Old Whites Mill Farm

General Ramblings

2009-04-13T21:48:00.003-04:00

This evening I took the last flat out of the chicken brooder and put under lights on my shelf. I now have 5 flats on 2 shelves. I love the chicken brooder/propagation chamber. The zucchini, squash, cantalope, and watermelon seedlings look great. Big round stems, dark green leaves. I never saw anything like that last year. I think keeping the temps 85-90 degrees have made a huge difference. I did have a problem with the orange bell peppers. Only one came up of the ones I am supposed to be selling. I need to get some more planted tomorrow evening.

Today I went to Knoxville Seed and I finally found trellis netting. Oh my, I am having such a hard time finding that stuff this year. I bought 4 packs of 5'x30' netting. I also got some more Red Pontiac potatoes. I should have enough Kennebec and Red Pontiac now. I also bought some Peaches and Cream corn, and some Rattlesnake Pole Bean seed.

I didn't get anything done in the garden this past weekend. It rained and stormed Friday and Saturday. It was beautiful yesterday, but with it being Easter we went to my wife's parents and enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday with family and friends. Both of our kids were able to make it home also. I was so nice to have them home for the day.

We have some cats outside. Well one of the girls had kittens yesterday. I didn't know it until this morning. I am not sure how many she had. I think between 6 and 8. The ones that I have seen are so cute. I will have chicks soon so we will have plenty of babies around here. Plus the 2 geese that show up every year (we named them Fred and Wilma) have been back for a few weeks and we are pretty sure Wilma is up by the pond in their nest sitting on eggs. They had 2 babies last year. It was fun watching them walk around with the babies and then we got to see them teach the to fly.

My garden is so wet right now from all the rain this weekend I still can't plant anything. I was gonna try and get my potatoes out. Maybe this weekend I will get them out. I need to get my potato growing beds done and in place.

Change of Plans

2009-04-10T07:08:00.004-04:00

I am 95% sure I am going to scrap all my SWC's. I have only made maybe 8 of them. I know they can make watering easier but gosh they take a while to build and they cost quite a bit. I have a huge are for my garden. It gets sun from sun up to sun down. So here is my new plan. I have a ton of 5 gal buckets, a bunch of 10 gal and 18 gal totes. I am going to cut the bottoms out and use them as raised beds, just as most of you use the top parts of your left over totes. The 18 gal totes I get at Lowe's for $3.44. They are made from recycled plastic. They are around 15" tall, 23" long, and 17 inches wide. I can plant 1 tomato plant per 5 gal bucket, remember they have no bottoms, no holes drilled. I completely cut out the bottoms. Place them on top of my dirt, fill with compost and bam it's done, With the totes I will do the same thing. For my 10 and 18 gal totes I am gonna plant all my peppers, cantalope, watermelon, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and potatoes. This will enable to space things as far apart as much as I like to make it easier to take care of things, at least for me it will. I am going to cut out the lids and still use them for some added support. I am also think about putting PVC watering pipes in each container, with a cap on the bottom end and holes throughout the length so I can just add water into the pipe and it will in effect water from the bottom as well. I will take pictures when I get them set up and keep ya posted on how they work.

April 8, 2009 started squash, cucumbers, cantalopes, and watermelons this evening.

2009-04-08T00:58:00.004-04:00

April 8, 2009 - I planted 63 squares in another greenhouse this evening. I planted 2 seeds in each square. Prepped the Jiffy Seed Started Mix but making it very moist, filled each square a little more than half full and then placed my seeds. Then I covered them up and placed them in the chicken brooder. Yep, chicken brooder. It came to me the other night. Right now it is around 63 to 65 degrees in my basement. Temps a little low to start seeds. I put my newly planted okra in it the other night and the temp is right around 85 degrees. So last night I planted a bunch of tomato and pepper seeds that people have pre-purchased and I put that little greenhouse in it as well. I now have 165 plants in my chicken brooder at around 85 degrees. So here is what I planted tonight.

