Who else has been busy?
I hope you all said "I have" because it would at least make me feel better! I can't even begin to list all of the things going on lately. I will say the garden is producing nicely so far, more plants are ready to go in Tuesday/Wednesday, and the fence is slowly trying to kill me.
Still lots of work and things to come, but for now, back to pouring concrete.
I must leave with a teaser, though...
...
I'm now the co-owner of 11 acres :-D
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Silly me
| Plant | # Days |
| Lettuce | 51 |
| Potatoes | 24 |
| Carrots | 24 |
| Onions | 24 |
| Peas | 10 |
| Nasturtiums | 10 |
If you remember back a few posts, I had a potato sprout that popped out of one of the beds. I covered it up, watered it, and watched it closely. It came up again, so I put more soil on top of it.
After all that, it sprouted............
It was a dandelion, hahaha.
Nothing really new on the garden. We have some big storms heading our way in a couple hours, so the rain barrel (currently at about 3/4 capacity) is open for business.
By the way, did anyone see my Square Foot Garden Cost Analysis? I spent a lot of time formatting it correctly and putting it up on a new page in the blog, and I noticed it's gone. I have no idea what happened to it, but I'll try to get it back up there.
Thanks for stopping in!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Things coming down, things going up.
Thanks to our wicked 35+ mph winds, I lost ANOTHER 2 fence panels. That makes 4 fence panels that have been ripped down in less than 1 year. Sheesh. So, now, with the little money I had, I get to spend it (along with the neighbor) on buying concrete, new posts, nails and the such, and spending a day putting those back up. Talk about a pain in the neck.
A good thing did happen, though, today. I FINALLY got 100% approval to plant my trees (now that it's nearly April). I think I'm going to be trying that this weekend. That ought to be quite an adventure as well.
For now, I need sleep. It's been a crazy week, and it's only Monday.
A good thing did happen, though, today. I FINALLY got 100% approval to plant my trees (now that it's nearly April). I think I'm going to be trying that this weekend. That ought to be quite an adventure as well.
For now, I need sleep. It's been a crazy week, and it's only Monday.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Gardening in a war-zone
To state today was an adventure would be a great understatement.
Here's the scenario: Me + a 200 sq. ft. plastic dropcloth + 35 mph constant winds (that's not even the speed of the wind gusts) = mass chaos.
I knew I needed to cover the vegetable beds. I had even done a pre-fitting a few days ago to make sure everything went well. Unfortunately, that was a nice balmy day with no wind. Terrible test on my part. It took me over an hour to finally get everything on. The wind was so strong that even the bricks I was using to weigh down the plastic sheet were being thrown, yes thrown, into the air.
At the end of the day, it's on there. The onions are bent and fallen, and there's holes in the dropcloth. Needless to say, I will be working on a MUCH better cover for the future.
Here's the scenario: Me + a 200 sq. ft. plastic dropcloth + 35 mph constant winds (that's not even the speed of the wind gusts) = mass chaos.
I knew I needed to cover the vegetable beds. I had even done a pre-fitting a few days ago to make sure everything went well. Unfortunately, that was a nice balmy day with no wind. Terrible test on my part. It took me over an hour to finally get everything on. The wind was so strong that even the bricks I was using to weigh down the plastic sheet were being thrown, yes thrown, into the air.
At the end of the day, it's on there. The onions are bent and fallen, and there's holes in the dropcloth. Needless to say, I will be working on a MUCH better cover for the future.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Shoot, a shoot!
Days in the Ground
I wasn't really expecting it, but one of the potatoes had a shoot when I went out there today to check on them. I never saw it (I guess it was there yesterday or the day before), but I hope that doesn't mean it has "greened" making it toxic to eat. You see, I put the potato seeds in the dead-middle of the square, on my square foot garden. How was I to know nature would not perfectly agree with everything I was doing, and would send a shoot 6" away, completely unforeseen?!
