darius bummer on the water. Yea i think that guy needs his head examined on the price he gave you ! hope you can get it fixed soon at a reasonable price.
deer ate all my hosta ,ferns and azaleas in my back grow bed. Since the incident i just have not gotten around to getting many things done. I wanted all the plants in pots that were in that back bed. But the deer beat me to it.
got some of the GH done. We just need the plastic up and we should be good .
April Showers...
Darius, sorry about your water problems. That does seem like a very high price. We have well water plumbed to the outside spigots on the house so as long as we have power, we have water. We also have water in the creek to flush with. A good thing to have on hand is one of those camping shower bags. Fill with water ( ours holds 3 gallons ), hang it in the sun and in a few hours you have nice hot bath water. It even has a hose and sprinkler nozzel on it.
Sue, don't you just hate the damage deer can do? We are lucky not have any here. We do have to contend with coyote, bear, turkey and striped chipmunks. And I can't fail to mention the copperheads. Grrr
Our mornings have warmed up so I uncovered the berries. They all made it fine. It is very dry here. I have put the sprinkler in the garden a couple times. We have a 30% chance of rain today and the wind is blowing but the skies are still clear.
I put my seedlings on the porch to start damping off but I had to make sure they are protected from the wind. I need to pot them up to some solo cups. They are still in the little peat cups I started them in. I am growing my melons in egg shells and they are the best looking at this point. Need to get my hind end in gear and get a place fixed to plant them. Really looking forward to a variety of melons this summer. Got 6 or 7 different kinds seeded.
My DB is shaking his mayhaw trees today. He is going to dry some seeds for me so I can try planting a few trees here and see if they will grow. They make great jelly.
I have my goats all tied out eating weeds and grass today. No way they can keep it all down but they love trying. One goat has a skin problem that looks like it may be a mite of some kind. I need to do some research. I dusted her with sevin dust today.
My chickens are laying pretty good but it flucuates. One day I got 11 eggs and the next day just 6. Selling all they can lay so that helps with the feed.
I'd better get back out and get to work. Hope you all have a great day!
Sad news. DH heard from the hospital about his culture. He still has MRSA and another type of infection in his foot. Tey want him to go back on IV meds so we won't get to go on our trail ride vacation. We are beyond disappointed.
Same here, Cajun. That's got to be so hard on the both of you. Hang in there, I have faith, you both can handle anything :0)
Sue, been running crazy here. I did get the peppers sent. Or actually Dh grabbed and sealed the envelope before I was done. No note, no DG name, sorry. Your probably not getting a lot of bhut jolokias, from multiple Lyneas... you'll figure it out :0)
I'm so sorry to hear the bad news! When will it ever end?
Cheryl, such bad news... I'm so sorry.
Thanks so much, Guys. Sue, you are too kind. It is a hard pill to swallow but just like the little boy who swallowed the marble, this too shall pass. They only have him scheduled for 2 weeks of infusion so at this point it looks like we will still get to make a few days of the ride. Sure hoping so.
It has been drizzling here since midnight and we really needed the rain. It was getting very dry.
I worked in my garden yesterday for most of the day and it looks great. I weeded it all and hauled a load of woodchips to put in the walkways. I also got rid of some unsightly pallets I had containers on. Now the containers are on the woodchip walkways. I put in a big woodenbox I had rescued from the dumpster. It is the whole width of the garden and I will plant taters in it. Had planned to do that today but it will have to wait until tomorrow now.
I potted up some seedling this morning but I have to get some more cups before I can finish.
Today is a hard day for me. My Dad died on this day when I was 8yo and it has always haunted me. My life fell apart after that and I carry a lot of baggage from it but God is good and I am blessed.
Thanks so much, Sue. I feel much better today though my shoulder is still aching. I was halfway up a steep hill untangling one of my goats from a mimosa tree stob. When I started down I was holding on to the stob with my right hand for ballance and my feet both slipped out from under me. I instinctively grabbed hold of the stob and all my weight came down on my shoulder. I don't know what it has done but it hurts and my hand swells up on and off. I have rested it today and it feels better. Can't lift anything heavy. Just have no strength in it.
