More Potatoes, New Seed Planting

I watched the Saturday morning wood working TV shows.  As soon as they were over I went to work preparing a row for more potatoes.

There are two rows of corn which we planted and watered yesterday.  To the left of them is the potato row.  I cut out all of the weeds.   I had cut the potatoes into planting size pieces a couple of days ago.

Tilled up and back two times.  And with a rake I pulled the soil out of it from both sides.  Carol helped me plant potatoes.   I made a small hole with the shovel and put the soil to the side.  Carol put a potato.  I made a new hole and covered the potato with the soil.  This continued until we finished the row.  We had a few potatoes left over.  I put them on the end of the onion row.  I went back and put a little more soil each potato.  Lastly, I stepped on each potato which compressed the soil on top of the potato.

I planted some potato in a round barrel type thing.  One of the potatoes is coming up.

The tractor has been stuck on the upper pad.  We couldn't drive it out.  The front wheels would spin and dug them deeper into the ground.  I got the truck and was driving it close to the tractor so we could pull it out.  Jim suggested that Jessen could use his four wheel drive truck.  I took our truck back.  Adam got Jessen's truck and pulled it out.

The front right tire was leaning tight to the edge of the tractor.  It was so tight that the wheel couldn't turn.

The guys have been harvesting the hemp all day.

After lunch, I sprayed the weeds in the orchard, on snail hill, and more west of the drive way.  I prepared to loads.  I used one pint of Round-up per load.

I did three loads.   I filled each back-pack tank with a solution and put the tank on the bench.  It made it easier to put in on my back.

 I planted one tray with Hale's Best cantaloupe, Topaz melon, crookneck squash, and Crimson Sweet watermelon.

The was some bailed straw posted on Face Book for free.  It was delivered and left on our driveway.  It was soaking wet and very heavy.  Some of the grain seeds were growing.

Just before supper I picked asparagus.  There was more than I thought.  I took it to the Masner's

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Quick Trip to Provo

I drove to Fillmore from my 9:00 appointment with Dr. Gross for a diabetes check up.  Everything was good.  I wanted a picture of our doctor and so here it is.  While in Fillmore I bought some chicken scratch.

As soon as I got home, I did the watering in house two and then we drove to Provo to get a few things.  We got a bunch of stuff at Sam's Club.  A couple of weeks ago I bought a watermelon at Sam's Club.  It wasn't ripe so I fed it to the chickens. I told the a person at the service desk that the watermelon did not taste good.  The gave me a credit voucher which I would use to buy a new one.  When I checked out they charged me for a new melon anyway.  We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant.   We stopped at the Red Barn for some ice cream.  We bought four large Celebrity tomato plants at Walmart.

When we got home, I watered the plants again in house two.  I took my shovel, pitchfork, and weed whip to clean out the ditch.  I checked the weed whip for gas.  There was a heavy rain that lasted about five minutes.  It was good.  I started it up and cut down a few weeds and discovered that the weed whip was out of line.  I had to go back to the garage and get some more line.

Back at the ditch cleaned out the weeds.  A lot of road base gravel that they used for the sidewalk had run into my ditch.  I worked there for a couple of hours.

I had a little lunch.  A piece toast spread with a thin layer of honey.  I worked in the strawberry patch removing the annual weeds for another hour.  Carol came out and we got it pretty much cleaned out.  I also pulled all of the weeds in the carrot patch.  Most were the wild lettuce.

Comments and questions are welcome.

Peas, Melons, & Watermelons

I locked up the chickens every night and let them out each morning.  This morning I found our first egg.  It was small and I ate it for breakfast.  After breakfast we picked the peas.  Not as much this time as our first picking last week.  Carol shelled all of them.  They are a little older, but are in the freezer.

I planted an watered more sweet corn in the north garden.  .

Yesterday, I made rows for the watermelons and Topaz melons.  I planted them after lunch.  It was pretty hot.  Above is a row of Topaz melons.  Below is two rows of watermelons.  They were watered right after.  They look pretty good.

