August Lunch: The Farm Report 08-20-2025

 August Lunch
 The Farm Report 08-20-2025

I'm not a big fan of the month of August. And that would be saying it mildly. I do like having the fruit of the garden for my meals though. How can you beat fresh home grown tomatoes with a dollop of Mayo and some nice sliced ham for lunch?! A little fresh dill over the top is extra good, too.

The sad truth is you can't have superb tomatoes without summer's heat.

Here's the next installment of my 'Cattle Panel Tomato Growing project.' It is a fantastic trellising system, but - NEXT YEAR! Remind me NOT to put two rows of 'maters side by side. These rows have grown into an impenetrable double thick WALL of tomato vines. Even though there was a full 6 feet of distance between the two cattle panel fences, they have pretty much grown together. I'll have lots of tomatoes to use, but I think my mistake pretty much cut my crop in half; I can only pick tomatoes from each of the outside edges. The inside between the two is just dark and unexplored jungle! There may be dragons in there.

Next year: One and Only One row of tomatoes at a time.
 

So up in the greenhouse, we called it a season and took out all the strawberry plants. I have some celery plants going in the tubes, but nothing else. What to do?

I've decided to try beets in the hydroponic tubes for fall. Why not?

I'm planting both Cylindra and the good old Detroit Dark Reds. Cylindra is a great slicer for canning; Detroit Dark Red it the 'old reliable' beet my Mom always grew.

The red 'ns is the beets. I always pop a small handful of radish seeds in with my beets for early row marking. That's the yellow 'ns.

The red 'ns with the handles back there are my garden scissors. That's how I 'hoed' off the unwanted radishes.

For my hydroponic tube gardening, I've discovered that if I put a wick into the net pots it really helps get things going without a lot of fussing on my part. Virtually anything absorbent will  work. I think Walmart's soft cheap clothes line rope is great. I had these strips cut, so I used them. It ain't too hard.

Net pots filled with a 50/50 blend of Pro Mix potting soil and perlite ready to go into service in the tubes.

Ka Pow! I planted beet seeds directly in the net pots one afternoon. The next morning following (one full day later) I had sprouts. Fantastic.

I've also put some stray cabbage and broccoli into the self watering grow bags. Maybe we'll have a fresh Thanksgiving treat at the table this fall. There is a piece of polyester fleece (cheap Walmart throw blanket) inside the grow bag extending down through a hole in the bottom of the grow bag and on through a hole in the lid of the bucket. The bucket is full of water/fertilizer solution which gets wicked up as needed.

Velvet Leaf. Out in the garden, the weeds are in 'hog heaven.' I have a mechanical surprise ready for them the first cool day we have now. Beneath all that unwanted foliage lay my potatoes. I'm not altogether upset because these weeds do keep the ground cool. Spuds are tough and I think I'll still have a great crop to store for winter. I know - they're cheap at the store, but they're just not as good. Plus, I like to raise my own!

Oh - And included in the weeds is a free crop of poison Ivy. I'm super sensitive to it. I'm better now. (Be careful where you scratch! It will spread on your skin....)

This is a Giant Ragweed stalk. I think I should consider raising it for firewood in the future. It is HUGE!

Annie was critical of my stewardship. "Tim! You need to get off your lazy bum and take care of this." When I cut them, she will pull them out of the way for me. I didn't really train her to do this, it just came sorta naturally to her. She knows I don't want them, and she's Johnny on the Spot to help. So...I thought that if she wanted to help, then fine - help! We refined her technique a little through some fun training, and now she's on it like a pro. These dogs love to have a job and they love to help.

She will also pull orchard prunings out away from the tree for me! She knows when to stay away from the chain saw, and she is genuinely helpful when we do this together. Whoda thought a Texas Heeler would be a lumberjack dog?

My Big Red Horse tiller got new shoes! It is about the worst job I can think of to get those old tires off and the new ones on, but we did it. The new ones are 6 ply thick and stiff! The original ones were 27 years old and 2 ply flimsy. So, I guess it was time and I'm thrilled to have new reliable tires on the old girl.

We got a super deal on pineapple through a friend of our good neighbor Ron. These were Fyfe's Gold and they are super sweet. No added sugar, just pineapple juice and pineapple. Delicious! Annie Oakley helped, but she isn't too enthused about pineapple.

"Tim, I'm don't even like pineapple. Did you forget that part?" 

Well, no Annie, I didn't forget, but we all have to put up with some stuff we don't like. It's just part of life. Kinda like I have to put up with Iowa in August.... It will all get better soon.

Stay cool and be happy!

Cheers from me and Annie out here at Oakdale Farm.

Oh Well.... The Farm Report 07-25-2025

 

Oh Well.....

The Farm Report

07-25-2025

Oh Well.... This is actually a picture of Dresden, Germany after the fire bombings of WW II. I thought it would be easier to show you this than to try taking a picture of my garden to explain this year's efforts out there. My gardens and Dresden look pretty much the same right now. Bombed out! Between my travels, the weather, my attitude and 'other stuff' it hasn't been the best garden year.

