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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 8, 2017 18:36:50 GMT -6
John,
Now, I wish I had planted more of the Daikon Radishes than I did. I've been using them for hog food, so I've really thinned them out. I still have probably over a thousand of them but it's a quarter acre garden, so that's not nearly as many as I'd need to make a difference. Next year, I'll be planting some to leave in the ground all Winter to freeze and rot.
I've done that with turnips before, but freezing didn't kill them. Then, in Spring I had several truckloads of seedy turnips to pull and compost. (Now, that was some stink!!!) That's good for you though, it builds character.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 10, 2017 18:43:33 GMT -6
All I have left in my Fall garden now, are Jerusalem artichokes, and lots of turnips, and radishes. I have a little miniature Shitzu dog that gets so excited when I cook turnip greens, that he starts yapping at me while I'm still cooking.
I always cook my turnip greens in chicken broth with about 1/2 a stick of butter, some salt, pepper, and a little garlic. I thought that's why he liked them so much, but tonight, I ran out of chicken broth and just used water, salt, pepper, garlic, and butter instead.
I spooned him out a small portion to see if he still liked them with no chicken broth, when he ate that, I gave him about a one cup serving of them in his own bowl. It's so much fun to watch him eating turnip greens that it almost made me go pick some more just for the entertainment value.
Chester likes him some turnip greens! He and I are the only ones in the family who will eat them, but we enjoy them a lot!
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Post by john on Nov 12, 2017 16:46:45 GMT -6
In my experiences the radishes are less hardy than the turnips. I have had turnips make it through the winter. However, the radishes are always dead.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 12, 2017 17:42:09 GMT -6
One year, I sowed 3 acres of turnips, thinking they would be good for the horses to graze on in Winter. The horses wouldn't have anything to do with them! The next Spring I had turnips out the ears and most were way bigger than softballs. I didn't have a tractor back then, so I had to mow with my clunky old riding mower. I like to have never chopped all those turnips down so grass could grow again! The turnip roots were so big they would nearly kill the engine. (That was back in the day when riding mowers had 8 hp engines) nowadays the 27 hp mowers they make wouldn't even know they hit a turnip.
Who'da thought horses wouldn't eat turnips? Cows and hogs love them, but I didn't have cows or hogs back then either.
Since killing frost has killed all the green grass this year, I find my neighbor's cows out in my garden about once every week. They probably step on more turnips than they eat. It's very frustrating to have a neighbor with 1,280 acres who doesn't keep the fences mended.
If there was more than just greens out there, I'd have to put my cattle panels back up around my garden. I have them pulled out right now, so I can drive the tractor in and out to plow. If I put the cattle panels back up this time of year, I'd have to take them back out in Spring, so I could lay my rows of Plasticulture again. I guess I'll just sacrifice a few turnips until then.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 13, 2017 14:10:02 GMT -6
I cooked some more turnip greens for Chester this afternoon. When I put them in his bowl, he saw another dog coming and scarfed them up so fast I thought he was going to get choked! Then, I thought, "If you like them that much, I'll give you some of mine too."
When I did, Chester went to scarfing them down again, just like before, except this time the other dog was already standing there sniffing the bowl, as if to say, "What is in there that you're eating?" Sniff, sniff, "That's not food!" Then, she just walked off.
