Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[jvls1942]

Planted two beds outside of root veg and 3 of the 72 cell flats inside of lettuce, broccoli and herbs. Trying to decide if the lettuce that is up and has a set of true leaves will keep trucking if I borrow its heat mat for the next batch I plant. Went to menards for some 1/2 inch conduit yesterday as well. Was trying to decide how many I should get to start as I have not built my bender yet, but there was only one left so that ended that conversation... Sounds like all of you are quite busy as well.

is that pvc conduit ? what shape are you going to bend them?

for low hoop greenhouses, I have a way that you don't have to
bend them,

take a 1x2 or 1x3 board. determine how wide you want your tunnel to be. drill a hole in each end of the board .
lay the board across the row to be, and stick each end of the conduit into a hole..
there is also a way to make "clothespin" clamps for holding the plastic to the conduit.

there are about a dozen chicks in the incubator this morning.
today is due day for the eggs to hatch.

the hum% was holding about 47% for the whole incubation period. I didn't add any more hum% . but now with the eggs hatching and the chicks in there,
the hum% is up to around 60%

ETA:
I went searching for the utube where I saw the low tunnel pvc greenhouses.
I didn't find it.
I used to have it on my favorites, but I lost all my fav's when I got this new computer..

........jiminwisc........

.......jiminwisc.........

 

[Daethen]

Got all the chicken poo spread on the garden and have started tilling it in. Will share before and after pics later. Had to take a break because I AM OUT OF SHAPE!!!! So excited to get the seeds in the ground and see things start to peek out. I have 6 of 8 hens in my silkie/frizzle coop that are going broody. And they were being my best layers until now. Have plenty of them so I took their eggs and put some large fowl eggs under them. They are about to start traveling the yard in their tractor again for the year.

Has anyone had to trim a beak back? I have one hen that is on her 3rd summer and her beak looks like it is starting to hook forward. When I had my McCaw I had to trim his beak occasionally. Not sure if I should work on hers or leave it alone.

 

[bigzio]

Yep, taking a break here also. Gotta love this gentle weather with some sunshine!

I'm ready for the bash to bl4...always good to see everyone once again after a whole year's gone by. The bunk rooms were painted by the youth group...little freshening up here and there.

I've been seriously thinkin about the gardens, and the seeds are all bought and waiting for the middle of May for most to placed in the ground here. Next week, the Amish greenhouse opens and all my plants like maters, peppers, cabbage, broccoli...etc will be bought then, and cared for till the frost dangers are past.

Gonna be working at church Tuesday for the annual salad luncheon ....need to help the folks with wheel chairs get on the elevator and into the serving area after being dropped off from the different places that bring them to the event. Always glad to help them out. It's actually a large turnout every year. I love the big plates one can opt for a extra large meal.....everything you can imagine from baked beans, german tato salad and every salad one can imagine.....a lot of really special stuff like special veggie pizzas and plenty of deviled eggs.

bigz

 

[GranolaGirl72]

Brrrrrrrrrr
Have not trimmed a beak, just nails on a dog. Imagine technique is not much different, just a little thicker tissue?
Jim, have several tunnels using the pvc route on rebar, this is 1/2 metal conduit so a bit different when you are forcing the pieces so to say.They make benders out there, but youtube has instruction for free ones that are out of plywood and a whole ton of screws.
Parsley finally popped up in the flat, wow that stuff is slow, it was planted 2 weeks ago... bit concerned because it appears one of my tomato seedlings has fallen over in the night. Never a good sign.

 

[jvls1942]

Brrrrrrrrrr
Have not trimmed a beak, just nails on a dog. Imagine technique is not much different, just a little thicker tissue?
Jim, have several tunnels using the pvc route on rebar, this is 1/2 metal conduit so a bit different when you are forcing the pieces so to say.They make benders out there, but youtube has instruction for free ones that are out of plywood and a whole ton of screws.
Parsley finally popped up in the flat, wow that stuff is slow, it was planted 2 weeks ago... bit concerned because it appears one of my tomato seedlings has fallen over in the night. Never a good sign.

