Electric Tiller & Mower

After research, reading reviews and watching some videos, we bought an Earthwise electric tiller. One of the reasons for this model is the difference in the tines compared to our Mantis. The Mantis does a good job cultivating areas that don’t have much plant or weed growth, but it isn’t very effective on crabgrass that has much of a root system.

 

Earthwise on the left, Mantis on the right

We chose the 10 amp version for size and tine options. This model is eleven inches wide which will allow it to get into small areas. You can also remove the outer set of tines and till a much smaller area. The machine is still as wide, but the hood over the tines should be able to move through some plants without any damage.

After the carrots were pulled

The area where the carrots were growing had a very happy crop of crabgrass and weeds growing about a foot tall.

After being mowed

First, we mowed that area. I shouldn’t have planted that Cushaw winter squash right in the middle of this row. It would have made it easier to get the riding mower in there if I hadn’t.

Then for the tilling. We used a 100′ extension cord plugged into the house. It was easy enough to keep the cord to my right and pull it on behind me as I tilled down the left half of this area. On the return trip tilling on the right side (from the perspective of this picture) of the row, Frank lined out the cord to my right side again, which allowed me a view of it. This prevented any close calls or mishaps with the cord. I find that keeping up with the cord is very similar to running the vacuum sweeper. You just have to make sure you don’t run over the cord with the tiller or mower, unlike the sweeper, there could be shocking consequences if you do.

After tilling

This electric tiller worked very well on these established roots. We were very impressed. A few grass and weed roots and stems had wound around the shaft, but a few minutes of works and they were easily removed.

Day of tilling

Day of tilling

A week later

A week later we were surprised to see that the vast majority of the grass roots were killed, very few places had any grass coming back at all. Now I am more than impressed, I am very pleased. The difference is the tines. The Mantis does not clear out the grass roots the way the Earthwise does. It’s funny. I have been very pleased with the Mantis until I tried a different option with better tines. They both function just about the same – the amount of effort to run them is very similar, they both require a source of energy, either gas or electricity. The lack of carbon emissions didn’t play into our decision to go electric, ease of use and the ability to manipulate in tightly planted areas, did. Age of the operator is also one of the main considerations. 

When Frank and I were first married, we owned no electric tools. Frank used a brace and bit and a hand saw. As we got older, we went to electric tools and they worked great. Then battery operated tools came along. Though not as strong, the battery operated tools do a good job in most areas. We also learned how valuable an air compressor is, too, especially when framing upside down and backwards inside a closet. There is a big difference between the age of 35 and 65. Sometimes changes are good. So are these electric garden machines heavy duty? No. But they make our life easier and more productive. Another small example. When we moved to Oklahoma from Alaska, we sold our big guns and got smaller guns. Times change. We are trying to do our part to feed ourselves and be as self sufficient as possible.

About a week or so after purchasing and using the tiller, we got to thinking how beneficial it would be to be able to mow some of the small places in and around the garden. Each year we have substantial weeds and grass growing in areas that we just can’t get to. I actually planted some things with the hope of using the riding mower in some places, but that takes up a lot of planting space. With the success of the new tiller, we began looking at the Earthwise electric mowers.

We chose the 14 inch model to use in small areas. I was racing the weather trying to get a few things done in the garden before the rain, so this picture is in the shed instead of in the garden.

I have to tell you. When we unpacked the mower, we were not impressed at all. The body is plastic, does not appear to be very durable, and we did not think it would be able to tackle the job we had planned for it. We were pleasantly surprised. I mowed these areas on the highest setting and the pictures don’t really reflect the outcome very well.

Between the corn before

Between corn after mowing

Where the beets were before

Where the beets were after mowing

I have never used a mulching mower before. There was an option to snap on a standard discharge port, but it would make the mower a little wider, so I chose to leave it off. Using the mower with the mulching flap engaged prevented piles of mowed grass in the wake of the tall grass I was mowing and prevented it from being blown onto the existing plants. After using it, I considered this to be an added benefit I wasn’t expecting.

Next, I tilled this area where the beets and winter squash were. It took about five minutes. I will tell you more about this area in the next garden article.

Where the beets and winter squash were after tilling

For now, we would highly recommend this tiller and mower if an electric version is the desired product. We can’t speak to the long term durability of the machines, but for initial use, they have out performed our expectations. Granted, if the electricity is off, they won’t work, so this is not a purchase for the coming SHTF life we still expect to be living one of these days. If the electricity is off, gasoline won’t be available either. So until those days arrive, these machines do an excellent job at helping us maintain our garden.

Until next time – Fern

What is this?

I am surprised how many things grow around here in December. I really am. I guess in the back of my mind, I’ve seen these plants before, I just haven’t been paying attention like I am now. That’s true of a lot of things, isn’t it? 

Since we have been trying to grow more and more of our animal feed in an attempt to eliminate buying grains and become more self-reliant, I have begun to pay attention to what is already growing here, and what grows well here that we can cultivate. We have written several articles about the garden produce grown for the animals including corn, sunflower seeds, cow peas, turnips, carrots, beets, comfrey and sunchokes. Now I am finding wild, weedy things that the chickens really enjoy, and the most interesting part of the current discovery is that these weeds are growing in December. You can already tell that I am wondering if they will continue to grow throughout the winter. 

