Still dripping wet from the shower, I heave a deep sigh of satisfaction at a day well spent.
Came back from farm #2 about 2 hours ago and there was a glorious rainbow sundog shining in the sky as I drew close to the bottom of the driveway. Dad was putting the final touches on the irrigation system back here at the old farm. So lovely to have water running, dripping, spraying, trickling, soaking, oozing, misting and gurggling again.
We started the day with weed control at farm #2, hoeing the corn and spraying the walk ways. We returned here and I sprayed the fruit trees with boron and trace minerals while dad leveled the pumpkin and late melon fields. Then after a short brake we returned to plant corn only to find that this years batch of seed was a larger size so we needed to re-grind one of our old sets of seed plates to accommodate the larger seeds. After several hours of struggling with that equipment we finally got another planting of corn in. Headed home for dinner then.
Topped the day off with a return trip to farm #2 where I've been forced to fight off another attack of two-striped melon beetles with Sevin. Hate using that stuff but it is either that or completely lose 2500+ melon plants. I pulled an extra little trick and included my own special formula of trace minerals and vitamins in the spray so that should help the plants stay extra healthy. Which will also mean better fruit with more vitamins in them for my customers.
Well, I'm tired and have neither great wisdom nor refined knowledge to impart tonight. Hope life is treating you well.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Heavy dreams
A deep and portentous slumber ruled my night. The only dream I can remember well is being chased by a disgusting bear-like creature through a junk yard and into a darkly cast cityscape where humanoid figures with twisted limbs ran pell-mell beneath flickering lights. I got into a small pickup, trying to get/drive away but of course vehicles never run right in dreams. I Gotta stop watching television.
My world is enveloped in fog this morning. A dome of featureless near-white grayness lowers the sky to just overhead making everything seem quite and close. The temp is 42, comfortably chilly for me.
Happy Memorial day to all my fellow Americans. May your barbecued hot dogs be plump and juicy and your beer cold and foamy.
To the rest of the world I wish tranquility and freedom.
My world is enveloped in fog this morning. A dome of featureless near-white grayness lowers the sky to just overhead making everything seem quite and close. The temp is 42, comfortably chilly for me.
Happy Memorial day to all my fellow Americans. May your barbecued hot dogs be plump and juicy and your beer cold and foamy.
To the rest of the world I wish tranquility and freedom.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Working Sunday
But not terribly much. Finished breaking out the last of the ground today. Plowing that is. Will use the cultivator tomorrow to re-rip the top 2 fields and knock down the plowing furrows then bring the drag bucket home from farm #2 and smooth everything off (well, dad will probably do that part, it's his favorite)
While he is doing that I'll be spraying the fruit trees to prevent fungus and insect infestations. Will also throw a little trace mineral in there to help the trees be really healthy.
Later in the week we will be planting the top field dad will be finishing tomorrow for a later harvest of melons, cantaloupe and our pumpkin/winter squash set. Really only need one planting of pumpkin and winter squash. I've got some extra special pumpkins for this year, should be really fun, my own breed dad named "Witch Kissed" (trademark Savage Creek Farms 2006) and that reminds me of a dream I had last night. I dreamt I was picking some of my pumpkins, only they were like really huge and shaped sort of like papaya and they had really smooth orange skin. Weird.
Hope life is treating you well.
While he is doing that I'll be spraying the fruit trees to prevent fungus and insect infestations. Will also throw a little trace mineral in there to help the trees be really healthy.
Later in the week we will be planting the top field dad will be finishing tomorrow for a later harvest of melons, cantaloupe and our pumpkin/winter squash set. Really only need one planting of pumpkin and winter squash. I've got some extra special pumpkins for this year, should be really fun, my own breed dad named "Witch Kissed" (trademark Savage Creek Farms 2006) and that reminds me of a dream I had last night. I dreamt I was picking some of my pumpkins, only they were like really huge and shaped sort of like papaya and they had really smooth orange skin. Weird.
Hope life is treating you well.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
How to : planting corn
Having seen a couple people drop by looking for gardening advice on corn (shame on them for not leaving their questions in the comments!) It is time for another addition of "Advice from the Savage Farmer"
Today's Subject: Corn.
We plant our corn in rows of alternating distance: 2 rows at 2 foot spacing and then 5 feet of space followed by another 2 rows at 2 foot spacing etc. This facilitates weed control and harvest. The home grower might want a standard spacing of 3-4 feet between each row. Seed in the row is spaced about 9-10 inches apart. This is a little sparse by some standards, certainly so by seed corn standards, but we find it helps produce a large ear with lots of sugar. Seed should be placed at a depth of about 1 inch depending on soil consistency. Heavy soils such as clays might require a shallower planting while sandy, loamy or pumicey soils might benefit from an extra 1/8-1/4 inch. Soil temperature is also an issue; cooler soil temps might require a decrease in planting depth while high temps which might dry out the soil to the seed depth would necessitate deeper planting. 1 and 1/2 inches should be about the max depth usable although I have had deeper plantings which still managed to make it to the surface (an accident involving my depth gauge caused that...) Soil temps below 60 degrees greatly reduce sprout.