Squash - Raven Zucchini, Eight Ball Zucchini, Horn of Plenty Squash, and Honey Bear Squash

Cucumbers - Sweet Burpless, Lemon, Chinese Yellow, and Diva

Cantalope - Sweet Passion, Hales Jumbo, Petit Gris De Rennes, and Minnesota Midget

Watermelon - Sangria, Ali Baba, Tendersweet, Gold Baby, Moon & Stars, Sugar Baby, Blacktail Mountain, Sweet Siberian, and Cream of Saskatchewan.

I also ordered some Rattlesnake Pole Beans. I talked to 2 ladies today who told me that they are the best beans they have ever eaten, and they never have a garden without them. So I said what the heck I will try them. I am sure they will get here in time. I have about a month, and who knows really with the way the weather has been playing games with us. I think this is the end of all my indoor planting, other than helping my wife with her flowers over the weekend. I need a couple of decent days so I can borrow my neighbors rear tine tiller and finish setting up my garden. Heck I may try some corn again this year. If I do I am gonna do it the old fashioned way, in the ground amended with compost. I had no luck at all trying to grow it in raised beds last year.

Chic-Ken County Medical Center Maturnity Wing

2009-04-05T09:57:00.002-04:00

This is what I have been spending so much time on the past three weeks. It is finally done. I still have 3 weeks to spare. This baby is 4'x4' and 2' tall. It sits 12" off the floor. I got cheap paint at walmart and the redish orange p;aint was $3.93 for the gallon. I guess someone messed it up so I took advantage. It has top doors with hardware cloth to keep the household cats from playing with the little chicks. It is built from 2x2's and 3/8" plywood. I have 20 chicks coming on April 23 or 24. I have two 125 watt brooder bulbs connected to a dimmer switch so I can control the heat from outside the brooder, and I won't have to raise the bulbs every week. I am getting it set for 95 degrees right now. Then 2 days prior to arrival I will check the temp again with the wood shavings in it. The day before I will turn it on again for good and again make sure the temp is correct. I am getting 12 egg layers and 8 meat birds. This bunch will remain in the maturnity wing for 4 to 6 weeks and then out to their permanent home. A week or two after that I am going to order 25 Colored Rangers from JM Hatchery in Pennsylvania for meat. After those are done then the maturnity wing will be moved outside and be use as a hospital for sick chicks until we get decide to get more chicks.

I have sold enough plants this week to bring in over $100. So between finishing the coop, getting the garden ready, and still panting seeds in their little greenhouses I am gonna be busy for the next few weeks.

Tomato, Pepper, and Okra Seeds Started March 22, 2009

2009-03-29T10:15:00.008-04:00

It has been a prety hectic last 2 weeks. I have been working late every night. I took the 19th and 20th off so I could build a chicken brooder. I worked late each night and busted my butt over the weekend as well. I did get all my tomato, pepper, and okra plants started last Sunday evening 3-22-09. I used 3oz clear plastic cups, I put some Jiffy starter mix into a large bowl, wateted it very well with very warm water, I label each cup so I would know what was in each one. I filled each cup pretty much to the top. I got 36 cups in each tray. I did get 42 in one tray with all the okra and a few peppers. Well every tomato cup except both Cherokee Green, and both Black Cherry have seedlings. Almost all of the Harlow's Homestead Okra have sprouted and only 2 of the Hill Country Red Okra have sprouted. Of course none of the pepper plants have sprouted. So today is the day I take all my sprouted plants and put them on my shelf with lights. I think I can go ahead and start my watermelon, cantalope, cucumber, and squash, and zuchinni seeds this evening. I know my wife bought 2 trays with 50 peat pots in each she is going to hopefully start today. We will have growing trays all over the house.

I started painting the chicken brooder on Friday evening, didn't get anything done yesterday. I hope to at least finish the inside today. I also hvae to make some more SWC's. If I can start getting hope at a decent hour and don't feel all worn out I should be able to get a couple SWC's done each evening.