I don't think Chester has to worry about losing his turnip greens to the other dogs.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 15, 2017 22:27:29 GMT -6
This evening, I went out to the garden at dusk, just to sit and relax. I have a lawn chair out there for when the evenings are nice like this. Sometimes, I just sit out there and watch the sun go down. This evening there was a special treat. I saw eleven bluebirds chirping and hopping from row to row chasing the last few grasshoppers of the season who haven't frozen to death yet. The reason I find that so entertaining is that when we first moved here back in 2004, there were no bluebirds here at all. I really missed the bluebirds from my old house in Hulbert, so I started building bluebird houses right away and hanging them in several locations around our house. When the first pair of bluebirds came here to nest the next Spring, I was really excited, but after watching them for several weeks, a big black snake climbed the elm tree that it was hanging in and ate the babies before they got their fledgling wing feathers. It was a whole year before I had any more bluebird babies... When the adults came back, I had moved the birdhouse to a better location, in an old oak tree that was too big around for a snake to climb. Now, after thirteen years of better bluebird boxes, I've had so many bluebirds hatch out here, that most of the adults I now see were actually raised in my own backyard. They are nearly tame from seeing me check on their babies all Summer every year and rarely fly away when I'm around. This evening, I watched them hopping branch to branch on my freeze killed plants, just a few feet from my chair. They don't even fly when I talk to them, they just turn their heads and look at me like I'm part of their family. Between bluebirds hopping between Roselle branches and bees happily buzzing in my hive, it was a really peaceful end to a fairly warm Autumn day. Things like that make all the work worthwhile.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 21, 2017 1:19:10 GMT -6
Fall Harvest... Those who know me are aware that I've had a debilitating case of acute Asthma that seems only to get worse with every passing season. I take breathing treatments every 4 to 6 hours around the clock. Over the last couple years, I've been reading about the respiratory health benefits of using Rabbit Tobacco to treat Asthma. The Latin Name of this herb is: (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium). I've wanted to try this herb, but have had little success in finding more than half a dozen poor specimens in any given year. This week, however, I managed to spot a treasure trove of these plants that have grown wild, alongside a few miles of our surrounding County roads. I guess everything this year hit just right to cause a flush of growth within this species. Though the weather lately has been too wet to make a harvest feasible. This afternoon, I finally caught a break in the weather while the plants were dried by high winds, so I could go gather some of them to make a pillow... Some of the specimens I gathered were over 3 feet tall, with many curly leaves; some as long as 3" inches. The blossom heads were spectacular! I left plenty there for seed in each location as I came across it, only taking what I needed. There were enough of these dried plants growing along the 10-mile trek of dirt road to fill a 27' cubic foot refrigerator packing box full of plant matter. I gathered about half that amount. When I got home, I used 12 ounces of the flowers to stuff a pillow casing that my Wife was busily sewing from pillow ticking while I was plucking the tiny, maple syrup scented flowers. You wouldn't believe how many plants that took. or just how many hours it took to pluck 12 ounces of those blossoms. I saved the stems and leaves to make tea, and to make a few tinctures to share with friends. The tinctures are used for fighting viral infections in Winters to come. How many people can say they actually have a full-size rabbit tobacco asthma pillow, not just a sachet or an herb-infused insert. I've seen rabbit tobacco for sale this year, listed for as much as $12.40 per 1/8 ounce. www.pennherb.com/rabbit-tobacco-leaves-whole-1-239W1 (At that price, you would pay $99.20 per ounce) making my 12-ounce pillow come in at just over $1,190.00 Suffice to say, I found over a pound of this herb in one enjoyable afternoon. Proof that a little knowledge of the woods can save a homesteader a lot of money over his or her lifetime, not to mention the inward satisfaction found in gathering your own herbs. God is good to me! And I am grateful for his provision. This will definitely go in my blessings journal. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Pseudognaphalium_obtusifolium_003.JPG/440px-Pseudognaphalium_obtusifolium_003.JPGYou can read more about this plant at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudognaphalium_obtusifolium
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 25, 2017 5:33:32 GMT -6
Today is Saturday, November 25th. We are celebrating our Thanksgiving today because our kids all had to work on Thursday (the real Thanksgiving) to satisfy the greed of Corporate America.
No matter... we are making the best of it. I am up early this morning, smoking two turkeys at once, plus a rack of pork ribs, and a few pounds of venison killed in our garden recently. It was a 4 point buck and is very tender eating.