On the subject of weeding: weed early and often. Use of a burner to remove tiny weed sprouts prior to corn emergence is very helpful.
Corn is a voracious nitrogen feeder. Use a full spectrum fertilizer early (16-16-16 or miracle grow is acceptable) and a later feeding of high nitrogen fertilizer such as Urea (if you must be all organic) or sulfate of ammonia (if you're intelligent and practical) just before the corn is knee high will lead to wonderful growth and large, sweet ears.
Good luck and good gardening.
Today's Subject: Corn.
We plant our corn in rows of alternating distance: 2 rows at 2 foot spacing and then 5 feet of space followed by another 2 rows at 2 foot spacing etc. This facilitates weed control and harvest. The home grower might want a standard spacing of 3-4 feet between each row. Seed in the row is spaced about 9-10 inches apart. This is a little sparse by some standards, certainly so by seed corn standards, but we find it helps produce a large ear with lots of sugar. Seed should be placed at a depth of about 1 inch depending on soil consistency. Heavy soils such as clays might require a shallower planting while sandy, loamy or pumicey soils might benefit from an extra 1/8-1/4 inch. Soil temperature is also an issue; cooler soil temps might require a decrease in planting depth while high temps which might dry out the soil to the seed depth would necessitate deeper planting. 1 and 1/2 inches should be about the max depth usable although I have had deeper plantings which still managed to make it to the surface (an accident involving my depth gauge caused that...) Soil temps below 60 degrees greatly reduce sprout.
On the subject of weeding: weed early and often. Use of a burner to remove tiny weed sprouts prior to corn emergence is very helpful.
Corn is a voracious nitrogen feeder. Use a full spectrum fertilizer early (16-16-16 or miracle grow is acceptable) and a later feeding of high nitrogen fertilizer such as Urea (if you must be all organic) or sulfate of ammonia (if you're intelligent and practical) just before the corn is knee high will lead to wonderful growth and large, sweet ears.
Good luck and good gardening.
Call me Mr. Plow
Just done with a spot of lunch and about to head back out to do some plowing if the rain doesn't dump on me first. Today has gone well, lots of bush-hog work and ripping of soil done so far. Also some morning clean-up of the work area and front yard.
Hope your day is flowing with the rhythm.
Hope your day is flowing with the rhythm.
Friday, May 26, 2006
4 osprey day
Four vociferous osprey greeted us when we arrived at the 2nd farm this morning. Wind and rain showers lashed us throughout the day but we persisted and managed to finish all the melon transplanting we will be doing there. What a great feeling to have all that finally behind us. One row of mulch is left for transplanting onions into and the last 2 rows of mulch will be planted to seedless watermelons and summer squash as soon as the weather turns warm again.
Sparky has been a little out of sorts since mom left. He isn't used to being on the go all day long with us fellas and his social doggy mind is a little confused by the absent person.
This cool weather is a tremendous benefit to our transplants. The tomatoes, peppers and melons are all taking a strong setting into the ground now and you can already see fresh green growth. If the hot weather doesn't return too fast, which it looks like most likely will be the case, then they should make a smooth healthy transition into vigorous growth.
Wishing you all a healthy, happy day and hope you can share with all those around you.
Sparky has been a little out of sorts since mom left. He isn't used to being on the go all day long with us fellas and his social doggy mind is a little confused by the absent person.
This cool weather is a tremendous benefit to our transplants. The tomatoes, peppers and melons are all taking a strong setting into the ground now and you can already see fresh green growth. If the hot weather doesn't return too fast, which it looks like most likely will be the case, then they should make a smooth healthy transition into vigorous growth.
Wishing you all a healthy, happy day and hope you can share with all those around you.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
More transplanting- eggplant, peppers and melons
Put in 4 new types of eggplant today should be really interesting; from parts of Asia and India. Also planted a big variety of peppers including Habanero, Thai, Serano, Yellow Bells, and Pablano.
The triploid (seedless) watermelon seed arrived today, red and yellow varieties which we will plant tomorrow. I've desperately got to put an order together for more standard watermelon seed from Chesmore seed co. if only I can compel my tired self to do so.
Also planted 8 more rows of sweet corn today, just a bit to sort of stop gap during this cold weather. It's hard to control weeds during rainy weather so we're keeping this field to a minimum while we wait for better germination temps and sun for weed control.
My good bud and classmate Mike Light might be able to stop by this weekend. Hope he doesn't mind squalor as I have been way too busy to clean up for the last 3 weeks or so. It isn't really squalor by other people's standards but I prefer a much tidier place than I have at the moment. He'll have to focus on my sterling personality and ignore my ambiance.
