This year in gardening

Well the garden is out and the cover crop is in place and starting to come up. It wasn't a terrible year, but certainly not the best. We had some screwy weather this summer. In total I think we had less than 4 days above 90 degrees, which is unusual. On top of that we had an above average amount of rain. I'm assuming that's why the tomatoes didn't do as well as last year. The corn was a dissappointment. It grew fine, but the ears weren't as big as advertised. Next year I will not be planting corn. It takes up too much space for too little reward in my opinion. On the up side the cucumbers were outstanding. I canned approximately 50 quarts of pickles. I did get enough tomatoes to make 6 pints of chili base and and about 12 pints of salsa. The green beans did well, but I was disappointed in the variety, just didn't have a good taste.

I did get a new toy about a month ago. A new John Deere 2305 with a front end loader and 54" mid-mount mower deck. I love it. Probably more tractor than I actually need, but who cares it's just plain fun.

First Eggs

Got my first egg earlier this week, and have collected at least one egg each day since July 15th with the exception of the 17th. Right now they are small, with each weighing about 1 1/2 ounces. I've been told they will increase in size to about 3-4 ounces in time. I certainly hope this is true. The roosters are driving my wife nuts with their constant "badgering" of the hens, and I don't know how much longer she will put up with it. They may not be among us much longer, if she has anything to say about it. I have to admit it was much more than I expected.

Been Awhile

Definately been awhile since I posted anything. My blog hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire with hits, which in all likelyhood is why I haven't been doing it. I have a lot going on right now, but that's just an excuse. So here is what I've been doing for the last couple of months.

Most importantly the chickens have grown into respectable Buff Orpingtons and are getting big. I ordered 10, requesting one rooster and nine pullets. I read somewhere that the success rate of sexing chicks is roughly 90%. Well it holds true, turns out I have two roosters and 8 pullets. One of the pullets met an early demise so now I only have seven pullets and two roosters. They are doing well and I am anxiously awaiting my first eggs which should arrive sometime around the end of this month with any luck.

The garden is going well. Tomato plants are setting fruit, but it should still be a couple of weeks before any are ripe enough for picking. Green beans have completely covered their poles and have blooms, but as of yet no pods. Onions and garlic were a disappointment, but this is the first time I've grown them so I didn't expect much. The corn has been a bit of a trial this year. My first planting didn't germinate well at all. I don't know if it was a problem with the seed, but of the approximately 180-200 seeds I planted only about 10 came up. I replanted after buying new seed of the same type and all have germinated, and are about two feet tall, so I'm a bit behind. Pickling cucumbers have exceeded my expectations. In the last five days i have produced 9 quarts of pickles. Four bread and butter and five kosher dill. I use a package mix because it so much easier than doing it from scratch. My Ball canner was a solid purchase last year. I use Mrs. Wages pickling mixes and am quite happy with it. It's much easier.

Almost Time for Gardening

I'm getting the itch to get my garden going. I've started several tomatoes indoors, including Better Boy, Delicious, and Cherokee Purple. The first two are hybrids I've had laying around for a several years, and was actually quite surprised when they germinated. The Cherokee Purple is a Heirloom tomato that I'm pretty "excited" about. It is said to be one of the best tasting tomatoes around. I only hope it produces well enough to justify planting it in my garden. I planted Old German tomatoes last year and wasn't impressed with the number of fruits I harvested, and it too was an heirloom. Same story with the Brandywine. So it would seem my experience with the heirlooms is less than perfect, but I'll keep trying.

I've also started yellow onion sets inside. I read about this in some magazine. I guess it will give me onions a couple of weeks earlier than most folks, but it won't be long until I can plant more in the garden, so actually I'm only gaining about a 4 week head start on those.

I'll also be growing about 100 row feet of corn, a bi color variety called Ambrosia, which I don't know much about but came recommended from my local feed store/nursery. Also can't wait for the pickling cucumbers, as they were a huge hit last year even though it was my first attempt at pickling. I hope to get more green beans from my heirloom pole beans than I got from my bush beans last year. A new addition this year is red garlic which I've never grown, as well as 3 grape plants, Thompson Seedless (2), and Pink Reliance (1). We'll see what else I can come up with between now and Mother's Day, which is the recommended planting date here in Cincinnati.

Would love to hear from everybody about what they're planting!!!!!!!!!!

Chickens are here

I finally picked up my first chickens on Wednesday February 11. After much consideration I settled on 10 Buff Orpingtons, 9 pullets and 1 cockerel. I've always thought they were beautiful birds, and it seems they do well in my climate, not to mention they are supposed to be friendly and social. They also lay a respectable number of medium to large brown eggs.

Currently they are housed in my office in a 50 gallon stock tank awaiting the day they can occupy their brand new chicken coop. They are growing very quickly and have more than doubled in size in just 2 weeks. Their wing and tail feathers have started developing giving them a gangly appearance, somewhat uncoordinated. I'm most amazed by the size of their feet - roughly the size of a quarter.

This far it's a pretty educational and exciting process.

Stump Removal

In September of this year we had a hellacious wind storm. I think I referenced it in an earlier post, but we had 70+ MPH winds. As a result we lost several trees. After cutting them up I was left with the stumps dotting my yard. I researched stump removal but wasn't entirely on board with using chemicals to slowly degrade the stump over a long period of time. I wasn't worried about contaminating the ground necessarily, but because most of the water from the property around these stumps drains into my pond. I understand the chemicals are largely made up of nitrogen, which when entering a pond can cause significant algae blooms. I also wasn't going to pay someone to grind out the stumps, and leaving them to rot on their own would mean years of adventurous grass cutting. That left burning.

I had burned a large cherry stump last year and was pleased with the results; however it took 6 burns, a large amount of my firewood, and 3 weeks of off days to complete. I needed a more efficient method of burning the stumps out. I did some online research. I chose to sacrifice one of my 55 gallon steel burn barrels. I cut the bottom out (the top was already removed), and was left with what basically amounted to a chimney. This is placed over the stump and a fire is built inside. I was amazed at how differently the barrel burned with the bottom removed. It acted as a furnace, and 90% of them stump was gone in 2 burns in 1 day. I have a surface root to get out next and then back fill, no more stump. I used no accelerant like diesel or kerosene, just wood. I was very impressed. I also used about 1/10th the wood as I did last year.

Count the Birds!!!!!

This is just something else I'm into (can't have too many hobbies), but coming up in February is the Great Backyard Bird Count. It's easy to participate, doesn't take much time, and is a worthwhile endeavor.
Essentially for a 4 day period (February 13-16, 2009) they ask folks to go outside, or just sit at a window and count the birds you see. Go to the website linked above and get started. You DO NOT NEED TO BE A BIRD EXPERT TO PARTICIPATE.