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.

    

almost had fried chicken

Moved the Chickens

     Despite my best efforts to try and get to them early , I didn’t manage to get to them early enough and it was hot in the greenhouse, so I just loaded them into the crate and moved them despite not having the plastic up on the end of the new chicken house. I did manage to get it on there by the end of the day but ended up working in the rain to accomplish it.

    The heat is starting to build in the greenhouse nice and the pool  temperature has went up dramatically, as well my plants are suffering from burn out as I still don’t have the leak fixed but did spend sufficient time yesterday watering everything. It was sad to see the leak be so bad that most of the water went into my retention pond, though not totally wasted, but still not on the plants as I would prefer it. Today is time to attack the second leak and do some work in the greenhouse repotting when I need a break from the water line fix.

   I have some minor things to do in the chicken house to get things finalized there, and will try and get those daily one at a time until I finish things up. Need to close in a couple of minor holes that would allow small birds in , but doubt seriously a clumsy chicken could escape through. A coon might be able to enter though, so I need to get them closed in. I just placed a crate in the chicken pen to allow the chickens to roost on until I can get more serious on that issue and install permanent roosts. As well I have no setting boxes but from my calculations I would say the chicks won’t start laying till around the end of June, so this project can be delayed. I think I have some old laying boxes, we had years ago in the garage that would be more than suitable for the girls and would require just taking the time to move them.

     Anyhow I plan on getting off here and get moving on today’s projects while it is cool. I might try hopping into pool later if it heats up, and do some cleaning. Can’t wait to be able to just sit and float, and relax. The chickens seem to be happy running around and jumping into the air for no apparent reason other than they could. I also installed a mirror and have noticed the chickens looking into it at times and seeing another chicken as good looking as them, seemed to be taken aback at the thought and would hurriedly run from the mirror. It was cute to watch.

more on the coop - coop

Update on Chicken Coop

     It’s a chicken coop for chickens to take a poop-poop , not a tee pee for little chicks to take a pee- pee , or a wig wam for old cocks to pound their tom- tom. Sorry for the mental slip or maybe it was a slide as I try to make my blog more user friendly, and fail some days as my past and old rhymes and other such stuff ultimately blurts its way out of my cramped cranium, just dying to be heard one more time only with some added embellishment pertinent to the subject at hand.

    I am not totally responsible for the above rhyme as in fact it was one of the few things my dad left me with. Well there are a lot more, but half are hardly user friendly, or are off color, racist, and otherwise unfit for human consumption, but still bring a smile when said to myself if for nothing else but to remember him. He had a phrase I will repeat just for shits and giggles and he would use in reference to doing any job as being ‘ harder than trying to pour hot butter up a wild cats ass’.

     He grew up in West Virginia and some say that may be the excuse that one may use for just such an occasion that one may pour hot butter up anything’s ass, still the thought of that happening has to have an origin somewhere and it is beyond me where that would come from. And hopefully it was always a thought and never an action. As I think more about the phrase I will let it alone and just throw it out there for your mind to digest and let you come up with your own thoughts on the subject. But surely the effort expended on thinking up this phrase would have better been put to writing ‘War and Peace’, as after reading this epic novel, I can surely see where it needed a few phrases as colorful as this to spice it up a little.

      Anyhow the chicken coop is coming along and had help from a lot of sources. I wouldn’t say help but instead inspectors from the animal kingdom, as Babe, my dog, Lily, my cat, Brucella, my confused goose,  and one of my chicks who is having problems with her balance, as they all checked out the new digs preferring to enter and exit where they should, almost as if they knew what a door was. I would work nailing and cussing at the staples as they would fall out of my hands, or were too small to hold effectively in my big fingers, causing me to smack my fingers more often than hitting the staple. At this they would all stir out of their bored slumber and wonder what I was bitching about now. More and more as it closed in, they would return to the inside and hope it wasn’t them that was going to be kept inside, seeing that possible means of escape was being limited as I went on.

