July 2004 Gardening and Homesteading Journal
- Thread starter A.T.Hagan
- Start date
A.T.Hagan
Inactive
Shoot, Sue! Pitch all them ornamentals and grow some PRACTICAL plants in your containers! 
There's a raft of folks over at the Garden Web Citrus Forum who'll tell you all about how to grow citrus in containers indoors. You could have genuine orange blossoms in your home. Better than geraniums any day.
.....Alan (the practical gardener )
There's a raft of folks over at the Garden Web Citrus Forum who'll tell you all about how to grow citrus in containers indoors. You could have genuine orange blossoms in your home. Better than geraniums any day.
.....Alan (the practical gardener
)
A.T.Hagan
Inactive
There's a woman growing blueberries on her balcony in this thread.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg0715423313987.html?12
.....Alan.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg0715423313987.html?12
.....Alan.
I just picked my first batch of figs. The birds had gotten some - dont understand why the birds wont get the figs already on the ground...... noooooo... they want the ones on the tree. Two mockingbirds watched me from the roof, like I was taking THEIR figs 
The ones not eaten fresh will go into the dehydrator.
The ones not eaten fresh will go into the dehydrator.
pkchicken
resident chicken
Hi everybody!!
Today I picked zuchini, frying peppers,giant san marzano tomatos,snowpeas,green beans, okra,blackberries and blueberries.
I'm freezing the tomatos 'til I have enough for a canning batch. Soon I'll have to can those tomatos every day but right now it's the beginning of the tomato season here. I've been cooking up the green beans each night and then freezing what we don't eat. Zuchini gets dehydrated except for what we eat or give away. Later I'll be freezing that too.
This is our first pick of okra Whoo Hoo!! I like to make a tomato okra soup and flavor it with basil, garlic and romano cheese.
My project for today is making fruit roll ups (fruit leather) out of all the left over berries that I froze durring the season when they didn't get eaten up and went soft. It just didn't make sense to make any more jam , it will take us 2 years to eat what I made this spring. It's gonna be blackberry,black raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and some old frozen grapes I found in the freezer from last years bounty. They're cooked....now I gotta drag out the victorio strainer and use the berry screen then dehydrate the pulp in seran wrap in the dehydrator. I'm gonna use the electric dehydrator today because it's cloudy and raining and it seems that I need a full day of sun to get a good dry out of that home made solar dehydrator we made.
We have really been trying to eat in season, sometimes it's just silly to try...the kids are starting to look like green beans and are begging for broccoli!!
oh well ....back to the kitchen . see ya next time.
pk
Today I picked zuchini, frying peppers,giant san marzano tomatos,snowpeas,green beans, okra,blackberries and blueberries.
I'm freezing the tomatos 'til I have enough for a canning batch. Soon I'll have to can those tomatos every day but right now it's the beginning of the tomato season here. I've been cooking up the green beans each night and then freezing what we don't eat. Zuchini gets dehydrated except for what we eat or give away. Later I'll be freezing that too.
This is our first pick of okra Whoo Hoo!! I like to make a tomato okra soup and flavor it with basil, garlic and romano cheese.
My project for today is making fruit roll ups (fruit leather) out of all the left over berries that I froze durring the season when they didn't get eaten up and went soft. It just didn't make sense to make any more jam , it will take us 2 years to eat what I made this spring. It's gonna be blackberry,black raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and some old frozen grapes I found in the freezer from last years bounty. They're cooked....now I gotta drag out the victorio strainer and use the berry screen then dehydrate the pulp in seran wrap in the dehydrator. I'm gonna use the electric dehydrator today because it's cloudy and raining and it seems that I need a full day of sun to get a good dry out of that home made solar dehydrator we made.
We have really been trying to eat in season, sometimes it's just silly to try...the kids are starting to look like green beans and are begging for broccoli!!
oh well ....back to the kitchen . see ya next time.
pk
Gingergirl
Veteran Member
Things are slow between spring and fall harvest.
