembling the Bison pump cylinder to the stainless steel pipe that goes down to the submersible electric pump. The blue rope is supplied by Bison Pumps as a safety line.

Assembling the sucker rod to the Bison pump cylinder.

Tightening the drop pipe to the Bison pump cylinder.

The joint between the Bison pump cylinder and the drop pipe below it is taped.

A Tee-tool is used to pull the sucker rod up so that it can be attached to the next section of sucker rod. The wooden paddle tool, supplied by Bison Pumps, holds the assembly in place at the top of the well casing.

Joining two sections of sucker rod and drop pipe together.

Pipe joint compound is applied to each section of drop pipe.

Vise-Grips are used to hold the sucker rod in place while working on it.

The Bison pump head is assembled to the top section of drop pipe.

Wire being fed through Bison pump head.

The finished Bison pump – electric submersible in use, and ready to go as a hand pump if needed.

Bison Water Pump Review

May 11, 2012 / / 28 Comments

Bison water pump installed in tandem with an electric submersible pump on a 4 inch well

For more information on the Simple Pump, see the July 7, 2013 post.

When we decided to add manual pumping capability to our electric pump well, it came down to two alternatives – the Simple Pump or the Bison Pump. Both are designed for different uses, so one is not necessarily “better” than the other. They are, however, very different. We chose the Bison pump. Before we discuss the Bison pump, let’s look at the Simple pump.

The well and pump company that we use – Trentham Well Drilling in Orange City, Florida – has installed a number of Simple pumps over the years and has had very good results with them. The Simple pump is significantly cheaper than the Bison pump. The Simple pump is also designed to be fairly easy to install by a reasonably skilled homeowner with a helper rather than needing to be installed using professional equipment. The Simple pump might be a good choice if you want to have a complete system stored away in case it is needed in the future. The video instructions on the Simple Pump web site show how to install it. The drop pipe is lightweight plastic and the sucker rod is thin fiberglass that can easily flex to make assembly easy. That is great if you have to install it yourself without the tools of a professional pump company. The same light weight and component flexibility that make it easy to install also mean that it clearly lacks the solid design and construction of the Bison Pump. (See updated information in the Comments following this post.)

Where the Simple Pump is light weight and easy to work with, the Bison Pump is solid and very heavy duty. Everything about it is top quality and it is obvious that they spared no expense in making this the best hand pump available. The workmanship is flawless – welds are smooth and solid; machined parts are finished to a nice polish; moving parts work very smoothly. The material for the main pump body and the pump cylinder is solid stainless steel; the valve at the spout is brass (or bronze); the sucker rod is solid stainless steel; the drop pipe is Schedule 120 PVC. There is nothing that can rust, corrode, or deteriorate. For a hand pump installation that should last a lifetime, the Bison Pump is the hands-down winner. This is the kind of solid made-in-America craftsmanship that this country used to be famous for.

The Bison pump is not cheap (pricing information here). It is a piece of equipment that is built to last a lifetime, made from the best materials available, and designed and built by folks who truly know what they’re doing. There are some things in life where it makes sense to cut corners to save money. Bison does not cut any corners making their pumps, and when it comes to providing your family with a dependable source of clean drinking water, you shouldn’t cut corners either.

In the next post, we’ll cover the installation process for the Bison pump.

The spout is not just a pipe where the water comes out. It is a solid brass (or maybe bronze) valve with a washered screw-on cap to keep bugs out. Bison didn't miss anything in designing this system.

If water is needed farther away, a standard garden hose fitting screws directly to the spout of the Bison Pump.

Notice the hinge assembly on the Bison. Solid, machined stainless steel throughout.

The cap through which the rod extends holds the full pressure of the electric pump. It can be tightened to stop water from weeping through it, but I tend to keep it a bit loose.

A bucket hangs nicely from the integrated bucket hook on the spout.

Shown here is the well cap portion of the Bison pump. It is solidly secured to the well casing with four heavy screws. The water outlet to the right feeds into the normal house water system, while the electric cable for the submersible pump feeds straight down to the left of the pump.

A glass of cool fresh water from the Bison pump.

The bison is very smooth and easy to pump and produces a fairly constant flow of water.

This review was based on Bison Deep Well Hand Pump serial number 02214, date 03/26/2012. Installation was done by Trentham Well Drilling, Inc., in Orange City, Florida (phone 386-775-3571).

I understand that there is some federal law that requires a disclaimer for reviews like this, so here it is: I have no financial interest in Bison Pumps, in Trentham Well Drilling, or any pump company, for that matter, nor have I been compensated in any way for anything written here. This entire system was paid for out of my own pocket – every penny of it.

