Cold Snow

This morning there was about two inches of snow on the back lawn.  It started snowing last night at ten, just as the weather forecasters predicted.  It must have got colder, because some of the snow turned to ice.  There was ice hanging on the trees.  Being cold outside I began to make some narrow stakes out of piece of twelve inch piece of  2x10.  I ripped them into narrow strips.

I had two six packs of Black Cherry tomato plants.  Of the twelve cells, one was empty and two contained two plants.  I planted them on the second row.  I stretched a piece of twine from one end to the other end to keep the row straight.  I wrote on the narrow strip of wood the name of the tomato plants.  

I put down the drip tape and they, the plants, were well watered.

I raked the north bed to break up the clods.   there are pole beans planted at the bottom of the photo.  I put in three more bean plants.  One is climbing.  

 Last fall I planted a Gamble oak in the above pot.  The baby breath during the winter had grown so much that I couldn't see it.  I cut it all away and the oak had grown some.

I sprayed wed killer on plants in house six and two.

It was our turn to help cleaned the church.  That is usually done sometime on Saturday.  We are going to be at the temple tomorrow.  We made arrangements to clean the chapel.  Carol is not feeling well and I worked there for two hours this afternoon.

Comments and questions are welcome.

Red Grass, Tomatoes, & Table

I started work in house two at nine.   Some of the tomato plants in house two have been there since last October.  I kept them for propagating.   There are three different varieties that I don't have seed and I don't think there is any available anywhere.  These are some cross pollination that have occurred naturally in my gardens.

One is called Purple Cherry.  I had one plant in house one.  I took cuttings and had four or five in house six.  It looks like an elongated Black Cherry.   The one I call an Orange Gladiator.  It is like and the same size of the Gladiator, except it is orange.  The one on the right is called Yellow Banana.  Last year the fruit was about two inches long and fairly narrow, hence Yellow Banana.  The are ten cuttings in each quart jar.

There were a lot of legume type weeds growing the north raised bed.  I dug them all up and spaded this bed to get it ready for some parsley plants.

Here is the purple fountain grass.  We have two large pots with a large plant in each one.  I divided one into three parts.  The larges part was put back into the pot and the two smaller parts are # 2 pots.  There is a little green on them.

Yesterday, I transplanted more tomato plants.  There are fifty-four plants in that row.  The blew twine marks the next row.  The plants are eighteen inches apart and there is eighteen inches between the two rows.

The above photo shows the holes I dug.  I dug the holes with a small trenching shovel.  I then put a plant in each hole and packed the soil around it.  Then on my knees I put the tomato plant in the hole and with both hands filled the hole with soil.

I discovered that I hadn't planted any Black Cherry tomato plants.  I found some seeds and planted one half tray.

I made this table for house two.  It is my contention that there is not ever enough benches or table tops for all the junk.  I built this bench with a 2x4 piece of plywood and a couple of six feet 2x4's The table rails or skirt are out of 2x4's.  The four legs are made of two foot 2x2's

The above photo shows the construction of the skirt and leg.  The skirts are held together with nails and screws.  The legs are held to the skirt with screws.  I drilled holes the skirt and screwed in the screws.  I was easy and quite fast and seems to be pretty secure.

There it is all together with a few trays on top.

Here it is with more trays.

For supper I had beet greens.  I cooked them for about forty minutes.  The are really dark and tasted so good.  These were planted last fall in house six.

The seeds that I ordered for Alisha came this morning.  I ordered pole beans and salad onions this morning.


Comments and questions are welcome.

Tomato Plants and Water

Skipping the morning chores.   We drove to Fillmore late this morning and bought a few groceries and filled car with gas.

I planted about forty-five tomato plants.  With those that I planted a couple of weeks ago, it makes fifty-four on the first row.  I stretched a line between the first post and the last post to have the plants in a straight row.

This shows a small part of the row.  It is in the bottom of the photo..  The photo also shows what I planted last week.