This is the real garden, for those who 'need to know.' See, I told you - it ain't pretty.

Here's part of the reason: It has been hot; as Meredith Wilson would have said, Iowa 'By God' hot, and humid. This is a pic taken from my office window one afternoon. Normally, we can see Walnut Creek down there in the distance and it is all bright and sparkly. Smoke from Canada and good old fashioned Iowa 'corn sweat' are making it miserable this year.

I did get the broccoli and cauliflower mulched pretty well. They produced, but it was so hot the broccoli is bitter and the cauliflower bolted too soon.

The Tarp Garden has been totally dedicated to growing Dahlias this year. The tarp ground cover helps, but the weeds are persistent. I found a new weeding disc that goes onto the end of my weed whip. It really helps keep the grow boxes clean. Stay tuned for beautiful dahlias yet this fall!

My 'maters are growing between two cattle panels this year. From the success I'm having so far, this will be my new permanent way to grow tomatoes. Zero work, and the maters love it.

One week later! Look how the plants have filled in. I have not helped train them at all. 

And one more week after that. This 'two panel' system seems like the way to go.

This was supposed to be a popcorn patch. That didn't pan out, so I used the Dresden System and converted it to something else. Oh Well....

Mice in my cherry tree! One good thing this year is the cherry tree. This one is Danube; a 'hybrid' cross between Bing- a sweet cherry, and Balaton - a conventional tart pie cherry. Balaton is so sweet I sometimes eat a dish of 'em in the winter by just thawing them a little and adding a touch of sugar.

Big, sweet cleaned Danube cherries. What to do with them?

This year, we went straight to the pie filling recipe. They're all canned up with the thickener already in 'em just waiting to become winter pies or tarts.

My view of the haze and smoke and corn sweat looking off towards the south west. At least I don't have to worry about my music being too loud to bother the neighbors.

Then I caught a little movement in the corner of my eye.

So...Was Bambie watching me, or was I watching Bambie?  Or does it make a difference?

Living in the country means we get to see wild life up close and on a first hand basis not always possible when you live in town. Mostly, I like it.

This gizmo fits on a rotisserie spit in my Weber or my smoker. These drumsticks turned out great. You'll just have to take my word for it.

These chuck roasts are in the process of turning into Pastrami - headed to the smoker after 21 days in the curing brine under vacuum. Rubin sandwiches are my favorites.

Emmie, the old 1947 Farmall M tractor, got a new shoe.

Boom Boom Thompson got some new suspender buttons and leather braces for his Rodeo Clown Pants.

And my 2025 chicken project got a major setback. I had started out with 1 little Barred Rock cockerel, and 3 Black Star pullets. Not anymore. Racoons broke in - by tearing out the plywood wall! and killed them all. Dang it!!! (Which is not actually what I said.) Oh well....

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play."

Cheers from Oakdale Farm from me and Annie. Miss Kitty say, 'Hi,' too.

Cooler weather and a new season are on the way.

Recess is Over: The Farm Report 06-20-2025

 Recess is Over
The Farm Report
06-20-2025

We've been on recess.  Okay. I'm Sorry to have left you in the lurch without warning. I get it. Recess is over now. 'Annie, we need to get back to work!' You can tell by her ears she's ready to go.

"Tim! It's been a long damned time since we told everybody what's going on out here on the farm. They're getting worried about us." 

True true true. Well, 'What's been happening? Are you Okay? We haven't heard from you.' 

Life intervened, is all I can say. I'm just fine. I've had a couple of 'life events' that took time and energy away from the Oakdale Farm focus. My Mom passed on; she was going on 98 and it wasn't a surprise. She was sharp as a razor until the last days. She was quizzing me about politics and current events on Friday, then she was gone on the next Wednesday. She just wore out. It takes a ton of time to deal with the final affairs.

I just got home from Wisconsin. My grand daughter, Evie, is now ready to head off to college in a couple of months. I wanted to spend some time with her before she takes flight and moves on into the next chapter of her life.

And other stuff....

But I'm fine.

So, back to the Farm Report. I put out some new fruit trees last fall. When I saw this 'Blenheim' apricot, I just couldn't resist. Blenheim is the name of Winston Churchill's boyhood home. It belongs to the Duke of Marlborough, of course.  I plant Blenheim musk melons in my greenhouse and who could resist some Blenheim apricots? Not me.

We had a ton of winter damage. Our weather here is, ahem...., RADICAL! My greenhouse thermometer is telling us that when I took this pic, it was 48F in there. It had been up to 86F during the day. That night it dropped to -11F. That's 'real temperature' not 'feels like.'

Usually, leeks are considered pretty darned winter hardy. Not this year! I've been growing them in 'grow bags' and wintering them over inside the greenhouse. Next year....

You probably think Annie Oakley is digging something up from under those firewood logs. Well, you'd be wrong. She is burying her latest dead rabbit find. She doesn't kill 'em. But when somebody else does and she discovers it, she calls 'Finders Keepers!' and stuffs 'em where they can't be lost.

Officer in Charge of Kleen and Polished, Deb, keeps my dining room table properly decorated. This was St. Patrick's day. 

