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Yanmar YM 1300d Compact Tractor

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This Yanmar tractor is our main workhorse here at the yardstead.  This has been a great little tractor.  We have had a lot of interest in our Yanmar tractor articles, so I thought I would post this  [ ... ]


Zucchini and Powdery Mildew

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Powdery mildew is a fungal disease which affects many types of plants.  Cucurbits like zucchini, squash, pumpkins, melons and gourds are all succeptable to powdery mildew.  It usually appears on l [ ... ]


Powdery Mildew on Cucurbits

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Powdery mildew is a disease caused by fungus that affects a wide variety of plants.   Plants of the family known as Cucurbits, which includes cucumbers, squash, zucchini, gourds, melons and pumpkin [ ... ]


Raising Ducks at the Yardstead

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Raising ducks at the yardstead is a very new venture. We've only had our ducklings for one week now. But, I've spent the last six months reading about ducks. We have talked about having a few at the  [ ... ]


Winter Melon (Asian Vegetable)

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The winter melon also called wax gourd, white gourd or ash gourd is grown on a vine for its very large fruit that is eaten as a vegetable.  Winter Melons originated in southeast asia but now the w [ ... ]


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Welcome to The Yardstead

Vegetable Gardening Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 11 August 2010 06:42
Squash plant with new fruitIt seems that we have had a powdery mildew infection on our squash and zucchini plants every spring for the past 5 years.  Since I wrote this article last year about measures to take to prevent powder mildew ,  we have been powdery mildew free!  In reallity we were probably helped out this year by the weather, as well as our preventive measures.  We followed most of the guidelines already, but I wanted to share a couple of things that seem to make the biggest difference from my experience. 
     Here in Florida our sub-tropical (seems to be getting more tropical every year) climate makes a nice environment for many fungal infections.  Hot temperatures and high humidity combined with nice green cucurbits like zucchini, squash, pumpkins, and gourds,  make a very inviting environment for podwery mildew.   The spores travel on the wind, and when they land in such an ideal spot, they try to set up camp.  I believe that cucurbits have some natural resistance to fungal infections, but if the fungus gets even a slight advantage, it will win in the end. 
Last Updated on Thursday, 12 August 2010 06:04
 
Urban Homesteading Written by Kathleen   
Friday, 23 April 2010 13:13
Persimmons remind me of my childhood.  It is commonly eaten in homes of asian families.  As my mom is from Taiwan, it was a common fruit that we ate in the fall when it was available.  I was extremely happy to find that it can be grown in our area of the southeast.  According to wikipedia, the persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family (Ebenaceae).  I purchased a non-astrigent cultivar called Fuyu.  I will be planting it shortly (when I find a suitable spot) in our backyard.  This persimmon will add to the growing edible landscaping here at the yardstead.  Hachiya Persimmon Watercolor
Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 May 2010 15:07
 
 
 
Vegetable Gardening Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 05:25

seed-packetsSpring is Here!  We are so excited here at theYardstead, to be preparing our Spring garden.  The garden is tilled and has two fine patches of green already.  One of the green patches is garlic and the other is onions, both of which were planted in the late fall for harvest this summer.  We start most of our veggies from seed and sometimes supplement with plants from our local feed store.  We have a box of seeds which has accumulated seed packets over the last several seasons, some of which we will plant this year.  Kathleen, who is in charge of garden planning, will be ordering the rest from seed companies.

In the past we ordered a lot of seeds from Johnny's Seeds and Burpee, but this year we decided to go with all heirloom seeds.  Heirloom seeds are.....

Last Updated on Thursday, 25 March 2010 14:45
 
 
 
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Making Our Summer Bounty Last All Year Long

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Food Storage means different things to different people.  To some people it means buying an extra supply of canned goods or food stored in 5 gallon buckets for an emergency.  To others, it means "pu [ ... ]


Planting and Growing Potatoes

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When February rolls around, we always get excited here at The Yardstead.  No, not because of Valentines Day, but because it means Spring garden time is about to arrive.  We are extra excited this y [ ... ]


Preventing Powdery Mildew in Your Spring Garden

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For the last 4 or 5 years we have at least one powdery mildew infection in our vegetable garden every season.  Last year we lost all of our zucchini and squash plants to powdery mildew, and the year [ ... ]


Raising Catfish in a Barrel

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The text and illustrations of this article are from
Organic Gardening and Farming October, 1973
Philip Mahan demonstrates how a fish is
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Community Gardens - Planting on Public Lands

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There has been a lot of coverage in the media lately about community gardens and planting vegetables and fruits on public land.  The Yardstead is in full support of these ideas and we plan to get inv [ ... ]


Making Your Own Bean Sprouts

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Nothing tastes quite as fresh and wholesome as fresh bean sprouts.  Bean sprouts are loaded with vitamins A, B C and E.  Bean sprouts are also high in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Phosphorus a [ ... ]


Grey Market Tractors

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When I was shopping around for a used compact tractor I came upon some brands and models that I was not familliar with.   I had never heard of Yanmar tractors, but I found a handful of them at very [ ... ]


Beginner Beekeeping - Moving Bees Into Your Hive

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This is the second article in our beginner beekeeping series.  In the first article we talked about what you need to get started in beekeeping, including the hive and sources for bees.  This article [ ... ]


Luffa Gourd - The Home Grown Sponge

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Most people are genuinely surprised when I show them my luffa gourds growing on a vine or after I’ve harvested, dried and cleaned them for the year. They almost always do not know that this over pri [ ... ]


Powdery Mildew on Cucurbits

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Powdery mildew is a disease caused by fungus that affects a wide variety of plants.   Plants of the family known as Cucurbits, which includes cucumbers, squash, zucchini, gourds, melons and pumpkin [ ... ]


Planning a Fall Garden

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Well, we had a very good spring garden this year at the yardstead.  We had bountiful harvests of squash, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, onions and cucumbers.  Basically everything we pl [ ... ]


Yard Eggs - Fresh Chicken Eggs

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The eggs shown here are all from free-range chickens here at the Yardstead.  You can see they are all different colors including green, blue, pink, beige, brown and white.  They vary in size a bi [ ... ]


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