This is my 1st post ever using the new tablet!!! It's cool learning new things!!!
Whatcha Up To???
- Thread starter Mike
- Start date
M
Mr_Yan
Guest
Bunch of us showed up at the community garden and we spread out 20 to 30 yards of compost. Five large wheelbarrows, two dingo walk behind loader tractors and me on the tractor.
Doing the spreading we finally broke my small wheelbarrow. I guess this was not meant for moving 25 tones of material in five years. The frame and wheel are good so I need to design and build a wooden replacement for the steel bucket.
Doing the spreading we finally broke my small wheelbarrow. I guess this was not meant for moving 25 tones of material in five years. The frame and wheel are good so I need to design and build a wooden replacement for the steel bucket.
An interesting evening. Over the past few months we've had a really mean boar pot belly pig appearing around here. He put 13 stitches in a neighbor a few weeks ago. He has also been tearing up flower beds all over the place. This evening he made an appearance on my property and decided to square off on me. Too risky for me, we have a 5 year old and other young neighbor kids around here. Sorry Mr Potbelly, your bad manners earned you a spot in the igloo cooler.
Meaty looking ribs on that sucker!!! I hate pigs & kill'em on sight.
Rahab222
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 354
- Planting Zone
- 9B
Mr. Yan; Congrats on being able to use child labor. My Dad thought that's what kids were for since he grew up on the farm with 10 siblings and two additional adopted cousins. He always told us stories of how he was running the family farm by the age of 10, as he was next to the youngest and all the elder siblings were sisters; except a brother who was off in the war at Iwo Jima. He said the first thing his older brother did when he got out of the service was jump him out because all the rows he'd planted with cotton were crooked. The 15-year-old nephew doesn't like to get his hands anywhere near my garden mixes or the garden, either. He's been at Disney World in Orlando for the past week with his high school band and will go again in two more weeks with his Navy ROTC for winning second in the state competition. Guess he needs to live in the "Wonderful World of" before life hardens into form.
E
ErnieCopp
Guest
I had to rabbit proof the chain link gates, but do not know yet if the rabbit is inside or outside. LOL,
Found some more ripe blackberries, but not as sweet yet as they will be in a couple more weeks. Thousands of berries this year and thousands of thorns for each berry. Some nearly a half inch long, and so sharp you cannot feel them go in, but they really rip when you move and tear them out. The berries better be real good or i may take them all out to get rid of the thorns.
I will replant some beets once i have the rabbit located, but am about done planting my garden. Much smaller than last year. Tomatoes starting to become more abundant now, but curling leaves are all on unprotected SXSW corners, so could be caused either by hot PM sun in the daytime, or cold ocean air at night, Affects different varieties, but no problem where they are protected.
Was surprised to see a couple of blossoms on one of the Cantaloupe plants. I have had a little 3 pronged cultivating tool about 16 inches long but never had much use for it. It would scratch the soil close to plants but would not pull out anthing that had roots. So i took it to the shop and ground a sharp edge on each outsite tooth, so when weeding the melons, i use the points to loosen the soil and then give it a quarter turn to either cut or drag out the weed or grass. Works wonderful for close work where the scuffle hoe might damage the smal plants.
Ernie
Found some more ripe blackberries, but not as sweet yet as they will be in a couple more weeks. Thousands of berries this year and thousands of thorns for each berry. Some nearly a half inch long, and so sharp you cannot feel them go in, but they really rip when you move and tear them out. The berries better be real good or i may take them all out to get rid of the thorns.
I will replant some beets once i have the rabbit located, but am about done planting my garden. Much smaller than last year. Tomatoes starting to become more abundant now, but curling leaves are all on unprotected SXSW corners, so could be caused either by hot PM sun in the daytime, or cold ocean air at night, Affects different varieties, but no problem where they are protected.
Was surprised to see a couple of blossoms on one of the Cantaloupe plants. I have had a little 3 pronged cultivating tool about 16 inches long but never had much use for it. It would scratch the soil close to plants but would not pull out anthing that had roots. So i took it to the shop and ground a sharp edge on each outsite tooth, so when weeding the melons, i use the points to loosen the soil and then give it a quarter turn to either cut or drag out the weed or grass. Works wonderful for close work where the scuffle hoe might damage the smal plants.
