Harvesting Time

Well the crows have said the end of the growing season is here - they are ravaging the dried corn field and daily cover the ground and the powerlines near our home.

From the powerlines they see us head towards the fields where they squawk their warnings - not just to their own but to the racoons & deer which have come to join them on their feast.

The deer are really getting on my short list though ... we had one wonderful pumpkin grow - it was going to be HUGE, maybe 10 lbs ... actually I can exaggerate all I want since the deer have taken their toll on it

UHHHGGG!!!!

the kids aren't too pleased with it right now either

they were looking forward to not only decorating it for halloween but putting it up afterwards to make the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

actually it would never have made it for pie - it was soft on one side for some reason, like the skin hadnt hardened off yet.

but I have decided to leave a few plants up yet instead of pulling it all out -

some of the summer squash plants were still alive and kicking even through the cold spells we were experiencing ... so I thought I'd give them a little more time to grow - after all it wasn't going to hurt the garden any really.

my daughter found a hitchhiker on one of the harvest sacks ... but we don't quite know what it means:

I know they say you can tell the winter by the thickness of the band on the back of the teddy-bear catapillar ... but what the heck does it mean when it doesn't have a stripe????

Stand Signs

So a couple weekends ago I was given the task of putting my artistic skills into action.

Hubby took the old plywood signs which he had made up using a can of spray paint to do the lettering ... Nothing fancy - and to tell the truth it looked like something any kid could do ...

He took his old signs and painted them all on one side with white latex paint ... and then said "tomorrow paint the signs" ... Huh?

Luckily I had enough of what I needed to do the job - the paint, the outdoor flow medium, the brushes, the talent, and the time ... Oh and a couple of new podcasts that I was looking for an excuse to listen to.

So here is a fairly step-by-step tutorial of how to paint a set of signs ...

STEP 1: after the primer is dried, paint on a basic cob shape (make sure it's big enough to see from several car-lengths away so people have time to move over safely)

From Gargoyle Gardens

STEP 2: Paint on the leaves - this is trickier than you think ... If you try to make it look "realistic" it will look more like an artichoke, so just stylize it)

From Gargoyle Gardens

STEP 3: Do the lettering ... Make them fairly large, at least 4" tall but 6" is better.

From Gargoyle Gardens

STEP 4: Allow the signs to dry completely ...
here are my painted signs ...
PLACKARD SIDE 1

From Gargoyle Gardens

PLACKARD SIDE 2

From Gargoyle Gardens

NOTICE THE HOLES - hubby put them in before painting and it made working with things much easier. We attached the two sides of the placard together with three zip-tis per hole but not pulled too tightly or else you won't be able to open the sign to stand up.

POLE SIGN

From Gargoyle Gardens

This just leans up against a sign post or side of the corn cart where cross traffic can see it - you'd be surprised how much traffic you'd get ... It was rather windy so my daunted and her boyfriend used a bungy cord to keep it from flopping down.

They thought they were in trouble at one point when an officer pulled up and got out ... With the way they've been closing lemonade stands & girl scout cookie booths lately, it was a legitimate concern ... Luckily the officer just wanted a dozen ears (and I suppose check out the situation)

I was actually shocked at how few of our actual neighbors came by for corn ... I mean if you had a farmers market just down the street from you, wouldn't you go there instead of hauling yourself all the way across town to get fresh food? I know I would. But then that's just me ... Oh well.

Bountiful Harvest

Oh my what a season!

I haven't been posting much as the fields have been keeping me quite busy ... We have had a very bountiful corn crop this year!

What a treat after almost 5yrs of near-nothing production.

I think it was e combination of:
(a)wetter spring/summer
(b)sunny but not too hot midsummer
(c)planting later in the season
(d)NOT using a weed deterrent
(e)using a wonderful variety (Serendipity)
(f)hubby getting pissed off at the crows enough to keep an eye on things ...

