Well, I was out hoeing in the pumpkin section this morning when welcome rain interrupted me, so I figured I would write down some of what has been on my mind lately.
All the seedlings were planted the end of May and by June 1 all the seeds were put in the ground. Then on June 10 we had a frost warning. Other chores had kept me out of the field that day and when I went out to the field after supper to cover everything against the frost, I discovered that most of the frost tender plants had already demised. We must have had a clear frost (low temperature with just the right amount of wind chill) on the 9th. I covered what I thought was salvageable. The next day I took a closer look at everything. I think I miss the sacrlet runner beans the most; I never grew them before and was really looking forward to watching them climb the 10' teepee towers I made. Most of the heirloom tomatoes are gone, and I can't find any sweet bell peppers. In fact, the other odd thing I've noticed is that for all of the seeds I've planted, almost none is coming up. I don't understand what is wrong. I know I planted the seeds correctly, and I've hauled water out to the field religiously. I don't see any deer tracks, so the Phantom Guard and Pro (cougar hiss anti-varmint device) must be working. My dad thinks it's probably grubs. I suspect earthworms, too. Anyway, I have never had this problem before. I will give the seeds some more time, but if they don't start coming up in the next two weeks, I'll turn everything under and plant some buckwheat and more short season beans. I replanted sunflowers and Mandan Bride flour corn in the pumpkin section, but have not seen any seedlings there yet either. I figure the crows will get most of the corn, and I will be happy if I can get even a couple of ears for next year's seed. I was upset to lose the 72 Moon and Stars (long) and Crenshaw melons. I was able to replant the Moon and Stars, but will have to try and locate the Crenshaw now that Burpee and Fedco are no longer offering it. That is a wonderful tasting muskmelon. I replanted Pride of Wisconsin in Crenshaw's stead. Kentucky Wonder and Kentucky Blue pole beans took Scarlet Runner Bean's place. I was heartbroken when I saw that all of the giant pumpkins were gone, but there is always next year.
What have I learned so far? Hmmmm. (1) Working in the field is more comfortable in the very early morning or in the late afternoon after supper. (2) Transplants seem to do better than planting by seed. (3) Do not plant frost tender plants in the garden until after the full moon in June. (4) Buy more seed -- I think I plant too thinly; better to plant thickly and thin than not fill in the planting area.
Yesterday I hoed the perennial and small fruit section. The rhubarb is looking great this year, and the Bohemian horseradish is starting to take off. Next year I will have both for the farmer's market in Phillips. I need to bury some flashing to keep the horseradish in bounds. My uncle says that the only thing that will get rid of horseradish is to run pigs over the area. Well, I don't want pigs and I don't want horseradish to take over the field, so I need to get that bed hemmed off. Still, I think the horseradish is looking good. I planted some garlic last fall and it is looking good. So are the chives I brought from my old garden. Those chives must be close to 25 years old. I will plant some Czech heirloom garlic this fall (fron Ronnigers). It is a tan color with mild flavor. I turned under the bed where I want to plant strawberries next year. I want to have that soil in really good shape by next spring. The red currants are all doing nicely; I hope to have berries beginning next year. Less satisfactory are the gooseberries. I bought 6 bushes this spring and they are all dead. My husband bought a couple of bushes, too, and his are dead as well. I have been growing gooseberries for over 20 years, and I say we both received bad stock, and we purchased from different nurseries! The gooseberries I bought last year are ok. They seem to be growing much slower than I am used to them growing, but I notice that all of the elderberries in the orchard section are not taking offer either. I think I need to add more manure all around. The raspberries for the most part are alive and well. I have a few questionables. The asparagus is looking fine. I replanted both the asparagus and most of the raspberries this spring. I hope replanting does not become a habit, but this year we seem to have had more rain than we did last year, and I have more cans to haul water in than I did last year, so hopefully the new stock will dig their roots down far enought to make it through the winter.
What's on the schedule? Mowing the grass around the sections again, tilling under the bean section as nothing is growing there but grass. Maybe I'll put some buckwheat there to be followed by annual rye grass. Putting up the high tunnel. If I can get that high tunnel up, I'll plan for a fall garden.
