Nevadans?

[HighNDryFarm]

I thought you could only feather sex certain breeds and at day one or two only.

candy tuaght me how to feather sex and it isnt looking pretty

 

[SunnyDawn]

Well, I just lost one of my chickens, Wynonna. I think her heart gave out but not really sure. I was holding her when she went. This is my first loss. She hatched March 23rd and I picked her up from Green's Feed 1 year ago today. She was a great chicken.

The first one is sooooo hard!!!

Oh, how sad, I'm very sorry Sheryl!

It's tough to lose one.

Sunny the cold frame out of bales is interesting. You said you are covering them use by the animals - does that mean that you wouldn't cover them otherwise?

Re: potatoes. I was talking to a friend at church today and she said that her daughter had been on the UNCE website which tells you when to plant what in specific areas around here. I asked her what it said for Dayton right now and she said potatoes, onions, cabbage, peas and beets! I haven't checked it out myself yet so I'm a little skecptical if it's actually time to plant things like that outside and unprotected...

Well the directions said you could just stack them then fill. They also said for extra warmth you could wet the straw (but I didn't use straw) then wrap in plastic so that when the straw started to ferment it would release even more heat. But I am going to do the heat sinks in the corners (from another article on cold frames) so I used hay grass thinking I could use it later for feed.

Sunny, that looks great! Wish I could get hay that looks that good here! You mentioned you wanted to reuse the hay when you're done, then I recommend you poke some holes on the outer edges of the plastic. That hay will mold really quickly wrapped in plastic.

That soil looks so rich! Even the first layer looked delicious! I thought your soil would look lighter and more sandy. Can't wait to see what grows.

I propped them up on 4x4s and left the bottoms open so air can circulate. Should I still poke holes in the sides? I was wondering if they were still wrapped too tightly. The soil up here is not near as sandy as the low desert is where I grew up but it is not as nice as it looks in the pic either. We have had quite a bit of rain and some snow too this March so the soil is pretty damp which makes it look darker.

Still not near as bad as the soil down in the valley was. The soil at our last place in Reno was almost solid clay. Except where I mixed in a bunch of sand and compost. I hear some folks say their soil in Reno is in great shape but I would bet money that someone was doctoring that soil sometime in the past!

Oh! I just realized I left a step out in my description. Before adding dirt I poked a bunch of holes in the bottom of the plastic. Don't want a muddy pond out there! lol I better go add that to the post now.

 

[SunnyDawn]

I thought you could only feather sex certain breeds and at day one or two only.

Quote:
He means the wheaten or BW ameraucanas which get their different colored feathers in, usually, by three weeks.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Sheryl, so sorry about Wynonna!

Soil: the areas that have "good" soil are also the ones that have been gardened the longest, and are closest to the river. There's a good chance that my yard was once in the floodplain, and I know it's flooded at least a few times in crazy thaws. Plus, I met a lady who lived in this house 60 years ago and gardened back there. So the soil has been worked for a long time, not counting my hippie landlady and her current hippie tenant.

Potatoes: I see so many people who consider them a cold-weather crop. Why plant them if they're just going to freeze back? I don't know if they realize that it's a nightshade plant. Sure they might grow again if the tuber doesn't die, but you might as well just wait until they don't freeze. Unless, of course, you have a genius method of making sure they don't freeze.

Speaking of freezing, I'd better go get some of those containers from outside. After I've taken off my shoes.

Oh, and the most random thing from our funny farm... I went to put the chickens up early, because I had a meeting to attend this evening. They heard me coming and all filed out the chicken door one by one... and one of our dogs was right in line with them. Chickens in front of her, chickens behind, like it was completely natural. I don't know if she was eating food or just chillin' with her peeps. The food level wasn't lower than normal. When I feed them scratch grains, she eats it right along beside them. And she insists on mothering the chicks. This is the same one that hasn't barked in 3 years. She's never really acted like a dog, but this is getting a little odd.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Oh, it looked like the bales were wrapped fully in the plastic. Honestly, I think if you're needing the bales to ferment for heat then I would just leave them as is but know that you won't be able to use them for dual purpose because you can't feed moldy hay and you need the hay to mold for the extra heat. But that's OK, we can't always dual purpose.

Quote: I propped them up on 4x4s and left the bottoms open so air can circulate. Should I still poke holes in the sides? I was wondering if they were still wrapped too tightly. The soil up here is not near as sandy as the low desert is where I grew up but it is not as nice as it looks in the pic either. We have had quite a bit of rain and some snow too this March so the soil is pretty damp which makes it look darker.

 

[chicharomirinda]

Here's a view of the divider. They have more space in front that the camera doesn't show. I just snapped a photo quick since it was getting dark.

yesterday when we took the chicks outside.

W/BW pullet

below Buff x Wheaten Am--suspicous roo based on leg size. Can't see the comb very well.

 

[SunnyDawn]

OK I had heard from a farmer that the potatoes they sell at market were treated with chemicals to inhibit growth (doesn't stop it, just slows it down, meaning they sprout later than untreated potatoes) and that this chemical should be avoided in food potatoes. In fact he told me that all potato farmers grow their own plot of potatoes for their families cause of the unhealthy additives that they had to use for the commercial crops. He did indeed have a separate batch growing in his "kitchen garden".

