Tomato Cage Details and Stuff.

.

( EDIT - Have pics now. Redating this a day later so it's at the top. )

My browser is being a pain, so I'm not able to get photos in right now. I'll have to try again later on.

When we were finishing the cage yesterday I took pictures so anyone who was interested could see how we took on the problem of an out-of-control tomato patch.

Of course, it would have been better to have built this before the tomatoes WERE out of control, but that would mean I was on top of things all the time and, well, that's just not going to happen!

First some drawings I made up that should be helpful.



Sorry, this one arrived sideways and I'm not going to redo it. LOL



The June beetles are OUT!!!!!!!!!!



We took a slight detour to spray for bugs.



Here are the furring strips. A pack of 6 for under 6 dollars.



Drive in T-posts, or something similar, along the perimeter of your tomatoes. Make sure they are only about 6 or 7 feet apart so your boards can reach and overlap.

You can see the posts and the first two courses we put in. You can also see how we threaded the boards THROUGH the branches in some places. Tomatos are so fragile. They ones on the outside can be tied gently back to the strips.



I know for many of you, a lot of these details will be a bit much, but I want those who have never even handled a pair of wire cutters to know what to do as well. Cutting a 4 or 5 foot section of wire off to go do several joints.



Michael, adding another board to the third course. Each one is approximately a foot or so higher.



After affixing the strip to the post, he adds the next strip on to the previous strip.



And tightens it up, then trims the long piece off to take to the next spot and use.



View down one of the T-posts, showing all three courses joined together.



One side is done!



And now both sides are done. It's a bit wavy because we came in after the growth. Next year we are looking forward to putting this in when the plants are first growing. It will be nice and straight then.



From a distance.


Wiring in cross pieces to keep the tomatoes from going sideways. We ran out of furring strips, so we plan on just collecting branches to finish. No sense in spending money we can creatively avoid spending.



Enclosing the ends.... and Michael, wondering what bit him now.



Don't forget to gently and loosely tie up those branches that are sticking outside. We can now walk around the tomatoes and the peppers have some breathing room again. There really was NO room any more and my precious leeks, on the lower side, were trampled. So sad. :(




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leah came by to help and visit again. We were so busy, I forgot to take pictures except for another sad turn of events. Only sad because of my quirky personality, though. LOL

I knew we were not going to be able to eat the grapes from the vineyard this year, due to the very strong antifungal we are using to try and save the grape vines. But as the vines were surviving, better than they'd ever done before, it was a joy to actually see clusters of grapes developing and prospering. I was even thinking of tasting, just a couple here and there, when they were ripe.

But, alas and alack, when we took a walk down to see what massive changes took place over the weekend - because it is ASTOUNDING how quickly things can change in the garden - we found that the black rot had overcome many of the grape clusters, despite all the spraying.



The leaves still looked very good, so I thought we were going to be fine. But it was in the grapes. I do hope I will not have to rip out nearly 100 vines next year and start over, but the fungus may be even down into the root systems. Only time will tell.

We made an executive decision, to just cut off all the grapes, even thought most of them looked fine. It was about two weeks ago we had that VERY rainy week. Black rot spores have about a 2 week incubation period from the time they spore, to the time the damage shows up.

This was one of two garden bags. Hey, we can pretend we are in France and Italy, stomping grapes!



Back in the house, Leah and I perused over wonderful herb and canning books she'd brought along, speaking in glowing terms of our gardening dreams. Then we got to some serious kitchen work, shredding summer squash for drying, pureeing veggies for rollups, and trying out a pickle recipe.

I'll post more about those later. I've got to get to work!

~Faith

.

Building Large Cages; Friends at the River.

.

My dad came over and helped us erect a large tomato cage over the row. In one week of rain and busyness, it had gotten completely out of control. It was nice to have him spend more time with Michael, teaching him things about working and work ethics as well. Not only how to do something, but how to think about what you are doing and do it well.









Yup, I was working too. Here's my shadow, complete with tool belt full of wire cutters, wire, tying ribbon, scissors, etc.





First project was to build a holder for the wire spool, using a bolt and a bucket handle.





Next was building a stand for it, for the times when you are not carrying it, but are just pulling off wire and cutting it.





Then came wiring on the 1 x 2 furring strips. I had purchased three bundles of 6, at .87 cents a board, but will need a third course, so we'll be finishing today.





After church yesterday was a get together at the river. We all brought our own lunches and enjoyed the day. There was catch, ultimate frisbee, swimming, and hanging out in the shade.

We were there early. And used a little grill to cook up two burgers and some foil-wrapped potatoes and onions.





A few of the kids with Michael. They went upriver and floated back down several times. Worked on a rope swing from a tree. Michael, true to his Boy Scout motto, came prepared with rope. Today, he has stone bruises on his feet from the rocks in the river bed.





... and back up the river bank to where the large group kept moving chairs further in to keep up with the shade.





However, the clouds arrived and, at about 5 pm, showers chased us all into our cars to head home.

It was a great day!

~Faith

.

I have been tagged with an award.

.





You are a hard worker. Someone who takes the scrap out of life and builds things with it. Someone who has so much going on that others can see the evidence of it all around you. You are one who contributes mightily to life.