Looks like I'll have to replace most of the apple trees and both pear trees. Only the Fameuse apple is alive and well. My Egremont russet is hanging on, but is "iffy". Three of the Bali pie cherries are doing well. I think I will get two Wealthy apple trees (I really like Wealthy's taste). a Chestnut Crabapple, St. Edmund's russet, another McInstosh and perhaps a St. Lawrence, as well as two more pear trees and another Bali cherry. Looks mostly like winter kill and fireblight (on the pears). Not enough water last year didn't help any. I can't wait to get a well in the field.
The chickens are doing well. On a good day I'll get between 5 and 7 eggs. Chin Lee and Chardonnet the roosters, keep the ladies in line. Chin Lee is the boss of the chicken yard. Some times I call him Chairman Mao as he keeps poor Chardonnet on the run all the time. Still, it's better to have two roosters in case something happens to one of the them. I can't get the ladies to set, but I have time to build up the flock. I would like to build a nice little brooder house before I get more chicks. So that is another of my "to do" tasks for this year.
Well, it's getting late, so I'll leave off for now. Happy gardening to everyone!
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Friday, May 19, 2006
Lovely Day
Today the weather was absolutely perfect. I got up early and took care of Lara, then let out the chickens and headed out to the field around 7:00 a.m. It was cloudy and sprinkled a bit, but the sun was soon shining. There was a nice breeze, not too strong, and the morning passed quickly. I worked on the tightening up the fence wires. I ran out of Daisy in-line wire strainers and will need to order some more. Boy, are those things nice! I went back to the house around noon and grabbed a bite to eat. Tom had been busy planting in his garden. He and Ed came back out to the field with me around 1:00 p.m. after I took care of Lara again. He turned over the soil in the pumpkin patch again and then used the hiller/furrower to make rows throughout. Meanwhile, Ed and I pounded in 19 more fence posts and stretched the woven wire. I am going to wind up with arms like Rosie the Riveter! I would like to get probably about 20 more posts and a couple of bags of T-post insulators. The fence is starting to look pretty good! I can't wait to get it where I want it to look. Of course, a 10 foot woven and high tensile wire fence isn't any good without a gate! Still, I will get everything done as soon as I can. By the time we were done with the fence posts, Tom was done with the pumpkin patch, so I took the BCS and went down the vegetable section and scraped the sides of the raised beds. The moon is good tomorrow for planting and my Red Norland and Katahdin potatoes came from Ronnigers today, so I will be out again tomorrow planting. I wonder when Shumways will ship my sweet potatoes. I feel good about getting so much done!
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Ready, Set, Go!
Vernal Equinox, March 20, 2006
Last week I started cleaning out the chicken coop. So far I have spent 9 hours on the project. $24.00 (w/o tax) on black plastic bags to bag the bedding in. I bought 3 boxes of Huffy drawstring bags, which turned out to be lousy product. I then bought Hefty black drawstring trash bags. These were not much better in quality, but a bit more so than the Huffy. I think I will have enough bags to finish the project and double bag the bags that will need more strength so they will not break when I go to transfer them to the pick up bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be partly sunny so I will get an early start by finishing the shoveling out of the coop and will scrub it down with bleach and Borax. I am sure the chickens will like to have some fresh bedding.
Spent the last three days starting seeds down in the basement. I set up the folding picnic table and it took me 3 ½ hours to hang the 4 fluorescent shop lights over it. Talk about being mechanically challenged! Here are the seeds I started:
Name Number of Cells Planted
Georgia Collards 36
Thompson Broccoli 18
Thompson Broccoli (OG) 18
Dani Lemon Basil 12
Garden Sage 12
Rosemary 48
Curly-leafed Parsley 72
Copenhagen Market Cabbage 72
Hot pepper from Laos 12
Hot Hot pepper from Thailand 24
Hot Hot Hot pepper from Thailand 12
Tabasco hot pepper 18
Hot Portugal pepper 18
Rutgers tomatoes 6
Riesentraube tomatoes 12
Hard Rock VFN tomatoes 6
Arkansas Traveler tomatoes 6
Amish Paste tomatoes 6
Bloody Butcher tomatoes 6
Druzba tomatoes 6
Lillian’s Yellow tomatoes 6
Stupice tomatoes 6
Mortgage Lifter tomatoes 6
Black Plum tomatoes 6
Banana Bill sweet pepper 6
Jupiter sweet bell pepper 12
Golden Bell sweet bell 6
Caribbean Red hot pepper 12
Early Jalapeno very hot pepper 24
(The following were sowed in flats.)
