Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

Teresa is heading to Missouri in the morning to spend a couple of days with her siblings who are all coming in for a get together. We had a pretty full day getting things caught up so I don't start out behind tomorrow and I love it that we share all the work. We had been doing a string weave on our biggest tomato bed and after looking at it this afternoon, we were pretty close to having a total mess so we went through and re-did all of the ties. From the way the plants look, we should be getting a banner harvest in a week or so and we will pull our camp stove out and set it up to process everything outside. We have somewhere around 40 plants and they are all going to be getting ripe around the same time. We planted a half dozen plants later in another bed so we will still have plenty of fresh tomatoes after the main bunch is through.

 

[Baymule]

Hope Teresa has a great time on her trip. I know she will have lots of fun. Yes, have to get everything prepared for her not being there. Lots to do!

I plant my tomatoes between a cow panel trellis. I leave the trellis up and never take it down. It’s much easier than string. I’ll take a picture this morning and post it for you.

 

[Ridgetop]

I use the concrete wire cylinders my daddy made me 40 years ago. I tried to get more wire to make more but the new wire is not as tall as the old stuff daddy used. The original cages were 6' tall but after 40 years I have had to trim some of the rusty broken ends off and they are about 5' now. The new ones are only 4' tall and lighter gauge wire. But better than those flimsy cone shaped things at the garden store!

One of my tomato bushes actually has about 2-3 tomatoes on it!!!

 

[Mike CHS]

I have been doing a weave for a lot of years and will probably continue to do so. We have 30 tomato plants in the one bed and it only took about 20 minutes to weave the string on the 3 20 foot rows.

 

[Baymule]

I didn’t make it to the garden today. We worked the ewes and Ringo. Ringo didn’t need working, but can’t hurt his feelings by leaving him out. I ordered hand shears for the 3 lousy shedders I have. They are clean now!

 

[Mike CHS]

Ringo always got included no matter what and he never seemed to mind. He still ruined me as a Ram aware handler. I was out cleaning the water trough in the breeders paddock this evening and was all bent over and not thinking about Cooper until I felt breathing on my leg and looked up to see Cooper trying to figure out where the crackers were. He doesn't react at all when I'm in the paddocks for a long time and doesn't show any aggressive behavior. I don't know if he will ever be as trustworty as Ringo but he is well on his way to being predictable.

 

[Baymule]

Ringo is one in a million. He is one special boy. We just got 2 registered ewes from Howard Covington. They are 3 1/2 months old. Howard said he breeds at 7 months old. I may wait an extra month.

 

[Baymule]

Our new girls

Registered Ewes for Ringo!

We got home a little while ago with two 3 1/2 month old registered ewes. We bought them from Howard and Susian Covington in Livingston. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep last night. Dessa

www.backyardherds.com

 

[Baymule]

Here are pictures of my tomato trellis. I put up 3 cow panels, 18-20 inches apart, about a foot off the ground. After the first frost, I give them a little time to dry out, then we pull off the vines. We spread compost or sheep barn clean out for the next spring. Tomatoes do great in this spot, year after year. Black Eyed Susan’s like to grow there too. When we put down cardboard or paper feed sacks, I always go around the Black Eyed Susan’s. They are so bright and cheerful.

Feel free to ignore the gone to seed mustard to the left

 

[Mike CHS]

If you have an abundance of cucumbers, don't hesitate to use them for breakfast. I had sauteed cucumbers and scrambled eggs for breakfast and it is very tasty. A little lemon grass, ginger, sesame seed oil and soy sauce adds the taste to a very enjoyable meal.