Ernie
I didn't work in the garden at all today. I fed the cattle & noticed that the bull was 'missing'... apparently he jumped the cross-fence (into a pasture that I had closed off pending my doing some repairs). After 'retrieving' him, I moved all the cattle to the front pasture. I then spent the day checking/repairing the fences & will continue doing more tomorrow. Not exactly the way I envisioned spending a Sunday, but it had to be done.
M
Mr_Yan
Guest
Light rain for about an hour followed by almost heavy for about 10 minutes. High in the low 70s.
Got a load of mulch. Almost a yard in my Chevy Cavalier. This is getting ridiculous, I need a pickup or at least something that pull a box trailer.
Started another 24 plants with kids placing the seeds in the pots
6 Sugar Pie Pumpkins
6 Wathum Butternut squash
3 Market-more Cucumbers
4 Cantaloupes
2 yellow squash
3 Tatuma summer squash (Calabacita)
After the rain passed I scratched up the lawn and will seed and put down straw after kids are in bed.
Roasted parsnips for dinner that I grew last season and over wintered in the garden. Wow need to grow more parsnips.
Edit to add:
Seeded the (former / future) lawn and put chopped straw over it. Used about 5 pounds of Schultz Hardy Lawn Grass Seed Mixture and 3 pounds of annual rye. The area is about 300 square feet. I put plastic grocery bags over my boots to keep the mud from caking too much in the treads and it actually worked.
Got a load of mulch. Almost a yard in my Chevy Cavalier. This is getting ridiculous, I need a pickup or at least something that pull a box trailer.
Started another 24 plants with kids placing the seeds in the pots
6 Sugar Pie Pumpkins
6 Wathum Butternut squash
3 Market-more Cucumbers
4 Cantaloupes
2 yellow squash
3 Tatuma summer squash (Calabacita)
After the rain passed I scratched up the lawn and will seed and put down straw after kids are in bed.
Roasted parsnips for dinner that I grew last season and over wintered in the garden. Wow need to grow more parsnips.
Edit to add:
Seeded the (former / future) lawn and put chopped straw over it. Used about 5 pounds of Schultz Hardy Lawn Grass Seed Mixture and 3 pounds of annual rye. The area is about 300 square feet. I put plastic grocery bags over my boots to keep the mud from caking too much in the treads and it actually worked.
Last edited by a moderator:
E
ErnieCopp
Guest
Rahab,
That loss of work experience that kids miss out on today is seriously handicapping them, I dropped out of school before my 15th birthday in the Spring of 1941, and spent the war years working on Military bases in the West. I still have a Teamsters Union card issued in November of that year. By the time my sons came a long, i was a highway contractor and I let both of them play on. and learn how to run the heavy equipment as soon as they could reach the pedals, and both of them became contractors. My grandsons were cheated out of all that early work experience by the Insurance companies and Government regulations and are going to be penalized the rest of their lives by losing so much time. The work kids do is worth for more to the kid than it is to the boss.
Ernie
That loss of work experience that kids miss out on today is seriously handicapping them, I dropped out of school before my 15th birthday in the Spring of 1941, and spent the war years working on Military bases in the West. I still have a Teamsters Union card issued in November of that year. By the time my sons came a long, i was a highway contractor and I let both of them play on. and learn how to run the heavy equipment as soon as they could reach the pedals, and both of them became contractors. My grandsons were cheated out of all that early work experience by the Insurance companies and Government regulations and are going to be penalized the rest of their lives by losing so much time. The work kids do is worth for more to the kid than it is to the boss.
Ernie
Last edited by a moderator:
M
Mr_Yan
Guest
Yesterday at the community garden:
That's me driving and my 4.5 year old daughter. I don't think she could depress the clutch even with all her weight.
E
ErnieCopp
Guest
Yan,
Your daughter will remmember that the restt of her life, but you are violating all kinds of laws, so do not get caught.