Lobelia
Victorian Posy Pansies
Marine Heliotrope
Sweet Annie
Echinacia
Bee Balm
I did not plant the entire packets of most of the vegetable seeds in case these die on me. The flower seeds are all old; the Bee Balm and Echinacia are from my old garden in Oak Lawn. Next month if these seeds grow, I will start more of the same and additionally start cucumbers, summer and winter squash, and pumpkins. I should have the high tunnel up by then, too. The recent 2’ of snow we got on March 15 is melting rapidly.
April 7, 2006
Decided to replant some seeds today as it is too windy for me to work outside. Wind chill is pretty cold, as well. I planted more:
Seed Name
Jupiter Bell
Golden Bell
Hot Portugal Pepper
Caribbean Red hot pepper
Early Jalapeno hot pepper
Green River Parsley (Leaf)
Lillian’s Yellow Tomato
Black Plum tomato
Copenhagen cabbage
Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil
I wanted to plant more Riesentraube cherry tomato seeds, but I already planted all that I had. None germinated. I really want some of these so I will have to order more.
If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I will load the poultry bedding into the back of the truck and take it to the field.
April 10, 2006
Spread the chicken manure out in the field and around the orchard. It was composting nicely in the black plastic, and bagging the bedding turned out to be a pretty good idea. It made putting the bedding exactly where I wanted it a lot easier.
April 26, 2006
Yesterday, Tom and I turned over the soil in the field section that we started last year and broke ground on a new section (about 50’ x 75’). It was a good day to turn over the ground as the moon is waning and in Aries. The ground was nice and soft as the snow just melted, and it was easy to break. We will turn this new ground over again before I plant the pumpkins and squash in it. The new moon is tomorrow in Taurus so I will plant the oats, wheat, peas and onions on the 28th barring bad weather. May 2d and 3rd are also good days to plant as the waxing moon will be in Cancer.
Checked out the orchard. The trees all look good and so do the elderberries. The stems are dead, but growth is plainly visible at the crown base. Less sure am I of the raspberries. My book says that the top cane may often die back and this is normal, but growth should come from the base of the stem. As everything is still thawing out, I will hold my breath and hope for new growth. If worse comes to worse, I will have to re-order plants. The currants and gooseberries plainly are growing, and Tom found some rhubarb sprouting that I thought had totally died last year. We checked the asparagus and found nothing but deer tracks! Boy was I pissed. I can’t wait to get that fence tightened up!
Uncovered the high tunnel and T-posts Chris gave us and hauled all to the field. If it is nice tomorrow, I will gather the fencing materials and go work on the fence. Tom is planning to go to town so we will see how it goes.
While out in the field I saw two eagles circling high above me. Day before yesterday a falcon lighted in back of the house. Boy, you didn’t see anything at the bird feeders and you didn’t hear any sort of cheeping either. The chickens were under their punji stick hut and Chin Lee a/k/a Chairman Mao wasn’t strutting his stuff. No telling where poor Chardonnet was. Tom thinks it may have been a prairie falcon because that was the closest picture to what he saw in the Bird Field Guide.
The seedlings that we potted up and brought upstairs to grow in the front room are all doing very well. I need to pot up my peppers and may do that later tonight.Well, I better check on the chickens and gather eggs.
