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Garden Gate:  OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2  |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 25 2009 : 7:30:47 PM
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Now I am jealous! I know they will come up soon. I am just too anxious because I've had to wait so long to plant. It has not rained since Sunday and it's been really hot. But okra and corn like it hot. So they need to come on up now.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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farm~maid
True Blue Farmgirl
176 Posts
Christine
IN
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 03:41:36 AM
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Kristin, I love reading about your garden. We've been in the planning stage here, but yesterday my DH got it tilled. Seeds are just waiting to go in, hopefully we'll get some planted today.
Strawberries don't arrive until June here, if we're lucky.
The weather here is crazy, but that's to be expected. This week has been a mixed bag - temps ranging between the low 30's to almost 80. Snow, frost, high winds, rain, lightening, thunder. If we plant too early, it's lost to too much rain or frost. We are behind in planting a few cold weather things, but it's still not too late.
Thanks for starting this thread and sharing your garden and the inspiration.
Christine |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 05:13:27 AM
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Oh, Kristin! I love reading about your garden and your grandchildren helping! Those are going to be sweet memories made with you that they will always remember. And they will grow up with the confidence to grow their own gardens and the cycle will go on and on.
We were up near your way yesterday at the Cornbread Festival and enjoyed the scenery so much. We like looking at those foothills (we call them mountains) stretching out, one after the other. Beautiful countryside!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 05:57:28 AM
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Alee, I love reading about everyone's gardens all across the country and how very different they all are.
Christine, you have the CSA? How is that going? I guess people understand all the weather problems? I had thought about starting one here. I might do it next year.
Nikki, I am so glad you got to go the the festival! Did you see all the cool campers? Please tell me all about it. I will probably not get to go with all that's going on here with the goats. Holly had triplets this morning. So we are done with all the waiting. She was the end. 11 bucklings and only 2 doelings from 6 does. If ya need goaties, I got 'em!
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2009 : 07:03:50 AM
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Goodness the festival was crowded! We did get to see the campers and they were just darlin'. I got lots of photos and will post them with a story in the outpost section. Wow! The Cornbread Festival was hoppin'. They thought of everything! Great fun!
Congrats on the baby triplets! Oh, we love baby goats! They have a few at the stables where Oakley rides and we love to see them scamper around. Have fun with your babies!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 07:17:16 AM
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Congratulations, Kristin, on your new arrivals! I LOVE baby goats, too! I'd love to have some goats but the hubs said, "Absolutely not!" Oh, well...I could just do what my lovey girl did with her baby ducks and just bring them home! (Once they're here, it's harder for him to say "no".) But I'd need his muscle with building a home for them. It's the same argument with the chickens I want. And the bee hives.
And about gardening, my Kentucky Wonders broke ground last week and already the bugs are trying to eat them up. The hubs brought home some Sevin dust, but for some unexplainable reason, I'm hesitant to use it this year. I've been reading too much about our food sources, I guess. I read where these two guys practice, ahem, "true organic farming by hand-picking insects from their vegetable plants", but I have neither the time nor the flexibility to do that. (Guess I could hire me a "bug-picker" if I had the funds to do that, but I'd rather buy more plants!) Any thoughts?
Nikki, can you believe these temps?
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 07:22:07 AM
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Oh, and the cukes are coming through! I can not wait to throw together some cucumbers, Vidalias, and vinegar! Chilly and yummy on a hot day! I'm sure there's a name for that recipe...somewhere...
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 07:49:51 AM
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Thank you so much, Alee! I have my marigolds in, but they're closer to my tomato plants. I'll spread them out more. And I'll definitely find some hot pepper wax. Once I read your post, I remembered reading somewhere about using capsacian in the garden. I wonder if I sprinkled some cayenne pepper on my plants if I'd get the same results. But it'd get rinsed off in the rain. Still, maybe it'll be a "quick-fix" until I can find the hot pepper wax.
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 07:54:47 AM
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I know this was posted a day or so ago, but Kristin, what is a wood chuck? (I should know this, right?!) Are they known by another name? We have a real problem with armadillos. Now THAT's an ugly creature!
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 09:30:55 AM
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Hi Cherry. They are those creatures that tell us if spring will be here in 6 weeks, whatever those things are. I have trouble remembering names. Groundhog! That's it. Ugly buggers, too. My mom had the armadillos, too. They are down in S. GA. None here yet. Do they like garden stuff too? I know the grounghogs love anything in the melon family. They are a big neusance for sure.
