end of may

we have tried some new gardening tactics this year.

the tomatoes are mostly in new ground. it was a considerable effort to make new gardening spots where only rocks lived before. one of the new rows doing nicely so far. i like the asparagus backdrop.

the foreground highlights the new raised beds. we'll be doing more of that next year.

another innovation is the deep mulch from mowing the yard.


these tomatoes have a double dose of compost we'll be doing more of that also.


amish paste were the earliest tomatoes we planted. here is one of half a dozen fruits of this size.

they are a little larger than a quarter.


this is the crazy alien hat-trick. we have been avoiding this mostly because it looks so funny..

supposedly this discombobulates the moth that lays the dreaded vine borer.

yummy deep mulch of yard clippings.

another thing that we are trying is widely spaced single rows with a large no-tred-zone.

the tomatillos are filling their little protective covering. we'll have fresh salsa very soon.


kassi is the true garden helper. she can be counted on to pick an evening salad.


we planted another double row of beets.


jocelyn is looking very healthy these days.


the broiler chickens are looking very tasty.

they rarely stand up.

we love our chicken tractors. they are so easy to move and attend. their feeder easily holds twenty four hours worth of feed.

i had to add that little piece of 1/2" pvc pipe across the bottom to keep the waste to a minimum.

we use recycled plastic soaker hoses for our watering needs. great care must be taken during handling since they get leaks easily. we'll likely keep this technology for years to come. we use hose manifolds to water several rows at once. these hoses need to be run in parallel. each manufacturer seems to have different flow rates. we buy what ever is on sale that year. one small innovation that i'm trying is to put a piece of tarp under the manifolds. this makes it possible to detect leaks and doesn't allow weeds to hide in the tangled hose/manifold mess.


we are trying a black plastic mulch this year on the melons and sweet potatoes. i had better examples of this but they also contained photos of tabitha.

the beans had spotty germination. there are new reseedings crooking up in between.

we love some cucumbers.

fresh sliced cucumbers with mayo on toast, that is all the lunch i need.

the kittens are deep in that really cute stage. meet rose tyler...

meet the doctor..


teh sun-chokes are doing well. they need to be tied up soon.


obviously kassi is still asleep other wise i wouldn't be able to take this shot.


tabitha's flower herb bed.

the other half.

to beet or not to beet

that was the question. after a bit of deliberation we decided to pluck a few of the crowded beets that had younger fellows waiting to fill their void. kassi played the courier and presenter.

the beets were fabulous. tabitha steamed the tops and bottoms and served them separately. they were like sweet butter. i love beets and my affair with them was bolstered by these glorious examples. to that end we have decided to plant another double row of them. that will make three. luckily tabitha loves beets also.

another culinary development happened today. we got our half beef back from the slaughter house. he was grass-fed with the exception of some bribery grain to keep him friendly. we had burgers, the kids favorite. extra sharp cheddar and garden fresh arugula were only real condiments necessary. within the next few days we'll tear into the steaks. i look forward to that.

we mowed and mulched more on the tomato plants today. they seem very happy. the stupid wheat straw that i bought for that original purpose had so much seed left in it that i could have spread it on our pasture to re-seed it. or, i could have harvested all the new wheat grass and had a few mornings of wheat grass juice.

i also made the pulley operated ramp/door retraction mechanism for the chicken coop. it took a little adjusting to get it to operate smoothly. it makes it easier for the person putting up the chickens to close their door and lock it from outside their pen. no more tracking through the chicken manure each night.

i tried it tonight in the near dark and it worked wonderfully. the girls must have liked it also since they laid eighteen eggs today. i can't remember the last time that we got eighteen eggs.

kassi has taken to the computer so much so that she is standing over my shoulder waiting for me pass the baton.

burdizzo castration

well, we thought that dehorning was bad. tabitha and i mustered the courage to use the burdizzo. this device is allegedly the most humane way to castrate an animal. is there a humane way to castrate? here is a photo of after the deed. this is for our records. we are expecting these to noticeably shrink in three weeks.

the device basically crushes the vas deference and the accompanying nerve. it makes the most awful crushing sound, tabitha almost vomited. allegedly only slight bruising will occur. we gave him a large dose of bovine drugs. he seems fine now a few hours later.

between downpours i have finished the rock-work on the root cellar.

i covered it with tarp to keep the soil from eroding before i have a chance to grade it and plant it with mint and violets.

the cap stone seem small from this vantage but they extend back into the dirt.

my beautiful woman admiring my effort.


the pole beans are finally starting to climb the arch.


the tomatillos are about a week away from ripe fruit.


this is the mint that will cover my rootcellar.


