Planting My Tomatoes

I got 14 tomato plants put in today...here's some pics:

I make up a mixture with my old Sunshine Mix, compost, crushed eggshells and one fullsized coffee can of used coffee grounds....

Dig my holes, add one good shovelfull of this mixture to each hole, and start planting.

I have to use a knife around the edges to loosen the soil in those tall beer cans we use to put the tomatoes into....

Look at these roots! This is what happens when you transplant the tomatoes into a nice wide deep container, those beer cans...gotta love 'em!

These look great....they didn't all have root growth like this one, but they were pretty nice....this one has a Full rootball and a nice thick healthy stem.....

Once I have the plant in, I stake it right away...no sense in distressing these plants again at a later date...

Then I tie them to the stake using those Velcro plant ties, those things are great! (reusable too, I'm on the third year with my first batch). As the plants grow, I'll add more tape where needed.

Here's a pic with my first row in...

and once my greenhouse is full (it will hold 15 plants, 5 to a row)

And a pic with the greenhouse plastic cover down (I need to hose that gunk off there)....I'll leave it down like this for a few days till the plants are settled. Unless it gets quite hot, then I'll open the cover for the day. Either way, the cover will go down at night.....

Hmmm, the cover should go all the way down to the ground...we will have to adjust that this afternoon...we may need more slope on that roof part, that would help. The cold night air will get in there if we don't make the adjustment....

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Busy, Busy, Busy!

Back from our little road trip, and right back into the action around here.....I've moved 14 of the tomato plants outside during the days, to start hardening them off a bit. They'll go in the greenhouse, but the Gman wants them hardened off somewhat, as our nights still get on the cold side....

The zuccini and acorn squash are also outside hardening off....I'm hoping to get them in the garden this weekend...also have to still plant the beans, and find a place for the rest of the peppers....

We've set up the temporary meat bird houses (we'll use those for the first 2 weeks) in G's shop....this will make it a lot more convenient to check on the little chicks. Instead of going down to the barn, I can just trot down to his shop in the basement, and make sure all is well. They should get here Jun 4....

I'll try to take some pictures this afternoon and put them up! Sphere: Related Content

Peppers and Tomatoes

Just a few pics this morning....I gotta get out there and get some things done....

The Other day I potted up 6 of the peppers we started from seed....I've got them out on the porch in the daytime, but am still bringing them in at night. Up here, they really need to be in a greenhouse, but I doubt that will happen this year....we'll just do our best with them and see what happens.

(Just below the peppers, you can barely see the tomato greenhouse...I'll have to get some pics of that.)

Btw, yes we do have fencing up as a railing on our porch, lol! For now....it was like this when we bought the place and we think we know why....the previous owner's original intention was to run the porch right around the house....that never got done. And we haven't done it yet either! So for now, the wire fence railing stays!

Two Habeneros, they look

nice and healthy at this point......

I took a close up of a few of the tomato seedlings...see how nice and tall they are getting?

If they get too leggy, that's all the Better! When it comes time to transplant into the greenhouse, I'll pull off the lower leaves and bury the stems up nice and high in the soil = a much better root system for the tomatoes.

Tomorrow, we head out for a 2 day road trip, yeehaw! We've been working fast and furious around here, so I am thinking a mini-holiday is just the ticket for us to get away and have some fun!!!!

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Sunday morning

We skipped coffee at the neighbours this morning....we have wanted to have another clean up fire out front of our place. But each afternoon when we've been ready to burn, the wind has been coming up....



This morning, it was nice and calm, so we got the fire going and kept cleaning up around the woodroom....


We have lots of these on our property...they're Saskatoon berry bushes...yummy! And now they are just coming into bloom.....

And during our cleanup, we noticed a bird's nest amongst the wood we had standing against the woodroom....so we checked it out...empty!

This afternoon, the Gman is going to do a few things on the truck...and I'll find something to do! It'll be easy, there's quite a bit still on the list! Sphere: Related Content

Dinner on the BBQ

Last night, we had homegrown pork steaks, along with potatoes on the grill, and homegrown beets from last year. We're buying potatoes, we ran out of our own in March. We didn't have a very good potato harvest last year - hopefully that changes this season!





