Sunday, March 28, 2010
Helen, Harriet, Clementine, ClaraBell and two others...
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Lessons thus far
Gardening is a very Zen activity. You can't really control anything, your patience is rewarded and hope for certain results should be abandoned.
Practical lessons thus far:
-Growing lamps need to be VERY close to the seedlings. Too far away and the seedlings get leggy. Leggy, in the world of seedlings, is bad
-It doesn't matter what the seed packets say - the "time to germination" will just depend so don't get frustrated when the 5-7 day germinating eggplants take 14 days
-When you first plant seeds - it can seem like you're planting waaaay too many. When they begin to sprout - it doesn't seem like enough.
-You have to be close to the seedlings. They need a lot of care and watering (literally) or they shrivel up. This can happen overnight.
We get the chicks tonight or tomorrow morning. We build garden boxes today. Exciting stuff!
Practical lessons thus far:
-Growing lamps need to be VERY close to the seedlings. Too far away and the seedlings get leggy. Leggy, in the world of seedlings, is bad
-It doesn't matter what the seed packets say - the "time to germination" will just depend so don't get frustrated when the 5-7 day germinating eggplants take 14 days
-When you first plant seeds - it can seem like you're planting waaaay too many. When they begin to sprout - it doesn't seem like enough.
-You have to be close to the seedlings. They need a lot of care and watering (literally) or they shrivel up. This can happen overnight.
We get the chicks tonight or tomorrow morning. We build garden boxes today. Exciting stuff!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Seeds and chicks
Hello. Yes, it's been a while. You're looking good - keep up the good work. I've changed the name of the blog. Moving on.
In a new chapter of our life - we're taking on a Victory Garden. Our suburban-farm will be comprised of a vegetable garden, herb garden, some fruit and a chicken coop with 4 layers.
I've felt compelled to learn how to make food out of dirt and little pebble-like things called "seeds". I'm not sure how good we'll be at this. I'd say that John has a closer heridatary link to farming but I seem to have more of an interest in learning how to plant seeds and pray the buggars turn into plants. Last week I planted a flat of heirloom vegetables and a flat of tomatoes (13 heirloom varieties). So far - after a week of waiting - about 5 plants have popped out of the soil - leaving about 90% of them unmoved and me worrying that I've planted bum seeds. This new hobby requires a lot of patience and reading the fine print on heirloom seed packages.
The other major component of our farm will be four egg-laying hens. We're really excited about the chickens. We can only have four because Longmont requires that a) you have a permit for Urban Hens and b) that you can only have 4 living in a coop 6 feet from your house and from your property line. Sooo...4 chickens it is. Since John grew up working for McMurray Chicken hatchery - he had a pretty clear idea of the rare birds he wanted to get. No Rhode Island Reds or CXRs for him...we're getting beautiful heirloom birds. Next Sunday we will become the proud owners of two Light Brahmas, one Silver Laced Wyandotte and an Auracana. They will lay brown eggs and the Auracana will lay blue and green ones. We get them as 2 day old chicks...so egg producing won't actually begin until September or so. We've got names picked...stay tuned.
The S-W family continues to do well. Ada-Ruth is the light of our lives and has been growing like a weed. The past 2 weeks have been a bit rough - she's had her 1st ER visit, 1st ear infection, 1st hospital stay, 1st IV, 1st diagnosis of pneumonia and 1st bout with thrush. She comes off of her antibiotic tomorrow and she's feeling much better. John and I are both battling some un-diagnosed malase...hopefully we'll all begin Spring feeling healthy. I know one thing for sure - I am ready for Winter to be over.
Last but not least - just in case you've been looking into career options during these economically difficult times...consider chicken sexing. Enjoy. Part 1 and Part 2.
I've felt compelled to learn how to make food out of dirt and little pebble-like things called "seeds". I'm not sure how good we'll be at this. I'd say that John has a closer heridatary link to farming but I seem to have more of an interest in learning how to plant seeds and pray the buggars turn into plants. Last week I planted a flat of heirloom vegetables and a flat of tomatoes (13 heirloom varieties). So far - after a week of waiting - about 5 plants have popped out of the soil - leaving about 90% of them unmoved and me worrying that I've planted bum seeds. This new hobby requires a lot of patience and reading the fine print on heirloom seed packages.
The other major component of our farm will be four egg-laying hens. We're really excited about the chickens. We can only have four because Longmont requires that a) you have a permit for Urban Hens and b) that you can only have 4 living in a coop 6 feet from your house and from your property line. Sooo...4 chickens it is. Since John grew up working for McMurray Chicken hatchery - he had a pretty clear idea of the rare birds he wanted to get. No Rhode Island Reds or CXRs for him...we're getting beautiful heirloom birds. Next Sunday we will become the proud owners of two Light Brahmas, one Silver Laced Wyandotte and an Auracana. They will lay brown eggs and the Auracana will lay blue and green ones. We get them as 2 day old chicks...so egg producing won't actually begin until September or so. We've got names picked...stay tuned.
The S-W family continues to do well. Ada-Ruth is the light of our lives and has been growing like a weed. The past 2 weeks have been a bit rough - she's had her 1st ER visit, 1st ear infection, 1st hospital stay, 1st IV, 1st diagnosis of pneumonia and 1st bout with thrush. She comes off of her antibiotic tomorrow and she's feeling much better. John and I are both battling some un-diagnosed malase...hopefully we'll all begin Spring feeling healthy. I know one thing for sure - I am ready for Winter to be over.
Last but not least - just in case you've been looking into career options during these economically difficult times...consider chicken sexing. Enjoy. Part 1 and Part 2.
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