It's been a busy week here on the Funny Farm.  We've been harvesting, building and doing a lot of sweating!  I don't mind hard work, but I really hate working in the heat.  My ancestors were from northern climates.  I get to the point of passing out here in the heat.  So though it's only mid-day, I'm taking a break and updating now and will stay indoors - with the AC on! - until the sun follows it's path a little longer.

Having the AC on is nice!  Not paying for it - even nicer.  I not only have the AC on, but also a ceiling fan and a stand alone fan.  (did I mention that I don't "do" heat?)  Kevin however is cold so went outside to warm up.  

Oh and before I go on - the electric meter is reading 11 at almost 5 pm - we started out at 52 when they turned the solar power on.  Yeah Air Conditioning!!! 

The chickens had pecked all the green off the potato plants, so we weren't sure if they were even still growing, or sitting under the ground rotting.  We decided that it was time to go digging for treasure!

These red potatoes were the first ones we dug up.  Our original idea was to see if they were still growing, I can tell you that they are not growing any longer... we didn't stop you see, we continued on until all of the potatoes were dug up.  So they aren't all that big, but we're still proud of ourselves.

I do want to point out that even though you see Kevin working and not me doesn't mean that I didn't work (Erika this is for you! ha ha ha)!  I just am the one who grabbed the camera.
 

I have to say that potatoes were the easiest thing I've ever grown!  You plant a spud with a couple of eyes on it and a few days to a week green stuff grows up the top.  You dig in the dirt at any time and there are little roots - potatoes - ready to harvest at any stage.  The small ones are called 'New Potatoes'.  To store potatoes I've read that you don't wash them off.  And you store them in a dry location at the lowest temperature possible without actually freezing them. 

When I was a girl we had a neighbor I used to go visit.  Her name was Lynchka.  I am probably spelling that wrong.  She was Eastern European, probably from Czechoslovakia  (Which isn't a county any longer - the country split into two separate countries in 1992)  where many of our neighbors were from.  She was a very old lady who lived alone.  I'm sure having a little kid asking a million questions didn't really constitute as 'company', but I thought I was being neighborly.  I remember that she used to eat the dandelion leaves from the grass and chewed on egg shells like I chewed on gum.  I tried both - the leaves without cooking them - very bitter, and the egg shells were just horrid!  My guess now is that the egg shells were for calcium.  Anyway, she had a root cellar (which was the point of my telling you about this woman who fascinated me when I was young) and I loved to go into it for her to get potatoes, onions and apples.  It smelled healthy like dirt and sweet like the produce that was stored there. It was nowhere near freezing, but it was always cool, even in the heat of the summer.  I fantasize about having a root cellar some day.

Thinking of Lynchka reminded me of the time I spent living in Germany. 

When I was about to go in to 6th grade, we moved from Ohio to California, so I grew up in a town that was called El Toro but is now called Lake Forest.  Part of the town had a section where the elderly lived called Leisure World - which became a city in its own right.  I started to see the elderly as weak, sickly and frail.  They weren't useful members of society - they were a burden on their families.  They lived in nursing homes, not with their children.  They seemed like they were 'thrown away'. Who would want to grow old?!  No wonder people have plastic surgery - I don't want to grow old if I have to be like that.

But when I lived in Germany (I had just turned 19 years old), I saw another way for the elderly to live.  They were very active members of their community.  I would see them outside with their thick ankles, sagging socks and sensible (comfortable) shoes - digging in their gardens.  They cared for their grandchildren.  They participated in Volksmarches  ( To learn more visit this link: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art41980.asp) and did the daily shopping.  Growing old wasn't a horrible, scary thing to me any longer.  I have a choice, but I need to get strong now and continue to be active if that's the qualify of life I want for myself. 

Our garden is ever changing and evolving.  This is a picture of one of our butternut squashes on the vine still.  We harvest them once you can't easily pierce the skin with your thumb nail.  Then it will store for a long time and I can use it when I'm ready for it. 

As we are going to be making major changes in the garden, we are not planting anything as we harvest.  So there are a lot of bare spots and it doesn't look as pretty as it used to.  But there is a method to our madness.  We are putting in raised beds (as you may already know from the June 19, 2010 update).  This will do a couple of things - we will have more active growing space, less weeds and bugs (hopefully) and much less bending.