But the biggest difference was probably
(g)planting clover

From Gargoyle Gardens

We have never had very good luck on the tip/apex of the triangle field ... So we let that go to clover all year ... Choosing not to turn it under with the rest of the soil in the spring.

I have hopes that next year we will be able to getting a good stand within that tip.

So far we have gotten over 200 dozen out of just that partial triangle field, but I'm afraid that the season has come to a close and the children's roadside stand must close for the season. (we don't go by bushel here, that can vary based on what is in it ... A bushel of apples is not the same as a bushel of corn - nor are two bushels of corn going to have the same amount since it will vary by the size of the cob)

I haven't much room left in my freezers and I have squash that needs to go in ...

Time to get a hold of and learn to use a pressure canner I think - and fast!

Harvesting Begins

We have begun to harvest ... A tad late by the look of things too.

I have two HUGE zucchini and one rather large butterstick.

I will be doing quite a bit of picking tomorrow after hanging up my laundry ... Barring more ran ... So I will hopefully have photos to show.

Have taken lots of photos but just haven't taken the time to post them here.

The deer have been munching on the ends of the plants again as they are trying to grow up the hill and out into the corn fields ... They have out grown the cover of meshing and there is nothing I can do about that so nature will take it's course I suspect.

Just so long as the giant rodents leave me some for my table in the winter I wont mind so much.

As of now - hubby likes pointing out that he feels the same way about the crows getting into his corn fields ... He is hoping they will leave the plants alone now that they are about knee high as well ... Yes they are about 2-3 weeks behind growth but the 5 1/2 inches f rain we have had this month has helped them greatly, that and the 90-100•F heat ... Nw if only they will hold off tasseling until later as well and not "pop" before they have gotten tall enough to produce properly size cobs ... And hopefully. We will be able avoid the schmutz this year.

But I am hopeful ... It is the best it has looked in years.

Growing Wild

Well it's been a while since I've posted but I wanted to share some photos of my garden

From Ginger's Farm Photos

As you can see the crows have been having a blast eating the corn ... All those bare spots are where they snipped off the shoots to get to the kernel underneath.

The fields just started to sprout weeds this week after a good 3/4 inches of rain this weekend. ... And boy are they making up for lost time.

I did however come up with a pretty good way to keep the deer off my pumpkin & squash ....

From Ginger's Farm Photos

I used nylon netting - such as you would use on a wedding dress or a ballet tutu - and covered the top of the squash garden.

I have to keep going out to stretch it over the ropes, and it has gotten rips, but the thing that amazed me is that the pumpkin keeps trundling into it - it grips into it like peas to a trellis and they keep sending their runners underneath to try to climb the hill... but this would mean they will get mowed over which would be very bad for the plant, so I have to gently pull them up and send them back the other way into the garden ...

I had worried that having them under the mesh would prevent the bee from pollinating the flowers ... But today I found this:

From Ginger's Farm Photos

Look! Look! There is swelling starting behind the flower! Sweet!

Now to figure out a way to keep the raccoons, birds, and deer from eating it until it's ready for picking!

Meanwhile in the green house ...

From Ginger's Farm Photos

I finally have baby carrots ... They are all orange instead of the red, yellow or white I was expecting. I didn't think carrots "mated" but perhaps I'm wrong ... if so I would suspect that they would revert to the original type they were originally crossed with ... kind of like hybrid corn - some is so unstable that if they get pollen from another type of corn, they become field corn.

Speaking of corn .... what little crop we get will be coming in very late this year. I suspect somewhere around mid-September early October ... depending on the weather.

Bright side:
we will have sellable crop after the stores run out
The days will be cooler while I prepare it for freezing
It should tassel after the worse part of summer so it doesn't tassel too early

Dark side:
the kids will only be able to sell on the weekends or after school.
Those pesky animals will be trying to steal my corn for their winter stocks the same time I'm doing it.
We run the risk of the corn not tasseling at all because of the day light/warmth issues that come with the fall.