So, I've attached a pic; let me know what you all think - after taking this picture I shoveled lots more soil on top of it. Also, as you can see in the picture, the shoot was not in the sunlight (though it might have been, in the morning).
By the way, the shoot in the picture is already under some soil. When I went out there, it was sticking out of the soil by about 2-3 inches.
Another thing I did, yesterday, was to consolidate & move the compost bins out of the gardening area. Not only was it a bit cramped, but they were a major enabler of the evil bugs which eat my sprouts. Over out of the way now, they're free to munch on whatever the heck they want. I kind of wish they would start by eating the weeds in the yard, though.
Oh, and one more thing...
| Lettuce | 45 |
| Potatoes | 18 |
| Carrots | 18 |
| Onions | 18 |
| Peas | 4 |
| Nasturtiums | 4 |
I wasn't really expecting it, but one of the potatoes had a shoot when I went out there today to check on them. I never saw it (I guess it was there yesterday or the day before), but I hope that doesn't mean it has "greened" making it toxic to eat. You see, I put the potato seeds in the dead-middle of the square, on my square foot garden. How was I to know nature would not perfectly agree with everything I was doing, and would send a shoot 6" away, completely unforeseen?!
So, I've attached a pic; let me know what you all think - after taking this picture I shoveled lots more soil on top of it. Also, as you can see in the picture, the shoot was not in the sunlight (though it might have been, in the morning).
By the way, the shoot in the picture is already under some soil. When I went out there, it was sticking out of the soil by about 2-3 inches.
Another thing I did, yesterday, was to consolidate & move the compost bins out of the gardening area. Not only was it a bit cramped, but they were a major enabler of the evil bugs which eat my sprouts. Over out of the way now, they're free to munch on whatever the heck they want. I kind of wish they would start by eating the weeds in the yard, though.
Oh, and one more thing...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Growing Updates
To help gauge how long it's been, I'll try to start adding this at the top of the post.
The Red Noreland potatoes are growing like crazy! The Yukon Gold, on the other hand, still haven't sprouted above the surface. Oh well, eventually they'll make their way up here.
I saw a handful of carrot sprouts today, after the rain. They are teeny tiny. Shouldn't be too long before they are sticking up out of the ground like the onions. They're growing so fast you could probably sit there 5 minutes and notice a visible change, lol.
Yesterday I spent a couple hours moving the compost bins to a secluded part of the yard. They were attracting lots of bugs, especially woodlouse (aka rollie pollies). Well, rollie pollies were neat as a kid, but now I realize that they eat tender seedlings, so they're enemy #1 at the moment. I boiled some water and yeast, and filled 2 cups I sunk in the ground. Woodlouse smell it, walk on over, fall in, and die. Victory! (in a twisted sort of way) When I went back out today, I found even more of the woodlice in the compost bin...unfortunately these were not dead. Is having woodlice, along with lots of other bugs and critters, in the compost bin okay? Hope so...
Last but not least, with our oh-so-wonderful hail-filled Springs, here in North Texas, I needed to buy some type of protection. I went down to the hardware store and let my mind run wild. Then I told it "I'm not made of money" and let it run less wild. I picked up eight 3/8" x 1ft bars of Rebar, and four 1/2" x 10 ft. PVC pipes. I also went to the paint department and grabbed a 10 ft. x 20 ft. sheet of plastic dropcloth. A fairly simple design:
Days in the Ground
| Lettuce | 43 |
| Potatoes | 16 |
| Carrots | 16 |
| Onions | 16 |
| Peas | 2 |
| Nasturtiums | 2 |
The Red Noreland potatoes are growing like crazy! The Yukon Gold, on the other hand, still haven't sprouted above the surface. Oh well, eventually they'll make their way up here.
I saw a handful of carrot sprouts today, after the rain. They are teeny tiny. Shouldn't be too long before they are sticking up out of the ground like the onions. They're growing so fast you could probably sit there 5 minutes and notice a visible change, lol.