Today was freeze a pint of parsley, a 1/2 bushel of chard, ready the thyme dried yesterday for conditioning, and tying up the cukes.
Found a young bunny in the beans. The dog and I paniced it before it ran off. Dare I hope it won't be back? Still, I repaired the fence.
Today was freeze a pint of parsley, a 1/2 bushel of chard, ready the thyme dried yesterday for conditioning, and tying up the cukes.
Found a young bunny in the beans. The dog and I paniced it before it ran off. Dare I hope it won't be back? Still, I repaired the fence.
This year I seem to be growing a marvellous crop of weeds and fattening the local wildlife.
Although I planted a nice strawberry bed, all the berries disappeared before they were red -- a hint of color was enough for the birds or critters to eat it up. However, the new plants are doing well, so we'll work out a scheme to cover them with netting and make the birds/critters share the goodies with us. We did get two blueberries, though. Those plants need to be netted, too.
Blueberries do not tolerate the alkaline soil here in the Rockies, so I got some rope handled tubs (cheap) and drilled holes in the bottom. So my container blueberry plants are growing nicely.
We moved here in late February, and my little citrus grove in containers (Earthboxes -- not cheap) nearly died because we had to stop and spend one night in Wyoming. The trees in the back of the UHaul truck got too cold, and I was sure that the lime was lost, but not so, they're all coming back. The lemons and the oranges are all blooming now, too.
My potatoes are blooming; the corn is 2 1/2 feet high; I've harvested one cucumber. The melon vines I set out seemed to be in suspended animation for a month, but now that it's hot here, they're growing too. The neglected garden area produced some volunteers besides the amazing crop of weeds - we have a lot of carrots which have gone to seed and I need to harvest those seeds soon. Not knowing what I was doing, I put paper bags over some of the seed heads, thinking to capture the tiny seeds.
One thing that's turned out nicely so far is the planting around the shady area of the lawn. Under the large trees theres a nice lawn with a rock-lined perimeter. In that perimeter I've planted sweet cicely, sweet woodruff, sweet annie, some violets, and three lignonberries. If it wasn't for the darned mosquitoes, it would be a lovely place to sit and rest. Oh well.
Two years ago I grew some of the ProSo that McMurray Hatchery sells. It was easy to grow, and the chickens loved it, but the thick stalks made it harder to harvest than I had anticipated. Although I expected the plants to be more like wheat, they resembled cornstalks. Good stuff, though.
Here's the link: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/proso.html
Poultry love to eat PROSO. Sow some in your poultry yard for them to feed on and save on the feed cost. It will grow anywhere, takes only 60 to 70 days to mature, and reaches 3 to 4 feet in height. PROSO is high in protein and will make an excellent forage crop for growing chickens. It can be drilled, allowing 12 pounds to the acre or 1 pound per 3500 Sq. Ft. We have sold tons of PROSO over the years and use it ourselves for our own broilers. Specify size desired. PROSO should be planted after the threat of frost.
Shipped Prepaid.
As I weed, I keep telling myself that next year it can't be as bad as this year. Who knows if it's true, but the thought keeps me going.
Diana
Although I planted a nice strawberry bed, all the berries disappeared before they were red -- a hint of color was enough for the birds or critters to eat it up. However, the new plants are doing well, so we'll work out a scheme to cover them with netting and make the birds/critters share the goodies with us. We did get two blueberries, though. Those plants need to be netted, too.
Blueberries do not tolerate the alkaline soil here in the Rockies, so I got some rope handled tubs (cheap) and drilled holes in the bottom. So my container blueberry plants are growing nicely.
We moved here in late February, and my little citrus grove in containers (Earthboxes -- not cheap) nearly died because we had to stop and spend one night in Wyoming. The trees in the back of the UHaul truck got too cold, and I was sure that the lime was lost, but not so, they're all coming back. The lemons and the oranges are all blooming now, too.
