A picture a week of a garden box

Just hubby's weekly pictures of the lettuce and broccoli bed, with the last three being the most recent, where you can see the lettuce bolted, although not before we got several good salads out of it.  The broccoli has sort-of bolted, in that right now there are only three crowns not yet past eating stage.  They should all do side shoots in good style, though, so all is not lost.

Springtime

latest two hatches of Wyandottes

light-colored chick appears RED,
but still a full Wyandotte

Lacey and kits

Brooke and kits

the broccoli and lettuce bed

Dutch-Boy, at Frank & Caroline's

Hope y'all enjoy these pics and vids, courtesy of hubby's smart-phone.  Commentary later.

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.

A few garden pictures

I may not have a green thumb, and still have more gardening fails than wins, but when something survives me - it tends to really thrive.  Here are a few notables thriving outside right now.

17 broccoli starts - all still going!
(Pac-Man hybrid variety, so no seed-saving)

the Greek oregano that must dream of world domination

3 hibiscus flowers in a row, that inspired me
to grab the camera and get pics

2 more hibiscus flowers

Italian oregano, two full season younger than the Greek
but expanding its reach nicely

surviving curled-leaf parsley
(the other is being choked out by the Greek oregano)

Update for past week

OK, no good excuse for the radio silence this past week, other than I've felt more like doing things than blogging about them.  I intended to catch up yesterday, but got hit like a ton of bricks with a lower digestive tract bug of some sort.  It knocks me flat around lunch time - hit fast and hard, so I was not inclined to go too far from the bathroom.  Funny thing was, yesterday I woke up feeling normal, with a bit of energy and planting plans ... go figure.

Today I am still staying close to the house, but so far so good.  I moved the newly hatched chicks out to the brooder tub, as right now we have no broody hens and Pollux has his wings full with last month's horde of Wyandotte chicks.  This month, Azar's group had a horribly low fertility rate, and then only two of the four who developed made it out of the shell.  Spikey's group fared much better, with nine of the no-so-little cheepers out and popping around.  Only one didn't hatch.

Spikey's chicks definitely have his wide and flat back ... a couple I observed ended up on their backs when they flopped out of the shell for the first time.  It took them a bit of effort to flip over on their feet.

On the plant side of things, I did manage to get the cheater-starts of Swiss chard in the ground, and have plenty more that I started from seed ready to move.  I also have a few spinach starts, some broccoli starts, and of course peppers and tomatoes to transplant into larger pots.

The one really impressive volunteer mustard green continues to impress - I am going to do my best to get every seed from it once it bolts.  The original parent plant was a Florida broadleaf variety, if memory serves, but I will be calling this strain Putnam broadleaf if I can keep it going.  It is strong and healthy, and keeps putting up new leaves (to the bunnies' great delight).  While we have no idea how it tastes, the rabbits certainly approve of it.

Oh, of the old seeds from 2013 that I planted a couple weeks ago, I have some white radishes sprouting.  I was a bit surprised to see that the other morning.

Pics later - I am still trying to get caught up after yesterday's gastric fireworks.

Update sans pictures

OK, so it is still cold and windy, but according to the forecast the rain has passed for now.  Some chickening and gardening updates are in order.

• Saturday morning was the farm swap in the Tractor Supply parking lot, and I headed up the road that morning with twelve chickens in the back.  I dropped the three cockerels off at Leo's restaurant (two Wyandottes from the October hatch and one black Silkie), then went to the swap to sell the nine cull pullets after having sorted out the four grow-out prospects.  I managed to sell all nine at the swap, and got $10 per bird.  The last bunch sold, the fellow tried hard to get me to come down off the already-discounted price (I was asking $12 per bird, but willing to make a deal), and had even left for a while before coming back to try again.  When he mentioned he was hoping to get them cheaper, I replied that I am not working towards "cheap" but for quality.  When I said that, he sighed and then paid what I wanted.
• I didn't have anything to put up for auction Saturday evening, but I did show up as a buyer.  I was very much outbid for Silkie hens, but feel like I scored some decently-priced equipment which included three wire cages of various sizes, eleven (!!) waterers for rabbits and one for chicks, and an old styrofoam incubator with egg turner that needs the viewing windows replaced that I intend to use as a hatcher.  I even left with $6 still in my pocket.  This was after I had already put the pullet money from the morning up.
• I candled the eggs in the incubator early this morning, and there are a LOT of clears.  In fact, only 14 out of the 41 show development.  Since most of the clears are from Azar and the Pretties, and that cross had a MUCH better development and hatch rate last time, I presume this is a fertility issue related to the weather.
• We had a surprise frost yesterday morning, but it looks like none of the garden plants took any damage.  The walk-in greenhouse has a tear in the plastic up by the roof centerpiece already, and I can't tell if it was the wind, something falling, or an owl trying to perch that caused it.  My sprouts are doing decently enough, even with the damping off problem, and some of the spindly tomato seedlings are putting out true leaves now.  A few late sprouts are growing properly as well, so not a total loss.
• Bright Eyes now officially has the title for ugliest and roughest molt.  Not only does she look miserable, I see her shivering when the wind kicks up as this is the coldest spell we've had so far.
• The wood burning stove is well-loved right now.

