Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds

[cubalaya]

a brown red stag that I like

 

[cubalaya]

cuba/asil/thai stag that I like

 

[VA Raptor]

Speaking of brown reds, your BR pullet started laying this week! Three eggs in four days. The BR stag is a huge hit with my future stewpot hens.

(BTW, not that I am not fit to judge, but I like that grade stag. He looks very regal.)

 

[cubalaya]

2 of my pullets started laying this week also. this is a good thing because the moulting has hit the farm and feathers everywhere. hens are slowing down on laying so the pullet eggs will be welcome

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Nice birds Cubalaya... I wish I could have roosters Thank you so much for sharing your boys.

 

[cubalaya]

no problem laura. I must live where I can raise roosters. would drive me crazy to live in the city or suburbs

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I am hoping someday to be able to retire and move, I can't yet though I need my job as I need the medical care for my husband. So I must be patient. On the upside I get to learn and experiment and try things on a very small scale on the 1/4 acre I have in the burbs. I had a real nice garden, but between work, hubbies illness, my house getting crushed 2xs by neighbors trees, me getting hurt and a natural disaster: the garden biffed it... I am now rebuilding that as well on no budget (Clean up from just not being able to do much until this summer is going slow, but I am getting there). I managed to get 4 fall crop beds in and am laying out the walk ways so when it rains I am not sloshing through the mud to get to the little coop I have or the veggie beds. Once that area is done I will be expanding my yard rehab and create more beds.

I will be putting back my medical & cooking herb garden and expanding the veggie area, I also need to get a few more fruit trees.

I am trying a new carrot growing method as I suck at growing carrots... lol.

 

[cubalaya]

at least you are using what you have. we grow a lot of our own food here. carrots never do well for me. I plant them in the spring and constantly weed them and maybe by frost I get a few worth eating.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I find my yard soil is very cement like, so that is probably anti-carrot... I tried growing a few in a pot with nice loose soil, that worked I got a few nice carrots. I think the seed gets washed away easy too, so this time I am using pie plates with a stick in the middle, I sowed the seed in a raised bed that is part yard soil & potting mix I had in pots (not the best choice but again what I had around the place), wetted it down and put the pie plates over them in 4-6 days they are suppose to sprout, my carrot seed is from 2014, 2013 & 2001 so we will see what happens. Then after they sprout you raise the pie plate up the stick as they grow keeping it place with a clothes pen. I will have to thin as they mature (assuming they germinate)... but that's the plan. I love fresh carrots so I really want to figure out what I need to do to grow them.

My other old seed crops that I planted before the carrot bed are germinating & soil per bed is anything from one bed all new soil (organic compost, garden bed soil, top soil and aged cow manure & new seed 2015) to just the clay stuff I could dig up and move in my yard to the beds... so I am guessing the boxes will grow the crops differently. (I could only afford to one bed "right" per gardening advice).

It looks like the radish, lettuces/fancy salad mix, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, & brussel's sprouts are beginning to germinate... waiting on carrots, swiss chard and one last row of beet seed I found in my old seed.

My Tomatoes in the pots did not do well, so I tried putting them in ground (trying to get a few tomatoes), also 2 of 3 hot peppers have not produced in pot. Really odd, so my 5 veggies from summer only one plant is producing well the thai pepper. But everyone else around me said they had low yields too... so I wonder what is up. I have pollinators (I have a native bee population in my yard which has always done a good job before, it is as if the plants never really set many flowers).

Anyway just jazzed the seeds started popping up today.

 

[VA Raptor]

@Lauravonsmurf

I have had a container herb/vegetable garden for five years. Now that we also have room for an in-ground garden, it seems the cultivar still plays a big role in success. If you've trialed a specified tomato (or any plant) variety for 3 or more years and it fails to perform, you may try another and see if performance improves. I prefer heirlooms, but I will use hybrids that either produce decent F1s or have outstanding flavor & performance.

Companion plantings, especially herbs (can be wildcrafted for free), also helps. It doesn't seem to keep pests down as much as help with nutrient exchange. Other than that, maybe worm castings (potentially free) and rock dust? Rock dust can be expensive though, and it doesn't sound like you lack nutrients.

Sorry if I am intruding. From one cash strapped gardener to another, hope this helps some.