risking being smited for being too prideful, the beets are doing nicely


so are the onions.

please don't smite us..

tasty greens. we had a few new potatoes the other night. OMG...

research

kassi is the naturalist of the shorter omelay's. she is forever picking up flowers, animals and plants. finally after hundreds of requests for flora names tabitha made a link to missouri wildflower guide for kassi on the computer.

yesterday kassi picked a few flowers from the field and went inside. she came out proclaiming that she knew their name. tristan and kassi sat at the computer and researched the flowers successfully. it was one of those epiphany moments.

tristan, the technophile has known the wonders of the computer for years. kassi has always dwelled in the physical realm. i know that each child is obviously different. tristan taught himself how to read mostly attributed to starfall wherein kassi is learning to read in a much more standard fashion.

finally, kassi is excited about the computer. she sees that it can be a useful tool for her desires. i love it when one of my kids becomes empowered. i hope that this excitement sticks. there is nothing greater than having the ability to teach yourself at your own pace.

big-dig

toly calls all large dirt moving machinery big-dig.

well it happened i started to cover the root cellar. this has been a long time in the making.


tabitha's father came to the rescue. bob's little tractor wasn't up for the task.


rome said he'd help with his little dig.


tristan, kassi and toly stayed out of harms way and enjoyed the show.


i shoveled and monitored the fruit trees.


the sheer amount of shoveling was incredible.


i found a huge worm and threw it down to toly. he loves them.


mike was having a blast driving his big-dig.


after i shoveled dirt to the further reaches of the roof of the cellar i needed to make some more progress on the wall before the rain tomorrow evening.


just one more tier..


i can almost taste the feeling of completion.


tristan was close at hand to help wherever he could.


a little mud here.


it looks huge from this angle.


i got a little too much sun.


oh it feels so good to be close to the end..


a little video of the festivities.

birthday celebration

tabitha and the kids made me a birthday cake. my friend sent me home a mess of wall-eye and kassi picked a salad. it was a great meal.

my best friend sent me a card. he always sends the coolest cards.

my birthday present to myself was that i spent most of it working on my root cellar. if my luck holds i'll get another large chunk of time in on it today. like warren said "it has been a great old friend" although i'll have plenty hanging over my head still..

i also want to squeak in a little effort on the chicken coop. now that the girls are moved in i have had the opportunity to discover some necessary alterations. the storage area is still just a pile of construction rubble that needs cleaning.

this morning we need to stretch the electric fence on the other paddock. the grass is tall and seeded out. we'll let jocelyn in there to eat what she can before i brush hog it in a few weeks. i used the weed-eater and made the necessary perimeter early yesterday morning.

our half beef that we bought should be ready very soon. we have been binging on pork long enough. i look forward to steaks on the grill very soon.

i was little dismayed to discover that some pundits were discussing my blog on their forum. the comparison to john galt required a little google-fu. i purposefully never read any ayn rand. the hippie and enviro-weenie slights i could have done without. mostly they seemed convinced that we live like this out of fear. no, this is a conscious choice. this american's dream doesn't require me to worship the almighty dollar. tabitha said it better than i could ever could. she blogged this a few days ago.

"The Internet Gets Me Down

I was reading somewhere in the vast internets from a group of people who think we are crazy for wanting to use less, pollute less, and preserve the environment. How can that be? In my way of thinking, it doesn’t matter how you feel about ‘global warming’ or the government. Using less is the honorable way to live. Why should we be so greedy? Why not use just what we need? Does it make a person happier/healthier/more holy to use more than they need? Is it their ‘right’? Even now we use way more than we need, but we are trying with our every effort to create the things we use here, or procure them locally at least, to offset our use so that others can have more/live longer/ be more free. In turn, we hope our children will see our choices and whether or not they live this way they will learn it is possible. That is the bottom line. How can that be crazy?"

rock work

i have finally squeezed in some more effort on the root cellar.

over the past few days i have rocked most of the left side and altered the approach a little. that big landing rock weighed a ton.

i figure that i have roughly two more days of rock work left. i should get to it tomorrow if the weather holds. the the back fill will ensue in earnest. this is bob's little tractor with a bucket.

i plan to use this to help with loosening the piles into the wheel barrow. i'll have to take them to the top of the cellar the manual way since there is no way to get the little tractor into a reasonable dumping position.

today was a day of rest. we went to tabitha's fathers house for a little visit and stayed all day. i had to come back home to get some pork chops for the grill. mike did a fine job of grilling them. we had to come home before dark since there were berries to pick.

we got three of these baskets full.

the tomatoes are doing very well in spite of the hail. tonight might be a huge set back since temperatures are supposed to drop down to the lower forties. last night it was almost to hot to sleep. i considered starting up the air conditioner. tonight it is so cool as to almost need a fire in the wood stove. crazy weather..

