home,home on the free range

My Hibiscus is Starting to Bloom 

always gorgeous first bloom

     Well today I am going to talk about pictures I have taken of what is going on at the farm. First off I think I have lost my retired chicken Red. She had been mauled twice and recovered and in the last week I think she may have free ranged it a bit too much. Course it could be like the commercial and she sends me text pictures of places she visited. I will get a pic of here on my blog next. I traded a bale of hay for her and two geese a fencer and who knows what else went down in that deal, oh also a white duck. Anyhow the one goose flew back home not long after he arrived, and red and the white duck stayed. I kid the neighbors about how they sold me a goose that flies home after a couple of days. I ask them, now what kind of a deal is that? A little shady if you ask me.

     Red made herself at home and was soon sucking up the retirement life spitting an egg or two out on occasion in odd places , I wouldn’t eat them as I never knew how long they had been there. But she and Whitey made friends and the two them could be found in odd places that would make you laugh when you needed it. They would get together and attack the mulch in mom’s flower garden throwing it out on the sidewalk, or they might be sunning in my flower gardens burrowing into a hole and casting dirt up over their backs, most likely potting soil I had placed there earlier.

     Their rounds included a stop by my door to make sure I left them their portion of food as I went about my chores for the day. I would gladly feed them and would watch them as they trailed behind me to the garage waiting for their tidbits of bird feed, as I called them hither by saying here chicky, chicky. I believe if I don’t see Red by tonight I will move Whitey to the new coop and let her get acquainted with the new girls. Maybe she can teach them a few things. Will miss Red though, she had some kind of personality. Maybe I need to check with the neighbors?

this is Red-if you see her send her home, and no that is not a chicklet in front of her. maybe that is where they got the name. kinda look the same. 

 My peas and beans are continuing to do great and are about a foot tall. Weeding has been minimal and I would say nonexistent as the peas and beans quickly shadowed the weeds and left them powerless to compete. Having planted densely allows you to do this and weeds are less of a problem. So far so good, I like this as it works well, and I just hope I can use for more than one season.

      The potato tower is starting to come to life on all levels as the potatoes too are starting to pop out of the ground. The same with the tomato towers as the vines are starting to grow and I have never saw any heat related stress I have seen with planting as in a conventional garden. Time will tell.

       The bucket tomatoes were ok but they were very dependent on you watering them and then again it all depended on the soil you were growing them in. In some ways they were required a lot more work and caring to get the tomato to produce good size tomatoes. I can’t say they did well for this type of growing. The tomato tower in comparison takes up a small portion of your garden and has ten tomato plants in 2 cages and this should be enough for doing some canning and eating fresh. Again we will see.

     Everyone’s flower garden could use a fresh influx of organic soil to make it healthier. Working in those areas where the plants are doing poorest yet has some sun to grow tomatoes is best type of arrangement I see for using the tomato tower. Moving around year to year in your garden will reduce the blight and reduce blossom end rot in your tomatoes and the plants will be healthier from the increased organics in the soil, as well the need for watering will be reduced as the organics help the soil to retain water. At times organic soil will hold up to ten times their weight in water that would be available to the plants as well as feeding the plant instead of using chemical fertilizers as most use to produce the same size fruit. This is also cheaper and healthier in that respect making the whole process of growing more natural.

     My goal is to have an open mind and try all processes of growing tomatoes to see what would work best for the home gardener, keeping in mind cost of enriching the soil , and space requirements and ease of labor involved. Face it if it isn’t easy or requires an unnecessary amount of work it will look like a pile of weeds better left to the weed eater to harvest as most folks will give up at some point. So we need to grow more with less.

     I am also going to include some pics of the flowers currently blooming in and around the greenhouse.

    

   

to err is human , to do it over and over again is compulsive obsessive bs.

It Isn’t Always What You Think

iris blooming now. 

       Trying to read me through my writing may not always yield the right synopsis of what is going on with me. One thing doesn’t necessarily have to deal with another. Because I made the mistake of writing about mistakes, had a lot more to do with my ability to produce a subject and actually physically start on the task, only to be besieged by grammatical errors so plenty that not even my word program could keep up with the flagging. It had more to do with the process instead of a reflection of my personal life as if I was in a state of reflection on mistakes I have made in life.

     A story about mistakes kinda took on the air, or morphed into a totally different meaning to the reader, prompting queries and excitement about my mental condition. Here is a word or slang I rarely use on my blog but instead save it best for where it came from and really doesn’t reflect anything in a vocabulary sense, still; here it is; lol. I think I am ok but then the judge and jury have been out awhile on that one. So until they come back with a decision I like to think I am in a comfortable place. Not where I want to be, but then who is?

straw bale planting row-. r. side will be filled with soil similar to pea and bean planter 

      All you can do is get up each day and keep trying to accomplish something major and something minor of some of the goals you have, and sooner than you can believe you will find out how this effort pays off much better than worrying yourself about all you have to do. Overall you will be closer to where you want to be in life. For the rest of the day go about your normal routine and only make time for your goals you want to achieve.

    Some days I only get a step along the way as I really don’t know exactly how one goal is going to affect another, and in example I will go over a few things that yesterday offered to me. I wanted to find a place to plant some briars I have been babying along. Some are actually going to produce this year for the first time after moving then twice. They are the heathiest I have ever saw them and it also has a bunch of babies, which will produce next year. The problem is they are in the road of my new addition to my house and I want to see the berries come off the plants before moving them. Then I need a place to move them. Well it came to me after seeing the success of the bean/ pea straw bale garden, that the same may work excellent for briars as well. I needed to do something with the straw bales on the wagon where I was going to have a hayride and I needed to get them inside or somewhere I want them to be for a while so I used them as one side of a new border garden around my retention pond below my greenhouse.

peas and beans

     8 bales made 32 feet of border and I will get more and extend it around the lower perimeter of the pond and filling up against the hillside with my organic soil and capping with compost or peat. This arrangement may allow me to flood this area with water in a drought situation as it will be located below the outlet to my retention pond. Hopefully not needed but still it may come in handy. I went ahead and arranged the bales and will add soil and brier vines as I am able to dig them. This is a win-win situation as it seems of all the things we have raised berries seem to be the most proficient here. Maybe we need to expand on that.