Confederate Jasmine – The Sweet Smell of The South

April 21, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Spring time in The South means many different thing – Azaleas in bloom is certainly one of most visually pleasing parts of Spring, but when it comes to the sense of smell, nothing beats the fragrance of Confederate Jasmine.

I don’t have the vocabulary of one who deals with fragrances, so I will have to resort to saying that it is simply beautiful. We have hundreds of feet of fence covered with Confederate Jasmine, and trees that are close to the fence become covered with it also. In the early morning and late evening when the air is still, the sweet small of Confederate Jasmine seems to be everywhere. It’s just another reason why I am so grateful to call The South my home.

Confederate Jasmine covers the fence surrounding our property.

In the Spring, Confederate Jasmine is covered with these small white flowers that have the sweetest fragrence.

The bees are always at work when the Confederate Jasmine is in bloom.

Deep Planting Tomatoes

April 7, 2012 / / 2 Comments

One of the first things that anyone learns about transplanting tomatoes is that they should be planted as deep as possible. All the leaves and branches except for those at the very top of the plant should be pinched off and then plant it deep enough so that only those leaves at the tip of the plant are above ground.

I suspect that I’m not the only one who has wondered if the plants ever really catch up in height after being buried that deeply. I decided to find out.

When I plant the garden, in addition to the plants that are spaced out as they should be, I try to always plant some extras so that any that don’t survive or are the victim of bugs or other pests can be quickly replaced. In this case, I planted the spares right next to the primary plants so we can compare them. The primary plants were buried as deep as the plant would allow. The spare plants were planted at the same depth they were at the soil blocks and pots. After a couple of weeks, you can see that the deep buried plants quickly recovered their “lost” height. In addition, the plants had much thicker trunks and are generally more vigorous plants.

The tomato variety shown here is Jaune Flammé (often just referred to as Flammé). These are a French heirloom tomato that produces golf-ball sized tomatoes that are an apricot color when ripe. This is a very prolific indeterminate variety – and clearly the best tasting variety that I know of. They’re too small to make a good sandwich tomato, but for salads and just eating by themselves, they are incredibly delicious. The fact that they don’t turn bright red makes them less attractive to birds, and that’s always a good thing.

The tomato plants are set out using the tomato cages turned upside down to get the correct spacing.

Tomato plant as-grown, before the pre-planting pruning is done.

After pruning, ready to be planted.

Pruned and ready for planting.

The growing mixture we use is easy to dig by hand, so we don't use the garden trowel very often. The hole is deeper than you might think.

In the past, I have had problems due to missing trace elements. Adding a small amount of tomato-specific fertilizer should eliminate such problems.

Add just a bit of tomato fertilizer to the bottom of the hole.

The roots have been growing around the sides of the pot. It's best not to let them go much longer than this stage.

With a bit of tomato fertilizer in the bottom of the hole, then a small amount of soil mixture to cover it, the plant is added.

The hole is filled and gently tamped.

Finally, a tomato cage is pushed down around the plant, and that's it.

22 Days Later

This is one of the spare plants that was planted at its original depth. The plant to the right (in the cage) was deep planted at the same time this spare was planted.

This is one of the primary plants. When planted, everything except the very top of the plant was pinched off and then it was deep planted so that only the top of the plant was above ground level. A spare plant can be seen to the left - the primary and spare plants have reached the same height despite starting out very differently. Note how thick the plant trunk is on the primary plant.

Pruning Tomatoes – Sucker Removal

March 31, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Until very recently, I did not prune my tomato plants. I figured that the more leaf surface, the better. Up to a point, that is true. The problem is that if you have good fertile soil and plenty of water, the plant can quickly grow far to dense. Too many leaves and branches mean that:

  • Plant energy is going into producing more plant – not more fruit.
  • Fruit, unless it is growing on the outside edge of the plant, is difficult to see and to pick.
  • Poor air circulation means that disease and insect infestation can quickly get out of hand.
  • Leaves and branches tend to yellow and die for lack of sun. They then rot and become a magnet for insects and disease.
  • If you can’t see all of your plant, you can’t care for it.

The first type of pruning is sucker removal. We’ll look at the other type of pruning in a future post. Suckers are what grow out of the top of the joint between the main trunk of the plant and a branch. In the following two photos, I’ve indicated the suckers. These are pinched off or cut off as soon as the appear. They grow quickly, so check your plants regularly.


An added benefit to removing suckers is that they sprout roots very easily by just sticking them in the ground.

