June Is Bustin' Out All Over: The Farm Report 06-14-2019

June Is Bustin' Out All Over

The Farm Report 06-14-2019

Iowa Orchids. Other people know them as bearded iris, but to me, they are Iowa's best example of a prairie orchid. They are tough, pretty and usually fragrant.

Did I say tough? That baby greenhouse in the background is now my propagating house. I use it to root perennial shrubs, mostly. That's an old cold frame at the end of it, too. I use it as a 'Nearing Frame' which is just a ten dollar name for a trick cold frame with a light filtering inner cover. It is great for rhododendrons and azaleas, etc. But the real point is the row of neglected iris. Throughout all Joyce's treatments and illness, this was one of the things that had to live on its own. It did fine!

We like to call these 'Irene's Iris' after my great aunt Irene. No care or fuss for decades, and they're growing strong as ever. 

This is what June is for in Iowa. They're delicious. These are Earliglow. 

There's always sumthin' though. All our wet weather has tricked the plants into producing lots and lots of leaves and runners, but not so many berries. I'm not complaining. Think of what next year will be! 

I mentioned Monte Don from the BBC Gardener's World program a while back. Well between him and a guy before him named Harry Dodson, who did the Victorian Garden series back in the 1980's, I got the idea to try growing wine grapes in my greenhouse. This one is a Traminette. It is a hybrid cross between Gewurztraminer and Joannes Seyve. It is a delicate wine grape that shouldn't be growing where I live! But, thanks to Harry and Monte, who plant grapes inside their greenhouses - with the roots growing under the walls outside! - I'm giving it a try. Stay tuned. I'm starting the little grape off in a fabric bag which will be transplanted (sans bottom) inside the greenhouse soon. 

Out in the garden, I've put up the pickle fence. Before I say more about that though, look at the next picture. It was taken just 5 days after this first one. Five days! It is easy to see why gardeners sometimes get discouraged and say the heck with the whole idea and head to Aldi's for their fruit and veg. 

Just FIVE days later, FIVE days!, and the weeds and grass are threatening to take over the joint. 

On this side, is Carola's Deutcher Garden pickles. We're having a contest. 

Here is the name on the German seed packet she sent me from Hamburg. I have to just identify it as #3 on Carola's fine spreadsheet she sent me because I don't speak or read German. I like words better than numbers, and I can see the root of what I would call a 'Gherkin' pickle in that name somewhere. I think it is a pickle type cucumber. I hope so! 

On the other side (the right side) is the old reliable American pickle, National Pickling. They make great pickles. I don't like to bend over, and I do like having my cukes clean. So I train them to grow up onto a fence. Both problems solved; no bending, no dirty pickles. 

Don't they look good? Add some garlic and dill - and a little fizz time - and you've got pickles. 

So how do I clean up that weedy mess? This is one of my secret weapons. I've had this little tiller since about 1980. It is a Masport brand from New Zealand. They still make 'em. I call it my 'Bumble Bee' tiller since it doesn't look like it could till any more than a bumble bee looks like it could fly. It does though! I got the whole garden cleaned up in about an hour with it. 

Not everything goes to plan though. I did manage to lop off one of my prize Burpee Super Beefsteak tomato plants. I had more and I have replanted. Stuff happens. Remain calm.

Here's a gardening lesson from my Dad. He was always an advocate of waiting to plant until after the weather settled down. Here where I live, at least, the weather will lie to you bald faced and right in your eyes. I planted these green beans early - it was a nice warm day and we had been having nice warm days - in April. 

I planted these green beans - same kind, same soil, planted the same way - about a month later in May. You tell me which row looks better. Beans get chilled and they resent it for the rest of their lives. Wait 'till it is warm, and they'll happily reward you quickly. But a guy's gotta try.... 

The potato rows got weedy, too. I bring out progressively bigger guns as the situation requires. For these guys, I brought out my good old fashioned Troybilt tiller. 

Up and down the rows we go, and no more weeds. So let me just stop right here and address an issue about garden tillers. For one reason or another, there is currently an idea going around that garden tillers will kill your soil and ruin your garden. I have just one word to say about that: PHOOEY! If you don't have a way to get in there and control your weedy garden - and you can see from this Farm Report how fast a garden can get weedy - then you will very rapidly stop gardening and give up. Tillers are wonderful if used correctly. In my experience, they improve the soil and add a lot of pleasure to the process of being in the garden. From this cultivating session there might be one more time to go through with the tiller. Then that is it for the season. Mulching will do the rest of the weed control for the season. At the end of the season, the tiller will cut that mulch into the soil to 'compost in place' as Ruth Stout would have said, improving the soil. So there.