    My major goal was building an addition; secondary was moving the briars and saving the species for down the road possible sales. My minor goal was doing something with the straw bales and settling on location for my briar vines. It seems as if it is all going to work out better than I expected. I also plan on planting some melons and baby pumpkins in the new soil I am bringing in as the berry vines will be small the first year.

coral bells? 

     All in all not a bad ending to a mistake prone day in the life of a hippy farmer in the middle of nowhere. 

why is life like this?

Oh the Typos Some Days

mistakes-like why didnt i put the greenhouse closer to my house than what seems like a mile away at times?

    If mistakes are how we learn I must be heading into the genius category anytime, as it seems I have had my fair share of them, and yet despite all I have had I still continue to make more. Thank someone for a backspace key, or I would never be able to write anything on a computer.

   That aside and a usual start to my day have led me to make more mistakes just this day yet. Nothing on a grand scale, instead small typos hardly visible to the naked eye and hopefully alerted to me by my word program so that I can shine in my own regular way.  It isn’t only the small mistakes that have shaped my life but still larger ones and a lot of those when I was younger. The old adage ‘We grow old too soon and wise not son enough’, and this applies to myself most readily.  

    I have had my fair share of mistakes , and at times, if I was to be the judge and jury by which all evidence is weighed I would say I have had more than my fair share of mistakes. Some I caused and some happened naturally as if something I was doing was doomed to fail naturally, some I made while not being cognizant or aware that they were mistakes till it was too late, only to see the misery of my actions play out before me.

      Some were big mistakes and a lot of those I have already wrote in a self-deprecating manner trying to find humor in my remorse of how it turned out. And I made a whole lot of small mistakes and continue to do so daily, as if this is a normal part of my routine. I try to not make mistakes and would like to be perfect, and say instead of a mistake I could stand back and say yes that is how it is supposed to be.

     Still I am only human as we are most certainly mistakes in our self. It is part of our makeup. As if 9 months before mom and my real dad went to bed and conceived me, that they had the fore thought and all-knowing to say for certain that they were going to conceive me, on that very day and minute. It is a mistake to think that a parent has enough forethought to know exactly when that special time is that a child will be conceived and that they had saved themselves for that exact moment.

    Instead I believe as most people should, it is more a heat of the moment type of thing, less planning and more grunting than anything that brings you into this world on that special day. So in that sense I would say we are almost all a mistake from the beginning and so it must be human nature to make mistakes. Your parents may have told you, you were planned for, but if the first time they went to bed together , and you were not conceived then undoubtedly they made a mistake.  This would in the end lead you to believe they have less credibility in your planning, then they want you to believe. Then again if it happened in the back seat of a 56 Chevy, then you would also think that maybe it was not so well planned. Had it been planned in maybe in a church pew being spoiled somewhere, that would have been better to usher a new life in, and give you somewhat of a blessed start so to speak.

    Even that wouldn’t work so well as that would be sacrilegious and demeaning to your faith, but then again is it right to bless them in that same church after the mistake had been made. Does anyone count the days anymore when it comes to baptism? Anyhow that is not my concern although it may have been yours, still life is full of mistakes, and we all make them. Some good,some bad.

      Still in the end it is all part of a learning process and those that don’t make mistakes or never have, have the most to learn. Most people are not naïve and realize mistakes are nature’s pathway to learning. You touch a flame, you burn your damn fingers, you screw in the back of an old 56 Chevy without any contraception you will have a mistake, plain and simple. Knowing full well you never have to go to those extremes to know what the outcome will be. Some mistakes stay with you a lifetime others just an instant. Those that have never made a mistake undoubtedly had parents they listened to, that had made all the bad mistakes and imparted more than their fair share of wisdom  with their kids. Or that they are lying through their teeth and maybe truly believe that anything they do is perfect, or until they are called on it, and at which point conveniently say I don’t remember.

    These are the people in life you should avoid as they are hypocritical bunch of perfect planners that have everything arranged as to how it should be. In this way they avoid the hit and miss system that most of us operate under. As if their lives are so perfect, then why were they not born to millionaires and instead struggle like the rest of us to put food on a table in a house with a roof over our head? Surely if I was born perfect then money was going to be the first thing I would have gone for. The rest will come in time.

     So I think in conclusion there is no such thing as perfect as if perfect was something to achieve. All of human’s vices would be hard to put aside, as well in the end and if you were perfect then you would want to keep your record as being perfect and never die, having seen years earlier that death wasn’t a perfect way to go out and that people may expect you to be normal under those circumstances, and just go peacefully. But you being perfect would hardly want to leave this perfect world behind to find out what? That maybe in the end it doesn’t really matter if you are perfect as we all die in only one way and we all get it right every time, since no one has made a mistake at that yet? This in turn would lower a perfect person to that same level as everyone else and in the end would make their life a mistake in knowing, that all they did and thought was no better than anyone else. 

open house prices in effect till june 6, 2015

Open House is Over

       The bear is given away, and the food was great thanks to my friend Linda Davila,  who thinks of all the little things I forget, and to all the people who attended I give my thanks for your generosity in my endeavors here at the farm. The straw bale garden seemed to be a success as well as my potato and tomato towers and I will keep you informed as to how well each of these turn out.

      It was low key and I had a good time talking politics as well as my ideas on agriculture with the folks who attended. I am sorry I didn’t give any carving demonstrations although, I was set up for that as well as a hay ride , but interest in doing either wasn’t really there. And to be quite honest, again I had worn myself out getting prepared for open house, so that I was just tuckered out. It happens, and I am just now recovering from all that I did. Damn I must be getting old.