With my little diesel truck heater going in the greenhouse, I start my hydroponic strawberry patch early. They just love it in there! That's a Napa cabbage growing in the wicking bucket.

Do the strawberries actually produce?
 
Yes.

They produce and produce and produce. I don't know why anybody even bothers to put strawberries in the ground anymore. This is so much easier, and the berries are wonderfully sweet and plump.

AND, there are no birds in the greenhouse to spoil my harvest. Isn't that a 'doozy' as Hazel the maid used to say on TV. 

I picked so many I was/am sick of 'em! I ate too many; I made strawberry jam; I made strawberry pie filling. I let some spoil because I just couldn't look 'em in the face anymore.

My anemic wintered over roses when they came out of cold storage.

A few days later in protected sunshine and they're ready to get back to work.

I'm using the Larry Hall Rain Gutter Growing system idea for my grow bag roses. These are the plastic barrel tops and bottoms I cut off to make water pans. There's a hole drilled in the side of the pan about 3 inches up from the bottom. They will hold a little water reserve for the rose, but they won't overfill and drown them. The roses love this system.

I don't think I've ever actually made cement in my HF cement mixer. I use it for potting soil mixing.

I 'borrow' from everybody. I also like the Ruth Stout hay mulch ideas. This is real alfalfa hay. I put one generous hay 'flake' into the bottom of each bag. It provides wicking, aeration, slow nitrogen release as it decays ... and Ruth Stout said to do it, more or less. 

One by one, I've been potting up and getting the roses out into the Rose Corral. I would call it my Rose Garden, but somebody might come along and want to pour concrete over it and put up a flagpole.

Sorry. I couldn't help myself on that one.

There you go! This one is an 'old timer' from years ago. I got it out of cold storage in March and gave it a head start in the greenhouse. I need a flower boost along about then, and this is my way to get it.

'But roses are so hard to work with,' they say. Yes, they are a pain in the butt sometimes. They really are a pain in the fingers! How can you not enjoy a rose on the table? I wish there was a way to bring you in on the fragrance. When I pick my rose bushes at the store, the first thing I look for is 'Very Fragrant.' on the labels.

Then we moved on. I think this might have been Easter. I've been so busy it all runs together sometimes.

Little plants waiting for the season to be right. I use soil blocks a lot. The more I use them, the more I like them. I've figured out ways to transplant into them and ways to make watering them easier. Maybe I'll do a whole report on that for you sometime.

This is my real life. I'm not working for a magazine or doing photo shoots for post cards. This is what it really is when you garden alone and have all kinds of other stuff to manage. No 'staff' here to make it always neat and pretty.

Just so you'll know.

One of the reasons I took off some time was because I felt the Farm Report was becoming circular and repetitive. You've seen my hydroponic lettuce pans before. They love it! I love eating them. This one is Rex. It was developed especially for hydroponic growing.

This one is Little Caesar, a Romain type. Well, after a while thinking, I thought, 'Circular and repetitive is what gardening - and life - is really all about. So, I've decided to recommit and be more regular in my writing again. I don't make a cent off this - and that's by my own choice. I will never make this a for-profit deal. No commercials, no advertising.

I bought a bunch of chicken wire cloches from some China store this winter. Last year, the deer and rabbits ate every single one of my brassica plants. Not this time! I also added a new tiller toy.

Remember my rose pans? Well, between the top pan and the bottom pan is a cylinder! Inside those plastic cylinders live my new musk melons!!! They act like little shelters for the heat loving melons, but they also help keep the field herbicide drift away.

Gypsy Broccoli. The little Mantis tiller made the row, then my 1927 Planet Jr. wheel hoe neatly covered in the little plants. Easy Peasy.

Till in the row; set out the plants in soil blocks;

Walk down the row with the Planet Jr. and Bob's your uncle.

In the 'Animal Kingdom' out here at the farm, Ermine is still with us. He's a feral tomcat. He's been around for a couple of years now, so he's a proven survivor. He works both farms on either side of me. That means he has at least a half mile commute each way. It's four miles on to the the next 'real' neighbor. It isn't unusual to see him walking to the next farm RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! He's all white, except the black tip of his tail. I've been working on 'taming' him. As shown, he will now occasionally come into the main shop room at night when it is Free Lunch time. He's just tolerating me until he gets his free lunch. He seems nice enough and Annie and Miss Kitty don't mind him. I like having cats around to help keep the mice and rabbits under control. As long as Ermine doesn't make a bum out of himself, he's welcomed to stay.

'Tim. Put away the camera and nobody gets hurt.' Miss Kitty is now 14 years old. She's still my 'new kitty' as far as I'm concerned. She was found on the side of the road when she was a kitten. Once she established new quarters here at Oakdale Farm, she NEVER leaves the shop building. Why would she? It's warm, it's safe, she gets free food whenever she wants it, and it's all hers. 

I feel a lot the same. Why would I ever want to leave Oakdale Farm? 

I'll be back soon, I promise. 

Cheers to all of you from me and the rest of the cast of characters out here.

Peace.