It's About Time...

[Dennis1209]

Once again, it is about time. Time to order my seeds, pull up last year’s cages and stakes in the garden and do it again this year. Time to find and dig out those hummingbird feeders and get stocked up on sugar. Time to see if the lawnmower will start. I do not want to be startled by elephants and giraffes hiding in all my weeds. Well, they could be. 😊

I am trying to decide if I want to get another batch of chickens for the eggs. I’m no spring chicken anymore, and the preceding takes its toll trying to keep up with it all.  

I am not a prophet or for profit, but I think it might be prudent to can a bunch of stuff from the garden this year, Lord willing. I rationalize these shortages are going to get worse, much worse. It is readily apparent that high inflation will be followed by hyperinflation, then pop goes the weasel.

So, who will plant a garden this year, and what are you planning to grow? I had no luck producing pork and beef in previous years; I must have planted the ribs too late? As my wife thinks, it is all done behind the doors at Walmart, but I never hear any squeals, oinks, or moos there?

[OneLight]

Wow, you got a list!  For me, it's a bit simpler, or should I say a shorter list!  I have to get a huge bag of wildflower seeds (less mowing) and figure out what to do from the damage the snow plow did to my lawn.  I'm trying to decide how to ensure a positive way to indicate where the driveway stops and the lawn begins so this doesn't happen again.  The driveway is hard packed and not tar.

As for food, we just plant tomatoes in buckets on our deck.  Not enough room for a garden ...

[Sower]

5 hours ago, Dennis1209 said:

Once again, it is about time. Time to order my seeds, pull up last year’s cages and stakes in the garden and do it again this year. Time to find and dig out those hummingbird feeders and get stocked up on sugar. Time to see if the lawnmower will start. I do not want to be startled by elephants and giraffes hiding in all my weeds. Well, they could be. 😊

I am trying to decide if I want to get another batch of chickens for the eggs. I’m no spring chicken anymore, and the preceding takes its toll trying to keep up with it all.  

I am not a prophet or for profit, but I think it might be prudent to can a bunch of stuff from the garden this year, Lord willing. I rationalize these shortages are going to get worse, much worse. It is readily apparent that high inflation will be followed by hyperinflation, then pop goes the weasel.

So, who will plant a garden this year, and what are you planning to grow? I had no luck producing pork and beef in previous years; I must have planted the ribs too late? As my wife thinks, it is all done behind the doors at Walmart, but I never hear any squeals, oinks, or moos there?

  I only plant peppers now, just the hot ones.
My wife plants the garden, and I help show appreciation by eating the fruit of her labors.
Tomatoes-three kinds, potatoes-two kinds, different onions, cabbage green peppers  squash etc.
I got the seed to plant some melons and cantaloupe and corn, but my work picked up and it's being delayed.
Our grand kids took over the chicken egg laying production, , and the last steer butchered many years back.
If I actually retire next year would like to put in about a half acre tractor garden.
But without fencing it all in with at least a six foot fence, the wildlife will do most of the harvesting.
And the cost of posts and wire is off the scale right now.
Besides the fresh food, all the work with your hands in the dirt is good for the body.  And the soul..

[Dennis1209]

Every year my philosophy is 1/3 for the insects, 1/3 for the wildlife, and the rest I get. I avoid insecticides whenever possible, but for some reason, I must use them on cabbage, or the insects will ruin it all.

Every year I struggle to hook up my 500# tiller to my little Kubota tractor. When I finally got it attached, the small garden I intended to till turned massive. Then I went back to the store to buy something to fill the ground.

The wildlife around here will not allow me to have sweet corn, sweet potatoes, or grapes.

Now that I think about it, I best try to purchase the canning lids I need if I can find them. For the last couple of years, they have been challenging to get.

I can taste it right now, a bologna sandwich with a thick slice of juicy, fresh, tasty tomato dripping off my chin.

[Ray12614]

I retired last December, and now should have time to plant a garden. Thats what retired people do, right???  I have 10 acres and have never done anything with it besides mow it. The ground is clay on sand, and marginal for growing corn. We have alot of deer too . . . 

Okay, I almost have talked myself out of doing it again this year . . . . 

Any ideas ? ? ? 

[Dennis1209]

55 minutes ago, Ray12614 said:

I retired last December, and now should have time to plant a garden. Thats what retired people do, right???  I have 10 acres and have never done anything with it besides mow it. The ground is clay on sand, and marginal for growing corn. We have alot of deer too . . . 

Okay, I almost have talked myself out of doing it again this year . . . . 

Any ideas ? ? ? 

The area in my garden was initially pretty good; the previous owners had a few horses. Over the years, it deleted soil nutrition in the same spot. Moving the garden to another area would be rough, dealing with roots, underground debris, too steep, and running hundreds of feet of garden hose to water it during our frequent summer mini droughts.

At first, I would load all the wood chips and chicken scat from the chicken house and spread it over the garden and till. It makes excellent fertilizer but a nasty dusty job cleaning out the chicken house. I’m not sure what I will do this year?

