What to Grow if You Can Grow Anything + Undersowing Cover Crops with Tomatoes?

Welcome to episode 14 of Growers Daily!
We cover: Microplastics and are farmers to blame, the importance of neighbors, what to undersow with tomatoes, and what you should grow if you can grow anything.
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Citations:
Wirecutter article: www.nytimes.co...
Nature Editorial: www.nature.com...
Biosolids info: www.epa.gov/bi...
Microplastics on farm fields: www.nrdc.org/s...
Microplastics on farm fields in China: www.sciencedir....
Tuna and Plastics: pubmed.ncbi.nl....
Tires and microplastics:: pmc.ncbi.nlm.n...
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[@Salomaeful]

Omg my neighbours are probably the most valuable aspect of my property - during the 2019 bushfires one of my neighbours plowed up all of his precious pastures around us to ensure everyone had safer places to evacuate pets/livestock/people to and ensured everyone had a vehicle with a tank of water and a pump to keep them safe in the middle of the cleared area. His neighbour handed out radios to everyone as other communications down. We were lucky and the winds changed direction just in time to save our wondrous little community

[@josee.cisnerosjr.7706]

Totally agree with you on the micro plastics. Really like this series and these daily videos.

[@devinsullivan7233]

Okra grows great here in Northern California, today is October 17th and my late crop of okra is producing great right now. Despite being at 1835’ elevation in the Sierra Nevada foothills. I direct seeded the first week of August.

[@rickthelian2215]

Enjoy the conference Jessie, I hope you can get some simple footage on Friday 😊

[@gweg27]

Love the attention you all give to the many details of farming. Thanks for helping me improve our cover crops, interplanting and more. Farming 1.5 acres here in Detroit, MI and need to maximize our small space. Peas with spinach are my favorite example. They do so many things for us: beat out the weeds, build soil and are grown on the outside of the rows protecting the fall/winter spinach from frost (along with straw mulch). When March arrives, the spinach from the field is almost as large as the hoophouse spinach. Peas also get harvested as pea tips for salad. In Mid May we pull the spinach and allow the peas to flower and sell these tips as edible flowers. BTW, your team should visit Detroit!

[@ximono]

Love the field note at the end. It's good to hear that there are still places like that.

[@lambsquartersfarm]

Appreciate the elaborated discussion. Specific to small farming, I suspect a big contributor is greenhouse plastic. You can find on Google scholar 'accumulation of microplastics in greenhouse soil' . We can't control other industries or what washes up in our rivers, we can only affect what we do on our farms. I'm not perfect, but I see a lot of the larger grower channels normalizing plastics as part of the necessary toolkit. I don't include this Chanel in that category.

[@lauraservey495]

For the last year, we have had to clean out the filter on our washing machine every 2-3 months. We have our own well and thought the problem came from getting a new hot water heater put in. There was a ton of plastic shavings that plugged up a drainage pipe from the attic. The problem was not getting better after I flushed the pipes. I convinced my mom to get a filter put on the well pump. That thing collects so much plastic that it fills almost immediately. There are lots of plastics in the ground water.

[@outliergardener]

Haha, thanks so much for the shoutout ❤ ~ Outlier Garden….er 😂

[@tonibaloney269]

Farmer Jessie, you can grow avocados, citrus, cherries and other tropical fruits in a geothermal greenhouse. They do this in places where it snows with great results. Get a hold of me if you want more details.

[@williamcurry185]

Hey I want the details too! Go on, spill it! :D

[@williamcurry185]

Thanks for answering my question, Jesse! I’m right there with you man, Oranges for me too however, it would be for the orange blossom honey as well as the fruit. If you haven’t tried it, add it to the bucket list. Good stuff. I hadn’t considered avocado, but now I feel like I have to figure out a way to make that possible…then cheap, then easy :D Keep on going bub, love your content and information.

[@pault.juckniess7265]

Just keep thinking or what you can use instead of plastic's!! I remember planting annuals in my mother's flower garden. She would go to the local feed store where she bought flats of plants. Those flats were made of wood!!! Use soil blocks or fashion your own bottom less paper pot. In many areas broken pallets are usually found that can be a source of wood.

[@omermann]

Love your videos keep the inspiration coming ❤

[@josee.cisnerosjr.7706]

Great story.