    It isn’t so much as limiting their escape but also to prevent other animals like coons and foxes, and whatever else may kill the young chickens had I just let them roam freely. Also I need to limit their exposure to other wild birds due to the avian flu, and the chance wild birds may be carrying it. I have seen no signs of any dead or sick wild birds at my feeder, or anywhere else as I have been looking for them since I have heard of the link. I noticed a cute little black and white crested bird with a red breast that was gorgeous and a new visitor to my bird feeder, as well my first hummingbird of the year.

    I am reading more about the red dye and it is bad for the hummingbirds, and although it isn’t related to my story I feel it needs mentioned here so that you save your money and make your own nectar, by boiling water and then adding sugar at a 4: 1 proportion, for every cup of sugar add four cups of water. So boil 4 cups of water then add 1 cup of sugar and stir while hot until dissolved and chill. Boiling the water kills any bacteria, and then adding the sugar when hot will also make it sterile. This you can make as needed from your kitchen and is healthier than the red dye which messes with the hummingbirds’ renal system or kidneys, as it will eventually cause their kidneys to fail. And will eventually lead to their death. We can’t allow ourselves to do this to such a small hapless creature.

     Anyhow in the chicken coop I will be adding plastic and installing roosts for them to sit on at night, and then moving them to their new coop today which will be cooler than the greenhouse. Next up I will start working on the leak in the greenhouse, and get back to getting prepared for my open house and other projects I have in mind for event.

all cooped up

Chicken Coop Progress

       I am moving along on the chicken coop and should be able to show you some pics if I get moving here and get out in time. Anyways I should be able to move the chickens to their new coop today, which should be like a Coop Deville to them as compared to their living arrangements now in the greenhouse, even though the greenhouse is a rather large place . I have the chickens confined to a small area and they are not allowed to roam in the plants.

    They did have full advantage yesterday to observe a possible mouse or chipmunk tear up several flats of seeded plants looking for sunflowers or pumpkin seeds that were planted. This virtually destroyed my plantings and is part of the process I guess I have to endure. Lily the cat did manage to take out a few field mice and is completely natural process of dealing with these pests. She now follows me up there and at times I have seen go on her own to search for anything she can find up there. I would lock her in the greenhouse as she can’t get out and have her deal with the pest tearing up my flats , but don’t really like that idea and doubt she would either, but it is a thought after seeing my flats tore up .

      The chicks no longer have the comfort of their warming light to keep them in the evening. They are pretty good size standing almost a foot tall and are fully feathered so this shouldn’t be a problem as they huddle together for warmth. They need to learn to roost and be without the light in the new chicken coop as I have no intention of allowing them that luxury in their new digs. They will have an area of almost 10 x11 feet and will have ample sunshine and shade provided by trees and an overhead roof. This should allow the building and the chickens to stay comfortable in the warm summer. Also I intend to place an inclined plastic greenhouse plastic roof that will allow morning sun to help warm them, but as the day goes on it will turn to shade from the trees close by. Vents on the side of the plastic roof will assure a good cross ventilation of the coop.

        In the winter the vents will be covered over by metal roofing that can be removed. The plastic roof will allow heat to come into the coop as well as light encouraging the chickens to continue their production up until the time they moat. Hopefully I can have some kind of production throughout the winter months. I will have to do some more winterization of the barn later. But for now this will get them started. A roost and placing wire is all that is needed today to get them moved and buy me some time till I need to work on the nests for egg laying. I am still debating letting them free range. There are 20 million dead chickens so far in this avian bird flu crisis, and still no idea how it is being transmitted behind closed and sometimes locked doors. I sure hope they get a handle on what is going on soon and try to contain it.

renamed the goose brucella . like bruce jenner. i would like to think she or he is a female but at times i wonder, much like bruce jenner does  just exactly what she or he is , so i think brucella is appropriate. anyhow brucella is seen here inspecting my work as she usually does. best help i ever had. always there and never says a bad word. 

     I guess until then it probably best to keep them safe in the new coop isolated from other birds. When they have a better idea if the flu is over then I may let them free range. Besides they need to learn their new coop is their new home and need to return their daily so it is just as well they acclimate to their new home for a while.