Wednesday, February 28, 2024

ANNIE'S NEW RANGER: The Farm Report 02-28-2024

ANNIE'S NEW RANGER
 The Farm Report 02-28-2024 


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"Hey, Tim buddy! Whadya think of my new Ranger?!"

Yep, that's the old dead Ranger back there in the background. Annie convinced me that we really needed to move up and get her a new machine. This one is a 'Chinese' Ranger from Tractor Supply, but it will keep her happy for awhile. If she had thumbs and a driver's license, she'd be driving it, too.




Good Neighbor, Ron helped us drag it home from the store one day a few weeks ago.



Annie immediately knew it was her new fav machine.


"We're cookin' with gas now, Tim. This unit is just perfect for us out here at Oakdale Farm."



February has been one of those 'Iowa' months so far. When we brought the new Ranger home, it was wet and sloppy. Then, NOT! Major snows and major cold, oh my! It lasted for most of the month of February.



Here's the Oakdale Rose Garden, hip deep in snow.



We went into town and helped prune up a little plumcot tree that had broken itself down due to neglected pruning chores last summer when it was loaded with fruit.



My Dad was famous for saying you could prune your trees yourself, or let Mother Nature do it for you. He insisted that when he did the cutting, it was neater and cleaner than when MN did it herself. He was right for this little tree. It had so much heavy fruit last summer (which is the most delicious sweet candy you've ever picked off a tree!) it broke itself. The best, biggest and most fruit is ALWAYS way out on the end of the branches on the new wood. Physics lesson: the farther away from the trunk of the tree, the more leverage there is on the limbs and the more likely they will break. Which they eventually will do.



The remains of the day. It isn't all for naught though.



We harvested some really nice grafting scions from the prunings. Stay tuned, we'll be doing some spring bench grafting in a week or two. Hope springs eternal out here. New trees soon to come.



However.... All that deep heavy snow cover and the super cold temps set the rabbits off with a hunger passion. The only food they could find was the sweet bark off my sweetest apple trees. I think this old knobber is a gonner.



So's this one, I think. They didn't get the bark all the way around the trunk though. I might try what is called a 'bridge' graft before it breaks dormancy. Bridging is grafting new wood from the bottom over the damage and back into the good cambium at the top. Nothing to lose if I try; everything to lose if I don't. 



I have empathy for the hungry little bunnies, in a way. I really wish they hadn't eaten my trees though!



Oh well.... Life on the farm. So, instead of whining too much, I decided it was time to start some seeds.

I'm doing two sets of lectures for the Iowa State Univ. Master Gardeners' conferences this spring. One is on hydroponic growing. So, I'm trying to get a head start on some lettuces for that talk.



Once the little seedlings have sprouted and proven themselves, I transfer them into 'net pots' which will then go into the hydroponic water pans up in the greenhouse.



I like to use soil blocks for this. The seeds start in little tiny blocks about 3/4 inch square. I use a home made set of 'tweezers' instead of my big ol ham fisted fingers to do the transfer.


If there is more than one plant per block, well, it won't be that way for long. Only one plant per net pot is allowed.



Don't forget to label! When I put in the seeds, when I transferred the blocks.



Net pots transplanted and sitting on a heat mat for awhile under LED lights.



In just a few days, the little lettuces had put out roots searching for whatever it is that roots search for. Time to move on out.



It is really too early to get the greenhouse going, but hey, what the heck! So, I put out the water pans and moved the little starts into their new home.



Like me, they need an extra blanket on those cold winter nights.



New onion varieties started at the same time. Onions from seed is one of my new fun things to do.



It's amazing how fast they grow. These are also sitting on a heat mat, and behind them is a greenhouse 'cloch' that I pull down at night to keep 'em warm. The cloch is like a wire framed tent.



Speaking of warm.... I have a new little diesel heater for the greenhouse this year. These are sold as 'parking heaters' for semi trucks and boats and RV's etc. They burn diesel fuel and run on a 12v battery. Unlike my old heater, which also burns diesel, this one is vented so there are no exhaust fumes inside the greenhouse. See that little brown tube going out towards the door? Yep, that's the vent tube.



