Soil Test Report. 12.8.15

Here is a summary of the soil test report from this week's test.  The area tested was the home orchard, and the report recommendations were based on that.  I had this done by simplysoiltesting.com in Burlington Washington.  Their reports seem very detailed and understandable.  The interpretation below is per their report.

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Soil Test report
Phosphorus 227 ppm =  very high
Potassium 431 ppm = very high
Calcium 1405 ppm = high
Magnesium 222 ppm = high
Boron 0.7 ppm = medium
Sulfur 3.7 ppm = medium

Organic matter 8.8% = high

Soluble salts 0.14 mS/cm  low
 
Zinc 1.7 ppm = high
Manganese 4.0 ppm = very high (normal is 0.7 - 1.4)
Copper 0.7 ppm = high
Iron 46.5 ppm = very high (normal is 2.5 to 5.0)

pH 5.31 (3 years ago this was 5.05)

They don't test nitrogen, stating it is too transient.

They recommend lime 44 pounds per 1000 square feet - if mixing to 8 inches deep, or 11-14 pounds if scattered on soil surface, nitrogen 2.3 pounds per 1000 square feet, and small amounts of borax and sulfur supplements.  They give recommended amounts of organic supplements, which is what I requested, as either blood meal, Alaska fish fert (46 pounds per 1000 sq feet - could get expensive and stinky), organic urea, 5 pounds per 1000 sq feet.  It's up to me to determine the peecycle amount.

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When tested 3 years ago, most was similar but  the pH is higher.  I did spread lime at that time.  That may explain the increase in pH and calcium since the last report.  I have not used any fertilizer other than peecycling.  I think back then they stated calcium was also low, and at that time also recommended some borax similar to this time.  I did not supplement borax.

Despite the low pH, most of the trees have done well.  Maybe they'll do better with further correction of the acidity.

New Fruit Trees. 12.10.15

Home Orchard.  12.10.15

This week I added 2 new fruit trees to the home orchard.  I stopped by Tsugawa nursery on my way to Longview for an appointment.  They had some nice fruit trees, left over from the 2015 season.  Now leafless, with the year's root and stem growth completed.  I think these are bigger and have more roots, compared to the expected incoming stock or anything mail order.  They are varieties I was going to add, after considerable reviewing on the internet.
This winter is warm and wet.  I don't think there is any disadvantage to planting now.  If the ground was frozen, that would be an issue.  But it isnt.   I've planted in December before, and the trees settled in perfectly.

Maxie Pear Tree.  12.14.15

There may be a challenge finding s spot for each of the trees that I want to add.   The trees from Tsugawa were Honeycrisp on "semidwarf" rootstock, and Maxie hybrid pear on quince rootstock.  Maxie is a hybrid between Red Bartlett and Nijiseiki Asian pear.  It is described as having the juicy crispness of the Asian pear, with the Bartlet flavor.  With more ripening, it is reportedly more tender, like European pears, but can be eaten at the crisp stage.  Starks describes Maxie as resistant to pear scab, although the bigger problem here is fireblight.  Maxie was developed in New Zealand.   I expect to graft pollinating varieties / supplemental varieties onto each.  They both appear to have lots of viable flower buds on spurs.  This tree will not get nitrogen supplement, because rapid growth may be more susceptable to fireblight.

The Honeycrisp is next to another apple.  The Maxie is on its own, other pear trees are uphill and upwind.  It will need pollinizer scion.  I'm thinking Shinseiki, which is very vigorous.  Honeycrisp will get, maybe scion from 2 or 3 varieties of apples to make it into a multigraft tree.

Honeycrisp Apple Tree.  12.14.15

Neither had much winding roots.  They were potbound.  They should settle in without a hitch.  I did add hardware cloth vole-guard sleeves to both.  The apple got deer fencing, and so will the pear when I buy some this weekend.

Tsugawa offers a veteran's discount.  It's a nice gesture.  I appreciated that.

Plans for 2016. Growing for hen food. 12.3.15

Chicken food can be costly.  You don't always know what you are getting.  We have room on our 2 acres to experiement with additional crops.   I don't know the art and science of chicken feed.  I read there needs to be a balance of protein, and amino acid type.  Some feed plants contain anti-growth substances such as saponins that need to be cooked out.  Some plants are eaten by deer.  They ate all of our buckwheat this year.  This web page contains a list of various seed protein content.