We were going to use wood for the raised beds.  It was going to cost a small fortune - to the tune of $1045 for the wood alone.  That doesn't include any dirt/soil/filler to fill the beds, or the cost of seeds and plants. 

We came across an idea on the web about using cinder blocks. (http://gardeningrevolution.com/Gallery2.html) I priced them and found out that they would be much cheaper to purchase than the wood.  It would be something like $800 - $245 savings.  But I thought I could do better than that and started looking at my local freecycle and craigslist.  I found blocks for 35¢ each that someone was trying to get rid of from their back yard.  They were moving and wouldn't be completing the job they had started.  We got around 300 of the 1000 blocks we need.  4 truck loads of hauling blocks.  Whew!  Kevin and I did the first load together.  Then I did load 2 by myself.  Load 3 I picked up and together we unloaded.  Load 4 we both picked up and he unloaded by himself.  Can you say 'muscle fatigue'?  I'm pooped!!!

Can't you just see herbs, geraniums and nasturtiums coming out of the small holes while tomatoes and peppers grow on the inside? Something that trailed down in front of the bricks.  It's not elegant, but I think this is a perfect solution for us.  The blocks will warm the soil up faster in the Spring so we can plant sooner.  I can even have mints because they can't really spread their roots.  We will be putting wood chips between the garden beds for walking paths.  

Other than finding more blocks cheaply, our next challenge is what to fill these boxes with.  Where are we going to find that much soil that is healthy and weed free?  We can buy it bag by bag at Home Depot - but OMG that will be expensive.  I do have a call for clean fill dirt out of freecycle... but I still will not know what I'm getting.  I don't want to add pesticides or any other types of poisons into our systems - that's our whole reason for doing this.


I found a book with a copyright of 1975 at the used bookstore.  It's called "More Food from your Garden"  The world-famed Mittleider Method of grow-box greenhouse gardening.  Ok, in 1975 didn't they tell us that poisons were good for us - they just killed the bugs... they didn't tell us that they gave us cancer.  So I'm skeptical.  I looked up the Mittleider Method online and guess what - this practice is still out there... http://www.foodforeveryone.org/


It says to make your box - any size or shape that fit your needs.  



For filler it recommends one of the following:
50% blowsand with 50% peat moss
75% sawdust with 25% fine sand
50% perlite with 50% peat moss or sawdust
50% sawdust with 50% styrofoam pellets or pieces
(Don't use shavings it says)


For a 5' x 30' box Spread 10 pounds of Gypsum (lime) evenly over the top and then level the contents out so that there is no hump in the middle of the box because then it can't be watered correctly.  Don't tamp the mix down.  Mix this all together and water - not so much that you could wring water from it.


Note: in Arid areas, use Gypsum in areas with more than 20 inches of rain annually use Agricultural or Dolomite lime.


Pre-Plant Fertilizer
4 pounds double superphosphate
2 pounds potassium sulfate or chloride
4 pounds sulfate of ammonia
2 pounds magnesium sulfate
2 ounces (60 grams) boron (sodium borate or boric acid)


Spread this on top of the growing medium in the box, then add 5 pounds of gypsum again on top of the other fertilizers
  
Mix everything together again.  Add enough water to make a wet mixture.  Don't over fill the box.  And finish by leveling it all off.  Then sprinkle lightly with water to keep the soil surface from drying out.


Then plant.  Grow and harvest... Once harvested, apply the pre-plant fertilizer mix again, mix it in and replant.


There is also a Transplant Solution
A 5 gallon batch will treat 40 plants
5 gallons of water
2 1/4 ounces ammonium nitrate
1 1/2 ounces Diammonium phosphate
20 grams potassium sulfate or chloride
20 grams magnesium sulfate (Epsom Salt)


Where in the world would I get those ingredients?  And is any of that bad for me?  Aren't these chemicals?  Or are these found naturally and good for the plants?  This is where I say I'm still a novice... I'm used to planting in the dirt - on the ground.  


http://foodforeveryone.org/faq/index.php?page=index_v2&id=73&c=root
This page is about the Mittleider Method and says it's "Organic" according to the USDA


Does anyone have an opinion on this?  Share on the Guestbook.