I hope you are doing well today.
doing ok today. Hope your shoulder feels better.
just darn busy. got the GH up and the plastic on. But no doors LOL hot house !
watered plants
feed chickens and turkeys. i m really hoping the ones with the more red in the neck are the boys ? and the other two are girls ?
weather is great sunny warm and no winds. but rain on the way. Got DH convinced on a water set up at the barn. got two rain barrels and i want a down spout on the barn to collect rain water. Need to dig up black berrys,,, deer just eat them and i m tired of fighting them.
im only going to do half size of the garden. I don't have it in me to do the whole acre. so i will do 1/4 acre.
i have so much to do and so little energy to do it LOL . yikes
decided to get rid of the two roo's,,, can't afford to feed them. also getting rid of the 4 hens . i think she breed them with bantys . waste of time them small eggs.
so we will have lots of chicken suppers 1
Cajun, sorry bout your husbands test results and sorry you hurt your shoulder. I pray you both get well soon.
Hey Taynors, can you take pics of your turkeys? Congrats on that poly covering. It is always a huge relief when the main poly is finally in place.
I been selling a lot of eggs. I don't have enough chickens!!!! Maybe I should buy 25 more. Thinking..... They definitely pay for themselves. A few times, I didn't have eggs for myself.
oh how sad. two of my turkeys died last summer. I think they had a heat stroke or something. still have three.
I am excited. We been trying to figure out where to put a storm shelter that won't fill up with water due to wet springs or rain water. I was very disappointed until tonight when my step dad suggested we dig one under the barn. The barn is just two large horse stables used for rabbits and chickens but it also has a 32x32 open area with a very high roof and it is on a hill. It never rains in there and it never floods. We have plans to rent a backhoe and dig another hole to finish burring the burnt mobile home and we will dig the shelter/cellar while it is here. The barn is about 80ft from the house.
sounds great Cricket. always good to not have to worry about flooding.
here is the link for my DD memory garden. Hope you don't mind me posting it here ? .
busy week ahead.
so i m off and running
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1253573
Thanks for the link, Sue. Nice start for her Memory Garden!
I attended a grafting workshop yesterday, held more mid-state than where I live, at a Cidery (small but highly acclaimed artisan apple cider producer) near the Blue Ridge Parkway. What an interesting experience!
The class was limited to 15 participants, and they provided 5 rootstocks for each of us, and a choice of scion wood from around 25 apple varieties. I've read a bunch of stuff about simple grafting, but it's a LOT harder to do than it looks. (That's probably because the rootstock they received was smaller diameter than they preferred, which they lamented.)
Other than the size problems, grafting is really easy... at least the whip/cleft, and modified cleft grafting we did. They didn't cover other types of grafts, nor budding grafts.
All 5 of my grafts are now soaking in water to wake up dormancy, and will get potted up in 2-3 days. They will need to stay in pots for a year, but for the class cost which included my 5 apple trees to bring home, it was a good deal for my $15. (Plus gas for the trip, but still cheaper than buying + shipping!)
All the varieties I selected are vintage apples, and the one I'm most excited to have (hoping my graft takes) is a crabapple developed by Thos. Jefferson, who grew them in abundance for hard cider: the Hewe's Crab, sometimes called Virginia Crab.
I only wish we'd had a list in advance of the varieties. One I chose is an early bloomer (which I didn't know yesterday when we chose varieties) and we usually have late frosts where I live.
Did you know melons, eggplants and tomatoes can now be grafted on hearty rootstock to reduce diseases? (Not those plants found in garden centers, but those grafted by growers.) There are a few companies who grow and sell the specific rootstocks for them.
I knew that tomatoes could be grafted but I didn't know about eggplants and melons.
That is really cool, Darius! Somewhere on my list of "things I want to learn" is plant and tree grafting. Unfortunately, the list is very long.
Just moved about 150 tomato starts into the shed - almost to tired. Need to cover the strawberries.
Covered my berries and 4 urns of herbs I planted out, last night. Afraid we might have a frost this morning and tomorrow morning so they are still covered.
