Spring Progress: The Farm Report 06-20-2022

 Spring Progress

Spring Progress
06-20-2022

Well where has the time gone!? I thought before we officially kicked out of Spring and into Summer, I should let you know what's been going on out here at Oakdale Farm.
 Everything has been blooming and growing and mowing and growing and on and on and on....

O.J. has been using the 'Lazy Tomcat' system of hunting birds. Amazingly, he catches a sparrow once in awhile. You'd think a cat just laying in the sun out in the open would not have much luck. He's patient!

Henry Ford helped me make some trenches for little trees and other stuff out in the field garden.

As per usual, I got two long rows of Irish potatoes planted. With you-know-who's supervision of course. This year, I have my old reliable favorite Kennebec's in one long row. I also have another row split between Pontiac Reds, Yukon Golds and good old Norland Russets.

This is the little furrower I put on Henry to make digging a trench easy.

Once again, seed potatoes were almost impossible to buy at the store this year. I had tons of leftover Kennebec's so they became their own seed stock for this year. I like to add some new ones every year, but this time, it was all old ones or nothing.

I like old stuff, and my restored Planet Jr. walking wheel hoe is just the ticket to cover the spuds once they've been dropped into the trench. I have a pair of split plow shares for this. To cover, I put them on 'backwards' so they throw the soil to the middle.

To make a trench by hand (OOOFFFFF), I can reverse these plow shares and it becomes a trencher.

I bought this as a pile of rusty scrap off Ebay several years ago. I cleaned it all up, refitted the bearings, etc. and made a set of new oak handles. Add a little paint, and she's good to go. The old timers really knew what they were doing when it came to little implements like this. I love using it, and I love the history behind it, too.

Annie thinks we should just fire up the generator she carries around in the back of the ranger so we can plug it in and go electric like everything else is going now. I like the old ways though....

The 'maters in the Wall-O-Waters are doing great. Wait 'till you see the next issue!

Anticipating another hot dry summer, I've set up my little baby water towers. These will be the the source of water for the drip irrigation system I'm installing down the rows of the tarp garden. Stay tuned. I'll show you how I do it next time.

Filed under the 'never give up' heading, my roses this year are planted in 10 gallon grow-bags. So far, they're loving it. All those tires will become 'water holdment' pans pretty soon.

Annie is a trooper, but all this gardening just wore her out. She was pooped!

Inside, we're making up our own potting soil again. It is a mix of good old peat moss and perlite and other stuff. Plus lime, fertilizer and Epsom Salts for the magnesium.

I laughed when she helped me do the mixing. I was using tools, she was using her nose. She really got into it! Heelers are just natural born helpers. They don't need a class, they just react and go for it - whether you want 'em to or not.

Here is the pot of my sister's Brilliant Red hibiscus
 cuttings we took at Thanksgiving. Remember, we rooted them in DE floor dry from the auto parts store.

That stuff really works - and better yet - it is pretty cheap.

We popped them into some little pots full of Annie's Select Farm Mix, and put them under lights to rest and start growing some more.

GRRRRRRRRR!!!! 

I bought a planter of bamboo last winter at Wally World. It was fun. That little oval pot was what they came in. The label said to just keep 'em wet and they'd love it. There was a green wire twisty near the top holding them all in a nice neat straight row. I removed it right away. They did really well. For awhile. Then they started looking unhappy and turning yellow. I decided they needed repotted.

Well!!! When I dumped the bamboo shoots out of the little pot, SURPRISE! I found ANOTHER wire twisty wrapped around the bottoms, just above the roots. They had grown so much they were choking themselves to death. Those raskals! I said. Actually, that is not what I said, but you get the point. I repotted them, and I'm happy to report they are healing and doing better, no thanks to Wally.

So, even though this post is late and behind the times, it will let you know how we're progressing out here. We all take a little time to snooze now and then, too.

The joke here is that O.J. is cuddled up in exactly the spot Annie was laying on just a few minutes before I took this pic. Seeing an opportunity to screw with the dog, O.J. hopped up and woke Annie up - then proceeded to nuzzle her into moving out and leaving a nice warm spot for him to lay down on. Annie just seemed to take it in stride, moved to a new spot, and went back to sleep. Maybe there's a lesson for us all in that. 

Don't get too stirred up over stuff that doesn't make any difference anyway. 

Cheers from the farm!