Yesterday I spent a couple hours moving the compost bins to a secluded part of the yard. They were attracting lots of bugs, especially woodlouse (aka rollie pollies). Well, rollie pollies were neat as a kid, but now I realize that they eat tender seedlings, so they're enemy #1 at the moment. I boiled some water and yeast, and filled 2 cups I sunk in the ground. Woodlouse smell it, walk on over, fall in, and die. Victory! (in a twisted sort of way) When I went back out today, I found even more of the woodlice in the compost bin...unfortunately these were not dead. Is having woodlice, along with lots of other bugs and critters, in the compost bin okay? Hope so...
Last but not least, with our oh-so-wonderful hail-filled Springs, here in North Texas, I needed to buy some type of protection. I went down to the hardware store and let my mind run wild. Then I told it "I'm not made of money" and let it run less wild. I picked up eight 3/8" x 1ft bars of Rebar, and four 1/2" x 10 ft. PVC pipes. I also went to the paint department and grabbed a 10 ft. x 20 ft. sheet of plastic dropcloth. A fairly simple design:
- 4 bars of Rebar at each corner of the raised bed, stuck in the ground.
- Stick the PVC pipe on the Rebar, bend over to another corner, and stick that end on the other Rebar.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Back to basics
I've been slacking on the blog lately...time to get talking about the "farm" again.
I have noticed that the rabbit (yes, he still has no name) produces a smaller size of "manure" during the winter. Just a weird interesting fact for those of you who want to use a rabbit for manure.
Potato leaves have sprouted as of this morning (13 days after planting), and are looking good. I am finding that the Red Noreland variety appear to be much quicker producing than the Yukon Gold variety. The onions are shooting up like gangbusters...I'm really astonished at how large they are, this quick after planting (It has been 13 days). I'm also fairly sure something is wrong with the lettuce seeds. They're not really growing, and Seed Savers Exchange (where I bought them) says they should be ready in 60 days from planting. It's been 40 already, and they're about 1/2" tall.
I bought a $4.50 Plant Light Bulb. I was speaking with a guy at work who grows ~250 peppers a year (he sells them), and his pepper plants, which were planted at the same time as mine, are HUGE. He stated he only uses these light bulbs from Home Depot, and they have worked well for years for him. So, I'll give it a shot. He also grows them in SOLO brand plastic cups. Pretty clever because he can write what type of plant it is on the cup, when selling.
Which brings me to one of my Goals for 2010 - I have drawn up a quick design to do a much better job at seed-starting, and I plan on having many more seeds next year. Perhaps I'll scan in some images/drawings of my plan. I have gotten really lazy about uploading photos, because it's such a tedious process.
I have noticed that the rabbit (yes, he still has no name) produces a smaller size of "manure" during the winter. Just a weird interesting fact for those of you who want to use a rabbit for manure.
Potato leaves have sprouted as of this morning (13 days after planting), and are looking good. I am finding that the Red Noreland variety appear to be much quicker producing than the Yukon Gold variety. The onions are shooting up like gangbusters...I'm really astonished at how large they are, this quick after planting (It has been 13 days). I'm also fairly sure something is wrong with the lettuce seeds. They're not really growing, and Seed Savers Exchange (where I bought them) says they should be ready in 60 days from planting. It's been 40 already, and they're about 1/2" tall.
I bought a $4.50 Plant Light Bulb. I was speaking with a guy at work who grows ~250 peppers a year (he sells them), and his pepper plants, which were planted at the same time as mine, are HUGE. He stated he only uses these light bulbs from Home Depot, and they have worked well for years for him. So, I'll give it a shot. He also grows them in SOLO brand plastic cups. Pretty clever because he can write what type of plant it is on the cup, when selling.
Which brings me to one of my Goals for 2010 - I have drawn up a quick design to do a much better job at seed-starting, and I plan on having many more seeds next year. Perhaps I'll scan in some images/drawings of my plan. I have gotten really lazy about uploading photos, because it's such a tedious process.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Kidney Stones
Thankfully I do not have them, but my wife does. So, needless to say, I have spent the last 72 hours or so doing a lot of work keeping the wifey happy, and in as little pain as possible.