April 27, 2006
Busy day today. The weather was lovely -- just like yesterday. Went to the field and was greeted by a pair of sand hill cranes that must have a nest nearby. I put together the rafters of the high tunnel. As usual, a parade of vehicles appeared and s-l-o-w-l-y drove by. I was very proud of myself because I figured out how to work the drill with the 3/8” drill driver.
Spent about 6 hours potting up seedlings and starting several more veggies. New ones started are Lemon and Armenian cucumbers, Blue Hubbard squash, Crenshaw melons, Big Moon pumpkins, and I have Moon and Stars melon seeds that I saved from a melon I bought at the Oak Lawn Farmers Market several years ago soaking overnight in a solution of Sonic Bloom that I will plant tomorrow morning.
I used up all the paper pots I made this morning; I can’t believe how I go through them. I think the living room is going to become very crowded very shortly. I really need to get that high tunnel up as soon as possible. I am a bit afraid because the next thing I have to do is square the base posts and I don’t understand how to do that. This is something girls were not taught when I went to school. I understand why the frame needs to be squared, but I don’t understand how to do it. We will be planting peas, beets, carrots, dill, wheat, oats, onions, spinach, radishes and several types of flowers, including a packet of Hungarian Breadseed Poppies that I have been saving for several years -- I just hope that some germinate so I can collect the seed. I believe that these may be the kind of poppies my great-grandmother planted.
Also tried out the Earthway spreader I bought and seeded two bags of shade and sun lawn seed under the maples out in the front yard where I raked away the duff layer for fire safety. Well, it is the new moon in Taurus tonight so everything should grow well.
April 28, 2006
Busy again today. Went out to the field about 10:00 a.m. and wanted to get all of the early seeds planted, but could only get the early flowers, wheat, oats, and peas done. I have Polk wheat from Johnny's in Maine, plain oats from the feed store, Dwarf Gray Sugar snow peas, Sugar Snap peas from Fedco and Amish Snap peas from Seed Savers Exchange. Came back to the house after 3:00 p.m. and felt like going to bed! But at least I got that much done. Now I have to wait till May 2 or 3 to plant the rest of the early seeds. We have another section under way where I will plant pumpkins and corn. Think we will enlarge this another 50’. Tom actually agreed with me that we should make that section larger.
Made some more paper pots early this morning and will finally pot up the sweet pepper seedlings and bring them upstairs. Will start hardening off the seedlings already brought upstairs to the living room tomorrow, weather permitting. I think it's interesting that the hot peppers sprouted so much easier than the sweet peppers.
May 5, 2006
The day started out with rain/snow and by 10:30 a.m. the sun was shining. I went to the Price County Normal Building for the Wisconsin Tested Flock info meeting. Bird flu hysteria! Now I have to find someone that will come to my farm and test my birds before I can buy new chicks and introduce them into the flock. New chicks purchased from a hatchery are considered "clean" birds until they reach maturity (4 months of age). If I add new chicks before my existing birds are tested as "clean", my chicks lose their "clean" status and will have to be tested as well. If I wait to buy chicks until my existing birds are tested as "clean", then I will only have to test my existing birds this year and will start to test the entire flock beginning next year. If I have my existing birds tested before the end of June, I will have to get them tested again this year because the annual test results are only good from June to June of the following year. It also means I will be getting chicks late in the season. Do I want to do that or lose a year in building up the layer flock and just wait till next spring to get chicks? Brother! At least the testing cost is not supposed to be too bad. Flock owners can do the testing themselves --if they are certified by the state. But the state revised the certification process earlier this year and has already held the mandatory certification class, so everyone not certified is trying to find someone that is certified to test their birds. The real inconvenience is that most of the people who are certified to do poultry testing do so on a volunteer basis and usually in connection with a community function like the 4-H kids or the community fair. Asking them to come out to your farm to test your birds really inconveniences them. I think the state should have county certifiers, or, the state needs to make this poultry testing certification process more readily available, perhaps by offering the class throughout the year at area Ag extension offices. As I understand it, this annual testing law has been on the books for several years but was never enforced. Most people I know never heard of it.
