Homesteading

[DeepseekerADS]

Next year I'm not going to plant as many darned tomatoes! Got another big sack full today, and I'll get another. One thing for sure, I can grow tomatoes. I also picked my first batch of green beans today. There'll be more pickings from them - sowed seeds out of packs for them.

All the raspberry plants I bought on-line from Burpee died.

The blueberry plants from Burpee are the same size now as when I planted them. The blackberry plants - Mom was right, you can't kill them - got them from Burpee too. The goji berry plants from Burpee - at least they are still alive, but barely.

Mom made some grape jelly from the native Fox grapes. The grape plants I bought from Burpee - barely alive.

As for the postage stamp orchard I bought from Four Seasons Nursery, one plum never came to life, the other 7 fruit trees are alive, but going no where.

The Cascade hops plant is supposed to grow 30 ft in a year, I think mine is about 3 ft....

Morale of the story = no more on-line purchases for plants.

A lot will in fact be due to my soil and my inexperience. Next year will be better.

 

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[rockhound]

That is the reason I plant tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini beans in intervals, so I won't be overrun by them. I usually plant a couple weeks apart. This allows me time to process them before another batch comes available. I used to do as you do and plant everything all at once, big mistake. I sometimes even catch a breather between harvests. Good luck. rockhound

 

[joncutt87]

Been quiet here lately. I got two buckets of "silage" put away

 

[releventchair]

Stripped plantain seed and scattered it while plotting/b.s.ing about deer on the phone.
Put a new carb. on the 4 h.p. push mower. Every time I'd run it on the driveway it would be agreeable. Drag it/push it/cuss it with the wheelchair outback into the lower kennel, it would be disagreeable.
Cornfields out and about looking good. Hay seems to have been good so far too.
When the weather cools; a friends tractor gets put back to use.
His earth work first then I'll drive it down here and use it in exchange.
Potential down the road someday.. exists on my wasteland postage stamp acre to till something in.
Would like raised beds but even where one was used out near a property edge it seems in the way when I get ambitious plowing snow.
Out back is in mature oaks and a poor place to grow, or reach to tend.
A neighbor brought green beans, squash, and zucchini over. Thanks neighbor!
Been building up a crossbow from a bare one.
Trapped three moles this year and that's about all the news from here.

 

[joncutt87]

Good you hear from you relevant.

 

[releventchair]

Oh, got a resident toad.
Showed up on the 25 or so foot wood ramp out front in the springtime.
I felt it was in danger of getting squished so then gently lobbed it onto the moss nearby.
The next night it was back but hid in a gap between rail and house when I went outside.
And again each night and it would hop in the gap when I went out periodically.
Went about a month without seeing it.
Last night it was on the concrete near the flower bed on side of house which is fine. Later the back deck(through the chain link fence and up the stairs to get there) and when one of the dogs worried it her royal indoors insisted I locate the "frog".
So it hopped through the small pattern lattice defending the grill from the dogs, but an easy enough matter to unlatch and grab him.
Winding up to lob him a ways over the fence I was interrupted with a suggestion/demand to just take it through the house.
Toad disapproved and tried leaping out of my hand repeatedly while peeing on me in defense.
So he was gently lobbed on the moss out front again.
Tonight it was halfway up the ramp when I chased a shadow near the truck.
Despite the other residents about,it seems to be holding it's weight and even gaining some.
It leaves generous droppings but is worth it for the bug kill count.
Toad has no proper name. Yet.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I guess I should pipe in here since I started this thread. It's been a while since I said anything here as I actually got into metal detecting again. I wrote about my Cousin Billy finding a gold ring on his second signal intro to MD's on the beach. I loved it there, at the beach = may look for a place there to escape to and find adventure

Came home today, and Mom was quite excited about her new bear friend. She thought it was a child from last year at the pear tree.

That black bear ran his nose over the back storm door, up just below the joint below the upper window....

Me thinks we've gotta pay attention now to what is in the yard when I go out to do whatever....

 

[joncutt87]

Good to hear from you Deep. Got four more buckets of silage put up today.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I was going to attend a local music fest today. But I ordered a Stealth 920ix scoop today, ran $271 building it from their selection, and I didn't order a rod for it - I figure I'll get something from a local hardware store. Then I looked at my bank account, and that music fest got a whole lot further away!