I just tried to do a search on it and got waaaaay too much info from both sides. Each side seemed to be so entrenched in their views that I couldn't find any real info or studies proving one way or the other whether it was good or bad to use store bought potatoes. So without proof that store bought potatoes are harmful I take back my earlier comment. Plant whatever you like til someone finds some real info instead of just some emotional hoopla.

There were also a bunch of articles showing how to "chit" potatoes from the store. The seed potatoes that we buy are already aged to a certain degree so store bought need a little more time to sit before sectioning and drying. I was planning on cutting mine up tomorrow and planting them next weekend. Now I'm wondering if they should sit longer. There were articles talking about disease in potatoes that didn't "chit" properly. Or maybe I should quit reading all this stuff on the Internet. I've never had a problem growing potatoes before.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Oh, and the most random thing from our funny farm... I went to put the chickens up early, because I had a meeting to attend this evening. They heard me coming and all filed out the chicken door one by one... and one of our dogs was right in line with them. Chickens in front of her, chickens behind, like it was completely natural. I don't know if she was eating food or just chillin' with her peeps. The food level wasn't lower than normal. When I feed them scratch grains, she eats it right along beside them. And she insists on mothering the chicks. This is the same one that hasn't barked in 3 years. She's never really acted like a dog, but this is getting a little odd.

LOL! That sounds like a great video for you tube! Too bad you didn't get that recorded.

Oh, it looked like the bales were wrapped fully in the plastic. Honestly, I think if you're needing the bales to ferment for heat then I would just leave them as is but know that you won't be able to use them for dual purpose because you can't feed moldy hay and you need the hay to mold for the extra heat. But that's OK, we can't always dual purpose.

Quote: I propped them up on 4x4s and left the bottoms open so air can circulate. Should I still poke holes in the sides? I was wondering if they were still wrapped too tightly. The soil up here is not near as sandy as the low desert is where I grew up but it is not as nice as it looks in the pic either. We have had quite a bit of rain and some snow too this March so the soil is pretty damp which makes it look darker.

NO. I don't want them to ferment! That's why I got the mix hay/grass instead of straw. I'm gonna poke holes in the sides, at the bottom edge, just to be safe. That stuff is too expensive to let mold!

Here's a view of the divider. They have more space in front that the camera doesn't show. I just snapped a photo quick since it was getting dark.

yesterday when we took the chicks outside.

W/BW pullet

below Buff x Wheaten Am--suspicous roo based on leg size. Can't see the comb very well.

Awwwww! How cute! I bet they love it out there with the big kids!

 

[NevadaRon]

OK I had heard from a farmer that the potatoes they sell at market were treated with chemicals to inhibit growth (doesn't stop it, just slows it down, meaning they sprout later than untreated potatoes) and that this chemical should be avoided in food potatoes. In fact he told me that all potato farmers grow their own plot of potatoes for their families cause of the unhealthy additives that they had to use for the commercial crops. He did indeed have a separate batch growing in his "kitchen garden".

I just tried to do a search on it and got waaaaay too much info from both sides. Each side seemed to be so entrenched in their views that I couldn't find any real info or studies proving one way or the other whether it was good or bad to use store bought potatoes. So without proof that store bought potatoes are harmful I take back my earlier comment. Plant whatever you like til someone finds some real info instead of just some emotional hoopla.

There were also a bunch of articles showing how to "chit" potatoes from the store. The seed potatoes that we buy are already aged to a certain degree so store bought need a little more time to sit before sectioning and drying. I was planning on cutting mine up tomorrow and planting them next weekend. Now I'm wondering if they should sit longer. There were articles talking about disease in potatoes that didn't "chit" properly. Or maybe I should quit reading all this stuff on the Internet. I've never had a problem growing potatoes before.

Good idea! Sometimes you get information overload from the "internets"

Great pictures Elizabeth! 'Course I just installed a new 24" monitor and everything seems to look a lot better now!

Still, the subject(s) are awesome, too.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

One thing I like about spending more on seed potatoes is that they're certified. I didn't pay much attention to this until I got an email from the company that I bought my and Sunny's taters from, saying that one of the varieties didn't pass certification. (They replaced it with the conventionally grown variety of the same breed.) So far...

I haven't gotten any blight or anything. But there is a chance that a storebought potato has the virus even if it doesn't show damage.

Last year, though I did plant some little purple marbling potatoes I had bought from Whole Foods, and they sprouted and did well. They were marked organic, so I'm sure they weren't sprayed. But my dad (still living in Idaho) says the same thing... they're often sprayed to retard sprouting, and he saves all his own seed or gets it from a close friend.

When you buy potatoes, think about this... The two places most potatoes are grown are Idaho and Maine. I've never lived in Maine, but in Idaho the last frost can be early June, with the first frost in September. Which means all Idaho potatoes are grown in this time. So, if you buy a bag of potatoes in May, guess when those were harvested? Using a sprouting retardant would make a lot of sense to prolong a harvest for that many months.

My favorite reason to buy seed potatoes, though, is the amazing variety. I don't grow russets because you can buy 10 lbs for $1 at certain times of the year. I want to grow viking purple and yellow finn and mountain rose, and all those that would be horribly expensive if they were even available, and know they got so big from actual nourishment in the soil.