I think that brings everything up to speed for now.

Sprout rates and damping off

While still waiting for the rain to finally get here, I decided to get a few pics of sprouts and make notes on germination sprout rates.  First up, the happy wild success: the turnip seeds I planted earlier this week have sprouted overnight.  Hooray for me - the bunnies and birds will be quite pleased, as turnip greens are their favorite treat.

new turnip sprouts

Next up, the peppers tray (planted almost a month ago) which has good and bad.  The good news is hubby will have a good amount of jalapeno pepper plants, and I should have a decent amount of pasilla bajo peppers.  The bad news is the sweet peppers didn't do as well.  So far, one Cubanelle pepper plant and four "Tangerine Dream" sweet pepper plants.  No bell peppers sprouted, and no Marconi Red Italian sweet peppers, which I had high hopes for as a substitute for the Carmen sweet peppers I enjoyed so much in 2013.

Pepper plant sprouts

The Swiss chard tray planted two weeks ago is also a bit mixed, but I am seeing some late sprouting seedlings, so it may turn out better than it looked yesterday.  It now looks like all but the Lucullus variety sprouted decently, with the canary yellow being the most vigorous.

Swiss chard sprouts

Broccoli and spinach ... it's a half-and-half situation.  The broccoli popped up immediately, especially the Calabrese variety ... and is suffering the same fate as the tomato seedlings listed below.  The Waltham and de Cicco varieties are slower to sprout, but they may end up being the better plants.Spinach was very hit-or-miss, with no sprouts from the Satin, Bloomsdale Long-Standing, or Round Leaf varieties.  The Giant Noble variety sprouted, so I do have some baby spinach sprouts, and the Tendergreen mustard spinach (looks a lot more like a mustard than a spinach!) is also up.

broccoli, spinach, and mustard spinch sprouts

Now, about those tomato seeds I planted the middle of last month .... They came up alright, although when I first took the clear plastic cover off there were only two Old Germans sprouted.  That is the reason why I will likely have more Old German variety than Mortgage Lifter.  I didn't know what was going on until someone posted about a similar problem with his rhubarb sprouts, and the answers were all, "That is damping off."  No solution given, because apparently most people just replant when they get damping off instead of attempting to save the seedlings.  Uhhh ... y'all will notice the empty seed packets in the tray.  I don't have more, and have not yet located more of either variety.  It seems this year's heirloom variety will be Brandywine/Pink Brandywine.  No sign of Mortgage Lifter or Old German in any of the stores yet, and I've even checked the East Palatka Ace Hardware.  (*Bleep!*)  So, I am letting the tray dry out a bit (hopefully only enough to kill the fungus responsible but not the seedlings) and will just see if any of the Mortgage Lifter plants survive.

tomato sprouts with damping off

The other two trays are pretty much are busts, although the Seven Top turnip (greens mainly) seeds did sprout, they are also  too "leggy" and look damped off as well.   Nothing has sprouted so far in the salad tray.  I'll try it again in a week or so, with different varieties.  On all the seeds that did not have even a single sprout, I will scatter those into the compost heaps, and any volunteers will just be a pleasant surprise.

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.

Battening down

Alright, it's cold again.  Y'all up there need to quit letting those cold front wander down this far south, because we are really not equipped to handle it.  Hibiscus and lemon grass are back in the greenhouse, after being out yesterday for some warm rain.  Beds are covered again, although even with being covered the basil died anyway.  I still have a nice bell pepper on each of the two plants, so that bed gets the old comforter.  We gathered up all the eggs we could find outside, since it is forecast to get down to 28-30F and possible hard freeze (more than 4 hours below freezing).  Just not enough old blankets to cover the citrus trees, so here's hoping they do alright.  The Persian lime is dead down to its root stock, Lynn told me, so at some point will dig up the root stock unless I find someone who can graft.