My MacDonald rhubarb came yesterday from Johnny’s in Maine. Don’t know if I will get out to plant them today or not. I have a headache from working outside yesterday. But at least I did a lot yesterday. I used the hiller/furrower on the BCS and made six raised beds and hilled several rows for tomatoes and corn and whatever else I can fit in there. The raised beds should hold just about everything. With more rain forecast over the next week, the early flower seeds, oats, wheat and peas should get off to a fine start.
May 6, 2006
Another busy day. The weather was very changeable and cool, alternating between clouds, sun and wind. Helped Tom clean the garage; I vacuumed the van out. Then Tom, Ed and I went out to the field and planted the replacement rhubarb, raspberries, and asparagus. Never made it to the raised beds to finish shaping the ones I had left from the other day. The planting took us over three hours; I can’t believe how long it takes to get that work done. I always think I can finish quicker than I do. Some times that is very frustrating for me as I want to finish everything quickly. (I have Aries rising.) Well, hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and I will be able to get my planting done on time. Today the moon was in Virgo and I want to start planting on the 9th when the moon goes into Libra and be able to have everything planted when the moon is in Scorpio. I am hardening off the seedlings and I have to say that they are not looking too good. I don’t know what is the matter with those collards; they should tolerate the cold weather better than the hot peppers, but the opposite it happening. Only the broccoli is looking really good. Most of the tomatoes are ok as are the hot peppers. I hope to get the high tunnel up after the initial planting is done. I need to remember to get the hoeing done around the elderberries as soon as I can.
Yesterday I ordered some more seeds from Baker Creek's web site: Pride of Wisconsin picnic melon, St. Valery carrots, Forellynschluss romaine lettuce and Rosa Bianca eggplant. And today I felt like some books so I ordered The Key and The Language of Birds from Unknown Country. I haven’t bought any books for a while so I figured I was due. My Phantom Guard N Pro should be coming soon. I can’t wait to try it out. I sure hope it keeps the deer off my new asparagus plants!
May 9, 2006
Today my Sarah is 21! I hope she has a fun day and that the weather is good for her. I am very proud of her!
Woke up to steady rain here. I am glad because I was not looking forward to having to haul water to the garden so soon. Still, I cannot get out to the field when it is like this. Think I will start some more seedlings down in the basement as the moon is in Libra. I have Blue Hubbard, Butternut, and Acorn Squash sprouting nicely, and several of the Big Moon pumpkins are coming up, too. I am ecstatic that nearly the entire 72 cell flat of Moon and Stars melons is sprouting. I only started two varieties of cucumbers -- Marketmore 76 and National Pickling (not an heirloom, but older seeds I already had and didn't want to waste) -- that are sprouting as well and will start the heirloom varieties directly in the garden at the end of the month.
Last night I went to the Normal Building in Phillips for a farmers market meeting. I am really looking forward to going to the Phillips Farmers Market on Saturdays. It will go from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. beginning Memorial Day Weekend (the 27th). July 4th will start the Tuesday market and that will run from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is a nice group of us and it looks like more people will come as they can. As far as I can tell, I am the only person selling heirloom veggies. Too bad my fruit orchard isn't producing yet. Soon enough! It was a really nice meeting. Several of us were able to get certified to take WIC and Senior Farmers Market program coupons even though we do not live in Price County. I thought that was great. The woman from the Health Department even gave me a form to send in after I get my registration packet that will allow me to register my farm as an approved vendor location. I wish all government was as nice and easy to deal with! Thank you Price County!
Last week I started cleaning out the chicken coop. So far I have spent 9 hours on the project. $24.00 (w/o tax) on black plastic bags to bag the bedding in. I bought 3 boxes of Huffy drawstring bags, which turned out to be lousy product. I then bought Hefty black drawstring trash bags. These were not much better in quality, but a bit more so than the Huffy. I think I will have enough bags to finish the project and double bag the bags that will need more strength so they will not break when I go to transfer them to the pick up bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be partly sunny so I will get an early start by finishing the shoveling out of the coop and will scrub it down with bleach and Borax. I am sure the chickens will like to have some fresh bedding.
