Here we are in April... anyone else behind already? LOL
Windy as Washington today, so I'll mostly be repotting and watering in the GH.
April on the Homestead
Hello Jay And a fine day it is.Out side cooking up some homemade sausage,and a few bambi burgers,all washed down w/ neighbors homemade wine.HELLO
We came from here....
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1080001/
OK, Robin... I'm headed off to a Zen retreat in the mountains of Taos, NM, which is a very special way to say I'm going to sit and watch paint dry for a week. LOL
As for the peas in blocks... the first batch were Sugar Sprint, and the second batch Alaska shelling peas. I did it because of the mice eating the seed before it had a chance to sprout... I'm pleased so far with how that's worked out. The deal with the blocks is it doesn't disturb the roots at planting, something the big seeds are twitchy about. I'm going to try and get a couple of weeks jump on my corn, too.
The down side is I think you really can't hold these in the blocks past 2 weeks for corn and peas, they're just too vigorous. They've got to get in the ground.
Mornin' East.... ugh, little early for alcohol in my book. }=oP
So you're on your new place now?
took train back to Cleveland to tidy up some loose ends.Should return to Mo. in a few days.The weather is great.
Thanks, Jay, for the pea info. Think I'm goiing to do that with the peas and corn, too. It'll buy a little time till their garden blocks are ready. Retreat sounds good. Don't know that I could do something like that. I may not work non-stop, but I keep busy, so probably couldn't relax enough to just enjoy.
EoM, I share Jay's thoughts on being a tad early. But I guess it's 5 o'clock somewhere. :) So when is the final move?
Aready made final move.SEE question about how to get other people to do your work.Well my friends are doing the grunt work as we speak in Mo.And my self well lets just say.Free room and board=WORK=you work I may help hehehehehe
How many friends are we talking about?
Well, I need to get busy. Made an early trip to the GH to open it up and then talked to hubby for an hour. Burning daylight here...
Boy, it's gotta feel good, East!!! Hoo-hah, big congrats on gettin' there... and with help, no less. Dang, I'm jealous... LOL but not volunteering, that's for darn sure.
Yep, I gotta get out there, brave the wind and get things rolling around here... catch y'all on the breaks!
Hey Jay how far are you from Cimmaron,New Mex? Hiked there in1974 at Philmont,Boy Scout ranch.Took days to get there by bus but I loved it.
Ah, where the bears eat the boys.... yep, just a couple hours south. It's awful pretty country up there, and now there's a new national park or something... anyway, more of that pretty country protected from drilling. It's right next to Ted Turner's big ranch and you know, he couldn't stop the gas companies from coming in and drilling.
When I was doing SAR a couple of years ago we had a weekend training with some of the scouts up there... plumb wore 'em out. =0)
Yea you go girl.SEMPER FIDELIS 3rd. mar. div. ooh rah.SAR,I`m hip to that.Just dont look in Mo.I dont need rescued yet!
This message was edited Apr 1, 2010 1:58 PM
Here it is... Valle Vidal....
http://www.vallevidal.org/
Jay, that place is beautiful! I've only been as far west as Hobbs, New Mexico, so haven't seen any wide open spaces with a mountain background.
Wake up ,the thought process just started
Goodmorning, Fellow 'Steaders! Looks like another great day on the horizon. Don't know what all I'll tackle, but I'm starting the day planting out 4 seed trays full of seedlings.
Brian, sorry we fell out on you last night and you had to party alone.
Sue, what did you do....order a ton of hostas?
Jay, enjoy your get-away.
Went to town for a load of feed yesterday and the bank's themometer read 89.5 dgrees. We skipped Spring and went straight to Summer. But I know we have a few more cold spells to contend with. It's hot again today but I'll take it over snow every day of the week! Gotta get back to work.
I don't remember which thread we were talking about it, but I was finally to a point where I go out and start planting early crops in the new garden....you know the one on the side of the property where the deer don't run? Well, I guess I was wrong. Got to the fourth row back and sure enough a big ol' dear has cut across the garden recently. A lot of people around here tie plastic grocery sacks to poles or wires around the garden. There's enough breeze to keep them crackling most of the night. Going to do that for now. Is any body using an electric fence for deer? If so, how many wires?
msrobin from what i hear deer will jump a electric fence.
well so far i have done over 100 hosta's and still got about 40 to go
i m on my last two bags of potting soil and i really need mulch to help mix in with it so i can use half and half for potting.
I hope i get there in time tomorrow when they open.
still got over 100 daylilys coming too. But those are mostly for my stock plants and i will sell some at Farmers Markets.
then i got some azaleas' ? i don't remember ordering these ?? and they are not my zone either ? "uhg"
pass me a beer EastOf i sure can use one LOL
good night
Sue, are you ordering all your plants from the same place?
Robin, I wonder if strong fishing line would confuse the deer enough to keep them out?
I don't know about the fishing line. DH will be home Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully everything will be ok till then. If I have to, I guess I can turn a radio on loud in the shed.
Deer regularly jump our 5' hot wire.
I make a mixture to use in a big shaker jar, to use as deer repellent. I use cornmeal, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and blood meal. I sprinkle it along the rows and on my roses. I have to repeat after rains. The best part, besides no nibbles, is that it is a good fertilizer and the worms love the cornmeal. Its not perfect, but does help greatly.
The deer problem here is huge. It is not unusual to see 15 in our front yard, and the bucks try to challenge us when we run them off. We harvest all the law allows.