Above is a photo of one planting of the Crimson Sweet watermelon.  It has been growing in a tray outside.

Above photo is of the Topaz melon.

I mowed the lawn in the late afternoon.  I drained the oil and it looked like it was mostly gasoline.  I filled a quart bottle and about a cup left over.  The lawnmower worked pretty good.  I stopped to dump the grass catcher.  It took awhile before it got up to normal power.  I did a little trimming with the weed whip.

I worked in house one and six.  I did a lot of weeding.  The weeds in house one are well under control.  I have been on hands and knees with a little hoe getting most of the weeds.  I also hung a lot of tomato plants in house six.  No watering today in house six and one.  Some of the weeds need to have 48 hours to dry.

Everyday there are more cucumbers to pick.  I picked six, wrapped then and put them in the fridge.  The tomatoes in house six are getting ripe.

This is a picture of part of pad one.  Yesterday I cleaned an area for watering plants in  #1 pots.  During the night pad one was flooded which happens every third day.  I put on my boots and checked it this morning.  The water was about two inches deep which gave all the plants there a good soaking.  This evening I was putting out some snail and slug bait.  There will be plenty of snails out there which I haven't done any snail control for a long time.  I started to clean a way some of the mud and other sediments that have accumulated.  It was more than one inch deep.  I used a square nosed shovel.


Comments and questions are welcome.

Most Pots are Empty/ Cleaning Shed

The cats and kittens that live at our place, about eleven of them, are eating a lot of cat food and pooping all over the lawn and close to the house.  After a few days it really sinks.  I have had the trap out for several day.  We put a small frying pan which hold some of their food.  This morning three of the kittens were in the trap.  I pulled the trip wire and the gate fell down and locked them in.  They have been relocated.

I spent much of the morning and early afternoon empting the pots.  Most are empty now.  Below is the a 48 foot bench.  At times it is filled with plants.  Now there are some plants on the east end.  I dumped the pots in a large nursery can and carried them into house two, where I put them in the new raised bed.

I continued in the organizing and cleaning in the shed.  I have a lot of plant tags that I have had for years and years.  I don't even grow the varieties and more.  I started dumping them in large nursery cans. I filled up two.  They will be going to the dump tomorrow.  The photo below shows the boxes that I removed.  There was a lot of dust and dirt on the floor.

The picture shows some of the shelves and the stuff on the floor.  I want all of that on the shelves or stacked neatly under the shelves.  The one nursery can is filled with pot tags.

 There are a couple of Italian squash.  I brought them in the house for the picture.

I cut an eight piece of the end, cut it in half, and wrapped them with aluminum foil.  Carol baked the while I was out side working.  Below the plate with potatoes and gravy with the squash covered with butter.  Tasted pretty good.

Before supper Carol fed the cats.  I put some cat food in the tramp.  The cat that we wanted to relocate went in, I pulled the trip wire, but she was not all the way in and she got a way.  Another cat came in and she was caught.  I relocated her to another place.

I opened another water melon.  It was red and sweet.  We gave the rest of it to the Stephensons.

Comments and questions are welcomed.

The Day Before the Freeze

Every time I go into house two I am faced with jalapeno peppers that have fallen out of the raised bed onto the ground.  I put off tying them up.  Except today I drove to four foot 1/2 " conduit into the ground.  I tied blue twine between the two conduits.  You see how it looks in the picture.

Made labels for some of the tomatoes in house one.  I attached a theme clip to the overhead wire with a hog tie.  I printed the name of the tomato plant on a sticky label.  Attached it to a card and then fastened it to the theme clip. I made labels of the following tomato plants.

I picked a couple of watermelons and a bunch of Topaz melons.

Below are the plastic tags on the ground which were replaced with a printed tag hanging from the overhead wire.

