Planting notes 31 Jan

Went outside and did up a bunch of seed planting.  In the eastern-most box, I planted (pre-soaked) beet seeds (Ferry-Morse "Ruby Queen" from 2013).  In the new box over the old compost heap, I planted "Purple Top White Globe" turnip seeds (Ferry-Morse recently bought, 2016).  In the original garden box, closest to the front door and starting to fall apart, I planted carrot seeds (Burpee "Scarlet Nantes" from spring 2013).  In the original salad box by the mimosa stump, I planted parsnip seeds (Ferry-Morse/Lilly Miller "Hollow Crown" from 2013) and white radish (Ferry-Morse/Lilly Miller "White Icicle, short top" from 2013).  If the old seeds come up, then they come up ... if not, I will plant something else.  I emptied those seed packets, sowing more thickly than recommended because I probably won't get a decent sprout rate from seeds that old.

I've been working hubby pretty hard, bringing home more compost purchased from Lynn's nursery as we made new planting beds.  Yesterday he emptied the truck bed in the morning, and I had it filled up again in the afternoon on my way back from Palatka.  I had asked if he'd feel overwhelmed or upset if I got more so soon, and his answer was, "Not if you bring me some beer to recharge after all this work."  So, I found the new variety pack from Samuel Adams and he announced the first new flavor he tried last night after emptying the pickup bed again to be tasty.  The homesteade runs on coffee, beer, and chocolate.

I still have a six-pack of "Bright Lights" Swiss chard to transplant, and then I need to move some sprouting trays out to the big walk-in greenhouse so they get more sun.  Then I want to start some "Red Burgandy" onions in one of the new trays.

Condemning seeds, aka planting

Yesterday, I decided to condemn some more seeds to being buried (hopefully!) alive.  I planted some beets and parsnips in the garden box where the chard used to be, until we buried it with a bed-load of compost from Lynn.  We cannot keep up on making enough compost here on property, so until I decide we have enough planting beds, we'll just supplement via Lynn's nursery.  She even has a couple Bobcats to turn the stuff easily (and load it into the truck).

Funny thing: I saw movement out the corner of my eye while planting, so looked up and there were ten of the twelve guineas, having hopped the perimeter and strolling over to see if I was doing anything interesting.  I was quick to brush dirt over the seeds, so my rows probably won't look very straight when they come up.

I have another bucket load of compost in the back of the pickup again today, and we are also waiting on lumber delivery this afternoon.  I had hubby make me a list, and went into town yesterday to pay and arrange delivery.  With 30 2x4s plus some 3/8" plywood and a couple 1x6s, he should have plenty of wood to build me broody/nesting bases for most of the tractors, plus a rabbit cabinet to get the bunnies' cage up off the two pieces of scrap 2x4 it is currently sitting on.  He used up the last 2x12s to make the current box awaiting fill dirt, which I think I may just fill up with carrot seeds.

Since my gardening attempts have had only limited success so far, I have decided this year I will plant by the signs ... yes, of the zodiac.  The feed mill up in Lake Butler was handing out calendars that have that info on them, along with sunrise/set times, moon rise/set times, phases of the moon, and notes for which days are favorable for not only planting, but working with livestock, including specific days to set eggs.  If conventional methods aren't working as well as desired by themselves, then it time to augment with a little magick.

I cut down one broccoli plant that had not given us even a little sprig yet, and cut it into three parts for bunny treats.

Final note: hubby ordered a computer thingy to fix my picture issue, so I ought to be able to do pics again by next week.

Capons running around!

We've been learning to let the chickens out of their tractors. 

Sounds funny but we weren't sure what would happen.

Everything has been going just fine, they even put them selves "away" when they're done!

Thanks for looking!

Chard leaves as spinach substitute

Despite my best efforts, using seeds and even transplants, I am not doing well at growing spinach down here.  While I still have starts that are alive, they aren't thriving to the extent we'd like.  Enter the Swiss chard.  So far, we have tried fresh chard leaves chopped up in omelettes and now a baked crustless quiche, and that is working out just nicely.  I have also dried some chard leaves to add into casseroles and broth soups and eggs later in the year after the chard bolts.  I definitely want seeds from these plants!