Look close. Those are little potato blooms in there! That usually means the plant is beginning to set little spuds down below. New potatoes and peas! That's what makes all the work worth it. I'll be 'hilling up' the potatoes now. Did you know a potato will never grow down? The spuds grow out from the stem, ABOVE the starter piece we planted back in the early spring. So hilling makes more potatoes. 

The carrot project is coming along. Those little plants down in there that look like grass are really carrots! Lots of 'em. 

Some have even begun to have the parsley like leaves we know as carrots. 

So, yesterday, I weed-whacked the oats and today you can already see they are turning yellow. Oats - and most cereal grains - do not like being mowed or cut. They're easy to kill out of the carrot patch. They have served their nurse crop purpose. Now, 'Come On Carrots!' 

Emmie and I flipped the big round bale. It is the most wonderful compost where it sat. The rest will rot very quickly now. June and July are almost never cold here! So rot away big bale. 

Dog Tease. I'll tell you more as time goes on. As I write this, we're looking at a 5 day old Texas Heeler pup. Ain't she cute? A Texas Heeler is a hybrid cross between an Australian Shepherd and a Blue Heeler (or Australian Cattle Dog). Am I crazy? Am I man enough to handle a Texas Heeler? I have no horse, no cattle, and I'm almost 70 years old. What am I thinking?! The chickens and O.J. may have other ideas, but I think this could be a lot of fun. I hope I can train her before she trains me.

If you were here at Oakdale Farm for an evening libation, this is the view you'd see from the Front Porch right now. Grant Wood, eat your heart out. I think Iowa is one of the most beautiful places on this celestial mud ball we call home.  The view is different every day, but I'm pretty much the same. All is well at Oakdale Farm.

Think It'll Rain? The Farm Report 05-31-2019

Think It'll Rain?
The Farm Report 05-31-2019

So, I looked out the window the other morning on my way to make the coffee and this is what I saw! Think it'll be raining soon?  

You Bet! And, Noah, it rained and it rained and it rained some more. Reports vary, of course, but so far I think we've had over 10-inches of rain in May. I had over 5-inches from this one downpour alone. And yes, that is Walnut Creek flooding again down there. So far this year, it has been out 3 times. My mother says 5 times in one season is the record. I think we should make this the June Calendar Picture.

 Water front property the 'Army Corp of Engineer's way.' It is a long story, but God is not the only one in charge of these waters anymore. Well, ultimately, but the Army says they are in charge of it for now - and they kinda are. They announced yesterday that they will be increasing their release  of water from the Missouri River Dams up north to 75,000 cubic feet of water per SECOND. Remember 'Plumber's Rule #1: Water runs downhill.' I am downhill....

Next day, the flood waters had pretty much drained away. Now, we're considering whether to replant in corn or rice.... 'Taint funny McGee.' 

The rains are making the flowers grow. The mock orange and Joyce's pink weigelas are beautiful right now. 

Now that's what I'm talkin' about. The long cold deep snowy winter sheltered the strawberries. They didn't even know they got cold. I've never had a more beautiful strawberry patch. Homemade Strawberry ice cream can't be too far away! 

These are Earliglow. You can tell by the labels I've learned how to transfer to wooden lathe. I have 'bird scare' tape all over the place. It is just Mylar foil with 'sparklies' on it. It seems to be keeping them off. If it doesn't, then I'll be showing you the real reason for my naming stakes and rails. This is my Dad's invention. He put these over his strawberries to make just perfect ideal landing strips for his most disdained nemisis: Baltimore Orioles. They love strawberries! To keep them away, Dad would put sticky 'Tanglefoot' wax on top of the rails to make the birds feet sticky and keep them from coming back. It doesn't take much, just a touch. He said when he saw birds flying around with straw stuck to their feet, he knew he had put on too much - or maybe he said that was when he had it about right. I don't remember. Save the Berries! 

'I'm Melting!' The fall composting project didn't get off to the fast start I wanted because the winter came roaring in way sooner than I expected. But, wet hay eventually rots, and that big round bail is rotting nicely into compost. I'll have the netting off in a few days and then I'll use old Emmie, the 1947 Farmall M and a front end loader to fluff it up and make it into the compost gold we had intended. 

