The Old Folks Home

[chickisoup]

Thank you for the info about garlic seed ChickCanoe

Now I think I know why I've never heard of it even tho I've been to a bunch of Master Gardener gatherings etc. We have to plant our garlic no later than mid November (on a good year) and harvest anywhere from mid July to mid August depending upon weather. If we started from seed or bulblets (did try them one year with no success so we just fry them up and eat them) it would take us two years to get a harvest! I plant the largest cloves to get the largest bulbs the next year. With the sheer volume of garlic we plant each fall, we can spare the cloves

beside, we always plant allowing for the number needed to save for replanting. This year is a bit harder tho because our bulbs are so small for the most part it's embarrassing. We have never had bulbs this small, ever.

 

[Wisher1000]

Quote:
Great tutorial! Thanks! Our ground rarely freezes, and snow? Huh, maybe a couple of inches, for a couple of hours, every other year or three. The 'freeze line" for pipes is actually only about 6" deep. Would I plant in the fall, or wait till spring? I'm looking forward to it now..........

You're far enough south to grow the soft neck variety. You are aware that all you really need do for your own little crop is buy a bulb or two from the grocery store, break em apart, pick out the biggest cloves and shove em in the ground! Think you plant yours in the spring? That is unless you are high enough in elevation that your ground freezes in the winter.

As for the scapes, they can also be dehydrated and ground into a lovely version of garlic powder. Absolutely great in cooking!!!

See above! I can check around and see what others are doing, I think I will try the carrots this fall, though. Anyone know of any more fall plants besides carrots, broccoli (my fav) and collards?

@Wisher1000

Maybe you are looking at walking onions.

My grandmother had those all along the northern fence line of her garden.

They grow a bunch of little onion bulbs at the top of a stalk. When the bulbs get too big and heavy, the stalk falls over, and those little bulbs plant themselves.

Anyway, they are very tasty and perfect in lots of dishes, but labor intensive, since each one must be washed then peeled.

Maybe! The patches in the pastures around here are large and look like garlic, but may not be. I haven't jumped a fence to take a closer look.

Wisher should plant hers in the fall. It gets too hot here in the summer? Just plant it in the fall and harvest it about May. Carrots grow well down here when planted in late August and harvested in January

Sound like the plan! I may try those carrots, too. My soil is loose and sandy, should be great for carrots.

Quote:
We were coming home from the Panama City area, I wasn't paying attention to the towns as it is not a route I travel often, but I think that is right. It was in front of a warehouse type building that sat back off the road, but didn't appear to have a parking lot for the public. I'm not sure it was a feed store..........

Old folks break dancing? Sounds like a recipe for a round of "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

HEY! I can break dance if I want to.................I just don't want to...........

I want an emu very badly. Who doesn't love that face?

I love it, and would have them in a heartbeat if I could free range them!

 

[ronott1]

I think we may have gotten our first double yolker today. Veera was spending a pretty long time in the nest box again today, I just went to check what she had left behind, and found the biggest egg we've gotten so far. The previous record was 36g, and today's egg was an actual small egg at 47 grams!

All of these firsts seem to happen when Karin is away, so maybe our EE and Marans will still start laying this weekend too.

It does not look like a double yolk egg from the picture. They usually have a flat spot in the middle and sometimes you can see a seem.

Snap a picture when you crack it open though!

 

[ronott1]

He is a very nice looking Rooster! How much does he weigh Ron?

Pepe weight close to 9 pounds several months ago. I will weigh him again since he is almost a year old. He is very heavy.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you for the info about garlic seed ChickCanoe

Now I think I know why I've never heard of it even tho I've been to a bunch of Master Gardener gatherings etc. We have to plant our garlic no later than mid November (on a good year) and harvest anywhere from mid July to mid August depending upon weather. If we started from seed or bulblets (did try them one year with no success so we just fry them up and eat them) it would take us two years to get a harvest! I plant the largest cloves to get the largest bulbs the next year. With the sheer volume of garlic we plant each fall, we can spare the cloves

beside, we always plant allowing for the number needed to save for replanting. This year is a bit harder tho because our bulbs are so small for the most part it's embarrassing. We have never had bulbs this small, ever.

Here's some more interesting information on garlic from seed and how it can possibly limit some of the problems that develop from the lack of genetic diversity by growing from cloves.

http://garlicseed.blogspot.com/p/growing-garlic-from-true-seed.html

The idea is that sexual reproduction can reduce disease and pests and possibly increase vigor and yield.

 

[vehve]

Quote: That sounds like good news, maybe she's decided to grow her egg size a bit. I would love it if she would go up to that size. She started about a month ago with ~30g eggs, and has been building up size to where she now lays about ~35g eggs. I hope this 'monster' size isn't a one time occurrence, that would actually be a pretty good size in my opinion. My first reaction was "Whoa, this actually looks and feels like a real egg!"

 

[ronott1]

That sounds like good news, maybe she's decided to grow her egg size a bit. I would love it if she would go up to that size. She started about a month ago with ~30g eggs, and has been building up size to where she now lays about ~35g eggs. I hope this 'monster' size isn't a one time occurrence, that would actually be a pretty good size in my opinion. My first reaction was "Whoa, this actually looks and feels like a real egg!"

Yes, that is the way it goes. Usually the eggs will get bigger for the first couple of months slowly but they can jump in size when a new set of eggs are laid. Did she stop laying for a day or two? Often they will lay, for example, two and then take a day or two off. Then they will lay more, up to 5 and take a day off and the egg will be a bit bigger and etc. until the eggs get to the normal size for that hen. I have seen them jump in size too.

It is a very pretty egg too!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That sounds like good news, maybe she's decided to grow her egg size a bit. I would love it if she would go up to that size. She started about a month ago with ~30g eggs, and has been building up size to where she now lays about ~35g eggs. I hope this 'monster' size isn't a one time occurrence, that would actually be a pretty good size in my opinion. My first reaction was "Whoa, this actually looks and feels like a real egg!"

What breed is it? Bantam or LF?

 

[vehve]

Quote: So far her stretches have been spaced with one day apart, getting longer all the time. It's been 3, 3, 5 and 12 days, and now she's on day 5 on her stretch. I'm thinking she'll pause tomorrow though after that big of an egg. But she did lay in the morning, so maybe she won't. The 12 day stretch started with morning laying around 9-10, and ended with afternoon laying around 16-17.

I have to admit, all of the eggs we've gotten have been beautiful in my opinion. A lovely slightly tan pinkish tint to them, one of the girls lays a slightly darker shade. And not a single soft shelled egg, or any other deformities, just a few miniscule bumps on maybe two or three eggs, the big one being one of them. They did start pretty late though, the first of the sisters started on week 23, and the last on week 27. I have two 18 weekers that are looking very ready to lay, and I'm guessing if they start soon, we'll be seeing some malformed eggs among the first ones.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Wisher, most "greens" do well in cool weather. Up here we can do cabbage and spinach and green beans and peas in the cooler months. We can also get a late crop of carrots if we plant at the right time and do some kind of cover.

Our frozen ground prevents most funerals in the winter months... it's serious business up here.

I'm off soon to go do blueberry picking!