My dog Bo is an old dog.  He's maybe going on 13 years.  I've had him since he was 10 weeks old and he is my baby in every sense of the word.  Well as an old dog, he doesn't see like he used to.  (He also has no sense of smell and no sense of direction - he's a hazard to himself on the best of days.)  So we were working late one night this past week unloading bricks and we stopped to rest.  Bo & Max wanted to be outside with us, so we let them out.  Somehow Bo managed to get himself into one of the bed areas that were still just string around a stick pushed into the ground.  Every time he tried to go somewhere he ran into the string that he couldn't see.  We laughed and laughed, but also felt sorry for him.  I took down the string on one end and tried to lead him out of the box.  He was successful partly, until he ran into another string from another bed and ran back to where he started.  Poor puppy!  He was so confused.  Finally I had to hold him by the collar and half guide, half drag him back into the house.  


Now that the blocks are up, he can navigate fine. (So long as he stays on the one side of the yard - the other side isn't finished yet and is still in string.)  And he's been having fun following after chickens and ducks through the 'maze'.  The birds of course think they are being chased, but he just walks behind, tongue hanging out, smile on his cute little face and a sparkle in those ever so dull eyes.

I didn't give you much of a duck update last week, and they were still new to me.  But this week I've made up for it and have pictures to share.  I recommend that you look back to see how small they were just 3 weeks ago - two of them fit into Kevin's one hand.  Now each is definitely a handful.


The ducks graduated from being kept in a container in one of the spare bedrooms to living the life of luxury inside the chicken run.  Day 2 of their outside home yesterday and we got home late last night from picking up more blocks.  We couldn't find them anywhere.  They usually sleep in the shade under the swing, or under the potting bench.  They weren't there.  We looked in their new bed, they weren't their either.  Now these have become Kevin's 'babies' and he was getting a little concerned.  I decided while he was looking for the ducks in the yard, I would look in on the chickens and lock their coop.  They put themselves away each night now and they all like to sit on the TOP wrung of their roost - and fight over space.  As I was counting: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10... I happened to look down on the ground.  There were 2 little ducks, cuddled up nice and warm below the chickens who were having 'target practice'.  Yep, it had been raining poop from above, right onto the duckies.

George is NOT a fun rabbit.  She is the softest thing I've ever felt, but she doesn't like people.  Trying to catch her has become an ordeal, so we've given up and just let her run around in the back yard day and night.  I just pray that she hides well if the raccoons ever come back. (Old story before this site - raccoons in the house through the doggy door - uneaten dog food was their treat.)


George isn't afraid of us, she'll come right up to us - just out of our reach.  She hides out under the shed most of the time.  Rex lays in the shade up against it like he's guarding her.  She comes out from time to time to eat, explore or to get a drink of water.  But please she begs - don't pick me up!


  

"I went to the animal fair,
the birds and the beasts were there.
The old baboon by the light of the moon,
was combing his auburn hair.


The monkey he got drunk
and fell on the elephant's trunk.
The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees,
and what became of the monk, the monk, the monk?
And what became of the monk?

Someday when I grow up, I'm going to have a farm with cows!  (I'm 46 - when is 'grown up' anyway?)


The cows I want are Dexters.  Read this which I got from here: http://www.purebreddextercattle.org/
"The Dexter is the smallest cattle breed in North America, with cows measuring between 36-42 inches and bulls between 38-46 inches in height. The breed was once quite scarce, but has enjoyed a surge in popularity as people find them ideally suited to the small farm or homestead. Dexters are known for being easy to handle, and easy to keep. The breed is considered triple-purpose; used for milk, beef, and oxen. Because of their versatility, Dexters are able to perform well in a variety of settings."

So in essence, I could have a full grown cow that is up to my hip.  Also they provide almost as much milk as a Jersey cow.  Something small isn't intimidating... not like that behemoth in the picture above. 

I went to the fair to do some research for Minis And More, my donut company which still isn't a viable business yet.  I have questions about electricity, looks, drainage, and liability insurance.  People were nice and talked to me when I asked them questions.  I found the name of someone who does insurance for events like this.  And I took pictures of the other things...

I also went to check out food and prices:

All of them had something to cover the wheels of the trailer.  Either a skirting, or bales of straw - but none had the wheels showing.  I don't have that - guess it's next on the list.

I think I'll stick to the small time stuff for now...

I just though that this was really cool.  Yes, I like the growing wall a lot - but what if you lived in an upstairs apartment and really didn't have room to grow anything?  Here's an idea...  It took a while to buffer, but it's worth the wait.  Find them at http://www.windowfarms.org/