Helpful hints for building coops

[jvls1942]

Were the fences in contact with enough snow to drain the batteries?

I had the same thought , fence was shorted out somewhere ?

today we picked up ten very tiny assorted tomato plants from DD.. I will put them into pots but I don't think our growing season will be long enough for them to produce tomatoes. I will go to a nursery and buy some larger plants. If by chance all of the plants produce, then, good. never can have too many tomatoes..
She also gave me sixteen strawberry plants. They are very robust looking specimens ..
Tomorrow the fixit guy is suppose to come and fix the tractor tire. I hope he shows up. and then I hope he shows up early.
Youngest DD took us out for lunch today for mother's day. It sure is nice to be able to go places now that we are all vaccinated.. Still have to wear masks in businesses that require it. that's ok with us.
I have to take a picture of my first ever crop of garlic.. unbelievable . It makes me look like I have a green thumb.
.......jiminwisc.....

 

[Molpet]

My e fence solar charger doesn't get enough sun in the winter to charge. I have 2 I tried swapping out last winter. Still couldn't keep up with no snow in January February. I have five 100 ft ers

 

[aart]

It makes me look like I have a green thumb.

I Know, Right!?
Garlic is pretty easy.

 

[jvls1942]

yup, garlic is easy. If I don't harvest it, will it grow bigger next year ? I have read conflicting articles. Most people say dig it around July. When the stems start to dry.
Anyhow. lot of instructions mention that 10" is about how tall it grows. Mine is at least a foot tall already.
I transplanted the tiny tiny tomatoes into one gallon pots . the two beefsteaks do not even have true leaves yet.
the apple blossoms opened up today. I could smell them from 100 feet away.
I saw a bee. so there must be more around.
The tractor guy did not show up or call.
I waited until 2PM and called the shop.
they put him on the phone. He said first thing tomorrow morning. He asked me if it was important. Well,,,YAH. I told him I waited all winter to use the tractor now.
,,,,,jiminwisc,,,,,,,,

 

[aart]

If I don't harvest it, will it grow bigger next year ? I have read conflicting articles. Most people say dig it around July. When the stems start to dry.
Anyhow. lot of instructions mention that 10" is about how tall it grows. Mine is at least a foot tall already.

Eh, I wouldn't recommend not harvesting it.
Best to harvest the heads then replant single cloves.

Harvest when 2-3 sets of leaves die off, this leaves a good covering on the head.
Wait to long and no covering left on heads and they won't store as well.

This is all assuming you are growing hardneck varieties,
but I think it holds true for softnecks too.

Here's an info sheet I made up when I sold seed garlic.

 

[Molpet]

If I don't harvest it, will it grow bigger next year

Gets too crowded and makes little cloves.

 

[Sally PB]

I've planted Music (a hardneck variety) garlic for three years now. I read to "eat the small cloves and plant the big ones" as the bigger cloves will grow bigger bulbs. I give some away to a few friends and tell them, sorry, I can only give you the small cloves. Here's a picture:

 

[jvls1942]

OK, you all convinced me. That was my original plan, but I made the mistake of doing research. Too much research can muddy up the waters.
the fixit guy is not here yet. I wonder what he really meant by "first thing in the morning"?
I cut all the side branches off of the bare root cherry tree. I put 10 cuttings into water and 5 into dirt. I hope I get roots on some of them. I will cut the truck back on the bare (no) root and stick it into a bucket of dirt. Maybe I can get some roots to grow.
The two potted pear trees are looking nice. Can't wait to get them into their forever homes.
.I haven't even got the tiller out yet. Maybe I will work on that while waiting for the fixit guy.
......jiminwisc......

 

[CapricornFarm]

Good Morning Chicken People!
I have to ask, whats a 'pop' hole? maybe it meant to read peep hole?

Nope, chickens pop in and out of the coop that way.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I love so much about this. I'm going to move my Premier 1 fence to run around my garden like you have. Today! I've been weeding that fence line! Uggh! As if I don't have enough to do! We also have solar Premier1 fences but we've learned that we need to plug them in to an outlet in the winter. I'm in southeast Pennsylvania and we've had a few remarkably mild winters in a row, but this past winter we had a significant amount of snow that stuck around for a while. Unfortunately our Premier 1 solar fences failed. The solar panels and batteries just would not hold a charge. We charged the batteries in the house but they died as soon as we plugged them in to the fence. We even swapped out a mother board with excellent customer service help from Premier 1, but still nothing. Unfortunately during this extended solar power outage in February we lost 9 chickens and 28 ducks to a pack of coyotes. After the first attack that took every chicken except the rooster, my husband and sons tried round the clock guard duty to protect the ducks. Hubs came in for coffee on the 3rd night and they ran off with over a hundred pounds of ducks and the rooster in the 20 minutes he was warming himself by the fire. We ordered the plug in adapter and got ourselves secure again, but the most amazing thing is that during spring cleaning we tested those solar chargers before chucking them and, gasp! They Work! So our fields and flocks are all protected by solar charged fencing again. But come October we'll be switching them over to extension chords from the new barn. And of course we replaced all the chicken wire and plastic mesh crap with 1/2" hardware cloth. Fort Knox is our new mantra. Live and Learn

So sorry you lost so many, that must have been devastating. I think I have had other people's dogs kill more than the wildlife.