A Sad Day Today. The World Hates a Predator

Something burrowed into the chicken pen last night.  My two hens are no more.  When I walked out in the afternoon to feed the chickens I began to see Guinea feathers all over the place.  As I got closer, I could see the Guineas were OK, a bit beat up, but OK.  The big Rooster was there, but my two hens were nowhere to be seen.  Then I saw the hole on the backside of the pen where a predator had dug its way in.   As I began to expand my circle of search, I found the one of the hen's body, deheaded and disembowels.   I only found feathers of the second about 50 yards away.   I am gonna miss my two girls.  They rewarded my feedings with many eggs over the last 2 years.

As the Garden Turns. Spring Awakening.

Speaks for itself.

Edamame Rising

Amazingly, too, because I didn't even water them in when I planted, and there has been no rain.

Elsewhere in the garden, cooler temps and lack of rainfall have slowed the growth down a bit on the tomatoes and corn.  The potatoes have still not broken ground, but should any day.  Bell Pepper are perking up, but the Eggplant are pouting from the cold.  All of the squash have broken ground, finally.  And the cucumbers and melons got a bit sunburned when the sun returned after several cloudy days, but are recovering just fine.

Long Day Out Today

More spring cleaning.  I weedeated the large front beds in preparation for mulching.   I'll be crusing for bags of Live Oak leaves thrown to curb, again this year.  If others won't conserve by mulching and composting what they already have, I'll help.  I did this in only a few beds, and in the vegetable garden last year and was quite pleased with the results.    This year, I plan to do all beds like that, including the vegetable garden.  I am certain the results will be even better than last year.  

I removed the the litte weeping Mulberry, and the Ichy Persimmon, and the Corkscrew Willow this spring.  I may removed a Loquat as well.  All were diseased or damaged beyond recovery from the 09/10 freeze.    I still have a few minor things to remove, but for the most part that is it in the discard phase of spring cleanup. 

All in all, I spent 10 hours of hard labor out there today.  I am beat, but it is a good beat.

Here is a picture of this year's garden seedlings from a couple of weeks ago just before I did the planting.

An Odd Day

Lots of spring cleanup today.  Burned back some bananas and other brush.  Cut down some cold damaged things from year before last that obviously was not going to recover.   Actually had to water the garden today.  The recent cool snaps have slowed growth down to a crawl, but also reduced humidity.

Discovered a large hive of bees in the big Live Oaks.  The current debate is whether to have a bee keeper remove them, of just let them be.   No decision.  They are only 100 feet or so from the veggie garden, so the pollination help would be appreciated and probably quite productive as well.

What else?  The Bay Tree is blooming.  As far as I know this the first time ever for that to happen.  I'll try to grab a few interesting pictures tomorrow.

Another Bit of Gardening Education

This one is from the good folks at High Mowing Seeds, http://www.highmowingseeds.com/

Good Health is Built on Brix, Not Bricks, Brix

I got this in an email today from Jon at http://www.highbrixgardens.com/.   Good info.



Last of the Edamame.And,,,,Cutworms, I Must Kill All Cutworms.

Lost a melon, a Bell Pepper, and an Eggplant to cutworms.  Pretty sure one of my tomatoes was hit as well.  Tough year for those little buggers.  And I have millions of little tomato, cucumber, and squaash volunteers out there.  Why can't they mess with them instead of my prize babies.

Anyway, I planted the last Edamame bed, the Midori Giants are in the ground, in the raised bed to the right.

A Broken Angel Watches Over My Garden and Me

She was in many pieces when I found her, today, reinstated she stands watch over the garden and me.

When You Use Compost, You Never Know What Will Pop Up

I suspect these are Butternut Squash Seedling.  Gonna hate to weed them out, but they came up in the wrong row, lo.  Actaully, I'll leave two just for the fun of it.



Heavy rains and nasty weather yesterday.  Today was sunny, but a little chilly.  I drove in the Tomato stakes, and put up the first section of netting for the peas.  I even got most of the Edamame planted.  And that danged Cutworm struck again, cutting down my Black Krim for the second time.