Spent the last three days starting seeds down in the basement. I set up the folding picnic table and it took me 3 ½ hours to hang the 4 fluorescent shop lights over it. Talk about being mechanically challenged! Here are the seeds I started:
Name Number of Cells Planted
Georgia Collards 36
Thompson Broccoli 18
Thompson Broccoli (OG) 18
Dani Lemon Basil 12
Garden Sage 12
Rosemary 48
Curly-leafed Parsley 72
Copenhagen Market Cabbage 72
Hot pepper from Laos 12
Hot Hot pepper from Thailand 24
Hot Hot Hot pepper from Thailand 12
Tabasco hot pepper 18
Hot Portugal pepper 18
Rutgers tomatoes 6
Riesentraube tomatoes 12
Hard Rock VFN tomatoes 6
Arkansas Traveler tomatoes 6
Amish Paste tomatoes 6
Bloody Butcher tomatoes 6
Druzba tomatoes 6
Lillian’s Yellow tomatoes 6
Stupice tomatoes 6
Mortgage Lifter tomatoes 6
Black Plum tomatoes 6
Banana Bill sweet pepper 6
Jupiter sweet bell pepper 12
Golden Bell sweet bell 6
Caribbean Red hot pepper 12
Early Jalapeno very hot pepper 24
(The following were sowed in flats.)
Lobelia
Victorian Posy Pansies
Marine Heliotrope
Sweet Annie
Echinacia
Bee Balm
I did not plant the entire packets of most of the vegetable seeds in case these die on me. The flower seeds are all old; the Bee Balm and Echinacia are from my old garden in Oak Lawn. Next month if these seeds grow, I will start more of the same and additionally start cucumbers, summer and winter squash, and pumpkins. I should have the high tunnel up by then, too. The recent 2’ of snow we got on March 15 is melting rapidly.
April 7, 2006
Decided to replant some seeds today as it is too windy for me to work outside. Wind chill is pretty cold, as well. I planted more:
Seed Name
Jupiter Bell
Golden Bell
Hot Portugal Pepper
Caribbean Red hot pepper
Early Jalapeno hot pepper
Green River Parsley (Leaf)
Lillian’s Yellow Tomato
Black Plum tomato
Copenhagen cabbage
Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil
I wanted to plant more Riesentraube cherry tomato seeds, but I already planted all that I had. None germinated. I really want some of these so I will have to order more.
If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I will load the poultry bedding into the back of the truck and take it to the field.
April 10, 2006
Spread the chicken manure out in the field and around the orchard. It was composting nicely in the black plastic, and bagging the bedding turned out to be a pretty good idea. It made putting the bedding exactly where I wanted it a lot easier.
April 26, 2006
Yesterday, Tom and I turned over the soil in the field section that we started last year and broke ground on a new section (about 50’ x 75’). It was a good day to turn over the ground as the moon is waning and in Aries. The ground was nice and soft as the snow just melted, and it was easy to break. We will turn this new ground over again before I plant the pumpkins and squash in it. The new moon is tomorrow in Taurus so I will plant the oats, wheat, peas and onions on the 28th barring bad weather. May 2d and 3rd are also good days to plant as the waxing moon will be in Cancer.
Checked out the orchard. The trees all look good and so do the elderberries. The stems are dead, but growth is plainly visible at the crown base. Less sure am I of the raspberries. My book says that the top cane may often die back and this is normal, but growth should come from the base of the stem. As everything is still thawing out, I will hold my breath and hope for new growth. If worse comes to worse, I will have to re-order plants. The currants and gooseberries plainly are growing, and Tom found some rhubarb sprouting that I thought had totally died last year. We checked the asparagus and found nothing but deer tracks! Boy was I pissed. I can’t wait to get that fence tightened up!
Uncovered the high tunnel and T-posts Chris gave us and hauled all to the field. If it is nice tomorrow, I will gather the fencing materials and go work on the fence. Tom is planning to go to town so we will see how it goes.