Our neighbors have decided to sell their house. I had heard rumors to this effect but when the sign went up a few days back I was sort of thrown for a loop. Wild! Should be interesting having new people in there. Hope I get some cool folk my own age that I can hang out with. It'll have to be someone wealthy 'cause they are asking 925,000$ whew! a bit steep for me. It is a really nice big 2 story house with basement and 7 acres of land located only 3 miles from an I-5 on-ramp. Housing prices here have been totally insane for the last couple of years but I really wonder if they'll get that much for it. I'll try to get a pic up here for everyone to see.
Wishing you a delightful day and a nifty night.
The triploid (seedless) watermelon seed arrived today, red and yellow varieties which we will plant tomorrow. I've desperately got to put an order together for more standard watermelon seed from Chesmore seed co. if only I can compel my tired self to do so.
Also planted 8 more rows of sweet corn today, just a bit to sort of stop gap during this cold weather. It's hard to control weeds during rainy weather so we're keeping this field to a minimum while we wait for better germination temps and sun for weed control.
My good bud and classmate Mike Light might be able to stop by this weekend. Hope he doesn't mind squalor as I have been way too busy to clean up for the last 3 weeks or so. It isn't really squalor by other people's standards but I prefer a much tidier place than I have at the moment. He'll have to focus on my sterling personality and ignore my ambiance.
Our neighbors have decided to sell their house. I had heard rumors to this effect but when the sign went up a few days back I was sort of thrown for a loop. Wild! Should be interesting having new people in there. Hope I get some cool folk my own age that I can hang out with. It'll have to be someone wealthy 'cause they are asking 925,000$ whew! a bit steep for me. It is a really nice big 2 story house with basement and 7 acres of land located only 3 miles from an I-5 on-ramp. Housing prices here have been totally insane for the last couple of years but I really wonder if they'll get that much for it. I'll try to get a pic up here for everyone to see.
Wishing you a delightful day and a nifty night.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Why won't congress do as we ask?
I was speaking with Anna down at the library and we got onto the subject of illegal immigration. I mentioned the article at TCS daily "Immigration's 15 minutes. Why Now?" and her response was classic "because illegal is illegal and it isn't right now, we've been mad for a long time" She went on to make a statement which I have heard, read and felt again and again. When I mentioned I had written my senators and congressman she said she had too and then in exactly the frustrated tone I have felt she asked "We've told them, well 85% of us or more have told them, again and again what we would like done. Close the borders, send the illegals home either by cutting off their jobs or rounding them up and bussing them out. Why won't they listen to us?!"
Why indeed? What political power game are they playing behind the scenes which forces them to ignore the wishes of such an enormous majority? Even the heavily slanted polls of the worst liberal mainstream media outlets show that an overwhelming majority demand a closing of the border and an end to unrestricted illegal immigration.
And what does the media offer us? More instructions on what we are supposed to be thinking about instead. I'm getting so tired of hearing this stridently obvious dichotomy between what all the news channels keep saying we are thinking, feeling and doing and the actual thinking, feeling and doing that is going on out here in the real world. None of us give a (r^p about Katie Couric or the Duke Lacrosse team. Neither do all of us think we're losing the war in Iraq. These are blatant lies and distractions being created by the media and some congresspeople and being fed out to the population on the assumption that this is still the 70s and they can still control popular opinion in this manner. It barely worked in the 70s and today the diversity of information sources prevents any sort of the cohesion needed to make such an approach affective.
Some of the things which I am interested in: What are in those papers the FBI took from Rep. William Jefferson that has Congress so freaked out? And if the Abramoff scandal was sooo important to all those liberal bloggers and media types out there then why isn't the Brett Pfeifer and Jackson case equally important? Why if the Duke Lacrosse team story is so big has the story of Teharri Aziz been all but forgotten? (he ran an SUV into a crowd of students if you don't recall) Why is it that we get reminded every day that we have lost 2400+ soldiers in Iraq over a three year period but no one reminds us we lost 3000+ innocent civilians in 20 minutes on the morning of September 11th? That should be at the top of every newspaper at least once a week.
Why indeed? What political power game are they playing behind the scenes which forces them to ignore the wishes of such an enormous majority? Even the heavily slanted polls of the worst liberal mainstream media outlets show that an overwhelming majority demand a closing of the border and an end to unrestricted illegal immigration.
And what does the media offer us? More instructions on what we are supposed to be thinking about instead. I'm getting so tired of hearing this stridently obvious dichotomy between what all the news channels keep saying we are thinking, feeling and doing and the actual thinking, feeling and doing that is going on out here in the real world. None of us give a (r^p about Katie Couric or the Duke Lacrosse team. Neither do all of us think we're losing the war in Iraq. These are blatant lies and distractions being created by the media and some congresspeople and being fed out to the population on the assumption that this is still the 70s and they can still control popular opinion in this manner. It barely worked in the 70s and today the diversity of information sources prevents any sort of the cohesion needed to make such an approach affective.