We haven't yet tried torn up fresh chard leaves for salad, nor have I tried using the stalks like celery in broth stock, but I have read (somewhere ...?) that they can be used as such.  I'd also like to test out the dried chard in crackers as well, along with the dried kale I have.

Saturday afternoon I stopped up at Lynn's and picked up another bucket load of compost.  Yesterday hubby unloaded it into a nice long narrow bed.  I think I'll transplant tomato starts there once it gets into the shade in an hour or so.

While starting to crumble up the dehydrated chard leaves, I had a "doh!" moment, then went to get one of two glass mortar-and-pestle sets Mom gave me back when I wanted to major in pharmacy.  Of course, that was before I took the "GPA Killer's" organic chemistry ... but the glass mortars and pestles are still here, and still quite usable.  One is big, and one is quite small, and the small one worked just perfect on the dried chard and kale leaves.

I ran the little electric dehydrator the past couple days, and it did a great job of keeping the chill out of the air inside the house.  I also opened up the two extra trays, so it was running six trays on the lowest setting, "Flowers & Herbs."  I am planning to get a lot more use out of it this year, although it will be outside when it gets hot.

Planting notes for equinox week

OK, a big update on what has gone into the ground this past week.

• Last Sunday and Monday we planted potatoes, German Butterfinger and Yukon Gold, one in each box on the north side of the shed so they will be well shaded.  We also reviewed the planting notes on the bag for the Yukon Gold potatoes.
• Beets (Jupiter variety) undersowed in the newest bean bed after consulting the companion planting color-coded simple chart.
• Carrots also undersowed in the other two bean beds.  Another packet of Ferry-Morse rainbow assortment in the old pea patch (which also has now four volunteer sugar pea plants up) and Danvers 126 in the original garden box that has the purple bell pepper start and a couple silverdusts on one end along with the assorted garden beans.
• Beets (Ruby Queen variety) put into the other half of the cabbage/chard box.  The cabbage looks like it is starting to head, and the swiss chard looks impressive, so it's time to test just how good a substitute it really is for spinach (which is struggling in the old tomato box, although volunteer dill plants look decent but not spectacular)
• The sweet corn in the old compost heap is rocking it ... pole beans will go in sometime this week, along with zucchini and summer squash, with a perimeter of pumpkins as well as the volunteer acorn squashes.
• Speaking of compost, we have run out of our homemade compost and I bought a Bobcat bucket load from Lynn up the highway ... and I will likely need another bucket load or two before this season's planting is done.
• New fruit trees for the orchard: a bit of a surprise!  My neighbor came over with two orange tree saplings in one hand and his shovel in the other, and planted them for me on Wednesday "Nosotros somos amigos!")  He also showed me how big of a "crater" to put around citrus trees, so we'll be digging up more rope grass in the near future on the rest of our struggling citrus trees.
• Garden fresh salads should begin this week, as the green leafy lettuce from the seeds I collected last year are looking great out there.  I may not know exactly what variety or strain these lettuce plants are, but I do know they are thriving.  I also have a volunteer green romaine lettuce coming up from under the layer of compost, so I will save seeds from that one as well.  Finally, the blush-tinted lettuce (Ashley variety) and the collards I planted in that box are also rocking it, alongside even more volunteer acorn squash.
• Tomato starts are up and need transplanting.  All three varieties planted have sprouted: San Marzanzo, Brandywine, and the Mortgage Lifter seeds from 2013, so I will be taking an assorted dozen next door as a "Muchas gracias por los arboles naranjes." ("Many thanks for the orange trees.")  The other 70-some-odd will go into the walk-in greenhouse we bought at Big Lots and hubby put together over a week ago.  Dad called me Friday and one of his questions was if that was up and running yet.
• Raking up the fallen dead leaves is now a high priority here, after seeing tangible and very positive results!  Must make more compost, for possibly the autumn, and definitely for next spring.

So that is a summary of the past week's playing in the dirt, with some notes for this week's round of playing in the dirt in between chickening and building for chickens.  LOL I wore my cute little cheapie Tractor Supply T-shirt to the county fair yesterday, and the folks at the UF Ag extension booth noticed and commented on it: "Living Life One Acre at a Time."  I mentioned it was so appropriate because while we only have about two and a half acres, we're doing most of this by hand, so it really is "One acre at a time."  Ya know, we may have the front acre almost covered by now.