     My friend Lorne Gintz and his family received the bear in the giveaway which mom had drawn their name from. Anyhow we all say around and talked and the farm was in great shape , being well manicured thanks to help from my brother in law Mike, and foir whom I send out a big thank you.

     I will be open for the next 2 weeks and will have plenty of trees available as well as some hanging baskets. From here on through the rest of the summer my focus will shift to building my bandsaw to cut lumber from reclaimed wood here on the farm as well as making hay. I also plan on starting the foundation of my new addition to my house. I will have plenty to keep me busy here on the farm. I plan on writing about my process as I go along, as I have heard from folks an interest in what I am doing and hope that you will follow along as I go about my building process.

     It is getting close to the time when you should postpone tree planting till later in the summer as we are headed into the drier season where you would have to haul water to keep your tree alive. If you still want trees though I will have them available anytime by calling me at my number and making a request. For specialty trees, I can get ahold of most anything and get it started for you if you would like. Just let me know.  The same with shrubs and perennials, I can only afford to carry so much at one time but would try and get what you ned if not for this season then next. Thanks to all who attended my open house. I appreciate it. 

yockey farms third annual open house.

    Finally Tomorrow is the Day 

Open House 2015

free bear anyone? 

       Tomorrow is the third annual Yockey Farms open house and it will be on May 23 from 10- ? . I have a wide  variety of pines and other trees native to Ohio. I have norway spruce(80), blue spruce (100), hawthorne, american plum, basswood, oak trees , sugar maples, tulip poplar, american hazelnut, and  some miscellaneous, all are 7 dollars, quantities over 10 trees will be discounted 1 dollar, and after 100 trees will be 5 dollars per tree, your choice.  I will be selling these along with hanging baskets and perennials at our location. I have approximately 300 trees in pots ready to be planted, or i need to repot into larger pots. So i would rather sell and start more. These trees are in the 1-2 ft. range with some shooting up to 3 feet and are grand in color and splendor now. I also have about 100 arbor vitae some in the 2-3 ft. range and the majority in the 1-2 ft. range. these need planted or re- potted also, but are quite vigorous and will be hearty in your garden or to use as a future privacy fence. I will also be giving away a free carved bear(pic of carved bear is the actual bear carving, and is sealed ready to take home and enjoy.) one entry per person and you don't have to be here to receive bear and no purchase required, I normally charge 150 dollars for bear, but i am not carving anymore except for my open house. I have no carvings available to sell, and i am not doing any custom carving due to ongoing injury. I will need a name and number you can be reached at if your name is drawn and you are not here. A name will be drawn by oldest person here at 5 pm sharp.  you will be able to take the bear home with you. I will also have chainsaw carving demonstration.  There are some refreshments and some projects I have been working on as well as a hay ride every 2 hours to top of hill, starting at noon. More information is available in my blog posts.- lifemoveson -kevscarving-just search and blog will pop up. carvings-Kevin Davis. I am also on Facebook. call for information or if you have questions and leave a message . Will get back to you asap. this sale will last for 2 weeks and i will leave ad up till end of time after that prices will increase

blue spruce

norway spruce

hanging baskets

      Well i hopeyou can all attend. Thank you for your consideration.-kev. 

.

have my tomato towers built

Tomato Tower

        Sometimes I wonder if Donald trump started this way. I would bet one thing though in reference to my towers over his, I am sure mine are a whole lot more green and solar as compared to his behemoths that do nothing but raise the heels of the elite over the backs that support them in an effort to be the one from which all shit rolls downhill. When you are at the top of the hill, you never have to worry. That is unless you need something to eat, and your money isn’t worth anything, or you have pissed off those that support you.

     Well the nice thing about shit rolling down hill is if you are at the bottom, then you can always compost, and grow yourself something to eat. Try doing that in a skyscraper. I am sure old Donald trump has a compost pile in his penthouse. If not he probably should. Then again instead, he has probably an underground bunker somewhere he can head to in a hurry. If not he could always lock himself in the bottom of one of those skyscrapers and turn on his grow lights fueled from his in house gen-set, and get the hired help to plant tomatoes on his piles of green. Surely with all that money I am sure he has contingency plans, and they don’t include me, so I need to quit worrying about him and concentrate on me.

   Anyhow I managed to get my tomatoes planted, and was able to select a piece of wood for the bear I am giving away. I have it all set up to carve, and will start with that job tomorrow. I have some great compost I stuffed into the inner cores of the tomato towers and I also used some good topsoil to place the cages on, making the whole thing a huge mound of friable highly organic soil. Giving their tender roots the best possible chance of being all they can be.

     I say soil as dirt is too dirty to talk about. Soil is the basic building and support structure on which plants grow or things are built. Dirt is the stuff caught under your fingernails, or the stuff that is swept under the carpet. Much like the getting the dirty down low on someone’s personal life, now would you grow anything in what could be someone’s dirty little secret, or in their dirty clothes. I think if you grow it in soil it sounds a lot better. This is just a point I would like to make if anyone comes around this weekend asking if I have any dirt for sale. I might have to ask will it be natural or would you want Joe as in Joe Dirt. Anyhow I am not equipped to let you have a lot of soil but could possible help you out with a pickup or two if you need it.

      I have taken soil classes, and as well worked in a lab as a lab technician determining the organic content of soil as well as a wide range of quantifiable variables that will represent the various characteristics of soil. Really don’t use a lot of that information or does it have any relevance to soils we need to grow things in as the one thing that seems to make the most difference, and that is the organic content of the soil. The more organic the soil is the higher the yield, the healthier the plant is going to be, and the more resistant it is going to be drought conditions. Along with the increase of organic content, is the amount of major supporting chemicals that stimulate growth as they occur naturally and have it available for immediate use by plants. So it is very important that if you want to grow organically then you will need to have organics to incorporate in the soil. I will try and address the need for the backyard gardener to have a compost pile. What makes them work and how you can best help yourself trying to maintain one.

