Saturday, May 28, 2011

Still planting..

 Sprite melons went in today.. so did some Anaheim peppers, 2 different bush beans, some sort of gigantic sunflower seeds planted and still a ton to go. I still have 2 dozen + tomatoes to transplant.. somewhere.. I moved them to the small farm as something at this house is devouring them. (A caterpillar is the something.. and the small farm garden is literally surrounded by birdhouses.. each sporting a very hungry family.)

 We attacked the area behind the polebarn. The grass is waist high and full of massive rocks. The rocks we can move will go towards building a retaining wall.  The retaining wall is to rebuild the side of the house where the AC unit is. Erosion soon will claim the AC unit if we don't get it done this year. 



 Wax beans go in tomorrow and scarlet runner beans. Jalapenos and thai peppers need to go in.. and butterbush squash. At some point the next section will be tilled for melons, squash and other vine crops. I plan on tossing some cosmos in with the squash and possibly a bit of wrought iron for fun. I really want to get the Hubbard squash going. A massive squash like those could hold over my husband and daughter for a week. (They can get around 40 pounds.) Squash and sweet potatoes are something we never get bored of having.



 I didn't get a chance to check on the pole beans, tomatillos and eggplants. They should be ok. My time working was repeatedly interrupted by tick removal.

 6 keets... I need like 600. Speaking of which they are flipping out over some food right now. 

 Guinea fowl are able to forage up to 90% of their feed in the summer. Some use broody chickens to hatch them. Should my flock survive that is probably what I would do. Somehow for as much as we know and for as much as we have made things fool-proof... you can't beat a good hen.

 I'm beat (I must be a bad hen lol.) I'm not even sure if this post made any sense! The ticks have me wigged out. I got 8 of them on me in under an hour. I kill every one, but still everyday I get about 20 on me. None have attached yet, but it is unnerving. 


 Ticks generally need to be attached for a whole day before transmitting anything to you. Use pointed tip tweezers, get as close to the skin as possible, then steadily pull them off. You don't want to pinch their bodies as it will essentially make them empty their stomach contents into you  (higher risk of getting something like Lyme's disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.)

 It sounds like escapees from the brooder box again. I'd better check on the gang. Take care all.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, when you say you've got ticks you really mean it..sounds like a nasty issue to have to deal with while trying to plant crops. Good luck with your squash, I have to get mine in the ground pretty soon too.

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  2. I hate you :)

    But I finally am seeing thee sun again after 2 weeks so that is a plus.

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  3. @ Mr. H it is bad.. really really bad.. and if you knew how small of an area it is that I am able to pick up so many, it is insane. I have tweezers and a lighter with me always to dispatch them. Ticks are very hard to squish to kill, and these suckers move pretty fast.

    @ PP... well.. it is raining today and crazy winds. It rained hard enough to turn the street into a stream.

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  4. I guess if there were a safe anti-tic chemical, you would have used it by now. Sorry to hear there is no home remedy for the little boogers.

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