My potatoes are blooming; the corn is 2 1/2 feet high; I've harvested one cucumber. The melon vines I set out seemed to be in suspended animation for a month, but now that it's hot here, they're growing too. The neglected garden area produced some volunteers besides the amazing crop of weeds - we have a lot of carrots which have gone to seed and I need to harvest those seeds soon. Not knowing what I was doing, I put paper bags over some of the seed heads, thinking to capture the tiny seeds.
One thing that's turned out nicely so far is the planting around the shady area of the lawn. Under the large trees theres a nice lawn with a rock-lined perimeter. In that perimeter I've planted sweet cicely, sweet woodruff, sweet annie, some violets, and three lignonberries. If it wasn't for the darned mosquitoes, it would be a lovely place to sit and rest. Oh well.
Two years ago I grew some of the ProSo that McMurray Hatchery sells. It was easy to grow, and the chickens loved it, but the thick stalks made it harder to harvest than I had anticipated. Although I expected the plants to be more like wheat, they resembled cornstalks. Good stuff, though.
Here's the link: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/proso.html
Poultry love to eat PROSO. Sow some in your poultry yard for them to feed on and save on the feed cost. It will grow anywhere, takes only 60 to 70 days to mature, and reaches 3 to 4 feet in height. PROSO is high in protein and will make an excellent forage crop for growing chickens. It can be drilled, allowing 12 pounds to the acre or 1 pound per 3500 Sq. Ft. We have sold tons of PROSO over the years and use it ourselves for our own broilers. Specify size desired. PROSO should be planted after the threat of frost.
Shipped Prepaid.
As I weed, I keep telling myself that next year it can't be as bad as this year. Who knows if it's true, but the thought keeps me going.
Diana
Gingergirl
Veteran Member
WonderWhy
!!!lignonberries.!!!
I remember the syrup on pancakes. So Good. My grandmother use to make when I was a kid.
!!!lignonberries.!!!
I remember the syrup on pancakes. So Good. My grandmother use to make when I was a kid.
A.T.Hagan
Inactive
We had a double baby shower to attend in Georgia so I wasn't home to do anything over the weekend. I had to squeeze in what time I could where I could find it over the last several days when we were at home.
Last Wednesday (I think) I mixed up some Sam's (WalMart) liquid 20-10-10 and fertilized the key lime, taiwanica and meyer lemons, a couple of southern red cedars, the grapes, and a little Jerusalem artichoke that are all still in pots and waiting to be planted. Not the key lime though, it'll stay a potted plant because it's not frost hardy enough to survive the winter here. It's got a nice crop of fruit on it for its size and just went through another flush of blossoms and looks to have set a few more from those. In another three or four months I'll be able to have a key lime pie from DunHagan fruit!. Pulled a few weeds here and there in the blueberries. Even with the mulch there's a few species that come up right through it, but they're not hard to dispose of if you attend to them every couple of weeks.
Last Friday evening I gave a light fertilizer application to the camellias and blackberries I'd planted the week before. Ordinarily I'd wait longer before putting the nutrients to them, but the blackberries were really looking sick. Part of that was them being in their pots so long waiting to be planted, but the rest I thought might be that our DunHagan sand is just so doggone nutrient poor. It rained to put out the fires of Hell while we were gone, but Monday night the blackberries looked like they were in better spirits. I need to get them and the camellias mulched in as well as the three blueberries I put in a couple of weeks ago.
The weekend we were gone returning Monday evening. I hadn't really intended to do anything gardening related when we got home. I was hot, sticky, tired, and ready to be out of that car. Got home just before seven and as I was unloading the car I noticed the centipede grass was really getting into the daylilies. I finished with the car and started hand weeding the grass out of my lilies. The hens had scratched my mulch out last summer and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it yet so the grass had really gotten in pretty bad. Finally got it out of the immediate area of the lilies then decided the freshly weeded area made the rest of the flowerbed look bad so I went to the shop and got a hoe and rake and cleaned the whole bed up. Finally had to stop when it got too dark to see. I'll have to get some stakes, twine, and a measuring tape to reestablish my angles and distances because the diamond shape the bed is supposed to be in is looking a bit asymmetrical. Hopefully I'll get at least a little mulch in the bed if the weather will cooperate. It's been raining an awful lot these last few days.