I've picked some fresh turnips from the garden to be stuffed later this morning, and have also picked some turnip greens to boil with turkey broth, salt, pepper garlic, and butter. I am about to slice sweet potatoes to start baking, and my Wife is cooking down pumpkins from our garden, to make pies. I have dehydrated Roselle and Rabbit Tobacco for making teas. I have freshly dug Jerusalem Artichokes, freshly picked pecans, and freshly pulled turnips to garnish a green, Waldorf salad, using our own apples and pears.
It's going to be a good Thanksgiving.
Thank you, God, for the bounty of our Fall garden.
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Post by macmex on Nov 25, 2017 6:53:01 GMT -6
Sounds great Ron! We've been celebrating since Thursday. Been great to have some of our loved ones over for a few days!
George
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 25, 2017 7:14:05 GMT -6
George, This is my favorite time of year for the reasons you just stated. Not to mention, the weather lately has been beautiful. We spent the better part of the day sitting outside watching the kids play in the leaf pile and just enjoying the sunshine. what a great day to be outside!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 1, 2017 4:21:40 GMT -6
I made some deer stew from my garden last night, using carrots, onions, potatoes, and deer meat. It sure was good to be eating the deer that ate my garden this Summer!
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Post by macmex on Dec 1, 2017 6:09:53 GMT -6
That sounds so good! Back by my pond I have a "squirrel tree." Actually it's a native pecan, but I've harvested far more squirrels from it than pecans. They ALWAYS beat me to the nuts. So, I content myself with harvesting squirrels, from time to time.
George
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 1, 2017 22:48:09 GMT -6
George,
Your squirrel tree sounds like my garden ... That's how I am with the deer. I feed them all Summer, they feed me all Winter. Except they always seem to eat more than I do. I've seen as many as thirteen deer out there at once, nine does and four fawns. I've lost as many as 10 rows of okra seedlings in one night. My rows are 150' feet long. (That's about a quarter mile of okra.) Not to mention all the rows of cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and tomato plants I've lost. They don't even eat the tomato plants, they just pull them up by the roots and spit them out, then on to the next tomato plant ... I guess they're slow learners though because they'll pull several transplants per night, sometimes even after the cages are put on.
The first time I ever used raised beds with Plasticulture and drip irrigation, I found about 1,700 deer tracks punched in the fresh plastic-covered rows the very next day. There was nothing planted yet, just freshly laid Plasticulture all in nice, straight, white rows. I guess they just couldn't resist running down each row, like little kids jumping on the bed.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 2, 2017 13:23:36 GMT -6
Today is December 2, 2017. It is 72 degrees (Tee-shirt weather). My honey bees are loving this! I don't know where they are finding pollen, but some of them are coming back loaded with it.
There are so many blackbirds flying across the pasture that it reminds me of the Passenger Pigeon stories my Great-Grandpa used to tell me. There were so many blackbirds flying at one time, that I couldn't see the herd of cattle that were grazing behind them. It took several minutes for them to pass.
I picked some really nice Diakon Radishes this morning to feed my hogs. None were under 18" inches long and had 2 1/2" to 3" inches of girth. I also picked some softball sized turnips to give away at Church tomorrow.
I have a bumper crop of Jerusalem Artichokes this year. They did really well!
I have a red oak and pecan fire going in the smoker and just now brought in some smoked hot links for lunch. What a great day to be outside in the Fall garden watching the bees and eating turnips!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 8, 2017 19:38:42 GMT -6
Today is December 8th, 2017. It was 8 degrees this morning. That low temperature was sustained from 2:30 am until 7:30 am, so, approximately, five hours of severe freeze damage occurred. My Daikon Radishes are history! The portion that is above ground was just mush at dusk this evening. The greens are fried. The parts underground will be salvageable as hog feed for a few days by digging with a spade. The radishes cannot be pulled out by the tops because the top parts are destroyed to mush by freezing.
The turnips took a hit to the greens, but will probably survive? Some are beyond softball size, but due to the earlier dry spell we had for 45 days from late July through mid-September, most are baseball size or smaller.
My Broccoli still looks fair, though the broccoli heads suffered light burning that appears as light brown patches across the face of each floret.
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