things are looking good

Time for Update on Farm Projects

 potato tower- not sure if this is how the aztecs did it. 

     An overview of all projects on the farm I am currently involved with includes : my straw bale garden with peas and beans planted, my chicks for free range eggs, my straw bale edge planting, my tomato tower , and my potato tower. I am also making hay and trying to keep up with some projects in the greenhouse and doing some tree planting also. And if I ever have enough time will finish my friends carving. There isn’t much to do, just need to finish it.

     First up is the straw bale garden with peas and beans and I find this quite interesting, but as they grow the peas and the beans both are reaching up with their tentacles grasping. The way I have the soil mounded, adds to that effect, basically allowing the plants to stand upright. The plants on lower side reach up to a higher plant and so forth allowing the plants to support themselves so far. As they start to bear pods then the weight of the bean or shell of the peas may drag them down. Weeding has been hardly anything, seems like it is working well.

peas and beans in straw bale planting

     My chicks are becoming mature chickens with a willingness to accept their fate. I was able to let them out in the afternoon and they just hang around the chicken house until dark and eventually made it back on their own. This will be an important part to them being able to reduce insect populations, while also rounding out their diet. This also makes a happier chicken and happy chickens produce better. These Rhode island reds seem to be not flighty at all , and pretty mellow in fact. Hope they stay that way. also I found Red again and we think she I sitting on a nest of eggs trying to hatch them out. I could hear her clucking at me when I was in the garage and I dug around and found her nest. I provided her with water and feed and hope she comes to her sense soon. We have no rooster and so the eggs she are sitting on are not fertile. Unless she has been free ranging more than I knew.

bean side 

    I have pinched the suckers on my tomatoes and they seem to be doing well growing right up there and i have hardly ever saw the soil dried out. But then I have also watered them liberally as I am doing other plants and potato tower. All is green and healthy and plants are climbing the tower.

tomato tower

    The potato tower is doing great with the potato vines in some places growing a foot tall and the leaves are crowding out the weeds. This will basically make the tower maintenance free except for the occasional watering to make sure it has all the water it needs.

potato tower after a couple of weeks-not bad and no weeds 

     The last project, the straw bale edge garden  I am currently still working on, as I am making hay also. Having produced the first two bales of season till the baler sprung a leak and required some needed maintenance I wasn’t really prepared for.  Anyhow this project I going well having only been in the ground a week. My only fear is that the goose, Brucella or whatever the he/she’s name is today may find the pepper plants I have planted way to tasty. Brucella was right in there taste testing the leaves as I was planting them , that was until I looked up and saw what he/she was doing and promptly chased her/ him away only to be chastised by the large honking of a mad goose.

straw bale edge garden- brucellas' fav.

     I had lost one hive of bees but it seems as if the remaining hive has split and now I have two hives of bees again and both seem to be doing well with all the blooms around. Hopefully it stays like that.