Red Tomato Day, August 6.

     Early August was hot and dry, with some days up to 90 and 92 degrees F.  Starting last Sunday the weather has cooled down to highs in the 60's and low 70's, and the rains have returned.  Makes a person feel 10 years younger.  Didn't hurt any to see that my semi-annual medical check-up gave me a reasonably good report.  At least all the numbers on the chart were in the right places.


Tomatoes

First red tomato, August 6

    We got our first red tomato on August 6, but also evidence of tomato wilt.  I went through the whole tomato patch, trimming the wilt from the plants that looked otherwise healthy, and pulling and discarding a number of plants that appeared to have gone too far.  It seems to have worked, as for the last two weeks we've been able to harvest another dozen or so healthy tomatoes from the Early Girl plants that remain.  The heritage tomatoes are still green, but at least they're not showing signs of wilt at this time.  Hoping for a good canning season to start soon.

Cabbage and other early crops

Cabbages have been plentiful

      The cabbages have been coming in for some time now, forming nice, tight, worm-free heads that make the best cole slaw and cooked cabbage you can imagine.  I've been remembering to spray them with my garlic powder, cayenne pepper and dish soap concoction after each rain.  If you want to try it, I used about a tablespoon of each ingredient in a gallon of water.  Add the dish soap last or it will be difficult to mix.

     The other cold weather crops like carrots, broccoli, potatoes, onions, beets and salads have been plentiful and tasty.  The peas were done by mid July, when the green beans started coming in.  We ate all the peas, but were able to freeze 10 quarts of green beans.

Coming soon



Watermelon ready soon

     I'm looking forward to a few watermelons soon, followed by pumpkins and winter squash.  We've used some of our young carrots in the cole slaw, but most will stay in the ground until it's time to come in for winter storage.

     Like many other worthwhile endeavors, gardening and homesteading are not exact sciences.  Enjoy the successes and learn from the failures.  Better health and better eating to all.



Is Halloween coming early this year?

New Red Potatoes, Our Story

About 2 pounds of new red potatoes dug on the 4th of July.

They were planted on April 10th under this low tunnel, a week and a half

before our last significant snowfall on April 21st.

On warm days in April I removed the cover, and replaced  it for the cold nights.

As of June 14th.  The first 3 rows are the red potatoes,

the 2 rows behind are Kennebecs planted on May 4th.

As of June 28th, red potatoes on the right, Kennebec potatoes  on the left.

July 4th, after digging up 3 hills of red potatoes. 

I'll let most  of the rest get bigger, but I needed a taste  of new potatoes.

 

     The homespun hydroponic salads experiment is going well, and I hope to have a more complete report on that project soon, along with the pea harvest in about a week or two.  In the meantime, a part of our kitchen garden is on the porch next to the kitchen, if one needs a leaf or two of lettuce, kale or arugula to put on that chicken salad sandwich.

 

 Eat well and love more; so shall you live long and prosper.

End of June Homestead Overview

Sadie watches over the homestead

     Our 1/2 Chou, 1/2 Shepherd, Sadie, has a lot of responsibilities for a 7 month old pup.  Going from puppyhood to adulthood is not an easy task.  She makes a lot of mistakes, but she's still learning.  And we love her all the same.

     As it's only a week since the last detailed update, this one is just a pictorial overview to remind me at some future date what things looked like at this stage.  Previous posts have more detail.

Some of the 8 chicks hatched on May 1

2 of the 20 chicks hatched on May 12

Bob and some of the 19 hens in the Old Chicken's Home

 

Central Garden, Hydroponic Lettuce in Greenhouse in back

Pea blossoms in East Garden

South Garden Tomato Patch, Squash in front

West Garden getting ready for next year's Tomato Patch

 

Midsommer Roses

     Life is a little like hunting or fishing.  Oft times the chase is more important than the catch.  In your pursuit of happiness, may you bag your limit.

Midsommer 2015 and Father's Day

Midsommer wild roses

2 of Amber's 6 hanging baskets

     The wild roses in front of the house bloomed, and Amber got 6 hanging flower baskets hung.  The lettuces, radishes and rhubarb have been plentiful, and the asparagus and spinach have been adequate.  The hens have been laying, and the baby chicks are growing.  Did I mention the quiche?  It's fantastic! 

     On top of all that, ALL my children have contacted me with best wishes for Father's Day!  Midsommer and Father's Day can't get much better than that!

 

Vegetable garden as of June 22 with hints of rewards to come

New potatoes by the 4th of July

     The first 3 rows are red potatoes which will start coming in the 4th of July, while the second 2 rows are Kennebec for winter keepers.

Peas on the left, bush beans top right, 2nd planting spinach bottom right.

     The peas will start coming in about the 4th of July, with the beans coming later in July.  The second planting of spinach is ready for salads within the week.  Our carrots and beets should be starting about mid-July.  I do have to get the supports up for the peas in the next few days.