Amaranth.   Long history as a crop, thousands of years.  High in protein but also saponins. Keep untreated under 20% of chicken diet, treated - cooked - under 40%.  Dried leaves can also be used.  Protein 14% to 18%.

Broom Corn or Sorghum.  Not good as a main component of feed, poor quality protein and contains anti-nutritive tannin.  Probably a little is OK, as a minor part of the feed, but not much.

Whole grain corn - It's possible to add some whole grain corn to supplement part of the hen diet.  Corn is the main grain used in poultry feeds in the USA.  Corn grain is 10% protein.    Corn has no intrinsic toxins.  Corn grain is 72% starch and high in lipids.  Some of the pigments may carry over into the egg yolks (xanthophylls).  From OSU extension, "corn grain is deficient in lysine, methionine, and tryptophan; all of which are essential amino acids. The major protein in corn is zein. Zein is a poor quality protein; both in terms of a poor amino acid profile and low solubility. As stated, the lipid content in corn is relatively high. The lipids in corn increase energy content and palatability. In addition, the lipids provide essential fatty acids. In terms of minerals, corn grain is very deficient in calcium and moderately high in phosphorus."  I was thinking about growing Indian corn, preferably a northern strain that would be harvestable here.  Deer and rabbits don't seem to eat our corn plants.  We would have to keep them separated from sweet corn, because of detrimental cross pollination.

Legumes.  There are concerns about soy, and about GMO soy.   Soy is shipped long distances.  Soy is a high quality protein and oil seed.  Other legumes are possible, but need processing.  I don't jave a good substitute in mind.  During summer, our free range hens forage all types of plants, weeds, and bugs, so get various protein sources.  Keeping deer out of legume plants would be challenging.  Deer love eating bean and pea plants.  Soy contains anti-nutritive saponins which apparently  can be inactivated by heat processing.

Sunflower seeds.  Apparently, can be partially substituted for soy.  Not clear, less than 15% or 30% of feed.  Protein content is about 26%.  The sunflower seed heads can be left in the chicken yard or chicken house for them to peck out the seeds.  They don't need any other processing.  This site states they can be no more than 30% of the hen feed, which is a lot.

This is an incomplete post, to be edited as I read more and learn more.

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Fruit Tree Seedlings. Winter Growth. 12.2.15

Fruit Tree Seedings.  12.2.15

Germinating Red Pluot Seed.  12.2.15

Status report for fruit tree seedlings, 12.2.15

Apricots.  3 seeds germinated.  About 1/2 of what I tried.  These were the first, about 2 months old now.

Peach. so far only one plant.  Most of the seeds rotted.  These are all from Oregon Curl Free.  I repotted the plant today.  Leaves were pale.  Now in regular potting soil.

Red pluot.  4 seeds germinated of about 8 attempted.  I removed one from paper towel / zipper lock bag today.  The roots are easy to get off the paper towel if the paper towel is very wet. The first one to grow is looking good, abnout one month.

Germinating Red Pluot Seed.  12/2/15

There are some unknowns with these.  For the ones in the sunroom, temp drops into the 40s at night.  Daylength is short.  I don't have them on artificial lighting.  I don't know of the short daylength will induce dormancy, or if growth will continue into Spring.  I don't think temperature is an issue as long as the sunroom doesn't get much colder.

Pink Banana Squash. 11.30.15

Ning, Pink Banana Squash, Long Island Cheese Pumpkin.
  Earlier this fall.

Now cooking up Pink Banana Squash. If I remember correctly, this was 16 pounds. The Long Island Cheese pumpkin was a little less. We cooked one of the pumpkins already. The first step is cut it open. A cleaver and rubber mallet seemed like the safest approach. Lots of flesh. Lots of seeds to roast. 2nd step, scoop out seeds, place on baking pan, add a cup of water, cover the end with aluminum foil, and bake for 1 hour, until a fork easily pierces the skin.

Out of the oven, one hour  at 350F.

After cooling  to almost room temp.  Soft, tender flesh scoops out easily with a large spoon. 

Scoop into food processer and briefly puree. I'm not certain this is needed, the flesh is very tender.

After this, I set aside 2 cups for a pumpkin pie. The rest is frozen in 2 cup portions for future baking. I either place them in glass containers with tightly sealed top, or heat-sealed freezer sealer bags that vacuum out all of the air.