Personally I'm hoping to avoid schmutz ... it's a black fungus that occurs and can cause unusual growth of the cobs. The infected plant needs to be rep Ed completely and disposed of in such a way as not to infect the soul .... so no putting it in the compost bin or just tossing it to the side of the field ... I think of it a corn-cancer, but I've heard it's a delicacy in Japanese cooking.

Well have to go ... Didn't realize how late it was.

Damn Deer

Like everyone else I can appreciate the beauty of these creTures ... As long as they are not EATING my garden!

We went on vacation for 10days (figuring the weeds could play for a bit) but my hubby had to come back in town for a dr appt ... He came back to the vacation spot with the great news that the corn had grown to about 4 inches tall! Yeah, even though it's just 6 rows it was exciting to know the con was growing so well after so many years of poor yields.

We got home on Sunday to find that all but ONE row was snipped off at the base!

No this wasn't deer - but I'll get there in a bit .... Patience

Around the place where each ear had sat there was a perfect divot .... so we figure it was either pheasants or wild turkey (daughter saw one of this sitting on our steps while we were out of town ... we had the dog) ... deer would have (a)atenolol the tops not just leave them by the wayside and (b)they would have left clear hoof prints down the row like they did when they munched the tops off my peas and beans last year ....

Checked m pumpkin and squash ... Oh what lovely flowers I had ... They were growing so well ... Yes thTs a were ... But wait.

That Tuesday after vacation just south of us was put under a tornado warning and radar showed that the storm they were concerned about would be coming straight our way - now last time I planted out my starters in the main garden we got over 1 inch deep in hail the next week and killd them all (yes I cried) ....

So the kids and I were out in the pole barn this time trying to brain storm some storm shelter for the plants ... My oldest daughter was all for letting nature do what it will ... Youngest son as for just covering them with a tarp, straight down to smother and smuch them ...

We found ne tarp and two saw horses .... And were able to cover 5 out of 20 plants .... I chose the pumpkin to save - after all the fruit can be sold come fall and we can recover some of the seed cost.

The twister/cyclonic clouds passed just to our west shifting it's path at the last few minutes .... thank you fairies for moving that and for keeping that funnel up for us ... not even any hail bt the temps did drop and the air did thin out. (the saw horses fell over but the plants beneath were still good)

So yezterday hubby decided that instead of having just one row of corn to feed the family, he was going to use his fixed tractor (another story) to plant half the larger field keeping the other half in clover ... green manure ... and then while he was at it, he might as well do the part that was eaten up too.

Kids and I went to look at my plants - I figured I should have had some closed flowers starting to swell behind ... but I certainly wasn't expecting to find what I did ...

HOOVE PRINTS IN THE PLASIC MULCH!

They left evidence behind ...

Actually the first thing I noticed was the lack of bright color ... No biggie, I was expecting them to be starting squash/pumpkin remember? ... then I saw the prints and got on my knees to figure out way some of them looked so beaten up ... And there it was ...

Nipped off tops! Flowers laying on the mulch! Slems split from the deer putting their foot/hoof on them to pull off the tops! DANG!

Now I have no issues with animals acting like animals ... and I understand that this is just what deer do ... but there is a wildlife center over here which REFUSES to put fencing around their land to keep their critters in ... they even refuse to spray the area to control deer ticks/Lyme disease ... in fact they won't even allow the DNR to treat for mosquitoes which get so many people sick in our area ...

I buried the cracked stems in the soil - with the theory/hope they will put out roots the way tomato plants will when you pull off the stems and bury the stem to cover (try it, you will get a better plant) ... I don't know if I will be getting much in the way of squash ... since they already had buds they took the majority of the punishment ... but the pumpkin APPEARED untouched ...