I have sprouts now!  Both varieties of tomato - with a much better sprout rate in the Mortgage Lifter than the Old German.  Some of the Top Seven turnips are up, and last time I peeked into the pepper tray I saw jalapeno and pasilla sprouts.  That tray has a good bit of condensation in it.  Yesterday I planted two more trays: broccoli and spinach in one, and the other dedicated to Swiss chard.

chard tray, six varieties

broccoli and spinach tray

Now, about those hibiscus: one bloomed yesterday, and the other budded enough we could see the color, so I have one red and one yellow red-leafed hibiscus.

hibiscus and lemongrass out for some rain

red hibiscus flower

yellow hibiscus bud

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.

Update and early resolution

Bad me ... I am really slacking on both blogs here.  We've been doing stuff - lots of stuff - I just haven't felt much like posting or fighting the digicam for pics.  So, I will make an early resolution ... I will update at least weekly here, pics or no pics.  This morning will be pic-less.

• Eggs: All the splash Silkie pullets started to lay, and two more black Silkie pullets have started about a week ago.  This makes for some tiny eggs!  I decided to just go ahead and work my plan for these tiny pullet bullets: hard-boil then put them in pickled beet brine, which I had been saving up to either put eggs in, or to dye the tablecloth to match the stains.
• Canning up more chicken meat, as I have slaughtered all but two of the slips, and they are only alive because we couldn't fit them into the refrigerator until I do more canning.  I have four quarts of meat, and haven't done up the stock just yet.
• I am collecting eggs for hatching now, from all three breeding groups of Wyandottes plus the older Silkies.  One splash Silkie pullet is camped out in a cubbyhole, tucking any and all eggs she can reach under her.  I take them from her each evening, leaving the poor thing with only two golf balls to set on.  If she's still wanting to set when I go to start the incubator, I'll tuck some eggs back under her to hatch.  This way, if she quits like Bossy did in October, I can pop the eggs into the incubator without losing them.
• Hubby took down a tree in the middle of the back so we will hopefully have enough sunlight to power the fence charger back there.  Large pieces of wood will be next year's heating plan, as hubby got all the needed parts to install the chimney for the wood burning stove.
• I have a rabbit now.  He'll get his own post when I feel like fussing with pics.  I have named him George.
• I am definitely on a list to get a dairy goat in the spring, and her kids as well, so we will be having fresh goat milk soon.  I am pretty jazzed, although not nearly as jazzed as my friend Lynn, who has already volunteered to goat-sit when I go to my son's college graduation in May.
• I have broccoli out in my garden!  This is actually the first time I've managed to grow my own broccoli, and when the rain passes in a couple days, I'll be making a lovely little broccoli and cheddar quiche for brunch on the first cool day.
• The red cabbage ain't doing enough to justify watering it anymore ... I'll pull those and toss to the chickens.  I am going to try Pak Choi seeds next.  I also need to reclaim the greenhouse(s) from those industrious vine plants, and get tomato and pepper seeds starting.  I did get a bag of seed starting dirt from Lynn, so this ought to be doable.

I think that's everything for now.

Rambling update 11 November

OK, so it's been nearly a month since I posted.  Whole lot of shtuff going on, just not typing away here on the blog.