I am working on a new garden area, that will be enclosed with chicken wire and electric fence. I was advised to put peanut butter on the electric wire that is close to the ground, as deer will explore anything new, before jumping over. We shall see...its worth a try.
Nix the fishing line and white rags. Got that tee shirt hanging in the closet. We put monofilament line around an area and tied strips of white cloth to it about every 20 feet or so. The idea was that the white cloth moving in the wind would signal danger to the deer and they would scatter. Flashing that white tail is their warning for danger. I have to say that it worked really great … till they figured it out in about 3 or 4 days, then it was back to business as usually. :lol. Unfortunately deer aren’t stupid.
This message was edited Apr 3, 2010 12:25 AM
Caliche, i bet one lick is all it takes to make a deer not like peanut butter. ROFL
Well, DH wanted to fill the freezer with deer meat...
I was just surprised when I saw the tracks. Haven't seen any deer on our property for several months, so thought they had either moved on or been killed last hunting season.
Caliche, I like that mixture idea. I was just going to sprinkle red pepper to keep the rabbits from eating too much, but that sounds like a great all-purpose mixture.
DH has a wireless motion detector alarm. Wonder if that would work to scare them off.
Do you have a dog?
LOL Sue
Cajun, yes we do have a dog and he is very good at chasing away rabbits, deer, turkey, birds flying overhead, etc. However he has always stayed in the house at night, so not much help there. I've been leaving him out till 10-11 at night, but if he's not chasing rabbits, he's sitting on the porch barking at every sound he hears.
We just got a really nice 1 1/2 hours of steady rain. I'm so glad I got everything planted out yesterday!
It was a bit overcast this morning and I thought it might rain so I fed and watered early. Then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. I boiled a dozen eggs and we went to the church egg hunt. It was so much fun. After they found all the eggs everybody sat around and ate eggs. there was also pop and Reeses eggs. Then Sister Judy, the youth leader, had kites for all the kids. the wind was blowing and they all had a blast. After that we went to a friend's to visit, then to another friend's to eat birthday cake with her. After that we fed the other horses and went back home. I did a bit more work and brushed 2 horses down. Then we went to the grocery store. After that I worked in the yard until after dark. I got 12 taters planted in bags and I sowed a pot of sage. Now i am off to bed.
* forgot to say I also planted 12 strawberry plants. I had some bare spots in the bed so I filled them up. Now I have 24 plants in the strawberry bed. I love strawberries. My Mom and Dad were strawberry farmers when I was a kid.
This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 7:20 AM
Cajun, you sure had a full day!
Sue? No details of your day?
I did very little today. Took a couple of wagon loads of seedling trays to the greenhouse and am trying to clean up the house a bit. Still have a whole bunch of seed starting trays and supplies in the house. Hubby will be home Monday evening.
still potting up plants
got 16 more hosta and i m done
then i head into veggie plants to pot up in cups.
Next weekend i will take the fundraiser plants and the kids can pot them up !
today is nothing to exciting for us
eat more food and get fat ,then its diet on monday and start my work out again.
What's everyone up to?
Done nothing, since Hubby got home, other than get his truck unloaded and made a couple of trips to town. He's still sleeping a lot, trying to get his days and nights switched back around adn getting over the cold he caught out in Utah. I seem to be having a relaspe of the whatever I had a couple of weeks ago. But starting to feel better now after having taking it easy for a few days. Taking some heavy duty meds and doing very little smoking probably helps a lot.
Just been bumping blueberries up to larger pots, pruning and staking grapes, and doing some mowing and edging around the nursery today. And boy do I feel it now. Lol Might should have spread that out over a couple of days.
I finished a third water bed this am before work but I need to move the plants over from the second one. Found it had a leak needing repair.
Planted more seeds and planted some seedlings in ground and pots. Gave away about a third of the heirloom tomato plants I had wintersown with the directions on harvesting the tomato seeds but all three will probably lose them before that time.
Finished the herbal kitchen garden bed and think I will like it when it fills in. It is a sheltered spot so most plants will remain in ground year around.
Still fencing ~ like the tortoise ~ slow but steady. Every time those @#^& dogs get out, I regain inspiration.
Smattering of showers here and wanting a serious rain. Feast or famine.
MsRobin ~ hope both you and your husband are back on your feet shortly. I wonder if you got too run down with all the work or perhaps the pollen is working on you also. You got way too much to do to be a sickie... get well soon.
Pod, it's raining here big time. Complete with thunder and lightening even.
Ya'll should have gotten some of this front earler though.
About 2 or 3 inches of lightening and thunder and not enough water to flush all the pollen yet. Send it on... the temp is dropping quickly so the front has probably gone thru.
THe blueberries you are potting up are for resale? Is is not a bit late for them?
I saw on the news where the tree pollen was really high lately. Guess so with all the blooms, plus I was working with cut hay/grass clippings that last few days, plus yeah, I probably overdid it before Al got home. But I've been in the AC most of the day and the meds are kicking in, so I actually feel much better tonite. Al was on night shift in Utah with temps freezing or below, snow and rain, so it'll probably take him a few more days to recover. Giving him cold medicine, lots of rest, and chicken soup.
I need to get a couple of water beds done for some of my tomatoes. The rest will go in the garden, And a fence will go up soon. The rabbits are really thick this year. Drives the dog nuts, but he's getting lots of exercise chasing them.