We were busy working outside again yesterday, so we made an easy dinner. I sliced up some potatoes, put a bit of olive oil on tin foil, then put the potatoes on there. Sprinkled about 2 tablespoons Paremsan cheese, then grated some mozzarella and cheddar cheese and put that on top. Some salt and pepper went on there, then I wrapped up the tin foil and we threw it on the bbq.






Later we put on a few pork steaks, grilled one side, flipped them over and put BBQ sauce on there....














warmed up some beets, and had a really good yet easy meal!

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Ok, well, we've been getting a lot of stuff done in the last few days...we feel like we have! This morning we had a clean up fire again down around the barn...

Yesterday we put up a temporary chicken coop with a run. We want to find out if our oldest three hens are still laying...we think so, but we want to be sure. So, over time, we can move birds in and determine who is laying and who isn't.

We put up the tomato greenhouse, and dragged the pieces out for the other greenhouse....I finished planting potatoes in the main garden, and put straw down on the main pathway.

I potted up 6 of the peppers, they'll spend their days on the deck and I'll bring them in at night (for awhile anyway). We hung up the hammock near the new sitting area. If you look at the pic, you'll see a large rock....the Gman put that inside the yard (using his machine) and then let it roll down the slope.

Eventually, I would really like to use that rock as the table for us to use when sitting in our lounge chairs down there...we just gotta roll in down the hill a little more!

And today I got a good start on the comfrey bed.....this is as good a place as any, and comfrey can be very pretty, I think I will like the way it looks against the rocks in the background!

This morning, we worked on this hideous part of the property (the woodroom)...I Hate the way it looks! But, it's not that high on the priority list.

We're stuck with this woodroom for at least another year. So we figured we would take a

morning and start cleaning up around it....

The Gman took down a few of the trees, so the remaining ones will have more space....

Then we sorted out a bunch of the wood and made a burnpile. We would have had a fire today, but it got a bit too windy later in the morning....hopefully that fire can still happen before summer...

Took a late afternoon walk in the garden...we have about 5 or 6 asparagus up. Fantastic! We started this bed last year, so we have been hoping and hoping the asparagus would make it thru.

We'll pick a few spears over the next week, and then leave it alone. This should help it get well established.

I noticed that some of my chives are heading up, to send out flowers....gonna be pretty!

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Planting Mangels and Sugar Beets

We got quite a bit done today - the sun was out but it was quite windy...actually very Nice for working outside most of the day....the Gman tilled the old pig run a few days ago, so I got in there this morning and planted.....2 rows of sugar beets, 4 rows of mangels, 2 rows of rutabagas and 5 rows of Russet potatoes....

Sugar beets going in.

Mangel seeds, I put them in about 8 inches apart, that might be a bit much, but I don't want to have to thin them too much. I'm hoping that, if I have to thin them, there'll be some good root growth there, for me to feed to the animals.

The soil was Wonderful to work with, so much easier than our main veggie garden.... pic on the left.

Then...in our main garden, I got another 6 rows of Russet potatoes put in....we hung up the tomato greenhouse, which needs the plastic hosed down to clean it....started edging the veggie garden.







We're having a lamb roast with roasted potatoes and carrots for dinner tonite....can't wait, it's in the oven now.... Sphere: Related Content

Turned Off the Seedling Lights

This morning, I brought up the last trays of seedlings...more zuccini, the few Table Gold acorn squash that germinated, and my couple of rudbeckia....so that means it was time to shut the seedling room lights off....

I'll have to get in there again to clean up, the potting room as well, it's quite a mess. But that can all wait until I have the garden in completely.

Nice and sunny here this morning, so it's almost time to get out there and try to get some more potatoes in! I'll try and take a few more pics at some point today.... Sphere: Related Content

Just a Couple of Pictures

Just wanted to post a couple of shots of the seedlings....my living room is becoming inundated with plants!