Ernie
Your daughter will remmember that the restt of her life, but you are violating all kinds of laws, so do not get caught.
Ernie
M
Mr_Yan
Guest
@ErnieCopp
There's a farm / food / political book I want to read by Joel Salatin Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front
There's a farm / food / political book I want to read by Joel Salatin Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front
E
ErnieCopp
Guest
There is plenty of mat\erial for an entire library on that subject. Our wonderful country is just being smothered by unecessary laws and regulations, just to keep the bureaucracies busy.
Ernie
Ernie
Ibtsoom
Well-Known Member
Well - better late than never i guess.. I finally was able to get the yard cleaned up and concentrate on the garden this weekend. Got all the weeding / mulching done as well as mowing/weed eating. Planted a few more squash, beans and a couple peppers. My onions look awful after all of the rain and weeds. Potatoes aren't doing much better. I cleaned up everything and gave the whole garden a good dose of miracle grow. Once the onions come out I'll put in cow horn okra that I have started in pots. Also have some of Burpees on-deck hybrid container corn going. Looks great so far - had good luck with it last time.
Rahab222
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 354
- Planting Zone
- 9B
Ernie; I'm in complete agreement with you on what kids are "missing out on" today. I've never had children, so it's two nieces and the nephew I have helped my brothers raise, due to their divorces. All three kids are "brainiacs" and haven't had the advantage of growing up on a farm where everybody had to work, just to keep everything beat back. My siblings and I did and my Dad's family certainly did. As soon as you got all around the 30 acres on our farm, everything had grown back and you had to start over again. Most, not all kids, today don't know how to work with their hands. The emphasis is on technology and GPA's. I've read that the basic, four year, college degree is now the equivalent of what used to be the high school diploma. Still, they all get up before the crack of dawn and don't finish their days until around 11 p.m. or midnight most weekdays. Then they get up and do it all over again the next day. Their "views" on things are certainly different from mine, but are from the generation they are growing up in.
My Dad was a high school teacher and coach, but he always carried multiple jobs in addition to farming 30 acres and the whole family working to can/freeze food for the year. You can see how many things I've forgotten from all those years by the questions I ask on here. My siblings and I were never allowed to just sit around and watch t.v. The t.v. didn't come on until after dark or Dad would find you something to do - outside on the farm. The only "downtime" my Dad ever allowed us was if we were reading a book. If that was the case, he would walk right past you without saying a word. Believe me, my brothers and I loaded up on books every Saturday at the bookmobile
My Dad's main concern was that if anything ever happened with the economy that my siblings and I wouldn't know "how" to take care of ourselves and that meant being able to put food on the table. My interest in gardening was renewed after we lost him four years ago. I think the one thing I got from him was his strong work ethic and desire to help my whole family. The nieces are both off at college and the nephew wants to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. This desire of his goes totally against my grain, as I grew up basically being anti-establishment. My brothers always said I "missed my generation," which should have been the 60s. They also tell me it's a good thing I never had a child because they would be a "wild thing." In other words, I'm not very good at disciplining the nieces and nephew because I'm not the parent. If anybody has any child laborers they'd like to loan me, send them on down to Texas!
My Dad was a high school teacher and coach, but he always carried multiple jobs in addition to farming 30 acres and the whole family working to can/freeze food for the year. You can see how many things I've forgotten from all those years by the questions I ask on here. My siblings and I were never allowed to just sit around and watch t.v. The t.v. didn't come on until after dark or Dad would find you something to do - outside on the farm. The only "downtime" my Dad ever allowed us was if we were reading a book. If that was the case, he would walk right past you without saying a word. Believe me, my brothers and I loaded up on books every Saturday at the bookmobile
My Dad's main concern was that if anything ever happened with the economy that my siblings and I wouldn't know "how" to take care of ourselves and that meant being able to put food on the table. My interest in gardening was renewed after we lost him four years ago. I think the one thing I got from him was his strong work ethic and desire to help my whole family. The nieces are both off at college and the nephew wants to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. This desire of his goes totally against my grain, as I grew up basically being anti-establishment. My brothers always said I "missed my generation," which should have been the 60s. They also tell me it's a good thing I never had a child because they would be a "wild thing." In other words, I'm not very good at disciplining the nieces and nephew because I'm not the parent. If anybody has any child laborers they'd like to loan me, send them on down to Texas!