On the garden front, we got a LOT of rain yesterday. The weather channel says we got 0.3", but I know for a fact that we got at least 3/4". Also, the sun came out really late in the afternoon yesterday, after all the rain, which ended up making for a beautiful dusk. When I went to check the garden (because there were reports of hail), not only were all the lettuce leaves standing strong, but we've got a few onion sprouts now as well!
According to the Farmer's Almanac, we all (in North Texas, anyways) need to build some type of protection for our gardens in April. We're supposed to have lots of thunderstorms, tornadoes, strong winds, and hail. Last year our fence was ripped down, so at the least I'm hoping we don't have to go through that again.
On the garden front, we got a LOT of rain yesterday. The weather channel says we got 0.3", but I know for a fact that we got at least 3/4". Also, the sun came out really late in the afternoon yesterday, after all the rain, which ended up making for a beautiful dusk. When I went to check the garden (because there were reports of hail), not only were all the lettuce leaves standing strong, but we've got a few onion sprouts now as well!
According to the Farmer's Almanac, we all (in North Texas, anyways) need to build some type of protection for our gardens in April. We're supposed to have lots of thunderstorms, tornadoes, strong winds, and hail. Last year our fence was ripped down, so at the least I'm hoping we don't have to go through that again.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Tilling
I wish I had uploaded photos, but I'm really too tired to do so.
Tilling is a BLAST and a half. I borrowed a 26" wide tiller, cranked it up, and when I hit that throttle...dirt everywhere! However, I've always been told, "never buy a tiller, and never buy a chainsaw" (tongue in cheeck, of course) because they break often. After 5 minutes of turning clay into, well, smaller chunks of clay, I was ready to buy one. I took the tiller over to another bed, cranked it up again, and the pull-rope snapped. How ironic.
So, I spent the next 2 hours fixing it. Then it was dark, so I took it back to its owner. Oh well, the experience was fun, and maybe, just maybe, one of these days I will have enough land to buy a tiller.
Tilling is a BLAST and a half. I borrowed a 26" wide tiller, cranked it up, and when I hit that throttle...dirt everywhere! However, I've always been told, "never buy a tiller, and never buy a chainsaw" (tongue in cheeck, of course) because they break often. After 5 minutes of turning clay into, well, smaller chunks of clay, I was ready to buy one. I took the tiller over to another bed, cranked it up again, and the pull-rope snapped. How ironic.
So, I spent the next 2 hours fixing it. Then it was dark, so I took it back to its owner. Oh well, the experience was fun, and maybe, just maybe, one of these days I will have enough land to buy a tiller.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
I heard a song the other day, one that literally froze me in my tracks.
It was as if I had written the song myself - the song conveyed everything I wanted to write in a song, but hadn't.
So, here is the link to the song "Horses on the Range" by Timmy Curran
Some of the lyrics (don't want to post all of them due to copyright laws and whatnot)
Other than that, no gardening news. We're supposed to have a really nice week with lots of sunshine, so that oughta help out a bit :)
It was as if I had written the song myself - the song conveyed everything I wanted to write in a song, but hadn't.
So, here is the link to the song "Horses on the Range" by Timmy Curran
Some of the lyrics (don't want to post all of them due to copyright laws and whatnot)
These chains that are holding me
make it so hard for me to breath
the air
that most of us do not see
I'll speak for all
confined by these walls
which has held
us to
a humiliating crawl
there ain't no doubt
once I get out
I'm gonna run like the horses on the range
and I promise you I'll never
ever complain
make it so hard for me to breath
the air
that most of us do not see
I'll speak for all
confined by these walls
which has held
us to
a humiliating crawl
there ain't no doubt
once I get out
I'm gonna run like the horses on the range
and I promise you I'll never
ever complain
Other than that, no gardening news. We're supposed to have a really nice week with lots of sunshine, so that oughta help out a bit :)
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