Some of the things which I am interested in: What are in those papers the FBI took from Rep. William Jefferson that has Congress so freaked out? And if the Abramoff scandal was sooo important to all those liberal bloggers and media types out there then why isn't the Brett Pfeifer and Jackson case equally important? Why if the Duke Lacrosse team story is so big has the story of Teharri Aziz been all but forgotten? (he ran an SUV into a crowd of students if you don't recall) Why is it that we get reminded every day that we have lost 2400+ soldiers in Iraq over a three year period but no one reminds us we lost 3000+ innocent civilians in 20 minutes on the morning of September 11th? That should be at the top of every newspaper at least once a week.
3 more rows
1 row of watermelon and 2 of assorted melons planted today. Would have gotten more done but dad had to run mom to the airport around noon.
I got quite a bit finished in the grapes. If the deer will lay off their predation there should be a nice crop of red suffolk this year. I've began taking steps to discourage them.
Water finally got in the ditch yesterday! thank goodness. What a change in attitude that makes. Now we can finish prepping fields here at the old farm and begin setting up the irrigation system.
Wishing you a great day.
I got quite a bit finished in the grapes. If the deer will lay off their predation there should be a nice crop of red suffolk this year. I've began taking steps to discourage them.
Water finally got in the ditch yesterday! thank goodness. What a change in attitude that makes. Now we can finish prepping fields here at the old farm and begin setting up the irrigation system.
Wishing you a great day.
Mid-week transitions
Mom's heading for Kansas today. Will be gone for about 2 weeks.
We were supposed to plant corn today but the ground is too wet and cold so we'll put it off a day at a time until conditions are right. Things might mellow out today and tomorrow so I think we'll be back on track shortly. The trade off is getting the rest of the peppers, eggplants, melons, summer squash and cukes planted in a timely manner.
Several strange dreams last night parts of which I feel were "exterior forces" and others which reflect some sort of angst. I dreamt that some teenagers found out our neighbors were not home while they try to sell their house and that they built a huge bonfire in their back field. One of the kids threw a burning branch into the back of my blue chevy pickup which was loaded with boxes and it burned everything but the back wheels and the cab (an obvious impossibility). The dream went through a hazy transition and some weeks had passed or something, my pickup was gone but my niece, dad and I were in the yard besides the orchard and some crazy hicks in a truck came driving down the irrigation ditch (also impossible) and tried to drive around the back of the south barn which they crashed into instead. Huge chunks of truck parts went flying through the air as I scrambled to call 911 on my cellphone. One piece was a huge gear sprocket about 4 feet tall that would've weighed in over a thousand pounds. It rolled towards my niece; I had a sense of dread but when it reached her she grabbed it and just pushed it away. She's a good athlete but that was like the third impossibility.
Once more the dream realm serves up strange irrelevancies.
This morning I will be chopping the fresh blackberry growth that has returned in the vineyard. Unfortunately we weren't able to finish using round-up on every row before the grapes came out of dormancy. So I'll be string-trimming the rest several more times this season to keep those dastardly thorn monsters from taking over.
Wishing you a profitable, educational day with three full moments of natural glory to distract and humble you.
We were supposed to plant corn today but the ground is too wet and cold so we'll put it off a day at a time until conditions are right. Things might mellow out today and tomorrow so I think we'll be back on track shortly. The trade off is getting the rest of the peppers, eggplants, melons, summer squash and cukes planted in a timely manner.
Several strange dreams last night parts of which I feel were "exterior forces" and others which reflect some sort of angst. I dreamt that some teenagers found out our neighbors were not home while they try to sell their house and that they built a huge bonfire in their back field. One of the kids threw a burning branch into the back of my blue chevy pickup which was loaded with boxes and it burned everything but the back wheels and the cab (an obvious impossibility). The dream went through a hazy transition and some weeks had passed or something, my pickup was gone but my niece, dad and I were in the yard besides the orchard and some crazy hicks in a truck came driving down the irrigation ditch (also impossible) and tried to drive around the back of the south barn which they crashed into instead. Huge chunks of truck parts went flying through the air as I scrambled to call 911 on my cellphone. One piece was a huge gear sprocket about 4 feet tall that would've weighed in over a thousand pounds. It rolled towards my niece; I had a sense of dread but when it reached her she grabbed it and just pushed it away. She's a good athlete but that was like the third impossibility.
Once more the dream realm serves up strange irrelevancies.
This morning I will be chopping the fresh blackberry growth that has returned in the vineyard. Unfortunately we weren't able to finish using round-up on every row before the grapes came out of dormancy. So I'll be string-trimming the rest several more times this season to keep those dastardly thorn monsters from taking over.
