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Howdy,

I'm back! I've finally gotten myself back to doing this podcast, and I decided to start with bugs. "True" bugs. All those pesky sap suckers that plague our plants. The new Podcast art is a AI Neural Net's cyberpunk "Retro-wave" interpretation of a bumblebee on a Hollyhock. This was generated by Welshpixie - https://mastodon.art/@welshpixie who's a great artist over on Mastodon. I'm on Mastodon as Troy the Gardener - https://kith.kitchen/web/@Capheind. If you subscribed during my long hiatus I'd like to thank you, seeing my nearly abandoned podcast get around 30 downloads a week kept me interested in coming back.

All my social links @ https://social.as/teajay

---Resources---
The order Hemiptera at the Discover Life website. A great overview of the order.
https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Hemiptera
The order Hemiptera from the Australian National Science Agency that breaks down the Suborders.
https://ento.csiro.au/education/insects/hemiptera.html
A squash bug article with a good picture of the egg clusters.
https://extension.umn.edu/fruit-and-vegetable-insects/squash-bugs
A University of Wisconsin extension article about Scale Insects.
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/scale-insects/
The Lost Ladybug project, with some info on Ladybugs as well as details on the loss of native species in the United States.
http://www.lostladybug.org/

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If you have any specific questions about getting started with Compost (or anything else) you can contact me through the website or Direct Message me on the Fediverse http://mastodon.sdf.org/@capheind (or on Twitter or Instagram if you must)

Its time to cover compost, at least cover some of the basics. Compost, and organic matter management in general, is a huge topic, and it will be many episodes before I can even hope to cover it all. In this episode I give a basic overview of Hot Composting, Vermicomposting, and the biology that enables it.

• A handy resource on Hot Composting, the info on dynamic accumulators is a little debatable, but it covers the basics well (https://www.compost.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/4-Hot-Composting.pdf)
• A simple overview of compost microbiology from CalRecycle (https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/homecompost/microbes)
• Cornells fairly extensive composting handbook (http://compost.css.cornell.edu)
• The Humanuer Handbook (https://humanurehandbook.com/)
• Everything You Know About Composting is Wrong: Mike McGrath at TEDxPhoenixville, Leaf Mould (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9OhxKlrWwc)
• The Myth of Foliar Feeding (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/foliar-feeding.pdf)
• Vermicomposting, Is it Great? (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/foliar-feeding.pdf)
• The Myth of Compost Tea (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/compost-tea.pdf)
• The Myth of Compost Tea Revisited:"Aerobically-brewed compost tea suppresses disease" (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/compost-tea-2.pdf)
• The Myth of Compost Tea, Episode III: "Aerobically-brewed compost tea suppresses disease" (https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/compost-tea-3.pdf)

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Update: An explanation of the change I made to the show notes of my Seed Starting Special episode (https://www.buzzsprout.com/501553/6925235 ) after seeing a tweet by Dr. Sarah Taber (https://twitter.com/SarahTaber_bww/status/1350557247680761857). It added to small field of red flags I already had regarding that company.

In this episode I follow up on my Seed Starting Special by discussing the horticultural practice of “Stepping up” or more simply, moving your plants from a low nutrition seed starting mix to a medium suitable for growing out your plants. 2

• Cliven Bundy’s remarks - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cliven-bundy-racist_n_5204821
• Decent starting guidelines for Potting Mix - https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C787
• Some info on how to work out how much actual NPK your getting - https://www.gardenmyths.com/fertilizer-npk-ratios-what-do-they-really-mean/

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Notes

If you have any specific questions about starting seeds (or anything else) you can contact me through the website or Direct Message me on the Fediverse http://mastodon.sdf.org/@capheind (or on Twitter or Instagram if you must)

A quick dip into the intricate world of the nitrogen cycle, from its humble origins of N2 to its final form as one of plant kinds most vital nutrient. It can be Synthetic or au naturel, bound up in several different molecules, and fixed freely in the soil or directly in root nodules. Give a listen.
Resources

Nitrogen on the periodic table - https://www.webelements.com/nitrogen/
Plants do not convert CO2 into O2 - https://www.howplantswork.com/2009/02/16/plants-dont-convert-co2-into-o2/
How Lightning can create soil nitrogen - https://wxguys.ssec.wisc.edu/2018/07/09/lightning/
Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes - https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129/
The history of Night Soil in the United States - https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/when-american-cities-were-full-of-crap
Humanure Handbook - https://humanurehandbook.com/
Urine as a nitrogen source - http://nwedible.com/how-to-use-pee-in-your-garden/
Guano Islands Act - https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/smithsonian-and-guano
A video on the production of synthetic Ammonium - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_D4FscMnU

This episode is released under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License by its author Troy Truchon. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Joyous HumanLight!