Just to keep this from being a solid "wall of text" here is one pic of my silver dusts, shortly after I transplanted them.  I have two more pics, but the pic card is not playing well with GIMP right now.

three silver dusts with a couple aloe veras

Preparing the bean beds

Taking one of the old salad boxes, cleaning out all but the flat leaf parsley plant still holding on after two years, and transplanted a volunteer fernleaf dill out of it before I cleaned it, added compost, and worked it in with a hoe.  That reminds me - I need a new and better garden hoe.

I also pulled up the three carrot plants and four radish plants ... and was terribly disappointed.  I didn't even bother to snap a pic, just tossed them in to the chickens to at least play with.  I forked the pea/carrot/radish bed, added compost, then hubby and I hoed it in.  Then I mentioned what was left of that small compost pile under the trees would make a good bed if it was spread out to proper size, and hubby got it done while I sat in the shade sipping ice water (at his insistence - "You need a break!").  After that, we switched spots, and I began to rake the leaves into new compost piles that should become beds either for winter planting or next spring.

The compost pile we used was only a year old, but it is also the one I had hubby's friend, "Airborne," stir up whenever he came down to visit last year.  Airborne usually was all excited and happy to be away from the big city, out in the countryside where he knows the food will be great (we always feed him leftovers!) and to hang out with hubby, and even me.  The problem is, he often shows up at sunrise when we are coffee zombies, so I took to pointing him towards the compost fork, or handed him the dog on the leash.  He would joke about a free workout, and I'd joke about him earning his lunch and/or dinner.  So this small compost pile, made up of mostly fallen leaves and a bit of grass clippings, quickly broke down into something very usable for beans.

three bean beds ready to plant
chick tractors in the background

I am planting a "gourmet blend" of garden beans, with one third being a normal green bush bean (Blue Lake) , one third being Royal Burgandy bush bean, and the last third being Mellow Yellow bush bean.  That ought to make for a fun plate.  If they produce well, and I have enough to can up, they'll make awesome-looking jars with the three colors.  I also have a whole package of the Royal Burgandy beans, and another of Dragon Tongue for fun-colored beans other than just green.  Then, I also have asparagus/yardlong beans, sometimes called snake beans, for the summer.

Along with all that, I have two packs of sweet corn, and a variety of summer and winter squash ... hubby wants to try out the "three sisters" planting.  We just need to figure out where we want to put that.  I'm liking the idea of planting in the clear spot in back, while hubby is thinking up front by the road-fence-decorative windmill.  We'll bat ideas back and forth while driving up to get a nice dinner and hit Lowe's for more supplies.

Volunteer acorn squash AGAIN

You might think, after a handful of years, that I might learn acorn squash seeds do not compost.  Well, it won't be this year again.  After digging in the nice beautiful almost-black compost pile a couple weeks ago, we now have a slew of volunteer acorn squash sprouts almost everywhere we used the compost.

In with the cabbage and chard.  Among the lettuces and collards.  Even in the compost pile itself.

acorn squash sprout towering over lettuce and collard sprouts

acorn squash sprout in between cabbage transplants

acorn squash sprouts in the compost pile

So far (knock on wood!) no sprouts in the seed trays in the greenhouses, although I used compost in those also.  Maybe this year, we'll get a couple acorn squash before the local wildlife does.  It could happen.

We have sprouts

We decided to use the two small greenhouses we've received over the past year or so to start things like tomatoes, peppers, and any other delicates that might need a headstart rather than constantly buying transplants (though obviously we still do, me in particular).  Hubby mentioned checking the little greenhouses out and we have sprouts!

hubby shimming the smaller greenhouse

catnip and something else in top tray
tomatoes in middle tray

middle and bottom tray both tomatoes

I'll need to look back to see what I planted in with the catnip in the top tray, but those two tomato trays have a mix of Brandywine, San Marzanzo, and Mortgage Lifter.  Which have sprouted?  Errr ... give me a couple months to figure that out.