this is our most robust row.

we are keeping our fingers crossed for a large harvest.

rome has been walking for a few days now. he is so cute. it seems that he must be always carrying something while walking.

catching up

we actually feel like we are catching up. more of the garden is planted then is left to plant. we planted our cucumbers today.

i tilled enough of the garden to plant two more rows.

the immediately impending rows will be butternut winter squash, pumpkins and melons. i didn't fork anymore manure today. i was kinda sore and needed a rest from it.

yesterday i helped tabitha make a flower bed. these rocks were removed from our garden.


today i made an end-cap bed for the summer squash. the soil there was awful. i brought in new soil from a stash down the ravine. i could barely push my wheelbarrow up the hill.

i made all the cuts for the joints using my chainsaw. when i was done it fit fairly tight.

i mowed the yard and used the clippings to mulch the tomatoes.

they are really starting to take. now if we can just keep them safe..


the black-raspberries are setting tons of fruit. our bees have been very busy.


the strawberries are starting to produce. we are getting a small basket daily now.


the broiler chicks are all feathered out and happily munching our yard.

there are fifty in this chicken tractor right now. well separate them into two groups very soon.

they fertilize their area within a few hours.


beets, an older row of beets, onions, mixed greens and potatoes.

our rows are 37 feet long. we'll be eating beets very soon, yum.

this is my bright green patch of arugula. just to the left is toscano kale. that stuff is very full flavored green. i love it steamed. we stole this idea from our neighbor.


i managed to hang the chicken feeder and install their sills to keep their sawdust in on the floor of their roosting area. now that they are in there i noticed a few changes that i'll need implement. luckily this is easy to do on a work-in-progress.

i also broke out our new weed-eater. we have been resisting getting one of these things since we moved here. it has such an awful carbon footprint. i finally justified it because we have to keep our ditch-line cut to keep modot from spraying evil chemicals on our road frontage. i did get the four stroke version since it pollutes significantly less than the two stroke version. it has less power and is slightly heavier but that is a compromise that i'll happily make.

tabitha took out most of our attempts at goat proofing. our fence rows look much better now. especially since i weed-eated them.

happy mothers day..

why?

earlier today as i was forking a huge quantity of manure into the compost bin i wondered why i felt so good. here i was doing something most would consider far beneath them. it doesn't stink in fact it smells kinda sweet, especially when it has already started to compost. i was truly enjoying myself.

later tabitha and i sat chatting, she had a similarly inspired epiphany. we talked about the ridiculous amount of effort we focus on a simple jar of canned tomatoes. we conversationally traced the jar of tomatoes beginnings.

it started a year or so ago with me forking manure while tabitha was milking the cow twice per day. that manure got turned once or twice in due course. as the winter cold forced us next to a cozy fire we pored over seed catalogs. this is where the hope truly sparked. we schemed and mapped caressing the idea of tomatoes. the seed order was placed. when they arrived in a little package we cooed, coddled and added them to our saved stash.

as winter loosened it's grip we dreamed of a greenhouse. we needed a greenhouse, toly would ruin every little seedling if they weren't out of his reach. so i build a greenhouse and it was good. finally after consulting the moon it was time to let every morsel of hope into it's nursery of potting soil. they grew and tabitha nurtured them with her most fevered maternal skill. at this time we had all but completely forgotten last years failure. hope had fully overwhelmed our senses.

the distant memory of failure compelled us to break new ground since tomatoes allegedly thrive on new ozarks soil. hope has given us drive and will to do whatever it takes to have a gardening success this year. we need tomatoes and lots of them. making garden where there have never been one is an impossible task, without hope. the quantity of rocks was absurd. the soil was mediocre but we had our secret weapon, the compost of dreams--the sweetest black gold to ever grace our land.

the plants were ready almost overdue to be planted. we tilled, forked and dug until we had a suitable bed for our babies/seedlings. we amended them and tucked them into a cozy bed blanketed with mulch. hope is overwhelming, it fills us with glee. creeping thoughts of failure strike fear with every passing storm cloud. we pray that the hail and ruining winds keep at bay.

from here the future will unfold and we will remain hopeful. we hope that on july 10th or so we'll be filling buckets with glorious tomatoes and that canning will begin in earnest. not forgetting the pico de gallo salsa and sliced tomato sandwiches. canning will be hot and crazy amounts of work. worry is accompanied with every step. will the seals fail? will the sauce burn? will there be enough?

why don't we just skip the expense and worry of all this? because fresh garden produce that you grew yourself is like nothing else on this earth. it isn't simply the taste. it is the process. a person has to become one with the seasons, one with the earth and one with each mouthful off food.