Here's a better look. These heaters use an idea that was cooked up in the 1930's. In fact they were used as heaters for air cooled VW Beetles back in the day. I know - I HAD one. Bugs were notorious for being cold. They were air cooled. The engine cooling air took a long time to warm up, and when it did it was usually pretty stinky from all the oil etc. on the outside of the motors. They sold add-on heaters like this one for the VW Beetles. Mine was a gasoline version, and it made heat instantly. The updated version I have now burns diesel fuel - AND it has a brain. A cute little microprocessor keeps track of the temperature I want and the difference between that and the air temp around it. It then adjusts the fan speed and the burn rate accordingly. It is amazingly efficient.

So why not start up a little earlier? It is burning about 1 quart of diesel per night right now. I can swing that without feeling like I'm eating gold lettuce in my salads.



Two days ago, it was 79F here. Perfect timing to get out the Oakdale Hydroponic Strawberry Patch and give it a good old fashioned washing down. Whoda thought you could play in the water in February in Iowa? Annie was so hot she was panting while she was supervising me.



Here's a part of the OHSP you usually don't get to see. This is the 'Mother' barrel that holds the water, pumps and nutrients for the system. It sits down under and behind the strawberry tubes. Usually it is hidden under layers of black plastic (to keep the light out) and hay (to keep it cool). I stripped everything off to give it a cleanup as well. I discovered that 'hard water' (ice) had done some damage, so next I'll be taking it up and doing the repairs.

Well, that's all for now. Speaking of things you don't see much - that's me! And by the way, for my far off readers, the day after the 79 degree day - the very next day! - it was 10F. I live in a very harsh climate; almost 70 degrees change in one day. Keeps the riff raff out though.

Cheers. All is well - and Spring is coming!


Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Who Cut The Cheese: The Farm Report 01/17/2024

 

Who Cut The Cheese

The Farm Report
01/17/2024


First off: I stole this picture from the internet. Yes I did. But this is a picture of the road I drive on to go to town for groceries and stuff. I often kid about the beautiful balmy weather we have here in vacationland - southwest Iowa. Here's a for-real example of it. Brutal! The USDA has recently updated the gardening Zone Maps. According to them, we're now in paradise: Zone 5b. They think it only ever gets down to -10F here. Maybe -15F on a bad year. Well, having lived here and grown up here, I call BS. My house thermometer had -22F the other morning. Couple that with winds around 35 mph, and you've got some weather that will make you want to stay indoors and play. 


I stole this picture too. It pretty much fits the self-image I have of myself, and that I think a lot of my readers who don't actually know me might have. (Maybe even the ones who do know me!) I can't stop laughing about this one. The more I look at it, the better it gets. Look at his shoes! Converse basketball shoes. Look at his pants. This guy's all about comfort. I think those are bibs he's cut off. But instead of cutting the legs off for shorts, like I used to do, he has cut off the top so he can use his best suspenders - which makes it easier when a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do. Comfort definitely exceeds vanity for me and this guy, too. The Mason jars of spent grease for lighting the fire sitting under the stove just make it that much better. Since there's been so much in the news about the perils of plagiarizing, I thought I should just openly admit it. I'm not planning on writing any scientific papers anytime soon, and Harvard won't be calling me to be their new president. So, why not play a little?



So, speaking of playing: I'm the one who cut the cheese! It has been so brutal cold outside, I decided it was perfect weather to stay inside and make some fancy cheeses. I didn't live in Wisconsin all those years to not have an appreciation for good cheese. I can't grow any seeds outside now, so why not grow some fancy bacteria indoors? They say cheese is milk's journey to immortality. The older it gets the better.



I'll spare you all the details, but after adding some special bacteria and rennet to make the milk curdle, then you literally 'cut the cheese.' I made my own cheese harps of course. Bent wire and nylon fishing line. I have two; this one cuts vertically, and the other one goes the other way. With both of them, I get cheese curd cubes.