After all that gardening, and a nice hot shower one night, O.J. decided he needed to have another security lay-down with me. After the last couple of free rides he got for doing this to me (remember, he isn't giving me love connections here, he is clawing in for a hold-down) I said to myself, 'He's a slow learner.' Then I realized that one of us was a slow learner, but it might not necessarily be him! Why did I let this happen - again? 

Well, as if on cue, he remembered something and tucked in his claws. I allowed a nice catnap. 

The next day at lunch break, he hopped up into 'his' place again and - Surprise! - remembered his lessons a second time. Maybe a cat can be trained after all. I may be kidding myself, too.  

F-Troop is now outside and on their own for all day and all night. The girls have a while before they graduate from the boot camp training barracks and move on up to the senior squad housing. During the initial chick-protection stages, the box on the right end is what I used to wheel them into the shop in at night. It was their little 'chicken camper,' the perfect home away from home.

Aha! We had a near miss! See them little feathers out there on the ground? Well they tell a little story I didn't get to see. I would pay money to see it though. Guess where the stupid peeps decided to crowd up together and sleep on their very first night out? Yep. Right in the one and only open corner in the whole training barracks. What should happen? Rocky Raccoon reached through the chicken wire and tried to grab a handful of chicken. All he got was feathers though. I can just see the movie in my mind. Not having luck pulling an actual chicken through the wire, he reached up with his nose or his other hand to get a better pull and... . And see that yellow wire? That is a very high voltage Raccoon Taser surrounding their perimeter. When whatever part of Rocky touched that, ZAP! and I'll bet there was a high pitched 'Yipe!' Chicken saved, new reinforcement inside (I have added a second layer of screen wire inside), all is well.

A new go at the Michigan State University carrot project. I found an MSU extension website handout a couple of years ago showing how they used oats as a nurse crop to help get onion seeds established in a field operation. I thought, 'Why not?' So I started using the same nurse crop idea with carrots. Carrots are really hard for me to get started. The oats protect the little carrots from wind, bugs, drought, and mice. Once the carrots are up, they are tough and can make it on their own. Oats are easy to kill out, so once the carrots are on their way, I'll kill out the oats. How? Well, selective herbicides are an option, but really, just mowing off the oats works as well.  Oats do not like to be cut or mowed; carrots don't mind it. So if you see me out in the garden with the weed whacker, I'm just taking care of the carrots. Really. 

Up in the greenhouse, we're still full. The wet weather has really made it hard to set things out. So, the red salvia is still in plug trays.

The marigolds are holding their own in soil blocks. 

The parsley has finally given in and has started to sprout. 

The sweet potato has begun sending out new slips. 

And my re-planting of celery has started - again. I have learned how to make a 'false bottom wicking pot' out of just about any container that will hold water. See the tube at the back? The 'bobber' is an upside down throw-away lab pipette. I have it marked to tell me where the false bottom is. The part underneath it is a water pool and there is a wick going from the bottom of the water up into the soil. It makes a procrastinator's dream. I fill the bottom of the pot through the tube, and then I don't have to remember to go water everything all the time.  

'Jerico' is the name of this romaine type lettuce. It is in a wicking pot, too.

The basil needs transplanting, but the aroma it gives off is sooo good. Homemade tomato sauce is on my agenda for later on this summer. Chef Pasquale over on Youtube can show you how to make it. He's a hoot if you've never seen him. Orsara Recipes is his channel. 

'Getting the cows ready to go out and graze on flooded pasture' was the caption on this photo I lifted from the internet. It isn't mine, but it is so perfect for my wet flooded surroundings I couldn't help myself! It is funny, of course, but it is serious, too. The floods this spring have taken the lives of lots and lots of innocent animals who couldn't escape. We need to think of them, too. They didn't ask the Army Corp of Engineers for all this water, either. So - on that cheery note, I'll sign off until the next time. All is well at Oakdale Farm. 

Apocalypse: The Farm Report 05-17-2019

Apocalypse!
The Farm Report 05-17-2019

Apocalypse! Well, at least that's what it has been looking like out here for the last month or more. We are lucky here at Oakdale Farm. Our fields are farmable this year. The crops are planted in and sprouting. But! Across Walnut Creek, on the other side, the smoke continues to billow. The floods washed tons and tons (literally) of corn stalks out onto the fields. In order to be able to cultivate and plant the land, the stock rubble must be burned off. It can take days of smoldering and burning. I often have thought what it must be like in Scotland and Ireland when they talk about the peat bogs burning in old romantic novels. 

Let's call this one the May calendar picture.  It is a little smoky, but this is more like it. 