     But I will save for another post. Today is the 601^st post I have had in my blog having rolled the 600^th yesterday. I am heading into the realm of having almost 2 full years of writing daily behind me. It won’t happen for a while as that would be 720 pages. I am closing in on it though. But then it is so ingrained in me now it is quick becoming a way of life. A scope of my mental fitness if it may be and as you check in and say to yourself, wonder what the crazy kevin is going to bitch about today. In the back of your mind isn’t it nice to know someone else is having a worse day than you, and I too am glad you show up and commiserate with me. Thank you. 

are you vertically challenged ? here is some help for you

Making your Flower Garden Multi- task

     Going vertical uses up a lot less space , and allows you to locate vegetables close to resources for optimal growing ability, is one of a couple of reasons why you should grow in more containers per se. You can control the weeds much easier if you over plant the variety of plant you are trying to have success with . This will choke out undesirable weeds from the beginning and after a couple of weeding’s or an application of heavy mulch weeding should become non-existent. This is especially true in different varieties like the legumes or beans and peas which can also be companion planted in an effort to allow only enough room for the plant you are trying to achieve a better chance at survival.

       Yesterday I was able to work on and plant my potato tower. In fact I am thinking about carving out Mr. Potatohead to sit atop the top of the tower. Think it would be neat to have one. Have to work on bear for party first as I haven’t even started that, then I will go on to Mr. Potatohead. Anyhow I used untreated wood in the 4x6 and 4x4 inch range, cut in random lengths from 3 feet to the next size down being 2 foot 6 inches in length, to a final size of 2 feet in length and assembled in an Aztec pyramid fashion allowing pockets that will allow plants to grow, then stepping each level in about 3 inches from the lower level. This will allow me to insert potato spuds that I had cut from seed potatoes a few days earlier.

    It took a five pound bag of potatoes to plant this size pyramid. My guess is it should yield around fifty pounds of potatoes. Soil was organic blend being about 60 percent aged organics and 40 percent natural soil and of course not available to everyone but could be if you start composting regularly. Dig that grass catcher out of your garage and start using it as you build a pile of organics in the backyard and assure that is one place your neighbor wont cross the property line.

     Anyhow I digress and will address backyard composting in a future blog. Anyhow it took close to ¾ of a bucket similar to what a bobcat has, or this would be equivalent to almost ¾ of a yard of soil. Smaller pyramids could be built I am sure and it would cost less. The soil can be used again but not for tomatoes or potatoes as it may carry blight and needs to be rotated out with something like strawberries which would also do well in a structure like this. it is kind of cost preventative as you would spend at least 40 dollars for wood , and then another 40 dollars for natural soil to fill it unless you steal some from somewhere on your property. Still it can be reused many times as you rotate plants in and out of the pyramid. If built in your flower garden would take up a minimal amount of space and could be located in an area where you need soil improvement , and after using it , just spread out the pile and plant flowers and move lumber to a new area you would like to work and improve soil on and refill with new soil yearly.

    This is something I saw on the internet and some guy wanted to sell you his idea of how to plant in an arrangement as this. I thought I would try it out as well a new version of doing tomatoes that encourages higher production in cages and I will be working on this today. Hopefully I will have pictures of that and also of bear I will be giving away as I also plan on carving today. Hope you all have plans fulfilled, I need to get moving. I have already said too much, and will have to move to get it all done. 

Yockey Farms Open House - Saturday May23, 2015.

Open House Next Saturday

The Tin Man 

     So far everything is looking good for the open house next weekend, if there are any changes, check on Facebook or give me a call to see if there are any changes. I still plan on having a hay ride and will be giving away a free bear I plan on carving this week and will have available at the open house to take home with you, so this way everyone  will be encouraged and will see that the bear is actually gave away.

    This will be your only chance to get a carving from me this year, and unless you plan on attending next year’s open house, otherwise you will have little chance of having me carve you anything. Sorry I’m not taking orders, and plan on outfitting my new house with my work while I can.   This will also be your only chance to watch me carve publicly this year or next, as I have no interest in diverting my priorities anywhere else but to the task I have assigned myself. I am not getting any younger and have only so many carvings left in my body and have other priorities I need to take care of before my back will limit what I do. Not asking for sympathy, just some understanding.

     I would have loved to give everyone a carving, or at least tried to sell you one, but I started too late in life to accomplish that and only after hurting my back. This isn’t therapy for a bad back instead it is probably the opposite; instead it is therapy for the mind, knowing I can perform a skill few have achieved. I am happy to have been able to do it, and it gives me credibility to my artistic talents. I told mom I should have went to art school. I imagine her argument would be it would have been money wasted as she knew I had talent all along, why pay for something when you can have it for free.

    So this is your one of two chances to get a carving yet for a while. Along with the free carving I will be offering a much smaller assortment of plants. I have a lot less bedding plants like tomatoes and peppers, instead I have more perennials like iris’s and swamp lilies, and some ground cover. I also have a nice assortment of trees I plan on selling cheap to get them in the ground as well as arbor vitae, all of which seem to be doing real well showing great growth. All of these will need to be planted or at least repotted, and this is the reason I am selling them cheap. All trees will be 7.50, regardless of species. Some I will have reserved for myself, but for the most part will have over 400 trees at this price. If you choose to buy a quantity, then I can cut the price more.

    Also I will have some exhibits and updates on some special projects I have been working on. Hopefully you will come and enjoy and maybe learn a thing or two or be quick to tell me when I am wrong. I always love that. I can’t say I know everything or have done everything there is to do. So I am always open to constructive criticism. Any other criticism needs to be handled by Babe my executive director in charge of bullshit. She will take care of you in a heartbeat.

     Anyhow I am just kidding about Babe and hope that everyone just comes and enjoys themselves. Buy if you want, but don’t feel compelled to purchase anything. I would rather you want to take something home, if nothing else maybe a free bear.

     Starting at 10- whenever, sat. may 23, 2015. Drawing for free bear will be at 4 PM by Mom. There will be only one entry per person attending. must be present  to receive bear which will be available. Yockey Farms - 7528 E. Sparta ave . Magnolia Ohio. 44643.