While out in the field I saw two eagles circling high above me. Day before yesterday a falcon lighted in back of the house. Boy, you didn’t see anything at the bird feeders and you didn’t hear any sort of cheeping either. The chickens were under their punji stick hut and Chin Lee a/k/a Chairman Mao wasn’t strutting his stuff. No telling where poor Chardonnet was. Tom thinks it may have been a prairie falcon because that was the closest picture to what he saw in the Bird Field Guide.
The seedlings that we potted up and brought upstairs to grow in the front room are all doing very well. I need to pot up my peppers and may do that later tonight.Well, I better check on the chickens and gather eggs.
April 27, 2006
Busy day today. The weather was lovely -- just like yesterday. Went to the field and was greeted by a pair of sand hill cranes that must have a nest nearby. I put together the rafters of the high tunnel. As usual, a parade of vehicles appeared and s-l-o-w-l-y drove by. I was very proud of myself because I figured out how to work the drill with the 3/8” drill driver.
Spent about 6 hours potting up seedlings and starting several more veggies. New ones started are Lemon and Armenian cucumbers, Blue Hubbard squash, Crenshaw melons, Big Moon pumpkins, and I have Moon and Stars melon seeds that I saved from a melon I bought at the Oak Lawn Farmers Market several years ago soaking overnight in a solution of Sonic Bloom that I will plant tomorrow morning.
I used up all the paper pots I made this morning; I can’t believe how I go through them. I think the living room is going to become very crowded very shortly. I really need to get that high tunnel up as soon as possible. I am a bit afraid because the next thing I have to do is square the base posts and I don’t understand how to do that. This is something girls were not taught when I went to school. I understand why the frame needs to be squared, but I don’t understand how to do it. We will be planting peas, beets, carrots, dill, wheat, oats, onions, spinach, radishes and several types of flowers, including a packet of Hungarian Breadseed Poppies that I have been saving for several years -- I just hope that some germinate so I can collect the seed. I believe that these may be the kind of poppies my great-grandmother planted.
Also tried out the Earthway spreader I bought and seeded two bags of shade and sun lawn seed under the maples out in the front yard where I raked away the duff layer for fire safety. Well, it is the new moon in Taurus tonight so everything should grow well.
April 28, 2006
Busy again today. Went out to the field about 10:00 a.m. and wanted to get all of the early seeds planted, but could only get the early flowers, wheat, oats, and peas done. I have Polk wheat from Johnny's in Maine, plain oats from the feed store, Dwarf Gray Sugar snow peas, Sugar Snap peas from Fedco and Amish Snap peas from Seed Savers Exchange. Came back to the house after 3:00 p.m. and felt like going to bed! But at least I got that much done. Now I have to wait till May 2 or 3 to plant the rest of the early seeds. We have another section under way where I will plant pumpkins and corn. Think we will enlarge this another 50’. Tom actually agreed with me that we should make that section larger.
Made some more paper pots early this morning and will finally pot up the sweet pepper seedlings and bring them upstairs. Will start hardening off the seedlings already brought upstairs to the living room tomorrow, weather permitting. I think it's interesting that the hot peppers sprouted so much easier than the sweet peppers.
May 5, 2006
The day started out with rain/snow and by 10:30 a.m. the sun was shining. I went to the Price County Normal Building for the Wisconsin Tested Flock info meeting. Bird flu hysteria! Now I have to find someone that will come to my farm and test my birds before I can buy new chicks and introduce them into the flock. New chicks purchased from a hatchery are considered "clean" birds until they reach maturity (4 months of age). If I add new chicks before my existing birds are tested as "clean", my chicks lose their "clean" status and will have to be tested as well. If I wait to buy chicks until my existing birds are tested as "clean", then I will only have to test my existing birds this year and will start to test the entire flock beginning next year. If I have my existing birds tested before the end of June, I will have to get them tested again this year because the annual test results are only good from June to June of the following year. It also means I will be getting chicks late in the season. Do I want to do that or lose a year in building up the layer flock and just wait till next spring to get chicks? Brother! At least the testing cost is not supposed to be too bad. Flock owners can do the testing themselves --if they are certified by the state. But the state revised the certification process earlier this year and has already held the mandatory certification class, so everyone not certified is trying to find someone that is certified to test their birds. The real inconvenience is that most of the people who are certified to do poultry testing do so on a volunteer basis and usually in connection with a community function like the 4-H kids or the community fair. Asking them to come out to your farm to test your birds really inconveniences them. I think the state should have county certifiers, or, the state needs to make this poultry testing certification process more readily available, perhaps by offering the class throughout the year at area Ag extension offices. As I understand it, this annual testing law has been on the books for several years but was never enforced. Most people I know never heard of it.
