Spring 2011

[gardenmagik]

Hey Mark! Great video! ... a sweet onion, therefore i cant say Vidalia..." but its grown NOT in Vidalia" ... Love it! Hope yall are doing good! We finally got some rain over here near Athens...

[hazzardd01]

Very intresting video Mark. \The garden looked great.

[BigTexWorms]

Great video, LOVE your organic methods. My daughter loves the music on your video..

[markhess]

@BigTexWorms Thanks Liz; the music came with my video editing software and is free for use to keep YouTube from getting mad at me! :) Mark

[redberrychick43]

Hi Mark~Just found your channel & subscribed. You have a beautiful farm garden. This is my 1st year gardening & I have 6 raised beds (4X4). They are doing quite well but would love to add to this each year. I am in South Louisiana. Thanks for your informative videos. Would love to see more of what you do on the farm. Take care.

[iowanne]

I was wondering if you got more chickens this year. I think I hear guineas in the background. I would like to see you dig up your potatoes this year. We always see the plant but I haven't seen them dug up. I love your videos! Your videos are very informative and they are the first set of videos that I have watched from the beginning to the end!! Thanks! Keep them coming!

[markhess]

@iowanne Indeed we did get more chickens! Watch for them in future videos and I'll be sure to include digging the potatoes too.  - Mark

[4micaman]

Curious if you have any advice. Planted grand rapids leaf lettuce two weeks ago. While they've come up, they're not doing so well. They're only about two inches tall but have a sort of rust or blight looking problem. I'm in central MS (zone 8/9) and the only thing I've put on the garden spot is some porcine bone meal. My clay soil was amended with a compost material of cotton gin trash/horse manure. I may have just chosen an incorrect variety, not sure. Thanks in advance!

[markhess]

@4micaman It sounds like you are doing everything correct with your soil. Assuming you have not had unually wet weather, I would guess it is related to your variety. Lettuce is always a challenge for me here in Georgia and I am sure Mississippi too. I have had good luck with "Heatwave" and "Summer Mix", both available from Cook's Garden so you may try those. Let me know if that does any better for you! - Mark

[4micaman]

@markhess Really appreciate the suggestions, Mark. For the time being, I limbed up a sweet gum today and fashioned a bit of shading for them out of some of the smaller branches. I'll see if that'll save them for now. Too, we've not been any more wet than normal for this time of year. Like you, come July-September, we'll be praying for rain. ~Anthony

[Praxxus55712]

I love seeing how fast your goodies grow. You seem to have enough potatoes to feed the world. That is a freaking LOT of potato plants!!

[markhess]

@Praxxus55712 any the funny thing is, I probably need 2-3 times more potatoes that I have planted if we are going to sell them at the farm. I'll probably save half of what we raised this year as seed potatoes for a fall planting - then I'll really have some serious potatoes!!! :) - Mark

[mywootgarden]

good plants and planting. thanks for telling us about DE :)

[markhess]

@mywootgarden yes, DE is some good stuff!!  - Mark

[ELHIEGER1]

Great tip about the fireplace ashes. I wonder if charcoal ashes will work the same? -Eric

[stymye]

@ELHIEGER1 be careful with the ashes ,, they can seriously burn your plants

[ELHIEGER1]

@stymye Thanks for the tip. I like to be as organic as possible, but I'll still use sevin dust if needed, although it's not my favorite thing to do. - Eric

[markhess]

@ELHIEGER1 I had heard that charcoal ashes contain heavy metals so you probably don't want them in your garden - Mark

[ELHIEGER1]

@markhess Thanks for the warning. I hate to use the sevin dust, but still do from time to time. - Eric

[RollinTidez]

Nice garden. I had those beetles on my potatoes about a week ago. Good tips on getting rid of those. I used a non-organic method but will try the DE next time.

[markhess]

@RollinTidez glad you were able to get rid of them! - Mark

[tvtoms]

You managed to change clothes at least 3 times in that one, hehe :) Looking great! Very interesting information on the potatoes. Guess it goes to show you that planting a variety of plants is just good standard practice.

[markhess]

@tvtoms yes, I try to change shirts 3-4 times a day! ;) - Mark

[webcajun]

Your garden is looking real good Mark.......Donald

[markhess]

@webcajun Thanks Donald, as is yours! - Mark

[rlal85]

Garden looks great! :) 

[markhess]

@rlal85 Thanks Romi! - Mark

[sugerbear520]

nice

[markhess]

@sugerbear520 Thanks Eric! - Mark

[SleestaksRule]

Great info, thank you. I think Cooks Garden may actually be Burpee. They are out of the same town in PA and have similar catalogs.

[markhess]

@SleestaksRule Really! That's very interesting - I never knew that ! - Mark

[stymye]

yay ! I haven't seen a vid of your farm in a while ,, good to see you back !

[markhess]

@stymye yes, it has been a long winter keeping me out of the garden; feels good to be back! - Mark

[moonchildsoaps]

good video. My cabbage I planted in Feb, (I'm in Texas) and it's still hanging around, first time planting cabbage, guess I should plant in the fall. It still looks good though

[markhess]

@moonchildsoaps I'm still nervous that the hot weather will be here too soon and they will not form heads like they are supposed to! It is a waiting game now! :) - Mark