With my tomato plants, each plant I dig a big hole and refill it with 50% composted manure and soil, mix, and plant. I put newspaper around the base of the plant and straw over the newspaper. It works out well for me, and a little Miracle Grow now and then does not hurt either.

Around here, there are a lot of cattle, and I’m sure I could shovel up all the natural fertilizer I want in a trailer. I do not have it in me to walk up to a neighbor’s door and ask, “Hey man, do you want to give me some crap?” 😊

For the first time last year, I tried a Preen product, and it worked excellently. It reduced all my weeding by about 95% from previous years. The stuff is expensive, but it is well worth it to me in back-breaking labor.

An electric fence is out of the question to keep out the dozens of deer and critters around here. I have tried all the wives’ tale solutions, aluminum pans, Irish Spring soap, mothballs, predator scent, human scent, etc. Mothballs do work keeping the snakes and armadillos away from the house.

Ah, plant a big garden, you know you want to 😊

[Ray12614]

36 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

The area in my garden was initially pretty good; the previous owners had a few horses. Over the years, it deleted soil nutrition in the same spot. Moving the garden to another area would be rough, dealing with roots, underground debris, too steep, and running hundreds of feet of garden hose to water it during our frequent summer mini droughts.

At first, I would load all the wood chips and chicken scat from the chicken house and spread it over the garden and till. It makes excellent fertilizer but a nasty dusty job cleaning out the chicken house. I’m not sure what I will do this year?

With my tomato plants, each plant I dig a big hole and refill it with 50% composted manure and soil, mix, and plant. I put newspaper around the base of the plant and straw over the newspaper. It works out well for me, and a little Miracle Grow now and then does not hurt either.

Around here, there are a lot of cattle, and I’m sure I could shovel up all the natural fertilizer I want in a trailer. I do not have it in me to walk up to a neighbor’s door and ask, “Hey man, do you want to give me some crap?” 😊

For the first time last year, I tried a Preen product, and it worked excellently. It reduced all my weeding by about 95% from previous years. The stuff is expensive, but it is well worth it to me in back-breaking labor.

An electric fence is out of the question to keep out the dozens of deer and critters around here. I have tried all the wives’ tale solutions, aluminum pans, Irish Spring soap, mothballs, predator scent, human scent, etc. Mothballs do work keeping the snakes and armadillos away from the house.

Ah, plant a big garden, you know you want to 😊

Ha ha !!!!  I suspect that southern lower Michigan is a lot different than TX. Just last night we had some snow and ice. Probably mid-April I will plant something small and go from there . . . 

Regarding fertilizer (crap), no problem there - All I have to do is turn on the network news and I will be up to my arm pits in that stuff . . . . . 

You are right . . . I do want to . . . but will start small . . . 

Thanks for the advice . . . Grace and Peace to you my brother . . . 

Ray . . . 

 

[Dennis1209]

Except for the military, I have lived in subdivisions all my life. Bumper-to-bumper traffic in both directions going to and from work, constant ambient noise, crime, high taxes, keeping up with the Jones. No area for a formal garden on a manicured lawn.

When I retired from the rat race, I wanted a little acreage and a pond, a large garden, some chickens, a milk cow, and a few feeder cows. As a city boy, how difficult can that be, right? I desired to be more self-sufficient, have quality food, and become Mr. Green Jeans. 😊

I was shocked and surprised at how ignorant one city boy could be raising and caring for domestic animals and gardening. I will not go into all the particulars, but I didn’t know many things. For instance, the amount of work, veterinary care, transportation, and labor involved with only one milk cow. I thought one could place a pale under the utters and command “GIVE.” They need more than just the grass and weeds in my field. The Incredible Doctor Poll is my hero; he talked me out of that wild idea with cattle. LoL.

I have been blessed with country folk and their knowledge. When I have a problem, I ask. The bottoms of all my tomatoes on the vine are rotted. They gave me the problem name and said they lack calcium; sprinkle some dehydrated, powdered milk around the plant's roots. Problem solved.

It is a learning process with each year’s garden, and I experience something different and learn something new from those in the know. I have now graduated from being a garden imbecile to just plain old stupid.

[Alive]

On 3/29/2022 at 6:12 PM, OneLight said:

Wow, you got a list!  For me, it's a bit simpler, or should I say a shorter list!  I have to get a huge bag of wildflower seeds (less mowing) and figure out what to do from the damage the snow plow did to my lawn.  I'm trying to decide how to ensure a positive way to indicate where the driveway stops and the lawn begins so this doesn't happen again.  The driveway is hard packed and not tar.

As for food, we just plant tomatoes in buckets on our deck.  Not enough room for a garden ...

I was just suggesting to my wife that we grow bucket tomatoes this year.

We have been stocking canned food and last year bought a bunch of that emergency food that lasts forever.

[OneLight]

24 minutes ago, Alive said:

I was just suggesting to my wife that we grow bucket tomatoes this year.

We have been stocking canned food and last year bought a bunch of that emergency food that lasts forever.

We have full cupboards, but that's it.  We don't stock up on extra food.  Fresh food is more what we'd like to have and the farmers markets are too expensive.