• Dad and Tammy visited right before the chicks hatched, and both thought the house and property and chickens were cool.  Tammy got a picture of every bird on the property!  LOL  Dad kept cocking his head and looking at the Silkies, commenting they look furry.  Tammy's best comment was about the Wyandottes, saying: "I always thought chickens were just ... chickens.  I never realized some could be so pretty!"  When the slips were let out, even more entertainment and comparisons to Jurassic Park.
• Hubby's grandmother died right before Halloween.  She had been bouncing between the hospital and the rehab wing of a nursing home for a little over a week.  The funeral was last week Thursday.  She'll be missed, and remembered fondly here, as she was our #1 fan of our chickens.  Not just watching them, she said our meat birds were the best she'd ever tasted.
• I finally saw a couple sprouts from all those seeds I planted last month - but only marigolds.  Everything else in the garden boxes are transplanted starts.
• A majority of those transplants are doing good!  The broccoli is going great guns, and the Greek oregano start I planted last spring is running riot and now takes up almost a sixth of the box it's in.  I found some curled parsley and fernleaf dill starts, and those are settling in nicely, although the three different varieties of basil are trying to stay alive.  One Swiss chard start from the spring is not only still alive, but thriving.  A nice big leaf that broke off last week made some tasty omelettes.  Most of the spinach starts are making an honest effort, despite insect damage that also hit the green sweet basil pretty hard.  The purple and spicy globe basil plants are untouched so far (knock on wood!).
• It is official: I am hosting Thanksgiving this year.  Just the in-laws, as brother-in-law is over in Korea, his wife and their two sons are down with her family, and Grandma will not be dining.  Since Uno the GLW full capon is not inclined to nanny chicks, he'll be the bird of honor for the meal.  I'll even be sure to serve him on the china platter I picked up last year at Pomona Park's "Everyone's Having a Yard Sale" weekend (which I skipped this year).
• We planned to move Uno to the isolation crate, but that was quickly changed when I saw one of the pied guineas getting pecked.  Neither of us know what started it, but the poor thing has lost feathers on its back and right wing.  I tried putting Blu-Kote on it, but then the little stinker got loose and we both had to chase it into the iso crate, so I'll try again after dark.
• We have a nice cool spell, and all I can think is, "Man if I still had my good pain pill, I could get SO MUCH done!"  As it is, VA took them from nearly everyone, and it's a high bar to get them back, so I'll just have to be content with what I can do without it.
• Two cockerels slaughtered this morning, another two tomorrow morning, then the last two from Luanne hopefully Friday, leaving Nipper and Brother, Feyd's test-breeding sons - for the weekend.  I need grow-out space now.
• Did the 4-week weigh-in for the Wyandotte chicks.  One pullet is lagging that far behind, and either had an injury or a neurological defect, and so needs to be culled.  I need to crunch numbers and play with basic statistical functions, not only because it is the geek thing to do, but because I would like to establish a baseline norm and also a cutoff point at four week intervals so I can compare among different batches of chicks.

For the upcoming rainy days, I have canning and baking planned.  Here's hoping.

Planting note spinach, chives, and marigolds

Just a note about planting seeds here.  The spinach is Burpee "Satin" variety, the chives are garlic chives (also Burpee) and the marigolds (edible flowers for us and the chickens) are "Crackerjack Sunset Giant" variety.  Yesterday I transplanted starts from Home Dept: two fernleaf dill pots, one regular green sweet basil, and another curled parsley.  I have been watering daily in mid-morning when the garden boxes are in the shade.

Parsnips and Scarlet Nantes carrot seeds planted

Planting note: parsnips (Ferry-Morse Hollow Crown variety) and carrots (Burpee scarlet nantes variety) planted in the garden boxes where I transplanted the broccoli, red cabbage, bell peppers, parsley, purple and spicy globe basil, and Italian oregano starts the other week.  One of the bell pepper plants has opened a blossom, and the other has a couple ready to open soon.  The two success stories in the one box are Greek oregano and the green onions.  If neither of those two seeds sprout in two weeks, I'll plant some more.  Eventually, something ought to grow other than rope grass and sand spurs.

Acorn squash blossoms

For the past few mornings, I have had new acorn squash blossoms to look at.  The blossoms last less than 24 hours, so they really are a flash in the pan, so to speak, although we have not yet tried them as food.

first acorn squash blossom

 This very first squash blossom had a node under it, and it looks like it set into our first squash.  Several other blossoms have only been atop simple stems, and I am wondering if squash does male and female blossoms.  Something to look up when the rain hits soon.

new acorn squash blossoms amid the lettuce

My back has been all out of sorts this week, and part of it is my own fault for procrastinating way too long to order refills from the automated phone-tree hell VA has.  Ya know, there are over 7 billion people in this world, yet it takes the better part of an hour to get a live one to pick up the line at the VA.  This is not unique to this region: I had the same issue in Tennessee.  There is nothing quite as dehumanizing as needing to key in seven prescription numbers and having that recorded voice droning on over the phone speaker.  No, I usually do not get the numbers keyed in correctly each time, then it tells me there is no such prescription and I need to start back at that branch of the phone tree/flow chart.  This time, I will be certain to gather up the refill papers and snail mail them in ... I know hubby had a look on his face when I finally gave up on the refill thing while trying to get an actual person because they put the sticker on the box and not the bottle of one of them.  Oh well, I get what I pay for with VA.