In this pic are a bunch of the tomatoes that I transplanted, peppers, dill and the few sorry looking red cabbage that Finally came up....






Here are more tomatoes, marigolds and one of two trays of zuccinis....

Outside hardening off is another tray of zuccinis, plus 2 trays of sugar beets (those beets should have gone in the garden days ago, but well....they aren't in yet!




At this time of the year, I am usually feeling overwhelmed....mostly with trying to get the garden in....and the weather isn't really cooperating. It's been quite rainy here the last few days, and the garden is pretty wet....too wet actually to get much done in there...


We were in town today, and that took up the morning and most of the afternoon...the other day the Gman made up 4 gates for the various gardens we have around here, to that kept him busy.

In between the rain showers, I got the broccoli, cauliflower, and peas planted...the Gman helped me make up some pea fencing. I also sowed peas all around the garden's fenceline, plus the one double row in the garden should = lots of peas this year. They are so labour intensive but I love having them in the freezer for the rest of the year...nuttin tastes like fresh garden peas! Sphere: Related Content

How To Make Venison Snitzel

Last fall, the G man got a deer...so we have some vension in the freezer....our most favourite meal of all is....vension snitzel. Here's how we do it:




Take any lean cut of venison (which is Almost any cut, it's so lean)...slice into 1/4 inch max. slices. Use a meat tenderizer tool to pound the meat pieces, you want them to be really really thin...








Dredge well on both sides in flour

Drop into well beaten eggs...coat well on both sides

Then drop into bread crumbs..coat well on both sides.

Meanwhile, heat up the deep fryer....drop in the venison, using tongs....make sure the pieces don't touch each other....

We put ours in the oven at 200 just to keep them warm, while waiting for the rest of dinner.

Meanwhile, slice up a bunch of mushrooms...and sautee in butter...add some oyster sauce...sautee, then keep on low until rest of dinner is ready....
















Then wash and slice up a bunch of potatoes for French Fries....put them in the deep fryer once the snitzel is done and keeping warm in the oven.....


Bon Appetit! This was So Good....our favourite meal! Sphere: Related Content

More Gardening and Barn Work

Well, we put in a good day here today...again. The Gman finished hooking up the lightswitches, outlets, lights etc down in the meat bird room. Then he started planing old no-good-for-nothing pieces of wood. We'll need quite a few shavings for the meat birds, so he got a good start on the supply.

I planted 9 rows of potatoes: 1 each of Banana, Purple, Caribou...and the rest in Yukon Gold. Also, planted one row of onions. The girsl worked in their 2 beds. The dog waded in the creek overflow....it was quite a bit cooler today, a lot of cloud cover, thank goodness! Makes it so much easier to be working outdoors..... Sphere: Related Content

The Cabbages Are In!

Yesterday I set out to get the rest of the upper garden planted....in went the cabbage transplants.



In the pic, the area that looks dry is set aside for the broccoli and cauliflower transplants....I've got those outside now hardening off. They should be able to go in in the next day or two....





These cabbage plants are from two year old seed, obviously still viable! I've had to water them many times yesterday as it was so hot here....today so far, we have seen a little rain but not enuf to amount to anything. Now the sun is out and it looks quite warm out there again.





Aside from cabbage, I planted a partial row of radishes, a few rows of kale, one row of rutabaga and one row of mangel.

Here's a pic of our garden taken late yesterday....the whole bottom area needs to be planted still....gulp!

If you read my earlier post on mangels, http://countrylivinginacariboovalley.blogspot.com/2008/03/mangel.html you'll remember that we want to grow these so we will have lots of food available for when our pigs arrive Next year....this should help reduce (and hopefully eventually eliminate) the feed store bill! If all goes well with growing mangels this year, we will gather seed from them the following fall.

The rest of the mangels will get put in the "animal garden" down close to their run. But I wanted to have one row in our main garden, so that I can observe them on a daily basis. I'm quite sure I'll be spending a lot more time in our main garden, than down below in the animal garden. And of course, I am pretty curious about these mangels!


