I ended up hiring my 8 year old granddaughter to get rid of that Himalayan blackberry. She did a good job with the pruning shears. My 10 year old grandson got up on the shop overhang roof and cleaned off all the branches and fir needles with a couple of brooms. And the 5 year old raked up the...
I picked the collards this morning, but didn't cook them yet. They're trimmed, washed, chopped up and packed into a gallon ziplock bag. I'll cook and freeze in a couple of days.
I pruned the lower leaves from the cabbage plants that looked bad or were laying flat on the ground, fed them to the...
Wow, thanks for the info! I might have to head that way and get some when it's available. I'd probably get whole fish and give the chickens the scraps.
I had to put my Y adapter in my garden hose system a couple days ago too. I had to buy a new 50' hose because I didn't have enough to reach my new garden bed down by the woods. I have four hoses now, three 50 footers and a 25 foot long hose.
I put the Y in the raised bed area, with one hose...
I read that the biggest problem with growing squash directly in the compost is that it's difficult to keep the compost moist enough for the plants to grow. One recommendation was to bury a half gallon milk or juice jug next to the plant, small end down, bottom (at the top now) cut off. Fill it...
Here's what's left of my kale plants after cutting all the big leaves off. Behind the kale the lighter green, shorter plants are cabbages. Taller ones in the rear are the collards and they're going down tomorrow. LOL
What do they usually charge for it at the pier? I went sturgeon fishing a few times years ago, and got one keeper. I caught one that I had to let one go because it was one inch over the slot length limit. I believe it was 61 inches long.
The little chicks and the teenagers are doing well. The old hens are still kicking too, but one or two seem to have reproductive issues even though they're acting fine.
Kale after harvest...
Do tuna run as far north as you are or do you head out from Ilwaco? When do they run? I'd like to try fishing for them but I don't know if I could handle the rocking boat because the only time I went deep sea fishing I turned green and felt terrible the entire trip.
This time I waited until there were lots of leaves at least a foot long just so I'd have a big batch to work with. But I don't think it really matters. When a leaf is big enough to see it's big enough to eat. LOL. I'm sure younger leaves would be more tender and cook more quickly.
I cut off all...
It's possible, but I don't think it was me. Nowadays I'd never be comfortable buying chicks or chickens that came from anywhere but a commercial hatchery. I'd be paranoid that they'd be carriers of Mareks, or who knows what else, and that would take all the fun out of chickens for me.
I just don't like to can things in the pressure canner, but I do have one. And the 70-90 minutes for greens would seem like forever to me. I prefer water-bath stuff like tomato products and salsa. And sweet pickle stuff like bread and butter, or sweet relish.
I'm processing the greens...
I picked a 5 gallon bucket full of kale leaves this morning. Got 'em prepped and cooking on the stove with a bunch of chives. It's time to start getting the coming winter's veggies in the freezer.
The poor kale plants look kind of naked, but they'll grow more leaves. Tomorrow I'll do the same...
I grew up watching my grandpa farm commercially, small scale. I learned that cutworms hide during the day, and if you dig through the dirt around the base of the plant you'll find them if they're there. They would be chicken treats then.
Thanks, but I'll stick with the zip ties I bought. I've been getting the teenage chickens used to me handling them a little so it shouldn't be a problem zip tying their legs with the color bands
That's a confident looking rooster. Nice. @pennyJo1960 has experience with the auction place up in Chehalis/Centralia, I think.
I already have at least two, maybe more young roosters. A couple of the pullet chicks I bought are about double the size of the others so I'm kind of suspicious...
Well then, I guess I'm going to have to make the plot I planted beans in rabbit proof with chicken wire around the bottom. It's not a raised bed, but all at ground level. And there's a big cottontail rabbit running around that visits my raised bed garden.