The Bicycling Horticulturalist
posted by Weaseldog @ 8:50 AM
18 comments
Weaseldog's Lair
My rants and raves on politics, Peak Oil and anything else that comes to mind.
My rants and raves on politics, Peak Oil and anything else that comes to mind.
18 Comments:
hey Wease!
How the hell did I miss this? There are a couple handy tips thrown in this. I can't wait to tell Betmo you have something new up. How is you and your garden doing by the way? I have to laugh! I planned on getting to some people today but my son just called from Iraq and we talked for over an hour. He is going to be a physical basket case pretty soon! He sounds like a friggen old man already! You take care!
Temps are above 100f now, so my garden is on life support. I'm picking some okra every few days.
One of my hens is still sitting on the Buff Orpington eggs I got mail order. I candled one today and looks like they could hatch any day now.
The chick inside was completely blacking out the egg. In the air sac, I could see the delicate tracing of blood vessels. The air sac was sharply defined. I thought I saw a bit of movement as the chick tried to avoid the light.
I'm picking some okra every few days...
We're having fried okra tomorrow for dinner. Yum!
hey wease
I saw this the other day but forgot to comment! Your eggs sound close. How did the other ones do? Did you lose any more to hawks? I am not sure I understand? I understand 100 degrees but doesn't extensive watering help? my brother in the Mohave has his plants under screen or something for shade, Do your gardens just die off because of the heat! What about the nut trees? I didn't like the weather there but I thought things went pretty much like they do here?
I only had the four chicks before. The hawks (or maybe my cat) got them all.
I found a crushed egg yesterday. The chick was fully feathered, but didn't survive. the rest seem fine.
As to the heat, it depends on what you grow. My peppers do just fine, even with a little wilting. My melons, okra, and some of my corn is fine. My tomatoes are healthy, but only the cherries are producing fruit.
Even my tobacco is doing great and that's one I was told I couldn't grow without shading. It's out in full sun.
Cucumbers, squash and beans are too heat sensitive. If you just give them lot's of water, the roots are likely to rot. So I expect them to die out in the middle of summers, then I replant them at the end of August to get a fall crop.
Sorry about the chicks! It would piss me off to get them to thaty point and lose them all but live and learn. Gee I would assume that your cat ate the others if they were loose around them. At least killed them playing with them like would haappen to a chipmunk. Your area sure sounds hard on a gardener. Something else I remember my brother saying is he planted some things on the side of the garage that didn't see much or any sun.
I saw a special on Marines in Afghanistan and they were under the type of cover you know camy where the breeze could get through! It was 150 but looked tolerable!
Whatever got them, ate most of the good parts. And the chicks were carried into my garden where the corn and okra was high.
I've seen hawks do this.
My cat usually brings birds into the house to share.
As to gardening here, It's just a matter of learning to live with seasons. I am envious of places where you can garden round.
We really have two seasons, spring and fall. We can actually grow a lot of the leafy crops through the winter.
I've done extended desert camping in West Texas. I can't imagine being out in that heat in combat gear though. I imagine heat exhaustion is a serious problem for our boys over there.
In 120f temps, I found the trick was not to move too fast too much, and keep hydrated. Further, don't swat the bees. They are just sucking moisture off your skin. they don't bite unless you swat them... After a while, you can get used to being encrusted in salt.
wease
Jim lost 55 pounds in Afghanistan right now he has gone from 220 down to 170 pounds and with a 100 pound sack in 130 degree heat he is happy but I see a lot more weight loss coming. He is exceptionally strong and tough but admits the tours are taking a toll. With more war coming what the frig?
I started a new blog, My Junk. :)
Hey Wease!
Just looking in and thought I would see how the chicks are? Did they hatch yet? Do you eat any of them as broilers or any other way?
They were still just eggs this morning. They must be close though.
My hen is starting to get a bit less drowsy and complains when I lift her up now. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some link between the development of the eggs and a hen's mood. There may be some sort of chemical communication going on.
We'll be eating the excess roosters. I'm think of keeping one rooster from the this hatching.
Yeah watch the Hen she is a guage! Keep on eye on her you will know. We use to raise 30,000 broilers every 9 weeks. Do you know how to make capons? I use to do it around the county and debeaking amongst other things for residents!
They are due now, but haven't hatched yet. Maybe this weekend?
I know the theory on making capons. I've never done it. The idea of doing surgery on young roosters without anesthesia seems cruel.
wease Keep me abreast of the eggs! It isn't surgery, Just a one inch slice with a scalpel then pull the little things effortlessly out. The rooster just walks away none the worse. Hell I felt a lot worse debeaking chickens ot branding, and dehorning. Cutting a young Bulls balls off did bother me though. That has to hurt!
Hi Wease
Just looking in so thought i would say Hi and I hope all is well!
Hi Wease,
First it was the tomatoes, then it was the peppers. Someone was saying something the other day about how the liberal media was trying to scare people away from eating tomatoes. I said: "Well, I know for a fact that my tomatoes don't have salmonella." That goes for my jaspers too. The quality of everything is getting worse with the devaluation of the money, I'm glad to be able to produce some of my own, well, produce. :D
Hi Wease! loud silence hope all is well and you are writing songs or something!
I thought you might like these:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7519189.stm
http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w36.html
http://www.wtprn.com/
Sorry, no hyperlink, getting lazy. :D
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