In the slack time while we were in Georgia I got some more of my gardening journal written. This project is taking a long time! The more I write down the more I remember I need to write! Bit by bit I'm slowly churning it out. The folks at my daughter's swim classes must think I'm the studious type because while she's in the pool I'm writing in the journal while telling her "talk less, listen more, kick! kick!, kick!"
Man, I'm am looking forward to cooler weather this Fall!!!
.....Alan.
Last Wednesday (I think) I mixed up some Sam's (WalMart) liquid 20-10-10 and fertilized the key lime, taiwanica and meyer lemons, a couple of southern red cedars, the grapes, and a little Jerusalem artichoke that are all still in pots and waiting to be planted. Not the key lime though, it'll stay a potted plant because it's not frost hardy enough to survive the winter here. It's got a nice crop of fruit on it for its size and just went through another flush of blossoms and looks to have set a few more from those. In another three or four months I'll be able to have a key lime pie from DunHagan fruit!. Pulled a few weeds here and there in the blueberries. Even with the mulch there's a few species that come up right through it, but they're not hard to dispose of if you attend to them every couple of weeks.
Last Friday evening I gave a light fertilizer application to the camellias and blackberries I'd planted the week before. Ordinarily I'd wait longer before putting the nutrients to them, but the blackberries were really looking sick. Part of that was them being in their pots so long waiting to be planted, but the rest I thought might be that our DunHagan sand is just so doggone nutrient poor. It rained to put out the fires of Hell while we were gone, but Monday night the blackberries looked like they were in better spirits. I need to get them and the camellias mulched in as well as the three blueberries I put in a couple of weeks ago.
The weekend we were gone returning Monday evening. I hadn't really intended to do anything gardening related when we got home. I was hot, sticky, tired, and ready to be out of that car. Got home just before seven and as I was unloading the car I noticed the centipede grass was really getting into the daylilies. I finished with the car and started hand weeding the grass out of my lilies. The hens had scratched my mulch out last summer and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it yet so the grass had really gotten in pretty bad. Finally got it out of the immediate area of the lilies then decided the freshly weeded area made the rest of the flowerbed look bad so I went to the shop and got a hoe and rake and cleaned the whole bed up. Finally had to stop when it got too dark to see. I'll have to get some stakes, twine, and a measuring tape to reestablish my angles and distances because the diamond shape the bed is supposed to be in is looking a bit asymmetrical. Hopefully I'll get at least a little mulch in the bed if the weather will cooperate. It's been raining an awful lot these last few days.
In the slack time while we were in Georgia I got some more of my gardening journal written. This project is taking a long time! The more I write down the more I remember I need to write! Bit by bit I'm slowly churning it out. The folks at my daughter's swim classes must think I'm the studious type because while she's in the pool I'm writing in the journal while telling her "talk less, listen more, kick! kick!, kick!"
Man, I'm am looking forward to cooler weather this Fall!!!
.....Alan.
Gingergirl
Veteran Member
Wonderwhy,
I know Raintree. I'm going to have to get some so I can plant them in the shady corner of the yard by the veg garden. Thanks.
Not to let the journal die.
I began planting for our fall garden. Burgundy beans, wax beans, carrots and beets. Still too early for radishes, turnips, and lettuce.
Most of the harvest is herbs, for the freezer and dehydrator. Digging potatoes per meal. Have begun the summer canning of snap beans and corn. It'll be weeks for the tomatoes, and cukes. However, the peaches look like they only need about another week.
I know Raintree. I'm going to have to get some so I can plant them in the shady corner of the yard by the veg garden. Thanks.
Not to let the journal die.
I began planting for our fall garden. Burgundy beans, wax beans, carrots and beets. Still too early for radishes, turnips, and lettuce.