This is what happens when plants are not pruned. These are too dense for a healthy plant and a good yield.

Bugs

January 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

When the summer heat arrives, so do the bugs. Since we try to avoid the use of any chemicals in the garden, there are some battles that just aren’t worth fighting. When deciding what to plant, the susceptibility to insect damage needs to be carefully considered.

These had been feasting on the squash in July. The county Extension Agent identified these bugs as probably Leaffooted Plant bugs. She said that there was nothing available to homeowners for use in the garden that would control them. I was afraid that would be the answer. It looks like it will be a matter of just hand picking them, although I have considered using a vacuum cleaner to try to suck them off the plants. We’ll see how that works later this year.

Switzerland, Chickens, a Garden, and Ronda

November 10, 2011 / / 0 Comments

The lovely Southern Lady on this magazine cover is Ronda – the step-daughter of my best friend from college. Ronda and her husband live in Lausanne, Switzerland – an incredibly beautiful place that looks more like a dreamy postcard than a real city. Lausanne is on Lake Geneva, with the French Alps on the other side. Ronda and her husband live in town, and the article is about the young business woman from America with a small “farm” in her back yard. She grows vegetables, blackberries, blueberries, figs, apples, and now, chicken eggs.

Gardening in West Africa

November 9, 2011 / / 2 Comments

This is a follow-up to a previous post in which I mentioned that some of the seeds that I have been collecting from my garden would be sent to Sierra Leone, West Africa with some of our missionary friends. These photos are some that they sent of their garden.

Although okra was originally brought to America from Africa, the variety of okra grown there today is typically a very primitive type. There is very little attention paid to developing improved varieties, so the best route was for them to bring seeds back from America and hope that they will serve as the foundation for a strain that will be well-suited for the West African environment.

In West Africa, the climate is tropical, but the dry season is influenced by the Sahara, to the north. The dry season is very dry and the rainy season is very rainy. In the words of Joseph, their local helper, “Sista, let de rain meet your seeds in de soil.” Very simple words from very simple people, but containing much wisdom.

Part of the garden. In the background is the classroom building where native men are trained in The Bible. The tree in the center is a Moringa tree - an incredibly useful tree that I hope to get growing here.

Okra from our garden now growing in West Africa. The variety is Clemson Spineless.

Blue Lake Bush beans getting started.

The 33 Golden Rules of Gardening

November 4, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Carol Deppe is, without a doubt, one of my favorite authors of gardening books. We’ll talk more about her books in a future post, but I wanted to pass along the 33 main points from Chapter two of her book, The Resilient Gardener:

  1. All Gardening is Local
  2. Plant Things That Grow Where You Live
  3. Variety, Variety, Variety
  4. Plant Varieties That Grow Where You Live
  5. Buy High Quality Seeds or Plants
  6. Plants Need Sun
  7. Plants Need Warmth
  8. Some Plants Need Cold
  9. Plants Need Soil
  10. Plants Need Nutrients
  11. You Must Prepare the Ground for Your Plants
  12. You Can Plant in Beds or Rows; You can Plant Intensively or Less So
  13. Plant at the Right Time
  14. Plant Seeds at the Right Depth
  15. Plants Need Water
  16. Plants Need Room to Grow
  17. You Must Weed
  18. Resist the Temptation to Do Unnecessary Things
  19. You Must Thin
  20. Plants Need Protection from Insects, Pests, and Herbivores
  21. Plants Need Protection from Disease
  22. Plants Sometimes Need Protection from Weather
  23. You Can Use Transplants or Seeds
  24. Some Plants Need Support
  25. Some Plants Need Pruning
  26. Learn to Harvest and Store Product Optimally
  27. Experiment
  28. Keep at Least Some Records
  29. Think Small
  30. Everything Is Connected
  31. Slow Down
  32. Notice Everything
  33. Save, Cherish, and Distribute Seeds of the Varieties You Care about the Most

Each of these items is, of course, accompanied by a detailed description of what it really means. Some of these items may look rather obvious or redundant or just plain strange, but rest assured that they are all very relevant not only to gardening in general, but to Southern Agrarianism in particular. She (as far as I know) never mentions Southern anything (she lives in the Pacific Northwest), but the spirit of Southern Agrarianism is very much a part of what she writes.

I strongly encourage you to buy the book and add it to your library. I have quite a collection of gardening books in my library, but I consider the Deppe books to be the best all-around source of information that goes deeply into the how and the why of gardening rather than a simple “do this” set of instructions. Her other book, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, is another excellent book by Carol Deppe, and we’ll go into that in another future post.

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