Wishing you a profitable, educational day with three full moments of natural glory to distract and humble you.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Maw of the Storm
We were just finishing up the deer fence around our melon/tomato/pepper field when the showers started. The wind set in and the sky began to turn grey, then dark blue. As we tightened the last wire and then drove the tractor towards the equipment area the down pour hit in earnest. Dad and I quickly covered the motor on the spray rig and ran for the car. What a feeling to just escape the teeth of the storm and then watch it unfold into a vicious cloud burst as we drove for home. Our hair and clothing soaked we made one last dash into the house to be greeted by Sparky.
Last night I had one dream which stood out in my mind. I was in a small storage area/lean-to or wood shed looking at some apple boxes full of the usual personal possessions you might find stored in apple boxes. I suddenly noticed a large green plant growing in the open end of the building. It was a huge specimen of Horsetail, Equisetum which unlike most of its species had huge branching arms. As I got close to it the wind picked up and the thing thrashed at me. I studied it for a few seconds noticing large, strange globules near the tips of its branches. I grabbed on to inspect it further and could feel the tough fibrous quality which equisetum has. I tugged on of the unusual globules and pulled it loose from the plant which continued to thrash in the wind, scouring my skin with its fibrous fronds. I broke open the fleshy sphere and studied the contents which looked much like a broken open seaweed pod. Juicy and translucent with a J shaped groove or hollow inside.
Don't know why that dream stuck with me. Probably because of the utter foreignness of the giant equisetum plant.
Wishing you a pleasant evening and a night full of restful slumber and playful dreams.
Last night I had one dream which stood out in my mind. I was in a small storage area/lean-to or wood shed looking at some apple boxes full of the usual personal possessions you might find stored in apple boxes. I suddenly noticed a large green plant growing in the open end of the building. It was a huge specimen of Horsetail, Equisetum which unlike most of its species had huge branching arms. As I got close to it the wind picked up and the thing thrashed at me. I studied it for a few seconds noticing large, strange globules near the tips of its branches. I grabbed on to inspect it further and could feel the tough fibrous quality which equisetum has. I tugged on of the unusual globules and pulled it loose from the plant which continued to thrash in the wind, scouring my skin with its fibrous fronds. I broke open the fleshy sphere and studied the contents which looked much like a broken open seaweed pod. Juicy and translucent with a J shaped groove or hollow inside.
Don't know why that dream stuck with me. Probably because of the utter foreignness of the giant equisetum plant.
Wishing you a pleasant evening and a night full of restful slumber and playful dreams.
Good news the liberals don't like us to know
Real Clear Politics has an article about all the good news happening in the world today and I found it a very refreshing read. I feel very vindicated in my doubt of the ongoing negative campaign by media, liberal activists and narrow-minded lefty academicians.
Could it be that our president isn't such a slouch after all? Could it be that we Americans aren't to blame for all the worlds ills? The lefties and islamists gnash their teeth while holding out their hands to enjoy all the benefits of this truth.
Could it be that our president isn't such a slouch after all? Could it be that we Americans aren't to blame for all the worlds ills? The lefties and islamists gnash their teeth while holding out their hands to enjoy all the benefits of this truth.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Education and agriculture
An old farmer works extra hard to make sure his son can go to college.
After the first year his boy returns home looking dapper and intelligent.
"So tell me son, what ya been studyin'" asks the farmer.
"Well lately pa we've been studying geometry" the young man replies.
"Well, speak to me in some of that geometry so I can hear how smart y'are becomin'" the farmer says.
"Uhm, ok, how about this: PI R Squared."
"Well, that's real impressive son," the farmer says struggling to keep the disappointment off his face, "now your mother'd love to see you so get on into the house."
As soon as the boy is in the door the old farmer shakes his head and grumbles to his self:
"All that money down the drain, any fool knows PI R round, Cornbread R Square!"
After the first year his boy returns home looking dapper and intelligent.
"So tell me son, what ya been studyin'" asks the farmer.
"Well lately pa we've been studying geometry" the young man replies.
"Well, speak to me in some of that geometry so I can hear how smart y'are becomin'" the farmer says.
"Uhm, ok, how about this: PI R Squared."
"Well, that's real impressive son," the farmer says struggling to keep the disappointment off his face, "now your mother'd love to see you so get on into the house."
As soon as the boy is in the door the old farmer shakes his head and grumbles to his self:
"All that money down the drain, any fool knows PI R round, Cornbread R Square!"
Planting melons
Today we finished our first planting of tomatoes and continued with the cantaloupes and mixed melons, watermelons etc. For the gardening curious we are planting them a little over 2 feet apart in rows 8 feet apart. We like to give our melons plenty of room. We pre-fertilize with triple 16 [300-400 pounds per acre] and lime which are thoroughly mixed in by our row maker. Plastic mulch really helps melons a lot, warmer soils they prefer.
