Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Ridgetop]

So disappointing about DS and GF. Was hoping he was completely through with her.

 

[farmerjan]

So disappointing about DS and GF. Was hoping he was completely through with her.

Yeah, me too... and the pansy a$$ crap is starting again... he gets "worn out" now in the early evening.,... left to go home this evening after he had only mowed a little bit...which he did get the discbine then went to deb's yesterday, then went home from there....
He got called for cows in the neighbor's; the fence between section #5 at this pasture and the neighbor's is so bad..... several new holes in it... and there is going to be a discussion with the owner as we cannot fix a fence that just is so far past fixing.... it need replacing... the neighbor is saying he isn't going to pay for it... he will be responsible for half... either outright paying for the value of it... or doing half.... DS and jim are going to go and see if they can run a couple of strands of barbed wire to "patch it" ... and there are 2 trees down from the neighbors side I guess....DS got the cows back by calling with feed and moved them back into section 4.... they have only been in section 5 a week or so.... plenty of grass.,.... but you know they just won't stay home... like @Mini Horses goats... go next door and then come running when she goes out there.... just gotta get out "because.....".
And since he was "worn out" and had to go "home"... didn't mow anymore and didn't go to the pasture to do the fly spraying... Guess I will go tomorrow and try to at least get some of them sprayed... will feed some grain on the ground in piles and try to get them with the sprayer since it looks like he isn't... I sure hope the runny eyes are not developing into full fledged pinkeye...

 

[farmerjan]

Hit the wrong button...
Did get the clothes on the line and a 2nd load of whites, socks and such, in soaking and will do them tomorrow...
I did not go to the laundromat... thinking I will wait for when I get the "new bed" next week... I have another set of mattress pads and plenty of sheet sets and all... If I am going to tear things apart, I may as well do it when I put the new one in there.... I am going to hang the blankets out in the sunshine and air since they are clean and not on the bed, (they are folded up and put away), except for the one very light one that I will wash when I do the rest. I just love the smell of the fresh off the line sheets and all on the bed...

I did get all the meters out of the car and into the storage box in the carport, all the hoses sorted and back into the totes. All boxes with bottles and all that I take to the big farm are already in the car, for Monday. Got the bottles into the 2 trays for Sunday's herd.
Then later on this afternoon I got out the mower and put the fully charged batteries in it and mowed for nearly 1 1/2 hours around the front of the house, some on the side by the deck, a couple passes down and back to the chickens... it says they will run for 60 minutes but I got better out of them... tomorrow I want to do the rest of the way around the deck, down the path to the clothesline and all around where I can do it... Shoulder hurts more than the legs are tired... I need to be going to the chiropractor at least once a week for it.... but he is gone this week... have an appt for next week...

Chickens are in crates... and I am going to figure out where I want this structure for the chickens to be in when I am not here so I don't lose anymore ... since I saw that big hawk/eagle? I do not want them to be out early in the morning like when I was gone to the state "roadeo" , competition.... which is when I think it got the rooster... I don't let them out in the mornings until 9 or later normally.... and they come right to the house and around the bushes early on....at least this structure is fully enclosed wire so nothing can fly into it.... something could dig under but I will put in some roosts so they can go up on them and hopefully will have some "escape" if something digs under .... I will probably want to put something permanent around the bottom like RR ties or something like that... I don't want this to be so much permanent pen as a "safe place to put them if I am going to be gone... will still want to lock in nights like I do now.....

Need to see about getting the new cover on the "greenhouse shelter" for the winter for them since it is really coming apart now. I have looked and debated about buying one like @SageHill got... but they weren't available here at the Costco...I can get it delivered, and it is on sale now through 9/24 for $300 off... but 1 would want 2 like she did for having enough room.... I have looked at several others and want to get one that is "heavier" polycarbonate panels due to our wind...
TSC has a 6x12 on sale for under $600 but it does not have the wood sides or frame... and does not list the thickness of the polycarbonate panels...reviews are decent ... but would need some caulking and such.
So, I think for this year I am going to just use the one I have for the chickens... and use the small "half" one I got that is up against the house and put cardboard down on the deck floor and anchor it good so it is fairly draft free... It does get good and warm in there during the day in the sun and hopefully I can keep it warm enough to support the hanging plants I move in there. I want to try to sell a bunch at the farmer's market when I take the potatoes there too... got to stop and talk to the guy to get the particulars....
The spider plants have done very good this summer out under the tree hanging on the chains I put up... which reminds me, they will need to be watered again since they got that 3/4 inch rain a few days ago... I have NOT tried to pot any of the "baby plants" this year... they are hanging off the mother plants and I am not wanting to mess with them at this point. The ones I started last year mostly all have a few "baby plants" hanging on them too...