[@johndoh5182]

Just a note on the plastics thing. Food ending up with microplastics that comes from GROWING the food specifically is IMO most likely going to happen from homesteaders/backyard gardeners who may use plastic containers a bit more often for various use cases, but including growing food in plastic pots. I don't think many FARMERS are growing plants to maturity in a plastic pot, because you know, labor? I'm not going to get into the good/bad thing because humans are living longer now so.......... Yes, it's a problem, but unless you're growing food from the beginning to end process in plastic containers it's probably not worth thinking about. I see some videos from Asia that look neat, where people grow food on balconies with excellent results and good on them. But they're often growing it in what looks like old plastic containers and I don't think I would do that. To me that looks like microplastics getting into the soil.

[@sheelaghomalley5459]

Love your Friday field notes. It's the same in the west of Ireland.

[@robertcotrell9810]

I'm in OH. I'd grow kumquats. Love those things... Do an episode on your research process That's one aspect of your videos that I really appreciate time and again.

[@franksinatra1070]

I eat a lot of avacodos so that would be top on my list also. I'm in zone 7a and tried globe artichokes this year and actually got a small harvest from two plants. I put them outside my fence thinking the deer would not like them but they are so desperate due to the drought they chewed them to the ground. I'm borderline on them overwintering here so we'll see what comes next spring.

[@KenB351]

Last year, here in Missouri (zone 7), I picked up a handful of citrus plants on clearance at Wal-Mart for $3 each. They had some frost damage, but I put them in a southern facing window for the winter. Today I pulled in 2 orange plants, 2 lime plants, and a lemon. I don't know if they're going to ever produce good fruit, but they make nice house-plants in their little pots. When they bloom the whole room smells fresh and fruity.

[@rich63113]

Citrus are really easy (and great) house plants. You'll absolutely get fruit if you take care of them. I really miss my citrus - but I've got a dog who loves the taste and likes to eat the trunks of the trees. Yeah.

[@timhammond4522]

My first thought to the question of what would you grow was "a second crop." I'm in zone 2a and our growing season is essentially 100 days (though it seems to have grown longer by a week or so in the past 30 years). There aren't many vegetables you can't grow here (especially with plastic row covers ;) ). People even grow some varieties of apples and pears here, but not really in commercial quantities. But getting a second crop of anything other than pok choi or radishes is a challenge.

[@DionKlitke]

Hello, what were the hoops inside the greenhouse for? Appears to be a greenhouse within a greenhouse?

[@willbass2869]

Cover crop choice.....plant a fast growing warm season annual cereal like millet 60-70 days before frost date & before seed set. Sow heavily, get a thick stand. Let the frost kill it in place. You'll have a nice DEAD blanket that smothers most of the cool season weeds. It will also "armor" the soil against erosion from winter rains. Just push aside to plant in spring. Might be better to totally remove for some crops suspectable to slugs/snails, like lettuce, as they hide in the dead cover

[@stuckinthemudgarden7726]

You can grow peaches in your zone. They are really cold hardy. I have peach trees in upstate NY zone 5b/ 6a . A little elemental sulfur and kaolin clay is all I use on them for pest and disease prevention . Back yard northern peaches are surprisingly sweet and juicy.

[@sheelaghomalley5459]

My Buckwheat was killed by a frost in the 1st week of September in Ireland. The earliest frost in history. Normally end of October for 1st frost. Has been a crazy growing season 😢

[@will-by-the-bay4890]

I’m less than a half mile from SF Bay. Cannot grow most heirloom tomatoes well due to rampant mildew. Also most apples and stone fruit are difficult due to lack of chill hours. I want so much to grow sour cherries.

[@sightline4004]

18:31 I'd grow Cocoa, Avacado and Coffee. Note: Yaupon Holly leaves contain caffeine, just don't eat the berries.

[@kdbolson]

I agree that Avocado is my number one thing I would grow if I could (zone 4b, so it ain't happening). I'd also love to have a few herbs like Rosemary and Lavender grow as perennials.

[@chipper6729]

1 finger wave is standard operation procedure in rural ;) common in eastern WA state as well

[@jangsy33]

I wish I could grow passion fruit...and while not a fruit, I would love love love to grow moringa!

[@hoosierpioneer]

You don't gotta go deep in Northern Indiana. Lots of small communities, mine included, still do the little wave. Just stand out by my mailbox and you'll see.

[@craigdawson7632]

What are people thoughts on effective food packaging for things that need to retain moisture?

[@MayhemLucinate]

I am in Raleigh NC and I would say I want to grow coffee or cocoa

[@davidpenfold]

We can grow cherries here 700m up the Massif Central in France. What I'd really like is to be able to grow lemons. I've got this one sad specimen in a big pot that has to be put in the garage to over-winter and it's yet to even attempt to produce anything in three years.

[@mckennahicks5259]

So septic leach from laundry can contaminate microplastics and possibly pfas

[@glyncaemawr6957]

Lemons would be my choice for a I wish I could grow fruit. We keep trying to grow them, get a couple of fruit and then get heavy frosts (once every 6 or 7 years) and have to start again…..

[@ahabthecrab]

Zone 9b here. Very few fruit trees grow here. I can grow citrus but the Asian thrip and citrus greening eventually kills the trees. I have been trying for 10 years unsuccessfully. If I was further south I could grow avocados and mangoes. If I was further north, I could grow apples, pears or peaches. 9b is not so good for fruit trees😒. I can grow papayas and bananas however.

[@mattgreen3780]

I grow passion fruit in giant pots, that must winter indoors. Way outside my growth zone!

[@spaceantelope1]

I’m in south Alabama. Used to be able to grow oranges. Harder in recent years. I’ve always wanted to grow apples, can’t do it here really that I know of. Is there a variety of apple that would grow well in Kentucky?!

[@HivesToHome]

Mangoes and avocado!

[@gcc2313]

Id grow melons. Or really any crop that appreciates long hot dry seasons. Im still struggling but i think next season ill get better success

[@rich63113]

The big issue with microplastics is that they're so damn small that and so damn pervasive that you can not use any plastic on your property, and its still going to be in anything you grow because it's in your water and in your rain, and like Jesse says - in the air. So its really about quantity at this point. We need to stop subsidizing (both directly and indirectly) petroleum so that single use plastic stops being a thing. The indirect costs at this point are way too high. Single use plastic needs to only be a thing where its absolutely necessary (some medical parts/tools, silicon fabs, etc). This all comes down to us ignoring the fact that there are secondary costs to oil.

[@pier-annelachance4960]

I am with you with growing cherries. I tried and it just does not work.

[@rochrich1223]

Lichens, particularly big lichens, look so wierd and other worldly, an ornamental rock garden covered with them would be great! However, if the weather isn't fatal for unprepared humans, weeds would take over. Pity.

[@danphillips4590]

Microplastics coming from our drip tape? Crap. Can microplastics be seen with strong enough microscope?

[@jamesgribben7024]

Yes but they would also be on a smaller scale than resolveable. Like fractial patterns 😊

[@davidstick9207]

Neighbor story: I was 14. My grandpa...who raised me knew he was going to die. So he did the unthinkable...planted every acre into winter wheat. 1700 acres. All eggs in one basket. He died in February before the harvest. I was 14...what was I going to do? So I greased up the combine...pulled the trucks into the field...and as I was opening up the field...down the road came combine after combine...truck after truck. The entire community showed up. Food was brought. Everything. And in a day and a half...harvest was completed. Northwest Ohio at its finest. I moved on...worked a large cotton ranch in California. You have until December 1st to have your cotton roots pulled to keep the boll weavil out of the Central Valley. Our neighbor had his son commit suicide. The father was devastated. We were done with our 3000 acres. I asked the guy I worked for why we don't just pick his 35 acres...he was going to lose it. His reply was who will pay me if something breaks down? The difference between the Midwest and California. I left the next year.

[@rachellemazar7374]

I live in Northern California and I wish I could grow mangoes and papaya

[@djmeser]

Limes, I would grow limes in Pennsylvania.

[@andreacardinal2481]

Satsuma mandarin is more cold tolerant than oranges

[@FarmerPro-w4k]

I don't know how to grow passion fruit, can anyone help me?

[@daedricprincess8615]

You should talk more about microplastics in synthetic fertilizers and other ways that industrial agriculture knowingly and purposefully dumps microplastics into our soils.

[@willbass2869]

We need more practical stuff not borderline polemics & the latest "doom" story, imo

[@DongusKong]

Id grow acerola

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

Micro plastic is scary it's in the air man

[@jamesgribben7024]

Taking scuffle hoes. Ever see a wire brush head on a strimmer used to scuffle moss off concrete? Just an idea. Would it make a power hoe

[@johannakuhlin4787]

Do you drive a car? Name 3 materials in your car...

[@ThinkLittleFarm]

love the neighbor-outdoes-neighbor currency. farming, after all, is largely (I think) done by people who want stronger, healthier, and more intimate communities.