Great work! Very inspirational…Are the pictures current/this year’s?
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Derby42,
I’ve grown produce as long as I can remember. There have been times when I look at the harvest like I did in a few of these pictures and asked myself how I would get it all put up. Those chickens were fed 100’s of cucumbers , cantaloupe, apples , tomatoes etc. sometimes. I raised then grains and greens as well. Most of the time I raised a big field of wheat or bought some out of a field for them part of the year. I’m fortunate to have lived such a rich life and I don’t mean monetarily. Your well on your way to raising huge harvests. By the looks of your posts you have all the skills so it’s just a matter of time.
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No some of these pictures go back 10 years. I just had never posted them. In the old days I raised 55 gallons of honey a year and I should probably post some of those pictures. This is far from all of the pictures but thought something other than pear posts would be nice.
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Garden of Eden! Incredible, so many tomatoes and so early. 
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Grown lots of things through the years and can’t really think of anything I didn’t enjoy. Pears are not going to be the end of the road for me because there are so many more things to try!
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At first glance, I thought the first photo was hot peppers! That would be a lifetime supply for me!
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We grow hot peppers about once every 5 years because they are very prolific here. 1 plant produces about 1 pint- 1 quart of hot peppers if they are Thai dragons but much more if they are jalapeños! By the way if anyone was wondering the turtles in the picture above have a difficult time in July so when I see them waiting to steal some berries I feed them. Unfortunately they destroy an entire cantaloupe to get to the water within! I frequently find claw marks on my melons or holes in them and these turtles are the culprits! Many animals and birds come to my property when they are desperate. Since I rebuilt the ponds I’ve been sheltering a plethora of creatures. Everything needs water. Fortunately my neighbors liked the idea of my ponds and built their own which I’m very thankful for.
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You keep yourself busy! Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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Susu,
Thank you I love growing things! I’m busy having fun with it much of the time.
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I feel guilty about ever feeling worn out now…
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Hopefully everyone has your next year or two planned out this knowledge becomes more valuable everyday.
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I’ve been working years on a hardy garlic variety which I finally accomplished this last year. It appears stable. Soon it will be one more thing that grows well in Kansas. My grandpa had a cross of what was known as native American garlic or pioneer garlic which i grow in a hidden location isolated. I cross it with other native varities and several tame varities. It’s a project I’ve worked many years at. You get an ideal of what I’m up to here Dividing Garlic clumps
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Many of you are aware I grow fruits, herbs, and vegetables as more of an experiment than anything else. This knowledge can be useful to new Orchards starting out in Kansas or any state. Frequently unlike myself new orchardists have an extremely limited budget. When I first started out my budget at times was only my time so I’m understanding to this. You need nothing more than knowledge to be successful. A wild callery pear can be grafted to a tame pear with no cost whatsoever. Once a new grower has an orchard in the ground and a garden they have more money to spend on other major projects like a barn or pond. Blackberries like those I grow provide lots of food with no work. Some crops like apples,cherries, and plums require large amounts of chemicals but pears, blackberries, persimmon, jujube, pawpaw do not. The questions most growers have when they start out can only be answered by a website like this one. We need to do whatever we can to ensure this knowledge is always available to everyone. All people should have the opportunities to make as many mistakes and have as many victories as I did in growing herbs, fruits and vegetables.
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It’s hard to believe I’ve been growing things since my first green beans I grew when I was between 2 and 3 years old. The only question Is what will be the last thing I grow?
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daisies
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We’ll all be pushing daisies at some point, but until then, we have more to do.
This one is called pushing little daisies, but it’s anything but peaceful and tame. One of my buddies favorites. https://youtu.be/SelTr51YNOk
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If I get daisies I want to rest in peace also.
Is there a post on here about your grape trellis? From the pictures it looks like a 4ft welded wire panel? Do you tie the vines or just weave them?
What spacing do you find works best for this?
I would like to grow grapes in several areas without setting posts and tightening wire and doing all of the serious grape growing things… this looks like a really easy way to grow grapes without a complicated trellis.
I want to grow grapes but not big scale and not super serious on a trellis…this looks like a good way to do both.
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Kris, I am using a crude trellis this year. Before woven wire hoops, they require support of stakes well driven in and have used tie wire or heavy cable ties as fasteners.
One thing that will help is to use woven wire with 4 X 4 or larger spacing. Mine is graduated up to 6in spacing, it is a non-climbing goat wire, easy to handle and structurally strong to the eventual weight.
You need to be able to get your hands through it, one side of mine is on posts, the other side is leaning in to the top of 3 strand ss cable.
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5 feet welded or woven wire is fine since grapes are not terribly heavy. Use plenty of good strong posts. Hardy Kiwis tear a fence down fast so use something much stronger for them. Grew my grapes about 4 feet apart because my soil is clay but for most people that is between 6 -10 feet apart. Concord and seedless concord do best here.