Decided to use the 10yards of mosquito netting I had to surround the garden like deer fencing ... Oh how nice that would have been had I enough ... I had enough to cover just on side and two ends leaving the other side open like a deer-salad-bar ... UUUUUUGGGHHHHH

But I opened up the netting and stretched it across the top and even though the sides where open it was better than it was before ... The netting is old - well over 5 years so it was brittle and soon the fencing stakes managed to rip through but that was actually an advantage because the first plan was to run a string around the stakes to give the netting some support so now the netting is resting on the string and hanging down the sides like a tablecloth ... with a few rocks and some packed dirt I was able to get the sides to stretch towards the ground and give it a more enclosed feel.

It's not pretty but it's in code/ordinance and -this morning at least - should do the trick

I just hope the bees will be able to find their way in for pollinizing - they should there's more an enough space.

I am concerned that a deer might find itself tangled if it tries to put it's head under but my son thinks the deer will probably break through it and my hubby thinks that the first good wind will blow it away! We will see ...

Planting the very old fashioned way

Well we ... We - like I did anything about it ... Hubby sprayed the fields last week with the lighter tractor while the fields were still a tad too wet for the big tractor to ge into ... E weeds had started to take over the plowed sections of the fields

But they make things so weak these days that it just didn't do much good ... It as supposed to start to whither after 24 hrs but even a week later ey were still thriving ... Stupid weeds.

So hubby decided that a couple of diskings would help things out ... And then he could plant the corn.

Too bad the tractor decided that it was done before it really began.

As soon as the risked got into the soil the water pump gave way ... And of course since the engine got wet, it stopped dead. And he ran to get something underneath to catch any of the moisture coming out - quick mover that he is, we were able to dig around the wet soil afterwards and get it (plus a bit more for safety) out of the field completely ... We only lost about a wheel barrels worth of dirt, not bad.

But that left us with a huge problem ... A whole lot of corn seed that needed planting and then there were the plants from the green house ... And the soil was too hard to do either easily.

Oh what to do ... We were really counting on those plantings to at least fill the freezers for winter ... If we can do that we'll be happy. Any extra and we'll be estatic but really we will be happy to just get enough for the table.

After an hour of self pity ... Hubby and I - okay mostly me because he was in a defeatist mood - began brainstorming ... And came upon an idea.

Granted not a brilliant idea, but one that would at least work for a little bit.

We have a hand tiller .... Oh the look on his face! I told him to do just a spot large enough for the greenhouse plants ... He was dreading it but I told him that if he just went back and forth instead of the length then he could make a plot about as big as we had at our old house in the city ... He felt that would be easier to handle and after all the idea was to get the green house plants in.

So I got the sons to go down to help him (I thought) so the girls and I could go grocery shopping and get some stuff for the younger one for a school project.

(you'll have to read mympost about the trip on my other blog)

I returned to find this:

From Ginger's Farm Photos

Hubby was tilling and the youngest was pulling out the ricks and putting them on the side of the field for use later.

From Ginger's Farm Photos

Hubby and son each took a rake to smooth out the dirt and then make a decent furrow ...

From Ginger's Farm Photos

But the hand planter was the best tool for the job, but it doesn't do so well in soft soil such as works best for the corn - so just a little extra help was needed ... No he wasn't pulling hard, it was more like guiding to keep the planter in the furrow.

Then when they were done, they used the rakes to cover the seed and tap it gently. Iv got special additive that holds water for hot days like today or for those days when we get too little rain (like July) ... But I forgot to let him know.

He did put down two packages of my plastic mulch though - surprise, surprise - and planted the pumpkin and winter squash!

But h he was so sore afterwards ... I felt so bad for him.

The young son and I went down to water the plants this afternoon - they looked so sad, that I wish I had watered them sooner. Hubby gave them a good drink before planting but the heat was so much today.

The GH got over 120•F today ... That is as high as the thermometer goes ... I wound up having to water those plants twice today to keep them from wilting.

Even my salad greens are starting to look stressed ... I will have to trim the whole lot tomorrow while the sun is low and treat them for going up to the cabin for the weekend where they will be consumed most ravenously.

Oldest daughter will be in town so she can make sure the rest f the plants get plenty of water and the tarps get put up for ventilation/ cross breeze.