I am having a perennial plant sale a week from today and tomorrow.  I worked yesterday and today cleaning house two and three.  I removed weeds in house one.  I Sorted all the trays and flats.  The photo below shows the different stacks of trays and flats.

Carol and I went for a little ride.  When we got back we picked a half bushel of tomatoes.  It was cold.  It might freeze tonight.

The second to the last thing for the day is to removed the timers that turn on and off the water for Robert's garden.  I was a lot easier that what I thought.

I was deleting unimportant emails and spam this evening.  I found one email from the mother of a scout who was working on his Eagle project.  She wanted Bitter Brush, Sage Brush, and Curl-leaf Mahogany.  I have the Bitter Brush.

Comments and questions are welcome.

A Cool, Jacket Wearing Morning

After breakfast this morning we picked the larger cucumber.  With frost looming in the wings Thursday night we decided to pick all of the cucumbers.  Carol did her visiting teaching this morning and some produce with her.  Later she took squash and cucumbers to other friends.

I picked a Topaz melon which had the lightest tint of being ripe.  I check the watermelons also most daily for ripeness.  I picked one today that had a dry tendril.

The gas company turned the gas back on yesterday.  I cut their seal and slowly turned the gas to flow into house two to the furnace.  I struggled lighting the piolet light.  I couldn't hold the plunger down with my finger  I used a lot of matches.  I got some clamps to hold it down.  That didn't work.  I got some small washers to put on top of the plunger.  The washer was too big.  Finally I cut a small pieces of wood which gave me a larger surface for my finger.  I lit the match and lit the piolet light.  I checked it after dark.  The light went out.  I think the wind blew it out.  The north door needs to be closed all the time.

Later we picked the small and smaller cucumbers for a Manti Temple friend.  This afternoon they drove over from Fillmore with a small  bucket and plastic shopping bags.  They came out to house one and they filled the small bucket and two plastic shopping bags.  I filled a five gallon bucket with tomatoes.  They picked some cherry tomatoes.

Every time I water the native plants the weeds in the pots seem to mock me.  This afternoon I pulled the weeds, cut some of the larger ones, and used tweezers for the tiny ones.  Below are some Utah Agave, Fremont Barberry, and a few odd and ends.

Below are Round Leaf Buffaloberry plants in 5 1/2 inch square pots.  There were weeds there also.  Some the plants are dead.  I think they have been getting too much water.

There were three trays of Round Leaf Buffaloberry plants.  I pulled the weeds, removed dead plants, and sorted the small plants from the large healthy plants.

As I was taking pictures, I unintentionally got a couple of selfies.



Comments and questions are welcomed.

More Picking Las Vegas

This morning after breakfast we picked the pole beans.  We got one full bag.  Carol took it to the Bennett's.  We picked summer squash, more cucumbers, and peppers.  No pictures of what I picked.

Last week I dug up the leaking pipe. Today I covered it up.  I didn't want to pack the soil down.  What I did was to put half of the soil back into the hole.  I then filled it full of water.  I will add more soil to it tomorrow.  

 We got a load of grass clipping yesterday.  I couldn't get it move last night.  After looking all over the yard for the pitchfork, I found it in the back of the truck where I put it when we had our irrigation turn.  I hauled it to the garden.  There was thirteen loads.  It was pretty warm but there was cloud cover most of the time.

There is not anything planted here.  I have covered the weeds and weed seeds.  Next year I will have to figure away to grow vegetables.    There is a lot of grass.

I watered houses two, three, and five this afternoon.  In house two there was a wild aster in full bloom growing in the pot with the Salvia pachyphylla.   I cut off the flowers off to prevent reseeding.  I then cut off the stem below the surface of the soil to kill the stem.  There was a large white root growing up.  What was it, I don't know.  It is different from the aster.   Must come from the Salvia.  We will watch it to see what happens.

I was picking a couple more buckets of tomatoes and notice this cluster of tomatoes.  I had to take a picture.  I picked all the ripe ones.