As a journal entry I started all of the following tomato seeds on 3-22-09 (2 seeds in each cup, 2 cups for each plant except the Cherokee Purple tomato plants which I did 8 cups).

1. Bloody Butcher
2. Cherokee Green
3. Spear's Tennessee Green
4. Tennessee Sweet
5. Black from Tula
6. Nyagous
7. Carbon
8. Cherokee Purple
9. Cheroke Chocolate
10. Brandywine Sudduth's Strain
11. Kellog's Breakfast
12. Aker's West Virginia
13. Todd County Amish
14. Aunt Gertie's Gold
15. Sioux
16. Paul Robeson
17. Japanese Black Trifele
18. Red Delicious
19. Sprite
20. Nebraska Wedding
21. Tennessee Surprise
22. Hillbilly

The pepper plants I planted on 3-22-09 2 cups per variety and 2 seeds per cup.

1. Early Sunsation
2. Ivory
3. Tango
4. Tequila
5. Mercury Red
6. Purple Beauty
7. Orange Bell
8. Quadrato d'Asti Giallo
9. Mavras
10. Satsuma
11. Chocolate Beauty
12. Baby Belle
13. Mini Belle Mix
14. Volcano (free packet sent by totally tomatoes)

I planted Okra on 3-22-09 18 cups per variety and 1 seed per cup

1. Hill Country Red
2. Harlow's Homestead

I guess I better go get to work painting that brooder. I will post pics when I am done. I am getting 12 sex link female chicks, 6 different varieties of cornish males, and 2 delaware males on April 23 or 24. The males I will use for meat.

Building the Coop Part 1

2009-03-07T22:36:00.005-05:00

This is all I got done today. I also went to Lowes twice for supplies. This is the first time I have ever built anything except for some raised beds last year. I have always been afraid that I would mess something up and would end up being a waste of money. The coop is 4x8 and raised 2' off the ground so when the chickens are out in the run they can use the coop itself for shade. I already have the front and rear wall frames cut. I am wanting to find some linoleum that someone is trying to get rid of so I don't have to buy any. After I get the linoleum down, I will put the walls up and then al lthat will be left is the roof. I will keep posting pics as I get more done. I have plenty of time. The chicks will have to be in the brooder for 5 or 6 weeks I guess, and I don't even get them until April 23 or 24. So probably around the first of June the chicks will be able to move into their new home. Not sure what color I am gonna paint it yet. I would also like to come up with a name for the coop.

Finally Ordered Chickens

2009-03-06T16:39:00.012-05:00

I did it last night. Ordered 12 chicks from Ideal Poultry. I ordered 3 of each of the following, black sex-link, brown sex-link, gold sex-link, and red sex-link, I will discribe each below. I wanted to order from Ideal all along then the end of Feburary hit and all I saw was sold out. Ideal was also sold out on any of the other breeds that I wanted. With the economy in such bad shape people are ordering chicks left and right. I called other hatcheries and it was the same story. Going to be May before I could get anything and some things are sold out for the year. I started thinking as well I want chickens for eggs so why not get some prolific egg layers. I started reading about sex-links and along with having good dispositions they are great egg layers. Along with the 12 females I am getting because it isn't a full box Ideal will fill the box with packing peanuts. Usually males of any breed to help keep all the chicks warm. I am hoping I will at least be able to use the males as fryers. I am not sure I will be able to do the butchering deed myself. I want to be able do it so I can get some meat birds in the future and do everything myself. I only wanted 8 females but Ideal has a $25 limit. Most other hatcheries have a minimum 25 chick order so I ordered 12. I guess I need to start building that coop. I am gonna start tomorrow. I think I have enough 2x4's for the frame already. I will need some plywood and the dang fencing. Gosh that stuff is so expensive. Here is a picture and discription of each chick we are getting.

