Everything's Growing - Including the Weeds: The Farm Report 07-12-2023

 Everything's Growing - Including the Weeds

The Farm Report 
07-12-2023

Yikes! 
I turned my back on the garden for just a minute, and this happened. Weeds everywhere!! What to do? Get out the trusty garden machines, of course. That red handle is my Troybilt Horse tiller.

There is a current trend in gardening to Poo Poo the use of tillers. Well, to that I say, POOOOO! Without a good way to go after Mother Nature's misplaced energy, you're sunk. A hoe and a wish might be OK for a square foot garden, but that's not me. With my big tiller and less than an hour's work, I got things back under control again.

I like calendar picture gardens as much as the next guy, but I'm also a veteran gardener. I know 'stuff' happens out there - and a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do to stay on top of it.

The beets, onions and carrots are doing great. Without a good and easy way to be the weed boss, people quickly get discouraged and quit gardening. What a shame. I say, 'Get a machine and use it!'

Of course, Mother Nature is really truly always in control. My first planting of sweetcorn didn't like the big winds that hit it. It DID like the rain, but not the wind. We're now bending over to pick sweet corn.... It tastes good though.

And yes! the Danube cherries are producing like crazy now. Danube is a cross between Balaton and Bing, as I understand it. Big, dark juice, sweet/tart. My favorite cherry.

A half hour of picking and a big pot of cherries to put into the freezer. THIS is one of the reasons why I do it.

'There's a machine for that,' to paraphrase Steve Job's words. This cherry pitter sounds like a machine gun going off when it is set up and working right. It pokes out the pit without smashing the cherry, leaving a big whole perfect cherry to float around in my pies and winter jello - or just in the dish with a bit of sugar.

Pitted and ready to bag. As an old chemical manufacturer, I always scale off my stuff. I put 450 grams of cherries into each vacuum sealed bag. In the vac bags, the cherries will be good for a year or more with no loss of anything good. I got 27 bags in the freezer before I hit the bottom of the pan.

"Tim, is this where we can start making the P jokes?"  Well, yes, Annie. We're both sort of still in permanent 5th grade, so picking and shelling peas led to more P jokes than you can tell. They're mostly 5th grade jokes, but sometimes they're Dad Jokes, too. "Pick the peas, shell 'em and then P in the yellow bucket...." You get the idea. Incredibly boring, but still, you gotta laugh when you can. "Are we gonna do all this P-ing for Beth, Tim?" Yep, mostly.

Peas are one thing that I don't think is very much better home grown than store bought frozen. They're fun to grow and they are a little bit better. They are fantastic made with a white sauce and NEW POTATOES from the garden.

Here's a 'How I Do It' tutorial. Out on the tarp garden, I have been putting ground fabric on the bottoms of the wooden squares to mark out the planting spots. To know exactly where to dig in my Dahlias, I put a stick down through the fabric right where the X crosses.

When I lift off the frame, the stick stays stuck in the ground. Thus - I know where to dig in the Dahlia.

Once planted, we can then put the 'lid' back on to stop weeds from growing - mostly.

I use my trusty knife to cut an X across where the stick hole is.

Like this.

Then when I pop the frame back on, the Dahlia is right exactly where I want it, and the hole in the ground fabric is exactly where it needs to be to let the little plant stick through.

Dahlias are brittle and tall. So, to keep them from breaking off when the wind blows 'em over, I have been using my left over tomato cages to hold it all together.

"Tim, let's not waste time on this. These are for pickles aren't they?"
 
Yep! I'm doing hydroponic dill this year. These little pots are the starters for the Kratky Pans.

A week later, and we're ready to head on up to the greenhouse with them.

They don't look like much, but time will tell. Under the pink foam board is a Walmart sweater pan full of water and nutrient solution.

The Pizza Pot is doing well. Oregano.

I have replaced some strawberry plants in the hydroponic tubes with pepper plants again this year. The root system is always amazing to me. They love it!

The strawberries this year just seem to refuse to come to a halt. I've been picking a short pint like these every two or three days since they started bearing back in April. I'm sick of 'em, frankly. Into the freezer? Make jam? Give up? Well, I never give up! So I'll find something to do with them. Now, of course, I'm challenged to see how long into the fall they'll go and still bear fruit.

Zuke's in a bag in the greenhouse. Outside, they get away from me and become zucchini baseball bats before I find them. I like these little cigar sized ones best anyway.

The roses have started. This one is 'Ring of Fire.'

Peach Swirl. It is the MOST fragrant hybrid tea rose I've ever grown.

'Don't look at me, Tim. I didn't do nuthing. I'm just mindin' my own business here.'

'Those things are Murder Mittens. She has switchblade knives hidden in those cute little paws, Tim!'

Annie and Miss Kitty live together in the shop at night, and they get along pretty well. I guess maybe that's because Miss Kitty isn't threatened by Annie Oakley one little bit - and Annie Oakley is smart enough to respect Miss Kittie's natural talents.

'O.J. wants to be left alone right now, doesn't he?'

Correct answer. O.J. doesn't suffer fools lightly, and he isn't into Public Relations events either. He'll come to you when he wants to.

So that's how it is. When it is July on the farm, and you're a 20 year old tomcat, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. A nap on the park bench might be enough for one day. Or two.

"I like attention though, Tim!' Annie Oakley is always ready for some interaction. Even when I'm not. 'Let's go out and do some stuff Tim! We're burnin' daylight, pilgrim!'

I'm another year older today. Not quite ready for the Diamond Jubilee yet, but getting closer. It is raining, and the sun will shine and get us up into the 90's today. It happens every year. Every year, it rains on my birthday. Every year. No wonder I like winter!

Other'n that, all is well at Oakdale Farm. Cheers!