Hahaha
E
ErnieCopp
Guest
UPDATE ON THE RABBIT RODEO.
The rabbit was outside, when i fixed the gates, and this morning i looked out the bedroom window and he was sitting there by the gate, pouting because he could not get in for breakfast.
So, i broke him up a carrot and served it on the trigger plate in the trap. Hope to find out tomorrow if he has stopped pouting.
Not much else to do today, trimmed back some wild branches on the Blackberries so we can safely get close to pick them.
Admired my weed free melon patch, as that only lasts for a few days.. Tomatoes are starting to load up, but frustrated looking at those curled leaves on some of them. Certainly does not seem to be hindering production.
Ernie
The rabbit was outside, when i fixed the gates, and this morning i looked out the bedroom window and he was sitting there by the gate, pouting because he could not get in for breakfast.
So, i broke him up a carrot and served it on the trigger plate in the trap. Hope to find out tomorrow if he has stopped pouting.
Not much else to do today, trimmed back some wild branches on the Blackberries so we can safely get close to pick them.
Admired my weed free melon patch, as that only lasts for a few days.. Tomatoes are starting to load up, but frustrated looking at those curled leaves on some of them. Certainly does not seem to be hindering production.
Ernie
Finish the fence repairs.
Started cleaning up the tree debris (from the recent storms) so I can safely get in with the chainsaw. Had 3 burn barrels going all day.
Watered all the trees.
Started cleaning up the tree debris (from the recent storms) so I can safely get in with the chainsaw. Had 3 burn barrels going all day.
Watered all the trees.
Last edited:
M
Mr_Yan
Guest
Direct seeded some more lettuce mix, shallot sets (I hope) and turnips.
Hacked at some ash logs with an ax.
Hacked at some ash logs with an ax.
E
ErnieCopp
Guest
Linda made Sausage and Peppers for dinner, using the very last of last years peppers, with the first of this years onions. And i just recently noticed some buds on this years Pepper Plants, so i guess we are pretty well synchronized on that item now.
Ernie
Ernie
Continued cleaning up the tree debris, chainsawing & burning it as I go... I cut 3 big trees into 24" logs for firewood (I got at least 5 more to do). Maybe I'll get the splitting done early this year...
Hung up 2 more hummingbird feeders on back porch per request.
Watered hanging baskets (front porch) & the garden.
Made bread pudding.
Hung up 2 more hummingbird feeders on back porch per request.
Watered hanging baskets (front porch) & the garden.
Made bread pudding.
My back is killing me, so I took it easy today... Spent the day smoking half a brisket & made a pot of succotash.
Applied the screen protector to the tablet (ArmorSuit Military Glass). It has to set for a day or two, then I'll put the shock-absorbing cover back on it & we should be good to go.
Applied the screen protector to the tablet (ArmorSuit Military Glass). It has to set for a day or two, then I'll put the shock-absorbing cover back on it & we should be good to go.
Watered the garden & asparagus bed.
Feed the cattle.
Stoke up the stumps so they can finish burning out.
When I was doing the fences the other day, I noticed that the dewberries were ready, so this morning I picked a bowl for Mrs. Ranch so she could make a dewberry custard pie (it's been about 5 years since we had it due to the drought). It's a very good crop this year thanks to the abundant rainfall... They huge & juicy!!!
Started prepping the onions for processing & freezing. Got about 1/3 of them ready...
Feed the cattle.
Stoke up the stumps so they can finish burning out.
When I was doing the fences the other day, I noticed that the dewberries were ready, so this morning I picked a bowl for Mrs. Ranch so she could make a dewberry custard pie (it's been about 5 years since we had it due to the drought). It's a very good crop this year thanks to the abundant rainfall... They huge & juicy!!!
Last edited: