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[The Mama Chicken]

40,000 goats might make a dent. It really is everywhere. Luckily, the kids and I don't seem to have any reaction to it. My husband is another story. When we lived in California the dust blowing over the poison oak during the Santa Annas would send him to the hospital.

 

[digitS']

. . . What have you done that you'd like to brag about?

I have gotten seed into containers and they have sprouted in the warmth of my kitchen. They were then moved to a south window here behind me at the computer. For some time, there were so many containers on 2 small tables that I couldn't sit directly in front of my computer desk. Cloudy weather and limited light prompted me to keep the temperature in the room well below 70F, unless the sun broke thru the clouds. This year, I did not have to bring in a half-sheet of plywood nor an 8' fluorescent light fixture. But I still delayed the move to the greenhouse and turning on the furnace there until there was really no choice. Not even a half-sheet of plywood would give the plants adequate room now.

While the plants were indoors, the UV-resistant plastic on the south wall of the greenhouse (sunshed) was replaced. The beds of what becomes a plastic tunnel were prepped. Pvc hoops were set up and construction-grade plastic film was installed over them, tacked to a window & door frame at each end of the tunnel. Some bok choy starts were transplanted into the beds .

Yesterday, I began outdoor cultivation. Since those tasks began in the small veggie garden (about 35' by 35') were begun in August and continued thru October of last year, I'm nearly finished there. Some shallots and spinach seed went into that garden yesterday !

There is a 100% chance of rain & snow today. The high temperature is expected to be 39. Probably, only about 1" of precip will fall this week and my garden soil drains quickly. It is, however, already very wet. The weekend is expected to be "partly sunny." Probably, one of those days I'll be out in the big veggie garden. No work was done on the soil out there last year!! Hopefully, next week there will be better weather .

Steve :coolsun
oh and, i had cherry pie for breakfast!

 

[ducks4you]

OMGosh--20 hours later, and I STILL have 2 stubborn stumps to take out. The Good Lord decided yesterday that it was more important for me to plant my asparagus than remove stumps bc I broke my saw blade in 2!! (yes, I have more blades, fortunately) Here are pictures of my stump work
THE South wall of the Garage aka "Farmer McGreagor's Garden", a few weeks ago:

3 stumps out of the ground!!

All tilled, ALL BIndweed runners removed, EVEN at the foundation and 18 inches deep, tilled even though my tiller is still in the shop!

 

[ducks4you]

I had 4 asparagus that survived from last year. Their roots ran deep so I pulled out my auger to dig appropriately deep holes to accomodate the roots.

I planted companions for my asparagus. Behind them I put in sunflower, cosmos, dwarf hollyhock and daisy seeds. I staked with poles from 2011 okra bc cosmos likes to fall over. Next month, when they start growing, I will run tomato-tying string in between the poles. I fenced bc I planted sugar snap peas right in front of the fencing.

The four 2011(Purple Passion) and five 2012 (Jersey, package) of asparagus is now in the ground!! Ha, Ha, just before a freeze scheduled tonight!! In front of my asparagus I planted ~12-15--lost track, TOO TIRED!!--volunteer cherry tomatoes, and I scattered saved marigold seeds.

 

[vfem]

And here I am not accompishing squat! lol

You are all amazing... so on top of things.

Ducks, you deserve a vacation... stump work is a nightmare. I leave that to hubby... and just like dirt under my nails from adding all the pretty things. I don't mind touching compost one bit though. So I handle compost duty.

We're still working on the front bed... have not gotten very far, and in fact it needs another till. :/

 

[momofdrew]

40,000 goats might make a dent. It really is everywhere. Luckily, the kids and I don't seem to have any reaction to it. My husband is another story. When we lived in California the dust blowing over the poison oak during the Santa Annas would send him to the hospital.

did you know that if you drink the milk for a goat that has eaten poison oak/ivy you will build up a tolerance for it....

 

[Gnome_Czech]

Yesterday I got the old cabinet I decided to use for herbs in place and half filled with material. Just need another round of good soil to go in and I can start my herbs.

Weeded out a large patch of the yard

cut back a big portion of my purple daisies and weeded the walkway that it grows against.

moved around a couple of the compost piles and dig out a bunch of grubs for my birdie babies (I think that is the best part of finding grubs!)

Got most of my ordered seeds and plants in, just need to organize where they are all going

Picked 1/2 a coffee can of snails for my birdie babies

Used bailing twine to tie up the unruly arms of the dragon fruit. It grew so fast it completely destroyed the trellising my husband made for it, so I moved it up against the front fence with the passion fruit. They will have to coexist because there just isn't anywhere elseto put that monster!

 

[897tgigvib]

Today I went to town shopping for garden things. It's 40 miles, a lot of that is hard canyon dirt road.

Got another box of nails, another 7 by 100 feet of netting, another male hose end, 2 markers, NO THERE WAS NO BONE MEAL TO BE FOUND, a battery for my small ole tractor, new chain for my saw, bar oil.

Back to work on my garden tomorrow:

Rake leaves, get a few loads of compost, mount a few more feet of raised bed pole sides. Must keep it sequenced, else getting compost in will be difficult and slow.

If I can fill 2 of the barrels, I can make 2 raised bed walls...barrels first it is. I can also replant 2 of the grapes...

 

[ducks4you]

Yesterday I deep tilled the beds in my orchard. I've been putting stall mess over these spots all winter, and I deep-tilled them to mix with the dirt below.
I also repaired one of my "raised beds", which is really closer to ground level, except that it's 2 1/2' deep from my 2011 work. The middles were sunk. It's the 3rd up from the bottom in this picture.

I shoveled the dirt away from the middle of the sides, then added some wood and a couple of bricks to secure the fix. I also rolled newspaper to help keep it in place.

ALL better!

 

[April Manier]

Finish tilling side and front field
plant 60k in onions
plant entire greenhouse
seed chard, kale, carrots and turnips -- in 2 week intervals for 8 weeks
plant 1/4 acre delicata
start dianthus for fall planting
plant butternuts
put newly planted orchard on drip
get 3 beds of strawberries in
select blueberry variety for planting
side dress garlic
weed garlic
lime garlic
cut back trees on field edge
drop the big poplars
build custom trailer for planting and harvesting
weed mid field barrier and re-mulch
create irrigation plan for "yard" areas
clean out berries around old greenhouse frame and reskin (then we have 2!)
That's just off the top of my head!

OH YA- build goat pen and little barn!