Salads in the hydro-garden

     We'll be eating lettuce from the hydro-garden in the next day or two.

Garlic in front, onion sets in back.  Cabbage to the right needs weeding.

     Onions in a couple of weeks, garlic in the fall.  I'm hoping for cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower in August some time, but they are coming kind of slow.

2 buttercup squash in front, tomatoes and peppers in the back.

     With a little luck we'll have tomatoes and peppers starting in mid-August and squash, pumpkins and watermelons in September and October.

The Pea Trellis is up!

     On Tuesday I got my tree branches and twine together and set up this year's pea trellis.  I always wonder what it will look like when I'm done.  By the 4th of July some of the pea vines will reach the top rung, and it will be a work of art.

     Next update is coming about the fourth of July.  In the meantime, eat your quiche with spinach, your egg salad sandwiches with lettuce and radishes, and finish up the last of that rhubarb sauce in the fridge.  Creamed peas and new red potatoes are coming soon!

Early June 2015

"Big Red" Heritage Tomatoes

 

"If I was to choose the life I lead,  I'd be Johnnie Tomato Seed,
'Cause I know what this country needs, is home-grown tomatoes in every yard you see."
                                                                     Guy Clark

     The 10 day forecast on June 1 showed no prediction of frost, so I transplanted most of the tender crops into the garden.  Besides the heritage tomatoes, about 25 Big Red and Abraham Lincoln, that I had started in the house, I bought 8 Early Girl Tomato plants.  As the squash, pumpkins and cucumbers I started didn't do well, I also bought some of those, along with some cauliflower, that I've never grown before.

     I also made the third planting of radishes and the second planting of carrots during the first week in June.  I'd like to get enough carrots to get us through the winter this year.

Jack gives me the Raspberries

     My strawberry patch had never been very productive, so I plowed it under this spring.  However, when my friend Jack told me he had plenty of extra raspberry plants if I wanted some, I went over with a dozen fresh eggs and  bunch of radishes and came home with raspberry plants.  I put 13 plants into the ground a couple of days ago, and it looks like most of them are going to make it.

     This last week, during the last quarter of the moon, I've gotten most of the weeding done.  It's beginning to look like a garden.  We've had ample rainfall so far this year which has resulted in a good harvest of lettuce, radishes and rhubarb, and enough asparagus to delight my taste buds.

Hydroponics Still an Experiment

 

     There's been no harvest from the hydroponic experiment as of yet, but I'm looking forward to good things.  what you see in the picture is a tub filled with a weak manure tea made from our poultry manure, oxygenated by a fish tank bubbler.  The plants are in pots with lots of holes in the bottom so that the roots can go down into the water to get their nutrients.  In two or three weeks the story will be told.

New Red Potatoes by the 4th of July

 

     The planting is about done for the year, but I still plan to put in some more warm weather salad crops like Swiss chard and kale this next week.  We should have peas and new red potatoes by the first week in July, with green beans to follow soon after. 

     May we all be blessed with good food in our stomachs and healthy soil under our fingernails.

May is for Planting

Big Red Tomatoes in the ground

     0.2 of an inch of rain in the old soup can on the fence this morning changed my transplanting plans for today.  I have tomatoes and herbs in the greenhouse that will have to wait until the ground dries a little more before they can move to the garden. I did however get my 16 Big Red Heritage tomatoes in yesterday before the rain.  And I remembered to put the cardboard collars around them to stop the cutworm.

May Planting

3 rows of red potatoes in front, 2 rows of Kennebec behind that

     The picture to the left shows the 3 rows of red potatoes planted under the low tunnel on April 10th.  Behind that is the 2 rows of Kennebec planted on May 4th.  We should have new red potatoes for the 4th of July, and Kennebecs for the winter.  
     May is the beginning of the main planting season here in Northern Minnesota.   The first week I put in more hardy root crops; Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, turnips, beets, and garlic.  My fall planting of garlic must have frozen out, cause it wasn't there this spring.  In the last ten days of the month, I transplanted the broccoli and cabbage to the garden, along with seeding the corn, beans and squash in the 3 sisters garden.  I also started some more spinach.  The squash, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers and peppers I started in the house didn't make it, so I'll probably still buy some more plants to set out.  With the beginning of June and the 10 day forecast predicting lows in the 50's F, it's time to take a chance on the more tender plants.



The New West Garden

     In the middle of May, I spread black plastic over that wonderful llama poop in the new West Garden.  That should kill off most of the weed seeds.  The 2016 tomato season should be marvelous!

 

 

Hydroponics

     The hydroponic experiment with salad crops is just that.  An experiment.  I won't bore you with details until I find out if any part of it is successful.  The only thing I'll mention at this time is that, like most of my projects, it is very low budget.  Under $20 for an aquarium pump and some tubing.