Learning about Potatoes!

Hello! Household 7 here. ( pardon the joke)
Recently we planted potatoes, 14 seed taters in one of our garden boxes behind the shed.
We actually planted two sets of potatoes in two boxes. But this post is looking at the first box of 14 plants. I've been watering every evening and have watched the start to grow. A few of them have gotten quite big! Some of them I have yet to see at all. Which has been bothering me. I was excited to see 8 of the 14 plants the other evening. very good so far. Looking at the instructions on the bag they came in it says to add another 6 to 8 inched of soil when the plants are about 8 inches tall.  I misread the instructions and covered all of them. two days later we are seeing the three tallest plants popping up out of the soil. Looks good. Except something seemed odd, so I reread the instructions.
Just today I uncovered the smaller plants and while I was at it I scratched around for the other potato starts. They're still there and still starting.

 I'm not very sure whats keeping them from growing as fast as the others. I recovered them with soil and will wait for them to get going.

I think what I have learned so far is to follow the instructions. I will be more careful. I think if I had done it right from the start they would all doing fine, those first few are really looking good.
It's nice to know that the other starts may yet grow.

I expect i will be digging around for the starts in the second box soon, they were planted only a day after and I have yet to see anything from them.
I think I am paying more attention to them because this is our second time trying potatoes. the first time I'm not sure what we did wrong.

Thanks for reading.

Transplants 26 March

I picked up some starts yesterday at the little Ace Hardware in town before hitting the grocery store, and that errand pretty much wiped me out and made my back scream.  At least we have half and half for our coffee.  This morning, after looking at weather radar I went outside to put all the starts into the ground.

• Tomatoes: one each of Pink Brandywine (the larger of the two) and Heinz's Super Roma (heirloom type, not the hybrid one ... the flat were specifically marked each way).
• Peppers, of the sweet variety: one orange bell, planted next to the purple bell, and one giant Marconi, an Italian sweet pepper that I am hoping will be similar to the Carmen peppers from the year before last, as the peppers didn't sprout for us.
• Red onion, and a big bunch of them!  I took a little less than half next door to Maria, and she thought that was a lot until I mentioned "Estan menos de media de los cebollos."  Hubby will have a few fresh ones, and the rest will end up in the dehydrator then ground for onion powder and dried minced onion for the spice cabinet.
• A six pack of assorted coleus!  Must have my pretties, and coleus are my favorite of all time, going back to the first grade when I received a small one with my seed order through school.  I even won a blue ribbon in the school's plant fair.  Last year, I had oodles of volunteer coleus ... but then the neighbor's pet deer ate all the flowers off them last summer, and they didn't recover enough to make another round of seeds.

So now I am sweating in the high humidity before the rain starts, but have more plants in the dirt.

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

Beans and corn sprouted

So Saturday, hubby found the bean sprouts peeking up through the compost.  Then we both went over to where I planted the corn, and sure enough there were little green blades popping up!  This morning they are obvious enough for the camera to focus, so here are pics.

garden bean sprout

newest garden bed with beans

corn sprout

corn bed, with a couple volunteer acorn squash

Yup, there are at least two volunteer acorn squash growing with the corn already.  No bother, as we are planting squash in this bed anyway.  Probably crook neck summer squash and zucchini - we do love stir-fry zucchini!

Now, in other news ... last night after we went to bed, as we were almost asleep, we woke to the noise of a shotgun.  Next door.  He fired off at least half a dozen shots, so we knew it was serious.  I asked this morning, and sure enough, the bears are awake already.  Grrr ... this bear was trying to open up their pig pen, so they are doing repairs this morning.  It did get one of their chickens, but both cows and both pigs are unharmed.  That's particularly good, because the cow is about to calve and the sow about to farrow!  I guess the electric netting fence will be tested sooner than we hoped.  Cross fingers and knock on wood that the bears are successfully deterred.

Garden beans sprouting already

Hubby just called me out to identify some sprouts out in the beds where I planted the gourmet blend of garden beans on Tuesday.  Yup!  They are sprouting already!  I think that may be the quickest I have had seeds sprout.  I soaked them overnight before planting them, so that may have done the trick.  The sprouts were not there this morning ... it is part of my morning walkabout to check the garden boxes and beds.  Hubby thinks it is cool he spotted them before I did.  Although we have had rain in the forecast for most of the week, it keeps missing us so hubby is out watering with the hose in the evenings.