by Noel | Oct 30, 2017 | CobraHead, Garden Tools, Gardening
I think Rose Berry bought her first CobraHead from us at the Madison Garden Expo many years ago. Rose likes our products and she has purchased many tools for gardeners over the years. She let me know that she really could use a lot of CobraHead tools for a project she was involved with in Uganda. I let her know that I had a lot of obsolete but totally functional tools that I would be happy to donate. Rose is involved in several projects that help Ugandans live...
by Noel | Oct 17, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening
We harvested 89 pounds of sweet potatoes yesterday. That’s not a record, but it’s well above our normal yield, and we’re happy with the results. Our average sweet potato yield is about 80 pounds per bed. We grow a variety named Jewel (sometimes spelled Jewell). We’ve been growing Jewel from our own starts for over 10 years and we find it excellent for both yield and long-term storage, and they taste great, too! The potatoes were grown in...
by Noel | Jun 30, 2017 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
Intensive gardening in open raised beds practically demands working with a lot of trellises. The system of concentrated planting doesn’t lend itself to sprawl, and the solution is to grow vertically. I stake or trellis many plants to get maximum production in limited space and to keep the aisle spaces passable. I use T-posts as my main trellis component. They are cheap, strong, and last forever. And they lend themselves well to various designs. Most of my...
by Noel | Feb 7, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening
This old flat dates back to about 1990. I started making my own flats from some cheap fence wood I had acquired. I’m not sure where I got the design, probably a garden magazine or garden book, but it has proven to be long-lasting and very useful. The flats are built using 3″ x 12″ x 5/8″ wood for the ends and 3″ x 18″ x 5/8″ wood for the sides. Thus they are 3 inches deep. The construction is very rough, especially the...
by Noel | Jan 28, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening
It’s the end of January. We still have a lot of potatoes stored in the barn. Barn temperatures are often well below freezing but the potatoes are in good shape. Last fall, before I put the potatoes in storage, I modified my straw bale walls and replaced the bales on top with insulating foam panels. It was a good move. It’s way easier sliding off panels than wrestling straw bales when you need some potatoes. The barn stays cleaner and the potatoes seem to be...