In the left raised bed, I planted Black Pearl from Territorial, and finished up a small space with Disoy from Ferry Morse.  In the center bed, I planted more the remaining Disoy, Misono from Territorial, and just labeled Edamame from Naylor Bros.   The right bed is still unplanted.but I have a bag of Midori Giant to go there, but back was tired before I got to that one.

And they pop up in the Compost Bin as well.

Heavy Rains Today

We needed rains, but this was some pretty heavy stuff.  I was out, so I won't get to see if there was any damage till the morning's daylight arrives.

Day Started and End With Limestone, But In Between,,,,,,,,,,,,

Got home last night with a load of Limstone in the back of the pickup, well not that late, but too late to shovel it out.   What a way to start the day, but shoveling 2 tons of Limestone out of the back of a truck.  But I got it done, and then work.  Over lunch I ran out and planted the Bell Pepper and Eggplant seedlings.  The Bell Pepper looked great, the Eggplant not so great, but the all went in the ground regardless.  We'll see.  So, then at the end of the day, with all of the big holes filled the big truck showed up with the Limestone to reconstitute the driveway, or at least the first hundred feet, or so, of it.  Then I had to go drive over it a few times and rack the limestone from the center back to the tracks of my truck.  Boy am I whipped.  Now, if we can just get the rain tonight they are predicting,,,,

Almost forgot, I planted the two Goji Berries as well.

Louisiana Harvest Calendar

I ran across this the other day on the Internet.  It was meant mostly as a guide for those seeking local produce, but is also a great guide for what is commonly grown here.  Click to see a legible copy.

Up, Up, and Away

Six of the seven rows of the garden are now planted. Only the row of Bell Peppers and Eggplant remain. That will be planted in the next couple of days. The Edamame Soy Beans will be planted into the raised beds at that time as well.


The chicken are in their summer home now via the chicken tractor, well OK, not really a tractor as I have to drag the pen by hand over a hundred feet. Not much fun, but it got done. And now the pen sits over the old gravel road bed, that will not only help with drainage and mud, but will also give them access the grit they need as well. A third benefit it that it significantly reduced the likelihood of a predator digging its way in.

On the ornamental side of things, I moved and divided the daylily by the driveway back within the bounds of the flower bed. I planted the little Iris Denny gave us over by the front brick steps on the right side. I grab some out of the front later to do the same of the left side of the steps. I am slowly picking through the remains of the house plants, repotting what is still alive and tossing the rest into the compost.

I hauled my first thousand pounds of Limstone yesterday to fix holes in the driveway. My little Loadhandler made the job far easier than a shovel alone. As near as I can tell, I will need to do that at least 2 more times or 3 more times before bringing in the big truck for a gate pour.

Great Spring Weekend in the Garden, Oh, and the Corn is Up

Lots of cleanup work this weekend, and lots more to go.  Almost done planting the veggie garden.  Got the Squash, and the Peas planted, including a surprise batch at the end of the driveway.  Only thing left is to finish out the Melon row, and the Bell Pepper/Eggplant Row.  The seedlings for the last are still quite small, but I might just stick them out anyway, as I have spares in the seedling tray.

I walked around the garden for nearly 2 days before noticing that the corn was up, and about an inch high.  Well, at least half of it is up.   Now, where the heck are those potatoes?

Winds blew all day at 20 mph and above.  Poor tomato seedlings were hanging on by the tips of their roots.  I hope they were damaged. Over by the Artichoke seedlings, of which only one of the three remains, I looks like a little tomato is volunteering.  I thinned out the seedlings so it will have a chance.  I also seeded some of the Purple Peppers where the two Artichoke seedlings are no more.

Hmmm, what else.  I pruned the grape vines today.  And the chickens are steady on their march from under the oaks to their new home at the head of the veggie garden.

God Gave Me a Good Day

Lots of clean up here and there, but the best part was the garden.   Got the first row planted with various Squash and Zucchini.   The peas are basking in a Ziplock with their innoculant tonight and will go in tomorrow along witth the Bell Pepper and Eggplants.  By the end of the day tomorrow, the garden will be fully planted.