The problem is, I don’t know what these plants are. I have looked in my wild edible foraging books to no avail, so I don’t think they are meant for human consumption. If you know what any of these plants are, we sure would like to know. I have put my foot in these pictures for a size comparison. None of these plants are very big, which doesn’t surprise me because it’s winter. I have numbered the plants for ease of identification. So, tell me, what do you think?

1.  There are not a lot of these plants around. The interesting thing about them is the red veins on the leaves. Since there aren’t very many, I haven’t been picking them to see if the chickens like them…yet.

2.  This plant is fairly small, but coming up all over the place. I don’t know how big they will eventually get. As they get bigger, the middle stands up more off the ground. When they are small, they are flat to the ground. The chickens love these. In no time at all, these plants are gone, leaves, stems, roots and all.

3.  I didn’t get my foot in this picture. This weed is fairly large compared to the others. The leaves are about five to six inches long, and this is the only one I remember seeing. I picked many of them and the chickens liked it as well.

4.  Another large leaved plant. Oops, I know what this one is. It’s a turnip in the garden and the chickens love them, leaves, root and all. I picked some of these greens for dinner last night.

5.  I ran across something in my wild foraging book that made me wonder if this is a wild carrot. There are a few here and there. Any ideas?

6.  This small plant with the scalloped leaves is another one the chickens like. There are quite a few of them around.

7.  This one with the rounded leaves they don’t particularly care for, but they will eat it. This plant gets much larger than the others and there are lots of them. It has some similar characteristics to my lemon balm, but that’s not it.

8.  I have just started to notice these plants, and have only seen a couple. The leaves are rounded and darker than the other plants so far.

9. We have lots of healthy looking dandelions, especially along the porch on the west side of the house,where they get more warmth when the sun is out. We gathered seeds from these last year and started a dandelion patch in the herb bed, so we can harvest and dry our own roots for tea.

These are what we hope will come of these weeds. Aren’t they beautiful? We are still getting pullet eggs from our young hens, with a gradual increase in their production rate. Not fast enough for us, but we’re getting there.

So, in December, when it is cold, and not a lot grows, I become the shadow farmer in the long slanting rays of winter, wrapped in my barn coat. That is, when we have rare moments of sunshine.

These plants have some similarities to other plants, both wild and domestic. Number one looks like a beet, but it’s not. Then number two looks like clover, but it’s not. And number eight almost reminds me of the violets that come up in the early spring, but I don’t think so. Please share with us what you know, we’re ready to learn something new and useful. Pick a number and give it your best shot, while I keep picking leaves for the chickens.

Until next year – Fern

Starting the Fall Garden

Now that we completed the unscheduled plumbing repair, it is time to start planting our fall crops. This is the area where we grew potatoes in the spring.

 

We dug them up and tilled this space again to use for some of our fall crops. We are trying to reclaim some of this area. It has been left to the weeds for a few years and they are very happy there. It has been tilled several times this year and we plan to use a heavy mulch around the fall crops in an effort smother out more weeds.

These corn stalks will be part of the mulch back against the fence area. It will add some good organic material as well as help with weed control. Or at least that is what we hope, we will see how it goes.

Some of the seedlings we planted last week are ready to go in the garden. It doesn’t take long for winter squashes, melons and greens to be ready to plant.
 

The broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, snap peas, spinach and kale will be ready to plant in a few days. Today I thinned out the seedlings. It is good to know that the 3 year old seeds I planted are still viable. 

Now that I have rolled up more pots, it’s time to start more seeds.

We are growing Detroit Dark Red beets for us, but I am also trying some Sugar Beets for goat feed. They are a mangel beet that has been used for stock feed in the past. They are also good for beet sugar which we will try to make if we have a harvest. We are planting collards, turnips and parsnips, too. This is part of our effort to grow at least some of the feed for our animals. We are very interested to see how these will grow and store over the winter.

And then we are trying carrots again.We are encouraged by our spring carrot crop even though they were rather gnarled up. We tilled this end of the garden deeper (thus, finding the grey water line), so we hope our root crops do better this time.

For now, the winter squashes are planted.

 

The Buttercup, Cushaw and Acorn are all tucked back in this corner. Since they vine out and tend to cover a lot of ground, this corner will be filled before long.

The melons are tucked in between the new overgrown strawberry bed and the potato patch.

We are planting potatoes that we grew in the spring. Since a spring potato crop is ready to harvest in June here, the potatoes don’t keep all winter very well. We have wanted to try a fall crop of potatoes for a number of years. Here it is. We hope it produces well.

This is another area that has grown an abundance of weeds for the last few years.

It is very fertile since we ‘stored’ a load of  barnyard there a while back. We are going to try the pumpkin patch here with heavy mulch and cross our fingers.

The mixed baby greens (on the right) were planted in the herb bed between the green tea, lemon balm and oregano. It will be nice to eat a few of these, but I plan to dry most of them for the goats.

This area in front of the winter squashes will be for the beets, carrots, parsnips and turnips. Then there is the cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, collards and spinach to be tucked in somewhere. Oh, and don’t forget the snap peas. They will be finding a home here as well. Yes, we do an intensive garden, using as much space for production as possible. So, it’s always an obstacle course to get to what we are trying to harvest.

We will keep you updated on our progress with the fall garden as we learn to grow more food – for us and our animals.

Until next time – Fern