That cabbage and chard transplants are looking happy and healthy in the compost.  Neither freeze nor chilly wind phased either of them.

45-day cabbage and Swiss chard

Now, for the final garden pic, my best-looking Florida broadleaf mustard green plant has decided to bolt, and in a very pretty fashion.  This is the one I particularly want to save seeds from.

FL broadleaf mustard plant bolting

Transplanted raspberries, more seeds started

I started off this morning okay ... hubby volunteered to dig the holes for the two new raspberry canes we bought yesterday, so all I had to do was grab up a small bucket of compost and my gloves.  Mysore raspberries have thorns ... not that the dog is in any way discouraged from fertilizing the raspberries in the least.  No problem.  Just lean over, work the plastic container off them, massage the roots so it knows it can once again expand in its own shape, hold it ground level while putting some compost around, then firm up the loose soil.

two new mysore raspberry canes

No problem, and it gave me something to do while waiting for the clothes washer to finish up the final rinse and final spin.  Then I went to hang up the laundry ... and my back let me know I either moved wrong or did too much already.  Insert vulgar profanity learned in factories and the army here.

I took the half-(*donkey*)ed pain pills VA gives me nowadays and laid down for a few hours.  I had also sorted out the seed packets over coffee earlier, and had a handful to start in with the tomatoes and peppers in the little greenhouses.  (Note to self: need pic of little greenhouses.)  So I knitted and rested up then went back out to rearrange cockerels for tomorrow and plant some seeds: Carmen sweet peppers I had saved seeds from in fall 2013, pasilla bajo peppers, garlic chives, and catnip.  Almost all were in packets marked 2013 or 2014, except the pasilla peppers.  I know I bought some previously ... I just can't seem to find them right now.

Instead of using potting soil, I used our compost.  They really do look almost identical - the potting soil has little white and green bead-looking thingies in it, but that is the only difference.

I think I'll add three more raspberry canes to the patch, then see if that is enough or not.

Transplanting cabbage and chard

A big trip to town today, which included hitting both Tractor Supply and Lowe's ... and both have their early spring planting stuff out finally.  I picked up only two transplants this time: 45 day cabbage and swiss chard "bright lights" variety.  Most of the stalks on the chard are a red almost fuchsia - fun fun.  I shoveled a bit more compost from the 2yr old pile into the garden box, as it had settled a bit after our couple days of rain.  Here they are:

the garden box with cabbage and chard added

45-day cabbages and bright lights Swiss chard

Pictures of dirt

Now this is a thing of true beauty: our two years in the making compost heap.  Hubby decided to start breaking in to it today, and called my attention to the lovely shade of deep rich brown, almost black, and the wonderful smell of fertile soil instead of the various stages of decomposition.

digging in to the compost heap

spreading rich compost on the garden boxes

You can really see the contrast in the half-filled garden box!  That box was filled from the compost heap last year, but what we have today is superior.

Today's outside adventures started when I decided I would prune back the raspberry cane, the grapevines, and the still-small fruit trees.  Then, hubby offered to help me plant seeds for the little greenhouses: tomatoes and peppers. That sent me on a hunt for the jalapeno seeds from last year and from the store while hubby filled the little Jiffy-pot cells with potting soil (before we broke into the compost heap, or we might have used that instead).

What we've accomplished so far today:

• pruned the orchard, berry patch, and vineyard (hey, it sounds good ... I'll get more planted soon!)
• planted Anaheim and jalapeno peppers, along with two unknown pepper varieties.  I forgot to write down what they were, just know they are some kind of pepper
• planted Brandywine and San Marzanzo (sp?) tomatoes, along with some Mortgage Lifter seeds I had saved in 2013
• started topping off the garden boxes with the compost

And that's only outside stuff.

Chicks at six weeks

So I have had these chicks for six weeks now, and the nuggets are getting some good size on them.  The two chick tractors are working perfectly now, with the little feathered gluttons grazing in between feeding times, and of course the all-they-can-catch-and-eat on bugs.  Hubby is quite pleased with how well they are stirring up the leaves and pulling the grass and in general scratching and pecking just like chickens should.  You can tell in these pics where the tractors were sitting before moving.

assorted chicks soon after moving the tractor over

you can certainly tell where the tractors were

a few of the nuggets tearing at the fresh grass

Oh, we are down to only 23 assorted chicks, as we lost a red cockerel, likely due to rowdiness judging from all the noise they were making the evening prior.