Curds and whey. All I'm after is the curds. Annie Oakley gets the whey.



Cheese ain't naturally orange. You add dye to make it that way. Annatto is the natural dye for the job.



After the timing and the heating and the stirring and the waiting, the curds get pressed out into a cheese mold. I made the spring press, and the mold is a swimming pool skimmer basket. You don't need to break the bank to do this.



A few days later, and my new Parmesan cheese is ready to begin it's aging time.



Some people vacuum seal their cheeses now. I prefer to do it the old fashioned way most of the time. Wax lets the cheese breath a little and expand. Parm should age for a long time. I also made some Caerphilly (Welch Miner's Cheddar) at the same time. It only needs to age a few weeks. 



Christmas has come and gone. For all of you who sent me a card or good wishes, here's the same right back to you. Merry Christmas, and boy oh boy oh boy, do we ever need a happy new year.



A new clock, some Annie Treats in her sock, and we're feelin' the spirit!



My 'Christmas' cactus need repotted. They've been in their current digs for 5 or 6 years now, and they want their home remodeled.



This one is growing in a wicking pot I make from old coffee cans. These cactus plants love this system.



This one is my prettiest red. It reminds me of the one my grandmother gave us when we were first married. Unfortunately the rabbits ate it one summer a long time ago - so this one is a proxy.

I'd love to have a white one. Anybody???



"Tim! What the heck?!" Those are racoons, Annie. Somebody brought them over for the eagles to enjoy.



Annie - They're dead. They can't play with you anymore.



"Tim. This thing is as dead as them 'coons up in the timber."

Annie's Ranger has been dead too. Grump Grump Grump. My antique Farmall M and my antique Ford 8N were both designed a long time ago to be 'easily repaired on the farm by a man with limited knowledge and limited tools.' Emmie is 2 years older than I am. Henry Ford is 3 years younger. They both start every time. If they break, I can pick up parts right in town - cheap. This Polaris piece of junk? It's only 14 years old; designed to be NOT repairable by me or anybody else except a dealer; and the parts are crazy expensive. How so? A fuel pump from the Royal Polaris Dealer is over $750. The exact same pump shipped in from eBay or Amazon is $55. They make Chinese clones of these rigs now. I could buy 3 of them for the price of one of these name brand outfits. You can find Chinese parts on them, too.........



Since it is all electronic, and there no 'consumer' test device to let me know what the problem is, I have to guess. I'm guessing one of these little twisted wires is 'almost' twisted off. Meaning: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Our company computer manager used to refer to this situation as a 'continuous intermittent fault.' Horsefeathers!



"Do you think you can fix the Ranger, Tim? Or should we just go get us a new one?" I'll tell you Annie votes for a new one. She votes with her heart. I have to vote with my wallet - so we're going to see if we can get the old one to go. 



Annie, what's all over your nose? Have you been out burying dead things in the mud? 

"I ain't been doin' nuthin. Why would you even think that? Did Miss Kitty tell you something she shouldn't have? I'm innocent!"



So even though it is cold and snowing - and drifting like crazy...



Yes. Annie has been out burying things in the ground. Her nose shots came when it was raining last week. This is her idea of cleverly hiding her deer skin. Nice job burying. Poor strategic location work though. This pile is right outside the shop door! Who would notice? 



The greenhouse is dormant. The brown plants are mostly strawberries I'm trying to winter over. Some of the bottom plants are peppers. They ain't got a chance.



And that's what it's been like out here at Oakdale Farm. Sunset happens around 4. Dark at 5:30.



It is that time of year to enjoy early evenings and order seeds and plan for the garden year ahead. Read a little, watch the news a little, snooze a little (lot).



"Tim, you'll have to tell 'em I don't like TV. I'm going to snooze out here in the living room in my own chair. I'm going to be dreaming about good things, too."

All is well and warm here at Oakdale Farm. Best wishes from me and Annie and Miss Kitty - and a hope you'll stay warm and safe yourselves!