House Five Change

Yesterday was Sunday.  We tuned in to our Sunday meeting on ZOOM.  We could see but could not hear.  I got a little audio on my phone in two different ways, but we could only hear if we put it up to our ears.  We gave up on it an watch Taylor and Tyler on TV.  Carol fixed a good dinner.  

This morning was another cold morning. I didn't do anything that was worth writing.  David Dallin came over after lunch.  He had the income tax papers ready for us.  We have to pay some federal taxes and get a refund from our state taxes.  I prepared a check for the IRS.  Mailing that tomorrow.

I dug weeds Saturday and continued this afternoon.  I dug up all of the weeds on the north side of greenhouse five.  There were a bunch of  mallow weeds that had long branches, that were hard to cut through the root.  The weed barrier that has been laying on the ground made it hard to get at the tough roots.  I had to use pruners on one.

The exhaust fan was running and the shutter one the east end was closed.  I went around to the front.  The door was locked and I couldn't open it.  With a screw driver I removed the latch and block open the door.  The fan was able to cool the greenhouse some.  I called Shane England and reported the problems with the fan and shutters.   This evening when I left I block booth doors shut.

I moved all of the trays that were to the south side of house five and near the front to the back where the geraniums are.  Pictured are some of the geraniums and trays that I moved.  They are all in the same place.

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Weeding

I walked along the row of Green Arrow peas.  I found a bloom.  There should be more to come.  They are pretty thick, and I water them every other day. 

Yesterday I noticed some large yellow mustard plants.   This morning while most of it was in the shade I started cutting out all the weeds.  There are about three rows of weeds with other weeds close by.

I dug and cut them and then raked them into two rows.  I use a pitch fork and a broom rake.

I piled the weeds on a square piece of burlap.  I put the yellow mustard weeds on the burlap.  I wanted to get them out of the garden.  When the seed pods dry, they break apart and scatter seeds all over.  I put them in a weed pile north of the north garden. 

Here is how it looked when I finished this afternoon.  On the right side of the photo an asparagus plant is growing.

While I was cutting weeds, I had a sprinkler running where the strawberry plants were growing last year.

A couple of bush beans are coming up in the bell of straw.  This morning there was a cluster of mushroom poking up. 

A couple of weeks ago I found this small Elder Berry plant.  It looked really dry.  I built a small dike around it and filled it with water two different times.  Still not looking healthy.

There is a lot of rhubarb in the garden now.  I cut these stems and pulled

these radishes.  The radishes are not that large. 

 Shane and his crew removed all of the weed barrier in house four.  I thought that they were going to throw it away.  I pulled onto the lawn.

I laid it flat on the lawn and put it upside down to remove all of the soil.  I then folded each one up.

I used rusty steel pipes to hold it in place while I folded them up.  It worked really well.

I tied each into a bundle.

 and took them out to the shed.  The shed is to full so I piled them up against the east wall of the shel

Shane had some hemp friends that visited for a while.  The guys are planting the hemp plants on the north side of house four.

The plants are on the north side of house four

The drip lines are down for house two.  The small plants are planted between the pair of drip lines.

 House one has been tilled and it is ready for the installing of the drip lions.

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Quick Trip to Provo

A couple of day ago we decided to go to Provo to get some supplies that we are out of or nearly out of.  We planned to leave at nine, but didn't get away until half past nine.  I wanted to take some produce to the post office before we left.  I went out to house two at eight.  I cleaned the top of the table.  That is where I would begin cleaning.

I dug the scallions first and put them in the black bucket to wash off most of the soil.  I pulled the clumps apart and removed most of the soil.  I then pulled of the outside leaves. I pulled the red beats and washed them the same way.

 

I cut of any remaining roots and washed the again in the first white bucket and then they went into the next bucket.  I repeated that process until all the scallions were in the bucket on the right.  Then I washed the beets.  Five beets with their greens are in each bunch and held together with a rubber band.  The same for the scallions.  They were put in the tote on the right end of the table.

I picked a dozen or so tomatoes.  They were washed and put in the tote on the left.  The last thing in the tote are onions.  Not mentioned earlier is one zip bag full of red beets.

We then drove to Provo and bought our  supplies at Sam's Club.  We had lunch at the nearby Chuck o Rama.  We got a some cherry juice concentrate at the Red Barn.

After arriving home I changed clothes and started cutting down tomato plants in house one.  It was so hot I decided to do something else.

I picked the large cucumbers to feed them to the chickens.  I usually open them up with a shovel.  I wanted something much easier.  I made a jig to hold them while I cut the with my radial arm saw.  It worked pretty good, but a little bit dangerous and left the back wall covered with cucumber saw dust.  It really wasn't dust, but it all wet with juice and small parts of the cucumber.

I turned the jig end to end and used a bread knife and safely and easily cut them in half.

The weather is so warm and the wild grasses are growing, I decided to spray the weeds.  I filled the tank three times and sprayed the weeds in the dry garden north of the house; the weeds by the grape plants and weeds in other places.

The above photo shows asparagus on the right and the black tank at the east end of this garden.  

The post holding some of the cucumber vines is leaning to the right.  It may break because of the weight of the cucumbers.  I drove a conduct stake nest to it.

With a zip tie pulled the leaning post against the stake.


Comments and questions are welcome.

Weed Before Carol Does

Watered most everything in the garden.