The biggest enemies of melons are the green cucumber beetle (also called the mexican bean beetle in some locales) and the 2 striped melon beetle. Should these show up in your garden spray aggressively with sevin, malathion, or pyrethrins. I used to encourage the use of the organic pesticide rotenone but it turns out that it is more toxic to mammals than malathion or sevin. I would stay away from pyrethrins because they do not affect spidermites and thus their use can encourage spidermite outbreaks. The reason to be particularly hostile to these beetles is that they will not only feed voraciously on your plants but they will also infect your plants with bacterial blight. Do not lie to yourself that somehow mother nature will take care of these pests. I have used every control method both organic and synthetic and I can tell you that unless you have only a few plants and can hand remove these insects in the morning with a vacuum cleaner they will utterly destroy your crop if you don't apply a strong effective insecticide. No organic method exists to control these pests and trying to maintain a balanced predator population will not help if they are flying in from a neighbors yard (that's what happened to me a few years back, disaster!) unless you can buy a kentucky fried chicken tub sized container of ladybugs and another of praying mantis and even then that won't protect your plants from the blight. Better to buy a few dollars worth of sevin and do the job right. I ferverently HATE those beetles.
Ok, enough gardening 101. The day has been lovely and productive. A few showers blew through this morning washing everything clean and leaving a rich spicy scent in the air. Now the breezes have begun picking up and giving me an invigorating feeling. We might have a thunder rumble or two, I feel.
No interesting dreams to report last night. No new collective recollection. Perhaps the ebb and flow of "manna" has trended down a bit or maybe I'm still too tired from work.
Wishing you a perfect moment of unreflected clarity and two more of giggles.
The biggest enemies of melons are the green cucumber beetle (also called the mexican bean beetle in some locales) and the 2 striped melon beetle. Should these show up in your garden spray aggressively with sevin, malathion, or pyrethrins. I used to encourage the use of the organic pesticide rotenone but it turns out that it is more toxic to mammals than malathion or sevin. I would stay away from pyrethrins because they do not affect spidermites and thus their use can encourage spidermite outbreaks. The reason to be particularly hostile to these beetles is that they will not only feed voraciously on your plants but they will also infect your plants with bacterial blight. Do not lie to yourself that somehow mother nature will take care of these pests. I have used every control method both organic and synthetic and I can tell you that unless you have only a few plants and can hand remove these insects in the morning with a vacuum cleaner they will utterly destroy your crop if you don't apply a strong effective insecticide. No organic method exists to control these pests and trying to maintain a balanced predator population will not help if they are flying in from a neighbors yard (that's what happened to me a few years back, disaster!) unless you can buy a kentucky fried chicken tub sized container of ladybugs and another of praying mantis and even then that won't protect your plants from the blight. Better to buy a few dollars worth of sevin and do the job right. I ferverently HATE those beetles.
Ok, enough gardening 101. The day has been lovely and productive. A few showers blew through this morning washing everything clean and leaving a rich spicy scent in the air. Now the breezes have begun picking up and giving me an invigorating feeling. We might have a thunder rumble or two, I feel.
No interesting dreams to report last night. No new collective recollection. Perhaps the ebb and flow of "manna" has trended down a bit or maybe I'm still too tired from work.
Wishing you a perfect moment of unreflected clarity and two more of giggles.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Mellow rainy Sunday
As much as I love this weather, it is always easy to fall into melancholy while it is raining. A rare allergy attack didn't help much either. Gotta lay off those candy orange slices. Antihistamines make me edgy, grumpy, and tired.
I spent the day with little productive labor. Mostly just straightening up the barn and reading. Dad went to work on his landscaping job and Bro borrowed the truck so I didn't have a lot of options anyways. Mom is getting ready for a 2 week visit back to Kansas with her family so I also spent a little time today scanning and editing photos for her to take with her.
One nice thing about doing some clean-up is all the cool weird stuff you unearth during the process. I've got a rather sizeable collection of potential BEAM robot parts (see sidebar-> ) which I seldom look at once the season begins. I also filed all my remaining plant-tissue culture materials and chemicals today. If I get another rainy day or two in June I might actually get around to sterilizing some agar and cloning some plants. Wishful thinking is mostly harmless and always fun.
The ol' pinched nerve is acting up again thanks to all the stoop labor from the last couple of days. You can get used to just about anything but pain still sucks.
Wishing you a delightful end to the weekend and an invigorating beginning to the week.
I spent the day with little productive labor. Mostly just straightening up the barn and reading. Dad went to work on his landscaping job and Bro borrowed the truck so I didn't have a lot of options anyways. Mom is getting ready for a 2 week visit back to Kansas with her family so I also spent a little time today scanning and editing photos for her to take with her.