And here's a pic of Stubby....he's really growing!!


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Gardening!

Well, I have part of the upper garden in....I used my Vesey Seeder for the job. I'm happy with what it did, and it sure shortened the amount of time to get the seeds in!

I planted lettuce, beets, carrots, spinach and chard. This year I am going to make the rows Much Closer together....we have a Lot of veggies to grow. I'll take the chance that it's going to be a pain in the butt to get in there to pick the veggies, but I'm thinking this way it will cut down on the amount of weeds too...well, we'll see what happens. Life is full of chances, right????

I've been working on the new seating area, here are two pics....keep in mind it's still definitely a work in progress!

Hmmm, I thought I had taken a pic of the chairs at the bottom of this path...but I guess not. I took this pic while Sitting in the chair...ahhh, oh well! It's not done anyway, there will be more pics coming.

I mixed some good dirt with some of our aged compost/manure and backfilled behind the rock wall. Then I planted some annual wildflower seeds. Hopefully, IF I remember to keep misting it several times a day, we will see some pretty flowers come up...I hope so!

I've got some of the girls working over the third strawberry bed....more girls are still over working that middle berry bed, gotta keep them busy! Keeps them out of trouble :)

And I managed to replace the rest of the mother strawberry plants with babies, so I think that means I now have two of the three beds finished....as long as I can keep up with the weeding! And I will try my best to pick off the flowers with these babies, so that their first year can be spent developing strong roots.....

It's really quite hot outside right now, so thought I would take a break and go in where it's nice and cool....now I think I'll take my ice tea and go sit in the seating area, lol.....it's under some spruce trees, very nice and cool!

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Transplanting Tomatoes

Today I got the tomatoes transplanted....

I save all our beer cans...these are the "kits' we use to make our homemade beer....anyway, I punched 3 holes in the bottom of each can, and filled about 2/3 with Sunshine Mix. Add a bit of water, then get ready to plant.

I pinched off the bottom two leaves on the tomatoes, and buried them deep up their stems into the soil....this will help develop longer roots on each plant.

The tomatoes will be able to stay in these pots until it's time for them to go into the garden..about 3 weeks from now....

Then I brought them upstairs and put them in the windows in the living room....the overflow has ended up on the high table in the living room.

I've been moving and rearranging plants upstairs...the cabbage is still spending the days outside, hardening off. I'll be able to put them in the garden in a couple of days.

I also started bringing out the sugar beets today (two trays worth) and setting them on the porch. Time for them to start hardening off too...if I'm lucky, I'll be able to spend some time planting in the garden in the next few days. Next up for hardening off are the broccoli and cauliflower seedlings.

The G man got the final wall (future swinging double doors) up down in the meat bird room, so we got that insulated and tar papered this afternoon.

And...in the last couple of days I have started work on our seating area...it's turning out ok, still lots to do there tho! Maybe tomorrow I can take a few pics and get them posted.....

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Rainy Days

Well, we had a rainy day yesterday and it looks like it's setting up for a rainy morning here too...this afternoon is supposed to be better....

We're off to town later today, I have run out of Sunshine Mix, so need to pick more up. I Have to get these tomatoes transplanted....if I have time later tonite, I'll do it. Otherwise it has to get done tomorrow....then they can come upstairs and sit in the windowsills.

I moved up two trays of sugar beets to the living room...it's Starting to look a bit like a jungle in here!

Some of the sunflowers poking up already....

So yesterday, I brought up all the seed potatoes from the cold room. I put them in the pantry in the kitchen, where it's much warmer, but dark. I'll let them sit there until the weekend, see if I can get more sprouting before I plant.

We're gonna need a couple of doors down at the barn, for the meat bird room. So, since our long term goal is to change our basement configuration around, I took off two doors to rooms down there, and brought them down to the barn. The Gman is going to make one door, the main entry door...he wants to put a window in it, which I think is a great idea.

That way, whenever we walk thru the barn, we can just peek thru the window to see how the meat birds are doing....they don't need a Lot of constant care, but they do need to be watched over, so this will help!

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