One month old

Poultry Report

     The month old baby chicks  are all doing well under Miss Wohlters' care.  Before I knew Miss Wohlters would do such a fine job, I committed to buying 20 chicks from the Co-op.  They are 3 weeks old today, and also doing well.  Without a Mama Hen to care for them, they are still under a heat lamp, so I couldn't get any good pictures.  Our other 20 hens are still putting out 12 to 16 eggs a day, and seem quite content with our spring weather.

The Harvest

     Other than our eggs, harvest has been slight so far.  We have had one meal of asparagus, salad from the thinning of the lettuce, spinach and arugula under the cold frame, one bunch of radishes from under the low tunnel, and a delicious rhubarb sauce from the patch behind the chicken coop.  The best harvest, as always, comes from the joy of interacting with the plants and animals here in God's playground.

Farewell my Friend

Good-bye to the Guineas

     The bad news came in a letter from the Zoning Commission that stated they had received a complaint from one of our neighbors about the guineas.  Farm animals are permitted in this zone, but only if kept in a fenced area.  As we got them initially to help control the ant and woodticks in our area, fencing them in would defeat that purpose.  So we gathered up our guineas and gave them to our friend who lives where guineas can roam free.  The only ones celebrating here are the woodticks, the ants and the neighbors who made the complaint.  I hope the three of them are very happy together.

 

A Short Work Break and then....

     I took a short break to go out and gather eggs and feed the chickens.  It was still too wet to transplant, but I cut some more rhubarb.  Amber has developed a recipe for rhubarb sauce that gives me a preview of the deserts they must serve in heaven!

 

Rhubarb is manna from heaven!

In the Next Week or so

     Still to come in the next week or so is a lot more transplanting of the tender crops, and another planting of carrots for the long winter ahead.  By the end of June, or the beginning of July I hope to report our first harvest of peas and new red potatoes among other things.  Enjoy the season and happy gardening to all.



Blessed Events in the Poultry Maternity Ward and a Spring Recap

 

Chicks at 6 days old

 

Chicks at 6 hours old

     Of course we're all happy here with the 8 new chicks hatched on the first of May in the poultry maternity ward.  They and Miss Wohlters are all doing fine.  The remaining 20 hens in the chicken house have been steadily increasing their egg production this spring, so that we're now at a little over a dozen a day.  Yesterday was a banner day with 17 eggs.


Dining room plants almost 2 weeks along

Planting

     2 weeks ago, from the 23rd thru the 26th of April on the cusp of the moon's first quarter, I started some greens, cukes, cabbage, broccoli, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and watermelons under grow lights in the dining room.  Some of the lettuces and greens are destined to be part of my hydroponics experiment, but more on that later when they're transferred to their watery home.  The greens, broccoli, cabbage and some of the tomatoes are doing well, while the rest is questionable at this time.  On the 30th of April I planted peas in the East Garden, and on the 4th thru the 6th of May I put in more potatoes, carrots and onions in the Central Garden.  Today, Thursday, is a rain day, but in the next few days I plan to put in beets and turnips and transplant some of the hardier herbs into the garden. 

Arugula, lettuce and Spinach planted 2 1/2 weeks ago

     The arugula, lettuce and spinach I planted under the cold frame are doing well, and the red potatoes that were under the low tunnel are just now starting to pop through.  Lord willing, we'll be eating salads in a few weeks and new red potatoes by the fourth of July.

 

Recap of this Year's Early Spring

     Like Puxatoni Phil, the renowned groundhog from Pennsylvania, I step out of my lair every February 2 to get my outlook for the coming spring.  Unlike Phil, I rejoice whether I see my shadow or not, because the sun is staying up a little longer each day, the days are getting warmer, and I can wake up and start planning my activities for this year's cycle.

10 February, Tuesday. Attended an informational session on Hydroponics.  I do plan to try a few experiments this year.
11-14 March, Wednesday-Saturday. Built new nest boxes for the henhouse, and planted some onion seed under grow lights in the dining room.  Repair roosts in henhouse. (see Wake up, it's spring)
17 March, Tuesday. Radishes and onions in boxes in the greenhouse. (see Creation in the Spring)
10, 19 April, Friday & Sunday. Miss Wohlters started to set on 10 eggs.  Planted red potatoes, radishes, carrots and onions in Low Tunnel.  Lettuce, spinach and arugula in cold frame outside.  Llama poop for new West Garden. (see Dirt, Llama Poop et al)
28 April, Tuesday. Upright piano work table completed. (see Upright Piano Morphs)

Coming Events

      When the time is right, there's a lot more spring planting to do.  A few building repairs, updates,  chicken fencing, and preparations for the hydroponic experiment are also on the agenda.  Small steps each day will yield great rewards.