The cherry tree from last time is now out of bloom, and in full swing growing cherries. This tree is North Star. It is a full black/deep red cherry through and through. The juice is almost black, too. It is technically a sour pie cherry, but it is a very sweet pie cherry. Delicious. I also have Balaton and Danube. I'm a cherry fan.

The rye cover crop is at its zenith. It will be killed off in a few days. It really works! This was a cornfield last year. Right where you are looking, we always had a huge problem with giant ragweed and mare's tail weeds. With the cover crop? Almost none. Less Roundup, less fertilizer, more soybeans! 

To see what I see when I'm back at the garden in the evenings. If you could 'stitch' the picture above with this one end-to-end, you'll get a more panoramic view. It is beautiful to me. Often, I see deer lined up at the edge of the timber watching me plant. Then, when I go in, they come down to check progress - and have a taste.... 

These are Sugar Snap peas. I like Chinese food, and snap pea pods in a stir fry is something special. These will climb all the way to the top of the 'pea' fence. 

Or...'Rose' fence in this case. Out here on the knob, wind is a big issue. Have I ever mentioned that before? Well, it is! Chad and I constructed this fence last year as a Rose Confinement and Protection Area. The idea is to protect the hybrid tea roses inside it from the winds. 

That was a great idea last year, but my roses were poor quality and I had a late start, and I think whatever else went wrong was Chad's fault. (I can say that because he isn't here right now, and I'm his Dad.) We never give up though, we just draw a line and start over. Joyce's sister, Nancy, and her husband, David, gave us a wonderful gift for Joyce this year: A whole new start on a hybrid tea rose bed.  Plants are such wonderful gifts and such a wonderful way to have a living memorial. And I also like to raise hybrid tea roses. It sorta scales out to the fact that I seem drawn to try doing just about anything difficult. Is that a character flaw, or is that just what it means to be an Iowan? Anyway....

Wow! Do my strawberries look great this year. That nasty cold didn't bother them a bit. That 3-feet of continuous snow cover all winter long didn't do 'em any harm either. I can taste the shortcakes already! 

I do believe that we have a winner in the broccoli department. Arcadia, from Johnny's, is the broccoli I raised a couple of years ago that was so sweet, and the one that kept throwing off side shoots all summer long and even up until frost. I'm sure of it - I'm sure of it, I think. 

New basil plants are at the ready to transplant and 'pot up.' The parsley is being stubborn (but so am I). 

Deutscher Garten is waiting patiently. I hope I didn't assume too much when I told you about Deutscher Garten last time. Deutscher means German! So, Deutscher Garten means  German Garden, to us in English. These are some of the plants I've grown from seeds Carola sent me from Hamburg - Germany that is! We'll have a whole little dedicated German Garden this year.

These are all cabbages. Homemade sauerkraut anyone? It is delicious - and almost nothing at all like that sour stuff you buy in a can. 

This is the year for red salvia in the shop planter boxes. But I have some marigolds just in case. (I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optimist - with experience. Red Green says, 'The pessimists are more accurate, but the optimists do live longer.) If I don't need the marigolds for the front of the shop, I'll plant them around the roses to help ward off the nasty bugs and nematodes. 

Why am I showing you plants still in the greenhouse instead of out in the garden? This almanac calendar tells the story. (You'll have to zoom it up to see the numbers.) One week ago, we had frost warnings on both Thursday and Friday nights. This week? It has been in the 90'sF. Next week, it looks like we might be back down in the 60'sF for daily highs. I don't like to set out peppers and tomatoes until the night time temperatures are ROUTINELY above 50F. Routinely! So, again, patience.  Let the weather settle. They will catch up and pass the ones that get set out too soon and get chilled. Sweetcorn sprouts better when it is warmer, too. Patience m'boy, patience. 

And speaking of personal discipline: 'Yes,' to answer the question, 'Can you have too much fertilizer in your homemade potting soil mix?' I am afraid I have fried my cauliflowers. I had intended not to fry them until much later when I could dip them into a beer batter and dunk 'em in hot oil. I've got more seeds though, and it is only the middle of May. I'll keep trying. 

My peeps is feathering out. Soon it will be time for the great new world of outdoor living for them! 

You can learn an awful lot from nature and animals. This last shot shows the little peeps reinforcing one of life's most important natural rules: "At all times, keep your fanny warm and dry - especially at bedtime." I try to practice this rule myself; sometimes with more success than others, but I always try to keep that rule! Until next time, all is well here at Oakdale Farm. I hope it is with you, too.