Planted Cucumbers and Melons Late Afternoon

Left to right, starting mid row on Row 3 to the end are:

Longfellow Cucumber (Freedom Seeds)
Fanfare Cucumber (TruValue)
Cucumber (Rafe wedding)**
Giant Cucumbers (fall garden 2010)
Rich Sweetness 305 Asian Melon – Baker Creek
Mexican Melon – Gotreaux Farms
Sun Jewel Melon – Gotreaux Farms
Midyat Melon - ebay
Tigger Melon – Baker Creek
Hales Best Jumbo Canteloupe – True Value

For the size of the top, I was very surprised at how little root development there was on these seedlings.  The were just starting to emerge from the seed plugs, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

One last update for the night.  I just planted out another seed tray with Hot Peppers.

1. Jalapeno Pepper - from Bill, labeled Publix
2. Cayenne, Large Red Thick - Martha Stewart (2003)
3-8. Hot Pepper Mixture - from Bill, Burpee (2009) (mixture of Anaheim Chili, Ancho, Hungarian Wax, Jalapeno M, and Long Red Cayenne.

Another Tomato Bites The Dust, Then So Does the Culprit

As suspected, another tomato was felled by the cutworm last night.  I could almost forgive it, if it actually was seeking food.  Instead they just bite the stem of the seedling in half, leaving both parts then uneaten.  A total waste on all accounts.   So far, the  Rutger’s Tomato and Wild Everglades Tomato were the victims.  This morning, after a bit of excavating I found one worm, and dispatched it.  Hopefully, that was the one.  I rebuilt the row and planted the replacements.

Hopefully we are done with this circumstance.

After this original post, I went back out and noticed that the third tomato in the short row was gone.  It was the Brandywine.  Unlike the others, I could find no trace of it, any of it.  I replaced it also.

I Hate Cutworms

My tomatoes made it through the first night looking good, except for one.  Fell victim to a Cutworms on the first night.  Now this is gonna be fun.  No doubt he'll claim another tonight, but I'll make time to find him and dig him out tomorrow.  Glad I seeded spares of each variety.

Tomatoes are Spending Their First Night With Their Toes in the Soil

Tomatoes are in the ground.

Row 4 (Looking left to right, #1 is nearest bayou)

1. Hillbilly Gary – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
2. Box Car Willie – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
3. Garden Peach – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
4. Black Zebra – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
5. Brandywine OTV – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
6. Paul Robeson – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
7. Orange Strawberry – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
8. Blondkophchen – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
9. Julia Child – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
10. Costuluto Genovese – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection
11. Ugly Ripe Tomato – Bill from Florida
12. Plum Lemon Tomato – Bill for Florida
13. June Flame Tomato – Bill for Florida
14. Big Rainbow Tomato – Burpee
15. Mortgage Lifter Tomato – Burpee
16. Burpee’s Supersteak Hybrid VFM – Burpee
17. Big Rainbow Tomato – Park Seed
18. Rutger’s Tomato – Ferry Morse
19. Wild Everglades – Bill in Florida
20. Cherokee Purple – Bill in Florida
21. Black Krim – Ferry Morse Heirloom Seeds
22. Pruden’s Purple – Ferry Morse Heirloom Seeds
23. German Pink – Seed Savers Exchange
24. Amelia Hydbrid – Top Notch Seed
25. Chocolate Strips Purple – Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
26. Giant Delicious “World Record Variety” – Weeks Seed Company
27. Dixie Golden Giant - Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Giant Collection
28. Ultimate Giant - Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Giant Collection
29. Cosmonaut Volkov Slicing – High Mowing Organic Seeds

Row 2 (left to right in last 3 spots next to Artichokes*)

1. Brandywine – High Mowing Organic Seeds
2. Giant Oxheart - Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Giant Collection
3. Giant II – Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Giant Collection

Rows were freshly tilled, with a very light bit of homemade compost worked in. Each planting hole had about a tablespoon of Espoma Organic Bio-Tone Starter Plus worked into the planting hole. They were then watered in with a combination mixture of Sea Magic Seaweed from Bonadea Gardens, and DIEHARD™ BioRush®. Yep, I got a Orgientific on em’.

*Note on the Artichokes.  The first two, on the west side came from Naylor's in Baton Rouge.  Note sure the label said much other than Artichoke.  They are a silver grey like my old ones.  The three new seedlings are Emerald Artichoke from Ferry-Morse.  Actually the seeds came from Bill in So. Florida.  There were 6 in all, so I got a 50% germination rate.