    Directions from Canton- from I-77 take Cleveland ave S.(st. rt 800) through construction 5. 0 miles south past concrete bridge , Begin looking for Pike township building on right and immediately past this building look for first E. Sparta ave on left. turn left. you will pass several E. Sparta ave's do not turn till you get to the to\township hall. 1st lane on left at carved tin man.Google all other ways needed to get here or give me a call at 2345213984-kev. 

     

got milk?

This Was Missy

     

      She was the first I stickered. I happened to be eating a banana the night before this pic and she wanted to be in my chair along side my leg in my easy chair. I was working in Cleveland driving five hours a day and close to 250 miles on the average a day to pay the bills. So whenever missy got a chance to sit beside me in the chair she would weld herself to my side. It was no luife for her ort my other dog bud , but I felt I had to pay the bills and at the time the job was great , it was the driving and the distance that sucked.

    It required both dogs to stay in the house, but I had a back porch area I fenced in and they could hang out there in the shade during the day , and I would let them run when I got home. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. I had no one to help me with them, so all I could do was the best I could do. Both Bud and Missy ended up in my possession for the same reason, as they were hand me downs , Bud being a  pup and not trained, crapped on the carpet at my girlfriend’s house and ended up at my place the next day. Her daughter dragged him home from school, and bud being the smart dog he was, knew just what to do to get him out of that place. They never had an idea he was going to be such a great dog, and I couldn’t care after I had him for a while. He wasn’t going anywhere.

    Well it wasn’t too long after that and we were over at my sister’s house and she had a dog that this same girlfriend was going to take home to her house and make it hers since I had made Bud my dog and he wouldn’t have a lot to do with her anyhow, and he saw her even less than me. Well apparently Bud and Missy had a talk somewhere along the way, and it wasn’t long before Missy moved into my house for the same reason. Funny thing they never had an accident that couldn’t be attributed to sickness and that was so infrequent that it never mattered. It just took time and be able to let them out on a regular basis.

     Missy had a little story behind her as she was my other sister Belinda’s dog and she couldn’t keep her for some reason and passed her on to my sister Sherry and then Sherry passed her on to my girlfriend, and then she crapped on the floor and ended up with me. Missy was initially found wandering down the streets of Massillon and my sister Belinda picked her up and I am sure attempts were made to find the owner, and with no success, then Belinda named her after her friend Missy.

    It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that is a winner. This an old adage I borrowed from wherever and I am not going to be politically correct and try and find original quote but I am sure many a dog owner has seen or heard it before. The littler the dog the more of a pain in the ass they can be at times. Also it seems the littler dogs can run the fastest and do stuff a lot quicker than the big ones at times. Missy was no exception. She was such a sweet heart when lying beside me in the chair, but let Bud my German Shepherd whom has now passed, as Missy has also, years ago, let him come up and want some loving or want to play while she as there , and she would do a Jekyll and Hyde routine and become this terror on short legs, a mouth snapping piranha of land animals where all you could do was hope your fingers wasn’t in the melee that was going to follow.

    One of the funniest fights happened one night when an event much as I have situated before happened where Bud came to me and put his head between my legs thinking Missy was somewhere else. He couldn’t see her and the normal growl from her didn’t get him to back off until she came up beside my leg and started climbing right out his back snapping at him, as his back was even with my legs making it easy for her to step over from my leg to his back and out his back she went to the tail, and fell off and rolled under him and without even a flinch or a hesitation in her barking, she came snapping up off the floor, her mouth snapping air and  headed  right for his nads. 

i have lily babe red and of course whitey. red and whitey are the retired chickens 

     Now I never saw a dog do a front leg stand before but Bud learned real quick as there was nowhere for him to go. his hind end went straight up in the air as he had unleashed the predator from the belly of the beast and she was going to make him a he - she at the rate she was going. Old Bud managed to get away on his 2 legs with his butt in the air and managed to save his virility and his ego for yet many more events such as this in his life. Missy just hopped up in the chair and plopped herself beside me and stared at me with those eyes as if to say what’s the problem? That little dog had just put the fear of death or worse yet being neutered by mouth, in a German shepherd. I couldn’t stop laughing until my sides hurt.

    I know I kinda wander sometimes, but to know Missy was to know her character, and the sweet little thing you see in the picture has a story to tell. As you see that cookie between her legs was what I gave her every morning before I would leave for work, and she knew when she received that cookie I was going to work and it would be a while. Now I never knew what happened all day long while I was gone but when I came home, she would still have that cookie. And she wouldn’t eat it till I walked in the door. And I swear it looked like she sat there and guarded that cookie all day long but the minute I walked through the door and before she would greet me she would eat her cookie.

    Now Bud also got a cookie but he wasn’t quite so careful with his, and chances are it was gone before it left my hand and I had to watch to make sure it lasted that long. Why she kept that cookie I don’t know, I thought it may have been that if I didn’t make it home she would always have a cookie to eat, but then I don’t know and have often wondered.

     So now you know about Missy and the cookie between her legs and now the banana had a ‘got milk’ sticker on it, this was a promotion to ell bananas to go along with your cereal in the morning, and I had peeled it off to eat the banana, not that I had to, I guess it was habit and anyhow was looking for somewhere to throw it away when I had the idea of stickering missy with it. I know stickering isn’t a word and my word program is blowing up with nasty red underlines at the thought of it, but that was what I did I stickered her. It was too cute and I had to take a picture, just as I was leaving to go to work.

     Yesterday Babe was bugging me for attention and I remembered seeing some stickers that the bee club gave me that said ‘I love you honey’, and I thought I would give her one also, and so I stickered her also, and after about 30 pictures, finally I was able to get one with the words and her head in the shot. it seems when it isn’t her idea , Babe doesn’t like to get her picture taken , otherwise she hams her way into the shots if she thinks someone else is getting more attention than her.