Got some bad results from DH's blood work. Kidney function is down. They did some routine blood work Friday and his potasium was very high. Sent him to ER to get lasix and a laxative to try and get it down. He was on Lasix another 2 days. Did bloodwork yesterday and it only dropped by a half point. Doctor has had him on a BP med for over a year that is known to hurt kidneys. Stupid move as he knows DH is a diabetic. GRRRR Please keep him in your prayers. This is all getting to us.
Had a good day today. Got a stall cleaned out and a horse groomed. Turned another out to run. Got all the feeding done. Enjoyed a great salad for supper with some stuff from the garden.
P's and T's, Caj.
Bought the house - should close on Tuesday. If I can get my digital camera working (I think the power switch is bad) I will be posting many pictures of plants in the new yard that I need to identify before I can decide if they stay or they go.
The house was built in 1940 & needs lots of repair, I will be trying to upgrade the energy efficiency at the same time. There is not much of a yard so garden space will be limited.
There is a shed large enough to stow the Shadow.
Yay, Dyson... which one is yours in the plot you posted?
ALL houses need repairs. I have a plumber under our trailer as I writing... we're replacing all the leaky water lines.
The one with red circle - the lot behind it belongs to the power company - so I may be able to sneak some brambles or blueberries into it.
DH is better. Foot doc who is also the ER doc said the other doc made it look much worse than it is. That sure takes a load off our minds. Great thing happened today. Foot doc sent some papers off to a drug company and today DH got a 3 month supply of his fast acting insulin free of charge. Saved us about $800. What a relief. Suagr is staying down and so is BP. Things are looking up. Last scheduled infusion is next Wednesday. We are leaving for the trail ride from the infusion center!!!
Congrats Dyson. I sure hope you get to use that extra ground.
Cool beans on possible adjacent planting of briars and blueberries, Dyson!
Cak, best news I've heard about your DH in a long time, things are looking up!
Cricket, I am so sorry, I just noticed where you asked me about patchouli. Its a flower or herb. You caan get it dried in health food stores or you caan get the essential oil. I would use the oil.
My first born offspring (son) had a stroke over the weekend. He, his wife & the 2 grand children live in California. My ex-wife, his mother has a flight out on Tue.
Still have not got the camera fixed so these pics were taken with an old smart phone. If someone can id the tree and other plants I would be grateful.
Sending best wishes from here for your son too, Dyson.
Im sorry to hear that dyson. I hope it wasn't severe and he gets better soon
Your pics look like Hickory to me
Thank You !
My tom turkey was looking and acting sick. His litter was green and I think his kidneys were trying to shut down. I came up with my own conclusions cause the same thing happened to the tom turkeys that died last fall. I fed the chickens and the turkeys high protein feed all winter. No body was laying eggs and my sister told me that when they stop laying to feed them high protein. So I did. When the new hens started laying eggs, I noticed a few weak eggs so a couple of weeks ago I started giving every body layer crumbles cause the hens needed some calcium. A week later my tom turkey started getting sick like the toms last year. Then it hit me that it was the feed. I had also read somewhere along the way that you should not feed roosters layers crumbles before they are 16 weeks old cause it will cause them to have kidney failure. That is hard to do when they are in with the hens so I fed them all chick starter and corn or game feed high in protein until everybody was way older than 16 weeks except for a time last fall and currently. I had fed those tom turkeys layer crumbles last fall and they got sick and two died . I immediately took the turkeys off crumbles and started feeding them chick starter and corn again. The feed store was out of game feed at the time. Tom turkey started eating again and has been taking less naps and his litter is back to normal. He still sick but not as bad. Crossing my fingers.
Other than that, I am gardening and growing food everyday. Using my rabbit and chicken manure to grow many veggies and a few monsters.
Thank you all for the prayers for my son. He is doing much better - no longer paralyzed, though he can not speak yet the doctors are confident he will make a full recovery.
I have put many miles on the Shadow in the last couple of days seems that riding helps me not think of Kenn.
I finally got the camera working. so first some Pics of the house -
From the driveway:
and
view from the front porch - looking North.
Plants to be identified -
