I didn’t realize I hadn’t written in a month.
Seriously. What a summer. August was nice so what’s left of the garden is producing well. The tomatoes that haven’t been wiped out by late blight are doing well and ripening. The potatoes didn’t fare as well. It killed all of them but I think they had a chance to produce well. We’ll see soon. I’ll start digging later in the week. The eggplant is gorgeous. (I started this several days ago, the Red Pontiacs are fine.)
The meat chickens are remarkable. They’re smart. Raccoons killed three the first night in their pen so we moved the chicks into a lobster crate and kept them on the sun porch over night. They quickly learned to come to the front of the pen and wait to be put in at night. In the morning they started flying up to the edge of the crate, jumping down and putting themselves in the pen. They’re friendly. I wish my dumbass layers were this friendly. If the butcher will take them the meat birds are going out to be slaughtered. I remind myself every time I see them that they are not pets. They’re always on the move and growing well. They came from Welp. I’ve been very pleased with their birds both times I’ve purchased them.
Three of the four coons have been trapped and killed. We have a male and two kits so far. The mother is still out there. Nasty nasty animals.
Animal count : two bears, a young moose that meanders through even if I’m outside, raccoons and the latest, coyotes that yapped 200 yards from the house. The coys were here two nights ago. The kitchen door was open and the screen door wasn’t locked. The dogs heard the coys and all three went after them. I didn’t hear them last night. A flock of turkeys passes through but aren’t doing any damage yet. The poults are young and small for this time of year. The bears have disappeared. Someone told me the problem bear was shot but I don’t know that it’s true. There are plenty of apples for them now so they shouldn’t show up again.
Taylor’s back in school and working. Her coarse load is wicked this year. She’s taking a college history course, trig, CP chem, honors English, advanced art and more. She’s making good money at Nook & Cranny. She earned enough to buy herself a very nice laptop that will be delivered tomorrow and more school clothes. She’s an excellent shopper. She paid $106 for $262 worth of clothes from her favorite brand name.
We’re working on the new greenhouse. We’ll have ribs up and baseboards on this weekend. I’m ordering baseboards and wiggle wire today.
I still love the tractor. Steve’s used it for some town work. He’s donating the equipment and his time to save the town some money. I’m getting the weed seed bank under control and making the ugliness of this year’s growing season disappear.
I’ll be supplying a new wholesale customer next year. I no longer go to farmers market. I have enough poly to make 1,250 sq ft of low tunnels for the winter.
I’m making the transition from full time farmer to full time writer several months earlier than normal. I usually spend six weeks writing full time in the winter. I’m doing that now. The first children’s book is waiting to be put into an envelope and sent to publishers. The weather is too nice to figure that out right now. The ten day forecast is incredible. Clear sky, warm to hot days, cool nights, low humidity.
Filed under: Cold Weather Growing, Daily Farm Life, Garden, Greenhouse, Growing Vegetables, Small Farming, Winter Farming, agriculture, daily life, farmers market, winter vegetable production | 4 Comments »