Yah, I saw that one,too.I wonder how many hoops you can bend before the screws start to bend and loosen ?

I also watched some others being made. those guys went a little overboard with their sanding and routing. that's OK if one is going into large production, but for just 50 hoops it is not worth that much bother.

the partial curve one is useless. the one where you feed the tube in a few inches and then bend a little. too hard to make identical hoops that way.

the metal tubing will last a life time compared to a few years with the plastic tubing.

I am hoping the garden will be dry enough later today to try out my hiller again. last time the ground was too wet and sticky.

I have about two dozen chicks in the bator bottom. Jordan is coming for them today,. It is not a very good hatch.. but early spring hatches are that way..
the old adage is that the roosters have to feel the sun on their backs to begin productive breeding .

..........jiminwisc.......

.

 

[chikenscratch]

CS, we picked up our fire ring from the place up here by Black Creek; very affordable. I picked up the size that you can fit a large Weber grill grate onto, so that if we ever want to cook over the fire we have that option (and it has been awesome for boils). Congrats on the hatch! Glad it all worked out for you!

Irish, so sorry about your losses...... that really does stink.

House hunting is going slowly...... I guess due to Easter being so late people have not been putting their places up for sale(?). We are not in a hurry, but the driving home every weekend is going to get sucky fast.

Looking forward to the Bash.

bl4 - what is the name of the place, dimensions, price?

8 chicks have been moved to the brooder and the remaining eggs are in the incubator. They are the quietest chicks I've had to date. I have to keep checking in as I don't hear a peep from them. I need to water test the remaining eggs. Do I just float them in warm water and watch each one for a bit to check for movement?

Great weekend here in sub-border Wisconsin (AKA northern illinois). It was sunny, dry, and warm! Nathan is almost finished moving dirt around. The project has been a real blessing in that all of the extra dirt we have after filling in the trench is filling in holes dug by Theo, areas by foundation that needed coverage, or just low spots already existing. I have sprouts coming up in the garden from my February, not sure what it is yet, but I planted swiss chard, herbs, spinach, and lettuce. I spent some time creating a flower-ish garden along the front walkway. I had started it last weekend with some perennials and added to it with seeds for turnip & collard greens, cilantro, zucchini and yellow squash, a bird bath, decorative stones and a few mini statues that were hanging around. Also put a border around it all so it doesn't get moved over. Also, dug up a bunch of strawberries that had outgrown their original home and planted them in one of those clay pots with the holes all around it. Hopefully, they take. I think I'll plant rosemary on the top portion.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
Yes, that is the way to float test the eggs. when it moves, it is unmistakable .

I decided that I am going to plant my strawberries in a 5 gal pail with the holes drilled all around the sides. I should be able to plant about 2 dozen plants per pail.

........jiminwisc........

 

[chikenscratch]

How long do I leave it there to determine if its rocking?

 

[jvls1942]

How long do I leave it there to determine if its rocking?

I take a large bowl of warm water. the more water you have the longer it takes to cool down.

put a few eggs in and let the water settle down it takes only a half a minute. when all is still, then watch for the egg to wiggle. give it a minute or two.

the place to get the rim is wisconsin tractor supply I THINK ..
Just google: tractor parts wisconsin.
877 530 2010 I just looked it up..

..........jiminwisc......

well, I did get into the garden and ran a few test hills. it is looking pretty promising.
while I was out there, I dropped the bucket and made a pass right through the middle of the blackberry patch.
that is something you don't want to attempt at high speed. I think I lost a pint of blood as it was .

6 eggs today..

either I have one going broody, or she was just mad at me for interrupting her thought. but either way, she bit me..

........jiminwiscagain.......

 

[corewassen87]

well I just looked at the forecast. 8 of the next 10 days are rain or snow. Thank god because I was worried it was gonna dry up. What a relief