My MacDonald rhubarb came yesterday from Johnny’s in Maine. Don’t know if I will get out to plant them today or not. I have a headache from working outside yesterday. But at least I did a lot yesterday. I used the hiller/furrower on the BCS and made six raised beds and hilled several rows for tomatoes and corn and whatever else I can fit in there. The raised beds should hold just about everything. With more rain forecast over the next week, the early flower seeds, oats, wheat and peas should get off to a fine start.
May 6, 2006
Another busy day. The weather was very changeable and cool, alternating between clouds, sun and wind. Helped Tom clean the garage; I vacuumed the van out. Then Tom, Ed and I went out to the field and planted the replacement rhubarb, raspberries, and asparagus. Never made it to the raised beds to finish shaping the ones I had left from the other day. The planting took us over three hours; I can’t believe how long it takes to get that work done. I always think I can finish quicker than I do. Some times that is very frustrating for me as I want to finish everything quickly. (I have Aries rising.) Well, hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and I will be able to get my planting done on time. Today the moon was in Virgo and I want to start planting on the 9th when the moon goes into Libra and be able to have everything planted when the moon is in Scorpio. I am hardening off the seedlings and I have to say that they are not looking too good. I don’t know what is the matter with those collards; they should tolerate the cold weather better than the hot peppers, but the opposite it happening. Only the broccoli is looking really good. Most of the tomatoes are ok as are the hot peppers. I hope to get the high tunnel up after the initial planting is done. I need to remember to get the hoeing done around the elderberries as soon as I can.
Yesterday I ordered some more seeds from Baker Creek's web site: Pride of Wisconsin picnic melon, St. Valery carrots, Forellynschluss romaine lettuce and Rosa Bianca eggplant. And today I felt like some books so I ordered The Key and The Language of Birds from Unknown Country. I haven’t bought any books for a while so I figured I was due. My Phantom Guard N Pro should be coming soon. I can’t wait to try it out. I sure hope it keeps the deer off my new asparagus plants!
May 9, 2006
Today my Sarah is 21! I hope she has a fun day and that the weather is good for her. I am very proud of her!
Woke up to steady rain here. I am glad because I was not looking forward to having to haul water to the garden so soon. Still, I cannot get out to the field when it is like this. Think I will start some more seedlings down in the basement as the moon is in Libra. I have Blue Hubbard, Butternut, and Acorn Squash sprouting nicely, and several of the Big Moon pumpkins are coming up, too. I am ecstatic that nearly the entire 72 cell flat of Moon and Stars melons is sprouting. I only started two varieties of cucumbers -- Marketmore 76 and National Pickling (not an heirloom, but older seeds I already had and didn't want to waste) -- that are sprouting as well and will start the heirloom varieties directly in the garden at the end of the month.
Last night I went to the Normal Building in Phillips for a farmers market meeting. I am really looking forward to going to the Phillips Farmers Market on Saturdays. It will go from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. beginning Memorial Day Weekend (the 27th). July 4th will start the Tuesday market and that will run from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is a nice group of us and it looks like more people will come as they can. As far as I can tell, I am the only person selling heirloom veggies. Too bad my fruit orchard isn't producing yet. Soon enough! It was a really nice meeting. Several of us were able to get certified to take WIC and Senior Farmers Market program coupons even though we do not live in Price County. I thought that was great. The woman from the Health Department even gave me a form to send in after I get my registration packet that will allow me to register my farm as an approved vendor location. I wish all government was as nice and easy to deal with! Thank you Price County!
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