back again - time for a much needed visit.

Just When You Thought I Had Quit Writing?

a look out the lane today thubarb on the right and raspberries on the left

     Again I was taking a break can’t say it was well deserved instead I was trying to focus on my priorities it is now mid-summer being July 11^th, my day fraught with news,  some good and some bad from the doctor regarding my newfound pain down my leg . The vein doctor seems to think it is nerve related and has nothing to do with the aneurism they found doing the MRI. Bad news is more testing to find the true scope of the aneurism and make sure it is within the size range they expect it to be. Still I have no idea what is causing all the pain in my leg. It I holding me back as my pain has increased three fold from last year. Only through use of steroids am I finding any relief in the pain. I have a tendency to believe it is in my hip. Through this all I have still managed to get a grasp on doing the things around the house that needs done.

 

tomato tower consisting of three tomato plants in a cage with an inner cage of compost i water into and the nutrient rich water and soaks the tomato plants , and this is mulched on the outside by straw.

      I have managed to plant a garden and again I am using the tomato towers and the potato towers I experimented with last year. Also I am mulching my pepper plants and I have some cabbage and squash planted along with some pumpkins, some of which were volunteers. I have also established a beautiful bed of rhubarb which will be more than ready for harvest in the springtime. That will actually be the third year for the plants. I have green beans planted and will need to erect panels for them to run up. I have done something a little different with my garden this year and just tilled the area under where I am going to put the plants. Added more compost and hilled the area up. I left considerable space between the rows to accommodate the riding lawn mower and use the rider to basically weed between the rows. What is happening is that turf as in grass is re-establishing itself and this prevents weeds from growing and also slows the dehydration of the surrounding soils. It also prevents runoff and does not substantially compete with the plants I am growing as long as I mulch with straw in the direct area surrounding the plant.

 

i mow between the rows with riding lawn mower eliminating the need to weed between the rows or cultivate with the roto-tiller , the straw serves as a suitable mulch eliminating weeds and reducing the need for water also. it will not eliminate all weeds but does drastically reduce them .

   The straw because of its color reflects light back at the plant and keeps the side closest to the ground weed free and moist while allowing air to reach the soil and prevents or decomposition of straw mulch. I have also used the straw around the rhubarb, and along with the raised bed of highly organic material has allowed the rhubarb to grow without restraint and is of good size as compared to when I planted it. I doubt it would have done as well without the straw and by eliminating the competition from the weeds by using the straw, that too have also enhanced its performance. The straw also has helped with weed pulling as the weeds root systems are considerably weaker and by watering prior to weeding operations it allows you to easily pull weeds that otherwise would be troublesome including dock , which usually has a terrible root system . the mulch needs to be applied thick enough to block the suns rays. An provide an even mat over the area you are trying to cover. But economics tells you at 6 dollars a bale it isn’t advantageous to get overly crazy about placing straw throughout your garden.

 

these are sunflowers with squash mixed in . they are planted close but will shade the weeds eliminating any need to remove any. these will be mainly used for bee and bird feed.  

      Tonight I managed to force myself to pick about a quart of red raspberries which are now ripe as well black berries should soon be ripening over the hill. The red raspberries are doing really well including the new ones I just planted in my new bed. I am thinking about tagging the blackberries around the farm that have the biggest berries and moving those canes into a new bed later this fall. I have learned that when transplanting canes, it is belter to leave as much length in the cane and trimming should be only as is necessary to facilitate planting. New canes should also be supported by a wire trellis. This as something I dint do and I have noticed that when the fruit is bore on the canes they have a tendency to droop making picking much harder. Next year I plan on having all my canes supported. This I will do with electric fence wire and steel fence posts I have saves from when I ran electric fence for the cows. Time to re-purpose some of the stuff out of the barn and be able to enhance production of berry vines.

 

my duck tribe headed to the pond for supper. 

 

log cabin pavilion i am working on , will have a roof covering it and looks down on the pond. 

 

the big green leafy stuff is rhubabrb . we wont take off any this year , but next year we plan on taking half the stalks here which should be a good size amount of rhubarb. 

    All in all things are going great here on the farm and i have made some changes in my personal life that allows me more time to do things better. a lot of this i will go into more detail as i go along . Enjoy the pics .