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Post by macmex on May 30, 2021 5:21:21 GMT -6
Hope you feel better real soon, Bon. We have a lot going on yesterday. I finished raising one of two 90' "hills" I need for planting my sweet potatoes. Since I haven't had time to do that much digging, I am a bit out of shape for that kind off work, so I really felt it by evening. The cool temps sure helped me, though.
Jerreth was such a sweet heart. She told me I needed to garden. She, on the other hand grabbed our daughter and went to work changing out our hot water heater. Of course, no matter how well one plans such a project, this always involves several extra trips to the hardware store to by stuff for "adjustments." By 7 pm, last night I had finished chores and she had nearly finished the water heater. I offered to help with the last few details.... We finished around 10 pm. I'm so grateful that the Lord has given me a "handy wife." I'm not as good at these things as is she.
Still, we got hot showers last night, after a productive day.
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Post by chrysanthemum on May 30, 2021 19:44:59 GMT -6
Bon, I’m sorry that you’ve been unwell and that you are facing grass invading your garden area. That is hard. I’m glad you have the poppies to cheer you, though. I remember going to my garden one day early this spring to find that cutworms had chopped off a number of my young lettuce seedlings. I think I said aloud, “Why do I even try to garden?” I turned around and noticed my first potato plant popping up from the soil. And it hit me that all the hard work is worth it because of the joy of seeing that new life spring up as a plant starts to grow. The food is a nice benefit, too, or the beauty in the case of poppies.
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Post by macmex on Jun 2, 2021 6:04:05 GMT -6
I know the feeling. We're still eating sweet potato and pumpkin from last year. Have new Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkins growing now, though I want to plant more. Am "getting there" for planting sweet potatoes. This year, if all goes well, we'll have 180' of sweet potatoes.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 3, 2021 13:51:04 GMT -6
Can you tell me more about Cooper’s Runner Beans? I tried a quick search but only got a brief mention on a UK site, and I’m not sure that’s what you mean.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 4, 2021 5:42:40 GMT -6
Thanks, Bon. I just found the old thread on Cooper’s Running Snap, and yes, it looks just like my Rattlesnake. I grew them for the first time last year as a fall crop, and they did great and were the family’s favorite for flavor. I’m growing them now, and we had our first meal of them this week. I’m hoping to save seed.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 6, 2021 15:39:00 GMT -6
Beautiful pictures, Bon, except for that last one with the grass growing around your corn. We were out pulling grass from around our young lime tree this week since the ground was pretty soft. There’s so much, and we’ve done multiple layers of cardboard and wood chips, and it just keeps coming back. We’ll keep pulling. At least the lime tree can breathe a bit now.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 15, 2021 21:15:34 GMT -6
Bon,
When I worked the crews at Jess Dunn State Prison, we ran tomato vines up string trellises that were strung between two 8 foot high clothesline poles basically. There was a main, heavy, wire running the full length of the garden, one wire for every two rows of tomatoes. The tomato vines were trellised to the main wire by lighter hay twine type material that formed an upside-down 'V' so one could walk down the center to do the trellising. String trellis is very doable. It just takes a fair amount of labor to keep up with it. Labor was about all we had, so we made do with that. Old T-shirt material sure comes in handy for bundling the vines into place. Second hand stores are a good source for things like that, as they usually have a rag business going on the side that you can glean from if you ask nicely, usually in a semi-truck trailer parked out back.
Take heart, the good thing about weeds growing from seedy hay is that they are easily pulled. Wheat straw doesn't harbor weed seeds, but sometimes harbors Glyphosate, so use caution. I think George lost some plants one year due to weed killer in some hay that he used on his garden? It has been some years ago, so memory is hazy on that, but it seems like he posted photos that season.
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Post by macmex on Jun 16, 2021 4:23:44 GMT -6
Yes, I dealt with herbicide contamination from hay and the problem persisted about 4 years, in some parts of the garden!
Here's a link to an article I wrote on it. By the way, in August, probably, Homesteading Edu is going away. We've just lost too much money on that venture.
Herbicide Contamination in the Garden!
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Post by hedgeapple on Jun 21, 2021 21:04:56 GMT -6
New neighbor. Not even a month in, instant problems. I hate this world.
Uh oh... What's the deal? Dogs barking? Loud music?
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 22, 2021 11:51:11 GMT -6
Bon,
I think you and I might have the same neighbors? It took me about 10 years to pick up all of their garbage. I finally just leased their land from them, so that I could legally clean it up, mostly, so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore. Now, it's a 4-acre campground and a nice picnic area.
The only pumpkin I grew successfully on that land last year was one that was trellised on a chainlink fence. For the same reason too, because of a dog ...