I finished eating the watermelon in the fridge which was given to us by Coral Richardson.  I then picked a watermelon in the melon garden which had two dry tendrils which is an indication of ripeness.  Later I ate a small part of it.  It was not as red as I had hoped, but it was sweet down to the white close to the rind.

We picked more cucumber, peppers, and egg plants for our Las Vegas trip.

Comments and questions are welcome.

Cooler Weather, Watering Once a Day

This morning we begun the day by picking the beans.  Most that we found were small.  We wait until Wednesday and will pick again,   We picked jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, and some summer squash.  We then had breakfast.

The peppers were for Ann, our neighbor,  The cucumbers, summer squash, and a few beans went to the post office.

I went out to the watermelon patch.  The plants were doing well.  The watermelon hanging on the pinion pine broke loose.  It looked like it is ripe.  It was bleeding red at the stem.  This evening I cut off a piece.  It was pink, but tasted okay.  I gave it to the Masner's.

There is an empty spot where the melon was hanging.

While checking on the melons I saw this small watermelon which had split open.  It was a little pink with small ants having desert.

I built a trellis for some bell pepper plants in house two.  There are two, eight foot uprights to hang the twine.  There is one piece of pine for one pepper plant. It was too hot to do the other five.  There were four branches loaded with peppers.  I used the tallest branch and pinched the other ones.

I did some tomato pruning in house one.  Later I picked two buckets of tomato to go with the peppers we picked for Ann.  I think that there are six more buckets to be picked.

I had two customers today.  One from California and the other from Holden.  The spent $90.00.

I did more pruning and left the branches in the isle.  I will take them out after they dry out some.  I still have a lot of pruning to do.

There a lots of tomatoes left.  Below are pictured the tomatoes hanging on the vine which is hanging on the overhead wire by the twine.

I began to prune off the top of some of the tomato plants.  At this time of the year any small tomatoes or flowers would not be get ripe before they freeze.  Just below the top middle, you can see where it is cut.

I drilled holes in a plastic quart battle and a hole in the lid.  I filled the bottle with hen scratch and hung in a wire line above.


Questions and comments are welcomed.

Happenings All Day Long

We picked the pole beans this morning.  There are two types.  One is more round and the other one is flat.  They are pictures below.  The seed for the round beans came from Mountain Valley Seeds.  They were started in the greenhouse in March.  We had some cold weather after I planted them.  I put too much liquied fertilizer on the them and some of them died.  The flat seed came from Walmart.  They were plan ted later.  It took booth of them a long time to produce some beans.  I boiled the flat beans for about twenty minutes a couple days ago.  I salted and buttered them, they were still a little hard.  Today, I boiled them twenty more minutes; buttered and salted them again.  They just did not taste like the round pole beans.

We picked all the round beans, Carol washed them and they are pictured below.  We were going to take them to one of our neighbors across town.  They were not home.

We picked all of the burpless cucumbers.  We bagged them up and Carol took them to another neighbor. 

Carol picked the summer squash.  The squash vines are still growing and I the new growth to the stake.  I then removed the lower leave

I tied the watermelon up a little higer so that their was some space between the melon and the ground.

This watermelon is growing bigger each day. I take pictures every day.

Same with the pumpkin.

Here is a different kind of pumpkin.  I am not sure which this is.

We are going to the temple in the morning and we leave a little after four.  We can't pick in the morning, so I picked tonight.  I got two full buckets.

 Carol washed them and I put them in the totes.  I then took them to the post office where we hope that they will be gone by tomorrow evening.

 Those that were extra large were cut in half and given to the chickens.

The chickens really went after the cucumber seeds.

 On pinterest, they showed a bottle full of chicken scratch.  The purpose is to prevent chick borddem. There are some large hole in the side of the bottle.  The chicken try to get the scratch.  Now they are scared of it and you can see the grain around the bottle.