I am thinking of slaughtering ("harvesting"?) the nugget pullets sooner than Christmas.  There are only two of them, and the six cockerels tend to push them out of the way for feeding time so I think they may not be growing as fast.  They are a bit larger than the Cornish Rock "Game Hens" at the grocery, which are actually Cornish-Rock pullets at 5 weeks of age, with no game in them at all.

Right now, hubby is looking at these chick tractors as an end to his needing to mow ... while I look and see composting in place and think the grass will grow even faster than before.  We ought to figure out which of us is correct around May.

Green and red romaine lettuce plants taking well

Here are a few pics of the green and red romaine lettuce starts I transplanted the other week.  I have them spread out among three boxes, as at the time the neighbors' pet deer was still pillaging gardens.  (I still have not seen her recently ... I had nothing to do with that, either!)  I figure next week we can probably start eating a salad or two.

green and red romaine lettuce, with a few volunteer pepper plants, likely datil

green and red romaine lettuce in with basil and last year's green onions

last year's salad box, with the last few red romaine lettuce plants

In this last box, you can see a little bit of our composting-in-place going on.  Kitchen waste like coffee grounds, filters, egg shells, and vegetable scraps get put into future beds or existing beds that need a little boost.  Meat scraps go to either the dog or the chickens.  Dead leaves and grass clippings round that out.

So I planted green beans

The past couple weeks, I've been planting the last of the green bean seeds for a fall harvest.In three beds, green beans were all I planted, and in all three of those beds what I have growing is ... tomatoes.  In one of the beds, it can be explained by the tomato plant in the corner of that box, but the other beds either didn't exist or didn't have anything planted over the spring and summer, so these little tomatoes-who-could must be from the compost pile that I've started using now.

Talking to my mom this morning, she actually asked if I knew the difference between green bean seeds and tomato seeds!  LOL Yes, and yes I know the difference between the seedlings that sprouted as well.  This mainly means my compost isn't "cooking" on the inside, even though it both looks and smells like nice compost.  It should be interesting to see which varieties these volunteers are, as the volunteers tend to be the most vigorous tomato plants.

Now, for an actual recent picture of me for friends and family:

planting green beans for fall

That's my new straw work hat, as opposed to the "Florida tourist" straw hat I bought in St. Augustine's Old Town a good five years ago or so.  St. Aug is a lovely little tourist trap, and we plan to go in November when they have the pirate festival.  Yes, those are my old garrison BDU bottoms as well, and they are more comfortable to work in than they were back in the spring.

When the weather clears up again, I'll need to do up a post with pictures for my experiment along the fence line.

Tree clean-up and homemade charcoal

Busy weekend, and we both sort-of overdid it yesterday, so today is a low-gear day.  I had intended to post last night, but just didn't have the motivation once we finished up.

First was the clean-up of the two trees we took down.  The smaller one I felled was healthy enough that hubby cut the trunk into sections to stack for firewood for the coming winter and the little wood-burning cast iron stove we intend to get.  The tree hubby felled though, was obviously unhealthy, and was rotting from the center out.  It may not be fit for the firewood stack, but there is another use!  We spent the weekend partially burning the trunk to make our own charcoal:

That wasn't the only project going, though.  While hubby attended to fire-making, I decided to fill up garden box #3 with the cardboard bottom, laves/dead grass raked up from around it, and the pile of bags of dirt.

There is one small problem with raking up a small area when it is obvious where you raked: then the raked patch sticks out like a sore thumb until you feel a need to grab the rake and rake up a larger area.  Then you need to ask your husband to construct a quick-and-easy compost area of the scrap lumber that braced the load on the 700 mile trip down plus some chicken wire.  Now we have a northeast compost pile!  I also have somewhere to put the Spanish moss that falls off the trees (usually still attached to the dead branch).

Finally, it just got a bit too dark to keep working on the yard, plus it began to drizzle in front of the forecasted rain.  We moved under the old carport to each enjoy a pipe and admire the progress.