This award was given to me by my very first subscription, Tracey, of Peaceful Acres. She is another awesome lady who is going it alone, as Michael and I are. She does some great things and posts about them on her blog, which I get to learn from. She'd make a fun and interesting neighbor to share ideas with, and she's got beautiful grandkids.


When you are awarded the Honest Scrap award here are the things you should do. (I am keeping in mind it is the middle of growing season and all of you may not have the time) First, you have to tell your readers 10 things about you they may not already know, but are true. Second, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Third, you have to let the people you've given the award to, know that they've received this award from you. Finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you.

1. I’m a down-to-earth dreamer. I always have some sort of big idea I’d love to do that takes about a billion dollars, while I happily go about my work for the day.

2. It took me til the age of twenty to get the courage to have my ears pierced.

3. I do Sudoku to put myself to sleep at night.

4. I would love to have a dozen or more children.

5. I have always had very long hair all my life, except for an ugly short shag phase in the 70s that my mother forced me to get.

6. My favorite movie that I’ve watched the most is the original Parent Trap.

7. The only water I have ever liked to drink was from our California well when I was a child.

8. My first ambition was to be a jockey. But I grew to be five foot eight.

9. I have had only one romantic relationship in my life.

10. I am happiest when things are neat and organized.

Now, for the ten blogs I nominate for this award, I choose these.


The Never Done Farm

Farm Girl Cyn

Brambleberries in the Rain

Apples of Gold

The Self-Sufficient Life

Life on A Colorado Farm

The Jersey Homesteader

Worms and Flowers

Simply Canning Updates

This & That Homestead

Enjoy these lovely ladies and their blogs!

~Faith

.

Pool Deconstruction.

.

Removing the filtering system.





Cutting away the side wall, piece by piece. You need tin snips for this job. They only work in one direction, so it's good to have two that each go in opposite ways so you don't get stuck having to go at a cut in an awkward position as we did. I have two, but they both are the same.





The rotted out track between the outside dirt and the sand on the inside that is used to make a smooth floor.





I had hope to leave the liner in place, cutting it into a circle that would act as a base to set the new pool on, but it was so difficult getting the wall out, that the base was torn up and will need to be redone.





We grabbed the back edge of the liner, by the deck, and rapidly pulled it, hoping to direct most of the water out and downhill as we came. Most of it came out, I think, but it was still a pond til the next day.









Groan..... Lots of redoing needed here. No quick set up for us, this time around.





The underside of the deck. After 6 or 7 years, lots had crumbled down and fallen against the outside of the pool. With no support in the center, it is sagging. The new pool has to be taken down and stored yearly. I think I will wait until then, when it will also be cooler, to take the deck up and redo it. Perhaps by then we might find a more permanent pool solution as well.

Several things to avoid here.

Do not, under any circumstances, allow your spouse to spray Round-Up along banks to avoid using the weedwhacker. I caught him too late. LOL

Secondly, dogs like to find cool shady places to dig in in the summer. I will block off access next time.

Thirdly, I believe I will also install a french drain above the deck to channel water around, rather than through.









These pool wall pieces will be used to line the chicken house walls. When I was a child, my dad got tin-types from the local newspaper office. I don't think those exist any more, do they? We lined our chicken house with those. It was fun to read them as well.









That's the progress so far. :)

~Faith

.

Dehydrating.

.





















I started to dehydrate the mints, then I said, "What, am I nuts?"
The two on the left are obvious. The two on the right I am wondering if I mislabeled them. Anyone know what kind of mints they could be?





The greens are tricky. Too dry and they crumble, too moist and they mold. I already lost one bag. I will put the other one in again as soon as my cucumber slices finish this morning.

Noticing my skin looks a bit dehydrated as well!

~Faith

.

.

We made a successful trip to go get the pool. It's not much to speak of, but it's enough to get wet, cool off, and swim in! YAY! The drive there was a good two hours each way, so we didn't get much done at home yesterday, just the pool and heading to a Bible study at the home of some friends.

Here are those pics of the Swiss chard we hung on the net. I had wanted to get home and bring them in to the dehydrator that night, but we didn't make it until the dew had already settled all over them. Here they are still covered in dew the next morning.









So yesterday we hurredly got them into the dehydrator before leaving for Bible study, then of course, forgot to turn it on. LOL So we dried them overnight and just got finished bagging up a lot of them, and putting the ones that were not dry enough back in, cutting away even more of the stalk.

You really need to remove the entire stalk, so just figure on cutting every leaf in half to remove it. I like folding them over and slicing the stalk out in one motion.

I am not quite sure HOW dry they need to be. Not as dry as herbs, or they will crumble, but I don't know how much moisture is OK before you have to deal with mold. Another learning experience. We are going to know a lot someday. ;)

A neighbor of the pool place was just a little ahead of us on a greenhouse project, so I got permission to go and look at it and take photos.





















Am setting some cuttings from my folks' lavender plants. There were not a lot of good growth areas, I'm not sure the flower stalks will make good cuttings. But I took what I thought was the best of what was there. If they don't work out, I can try again. The nursery downtown was completely bought out.





I tried to buy all my supplies at WalMart late last night for making bread and butter pickles. Most everything was sold out and all other stores were closed. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the cukes. I am not making another trip to town today, and there is no room in my fridge.

And our first sunflower bouquet of the season.





I LOVE having my own cutting flowers again!

~Faith

.