Black Sex-Link

Black Sex Links are a breed cross using Rhode Island Red males and Barred Plymouth Rock females. The male chicks have a white spot on the top of their heads and can be separated from the solid black female chicks when they hatch. This cross, which is used in commercial layer operations, is an efficient producer of large brown eggs. They have excellent livability, and hens from this cross weigh about 5 1/2 lbs. and can be salvaged for fowl meat when their use for laying is over.

Brown Sex-Link

Brown Sex Links are a breed cross using Rhode Island Red males and silver factor White Rock females. The chicks can be separated by sex at the time of hatching since the females are primarily red and the males are primarily white. Commercial producers of brown eggs sometimes use this cross, which has excellent livability and efficiently produces large brown eggs. Hens from this cross weigh about 5 1/2 lbs. and can be salvaged for fowl meat when their use for laying is over.

Gold Sex-Link

Gold Sex Links are a breed cross using Rhode Island Red males and Rhode Island White females. The female chicks are streaked with red or gold and can be separated from the solid white male chicks at one day old. This cross, which is one of the most popular used in commercial layer operations, is an efficient producer of large brown eggs. This outstanding cross has excellent livability, and mature hens, which weigh 5 1/2 lbs. can be salvaged for fowl meat when their use for laying is over.

Red Sex-Link

Red Sex Links are a breed cross using Rhode Island Red males and Delaware females. The females are primarily red while the males are primarily white; therefore, the sexes can be separated immediately following hatching. This layer is used in many commercial layer operations. They have excellent livability, and are very efficient producers of large brown eggs. Mature hens will weigh about 5 1/2 lbs. and can be salvaged for fowl meat when their use for laying is over.

Smoked Whiskey Soup

2009-03-01T19:35:00.005-05:00

I didn't get started till late but I got it done. Here is the recipe:
2 lbs ground beef I use 93/7
1 cup Makers Mark Whiskey
Beef Stock as much as you need
1 16oz can Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 16oz can Black Beans
1 24oz can Diced Tomatoes
1 whole red onion
1/2 orange pepper diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 yellow pepper diced
1 zuchinni diced
1/2 bag baby carrots diced
6 or so red potatoes diced
Mrs Dash Onions and Herb to taste
Mrs Dash Tomato, Basil, and Garlic to taste
Mrs Dash Garlic and Herb to taste
Kosher Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

You can add or take away anything thing you like.

Brown the ground beef, put into Crock Pot. Pour Whiskey into meat and stir it up. (I don't recommend Jack Daniels it is a sour mash whiskey).Add both cans of beans, diced tomatoes, beef stock and diced tomatoes. Turn the crock pot on high. Start dicing all the veggies and add to pot. Cook until done. At some point get your smoker going. I am using hickory today. Hard for me to get other types of wood in the winter. My crock put has an insert so I just put the insert into the smoker. I am not trying to cook the soup in the smoker, I am using it for flavor only. I would say set smoker to 200 degrees. Smoke as long as you need, stir occassionally. Take out and serve. Everyone who has tried this soup loves it.

Happy cooking and enjoy.

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds

2009-02-28T22:47:00.009-05:00

I finally placed my order today. I have most everything except for all the tomatoes I am wanting to grow, and a few other things. So here we go.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: Gosh I just love this place. I would love to visit it some day. I try to order everything I can from them. Today I ordered the following:

Pike County Yellow-tomato
Carbon-tomato
Black from Tula-tomato
Cherokee Purple-tomato
Nyagous-tomato
Black Cherry-tomato
Cream of Saskatchewan-watermelon
Harlow's Homestead-Okra

Tomato Fest: A great place to order tomatoes from. They have so many different varieties I am not sure anyone could try each and every one in a lifetime.

Bloody Butcher-tomato
Cherokee Green-tomato
Spear's Tennessee Green-tomato
Tennessee Surprise-tomato
Tennessee Sweet-tomato

Totally Tomatoes: I ordered from them last year. You can get both tomatoes and peppers from this site. I also like this place a lot.