I am still waiting on the rest of my things to come up. I did see my beets coming up when I was looking yesterday. I'll go out and look at the other garden later. I love to see everyting popping up. Nothing more exiting. Except baby goats being born. You can come up and get a few. I have plenty now! I need to put an ad in the paper soon to see if I can sell them that way. I need to know whether or not to dehorn or castrate the guys.
Oh, I forgot to say that I usually handpick the potato bug. That's my main pest. I had planted potatoes in the newer garden a few years ago and last year we were invaded by them on the tomatoes. They probably ate half the plants. They are very fast and very grose, too. So this year we just put potatoes over there again and the tomatoes will go in the other garden. I'll probably still have problems, but I'll have little helpers. Also Diotamaceous earth worked good for me.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 10:12:06 AM
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Knew I should have known what you were talking about! We haven't had any of those. And the armadillos like to dig, dig, dig! They eat grubs, which we have a big problem with. Moles like to eat the grubs, too, so I have lots of tunnels. My little dog, Harley, likes to dig up the tunnels as he sniffs out the moles! So between him and the armadillos, you have to watch where you walk or you'll end up in a hole!
How long have you been raising goats? What breed are they? Just how many do you have? And don't tempt me! You'll have to post pics, even though that'll tempt me even more!
I'll handpick the army worms if they get on my tomato plants. That's some damage that can happen overnight! I've only planted potatoes once, many moons ago. I had a little helper then but she's 17 now and has more important things to do like text on the phone 24/7 and is no longer so easily entertained. (Hee! hee!) What makes your gardens different? Do you have one closer to the house than the other? I remember my grandmother using Diotamaceous. And I remember planting my first garden 20 years ago and her coming to see 'cause I was so proud and she brought me a pair of gloves and a can of Sevin dust!
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 12:04:58 PM
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Cherry, I have planted marigolds with my tomatoes, too! I am enjoying reading all of y'alls gardening talk because I know absolutely nothing about gardening. This is the very first time that I have ever tried to grow tomatoes. I put a few marigolds and basil plants in there with them and I am trying to grow them organically, but what that means is that so far all I have done is water them.
So keep on garden chatting and I will be soaking up your advice and suggestions like a sponge!
No, I cannot believe the heat! We have to have the air on now and I sure hate it because I like that period of time to last when you can leave all the doors open and the kids can just run in and out at will.
When do y'all water your tomatoes? Is it best to do it in the morning or evening? And I bought some organic fertilizer. Do y'all have any advice on when to use that?
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 1:26:28 PM
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Cherry, you should not get me started on goats! I could talk goats all day. But I will tell you I have 6 does. 5 are Lamancha and 1 is a Nubian-Toggenburg cross. I bred them all with a white Lamancha buck. All but 1 had twins and she had triplets. So I have 13 kids now. 11 bucks and 2 does. I am also borrowing a friend's Lamancha doe that she does not have time to milk. So all together I have 20 goats here. Way too many. I will probably get back down to the 6 does and maybe keep the 2 doelings and 2 bucks. And when I get real internet (I have dial-up right now) I will post pics of all of them. They are all just adorable.
As for the gardens, there are 2. On either side of the driveway. One is in the chicken pasture. It is usually fenced and will be soon. It is the BIG market garden. The other is for us and what doesn't fit in the other one.
I just looked and just about all I planted last week is showing itself! No okra, squash or zucc yet, though. It's so fun to see it all so little. But the weeds will not be too far behind.
Nikki, I just use my animal fertilizer. When I have plants, I'll throw a little in the hole then put the plant on top and water really good then. And then I just water when they are little. I never water the seeded plants. Only the plant plants. And only if we have not had rain in awhile. If they start looking wilted I'll water then. But I hate to water. Then later when they are a little bigger, I will put the composted manure around the base of the plant then mulch really good. And water again so the manure will get in the ground. I hope this all makes sense. I don't know much about any other kind of fertilizer. Sorry. And when I do water it's usually in the evening because I don't have time in the morning with milking and animal chores before it starts getting too hot.
Boy, I can go on and on, huh? I'm done now.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 3:40:46 PM
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hey, thanks, Kris, for the tips. I have access to lots of composted manure, so I should be all set!