Most of the harvest is herbs, for the freezer and dehydrator. Digging potatoes per meal. Have begun the summer canning of snap beans and corn. It'll be weeks for the tomatoes, and cukes. However, the peaches look like they only need about another week.
Leptosiphon - yes!
I know, the name dounds either lie a nasty illness or some bizarre plumber's appliance but it's a plant.
I tried these from seeds planted about 10 weeks ago. The plants almost look like tiny asparagus fern branches & grow about 4 - 8 inches tall or long. Long in my case, they're a bit leggy & flopped over some. But after giving up on them, (almost), I'm glad I didn't. They're now COVERED with the prettiest little flowers imaginable.
I don't have photos so foughnd a site with photos of them:
http://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/l/leptosiphon_FH.htm
They really do look like that. They grow thickly & would be lovely in a small scale rock garden or as a filler between taller plants, assuming there's space to see them. Because they're so tiny, (1/2"), flowers, I think they're better in window boxes or close to the house.
I also have my first 2 sweet pea blooms & some California popies. Not sure I'll do those again though - I don't think they're getting enough sun.
I bought last winter, an earth star - a bromeliad with insignifcant flowers but lovely coloring on the leaves; green with purplish & pinkish stripes. They're now forming their own colony of offests. Come fall, I'll transplant them into a dark wicker baset before bringing them in. They've proven to be extremetly easy houreplants & almost lok like a stretched out version of 'Hens & Chicks' or houselessks - whatever you know them by. Mine grow well in an east window; direct sun is easily tolerated but not needed.
I know, the name dounds either lie a nasty illness or some bizarre plumber's appliance but it's a plant.
I tried these from seeds planted about 10 weeks ago. The plants almost look like tiny asparagus fern branches & grow about 4 - 8 inches tall or long. Long in my case, they're a bit leggy & flopped over some. But after giving up on them, (almost), I'm glad I didn't. They're now COVERED with the prettiest little flowers imaginable.
I don't have photos so foughnd a site with photos of them:
http://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/l/leptosiphon_FH.htm
They really do look like that. They grow thickly & would be lovely in a small scale rock garden or as a filler between taller plants, assuming there's space to see them. Because they're so tiny, (1/2"), flowers, I think they're better in window boxes or close to the house.
I also have my first 2 sweet pea blooms & some California popies. Not sure I'll do those again though - I don't think they're getting enough sun.
I bought last winter, an earth star - a bromeliad with insignifcant flowers but lovely coloring on the leaves; green with purplish & pinkish stripes. They're now forming their own colony of offests. Come fall, I'll transplant them into a dark wicker baset before bringing them in. They've proven to be extremetly easy houreplants & almost lok like a stretched out version of 'Hens & Chicks' or houselessks - whatever you know them by. Mine grow well in an east window; direct sun is easily tolerated but not needed.
Tadpole
Inactive
Sue, the little flowers are beautiful!
I have been picking tetragonia and cucumbers from the container and square foot garden for a while now, but today I picked my first burgandy beans, roma tomatoes, beets, okra, carrots, and scallions. The other pole beans are lagging behind.
I also picked cilantro and summer savory.
I am glad my late start didn't doom me to no harvest this year!
Our first frost date is November 1, so I still have a little time to finalize the fall garden plans.
I have been picking tetragonia and cucumbers from the container and square foot garden for a while now, but today I picked my first burgandy beans, roma tomatoes, beets, okra, carrots, and scallions. The other pole beans are lagging behind.
I also picked cilantro and summer savory.
I am glad my late start didn't doom me to no harvest this year!
Our first frost date is November 1, so I still have a little time to finalize the fall garden plans.
A.T.Hagan
Inactive
Homesteading stuff was a bit light this last week or so. Mowed the lawn around the house on Thursday. Need to mow the pasture, but I'll have to get the barbed wire cut off the bush hog blades first so it'll probably be another week or two before that gets done because it involves blocking the mower up and getting under it with a pair of bolt cutters (don't ask me how I know this).