Tongo Hybrid Pepper
Tequila Hybrid Pepper
Ivory Hybrid Pepper
Early Sunsation Pepper

Park Seed: I ordered a few things from Park seed last year. The squash did very well until the dreaded SVB came again. I was looking for Strawberries this year though.

Tribute-strawberry 25 plants
Eight Ball-zucchini

Wal-Mart: I had to run in tonight. I went back to the garden section and noticed different strawberry plants.

Quinalt-strawberry 30 plants

Knoxville Seed: Great place in Knoxville to do garden shopping. The people seem to be very knowlegable .

Peanut Bean-bean also known as Pink Runner. I have not been able to find anything on the internet about them. I asked the people behine the counter for a different name and they said Pink Runner. These are some very great tasting beans. They are a bush bean, 6 weeks to mature. I should be able to get 3 planting s of them this year. I will use one 4x4 box at 6 plants fer square. That is 96 plants each planting. I hope that will be enough beans for the wife and I.

The rest of the day has been filled with making SWC's between all the running. I made 4 more today. I need to get a lot more than that done tomorrow. I will take some pictures of the SWC,s for everyone to see. I have 4 different sizes.

Start of the 2009 garden

2009-02-21T17:11:00.005-05:00

I know it has been a while since I posted anything, but I haven't done much at all. Today I took my little Troy Bilt tiller and started turning the ground around my raised beds. The beds you see in the picture were used for corn last year. Only one of the beds produced any corn and they weren't too big. Anyway these four beds did not have any weeds grow in them. The only beds I had that did not have weed problems. I had 20 beds. I have decided to move all but these four beds around. I built eight beds that were 2'x4', I am gonna put four of them end to end to create a 2'x16' bed and do the same thing with the other four 2'x4' beds and both of these 16' beds will be nothing but strawberries. I know Mel's book says 3 plants per 4 squares. I have also read on the Garden Web Forum to plant 4 plants per square. I will do more research and come up with something. I digress sometimes. The purpose of tilling the area around the boxes to also prevent grass from growing to cut down on mowing also. I don't have a push mower so I had to weed-eat around all the beds and other planters last year. I am wanting to put down sawdust or something that will look nice and be less labor intensive. I have not actually planned what wil be going into each box yet. I have good ideas though. I have two 4'x8' beds, and one of them will be nothing but okra. I don't like okra but my wife and her family does. I have regular green spineless and I also have Hill Country Red Okra. I will split that bed up with both varieties of okra. I also fell a peach tree that has been infested with poision ivy since we bought the house. I carried all the limbs off and cut up the stuff I could use for fire wood and put it in the wood shed. Then I carried two 6' wooden pallets to the other side of the barn. They will be used for the coop floor. They are each 3' wide so that is a 6'X6' coop. I should be able to have nine chickens in it. That is what I have done most of today. I need to run to Lowes and get some 2x4's for the coop frame, and some plywood.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T11:26:00.009-05:00

I just have to tell ya'll what I am doing for Valentines Day. I bought my wife a dozen of baby rose stems. Each stem has more than one little rose on it. I also bought a bag of Kisses from Hershey and Hearts from Dove. I asked the lady to wrap up two stems at a time, so I now have 6 sets of roses. Last night was our weekly date night. We meet every Friday night at Starbucks or someplace like that. She works from 2pm-10pm M-F and I of course work daily. I got there before her and I placed 1 set on the table with 2 hearts and 2 kisses. When we arrived I was able to sneak in another set of roses and 2 more hearts and kisses, and I put them on her pillow. This morning I set a card, another set of roses, and 2 more hearts and kisses by the coffee pot. I had already went down to my office and made little note size sheets of paper out of 8.5x11 sheets. I wrote a not on each sheet and I have placed them throughout the house. I placed one from our animals by the coffee pot again with 2 hearts and 2 kisses. I made one that said Hugs and placed 2 hearts by it, put it on the bathroom counter, one that said Kisses, and placed it with 2 kisses by her chair where she would set her coffee cup. I have more in my pocket to place. I also have 2 more sets of roses I am going to set out sometime today. My card was the 2 little kids kissing, on the inside was the note written on the card. I just put my name and then wrote "You pick the restaurant". I am hoping that when we get to the restaurant, she will go to the little girls room and I will run out get a set of roses with some more hearts and kisses and get them on the table before she gets back. I have put the other rose sets in the bed of the truck. It is pretty cool her today they should be alright. Not much warmer than a fridge anyway. She laughs every time she finds something, and I get a kiss.