Do you make cheese with your goat's milk? Sometimes we buy dessert goat's cheese at the Pepper Place Market. It has pecans and little chocolate chips in it. SO GOOD!
We went with friends to Amish country in Ohio and they were interested in finding unpasteurized goat's milk. We found an Amish farmer's address from the health food store and went out there. They let us try their fresh milk and it was SOOOO good. I didn't know that goat's milk could taste like that! Anyway, I came home and happened to see some canned goat's milk at the store. I bought it and put it on a BIG bowl of cereal and took a BIG bite. I gagged. Oh, it was gross. NOT the same. Ha!
I hope all goes well with your flock and gardens!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 27 2009 : 6:55:19 PM
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Oh my goodness, how awful, Nikki! Canned goat milk is nothing like raw at all. But we did have to give my middle granddaughter the canned when she was an infant because I didn't have goats then. She drank it and thrived. But there is no comparison to fresh raw goat milk. Anytime you want to try it, come on over. My SIL had his kids this weekend here and they were drinking it as fast as I could get the goat milked. I just have about a quart right now. I am just milking one at the moment.
As far as cheese, I do make feta and have made the hard aged cheese, too. Plus buttermilk and have tried yogurt, but it's too thin.
The garden's looking good so far. We are supposed to get rain the rest of the week here. 30% mostly, but that's good.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 11:39:12 AM
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Sore today and worn out from yesterday's heat as I worked in the garden and flower beds! Bit late, but I planted the okra, corn, pinto beans, and butterpeas. And I did a little happy dance for another baby broccoli head and flowers on the tomato plants! This afternoon when the hubs gets home to help I'll be getting watermelon and cantelope planted. I hate watering, too, Kris, and when it's needed I'll do it just before dark. And Nikki, remember that tomatoes don't like their feet (roots) to stay wet. Oh, and I am DETERMINED to make it to Pepper Place this summer!! I want to go really bad, but being a realtor, I only have one Saturday a month when I don't have to work. Have you ever heard of Petals from the Past in Jemison? Now that's a must see! You'll absolutely love it! My hubs doesn't get my plant obsession, but he really got into PFTP! We were perusing the herbs and caterpillars were devastating the cilantro (I think that's what it was) & my hubby, ever mindful of a penny saved, was beside himself that they were losing money to these caterpillars. He kept at me about how somebody needed to be told. Enough was enough and I told him to do something about it. He found a sweet lady and politely informed her that they were losing money to these caterpillars. Well, she politely informed him that they were swallow-tailed butterfly caterpillars and they believed that the butterflies were worth the loss! Oh, my, the look on that boy's face! It was priceless!
Another garden funny that happened to me yesterday: I've made a new flowerbed and was finishing it up by lining it with rock. (We live on a mtn ridge that grows a new batch of rocks every time it rains!) I had my wheelbarrow full of these rocks that weighed between 20-50 lbs each. I was standing between the handles, picking up the next rock, when the weight shifted in the barrow and one of the handles caught me in the thigh as it was tumping over! I just 'bout got flipped on my keister! And had I landed on my back with the rock I was holding, I'd surely have been pinned there for hours 'cause I was home alone! But this is my M.O. A true klutz! Once, I even got two fingers caught in a garage door and was stuck for half an hour, trapped, really, until the hubs came to my rescue!
Well, Kris, you aren't alone. I also can go on and on! And I love the Nubians! I had to look up the Lamancha and Toggenburg. Sadly, I've never had goat milk. Had fresh cow milk before, but the warmth of it kinda didn't sit well. Do you sell your goat milk and cheese along with your produce at a farmer's market?
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 11:52:00 AM
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Oh, and Nikki, leaving the windows open is a necessity for us right now! (I miss that short period of time, too!) Day two of running the AC and it went on the fritz! Three days and we're still waiting for the repair guy to get around to us! It's not too bad up until around 10 and then gets better again by around 5. But enough's enough! I may be a farmgirl, but I'm spoilt like bad milk on my AC when the temps start closing in on 90!
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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Miss2Missus
True Blue Farmgirl
407 Posts
Karen
Asheville
NC
USA
407 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 12:03:39 PM
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I have to say that love when you have to takea shower cause you are literally dirty. It's always so rewarding to work in a garden. i have a mini garden. Containers for now, my first real one for me though. I've helped out others but this MY first.
