Just some fall pictures….

Storm clouds rolled in yesterday and it looked spectacular. The sky grew dark but the sun was shining on the other side. Made for some great pictures. Click on any image to see a larger version, so make a great screen saver. I do love fall.

I will be speaking to the Hudson Garden Club on October 20th at 7:30 about the farm, the blog and the benefits of organic gardening. It’s going to be a great presentation so mark it on your calender now, I’d love for y9ou to join me!  The program will will at Laurel Lake Retirement Center, off Boston Mills Road in Hudson. For more information, please visit the Club’s website at: http://www.hudsongardenclub.org/

 

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Summer’s coming to an end but life in the garden continues…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Summer’s coming to a close. The daylight is fleeting and the cool autumn air is whistling through the trees and soon their leaves will put on a spectacular color show and I’ll have to rake them into big piles and haul them to the curb. The garden plants are hanging on and giving all their energy to the fruits clinging onto their stems.

We picked some pumpkins yesterday and celery, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and one crazy zucchini. The root vegetables can still sit in the ground for another couple of months. On a cool fall Saturday afternoon, I’ll head out back and dig up a wheelbarrow filled with onions and carrots and celery. So, long as the Buckeyes are playing an evening game and as long as I have a hot cup of apple cider to sip on.

Jake will help. By help I mean pee on anything that’s still vertical. As the world’s only farm Chihuahua, he has to mark his territory right? Mindy is always a big help harvesting too. She doesn’t like the planting but is a patient harvester. Carefully looking underneath each vine and every leaf. She can have some hot apple cider too.

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How to Water Tomatoes and Santa Crow

Tomato Growing Tip: Water your tomatoes regularly before the leaves appear wilted.

• Watering tomatoes is the most important element in growing tomatoes
• Tomatoes are 90 to 95 percent water and need about 1-inch of water per week. More for sandy soil.
• Maintain even soil moisture.
• Don’t let the soil completely dry out.
• Soak the soil when watering down to 6 inches.
• Water the base, not the leaves.
• Never over-water, which can happen if your site has poor drainage.
• The best control for cracking is a constant and regular water supply.

   
Cucumbers need at least eight hours of sun every day and rich soil. They are frost-sensitive and prefer warm, humid weather to produce a good crop. Cucumbers are 90 percent water, so adequate watering throughout the growing season is vital to get a juicy crop.

   
There are four types of cucumbers: slicing, pickling, space-savers and the ever-popular burpless cucumber. These are pickling cucumbers. We like them cause they’re smaller, faster growing, delicious raw and make great pickles.

   
Look out! It’s Santa Crow. I woke up to find this in the rear field. My neighbors put him there to scare away the deer. He’s over 5′ tall and I think he’s doing his job. Jake saw him this morning and was barking like crazy. Aesthetically, it’s a bit of an eye sore but we’ll keep him till we can make something better. Ho! Ho! Ho!
   
Thank You All for over 1,000 visits in a month! Keep spreading the word about our little farm blog. We greatly appreciate it!

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Pumpkin Planting, Watering and Chickens

Note: If you get a quick moment, please take the poll by clicking here I’d really appreciate your feedback on how to improve the Blog. Thanks!

Uncle Keith came over last night to plant pumpkins with Max. He’s such a big help on the farm. Lucky to have a friend like him!

    

I’m planting Connecticut Field – Slightly flattened globe. Multi-purpose pumpkin that are really big jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween.

  
Hefty orange-gold fruits weigh 15-20 lbs. and have a flattened bottom to keep them from tipping. I hope they come in on time, This type of pumpkin takes 100 Days to Maturity.

   

I bought another hose (130′) to reach the rear field but still came up short. Need another hose to hook up to get to the watermelons.

   
I was able to water the corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, soybeans. It’s not going to rain for another couple days and I wanted to make certain those little seeds have a a bath.

   
The chickens enjoying the the cool evening breeze.

   
Grass Update: I cut it and now I just have to rake the excess straw away. If you look real hard you can see Max in the picture on the right. She loves coming to the farm with UK.

If you get a quick moment, please take the poll by clicking here I’d really appreciate your feedback on how to improve the Blog. Thanks!

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A Very Sun Funday

  
Zoey was baptized this morning at St. Mary’s in Hudson. Doug and Liz stood for her. It was a nice ceremony and we had about 50 guests over to the farm for lunch.

  
After the party, Max and Uncle Keith came over to play in the pond. UK was able to plant an entire row of watermelons in the rear field!

 
Chickens love scraps from cooking… any and all vegetables except uncooked potatoes but they really love scratching around the garden for bugs and worms.

  
Baptism by fire and finally the bird feeder from outside our bedroom window. If you give the birdies a feeder, they’ll stay out of the seed planted in the garden.

Have a great week everybody!

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A very pink evening

 
Peppers are starting to flower and I got celery in the ground.

 
Broccoli got in and tomatoes are loving this heat.

 
Brother Doug helped me plant, carrots, onions, basil, oregano, dill, thyme,  parsley, spinach and lettuce from seed. We cover them in straw to create a warm, wet environment to germinate the seeds faster. It also cuts down on weeds by blocking the out.

 

The sky turned a really crazy pink tonight so I ran outside to capture some photos. The sun painted the garden a haze of pink and the sky rumbled with thunder.

 
Just crazy cool and an eerie calm before the thunderstorms.

 
Fence and latch in the pink glow. I like the latch pic best of all.

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