     I just left the sticker on and didn’t tell mom or Sherry and then Babe went visiting at mom’s house and Sherry thought it was cute she had that sticker on her forehead. Apparently the other dogs never told her I was having fun with her as it stayed on all day, and would make me smile when I saw it. But by the end of the day the sticker was a mere reflection of what it used to be. Now as for Missy years earlier, I left her sticker on, but it wasn’t on her when I returned home from work, so she must have done something during the day, but the cookie was still there. It was a miracle she lived as long as she did as Bud was a huge dog compared to her and could have ate her cookie anytime as well as her, but never did. She deserved a sticker, as much the same for babe. 

open house 2015-may23

Farms Getting closer to my Open House for Yockey Greenhouse

     I am still looking at May 23, 2015, as the date for my open house this year. Starting at around 10 AM and going to whenever. I will also be open for 2 weeks after daily from 10-6 if you would still like some plants. I will also be having a yard sale cleaning out some extra tools and miscellaneous from the garage. There will be fishing poles and tackle for sale at this yard sale and more man stuff. But who knows what may turn up before the day of the open house? An area in the garage will be set up specifically for the yard sale. Anyone else interested in selling their stuff can contact me and I will do my best to accommodate your yard sale items also. This will be for free.

      I have plenty of trees available for sale from blue spruce to hawthorns, to Norway spruce, and a wide variety of trees that are native to our region of Ohio. I have perennials like daffodils potted up and have some swamp lilies available in pots also. Not a bad variety of potted plants but have cut back on the bedding plants and instead have added some features like a straw bale garden and will have different exhibits on that order to make planting off the edge of the patio easier and more user friendly. This will help the urban as well as the rural gardener help provide more produce in less space.

      Tomatoes in a two cage planting will allow you to have an inner core of organic compost surrounded by a ring of tomatoes. The idea of this is that it allows the nutrients of the compost to become saturated when the plants are watered through the central core. This requires less watering and allows the plants to absorb the nutrients leaked out through the compost, giving the plants all the necessary nutrients with little fuss or mess on your part. It also reduces the weeding and avoids the blossom end rot problem as you can just discard the compost into your flower gardens and just acquire new compost for the next year. This is just a test and next year at open house I hope to have some idea of how well it works.

     One reason my bedding plants are not as plentiful as last year is that I am adjusting to using all non-GMO seeds or heritage seeds. It seems as if the tomatoes didn’t respond to well to my usual starting methods but then I couldn’t get them into the greenhouse as early as I wanted as it was too cold, and I didn’t have the water due to water line problems. I have the water line problems taken care of but it is to late to replant so will not worry because I over planted the last couple of years and had to give away plants.

      Another thing I am going to try is a potato tower. I have bought and cut potatoes for planting and intend to plant them in a cascading tower arrangement where at each level the plants will be able to grow in a pyramid fashion and in the fall you just tear it apart and have potatoes in the center pf the pyramid. This again is just a test and I will keep you informed as to how it progresses. The idea again is for the off the patio growing of your own vegetables and produce to help offset your needs. Again you can shuttle the spent soil to your flower beds and use new soil the next year to void potato blight. This should reduce the space required as well ease the work involved as now you are maximizing space and reducing the work involved watering , and weeding as you will plant in crowded conditions allowing only the plant intended to grow. Trimming or mowing around this as well as tilling the soil as one would do in a conventional garden should also be eliminated.

       My idea of adding items like the potato tower or the tomato ring is to try out new methods of growing your own locally as easy as possible for the home gardener. With the drought in certain parts of the country and specifically California, it may be of everyone’s interest to once again take advantage of our wonderful water and excellent soil to produce your own and save money. I won’t make much money off your work but it isn’t all about the money as much as it is helping my neighbors get by the best they can. If all I can do is provide the tools for learning a better way, then both you and I will be better off.

    A hay ride to the top of the hill and a carved bear will be up for grabs; as well some refreshments will be made available. More on this will follow in the days leading up to the open house. Hope you all can come and look and buy if you want, if not learn a little and maybe try something new, and have some fun.

it isn't a typical day

It’s Turkey Season

      I am not talking about the wild ones but instead the gutless assholes that purposely avoid me and instead go behind my back to receive hunting rights from my mom who he knows he can schmooze a hell of a lot better than I. This asshole has never done anything for my family except maybe schmooze Mom with some gifts.

    I was wondering where the tire tracks were coming from the other day that I saw going up on the hill and became concerned enough to take my truck up there and check it out, but I didn’t see anything. And then later when I had a chance to talk to mom and she casually brought it up in conversation that this guy had called her to ask permission to hunt on our land. She agreed to give it to him since he had always hunted on our land. I don’t think he has always hunted on our land as he is younger than I and apparently dumber than I am and since I have lived here as a kid and have quite a few years in here on this farm. I can remember quite a few years he has never hunted here. In fact it was his dad that even allowed him to get a foot in our door in the first place, but then it wasn’t his dad that was asking permission to hunt instead it was his son.

    I personally don’t care for hunting or hearing gunshots on my property but awoke to that sound this morning and my ire was peaked at the thought of this asshole who has never really done nothing but possible entertain mom on one day a year with his apparently ample amount of bullshit to continually allow this asshole to roam freely hunting what remains of the natural wildlife that remains here on the property. This is food he is taking away from my mouth in the event I should ever need it bad enough. I have done more for this family than this asshole has ever done. and as well I feel I am trying to be a good steward of the farm trying to preserve that which roams freely , only taking what we have to in order to take care of our self. So far we have needed nothing and this asshole contributes nothing and only takes from the farm.

     I have worked countless hours on this farm improving it for the better while working to return it to a better natural state than it was before. I personally like seeing the wild life and feed birds here with money out of my own pocket. I give what I have to make their life better. Most assuredly the turkeys don’t personally come down and partake of the bird feed but I have seen them in my fields and also have seen the effects of them ravaging corn and oats I have planted before in the fields. I have no problem with this. An old adage of farmers was to just plant a little more as they have to eat also.  As we continue to infringe on their habitat it is even more important that we provide for the wildlife we impact.

