Midwest Weedists Organic World

[Midwest Weedist]

Welcome, to a tiny peek behind the curtain that is my life! This thread will be dedicated to everything organic that I grow, with little relative extras included along the way for fun!
I'll try to cover my growing methods for everything from Cannabis, to outdoors/indoor vegetable gardens, ornamental house plants, and more. You'll probably see me show off my garden and my co-op garden(s). I'll probably post some of my more philosophical thoughts in an attempt to make some of you think in ways that you don't. And hopefully you enjoy something of it all!

For starters, let me introduce myself. I go by the username Midwest Weedist, as I am from Midwest and have an affinity for cannabis in all of its forms and uses. I've been growing something of some sort for as long as I can remember. As of now I grow completely organically; no bottles, chemicals, etc. I've had a few runs of veganic organics with huge success and will be shifting completely towards it. In a perfect world, I would simply be a plant caretaker. But beyond that my personal details are just that, personal, for hopefully obvious reasons.
Feel free to drop by and say hi, give some advice, critique me, etc. If I can help you with something, please ask (=

 

[green_machine_two9er]

Greetings midwestweedist. Looking forward to checking out your organic grow.

 

[FamMan]

what they said^

 

[Midwest Weedist]

I think I'll start it off with my Tomatillos! Who knows what a tomatillo is?

"The tomatillo, also known as the Mexican husk tomato, is a plant of the nightshade family bearing small, spherical and green or green-purple fruit of the same name. Tomatillos originated in Mexico and were cultivated in the pre-Columbian era."
To add to Wikipedias description, the fruit, when picked at an optimal time, is tangy and sweet. It's center is much thicker than that of a tomato, but relatively similar in regards to appearance. Most are green but purple and red (I could be mistaken on this color) varieties do exist.


Typically they're used for salsa verde, green sauce, green rice, etc. But I like to use them in scrambled eggs with poblanos and some other stuff as well.

If my memory is correct I planted these late this year, about 3 months ago. Surprisingly they took off and I just got my first harvest this week.

Planting, soil, harvesting, etc:

Soil - These are pretty easy to grow for the most part. They like a somewhat moist soil, though very drought tolerant, that does drain somewhat well. They definitely don't like waterlogged feet. Work a good compost, preferably vermicompost, into your soil before hand. Plan to mulch heavily with grass, compost, wood chips, etc. I like to go compost, grass, wood chips, and then periodically top dress with grass as it's consumed. I also topdressed with kelp meal.

Planting - In the wild these will grow tall, then fall down, root, and repeat. So start these inside before you plant them in the ground, approximately 6-8 weeks prior to first frost. And when you plant them, plant them deep so they will root from the main branch. More roots more fruits, after all! I failed to do this and am regretting it. Though it's definitely not necessary. Plant them at least a foot apart unless you want a jungle. I went with 6inches... Haha never again. You need to train them with cages, string and stakes, etc. You just need to support the branches as they grow. To me, they grow in the opposite manner as cannabis in a way, so they end up looking like an upside down Christmas tree. If that makes sense to anyone. Just give them some support I guess I'm trying to say.

Harvest - Before they turn pale and push out the bottom of their husk. They grow their husk first and the fruit will fill it as it grows. So you want to gently feel them to see when they're almost the same size or same size as their husk, if the bottom of their husk is also starting to open, this is when they're good to eat. When they fade yellow they become too seedy for most palates.

 

[Pattahabi]

Great write up on Tomatillos! I love me some Salsa Verde!

Peace!

P-

 

[Midwest Weedist]

Great write up on Tomatillos! I love me some Salsa Verde!

Peace!

P-

Thank you! As do I! I'm going to try and make a batch of that and some roasted apple and tomatillo salsa this weekend!

 

[pope creek]

Love it.
I have wild or volunteer tomatillos growing in the fields by my house. They are somewhat puny. You show me their potential. Might snag some seed and try them next year.
Curious about the size of your garden any how you water.
I use drip lines but feel like I should have laid things out different. My cucumbers need more water than my tomatoes and weed. If I stuck them in front I could have used valves to regulate better. Oh well, live and learn.
Same goes for feeding. I have been trying to use the same feeds on all my different plants but I think to thrive they need their nutes mixed to order.
That's a lot of work.
How do you do it ?

 

[Kind Sir]

Very interested in your grow. Im midwest as well, and going organic. I have a strawberry/Jalapeno patch as well but havnt had time to take care of it this year. Can be very time consuming!!

What fo you use in your soil?
Itd be interesting if you put your techniques in here.

 

[Midwest Weedist]

Love it.
I have wild or volunteer tomatillos growing in the fields by my house. They are somewhat puny. You show me their potential. Might snag some seed and try them next year.
Curious about the size of your garden any how you water.
I use drip lines but feel like I should have laid things out different. My cucumbers need more water than my tomatoes and weed. If I stuck them in front I could have used valves to regulate better. Oh well, live and learn.
Same goes for feeding. I have been trying to use the same feeds on all my different plants but I think to thrive they need their nutes mixed to order.
That's a lot of work.
How do you do it ?View attachment 3478198

Believe it or not, they're only about 3 months old. I went through my pictures and checked the dates, so they can get even bigger! Mine will hit 6 feet easily.
The bed that these are in is way over crowded, it's about 4 ft x 8 feet x 12 inches high.
For watering all I do is water with pond water by bucket until the soil is moist enough to wring out water. Usually every day if its above 80°f and hasn't rained in a day or two. With rain and cooler temperatures I water every 3 days or so. With storms I don't water as I'm in the Midwest, lots of heavy storms every year.
I'm all organic so there are no bottled nutes that I use. Just compost mixed in with topsoil, topdressed with kelp and some azomite or sand, depending on what I plan to grow in the soil. I mulch heavily with natural wood chips and grass. Nothing beyond that! All plants are watered the same and mixed together.

Very interested in your grow. Im midwest as well, and going organic. I have a strawberry/Jalapeno patch as well but havnt had time to take care of it this year. Can be very time consuming!!

What fo you use in your soil?
Itd be interesting if you put your techniques in here.

After mixing up my soil like mentioned above, I just feed my plants grass mulch and kelp teas (a couple heaping handfuls of kelp placed in a 30 gallon childs toy barrel-thing, add pond water, stir, let sit in Sun for about twelve hours, then stir the living hell out of it, then repeat the sitting and stirring process, and water with it). My kelp tea for my outdoor garden would be way more efficient, but I'm not concerned. I already harvest more than I can eat anyways haha.