It does sound like you have a wonderful field going. |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 12:36:00 PM
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Ah-ha! Discovered the culprit snacking on my green beans!! Teeny, tiny baby grasshoppers!! I sprinkled them with cayenne pepper, Alee, so we'll see how they like the taste! There are lots of baby frogs in the garden, too. You'd think they'd be snacking on the baby grasshoppers...
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2009 : 7:20:39 PM
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Cherry, sounds like you've had a day. Be careful out there alone. And yes, I sell goat milk. I'll meet you half way!
I had a white frog in my bean plants the last few years. He scared me every time I saw him. And he was white, too. I do like frogs. Good for a garden. So are praying mantis. And ladybugs. Love to see those guys at work.
Hi Karen. Welcome. I know what ya mean about being dirty. I am usually filthy by the end of the day here, with animals and yard and gardens. Container gardening is great. No weeding and all that bending over. You can get lots in containers, too.
I bought a flat of cabbage, some peppers and some marigolds and geraniums today. So I will be planting all that in the morning. The cups of cabbage only have 4 plants this year. Last year they came in 6-packs. Hum, and they cost more, too. Has anyone else noticed this? This is the first cell packs of plants I have bought and it could just be at this one place. I have also got to get my little bitty tiny tomato seedlings in the ground. I think they will do much better then.
Kris |
Edited by - kristin sherrill on Apr 28 2009 7:26:07 PM |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2009 : 07:07:31 AM
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I'm taking a break right now, but I have been planting Silver Queen corn, Peaches-n-Cream corn, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes and a big flower bed with all my farmgirls seeds. I am putting the SQ corn in between the beet rows. I hope it works ok. Anyone else ever do that? And the other corn I will plant squash and zuc. in those rows. The Kickory King corn I will plant pole beans in to climb up the very high stalks. They got about 15' high last year.
We are supposed to get rain the rest of the week. So I am trying to beat it.
I aslo saw potatoes, onions , squash and zuc coming up in the other garden!! I have not seen the okra yet, but there is still hope for it when it gets hotter and with rain. So will leave it alone a few more weeks. If I don't see it by then, I will have to buy seed since these seed are from last years plants.
See ya'll! Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2009 : 11:55:01 AM
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Hmmmm....an albino frog. Never seen one before. Frog-talk reminds me of a funny story: when we were growing-up, my grandmother would tell us that she'd turn us into a frog if we didn't behave. She had all of us, my sister, brother, and cousins, half-way convinced that she was a witch. She kept it up when her first great-granddaughter, my daughter, came along. Lauren and I went to see them one day when Lauren was around 4 or 5 and my granddaddy was sitting on the backporch, waiting on us. On the porch by his feet was a jar with a HUGE bullfrog in it. My sweet little Lauren asked him where he "got that frog" and TT shook his head with the saddest look on his face and told her, "That's Jeremy, Precious. He smarted-off at Grandmother and she turned him into a frog." (Jeremy is one of my cousins.) Lauren stood there studying on that for a minute, looked up at TT and said, "Well, I guess he shouldn't have done that." Oh. My. Goodness! Out of the mouth of babes!
Anywhoo...so, wow! You've been busy, too! We're supposed to have some rain here today, 50/50 chance. Send up a prayer I receive one of those hit-or-miss showers, not just for my garden but also 'cause the repairman STILL hasn't worked us into his schedule to fix the AC and the humidity is starting to make me cranky!
I almost bought some Peaches-n-Cream myself, but stuck to the Silver Queen. I planted it with my Kentucky Wonders and pinto beans. I bought my cabbage from Lowe's, Bonnie plants, and they came in a 6-pack. I looked at what the co-op had other than Bonnie's and they were in 4-packs. I didn't ask where they came from.
Karen, I've done container gardening, too, and it really does make it easier. Especially if you're doing tomatoes, herbs, peppers, lettuces and such. There are these specially made containers that allow you to plant other things like corn, squash, and such. I'm trying to remember the name of them, maybe Earth Pots? Do you know what I'm talking about, Kris?
I have a picture of my baby girl laying out by the pool last summer with a pot of cherry tomatoes pulled up to her chair so she could snack while she sunned!
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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Garden Gate: OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2 |
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OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2