One nice thing about doing some clean-up is all the cool weird stuff you unearth during the process. I've got a rather sizeable collection of potential BEAM robot parts (see sidebar-> ) which I seldom look at once the season begins. I also filed all my remaining plant-tissue culture materials and chemicals today. If I get another rainy day or two in June I might actually get around to sterilizing some agar and cloning some plants. Wishful thinking is mostly harmless and always fun.
The ol' pinched nerve is acting up again thanks to all the stoop labor from the last couple of days. You can get used to just about anything but pain still sucks.
Wishing you a delightful end to the weekend and an invigorating beginning to the week.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
More good melon transplanting weather
Thank you oh forces of earth and sky. This weather is making for some great works.
Finished the 4th row of tomatoes and planted 1.5 rows of the ol' Standard cantaloupe. This is a cantaloupe my brother got from an agricultural extension worker from the Hanby farm 4 years ago. We kept the seed from that first melon and have been hand selecting the best melon from each crop since to maintain top of the line quality. So glad to finally have some melons in the ground.
Tomorrow I will finish connecting the last 11 rows of drip tape and hopefully plant some watermelon and summer squash. Peppers and eggplants should be going in Monday.
I've been so tired this week that no dreams have survived the morning haze. But I have been noticing a strange clustering of dream memories all week. Single scenes, panoramas or locale snapshots which I can suddenly remember having dreamt about repeatedly. A short list: a white mobile home planted near a hilltop amongst sparse tall trees and heavy underbrush lush with flowering plants like sweetpeas, the road outside a Coca-Cola bottling plant, a county fair or carnival with many long rows of booths, a particularly curvey stretch of road on Abegg Rd., my high school's parking lot at night, a huge barn with concrete floor which my grandpa used to own. There are too many others which now fade under the scrutiny of my thoughts and your attention for me to list them. I'll try to jot them down if they continue surfacing.
I was listening to a great song earlier but I didn't catch the performers name. The song title was "My Sapphire Love" and it was a wonderful jazz tune with a female singer.
I hope your day is smooth and sweet.
Finished the 4th row of tomatoes and planted 1.5 rows of the ol' Standard cantaloupe. This is a cantaloupe my brother got from an agricultural extension worker from the Hanby farm 4 years ago. We kept the seed from that first melon and have been hand selecting the best melon from each crop since to maintain top of the line quality. So glad to finally have some melons in the ground.
Tomorrow I will finish connecting the last 11 rows of drip tape and hopefully plant some watermelon and summer squash. Peppers and eggplants should be going in Monday.
I've been so tired this week that no dreams have survived the morning haze. But I have been noticing a strange clustering of dream memories all week. Single scenes, panoramas or locale snapshots which I can suddenly remember having dreamt about repeatedly. A short list: a white mobile home planted near a hilltop amongst sparse tall trees and heavy underbrush lush with flowering plants like sweetpeas, the road outside a Coca-Cola bottling plant, a county fair or carnival with many long rows of booths, a particularly curvey stretch of road on Abegg Rd., my high school's parking lot at night, a huge barn with concrete floor which my grandpa used to own. There are too many others which now fade under the scrutiny of my thoughts and your attention for me to list them. I'll try to jot them down if they continue surfacing.
I was listening to a great song earlier but I didn't catch the performers name. The song title was "My Sapphire Love" and it was a wonderful jazz tune with a female singer.
I hope your day is smooth and sweet.
Friday, May 19, 2006
The fascinating world of transplanting
While punching holes in the soil for my little tomato plants I was fascinated by the plastic mulch we work with.
We used to punch holes in the plastic or slit it with a knife but both of these methods lead to an unnecessary number of plant deaths when the plastic contacted the stem of the plants. The plastic would either shrink back or flap over and touch the stem and then get so hot in the sun that it would kill. Nowadays we take a small propane tank and burner on the end of a long hose and melt our holes into the plastic.
This leads to some interesting phenomena. The water and soil under the plastic affect the manner in which it melts or burns, leaving these crazy weird looking patterns half melted, half burned and some untouched on the edges. The patterns sometimes look like reptile skin or clouds or weird striations. I've made fractals for years using my computer, the image beneath my blog title is one such. Now I find them occurring in many arrangements around me.
Another for instance: when the poly-mulch first comes off its roll there is considerable static discharge. Splays of dust will be sucked up onto the sides of the mulch and the tug of war between gravity, air currents and static charge will create hundreds of instances of circular patterns which look very much like the Mandelbrot set or the so-called "magnetic Mandelbrots" which are derived from the equations determining the behavior of magnetic fields. I've noticed the dust being sucked onto the plastic before but this new green poly we are using has a much better contrast and the fascinating self-similar patterns of some fractal dimension are vividly visible.
Anyhow, that's my interesting observation of the day. I'm sure the rain has ruined all such patterns and unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me last time I noticed them. If the chance arises when we make some more poly-mulch rows I'll try to snap a pic for y'all.
