sorry it took so long

OK, it took months to get an update done, but I did warn you that I'm not really very good at keeping up with these things.

The garden did rather poorly this year. We got a pretty good yield of potatoes, and carrots. But the tomatoes are still green. We had to pull them out of the garden last week so they wouldn't freeze and they are sitting on out racks waiting to turn red of go rotten. I'm thinking they will go rotten but we can only wait and see.

The pumpkin cage experiment was a bust. I didn't get a single pumpkin out of it. The cages kept the leaves to close together I think and didn't let the plants spread out well enough.

All my wheat came in really nice. I had wheat heads nearly 5 inches long in some cases. I would have pulled in about 50 pounds I think if the deer hadn't eaten all of it. I went out one day and was happy with what I saw and figured It would be ready to cut in about three weeks or so. Then the next day it was just gone. I'm really pissed about that.

that's it for now, again I'm sorry it took so long.

-dale

Okay, I haven't been keeping this updated.

So I need to post more often I guess, but I'm pretty busy. Here's a quick look at MudCluckers.

Garden

Peas are doing well,
Potatoes are good
Beans are coming up slowly but coming up
Onions are doing the best
The garlic died.
Salad greens were good but we pulled them when they went to seed. (more going in I think)

Fields

Wheat looks great, but I'm getting less then I thought I would
Carrots, I should get 100+ pounds unless something goes wrong
Feed Beets are doing well, they need to be thinned
Field corn is a little short for this time of year but doing well
Sunflowers (were an after thought) are 3 inch high.
Pumpkins seem to be coming along fine

Animals

The horse (and his friend) are keeping the grass mowed in the unplanted areas, and making good fertilizer
The chickens aren't laying enough to sell but keeping us in eggs
The ducks are the stupidest animals I've ever seen (want them?)
Turkeys are huge and quite interesting, who'd of thunk?
The dogs are fine and happy
The cats think they own the place (go figure)
The weasel is funnier then anything I've ever seen (click the weasel link)

That's about it I guess. until next time...

-dale

Stuffs Growing

Carrots are coming up, the field corns is looking good, and so are the beets. I was pretty sure the rain storm had taken a toll but everything seems to be doing fine, if a little slow. I hope to get some really hot sunny weather over the next month to catch up a little but I think most of the crops should do fine.

Planting Week

Well I have this week off from my "Real Job" and I am using that time to plant as many crops as possible. So far I've put in 10 rows of carrots for the winter, and 3 rows of field corn. Five more need to go in today, but the ground wasn't quite prepared so I spent a few hours working it so the corn will go in using the earthway seeder. I'll put up some photos of that little gem later. I really like it, it makes planting go really fast.

We did 4 hills of sugar pumpkins and are trying a new idea. Here are a few photos. Click on them to see a bigger image.

The cages are just scrap fencing that I lined with straw and filled with soil. It had to be done in about three layers to get them as deep as we wanted them. The idea is to keep the plants up off the ground so the vines will fill out better, and the pumpkins wont take up as much space. Although we are past our last frost date here, I think that this system (if it works) would be a great way to get an earlier start on any squash. The straw will help keep the plants warm, and the cages could be covered with row cover fabric or plastic to make mini green houses.

We did two hill using the cages and two using the traditional hill planting system. We'll see if one does better then the other and let you know.

Today will be spent building the watering systems for the garden and fields. Luckley we live in a very wet area and watering is pretty simple.

-dale

Wheat

The Wheat is coming up... I think. It's hard to tell. The spot where I planted it was never completely cleared of the swamp grass that had been there for 30 years so they are both coming in pretty well. I hope to be able to tell the difference in a few weeks and try to cut the swamp grass down a bit and let the wheat grow above it. The swamp grass makes for good hay so it won't be a total loss if it chokes the wheat a bit. But it's going to be harder to thresh the wheat out.

All it's done for the last week is rain rain rain. That's good for the plants we have in, but I'd like to have put in a few more crops this week. I'll have to wait until the ground dries a little to get in the carrots and beats. They are hard enough to plant when the ground is dry, it's just a sticky mess when the field is mud.

First week of June the corn goes in, and so do some of the squash. Sunflowers can go in too if there is time. Peas are in, and seem to be coming up.

that's about it for now.

-dale

Weasel Video

The weasel is getting bigger and now has a bit of personality, here is a quick vid of him just being him



-dale

Movable Garden Gate

I've had this idea for a while now, and finally decide to try it out. It's a movable garden gate. It most likely looks like just your average gate but it has a few features that make it unique.


The first feature is that it isn't attached to the ground in any way. I't completely self supporting. Which makes it movable if you decide to change your gardening area around from year to year.






The wheels on the top edge of the runners allow it to be tipped forward and rolled wherever it's needed.

The gate hinge it's self is unique in that it is a post and hole type system that allows the gate to swing in both directions. The gate is pinned with lag screws both at the top and bottom, with a pair of washers that act as bearing plates. (you can't see these in this photo tho)

The latch is just a simple farm gate latch screwed to the top of the gate with a hole drilled into the frame wall to hold it closed. And the gate is covered with 14g welded wire fencing to keep animals out.

This gate is built using 2X6s for the frame work and 2X3s for the angled supports and the gate it's self. It could be built using any dimensional lumber but these sizes make for a sturdy gate. All together it cost less than $20.00 and if I decide to paint it it will last for years and years. Unpainted I expect it to last at least 3.

-dale