     Now turkeys are about the dumbest animal to hunt. You shoot one and wait, and another will stick his head out to see what happened to Harvey his buddy. I have seen them skirting the fields and it is impressive when they come across the field in huge flocks as they like to line up as if they were in a shooting gallery further strengthening my argument as to how dumb they are. Their numbers are plenty of which you would have a hard time counting. Numerous times I have heard mom mention of how it was nice to see the turkeys in the yard and on the hills around the farm. But apparently not as nice as she would admit, as I guess it is much better to have the asshole shooting them so that they no longer appear.

     When I was young growing up on the farm we never had wild turkeys around here. In fact the dying of the chestnut trees and their removal from the forests as well as over hunting virtually almost caused the wild turkey to become extinct. Repopulation of them has increased their numbers but not so much that I remember them knocking at the doors wanting to be fed. And if we couldn’t feed them then shoot them and put them out of their misery as they haven’t eaten in a while. I also feel that our place should be a sanctuary for them as we uniquely situated here in a remote part of the valley and since everyone around us hunts or poaches then maybe our place would give them a  chance to avoid detection and allow them a chance to propagate their species for the future.

     But the only thing dumber than a turkey is the asshole who decided to go around me and assure that when mom goes so does his chance at hunting. I will be the first to let him know and in fact I think I will call him right way and inform him that he is no longer welcome on this farm. I have no use for slimy creatures who decide to go around me or against my wishes, or for that matter take food out of my mouth as I never know when I might have to take wildlife to eat but would surely expect that on 40 acres I have something left to eat that is natural and ready to eat without growing it. This guy has plenty of money and I think it time to cough some up and buy his own damn farm and then he could hunt as he pleases and leave me the hell alone.

   I have to respect my mom’s wishes and if she wants the asshole to hunt then so be it. It doesn’t mean I have to be nice to him or show him any kind of respect as I have done that by granting mom’s wishes. I have told friends of mine they couldn’t go hunting here so why should allow this guy I never see till hunting season show up and be allowed to hunt regardless of who his dad is.

    And if I was going to allow hunting I think they should pay for the privilege. I sacrificed black walnut trees here on the farm to help pay the bills, and now I have to clean up the mess left behind and utilize those best I can. That is thirty trees that needed replanted and maybe more since those were mature trees. Do you think this guy would help? Hell no. No one is going to help me. We need a new barn roof on the only remaining barn we have, I think if anybody wants to hunt then they need to start paying to help put a barn roof on. Not that I want any of their help but still if I have to sacrifice, why shouldn’t they?

     Oh by the way if anyone has a thought of schmoozing me to be allowed to hunt. Then save your time and energy. I could care less unless you wake me up with gunshots on the farm in the middle of nowhere. 

kevin and his bean stalks.

Peas and Beans are Growing

beans at 6 days

   My straw bale raised beds are doing well and in fact have sprouts shooting up prolifically and I may have to thin from what I can see presently. A lack of rain has suppressed them a bit but not much as I have a lot of organics incorporated into the soil which helps to retain the moisture.

     Louis Bromfield a writer back in the 1930’s of dust bowl fame and who eventually made his home in Mansfield, Ohio spoke of the importance of incorporating organics into the soil as a way of retaining the moisture during drought times. We have nothing close to drought conditions here in Ohio but no one can doubt the importance of water in raising and maintaining the vigor and health of any plant you subscribe to raising.

     Now you can stand and water your plants daily until you reach the point of saturation where the water runs off. Then if your soil doesn’t have the ability to retain the water, the water is lost to evaporation or simply runs off to anywhere but the roots of the plants where you need it most. Agreeably too much moisture is also detrimental to the health of the plant as it gives rise to more mold type organisms or fungi that can be harmful to the plants overall health.

beans wider view 

     How to achieve the proper ratio of moisture needed is easier to achieve if the moisture is incorporated through the means of organic matter that not only waters the roots but also feeds the plant. Also organic matter as it swells to engorge the excess moisture will also increase the porosity of the soil allowing more exchange of gases due to the this increased openness of soils. Allowing oxygen and nitrogen to be vented or used by the plants as it respires with its environment.

     When rain water or irrigated water lands on soil that has a high organic content it is easily absorbed into the soil and based on the percentage of organic material, an increase in the rate of retention can be shown for each percentage point of increased organic material showing a direct correlation between organic material and moisture retained. This means less runoff when heavy rains are encountered.

      This is especially important during the summer months when Ohio typically receives its largest single time rainfall recorded during a one event status. It is not unusual in the June month to receive a rainfall where up to 4 inches of rain may fall in a 24 hr. period. That is a lot of rain. It isn’t the amount of rain that lands on the ground as much as it is how much is retained. Typically in a storm such as this we are lucky to retain 1 inch let alone 4 inches of rainfall. This results in a 25 percent efficiency in our ability to retain the water. The remainder is lost to streams and causes flooding and instead of being a beneficial rain instead becomes a liability, causing death and destruction.

planted 5-5-2015

    So it is in our best interest to increase the amount of organic material in our soils as it not only promotes plant health but also it reduces runoff due to excessive moisture conditions. Louis Bromfield at one time claimed he could retain as much as 85 percent of the moisture that landed on his fields. He spoke of a smell of living breathing fields where he incorporated on a regular basis lots of organics by way of conventional tillage into the soil. The hills in Richland County close To Mansfield, Ohio were he wrote his book ‘Pleasant Valley” is very similar to what we have here in Stark County, Ohio, and his same theories could easily be applied to our soils today and it would be interesting if we could see the same results. His home was a mansion and it was built as well as his farm, from proceeds he had acquired from the sale of his books. His theories back then closely align themselves with the organic movement we see today. It is an interesting read and he does a good job of illustrating in one’s mind, his ideas as he goes along in the book. A trip to the farm which is now a state park allows one to put a place, to an event in the book.

