some of my grapes didn't make it this year. very tempting to get more ... but the budget won't allow it.
great haul darius. i saw a Hardy Kiwi at Lowes , ever hear of it ? can't recall the name ?
well today was seed starting day and chicken cleaning day. whew them beast can be messy.
i counted the silkies i had wiht the others. 10 ! uhg. so we may sell them.
if there are a trio of the partridge we will keep them.
but i don't need 15 silkie chickens in my basement LOL
In like a lion on the March homestead
Sue, I bought TWO Hardy Kiwi vines yesterday, a male and a female (maybe you shouldn't read so fast?). Most places sell the Issai variety as it is self-pollinating, but it is less productive than most of the other varieties. Plus 1 male will pollinate up to 6 different females.
We are going to the livestock auction in Marysville tomorrow. I have 100 chicks to sell plus about a dozen seramas. I may sell off my Barred rock layers, but not yet tomorrow. This will be my first time at this particular auction house so it will be a learning experience for Debbie and I. Wish us luck
Well you all should be proud, I ran errands today..
Everywhere I go they have chicks and baby ducks for sale. I look into those beady pleading eyes and tell them, "Tuff, you'll have to live somewhere else!"...Then the hubs drags me out of the stores before I change my mind.lol
Planting season is in full swing here. I always feel so behind this time of year.
Quick hello. I am about off to bed. Earlier than usual in the morning. Ugg
Took the plastic off my hoop house today. Onions coming up and just a couple broccoli raab. Carrots are making a good stand in the 2 big containers. Got 10 strawberries transplanted to a 20 gallon tub and plan to do 2 more tubs. Bought 9 broccoli because mine did not grow. Also 9 lettuce for the same reason. Got tomato seedlings under the lamp. Herbs are replanted because they didn't sprout the first time. Grr Seeded 18 different melons. None up yet. I see a pattern here. I have 2 1/2 dozen eggs in the bator. Temps are flucuating but it's getting better. 2 dozen EEs and 1/2 dozen bantams. Next will be bantam EE crosses. Hoping to sell most of them. I am getting 8 to 10 eggs a day from 13 hens. Selling a few. Eating a bunch. :) Wish I could get over here more often but we are still at the hospital everyday. 6 more days and it should be over. See the foot doc tomorrow. Hoping he will take some stitches out. May be referred to a kidney doc for BP.
Dh has been rebuilding the computers here. I was worried about catching up, but it's quiet! I guess thats good, everyone out planting!
We got the beef back from the processor, have only had the ground hamburger. Amazed at how different is from store bought. Very little fat and no shrinkage..and great tasting!
Hit hard by a storm this last weekend, lost another tree to lighting. Some of my corn was washed away and waiting to see if the beans I planted right before the rain are going to rot. Have transplants coming out of my ears, but don't expect the ground will be dry enough to plant till next week.
I noticed one of the cows has ringworm, I've been putting Tinactin and Blue Star Ointment on her. Anyone happen to know if there is a cheeper farm store alternative?
Yep, it's been quiet. I've been planting, just not outside! I've a gazillion seeds "planted" so far, and the earliest ones (bulbing fennel, and sage) are looking good. The leek seeds are finally starting to germinate. Usually I buy leek plants from Dixondale but the variety they sell now doesn't do well if left in the ground all winter.
Here are some new trees, shrubs and vines I'm adding to my garden:
http://tinyurl.com/83mx2x7
Lynea, remember the keyhole gardens we talked about? Here's a similar idea planted with tomatoes, with a water collection ring and compost in the center...
Good luck, Sue! Just don't buy more chicks with the money you make...it's a slippery slope.lol
Darius, that's a clever set up too!
My biggest problem right now is drainage, the field is still huge puddles. I have a few low areas that I'm thinking about keeping, then making furrows to distribute the water among the rows. Sort of a reverse of what is shown above. I've seen it done in poorer countries, where the land is flood irrigated. I always thought it looked like such a pain to set up, but most of this area seems to have it naturally happening. At least that is this weeks plan. I think it might take me years to get it set up the way I want it.lol
Drainage is a problem here, too. Partly because of so much clay.
