Weather! The Farm Report: 10-12-2018

Weather - It Keeps the Riffraff Out.
The Farm Report: 10-12-2018

"Other than the streets are quiet, there's really nothing good you can say about a flood." That's according to Mark Twain. Flooded fields are everywhere right now. When you work on a one-time-a-year paycheck plan, it is a big deal. We have had so much rain I wouldn't be surprised to see Noah show up.

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Twain is also credited with saying, "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it."  Although, this one might be like the quote from Yogi Berra, who also said, "I never said a lot of the stuff I said." Others are also credited with the complaining weather gem, including Will Rogers. I was complaining about the weather to a woodworking colleague the other day. I laughed out loud when he said in an email, "It keeps the riffraff out." Why did I laugh? Because those are the exact words my Dad used to say. And they are right.

One week ago today, the high was 92 and I was running the air conditioner. It had been down to 51 the night before. Then, the next day it got down to 41 and I was running the furnace. That is a 51 degree change in one day! Plus, that was right after a 41 degree change the day before! Tomorrow night, we're predicted to have rain and SNOW! So far, I think we've had nearly 6-inches of rain this week. So yes, this weather here does indeed, "Keep the riffraff out." And there was snow in the air when Zoey went out for 'last call.'

I apologize for these obscure pics, but if you look at the top of the pole, you'll see a soaking wet red tailed hawk. He watched me shave the other morning. Seemed mildly interested and never moved for 20 minutes. 

So when it is too miserable to be outside, I go inside to the greenhouse. The Thanksgiving lettuce project is coming along nicely.

The little plants grow roots first, then put on tops. Check back a week ago in the blog and see for yourself how much the roots have grown.  

I'm working on Thanksgiving (or Superbowl) musk melons for my sister. Melons do not like to be transplanted. They want their little roots left alone! So I started the seeds in foam coffee cups. Then, I cut out the bottom. 

With the bottom off, I can just see the roots, so they have not been disturbed yet.

Next, I make a slice down both sides of the cups.

I'm planting these melons in 'Dutch Buckets' so I can move them inside if the weather gets too cold for my heater. So I put the plant, cup and all, in a nice hole in the potting soil. The bottom is gone. Once the cup is in and the soil compacted around it, then I just slip out the sides of the cup. 

Pop! One side is out. 

Bang! The other side is out, and the little plant never knows what happened. Totally undisturbed and in the same soil, it thinks life just got better. 

I 'invented' Dutch Buckets one time. Then, after my brilliance was basking in the sun, I discovered about a million Youtube videos showing the exact same thing. Hmmmfff. But they work. What is a Dutch Bucket? It is simply a bucket with a false bottom. If you look into the hole, at the top you can see the edge of the false bottom. (It is the lid of the bucket cut to fit, and it is sitting on a little flower pot 'stool' inside that is filled with soil and acting as a wick. There is a hole in the middle of the false bottom piece so the soil up top can suck up water from the bucket.) You fill the bottom of the bucket with water and fertilizer. That wicks up to the plants keeping them constantly moist and fed. It works a charm!

Here we go! I have them sitting on bales of hay to keep them up off the cold ground. Melons like heat. Get that, Sis? They like heat. Cold weather melons might be a bridge too far. But 'no risk, no reward' as they say.  And as Fearless Leader DJT says, 'We'll see.' But, no promises.... 

Meanwhile outside, with all the wet weather Zoey and the Two Henriettas are trying to stay dry under the veranda in front of my shop. It was almost like one Henrietta was saying to the other, "You're making tracks all over the place." 

Then, like the gal in the 'bad breath' commercial, it was like the black Henrietta checked and discovered, "Oh no! That's me making all that mess in front of Tim's office door." Zoey already knew it. Other than being wet and miserable, all is well at Oakdale Farm this week.