   He claimed his spring’s which fed the water to his farm market that allowed workers to wash produce and keep it fresh and cool, actually increased at the peak of his field trials due to the increased retention of water due to increased organic material in the soil. The storm water that would typically run off the land was now diverted into the soil and then transferred into the water table. Mr. Bromfield attributed a large part of that due to increased organic material. Also his yields of hay and produce also were greatly increased due to the increased water retention in the soil, showing that having plenty of water available in the soil when you need it makes a difference in the overall yield.

    Well to top it off I will include a link to Malabar Farms and Louis Bromfield’s dreams at the time of his writing of ‘Pleasant Valley’. This can be also searched on the web, and as well I plan on getting moving here and head out and check the peas and beans, and place peat moss on the surface of my straw bale bed.  Peat absorbs 10 times its weight in moisture and also prevents the soil from over dying and keeps the soil loose and friable for easy removal of weeds, while at the same time adding or retaining moisture as needed to the new growing plants. This will be a thin layer that will hopefully be replaced by a canopy of leaves by the plants I am trying to raise. This also will prevent weeds from getting to any size.

     Weeds are always going to be a concern if you plan on growing organically or naturally, as the case may be. But efforts to reduce the weeds through mulching or overcrowding of seedlings can greatly reduce the quantity and the severity of damage that weeds can do. It also allows you to have pesticide and herbicide free soil to grow vegetables you intend to eat. Vegetables that are have vigor and all the nutritional needs to be all that they can be, drowning out weeds and also being resistant to pests.

damn the torpedo's

Full speed ahead

all 8 chickies lined up for photo op

    Trying to get ready for my open house on May 23 rd., 2015, starting at 10 and going to whenever. I managed to get the last water line fixed thanks to brother in law mike, and his new shovel. Damn near wore mine out on the last leak, and even this one had its moments. But where the last one was due to old age of pipes, this one was due to a cold winter as water was trapped in the line and froze at about the three foot depth.

     I finished backfilling the crater we had in front of the greenhouse almost 10 feet from last leak last year. This year I plan on blowing all the water out of the line when it starts freezing real hard. No more of this, I need to get smarter with these damn leaks as I get older. It definitely had an impact on my ability to grow things this season with not just one leak but two real bad leaks, and low water pressure in the greenhouse.

 anyone up for some dandelion wine. wouldn't have to go far to find some here

    It will be what it will be and I am trying to play catchup and plant more. I will be limited on a lot of things including tomatoes, green peppers, but I will have to see how things go over the next 2 weeks on other veggies. I will have hanging baskets, and some you can sit indoors, or on a patio. And I will have some demonstrations of how you can grow easier, and in less space.

    I have my straw bale garden planted with peas and green beans, and I also have a trellis already established. These I planted in a manner where they are overplanted and then will be thinned to avoid allowing weeds to grow. The beans and peas should vine on to the trellis and over the side of the bales, covering the whole area with vines and hopefully bean and pea pods. Unfortunately for most this would be a high cost initially as it requires 10 bales of straw at 5.00 / bale for 50 dollars , and about a half of a ton of good topsoil , plus the seed. Almost a hundred dollars and there is no idea how long the bales will last, or if this will be a cost yearly. The soil could easily be shoveled into the next straw bale garden for the next year, effectively stirring the soil for the next year. Still if straw needs to be bought yearly it is still an expensive amount of money on a per pound basis for something that really doesn’t cost that much at a farmers market. If you also compost, then the straw you have this year could be composted for next year, and this will also save some money and eventually will make good compost when broke down.

 greenhouse is coming along 

     Plastic twine may help your straw bales stay intact year after year, for how long I am not sure, but will let you know. I enjoyed planting the bale garden and it didn’t take long and just used my hands as the soil was loose. I expect it to sprout quickly as the soil is warm and you should be able to see the results by the time of the open house. I don’t think I have any pics but will surely take some tomorrow. Another feature to it is that you don’t have to bend over as far. Believe me that is almost worth it in that respect.

      My next project will be a potato tower where potatoes are planted in a slatted structure in layers that allow the greenery to cascade down the outside of the box like structure. In the fall when broke down the new potatoes will be in the center of the box. This is a little hard to explain but I will have pictures as I go along. The box will be made similar to what a log cabin would be made and the potatoes will be planted in the spaces between the boards.

    The other project that has caught my attention is where they plant tomatoes in a two cage system with one cage insider another and the inner cage has compost or some kind of organic matter and the outer cage being about 3 ft. around and has tomato plants planted around the outside of the inner screen . Watering is done by pouring water and saturating compost, and then flowing on to tomato plants at their base. This provides a means feeding the plants as well as watering them. And hopefully I can have all of these set up to where you can view the progress of them when you come visit my open house.

straw bale garden with peas and beans

      I was finally brave enough to get in the pool 2 times today. It wasn’t bad at all and relaxed me a lot. This is the best my back has felt in a while. The cool water not only allows buoyancy and seeks to ease the pain by decompressing the spine while also reducing the inflammation associated with the injury reducing the swelling. Any reduction of swelling will serve to reduce pain associated with a back injury. After my last back surgery I spent a lot of time going to Atwood Lake, and I attribute that to being a key part of my rehabilitation back then. Now I would just be satisfied with some pain relief during the day as that is my worse time, although lately I have been also having trouble sleeping at times.

 flowers looking to fill a hanging basket. 

      I have a membership at the YMCA but can hardly find the time and find it not worth the money to drive the 24 miles to swim; also it has to be on their schedule. This isn’t always an option for me, and I value my time, as well my money. So I have passed and have been waiting instead when I can swim here at the farm. It’s not nearly the size of the pool at the Y but still it serves the same purpose. The chemicals are not nearly what I would spend if I was driving to a YMCA to swim a couple of hours and driving home.

      So it is damn the torpedoes I am swimming full speed ahead, till I hit the rubber wall and stop cold.  Still give me a couple of noodles and I can kick back and hardly find a cuss word in my mind, not bad for an Ohioan.