Happy 4th of July: The Farm Report 07-04-2020

Happy 4th of July
The Farm Report
07-04-2020

Here in the USA, we typically celebrate this day with fireworks. Out in my garden, these little Thai Hot Peppers will be my fireworks this time. They are the ones that are only about 1-inch long, but they pack a hot wallop like a 36-inch long baseball bat! I like to fill a Worcestershire Sauce bottle full of them, then fill the jar with vinegar. It makes a great winter's hot sauce on French fries. The tarp garden is where they are planted, and that idea is working out in spades! No weeding, and the plants love it.

BBQ and meat smoking are also July 4th traditions here. I like to 're-smoke' my own bacon.

How? Step A, or 1. is to go to Wally World and buy a package of their extra thick sliced bacon. Then I tie it up nice with butcher's twine. This time, I rubbed it with black pepper.

Then onto a tray and into the smoker. I'll let this one go for about 10 hours at 105F with only a trickle of smoke all the time. It will make spectacular BLT's in a few weeks - if there is any left. If not, I'll make more.

The elusive spuds!

One of my most favorite way to enjoy the baby Murphy's. Wash 'em, rub on a little oil, and then into the steamer 'til done. Salt and enjoy. Anything left over is for fried potatoes - and onions!

The shop marigolds are doing great on their plastic mulch. The wire frame surrounding them is one of Joyce's tricks. Pretty soon, the flowers will completely hide the frames. Then, people will walk along them and admire how upright and perfect they are. They're always a little disappointed, I think, when I tell them they are being held up with an underwire support system.

I guess I'm really into concrete wire. In the mini-bed tarp garden I have these Inman-Cheap adaptations of the Victorian Lantern Cloches. I can put plastic around them to start heat loving things like what we call egg plant ('aubergine' everywhere else). I can pull off the plastic for upright support later on. Mine even have lids. These eggplants are just growing right through the 6-inch squares of the concrete wire.

This is a 'real' Victorian Lantern Cloche, in case you're curious. They are expensive, and I don't do expensive unless I have to - or if it is a machine....

If you're curious how I bend this cantankerous stuff, here's my trick. I made up a simple little 'homemade and handy' bending brake out of a couple of pieces of scrap wood and a pair of hinges that were laying under my bench.

I just lay my purpose cut wire into the brake, and clamp it down. Then, with one nice gentle but steady pull up on the handle, Hey Presto! I have a nicely bent corner.

And Bob's your uncle.

One of my grandfathers was a blacksmith. He frequently opined that there wasn't much more dangerous than a farmer with a welder. So here I am, Grand Dad. A couple of big washers brazed to a nut, turned upside down, and you have a hand wheel for the clamps. No wrenching needed.

Since it is purpose-made and handy, I put a couple of iron brackets on the bottom that slip right under the edge of my Farmall tractor hauler. It makes a perfect and tough work site.

It ain't hard. Don't overthink this.

So just to make the point that gardening isn't always a fun and rewarding pastoral experience, let me share some of the stuff the glossy slick magazines usually don't print. Like a razor, either the deer or the rabbits have clipped off my brocolli, cabbages and cauliflower plants.

One night's work. If nothing else, this experience will put a fine shine and polish on your cussing ability.

"Male Child of a canine female!" I said.

Then I wandered over to the Greenhouse Plug Flat Sweetcorn project. 
"May the higher power of the universe condemn those male children of the female canines!!!" I said again, with more passion.

I still have enough sweetcorn to enjoy a 4th of July sweetcorn feed, but OK, I'll say it: Damn it! In one night - let's count that together - ONE NIGHT - the raccoons or the coyotes got into the patch and took out at least 2/3 of the ears. ONE NIGHT. Electric fencer is now out and on duty. Stopped this villainy in one crack. Next year.....

I don't give up though. Maybe some more tomatoes will help me feel better. I put out some 'house wrap' to make weeding chores go away, and pinned down the stuff around the new 'maters. It is time to have a 'Going Out of Business' sale up in the greenhouse. July and August are not times you - or the plants - want to be in there. I'll start a fall/winter crop about the time school should start - even if it doesn't this year.

Ever have that feeling you were being watched, but you couldn't explain why? Maybe you have a giant Tom Cat lurking around in your aura pulling your chain. I took this from my kitchen window the other day. The more you look at the pic, the more the story tells. First, how did O.J. (Orange Julius, by the way. His brother was O.M. - Orange Marmalade.) get up on top of the Ranger? He has always been a climber, but he had to at least jump up into the box and then on up to the top. Annie thinks the Ranger is HERS! O.J. doesn't. I don't have the audio for you, but you can recreate it by just making this sound as loud as you can: PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Annie was like, "I know he's around here somewhere, but where the heck is he?"

Happy 4th of July where ever you are. Stay safe. I'm going to do that, too. And remember, they say you can buy the best fireworks from a guy who wears an eye patch and has 3 fingers on his right hand.

Cheers, from Oakdale Farm