Heavy Winds, Possible Tornado

2009-02-11T19:16:00.016-05:00

I got home from work this afternoon and I was tired. I laid down on the bed and took a nap. I was woken by what sounded like a bomb. I ran to the living room and cound not see much of anything out the window, the wind was swirling, and the rain was coming down pretty hard. I thought we may be having a tornado so I was trying to get the animals together to go to the basement. As I walked into the utility room and looked out one of the windows I noticed a big tree laying against my deck and going up towards the roof. I opened the door and went outside to see. I saw a 60 foot tree that was broke in half and the broken half was laying on my house. There is at least one branch that went through the roof. I have had one tree service out and he said he can't get his crane to the house. I have the roofers coming out tomorrow morning around 10:30am and along with fixing the roof, deck, and a small area on the side of the house where a branch went through the siding, he said he can also remove the tree. The tree service that came out told me to let the other guy go ahead and do it. So something will get done tomorrow. I just don't know what yet. I was pretty shaken up at the time, I have never had anything like that happen before. When I was in the Navy, I went thru a couple of really bad Hurricanes but the noise was not this bad. The good thing is that all is well. I was the only one at home other than the animals. Tomorrow should be a better day.

My Chicken Selections

2009-02-10T20:12:00.019-05:00

Before I just come out and give ya'll what breed of chickens I have decided to get I better give ya some chicken information. For those of you that didn't know, you do not need any roosters to have eggs. All hens lay eggs, if there is a rooster around then the hens will lay fertile eggs. So unless you want to hatch your own chicks then a roo is not necessary. If you want your own laying hens you need to know that each hen needs 4 sqft of coop space. When you build your run (an enclosed area to keep your chickens protected against predators) each hen needs 10 sqft of space. I am looking at geting 10 chicks. This means I need a coop with at least 40 sqft and a run of 100 sqft. You can also build a tractor that you can push around your yard. This enables your chickens to be pastured and still protected every day. You need to make sure your chickens have plenty of food and water. if you get day old chicks you will need a brooder to keep them in for a while, until they are old enough to be put outside. For a lot more information I recommend you getting Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

Just to let everyone know I have never had any chickens, heck I have never held a chick or a full grown chicken. My Dad talked me into it a couple of years ago and I have been hooked since. I didn't have time last year to build a coop. I to get a coop from Free Cycle a couple of weeks ago, but I do need to build more on it. I still don't have the coop finished or the run done but hopefully they will be done by early spring so I can get my chicks ordered.

You wouldn't think that it would be that hard to choose a few chickens. I never imagined there were so many different breeds. After reading and researching I have decided on the following birds so that I can have a virtual Easter back full of eggs. What I mean by Easter basket is that I want different colored eggs. White, brown, blue/green, dark brown, and creamy colored eggs. I want 2 each of the following:

Ameraucana: They lay a blue to blue/green medium egg.

Barred Holland: Hollands lay a medium size white egg.

Delawares: These hens lay a large brown egg.

Salmon Faverolles: Faverolles lay a creamy tinted medium egg.

Welsummers: These beautiful birds lay a large rich dark terracotta brown egg.

If all goes well anywhere from 17 to 24 weeks after we receive our chicks we should be able to start collecting eggs.