I turned on the pump at the well.  I put on the timer to keep the water running the pipes.  I checked all of the taps and turned them all off.

I washed the empty pots which held the tomato plants.

I sprayed more weeds.  I did a tank around the yard.  And then went up the ditch and sprayed the weeds there.  I put the tank in the back of our truck and drove up to the ditch.  The above picture is of the ditch and a place where the water drains of the road and runs in my ditch.

The above photo is where the water comes under the road into my ditch.   The left side of picture show and PVC pipe.  Gravel has been washed into my ditch.

The water comes from the ditch in a series of pipes and end up in the west garden.  The pipe came apart here.  Last year I pushed the pipes together get the water where I needed it.  I spent an hour removing the old glue.  I sanded it.

I applied a lot of glue the Tee and on the nipple and pushed it together.  I think that is fixed.  I will have to wait until our first water turn to see if it is really fixed.

Rhubarb in the above photo.  I cleaned out the weeds and old plant material.

I planted more beets.  But I had a problem with the seeder.  The beet seeds would not fall through the shoot.  Why?  It was full of cob webs.  I cleaned them out which took quite a long time.

Here is a drip line which will water the earlier beet planting and todays planting.

Last is the Bray home.  They worked on it most of the day.



Comments and questions are welcome.

Deer in House Six?

Another morning at the Manti Utah Temple.  We had lunch there and an ice cream cone at the Top Spot in Salina.  As soon as we were home I walked out to the greenhouse checking the temperature.  They were hot.

In house six some of the lettuce was eaten, and there were deer tracks and one lettuce plant was pulled out of the ground.  The top mark is a track and the enclosed in the circle is one of the plants that was eaten.  I left the doors of house six open all night so it would not get too hot while we were in Manti.

The large asparagus plant in the garden was pretty bushy.   I cut it down.  Now waiting for the tender shoots.

The pipe froze and broke during the winter.  Can't turn the water back on until it is fixed.   The broken pice is laying in front of of the upright stem.

I needed to take the T-post out.  I dug a hole on the north side and used a pipe and chain to create a lever.  A little lifting and jiggling the post, it came out.

House one has a lot of weeds.  I mixed up another batch of killzall and sprayed the weeds.  It took more than one.  I mixed another batch.  I sprayed between this house and the road.

They worked two days on the Bray house.  Can't see much change.

there were a couple trusses left over.  I got this photo to show the 2x6 tails.


Comments and questions are welcome.

Transplanting and Deer

The two photos below were taken at church.  The quality is pretty poor.  I didn't notice reflection of the hang light at the chapel ceiling when I took the picture.

 It is of a dining table with the best possible silver and gold setting.  It represents the next world.  Those setting at the table have been welcomed into His kingdom.

You are invited to come dine with Me.

from now through all eternity.

Believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

And Dine with Jesus as your host.

All you must do is... 

Stephanie Kelso, who recently moved into our town, wanted me to talk to her about her yard and the trees and shrubs she has.  She and her husband has a big yard.  I was there for over an hour.

This early spring flower was blooming in the shade north of their house.  Their cat followed us all around the yard.

I did a lot of transplanting.  The pot was smaller so I made a new insert for the small pot.  I put a plant in the pot and pull the soil into the pot.  This works much fast than standing.

Two trays of tomato plants.

Egg plants

 Mor tomato plants.

Egg plant and tomato plants.  Then some tomatillos plants

This tank in the back yard has quite a lot of water.   It came from the rain and snow this winter.

I sprayed the grasses and weeds along the south fence.  It took three tanks.  

Some of the trees were in my way while I was spraying.  I came back with a chain saw cut a lot of them down.  Most were small and leaning to the north.  I had some help last year cutting some of the big trees down.

The irrigation pipe is exposed in some areas.  I dumped pots which contained dead plants to help cover them.

We say deer in our yard and two different times today.  They were in the south-west corner of the yard.

Morning Work