I need to can some tomatoes... all the belgium giants ( I thought it was belgian giants) are the yellow variety.. but they are very meaty... and the reds I planted and the "mr stripey" ones have not done diddley this year... there are some Roma's coming that I will try to can for some stewed tomatoes... and the striped variety of the "roma type" all seem to have blossom end rot and do not keep... total disappointment... my little yellow pear ones are doing great and there are no red pear ones... thought I planted a couple... have some volunteer little cherry tomatoes setting fruit in the garden... it is mostly all weeds and I am going to take the walk behind weed eater in there to cut down all the weeds before I start digging potatoes.... some yellow squash still trying to set fruit... the butternut squash look good except for a couple with gnaw marks... still got alot of small cantaloupes coming on....
The local station (50 miles south) shows the drought monitor... and we are in extremely dry and some places actually into moderate drought.... we have gotten a little rain here so are not quite as bad as some... but the ground is getting hard... will wait for some rain to soften the dirt before I try digging potatoes.
The guy down the road that puts in a big patch dug all his about 2 weeks ago... right when we started cutting the sorghum. He got them all dug and is done... don't know how they did... he is not very socialable... he thinks he is a little better than most people.... I don't think the yield was as good as last year though due to the drier conditions this year.

Time to quit for the night...

 

[farmerjan]

Beautiful day. 54 to start, sun is coming up over the trees across the road... clothes washing...soon to be hung on line...going to put the blankets out to refresh in the nice air... lots on the list to do today...

 

[Mini Horses]

Cutting hay across the street...3rd cut.. Little shorter than usual but, ok. Window of opportunity with weather. I've busted butt all week. Staying home. Dig out that groundhog, refill tunnel....bush hog some trash off last pasture needing it. Check fields for winter. Relaxing stuff. Laundry here, too.

Uhhh...just a reminder, this IS a holiday weekend, something farms don't have but, in case you're out elsewhere. that's why so many people are out!

 

[SageHill]

Ya' know I did a lot of "fancy" tomatoes last year - barely got enough or enough that were salvageable for BLTs. This year my first crop -- just finished up -- was from 2 Early Girl Bush tomatoes - 6#'s a day average pretty much per bush for almost 2 months and on a determinate type?!?! Canned a bunch, froze a bunch, ate a lot, and found a new love - tomato pie (drool). I did get a volunteer from one of last year's ?Chef's Choice? big meaty but dang prone to splits at the stem end and I'm careful about watering -- this year even checking with a water meter probe. I'm thinking next year I'll stick with the Early Girls because they did so well.

 

[Ridgetop]

Better Boy is another reliable variety for southern CA. It is indeterminate so will fruit all summer long. With good soil and adequate water, the tomatoes can get huge. I used to grow them at my old house which had lovely soil improved with lots of rabbit manure and compost.

 

[SageHill]

Better Boy is another reliable variety for southern CA. It is indeterminate so will fruit all summer long. With good soil and adequate water, the tomatoes can get huge. I used to grow them at my old house which had lovely soil improved with lots of rabbit manure and compost.

I've heard of Better Boy and seen it in the nurseries. Before this year I was a die-hard can't be one of the normal/hybrid/whatever suited my anti-fancy This year I just grabbed what I could get, and am more than pleased.
I'll give Better Boy a try next year. I've got a second crop of unknown varieties that is just setting fruit now, and a couple more to move from the greenhouse to beds this weekend. I was really surprised just how long those Early Girls kept going. The break between crops is welcome, a couple weeks and I'll be ready to go again

 

[farmerjan]

Just got done cutting up into thin wedges 11 cantaloupes I had picked... Minnesota Midgets... they are pretty good and they are large grapefruit sized... so nice size for slices/wedges. They are in a bowl in a cooler chest with water and qt ice chunks I freeze for canning/chilling. I also peeled, deseeded, and cut into smallish spear like pieces another batch of huge overgrown cukes... even the ones getting yellowed skin... as long as they were firm inside, they got done. They are in the lime water... That was a several hour job.
DS also went to work on the pasture fence with jim this morning... then he remembered that the tire was flat on the rake as he was wondering where it was and Light BULB

 

[farmerjan]

Any way, he and jim took the tire off and back to the barn to fix and had to do a little grinding on the wheel as it was not fitting over the hub right... so it was getting put back on today. Then he went to cut more at Deb's... asked me to being him a sandwich and he cut in front of his house also... then was going to finish that one field and go to the augusta county pasture.... fly spray and all that...
He said he is probably going to cut more tomorrow... he wants to sq bale some but said there are alot of weeds so will be picking and choosing and then the rest will get rolled.... so he is going to cut some more since I will be able to rake alot of it once I am out on the tractor and rake....
There is a 20-30% chance of rain on Thurs/Fri so need to get it on the ground tomorrow so he does not have to rush to get it baled. It is drying very fast since it is light and there is no humidity in the air...
Did get the 2nd load of laundry done... had to run it through 2 rinses as there was soap/detergent bubbles in the rinse water...
Put a gallon of tea out to steep and brought that in a little bit ago....
Watched 2 movies while doing all the cutting up of stuff...

I did not do any more mowing today since I was working on the cucumbers, then the cantaloupe. I went out and locked in the chickens... and am done for the night. Maybe in the morning... temps are supposed to climb and I have to work tomorrow afternoon too.
Got to pick more tomatoes and get them worked up next inbetween the rest of the stuff....