About Lazy Acres Natural Way

Lazy Acres Natural Way is an organic farming small business located on 16 acres of iron-rich land southwest of San Antonio, in Bexar County, Texas.

I am Joe Bissett, and I purchased Lazy Acres Natural Way in 1986. The land supports my modest attempts at organic farming. Of the total 22 acres, 10 are cleared for farming, 2 acres support my home and the various outbuildings and 10 acres remain natural, ruled by the entrenched coyotes. Annually I increase the number of raised beds that I use for organic gardening in an area of less than three acres.

I learned early on that the climate and soil, with the addition of sufficient organic matter and water, combine to produce great volumes of pepper fruit on each plant. Until I began my total organic program, control of sucking insects was my most difficult challenge. Other normal challenges still occur, but so far they are easily managed.

I thought long and hard for some way to capitalize on what I have learned. After seeing my first issue of Chili Pepper magazine, the ideas that had been bouncing around in my head finally formed the outline of a business plan. This Web Site is the result of that plan.

You might be interested in how I am working my peppers organically in 2010. I am continuing to reclaim a previously unfarmed hay field of about 2 1/2 to 3 acres. The soil contains large amounts of iron oxide and is full of large rocks, sandstone and petrified wood which I am slowly removing. Weed control is 20% vinegar containing two ounces of orange oil, one ounce of liquid molasses and a drop of dish washing soap per gallon.

I am creating 50' raised beds nominally 36" in width. My basic planting scheme for each bed is two parallel rows of 33 plants nominally 18" apart, for a total of 66 plants per row with 18" separation between plants. I am considering reducing the inter plant distance to 12", which would result in 100 plants per 50' bed. I have no shortage of land, but perhaps the more compact rows would ease the fertilization and watering work.

Each transplant is planted directly in one tablespoon of Colloidal Phosphate Clay poured into the bottom of each planting hole. As each transplant is planted, I firm the earth in a nominal 6" diameter shallow depression around each plant. Each plant is watered in with 3 successive "shots" from my water wand, filling the depression. I allow sufficient time between each application for the previous water to soak in. I then follow with a generous "shot" of Medina Hasta Gro and Super Thrive, mixed per directions. Each row is soaked with Medina Plus Soil Activator.

Each new bed then receives an application of:

Gardenville Volcanite

Gardenville Texas Green Sand

Greensense Minerals Plus

Medina Growin' Green Dry Organic Fertilizer

Texas Tee Dry Organic Fertilizer

Rose Glo Dry Organic Fertilizer

Fertile Gardens Bat Guano

I apply a 1/4" to 1/2" layer of aged manure compost, then a thick layer of "living mulch" (wood chip mulch containing compost). I dust on a thin layer of corn gluton meal for weed germination control, wet it down and then each plant receives a spray of Liquid Seaweed and Molasses, followed up by a spray of Garlic Pepper Tea to elimnate rabbit and insect problems.

The results are phenomenal. Within a week almost every plant has recovered from the transplant shock and is putting on new deep green leaves at its top. By the end of the second week new leaves are sprouting along the length of the main stem where the old yellowed leaves have mainly fallen off. During the third week the plant virtually doubles in size. At one or two week intervals I alternate a foliar spray of the Liquid Seaweed and Molasses and "Garrett Juice". Garlic Pepper Tea is re-applied after rain or heavy watering. Medina Hasta Gro is re-applied monthly, and the dry fertilizers are re-applied as needed. In general, my plants put on foliage at a rapid rate and are a vibrant, deep green color.

Insect damage has been virtually non-existent! My rows are visited by Lady Bugs, but they soon clean up everything and move on. Aphids rarely return, probably due to the Garlic Pepper Tea. I sometimes see Praying Mantis on the plants, but they also clean things up quickly and move on due to lack of food. I see very few grass hoppers actually in my peppers, and there are virtually no areas of obvious damage. My families of Road Runners visit the pepper patch twice daily and consume whatever grass hoppers and other insects they manage to find. Most encouraging so far is the lack of rabbit damage to plants sprayed with the Garlic Pepper Tea. Rabbits are proliferating at an alarming rate since my foolish neighbors cleared out the local coyotes on their adjacent tracts.

I introduce a large number of red wiggler earth worms to each bed, and I apply beneficial nematodes for fire ant control. The nematodes apparently also parasitize the larvae of those infernally annoying fungus gnats, because their numbers are markedly lower this year. Following the "No Till" method, I will not disturb established beds in subsequent years.

Last Updated on Monday, 03-May-2010 19:47:36 CDT

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