StoneCarver 2026

[StoneCarver]

I tried to start this grow blog last summer. I edged a bed, scraped the sod off and solarized the soil. Then forked it using a broadfork with 16inch tines. Edging the bed makes it easier to keep the grass from growing into the bed. After forking the bed, I piled on weeds I pulled up out of my pond, grass clippings, and brown leaves that fell this fall. All winter it decomposes, attracts earthworms, breaks down from rain and freeze/thaw cycles. Soon, I'll be throwing on algae from my pond. This is where I'll be trying to grow my tobacco this year. Since it is a new bed, I'm not expecting much. Hopefully, the deer and woodchucks won't eat it.

Using my smartphone, I took pictures of the process. But my smartphone and computer aren't on speaking terms by corporate decree. So, I dug out the old digital camera which after 15 years is still on speaking terms with my computer. So here's the bed; I haven't actually measured it yet but I'd estimate 10ft x 25ft. On the right frame of the image, you can see the edge of my compost pile. That compost isn't for the tobacco. Its for the rest of the garden.

 

[StoneCarver]

Here's a pic of my pond. I'm standing up hill from the spring. You can see how it feeds into the pond. On the far end, is the embankment which is at least 4ft higher than the water, to give you a perspective of scale. The water flows out from the pond through an 18inch culvert which is out of sight off the right edge of the picture. About 5-10gallons per minute flows out of the culvert below the embankment. Its a very reliable spring keeping the pond from going stagnant. This pond is where I gather up algae each spring. The algae growth is seasonal. Once the water warms up in summer, the algae stops growing. I find this algae to be an excellent fertilizer. I just throw it on top of the garden beds between the plants. It takes a while to dry out, die and decompose though. By then its early to mid summer.

Also, I draw buckets of water from the spring to water my seedlings/plants with. The water is actually too acidic as is, pH 4.5. So, I use a bit of pH Up to get it around 5.5 to 6.0. That way I'm not using chlorinated tap water on the tobacco plants.

 

[StoneCarver]

Whilst preparing this bed, I happened upon some astounding archaeological finds as you can see in this photo. Clearly, I've unearthed an effigy of a god who was worshipped by past inhabitants of this land. Nearby the effigy in its in situ context, I found a building unit, as seen in the photo, which must have been a part of the temple in which the effigy would have been housed. You may find it interesting to know, this particular effigy has its tail intact.

 

[StoneCarver]

Correction: I did not add brown leaves from this fall. They were actually brown leaves that I had been composting for at least 2 years.

Hopefully, the weather this weekend will be agreeable enough for me to begin harvesting algae out of the pond. I have a little boat and a pool skimmer that I use to scoop the algae out. One year when I was scooping up algae, somehow I scooped up a 2# bass. I was wondering why the scoop felt so heavy. What kind of bass just lets itself get picked up out of the water? Once I got the scoop up out of the water, the bass began flopping and got back into the water. Perhaps it was sleeping?

That reminds me of another time, I was using a compost fork to rake up debris from the pond bottom to compost. Every now and then I'd hit a rock and try to get it up out of the muck. I try to save any rocks I find on my property since I don't have much and they are useful. Well, there was this one "rock" that I hit with the compost fork and attempted to pull up. Except this one was being rather difficult. It seemed to easily roll off the fork; I struggled to keep it on the fork whilst lifting it up. Eventually, I got this rock up to the surface when a head lifted up out of the water and hissed at me. Turned out, it wasn't a rock but a snapping turtle instead. Its always a surprise when a rock hisses at you.

 

[StoneCarver]

Seedlings have sprouted and grew some a bit.
I sowed seeds for Jaffna, RedRose, Nostrano del Brenta, Vuelta Abajo, Scantic, some random N. rustica, and the same Hopi N. Rustica that I grew last year. Everything except the Jaffna sprouted readily. Jaffna eventually sprouted a week or later than everything else, had the lowest germination rates, and the seedlings that came up were the smallest. I took these pictures right before thinning them out. I made the mistake of also sprouting tomatoes and peppers in the same trays. I knew not to do something like that but didn't really think about it. I'm hoping no tmv makes its way onto the peppers and tomatoes. I should have 6 of each variety to transplant outside in a couple weeks if all goes well.