If you have any specific questions about starting seeds (or anything else) you can contact me through the website or Direct Message me on the Fediverse http://mastodon.sdf.org/@capheind (or on Twitter or Instagram if you must)

I misspoke about Perlite and Vermiculite. Perlite is a naturally expanded volcanic gas, Vermiculite is a mineral compound that can be heated to expand (incidentally the name comes from the heated products tendency to expand into worm like strands.)

Also to clarify, when I said “There aren’t many genetically modified organisms in food production right now.” I meant to say varieties, significant portions of our sugar beet and field corn populations are GMO, as is most alfalfa grown as a feed. But those are only a very small handful of varieties that aren’t trivial for you to get.

Update: I am no longer comfortable recommending Baker Creek Seeds as I was unaware of their relationship with Cliven Bundy. There were already some red flags for me and this was one too many. I apologize if anyone made a purchase based on listening to this episode.

Seed Links

• Native Seed Search - Native American Seed Request
• Seed Savers Exchange - Donation Program - Join
• San Diego Seed Company
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• National Plant Germplasm System

Resources

• Frost Dates in California from UC Davis
• Frost Dates from the Old Farmers Almanac
• The Dwarf Tomato Project - Tomato Talk - Micro-Dwarf Tomato Project
• A Tiny Green Cell - Sebastians Etsy

Tea Jay’s Garden 1.0

• Craig LeHoullier and Patrina Small, The Tomato Episode, Introduction, Dwarfs, and Epic Tomatoes
• Interview with Sebastian Cocioba of New York Botanics LLC

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Hello Gardeners! This week I thought I’d talk about Bitterness in Cucumbers. Cucumbers can become bitter as a response to literally any stressors of the plant. In this episode I talk about the different types of cucumbers, why they go bitter, how to deal with it, resistant varieties, and a wonderful alternative I’ve taken to using.

==========

Products Mentioned

• 20 pack of 5-Gallon grow bags on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YR96PZZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• 6 pack of 20-Gallon grow bags on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QLXTH52/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Mary’s Fall Garden Seed Starter Kit https://www.marysheirloomseeds.com/collections/seed-pack-combos/products/fall-garden-seed-satrter-kit
• Armenian Cucumber from San Diego Seed Company https://sandiegoseedcompany.com/shop/warm-season-crops/cucumber-armenian/
• Xylangouro Cucumber Melon (Greek Cucumber) from Baker Creek Seed Company https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/new-items-2020/xylangouro-cucumber-melon

Further Reading

• Seedless Cucumbers are a Different Pickle from the MSU Extension website https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/seedless_cucumbers_are_a_different_pickle
• Beit Alpha cucumber Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWr6QMPqm_A

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Its 102 Degrees here today (Pics), which is pretty typical of my summers here in Bakersfield. It got me thinking about gardening in extreme heat. In this episode I’ll explain why amaranth does just fine in high heat, why your wilting plants are probably fine, a bit about the wonderful world of Photosynthesis, and why you should pour beer on your plants.

The “Greek Cucumber” I mentioned several times in the episode is XYLANGOURO CUCUMBER MELON. The Red Amaranth was Red Leaf Vegetable Amaranth which I got from Johnny’s Selected Seeds https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/greens/specialty-greens/red-leaf-vegetable-amaranth-specialty-green-seed-516.html. You can find my interview with Craig Lehoulier at https://www.buzzsprout.com/501553/episodes/1870285-craig-lehoullier-and-patrina-small-the-tomato-episode-introduction-dwarfs-and-epic-tomatoes. If you want to learn a bit more about Photosynthesis this is a decent primer on the different types https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/photosynthesis-in-plants/photorespiration--c3-c4-cam-plants/a/c3-c4-and-cam-plants-agriculture

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Welcome back for episode 25. Not episode 52 as i say on the show.

Sorry I’ve been away for so long, alot has happened. I mean aside from the obvious things we’ve all been going through. I hope this episode finds you well.

I’m pivoting yet again. I’ve decided, for now, to just talk about Gardening and leave any other plans off for the time being. From now on this will be a show where I share my gardening experiences, knowledge, and whats going on in Tea Jay’s actual Garden.

In this episode I talk about:

• The pitfalls of trying to Grow Your Own to survive the pandemic
• Some actually great reasons you should be gardening
• Why I Garden
• And some of the interesting plants gracing my garden this year.

For a start I’m groing alot of Bushing and Dwarf Varieties, and looking into getting involved with growing out Micro-Dwarf Tomatoes from https://www.tomato-talk.com/. I’m also trialing Tepary Beans from https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/collections/legumes/products/lofthouse-landrace-tepary-beans . The Experimental Farm Network is a great place to pickup experimental varieties and unfinished hybrids to play around with.

Also an update, since I recorded this there have, in fact, been some food shortages affecting the US. But, every case I’ve heard of so far has been processed foods and beverages. There is a shortage of some Diet sodas, and some brands of Beer. I still feel that my statements in the podcast are substantially correct.

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