Went down to St. Cloud on Saturday to pick up my new chicks from my step-dad. It's my mother's and one of my younger cousin's birthdays so it was a combination thing. Came home with fifteen straight-run, mixed-breed birds about four and a half weeks old. Had a miscommunication about exactly when the birthday thing was so I ended up having to go and get the birds on the day I was expecting to be refurbishing the small hen house so I've got them in a jury rigged shelter until I can get their permanent roost house finished. Hopefully, today when I get home from work, but likely part of tomorrow evening as well. Got a real shock when I went to buy the wire for the bottom of the roost house. One inch by one-half inch welded wire thirty six inches wide was THREE DOLLARS A FOOT!. Eight feet of doggone wire cost me twenty four bucks!
Anyway, the birds are home, seem to have adjusted well and are doing what chickens do. Discussed it with my daughter last night that since she'll be five when they start to lay in mid to late November it'll be her responsibility to gather the eggs as one of her weekly allowance chores. She's enthusiastic about the idea (now). If the birds are the usual spread I expect six to eight of them will be hens. I'll keep the two best roosters and the others are destined for dumplings. About three quarters of their ancestry is from the eggs I gave my dad from my flock last year and the remaining quarter from his birds so I've got a genuinely polyglot mix. Some of them you can see the Black New Jersey Giant coming through, some others a combination of Silver Laced Wyandotte and Barred Rocks, and the remainder a mix of the Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, and game birds my step-dad has.
It'll be good to hear hens clucking and roosters crowing again.
.....Alan.
Went down to St. Cloud on Saturday to pick up my new chicks from my step-dad. It's my mother's and one of my younger cousin's birthdays so it was a combination thing. Came home with fifteen straight-run, mixed-breed birds about four and a half weeks old. Had a miscommunication about exactly when the birthday thing was so I ended up having to go and get the birds on the day I was expecting to be refurbishing the small hen house so I've got them in a jury rigged shelter until I can get their permanent roost house finished. Hopefully, today when I get home from work, but likely part of tomorrow evening as well. Got a real shock when I went to buy the wire for the bottom of the roost house. One inch by one-half inch welded wire thirty six inches wide was THREE DOLLARS A FOOT!. Eight feet of doggone wire cost me twenty four bucks!
Anyway, the birds are home, seem to have adjusted well and are doing what chickens do. Discussed it with my daughter last night that since she'll be five when they start to lay in mid to late November it'll be her responsibility to gather the eggs as one of her weekly allowance chores. She's enthusiastic about the idea (now). If the birds are the usual spread I expect six to eight of them will be hens. I'll keep the two best roosters and the others are destined for dumplings. About three quarters of their ancestry is from the eggs I gave my dad from my flock last year and the remaining quarter from his birds so I've got a genuinely polyglot mix. Some of them you can see the Black New Jersey Giant coming through, some others a combination of Silver Laced Wyandotte and Barred Rocks, and the remainder a mix of the Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, and game birds my step-dad has.
It'll be good to hear hens clucking and roosters crowing again.
.....Alan.
The price of chicken wire has gone up unbelievably. We bought 50 ft of 1 inch three weeks ago. Can't recall the height but it was $60 plus. I gasped. Not as expensive as yours but stll.
Then last week DH needed a steel pole 8 ft x 2 1/2" they wanted $120 plus tax.
I found one in a mail order catalogue for $49 that was 3 1/2" and with the huge delivery charge got it for $85 total. I had figured old stock in a catalogue froze the price and thank heavens I was right.
So, wood is real expensive, anything metal is expensive, cement is getting up there as well as concrete blocks. May have to start building out of rocks.
Then last week DH needed a steel pole 8 ft x 2 1/2" they wanted $120 plus tax.
I found one in a mail order catalogue for $49 that was 3 1/2" and with the huge delivery charge got it for $85 total. I had figured old stock in a catalogue froze the price and thank heavens I was right.So, wood is real expensive, anything metal is expensive, cement is getting up there as well as concrete blocks. May have to start building out of rocks.