tonight we had a meal of our own doing. the delicious pork was from kirby and zelda. the steamed greens and salad came from our garden. the strawberries we picked fresh less than an hour earlier. the apples for the apple cake were canned last fall.

this is why and it is worth every struggle.

house warming party

tabitha and i have been persistently struggling to get the new coop livable for the girls. compromises have been made. the short-list of the absolutely necessary before they would be safe and dry was finally accomplished.

i made the nest boxes out of old cupboard doors and wood scraps.

i had to attach the protective skirting yesterday morning before the girls could settle-into their run.

directly after their run was secure tabitha and i caught the birds from their upper coop. i filled a feed sack with a handful of diatomaceous earth and we slipped each bird in and gently shook it. after they looked like powdered sugar doughnuts we released them into their new digs.

the girls didn't recognize each other and needed to re-establish their hierarchy. a few dusty fights ensued. mostly they were freaked out with shock of their dusting trauma and release into a relative paradise compared to their previous prison of squalor.

while the girls waited outside tabitha and i finished chicken containment inside the coop. we figured the roosts and ladder perches to the nest boxes. we attached the minimum of them and opened the door.

chickens are such great creatures. they were curious and several of them promptly came into the coop. eventually all the girls found the nest boxes and laid their expected amount.

i opened the old coop to let it dry out. i felt like a slumlord of the farmstead. that coop has been a great secure home but it has outlived it's purpose.


in the garden, tabitha and i planted our final tomato plants. the weather is showing a huge hail storm headed our way as i write this... i hope the hail misses us this year. we could really use a break.

the tiller of dreams has still kept starting on the first pull and mashing through the ozarks soil nearly undaunted. here it is facing off it's foe, the giant ozark rock..

this rock actually won their first battle but i unearthed it with the pry-bar and shovel. i showed that tiller not to be scared of these rock. just call in the big guns when needed.

i also set up the sprinkler and a huge piece of tarp for the kids. i made that sprinkler a few years ago. the concept was based on a sprinkler i had as a kid. the entire thing is safe for little feet to step on without injury.
they made a hillbilly slip-n-slide.

tristan would careen the entire length of it.

kassi and toly really got into the act.

i set rome on the tarp and he immediately decided that this was fun.

rome immediately understood the slippery concept and promptly started careening on his very own.

the kids were cautiously avoiding crashing into rome.

bakercreek spring festival #4

we did a bit of shopping at the festival. our goal was to acquire the perfect eggplant. our favorite plant seller was out of eggplant. we were forced to purchase from vendors without references. this was our fourth year and we have formed alliances. anyway here is our booty..
- - rachel hot pepper hot with sweet flesh
- - 2 italian heirloom pepperoncini
- - hybrid orient express eggplant
- - heirloom little fingers eggplant
- - italian heirloom eggplant listada de gandia
- - celiosa pink flower for kassi
- - and various seeds that were on sale or sorely needed.

the pirate rope maker was sadly absent. i asked gere geller where he was. allegedly he just started a new job and time off for this monday event was not an option. one of the other vendors had rope making equipment which pleased the kids.
kassi took her task very seriously.

tristan was her able bodied helper holding the other end.

remarkable cooperation was necessary. this is tristans third rope. kassi has spent the last year hearing about his great rope that he made himself.

kassi would accept no help.

it seemed to take forever and she appeared tired but her will would not allow any assistance. she must be able to forever to say i made this myself..

aah, sweet success..


rome didn't care about the rope making...


toly used the other rope maker. obviously of better design.

his task required a bit more force since the machine speed ratio was almost three times greater.

that was rough work.


there were several changes from last year. the most noticeable was that they had a restaurant. the food was excellent. with only one menu item remaining, they ran out of everything else, the food was free. a donation was encouraged. we tipped and donated. i am sure that they made a killing. the place was packed.

the entrance was new/different, kinda like a castle gate. more pioneer attractions were everywhere. the booths were sprawling over several acres.

kassi made a heirloom seed bracelet. tristan learned to sew on a treadle sewing machine.

we listened to and enjoyed several live musicians. the music came from several different epicenters. traversing through the vendor booths one musical group would leave focus while another would brighten and overwhelm the background noise. period dress wasn't required but most everyone had at least a token pioneer accessory.

we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. the kids were commenting to eachother on the long ride home as to what great fun it was. whew it is nice to be home..

legend of zelda's link?

tabitha finally made tristan his much requested link costume.

he has worn it ever since.

we have been doing a little fencing and gate building.

i have yet to finish the back run.

"Z"


henry was spying on us.