A few days ago I referred to my use of tomato ladders (I called them “towers” which was a misnomer and has been corrected). If you’re interested, they are available from Garden Supply . While, at $12 each, they aren’t cheap, they will be the last tomato cages you’ll ever need to buy.
Archive for June, 2007
Tomato Ladders
Friday, June 29th, 2007New Chickens
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007Just to prove that not all insane people are locked up, I’m in the process of adding some new chicks. Not that I need more hens, we are already overstocked with eggs as those I added last spring are in full production, but I need some roosters. All the male chickens here–excepting the original ones that came in with chicks about 12 years ago–have been raised from eggs I either incubated or were hatched by sitting hens. As such, the current roosters are all decendants of either Pretty Boy or Floyd. The problem is, that line is down from 4 last spring to two individuals which are 4 years old and that is about it in chicken years. Therefore, when I noticed these last two were getting kind of wobbly, I figured I had to do something.
Now, while we like to have fresh eggs, keeping chickens is something of a hobby for me–I just like the idea of having them around. I especially like to hear roosters crow–it is a country thing, I guess, but those times when we had only immature roosters, I missed it. Also, since we let our chickens free range for much of the year, I like to keep a few roosters around to control the hens. Without them the hens tend to wander around without regard for their safety. Roosters will keep watch and, if necessary, fight off predators such as foxes and hawks–or holler like hell until help comes. Finally, I just like to keep the Pretty Boy/Floyd line going–this is easy to do since they were Anacaras so all we need do is hatch the green eggs.
At any rate, three weeks ago I put a dozen eggs in the incubator–I’d rather a hen sat on them since the chicks are easier to care for but we have nothing going “broodie”. Today, there are some eggs that are pipped.
And, as I write this, one chick has emerged.
I’m hoping for about a 50% hatch rate which would give me half a dozen chicks and, if the odds are right, 3 replacement roosters. Hopefully too, at least one of those will match their great,great, great grandfather in plumage and pluck. He will need it to ride herd over two dozen hens.
BTW, just to show how tentive things have been, since I put the eggs in the incubator three weeks ago, one of the two remaining roosters died. Apparently I started just in time as I don’t know how long the other will last.
Summer???
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007Summer supposedly arrived at 2 pm on Thursday but it is hard to tell here. Last night we golfed in sweaters and jackets because the temperatures were in the low 60’s and the wind chill was about ten degrees lower. Some places in the area got into the 30’s over night as well.
This has been a strange spring weather-wise. We will have days where the temperatures are ten degrees above average to be followed by days of below average temperatures. Then too, it has been dry–we’re about 3 inches under normal rainfall for the year, not overly dry but not wet either.
Latest garden up date
Friday, June 22nd, 2007I realized today that it’s been a while since I posted here—over a month, in fact. Well, this is a hectic time of year on the “farmâ€, what with the garden, lawn, pool, and flowers needing to be taken care of before everything gets too far ahead of me. Then too, there has been golf that seems to always push into the front of the line. As of today, I still need to get the potatoes hilled and some newly purchased perennials in the ground just to get reasonably even. I don’t like to brag, however, but I do have the carrots and beets thinned and all the row crops weeded.
Just a quick update:
My tomato house/row cover experiment has been a great success. The stuff under the hoop house came through in great shape and are looking good–including the above mentioned beets and carrots. As far as the tomato house is concerned, as of today I have tomatoes and peppers in bloom much earlier than I ever have for plants I started (the exception being those purchased in blossom). I expect I will have fruit around the first week in July assuming the weather cooperates. I finally removed the last of the row cover last weekend to allow full access for pollinating insects and to get my tomatoes caged.
In re to the latter, I’ve finally spent some money and purchased a few “Tomato Laddersâ€. I have always used those tripod, three-wire hoop “cages†that are sold at many garden centers and Wal-Mart. They have presented several problems. First, given that our soil is stony, just getting the flimsy wire, tripod legs into the ground has been tricky. The procedure usually consists of getting one or two legs to go down while the third hits a small stone an inch or two below the surface. One then has to pull that leg out, bend and probe with it trying to get it around the stone and then reinserting it until it either misses the stone or, in frustration, you bend it to the level of the other legs. Generally this makes the whole “cage†crooked which leads to the second problem: once the plants are full of fruit the cage can’t hold them and the whole thing topples over, completely negating the reason for the cages in the first place. Finally, after a year or so of use, the legs of the cages begin to rust away and the welds on the hoops break down so that, once you get a cage around the plant you find the whole thing is falling apart and useless.
Well, these ladders are made of 7mm steel that are both rugged and sturdy. This allows their three legs to be rammed into the ground in such a way that, unless they hit a sizable rock dead center, the legs will push passed most small stones. Also, they are shaped in such a way that they can be inserted beside the plant rather than over it so one can easily place them once the plants are large without causing damage. The ladder is in a U-shape with one side open so once it is in the ground, the plant can be gently pushed into this open side where it is either entwined on the horizontal pieces or strapped in with tape, string or twist ties. While the initial cost of this system is high compared to the wire cages, these things are sturdy enough to hold the loaded plants but will last for longer than I will. I’ve started this year with 10 of them and expect to add a few more each year until I have enough to entrap all my plants. I’ll report later how they stand up.