Simply Homespun - Appomattox

Tessa Lauren cucumber sea salt and cucumber ranch chips headed to the freeze dryer. We will have some to taste test soon!

Climacteric - (noun) a major turning point or critical stage; fruit production indicates the stage of ripening

Fruits are classified as climacteric (ripen off the tree) or non-cliamcteric (ripen on the tree or vine).

For those of you that have pear trees check your pears. They will get mealy and porous if left on the tree too long. I live in zone 7a and I harvested all of my pears this past weekend and they are resting quite comfortably in The Bee She Shed to ripen over the next seven days. (If you are further north your harvest season may still be two to three weeks away.)

Pears ripen from the inside out and become sweeter over time after they are picked.

How to test if they are ready??? Simply go out to your tree place your hand one of the pears and gently turn the pear upward. (Tip it upside down.) If it easly breaks from the tree it is ready to pick. Once harvested wipe them off with a soft cloth if needed and let them do their thing for the next seven days.

If you want them to ripen more quickly...place them in a brown paper bag with and apple or banana. Placing fruits in a bag with an apple or banana accelerates the ripening process. These fruits release high amounts of ethylene gas, a natural plant hormone. Trapping this gas inside a closed bag—like a brown paper bag—concentrates it around the fruit, speeding up how quickly it softens and sweetens.

I don't want to speed the process up since my beans are ready to pick and can. We'll let nature take its course here and can them next weekend.

Electroculture: Introducing Copper to Your Garden

When I first started introducing copper to the garden I just placed some wire around but it's a little more involved than just sticking dowel rods wrapped in copper here and there in the garden. There were some key principles I had to learn.

Copper has the ability to conduct electrical currents and interact with magnetic fields. This makes it the perfect conduit to capture the electromagnetic energy and distribute it to your plants.

Placement of the copper depends on the size of your garden. I use a basic set up. I love all the scientific research and the elaborate designs but let's face it I still work full time so I'm keeping it super simple. I have crafted antennas as pictured in the photo and placed them at the four corners of the main part of my garden. (I will give more detail in a post later this week. )

Crafting the coils and antennas...if you're a DIYer it's as simple as spiraling copper wire around a non-conductive frame. (Dowel rods from Walmart, bamboo, old electric step in fence posts, tree limbs.)

Implementation: Install your antennas, wire or coils and watch for results. You may need to move something or add more.

I chose to do the antennas because I thought they were cute and would add some character to my garden.

My antennas have been in place for about a month now and my plants have jumped. Until this past weekend we have had very limited rain. We're in a severe drought here in VA and my tomato plants are almost as tall as I am and they are loaded with tomatoes. The dahlias in front are crazy huge as well.

For those of you that have a Kindle account check out this book Electroculture Made Easy by Elisa Haake.

The Spark Of our World

Electricity is a foundation of natural forces. It shapes our world from atmospheric conditions to the functioning of living organisms and that includes plants and even human beings.

In studying the use of electroculture one of the things that interested me most was how it impacts the human body and plant life. The nervous system of the human body relies on electrical impulses for bodily functions.

There are three main ways that electricity influences plant life.

🌱 Stimulates growth - research shows that certain electrical fields speed up germination and riot growth. The electrical signals can help with nutrient and water absorption.

🌱 Disease resistance - scientific evidence exists that plants exposed to specific electromagnetic fields are more resistant to pesrs and diseases. WHY???? The plants are more able to produce their own phytochemicals that they use to fight off threats on their own.

🌱 Photosynthesis efficiency: Electromagnetic fields in a nutshell make the process more efficient. (Think of it as your HE solution for plants like the appliance manufacturers have done for us in our homes. Appliances today are built to use less water, electricity, gas and still give us the same result.)

So what does this mean for our gardens? The ability to produce good food using fewer chemicals and water. Our gardens are more sustainable and independent of the fertilizer and pesticide industry resulting in savings to our family budgets.

Next we will look at the scientific findings and research on the impact of electrical stimulation on plants.

My journey into this "new to me" world of eletroculture hasn't started because my gardens are something you would see pictured in Home and Garden Magazine but it's because of some huge stumbling blocks and epic fails. 😔

We have beehives and the need to have a chemical free environment for the ladies to do their work has become more important every year. On top of that, I just don't want all of that ick on my food... Randy and I spend alot of long winter nights researching....this year Randy was the first to read about electroculture. When he shared some articles with me I was hooked. I'm all about using what I have and not making things more expensive so I was all in!

Electroculture is not a new concept As a matter of fact, it was becoming very popular before WWII but after the war it fell by the wayside and let's face it the fertilizer and pesticide industry profit more from our dependency for a quick fix and not so long term solution to all the things... 🐛🪲🐜

So what is electroculture....

1. It's more than a method. Its a practice that transforms and revitalizes the soil. It uses simple things as wood dowels/sticks and copper wire and you'll need a compass. The one on your phone won't do.

2. Older generations maybe even your grandparents buried copper pennies in their gardens. They may not have understood the science but they understood the principle that copper deters pests and diseases. (Case in point....I have a rain barrel by my house which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes....Randy had a three foot piece of copper tubing so he shaped it into a hook and hung it into the barrel. I've seen a few mosquitoes around the rain barrel this year but it's no longer a breeding ground and nursery for the larvae. 🙂) My bare arms are witness because they are mosquito bite free so far this year!

As I share with you what I've learned this week, we will look at the scientific principle behind electroculture. You will discover how natural electromagnetic and subtle earth energies can be harnessed. You will learn how it increases plant growth, enhances the health of your plants and naturally repels pests. These principles work outdoors in your garden and can also be applied to your indoor plants.

Who's ready to learn? Let's do this together!

Added the science of electroculture to the garden this year. Grounding for the plants in our garden is just as important as grounding is to our bodies.

We will take a deep dive next week into a lost practice that provides some amazing benefits to our gardens. Follow me as we explore the what, where, when, why and how to electroculture!

After several failed pumps, we are back at it!

I spy with my little eyes....

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor, was dressed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28)

Did you know your pantry and bathroom closet may hold the keys to a natural inexpensive DIY pest control spray for your garden?

Baking soda is a pantry staple that can help prevent and slow the spread of fungal infections like powdery mildew, black spot and rust.

For soft body insects like aphids it acts as a gentle repellant.

Castille Soap acts as a surfactant. Oil and water don’t mix well, and plain water easily beads off waxy leaves and insect exoskeletons. Adding soap lowers the water's surface tension, allowing it to coat plant surfaces evenly and bind active ingredients (like neem oil or essential oils) to the foliage.

It Kills Soft-Bodied Insects: Castille soap acts as an effective contact insecticide for soft-bodied pests like aphids, spider mites, mealybugs, and whiteflies. The soap strips the protective, waxy layer from the insect's body, causing them to dry out and die. It can also clog their breathing pores, essentially suffocating them.

I also add a capful of Thieves Household Cleaner as it helps with plant health and contains essential oils that also are effective on pests.

There will always be pests in your garden but to help keep them down your answers can often be found sitting in your pantry. They ingredients don't harm the environment, non-toxic, and best of all so much cheaper!

Download the recipe card to your phone for easy access and give it a try!