Whatcha Up To???

[ErnieCopp]

Sam, and anyone else that has sore muscules. I may have found some good relief for you. I ordered a COMFORT, Heating and Vibrating seat cushion from Amazon, works with 12v or 110v, and really works wonders. It leaves me feeling like i have had a treatment from a chiropractor.

I sleep better all night, move better, just may be the best 42 dollars i have spent.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Received the additional irrigation parts & assembled them together (so they're ready to go when I have time).

 

[w_r_ranch]

The garden was dry enough to finish the final prep of the potato row. Then I cut/sulphured the well chitted seed potatoes (they will be planted tomorrow). After that, I continued weeding/prepping other parts of the garden.

Made bread.

Fed the cattle.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Planted the potatoes & continued weeding/prepping the main part of the garden. Then I harvested some aspargus for the second time this spring & then watered them & the potatoes.

Made pizza dough & sauce for tonight's supper.

Also, the Mountain Laurel in the backyard flower bed (which is now about 5' tall) is blooming!!! If you've never smelled one, they have an intense smell of 'Welch's Grape Juice Concentrate'.

​

 

[whistech]

Mr. Ranch, please share your pizza dough recipe. Thanks, Arlie

 

[wolffman]

About 35 lb of potatoes cut up and dusted with sulphur. Got to get them in the dirt by Sunday.

 

[whistech]

Wolffman, I bet you have a bumper crop of potatoes.

 

[wolffman]

Wolffman, I bet you have a bumper crop of potatoes.

I hope so, the last 3 crops have been too wet and didnt turn out well.

 

[w_r_ranch]

My back hurts so I harvested 1/3 of the brussel sprouts, trimmed & washed them & then blanched them. Mrs. Ranch handled the vacuum packing/freezing end of it.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Harvested & processed all the remaining brussel sprouts... same drill as yesterday. Ended up with 21.5 lbs.

Harvested more asparagus.

Refilled bird feeders.

Burned the trash.

Moved the 'spider plants' to the back porch (I have my fingers crossed) & watered everything in the greenhouse.

 

[wolffman]

Busy day today. Finished tilling the garden and then hipped all the rows and layed them off. Got all the potatoes planted and side dressed with 10-20-10. Ended up with about 250 row-feet of potatoes. Now I need to prepare for cucumbers and a bunch of other stuff.

 

[wolffman]

I've got brown tips on the leaves of my onions this year. First time I've run onions in this bed. Hmmmmm. If you look closely, you can see them in the picture above.

 

[Mike]

@wolffman what kind of mulch are you using in the raise garden?

 

[wolffman]

Mike, most of the raised bed is pine bark mulch. It's too big of a grade though, was a real pain to spread out around the onions.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Damage seems to be similar on shoots of all ages at one point in time, and most recent growth is not affected. Could you have had a sharp frost? Or a short bad dry spell?

Ernie

 

[wolffman]

Damage seems to be similar on shoots of all ages at one point in time, and most recent growth is not affected. Could you have had a sharp frost? Or a short bad dry spell?

Ernie

We had some frost, but I don't think we even had a freeze this year. We did have dry spell which started about a month ago. This bed drains really well and dries out quickly too. Maybe I need to stay on top of the watering.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Rode all the fences & replaced any missing staples/clips. Fed the cattle & then moved them to the middle pasture. Lastly, I put out a couple of rolls of hay.

Made bread & weiner buns.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Rototilled the Garden. Ground Temp only 45 degrees,so it will be a while before i direct plant the melons or set any plants. First year i have had to water this early, but ground is very dry. Total of only 3" here at my place this rainy season.

Lots of blossoms on Lime tree and some on Tangerine, Kumquat and Orange. Not many bees, but i do see few.

Last year i noticed that Costco slashed prices Mondays on any tomato plants that did not sell on the weekend. Bought a few but did not have much room left. They were my best producers, so am going to plan for that this year.

Ernie

 

[Mr_Yan]

High of mid fifties today. Just finished dragging my terrier for a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood. Winter storm warning goes in effect in about 20 minutes. Expecting about 6 inches of heavy wet snow tonight. So goes life in the midwest.

Germination testing some more seeds my neighbor gave me. Arugula from 2003 had almost 100% germination in three days.

Confirmed I have mice in the house -- behind the kneewalls of the upstairs and in the wall cavities. Trapped two in 28 hours. I'm getting envious of my mom's house where all the wall cavities are foamed in with spray urethane insulation. All dry goods in the pantry are sealed in 5 gallon buckets, from what I have read these are mostly mouse resistant if sitting on a floor.

 

[Mr_Yan]

@wolffman Do you mulch potatoes? Does this help? I'm thinking about getting back into potatoes ar my church garden this year.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Yan,
I was not familiar with Glue mouse traps until i think it was Sam that mentioned them,, I haa a few mice in the garage, where some dog food is kept, and I think the traps are the very best way, I put a couple of nuggets of dog food on them and they catch and hold, then if they are not dead i just cover them and step lighty on them, pick up the trap without having to touch the mouse, and its done.

I keep some traps on hand and if more come in, i will be ready for them.

ernie

 

[wolffman]

@wolffman Do you mulch potatoes? Does this help? I'm thinking about getting back into potatoes ar my church garden this year.

If I didn't have a day job and a 9 month old, I wouldn't mulch them. When the plants get about 8"-10" tall, it's good to "hill" them. That means pulling soil up on the stalks, and this will increase production quite a bit. But, you have to stay on top of weed control because nature hates a vacuum. So, with not a bunch of time on my hands I have been mulching them with rice straw soon after foliage appears. You can't really hill the potatoes after mulch has been layed down.

 

[wolffman]

Here is the little creature that keeps this household sleepy. She is 10x the work that her older brother was. I'm a zombie, lol.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Pretty little girl you have there in the mirror. She has your wife's eyes.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Yeah, I don`t have a nine month old... I do have a 5.5year old, a 3.5 year old, and a 7 month old. The second one had us in zombie state. He refused to sleep at night unless held from about 6 months to 12 months old. I read all 5000 some pages of the game of thrones series sitting in a rocking chair holding that kid. His sister, the 7 month old, will sleep about an hour or two at a time from 7 pm to 1 or 2 AM then will sleep solid until about 7 AM. Well that is at least the pattern for the last 7 days.

A few minutes after I posted this I realized an error in it. My youngest kid isn`t 7 months old anymore. She's now about a week over 8 months old.