Ugg, I don't envy you. In hate weeding clay soil. Most of soil is sandy loam, but I'm thinking I must hae a shallow clay hardpan to be holding so much water. Then again, the last few storm were such toad stranglers, that the gopher holes at a lower elevation were bubbling up water like gysers... Is it wrong to hope a few drowned in the process?
I wish some of my moles/voles would drown!
we are getting more rain.
my garlic is growing like crazy .
this was taken several days ago and its even bigger today
her is a close up and then the last pic is a part of the garden i have been mulching with straw . I don't know if it will work to help control weeds but it works in the garlic bed ?
Straw mulch can't hurt no matter where you put it... unless it is full of seed heads, which is about all I can dind around here.
Garlic looks good; I didn't mulch mine (didn't have any straw) so I'm sure Ma Nature has plenty of weeds planned...
this straw has plenty of seed but since i mulch so thick , i don't have much trouble with weeds but as i say that i may just have jinxed myself LOL
i have a ton of dried garlic scapes from last year. i never did get a chance to use any. if anyone one wants any LMK
well Dh is getting ready to do his trucking training by a company that hired him. A career change for him. The economy just is not still in the pits.
i was watching Alaska Pioneer . pretty good show. family that lives in ALaska and are there own people . I guess i can't complain i don't have to hunt for bear ! or moose.
Just found out the hard way - we have drainage problems too. Planted 10 rows of different kinds of bush beans, had a particularly bad rain storm that washed a lot of seeds out of the soil. I think a lot of the newly planted corn and sunflowers sunk or shifted too. We assumed since we are on a hilltop we wouldn't have this sort of problems. Ha! Just hope we don't get another gully washer till after the newly planted carrot and beet seeds are up and growing. That same storm washed a lot of the seeds I had sown in flats up. (Melons, squash, and cukes) I think that is what happened to quite a few seeds. LOL I had been wondering what happened to cause things like onions to only sprout here and there. In hindsight I should have guessed...
More rabbit fencing is up. Found out the little critters like to eat herbs. lol Had a couple of new visitors a couple of days ago. Looks like we may have to try a taller fence before the garden gets much bigger.
Sue, those look great. I'm swiping your board and stake idea there. I noticed my rows are getting catty-whompus when adding compost and mulch. That should keep me in line :0)
Oh no, TXbb, not deer! They're so pretty, I hope you can keep them out.
I hear you about the flood, I'm still sorting out what lived and what didn't. I planted some tomatoes yesterday, the ground was still a bit damper then I would have liked. Some areas actually smelled anaerobic from being under water so long..ugg
Waiting for the vet office to open. One of the cat's head is swollen, don't see a snake bite and can't figure out what is going on. poor baby.
Poor Baby. I hate it when something happens to one of my pets.
Cocoa, I hope all turns out well for your cat.
Has anyone triedthe multi colored carrot? I got a pack of seeds for them and purple beans. They just look cool lol
Kitty Foo-foo is back and vet is not concerned, tho they have no clue what happened to him any more then we do.
I've started some 'cosmic purple' this spring, but do better with fall sown carrots..so well see.
I want some of those purple podded beans as well! They are so pretty. Couldn't find any locally. Its been rather difficult to find just my normal bulk seed supply. The farm store said there was so many crop failures last year, that seeds are in shorter supply.
Here's a video worth watching. Be mindful that it is framed in the man's religion, but the gardening essences are vaild no matter your beliefs. It is also long, but if you watch all of it, you will come away with some good ideas.
I call it wood chip gardening, but that's not the name.
http://backtoedenfilm.com/
Glad to hear your kitty will be OK Lulu. Strange the vet couldn't tell you what happened to the poor baby.
I haven't tried the purple carrots yet. Wasn't even sure carrots would grow here during the Summer. Just hoping to get a few this season. Saved some of the seeds to try in the Fall garden. I planted some of the Knuckles purple hull cowpeas. Also got some of the purple podded Chinese yard long beans to try. So far I haven't planted the pole beans though.