We used to punch holes in the plastic or slit it with a knife but both of these methods lead to an unnecessary number of plant deaths when the plastic contacted the stem of the plants. The plastic would either shrink back or flap over and touch the stem and then get so hot in the sun that it would kill. Nowadays we take a small propane tank and burner on the end of a long hose and melt our holes into the plastic.
This leads to some interesting phenomena. The water and soil under the plastic affect the manner in which it melts or burns, leaving these crazy weird looking patterns half melted, half burned and some untouched on the edges. The patterns sometimes look like reptile skin or clouds or weird striations. I've made fractals for years using my computer, the image beneath my blog title is one such. Now I find them occurring in many arrangements around me.
Another for instance: when the poly-mulch first comes off its roll there is considerable static discharge. Splays of dust will be sucked up onto the sides of the mulch and the tug of war between gravity, air currents and static charge will create hundreds of instances of circular patterns which look very much like the Mandelbrot set or the so-called "magnetic Mandelbrots" which are derived from the equations determining the behavior of magnetic fields. I've noticed the dust being sucked onto the plastic before but this new green poly we are using has a much better contrast and the fascinating self-similar patterns of some fractal dimension are vividly visible.
Anyhow, that's my interesting observation of the day. I'm sure the rain has ruined all such patterns and unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me last time I noticed them. If the chance arises when we make some more poly-mulch rows I'll try to snap a pic for y'all.
Cool weather=happy transplants
The first 370 tomato plants are in the ground! Due to lack of irrigation at the old farm (thanks loads Oregon Watcher Watch, Sierra Club, Patagonia outfitters, ODFW, may you all rot in hell!) we've planted them at farm #2 and they are happily absorbing drip irrigation. The brisk wind is a little hard on them right now but intermittent showers are keeping their spirits up. We anticipate about 4 more plantings of tomatoes if all goes well.
The sky is a rumpled panorama of grey, ghostly blue and white. Showers blow through about every 20 minutes but dad and I pressed on with our planting despite the gusts of grit and cold bluster. We have automated quite a bit of the process so I get to laugh at farmers who are still trapped using illegal aliens to do their work.
After lunch I'll be hooking up another 9 rows of drip tape while dad finishes prep on the next field for corn planting.
Right now I'm going out to water my 7200+ melon plants and mourn the loss of lettuce to evil deer.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and vigorous day of freedom on this good green Earth.
The sky is a rumpled panorama of grey, ghostly blue and white. Showers blow through about every 20 minutes but dad and I pressed on with our planting despite the gusts of grit and cold bluster. We have automated quite a bit of the process so I get to laugh at farmers who are still trapped using illegal aliens to do their work.
After lunch I'll be hooking up another 9 rows of drip tape while dad finishes prep on the next field for corn planting.
Right now I'm going out to water my 7200+ melon plants and mourn the loss of lettuce to evil deer.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and vigorous day of freedom on this good green Earth.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Planting tomatoes
Someone found my blog through google looking for "how far apart to plant tomatoes"
I doubt they'll be back soon but just in case.
We plant our tomatoes about 2 feet apart in rows about 6 feet apart. Good strong trellis or wire/stake cages are a must. Sprawling tomatoes do very poorly in comparison. The home gardener will want more room between plants in the row and need less room between rows. I would suggest 3 foot between plants and 5 between rows for the small farm or garden. A soil test kit will give you a fairly accurate Ph reading, adjust close to neutral with lime. Gypsum can also help to raise calcium content if your soil is a little alkaline. Calcium is a must for tomatoes along with a steady supply of moisture. Not too wet and never completely dry, soil moisture fluctuations will definitely increase the incident of blossom-end rot as will excess nitrogen. Tomato plants like a little bit of extra magnesium, I will put a short tablespoon full in with each gallon of miracle grow (or other water soluble fertilizer) about every other time I foliar feed (that means feeding through the leaves)
Good luck and happy gardening!
I doubt they'll be back soon but just in case.
We plant our tomatoes about 2 feet apart in rows about 6 feet apart. Good strong trellis or wire/stake cages are a must. Sprawling tomatoes do very poorly in comparison. The home gardener will want more room between plants in the row and need less room between rows. I would suggest 3 foot between plants and 5 between rows for the small farm or garden. A soil test kit will give you a fairly accurate Ph reading, adjust close to neutral with lime. Gypsum can also help to raise calcium content if your soil is a little alkaline. Calcium is a must for tomatoes along with a steady supply of moisture. Not too wet and never completely dry, soil moisture fluctuations will definitely increase the incident of blossom-end rot as will excess nitrogen. Tomato plants like a little bit of extra magnesium, I will put a short tablespoon full in with each gallon of miracle grow (or other water soluble fertilizer) about every other time I foliar feed (that means feeding through the leaves)
Good luck and happy gardening!
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