2009 Tomato Growing List and Method

2009-02-03T21:15:00.016-05:00

It's time to reveal the 2009 tomato growing list. Before I get started I have to say this. I asked my wife how many Cherokee Purple tomato plants she wanted me to grow. Her answer "Fourteen", I asked her if she planned on providing tomatoes to feed the crew of the USS Enterprise. LOL I don't know how many I will actually plant, she really loves them, and so do I. So without any further ado here is the list:

1. Cherokee Purple

2. Cherokee Chocolate

3. Hillbilly

4. Brandywine Sudduth's Strain

5. Sprite (Will try these in 5 gal SW buckets)

6. Nebraska Wedding

7. Black Cherry

8. Kellog's Breakfast

9. Aker's West Virigina

10. Todd County Amish

11. Aunt Gertie's Gold

12. Sioux

13. Paul Robeson

14. Japanese Black Trifele

15. Yellow Mortage Lifter

16. Red Delicious

17. Grape

18. Jelly Bean

Now for the method.

I am going to try 5 gal bucket raised beds to grow my tomatoes in. I will cut out the bottom of each bucket by drilling a hole and then taking a jig saw to cut it out. Then the location I want for each bucket. I will dig up the soil about 6 inches deep trying to get rid of all the crab grass. Lay down some landscape fabric. Set the bucket in place, fill with Mel's mix or some variation. I am gonna use the compost that EG used to refill his bed with that he bought at Lowe's for $1.48 per 40lb bag. Plant the tomato plant into the soil, dig a little trench around the outer edge and add some tomato tone, epsom salt, and lime, then put down some straw mulch. Then slide the lid over the bottom of a round galvanised tomato cage, then the black garbage bag, slide the cage on the inside of the bucket. Pull the plastic bag down and then slide the lid down onto the bucket. If I need to make it taller I will install another one on top of the first one inverted and probably use wire ties to attach them together. I will be able to space each plant as far apart from each other as I want to. At the end of the season I will just pick up each bucket, shovel that soil into one of my other raised beds. Hopefully this will be the same as crop rotation. I am thinking of growing peppers the same way except using smaller cages. I know it will take up more room, but I do have the extra room.

Mobile Blogging

2009-02-02T23:26:00.001-05:00

I just set up my Blackberry Curve so I can post to my blog via my phone. So this is a test post. I guess I can send pics as well. I will have to give that a try as well. Here is a pic while traveling on "The Dragon" late fall 2008.
Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

The Beginning

2009-02-01T11:42:00.004-05:00

I started my first garden ever last year. I did quite a bit of research in the fall/winter of 2007/2008. That's when I was introduced to Square Foot Gardening. It seemed like the best way for me to go. I had no tractor or tiller. So I researched and researched, found the garden web forum and read post after post. I started building my raised beds, put them in place and started filling with mushroom compost, used coffee ground, and leaves. I have pictures but they are on another computer that has crashed. Unless I can get it fixed I will loose all my pictures. I made tons and tons of mistakes, but I did have fun doing it. I had never had a Cherokee Purple tomato until last year, and it is absolutely the best tomato I have ever tasted. I grew many different varieties of tomatoes and peppers. I never knew there were purple peppers, black peppers, purple scallions, and all of those tomatoes. I even tried watermelon with a little success. The ones that made it were oh so good. I am starting to plan my 2009 garden, am going to make a lot of changes, hopefully for the better. We also have a couple of really nice flower beds that we build last year. I have tilled an area for another one that we may incorporate a small pond or waterfall. We have yet another one towards the back of the house where a wall is located my wife wants to plant more flowers. We also have apple trees, peach trees, and a pecan tree. We actually have a pear branch grafted onto an apple tree. The pear branch was taken from a pear tree that was located in Cades Cove.

I have been wanting to get some chickens for a couple of years now for eggs, and I am thinking about getting some meat birds. Selecting the breed is tormenting. I have been going back and forth for over a year now. I was wanting an Easter basket full of egg. Blue eggs, dark brown eggs, brown eggs, white eggs, and a creamy colored egg. If anyone didn't know yes chickens lay all those colors of eggs. I will probably only start with around 4 hens though, so I am thinking about getting prolific brown egg layers. I am also thinking about getting some meat birds I just need to get the will power to be able to butcher my own birds.