Im going to do a 3 sisters garden on my neighbors place, and will try the purple beans there. Im planting giant sunflowers along his fence and a few tomatoes aand peppers. On my place I still have to prepare a garden area and haven't totally decided where that will be, but am going to try a few smaall patches of different things. I also have that hugelkultur bed to put in. Another kind of bean I am interested in is okra beans. I have seen them once and they are super cool looking. But I have never been able to find the seeds.
lulu could have been stung by a hornet , scorpian or bee ?
hmmm i don't grow carrots to good. Just can't seem to get the knack of them ? seems easy enough ? kinda of a " duh " type thing to grow but for some reason my " duh" won't kick into gear ? LOL
sorry to hear of the flood TXbaby. hope things go better and no more critters for your gardens eatin''s
we have a cold snap ccoming in drop down to the mid 50's today and then a freeze tonight or tormorrow or both ?
so i m bringing in a few things. just in case.
Sue, I'm bringing a bunch of things inside too. Can't do much for the flowering fruit trees...
Darius, I can't get the movie to load. So much for my fancy new wireless connection.lol
I'm going to see if I can order through Netflix.
We use tons of wood mulch, love that stuff. Are Asplundh trucks nationwide? I get so excited when I see them in the neighborhood.lol
As for the kitty, non of us, including the vet could find any bite or sting marks. Not that in couldn't have happen, we just couldn't see it. When they were pushing around on his head, a small section ruptured and a lot drained out. The vet said that was good, it was local, he didn't have a fever. He looks much better now that it's drained. His skin was so tight on the top of his head that his eyes were being pulled open...like a bad face lift.
He's such a big stoic goober, he purred through the entire exam. Antibiotics and watching him.
Off to look up okra beans!
I think Asplundh is nationwide... they have the contract here. My neighbor across the street works for them... do you think I can get chips dumped? LOL, rarely. They have to dump them in the driveway at the road and I have to haul them across the bridge in a wheelbarrow.
Last fall I hauled about 6-8 loads in my ancient PU at $20 a pop. I could use 15-20 chipper truck loads!
The closest bean I could find was called a jjapanese yard bean. I'm not sure if its the same as what my friennds mother had aand called an okra bean or not.
I can't even imagine dealing with freezing temps now. It got into the low 90's yesterday here, and I had a ton of seeds sprouting because of it. It was suppose to get down to 60 tonight, but so far has only gone down to 68. I sure hope this is NOT an indication of another long dry hot Summer!! Coupled with very little Winter - already the bugs are making their presence known. Good thing I started lots of seeds, might not get much, once the critters have their fill! lol
I have never heard of okra beans before. Did some Googling and could only find okra pods. Hope someone else shares the info if you find them. Did find a recipe for okra and butterbeans that sounded pretty good though.
Some of the seeds I planted were a good 12 years old. I am so glad that they have germinated. I am really looking forward to having some nutmeg melons again. Yum.
I couldn't find anything called 'okra bean' either.
Angi, if it looked close to a yard bean, it was probably related. Asian Yard longs and asparagus beans are the same species as southern peas (black eye, crowder, cream). All southern peas once had long vines, but have been bred shorter over the years. So she could have had an old variety that is now longer in production. I'll keep my ears clean, if I hear of "okra bean' I'll let you know!
TXbb, I got sidetracked looking at okra recipes too :0) The heat has been scary, I really don't want a repeat of last year!
Whew, no frost overnight, but we still have tonight to watch.
I don't care for okra, and sure hated picking it when I was a kid. I've heard if you slice raw okra, sprinkle on some salt and Parmesan and dehydrate them, that it's a tasty snack.
Aww, I love okra as long as it's not stewed or boiled.lol
I don't know if I should wish for ya'll to warmer or not...how about wishing you don't loose any crops :0)
Darias, I finally got the film loaded. Thank you, I'm glad I watched it! I used far more Ruth Stout type methods when growing flowers then I have with the veggies. I don't know why I thought it would be harder with the veggies, just never seen it done. The film has inspired me to work smarter. Got a few loads of compost moved before I got too hot :0)
I just saw on the Prayer Forum that (Sue) Taynors' daughter has been the victim of a brutal crime. The poster didn't say if it is the young daughter who is at home, or the older, grown daughter. Either way, let's send best wishes for Sue and her family in this tough time.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1250034/
It was the older one, Jessica.. Said she was 21..Terrible thing.. The article in the newspaper was horrific.
larkie