Here's the story: We took in a stray dog two years ago, as a half-grown, abused pup. I'm guessing he was about a year old? He had a broken or chewed-off nylon ski rope tied directly around his neck (no collar) just a rope about two or three feet long. He had been wandering the woods and dirt roads around here for a couple of weeks before we realized the rope had grown into his neck.
I think he had actually just wandered into our yard that day, looking for a place to lay down to die. His head was hanging down, his tail was drooping, his fur had no sheen to it, he was starving, his head was swollen with infection ... Since he was a stray, I approached him with caution. He was a big, black dog, obviously part bulldog, part who knows what? I didn't know if he would bite. It turned out that he was very docile and very friendly too, but was also very sick and weak. When I saw that the rope was so tight around his neck, I decided to cut it off with a pocket knife to give him some relief. When I found it was too tight to get a blade under, I went to get diagonal cutters out of the toolbox to cut it.
Once I had cut the rope in half, it just hung there, rather than falling off freely. Not thinking, I pulled on it and the poor dog took off yelping in pain. That's when I discovered that the rope had grown into his throat along the bottom side where I couldn't see.
When I pulled on the rope, not knowing it was still attached, he had taken off yelping across the woods and laid down, curled up under a tree, trying to hide. So, I left him there while I went inside to get my Vet supplies. When I returned, he just cowled in place as I began doctoring him and working to free the rope from his stinky, matted-up, puss-infected neck. He was a champ to trust me to do that to him, being how we had never formally met. He was more afraid of me at that point than I initially had been afraid of him.
After I got the rope removed, I sterilized the area that was involved and bandaged him up. I put him in the barn to keep him clean and treated him with antibiotics for about a week. Gradually, he recovered and began to put on weight. (He's actually kind of fat now). His hair got back its sheen and he began to show some interest in playing as he got better. The only trouble with that was every time I bent over to pick up a ball to throw it; he thought I was picking up a rock and would take off yelping. Apparently, he had experience with being chased off by someone throwing rocks. It took several weeks to get him to realize we wouldn't hurt him and that a ball was actually fun to play with. Eventually, he looked forward to seeing me reach down to pick up a ball to throw it for him.
Within a few days of discovering that tennis balls and old softballs were fun toys, he began to collect them from around the neighborhood, quickly accumulating a sizable pile of old footballs, tennis balls, softballs, deflated basketballs, and a few green cantaloupes, green tomatoes, and small green pumpkins from my garden... At that point, anything round and small enough to fit into his mouth was fair game!
Eventually, I had only one pumpkin left. It was an Old-Timey Cornfield pumpkin that had climbed a chainlink fence. (I guess he just missed seeing that one) because he could have reached it if he wanted to. Being how that was the only one I had left, I built a wooden Tee-support for it out of old pallet boards. It grew all the rest of the season, perched atop of a 1x6, and ripened in time to harvest before the killing frost got it.
I had never tried trellising a pumpkin before, but now that I know it can be done, I can see how it sure would be a space saver. Not to mention a pumpkin growing up off the ground like that is just enjoyable to tend.
The dog's name is Peppy. He loves playing catch and gets along very well with our chickens, our geese, and our cats. He's a really happy, well-mannered dog with a very soft heart. It's really ironic that he's the one people are afraid of when they drive up and see him laying on our stoop.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 22, 2021 22:11:14 GMT -6
Wow! That's a lot of plastic!
I use plastic like that to cover our cars in Winter, if ever I hear an ice storm or a snowstorm is coming. Then, the next morning, after the storm has passed, I just pick up the plastic sheeting; shake off the ice off, fold it neatly, and put it back in the barn for next time. I cover my tractor with it too.
Once, I even took a couple of 2x4s and built a really nice temporary windbreak from the huge piece of plastic sheeting to block a very cutting North wind while I was busy under the hood, changing the water pump. I'm telling you! that plastic sheeting was much appreciated that day!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 24, 2021 23:30:43 GMT -6
Cool beans!
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 25, 2021 15:49:12 GMT -6
32 day from germination for that bean! Wow!
I love how you’re covering the hutch with natural shade. It will be great when the tendrils start going sideways, too.
I’m having a hard time remembering cool soil at this point. I guess it was all the rain you got the past couple months, concentrated in that one spot as roof run off. I’m glad the young plants did so well despite that. They’re looking great.
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Post by rdback on Jun 26, 2021 8:17:03 GMT -6
Beans looking good Bon!
Like how your utilizing that space. The string "trellis" looks like it's working great. Seems like I remember Moose did(does) the same thing, but I could be mistaken.
Thanks for sharing the photos!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 27, 2021 14:12:05 GMT -6
I'll bet you could use an old T-shirt to tie a sling for a pumpkin hanging on a fence, kind of like I see babies in a belly sling or whatever those things are called?
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