So, I went out and picked green beans. Helped Mom can 4 quarts of them - gotta learn that stuff. I'd only planted 8 plants.

I'd also been told that it's better to buy pinto beans than grow them - the work involved. But, I wanted to grow some anyway just to see how that went. Only 8 plants of those as well. Picked the beans off them, brought them in and shelled them - enough for a great big pot. But, after the work involved for that, I'll be buying bags of pintos from now on. That was not hard work, but it was work and time consuming.

I had also planted black beans and some other type of bush beans (forget what they were, duh), all beans as a "second season" planting in my boxed beds. I'd written the types down on a sheet of paper, and it came up a sudden storm and washed the ink off the paper. So I'm in the dark there!

Got 5 cucumbers and those are going to pass through their lives as pickles.

All in all, even with the first year mistakes and ill fated plantings, I am getting food out of the garden. Certainly got enough tomatoes! Lord, why'd I put out so many tomato plants?

I've been a farmer today after all.

 

[Bullet:Mich.]

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself today as a farmer even though you missed the local music fest.

 

[releventchair]

Deep: that web footed grubbin around for treasure in the water cost's. L.o.l..Just need a couple good scores to make up for it though.
Bummer on missin the music festival.
Here's a consolation song for missing it, and for reflecting on what you started this year.
Congrats on the results. You are makin do more for yourself, and scratchin in ancestral ground doin it.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Great song!!!

Heading to the fest now. Indian Steve is teaching a workshop.

 

[rockhound]

Hi all, I have been real busy lately. My neighbor gave me two large bags of apples. I am not sure what kind, maybe late June stripped apples. Anyway these came ripe in late August, go figure. I first thought about making apple butter but after talking to a friend, decided to dehydrate them. I have a round dehydrator, slow, but found out that a microwave does a good job, much quicker. After peeling and coring, I ran them through a guillotine set at about 1/8'' thick. I put cinnamon on about half of them, the rest were kept natural. Using paper towels, I line the microwave and laid the apple rings on them. Using a medium setting for about 20-30 minutes and they were finished. After several batches were made I stored them in zipper tie bags, Good Luck. rockhound

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I spent the last four days with my kids in Detroit, drove down today - always at least a 10 hour drive. But, lots of construction. Started running into rain South of Canton, and they're topping the roads in I think it was 3 spots on the South bound, a slowdown.

And, Mom called me while I was there. Apparently we'd had the Storm of the Century here, both my bridge and my foot bridge were taken out. Rained the whole rest of the way.

I pulled into my driveway and stopped before going over the hill to the bridge, walked and took a look. The water was raging, and an easy two feet over the bridge. But of course there's a tree down on top of the bridge too.

I've got some work in front of me, and of course I'll get some firewood - pretty tiny bonus in view of the work ahead.

So, I drove down & parked at the state shop (road crews - I caught the bus for school in the 4th grade in front of the state shop

I checked the foot bridge, looked pretty stable to me. So, I made two trips for my stuff, and now this evening will probably be short for me

Keep the faith my friends!

 

[releventchair]

 

[Oregon Viking]

Well hopefully the bridge is in good shape, just water logged. Hope everything turns out OK.
You do know what all that water means......flood gold!!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Well hopefully the bridge is in good shape, just water logged. Hope everything turns out OK.
You do know what all that water means......flood gold!!

I've had that on my mind since I saw the flow rate - new adventures there for certain.

The bridge is one big hunk of concrete with culverts. Sized wrong from the beginning, paid for it unseen while living in Detroit. It has been a problem, those culverts plug easily and they're too small. Most likely both driveway ends have washed out and I'll have to re-fill them with rock. Heavy floods, that bridge works more as a dam than it does a bridge.

 

[joncutt87]

Well deep, I hope the rain stops soon. We've had four days so far, with just enough rain to mess up the day. Four more days to go. The little one decided to come a few days early, we were scheduled for 1st, but today works just as well I guess.

 

[joncutt87]

Miss Aubrey has been the talk of the hospital this week. She has a head full of black hair and long curly eyelashes.

 

[NEPADIGGER7]

i always talk about this to my wife....i wanna build a cabin off on our land and just live in the mountains and live off the land...