The bean plants are doing so well.  The first blossoms appeared.  The beans will soon follow.

These are the beet plants.  There were not enough plants for the above space,  therefore, I planted two seeds into three holes.  They are germinating.  They may be covered by transplants on both sides.

The grapes are turning into raisons.  Removing the stems will take a long time.  Next year I thing that I will remove the stems before drying.

I worked in house six several different times during the day.  I made Tomahooks and used all of them.  I tied most of the tomato plants to the trellis lines.

The lawnmower broke down about three weeks ago in the backyard.  I was almost finished mowing.  I tried several times to start it and failed each time.  Richard, my neighbor, has helped me several times.  He has been gone most of the time since then.  He was home today, and I walked over to his house and asked him to pull the mower off the lawn.  He came over, took off the gas cap.  You guessed it.  The tank was empty.   I put what little gas that I into the tank.  The battery was pretty much dead.  We put the charger on and left it on for over an hour.  We cranked it but no luck.  Richard went home a got some starter fluid.  It started right up.   The front left tire was flat.  He, Richard, brought over a small compressor and pumped up the tire.  I mowed the lawn that wasn't mowed earlier.  I couldn't mow more because there was not much gas.

 This was the weed patch west the driveway, next to the road.  Carol threatened me.  If I don't dig up those weeds she would.  I worked out there for nearly two hours.  I dug all of the up,

The above three pictures are different shot of the same area.  The picture above show a lot of purslane.  I will spray them tomorrow or Monday.


Comments and questions are welcome.

The Day After the Rain

The pole beans are climbing.  The above photo is of the blossom stem.

 The grapes are slowly turning into raisons.  The darker colored grapes are almost raisons.

 There are a lot of weeds growing in house two.  Some are under this white poly.  I put that poly there to control weeds.  It backfired some.  The weeds grew under and some were raising the poly some.    I moved the plants on the blocks and then moved the blocks off the poly.  I cut a big piece of poly off the rest of the poly that is under the bench to the right.

I hoed the weeds with a stirp hoe.  The weeds were them taken to the compost pile.  I moved the blocks next to the bench at the right.  The grape plants are not on the ground, but on the blocks again.

This is a funny unidentified weed.  It makes a pretty good rosette.

 I transplanted these seedless cucumber plants into this raised bed several weeks ago.  I put trellis twine up and attached the vines to the twines with tomato clips.  There are a few small cucumbers.

I was reading on line about parsley and it seems to be a really good herb.  Many health benefits for Italian parsley.  I transplanted it into ten four inch pots.  I also transplanted ten plant in the raised bed.  The pots are on the left and those in the raised bed are on the right.

Carol's potted plant is not doing well.  The leaves were falling off.  We brought it outside for a couple of days.  This afternoon I took it out of the small pot that it was in; then I pruned the roots.  It is back on the front porch.

I was weeding the plants that are in pad one.  A large tub filled with strawberry plants had Stinging Nettle in it.  I didn't know what it was.  I reached in with my bare hands and it started stinging.  I put gloves on and pulled the rest of it.  I think that there was one plant with three branches.  I didn't see any roots.  The I went into the house and washed my hands.  After an hour or so the sting was gone.

I pruned tomato plants in houses one and six.

I was in the house with a laptop on my lap making a list of produce and in which month the will be ready for market.  And an income sheet.

Comments and questions are welcome.

It Rained and Rained Some More

My neighbor called last night and said he would be here at 8:30 this morning to get the rooster.  I caught the rooster.  It wasn't easy.  I used a hook, but could get him.  I chased him form one end of the chicken run to the other.  I finally grabbed him by his wing.  I tied his legs together.

Yesterday, I prepare the three hog panels so I could move them  today.  Mickey Steimle, a neighbor of ours got the rooster.  He helped me move the hog panels.  Moving them was easy.  It was a little harder to get them lined up and secure them.  The brick is to hold them off the ground.

Carol and I planted the Blue Lake Pole beans.  There are two plants spaced eight inches apart.  There were a few extra plants which between those planted earlier.

This is not a very clear picture.  A couple of our chickens fly out over the grape vines.  I cut off the vines hanging in the chicken run.  I thought that I would put some welded wire above the vines.  The chickens can fly on top of the hen house and then fly out.  

This yellow jacket nest is under the hen house shade.  The blue looks like the blue sky, but is a blue panel.  This evening I captured this nest with a plastic shopping bag.  The was another nest in the pine tree west of the chicken run.  I most of it, but one of the yellow jackets fell and hit the back of my hand.  It gave me a mild sting.  

There were several good rain storms late this afternoon.  It was much cooler in house six, which is where I dug up all the plant material which some were pretty small, but most were tall. They are lined up one the row south of the center isle.  There will be two rows of tomatoes there.  

Here is looking at the weeds that I dug up, but from the south end.

There are hundreds if not thousands of grasshoppers in house six.  This is one in the tall annual grass.

The grasshopper have been eating the above cabbage type plant.  I sprayed it with Sevin insecticide.  I also sprayed the grass below.  I sprayed from both sides and put it on pretty thick.

There is a leaky pipe west of the garage where the yellow jackets come for a drink.  I covered it with welded fencing and secured it to the ground with landscape staples.  I then prepared a quart of sevin and poured it in the water.  The fencing keeps the cats and chicken from getting a drink.  Here's hoping that the yellow jackets take a drink and die.

Comments and questions are welcome.