Upright Piano Morphs into Work Table

My Upright Piano Workbench

 

     A couple of years ago, I got an old upright piano free for the hauling.  With the help of some able-bodied friends, we got it moved into our dining room, and the renovation work began.  I soon realized that years of temperature changes and moisture had pushed this piano beyond the possibility of a decent renovation.  I chalked it up as a failure, and moved the piano onto the porch, a step closer to its final proper resting place in a landfill.

     Three or four years later, it was still on the porch, when inspiration struck.  It still had a good solid frame, and we could use a solid work table on the porch for gardening and craft projects.  So began the upright piano work table project.

Outer Casework and Piano Action Removed

Keys Removed showing Balance Rail and Key Bed

  Let the Construction Begin

Key Bed and Balance Rail Removed

     Removing the innards was relatively easy.  The piano action, the mechanism with all the hammers, flanges and wooden levers, is held with four nuts.  The outer casework is removed by removing the screws that hold them in place.  The keys simply rest on the pins shown in the key bed, and the key bed and balance rail are removed by loosening  about 12 screws.  This then reveals a flat surface at desk height to support whatever surface you choose for the top of your table, desk or workbench.  For the tabletop and the backboard, I used an old discarded computer desk that was in my barn warehouse.  For some of the shelving I used parts of the piano casework.

     As I didn't remove the cast iron harp and strings in the back, whenever you hit the table very hard, the strings vibrate some, and you can hear the distant sound of an angel choir.  If you don't care for angel music, you could mute out the strings with felt or cloth, but I don't recommend trying to remove the harp and strings.  That would change a simple home project into a major headache.

      The Sky's the Limit

     So let your imagination run wild and start work on that old upright that's been out in the granary for he last 10 years hosting several generations of rodents.  Be creative with those old piano parts you remove.  That balance rail with 88 pins must be useful in some kind of weaving project.  How about a clamp to hold down your work operated by foot with the soft pedal?  Or my favorite and possible future project, a combination work table and upright hammered dulcimer.

The Rest of the Farm

    I just walked outside to close up the chicken coop, and saw by the moon it's about time to get the peas in the ground.  That also means that next week is time to plant potato and other root crops outside.  The eggs that Miss Wohlters is setting on should be hatching in the next 3 or 4 days.  Lots going on and I'll be giving a full report in a week or 10 days. 

Super Pooper Scooper

     For now, I'll close with the following picture of my latest splurge in equipment purchases.   $14 for a picker-upper so I don't have to lean over, and my basket-tied-to-a-handtruck so I don't have to walk far to drop the load.  It's been working wonderfully well on spring dog poop removal.  Money isn't everything, but $14 just made my life a whole lot better.



 

Dirt, Llama Poop, a Stern Hen and Footprints in the Snow

 

     I've used the last couple of weeks to get started on outside spring work.  I've done about half the spring tilling, and two weeks ago, in the full moon, I planted some root crops in the low tunnel (the exposed hoops in the back of the picture).    I'm hoping for some early carrots, onions, radishes and new red potatoes.  The plastic covered frame in the front protects the early lettuce, spinach and arugula I planted Saturday.  Both these covers are easily removed on warm days.  More root crops and salads will be planted later, when the weather is more favorable.

 

CENTRAL GARDEN- Cold frame in the front, low tunnel in the back



Low tunnel with cover

EAST GARDEN

     The east garden has been tilled and the strawberries in the closest 4 feet have been uncovered.  Weather permitting, in one or two weeks I'll be planting peas here.  The squash, beans, corn, sunflowers and whatever else will have to wait for warmer conditions.







SOUTH GARDEN

     So far only the chickens have been working on the South garden.  As this will be the tomato and pepper patch this year, there's plenty of time to prepare.  Can't talk about no frost danger until the first week in June.

NEW WEST GARDEN AREA

WEST GARDEN WITH LLAMA POOP APPLIED

     Many thanks to my friend Jerry B for about a cubic yard of llama poop that I put down on this 14 foot by 20 foot section just west of the West chicken yard.  This will be the tomato and pepper patch for next year, 2016.  This summer a fence will be going up around this section, and next summer the tomatoes will be coming in like manna from heaven!

 

OUR HENS ARE KEEPING US WELL SUPPLIED

 

EXCEPT FOR MISS WOHLTERS

     Miss Wohlters is watching over 10 potential baby chicks, due to come in another 10 days or so.  Miss Wohlters was named after my 5th grade teacher, stern and strict, but very caring of her brood.

MARCH 18, 2015

MARCH 19, 2015

APRIL 8, 2015

     We won't get too excited about spring planting.  Pictured above is what can happen after a stretch of warm weather here in the spring.  Last year, we had snow on June 6.  Just remember, if you're in Minnesota and don't like the weather, wait 'til tomorrow and it will change.