Gingergirl
Veteran Member
$60!!! And I just use that last roll and was getting ready to buy some more. Oh my.
For the journal:
This weekend we planted a few more shrubs...I've had good luck in the past with potted plants in summer if I keep them watered every day through summer. And now they are 1/2 price.
This morning, I picked up mums for a little color in a few weeks.
The garden is slow and with the summer being so cool this year, I've begun to fret over whether I'll get much of a tomato crop this year.
And I just use that last roll and was getting ready to buy some more. Oh my.For the journal:
This weekend we planted a few more shrubs...I've had good luck in the past with potted plants in summer if I keep them watered every day through summer. And now they are 1/2 price.
This morning, I picked up mums for a little color in a few weeks.
The garden is slow and with the summer being so cool this year, I've begun to fret over whether I'll get much of a tomato crop this year.
Just Plain Mom
Alien Lizard Person
The garden survived the third hail storm of the summer yesterday.
I've had to pull and eat all the spinach, as it was going to seed, but the lettuce is still thriving in a planter on the south side of the house.
I've counted only three days in July that it *hasn't* rained, and everything is loving it. Almost everything is flowering (tomatoes, zukes, green beans, chiles, bell peppers, especially) and we just might get something before our first frost, which is usually at the beginning of September. It's been a cool, wet month.
I've had to pull and eat all the spinach, as it was going to seed, but the lettuce is still thriving in a planter on the south side of the house.
I've counted only three days in July that it *hasn't* rained, and everything is loving it. Almost everything is flowering (tomatoes, zukes, green beans, chiles, bell peppers, especially) and we just might get something before our first frost, which is usually at the beginning of September. It's been a cool, wet month.
A.T.Hagan
Inactive
Ups and downs with the poultry. Second day I had them at the house a doggone hawk got one. Came home to find a pile of feathers and no bird. No holes in or under the fence and I don't think a coon or a possum would have come out into the middle of the pasture in broad daylight so it must have been a raptor. All these years of keeping hens and that's the first one I've ever lost to a predatory bird.
Well, I don't have to put up with that so I got a new ball of white twine and wove a spider's web on top of the pen with it. I've read many times that a raptor won't normally go under such a net if you don't leave holes in it large enough for them to be able to fly straight out again. The next morning my wife said she saw our local red tail <i>on top of the fence</i> studying the chickens but we've had no more losses in the three days since. So far, so good.
Got the little hen house refurbished except for the wheels which I'll put on tonight. Expanded the roost area inside by taking out the nest boxes which never did work well. It's predator tight and with a new coat of paint. I'll seal a minor roof leak or two when I put the wheels on this evening. The old set of wheels didn't work as well as they might, mainly because I hadn't included a true axle so they wobbled too much. Tonight I'll use a pair of large wheels off a junked high wheel lawnmower and a real axle so I expect it'll be a lot easier to move around. For the next day or two I'll keep them confined inside then let them out again after I've moved the yard.
Getting some great late summer growth on the citrus and blueberries.
.....Alan.
Well, I don't have to put up with that so I got a new ball of white twine and wove a spider's web on top of the pen with it. I've read many times that a raptor won't normally go under such a net if you don't leave holes in it large enough for them to be able to fly straight out again. The next morning my wife said she saw our local red tail <i>on top of the fence</i> studying the chickens but we've had no more losses in the three days since. So far, so good.
Got the little hen house refurbished except for the wheels which I'll put on tonight. Expanded the roost area inside by taking out the nest boxes which never did work well. It's predator tight and with a new coat of paint. I'll seal a minor roof leak or two when I put the wheels on this evening. The old set of wheels didn't work as well as they might, mainly because I hadn't included a true axle so they wobbled too much. Tonight I'll use a pair of large wheels off a junked high wheel lawnmower and a real axle so I expect it'll be a lot easier to move around. For the next day or two I'll keep them confined inside then let them out again after I've moved the yard.
Getting some great late summer growth on the citrus and blueberries.
.....Alan.
