Planting notes for garden box 1

Since I've had C.R.S. (Can't Remember Sh ...Squat) since Iraq, I thought to make notes.  My wall calendar is a little short on space, as it has notes on setting eggs in the incubator and trying to breed bunnies, so here is as good a spot as any to make notes.

• Garden box #1 (the first we set up) was re-weeded three days ago while the moon was in the air sign Gemini (which is good for fruit trees, but not much else I cultivate).  I discovered one of the digging forks' handle is totally toast, as if it had absolutely no treatment for the wood at all.  This was the one we bought new in '13 or '14.  The digging fork I picked up at the flea market of unknown age is still in good working order.  Go figure.
• Since the moon phase is waning (and we hit the 3rd quarter officially tomorrow) this is a good time to plant below-ground crops.  I selected daikon radish, carrots, and beets, with intent to pickle most of the harvest.
• Burpee brand daikon long radish, ordered from website so nothing fancy on the packaging.  Marked 300 seeds, packed for 2017 (except goats happened last year), origin Italy (I so love what Italians have done with any vegetable that catches their fancy!), lot 20.  Three rows, as it's a main focus for this box.
• Burpee brand carrot, Burpee A#1 Hybrid (I think I have Queen Anne's Lace growing out in the uncultivated areas around us, which is basically wild carrot and will cross with domestic carrots).  Again, a nothing-fancy package from the website.  Marked 1500 seeds (that ought to keep me busy this season), packed for '17, origin USA, lot 14.
• Burpee brand beets, heirloom Cylindra variety.  These are supposed to grow as fat cylinders for easy slicing.  Nothing-fancy pack from website, was in the lost-for-a-month package with my Roma tomatoes the other year.  Three rows.  Marked 1000 seeds, packed for '17, origin Italy, lot 14.  I must have planted some a year and half ago, but don't recall if they sprouted or not.

I have this set up as radish-carrot-beet-carrot-radish etc, so the beets and radishes are separated by the carrots.  Beets and radishes aren't antagonistic to each other, but according to the companion planting chart I like, they are neutral about each other but both love being by carrots.

Hubby cheered when he came outside and saw me finishing up planting and watering.  He says he is very much looking forward to homegrown garden-fresh produce again, now that the worst of the troublemaker goats are contained in a hard pen.

Still to do today: test the garlic to see if any still have life in them.  I read in a blog discussion a while back ago that garlic doesn't keep well more than 2 seasons.  I am also going to check some beet seeds from '13 and '14.  Call it a little science fair project.

2018 Ugliest Molt winner

This year's prize for the ugliest molt in the chicken yard goes to Ducky, hubby's yard ornament rooster.  The hackle feathers pretty much all fell out a few days ago, but that doesn't seem to crimp his style with the young layer hens any.

Ducky's ugly molt

For the record, he is NOT a naked neck chicken, though he sure does look like one right now!  All the roosters are missing their tail feathers, except the youngest one hatched this spring.  I think even Mac Daddy, the remaining Silkie rooster, is actually missing tail feathers, but it's hard to tell on him.  It could just be that I gave him three new hens Saturday night, and he's been macking his tail fluff off since daybreak Sunday morning.