Cherries!

We have finally started getting some production. Today, I picked a few Tomatos and Strawberries. I also noticed that the cherry tree looked too good to pass up. So, I grabbed Dearest and we walked down to the cheery tree. The cherry tree is the closest tree to the current house. Last year we moved in July/August and the tree was bare. We just presumed that it was a half-dead apple tree because it is beside 4 apple trees. Anyway, apparently late May and early June is a great time for cherries. My plans are to make Cherry Jam and hopefully get a few preserves for pie or cobbler.

• 3 oz. Strawberries
• 9 oz. Tomatos
• 3 lbs. 5 oz. Sour Cherries

New Garden

Over the past few weeks we have been starting a new garden at the new house. Well, we have finally gotten the Onions, Bell Pepper, Banana Peppers, and Jalapeno Peppers moved from the kiddy pool into a row. The Onions are closest to the fence as they are least likely to become horse snacks. Next is the Bell Pepper, Banana Peppers, and Jalapeno Peppers although they are all mixed together.






We also moved the turnips, carrots, radishes, and 1 beet into rows from the manure filled starting pot. The pot was an old flat bottom feeding bucket that worked really well.



Last Saturday, we planted some Bush Beans. I picked them up at some store or another. I was standing there checking out and saw them from across the store. It was a last minute kinda thing. Anyway, this is the first sprout.

On the far right row, you can see the Pumpkin, Crooked-neck Squash, & Buttercup Squash after transplanting them into the garden.

A view of everything so far...

Potted Garden

Living in Tennessee has become a time of new beginnings for myself. In addition to my time spent trail riding & fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains, I have continued becoming more agrarian in my lifestyle. Although I grew up farming and raising cattle with my family on weekends and occasionally growing jalapeno peppers, I never had a significant interest in farming. I don't know whether my agrarian behavior has increased as a result of the dismal economy, my interest in being self reliant, or whether I am destine to follow the path of my forefathers.

Dearest and myself have been in the process of growing things in pots for the last few months because we planned on moving . We are only leasing and I have become increasingly annoyed by others asking whether we are buying a house. I understand that the current administration is going to give a $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, but if the government wouldn't take so much of my money I wouldn't have to be concerned about the $8,000. Instead, my money is being given away so that others can buy a house.

Getting back to the potted plants. I have many things growing ranging from herbs to vegetables. In my first herb pot, I have dill, cilantro, parsley, and basil. As you can see, the basil and parsley are growing slowly.
This is our tomato plant. This tomato plant was grown locally in the Maryville area and for sale at the local Co-op. We still are unsure about the type of tomato plant, but I will note that this plant is loaded with tomatoes. It has enough that we have to prop it up against the swing.

My Concord grapevine is growing well. My next major project is going to be trellising the vine. Additionally, I have a Bluecrop Blueberry and a Chippewa Blueberry plants. Beside that is the thorn less Blackberries. I have kept them staked this year in hopes to restrict growth until I can decide where we will be next.

Dearest & I started a new lease on a house out in the sticks. If it wasn't for the daily commute I would probably want to get even further away from the city. Anyway, we have plans to plant some onions, corn, squash, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, turnups, radishes, and peppers. Hopefully, it isn't more than we can handle.

The ducks and chickens have grown quickly and are now spending their days out in the yard. Every morning I go down into the basement to get them. Most of the time the chicken is flying around, Odd Duck is out of the pen, and Rubber Duck is frantically trying to figure out how it can get out of the pen too. When I return home at night, this is the typical sight: food turned over, water spilt, lots of "presents" left on the back porch, and 2 starving ducks and 1 starving chicken waiting on me to open the basement door so that they can get in their pen to chow down. Spoiled ducks...

Memorial Day

On the way out to the new house, we stopped off at the Co-Op. I wanted to see if they had a better selection of hoes. They didn't have a great selection, mostly things made in China, but I did find a hoe. It was a Kodiak hoe with a lifetime warantee. I was standing at the checkout thinking to myself... I broke the 5 year warantee ho in 2 hours and the 25 year warantee ho in 2 minutes, why am I even wasting my time with a lifetime warantee ho? It will probably get broken while in the truck bed...

I should first say that, if the first two garden tools were hoes then the Kodiak isn't a hoe at all, its actually a bulldozer. It cuts through dirt, it cuts through grass, and has a huge head for making light work of anything that needs to be removed from the ground. We ended up getting more done today, than Saturday & Sunday combined.

We planted cucumbers, turnips, radishes, lots of beans, and one beet. We ended up quitting early because we were too tired from all the work we did.

Memorial Weekend: Sunday

Today, Dearest & I drove into town to grab a quick dinner before doing more gardening. After dinner we stopped at Tractor Supply to pick up some drinks and ask about the broken hoe that we had bought the previous day. Unfortunately, we did not bring the hoe with us, but they said we could bring it back and get a new one or a refund. Assuming that we would go back to town on Memorial Day, for dinner or more gardening supplies, I decided we might as well get a new hoe and not waste a trip to come back out today.

I went back to the gardening tool section. Everything was just as I had left it the day before. There was one more of the Ash shaft hoes, but I figured I should get the fiberglass shaft. The fiberglass was $25 but it had a nicer head (single piece head), was bright red, and it had a 25 year warantee. Relunctly, I purchased the fiberglass shaft hoe.

We drove back to the new house. I put on my gardening shoes and got to work in the garden. I was testing out my new hoe and making some rows. I was about a quarter way through my first row and the hoe was cutting into the ground pretty nicely. I put the hoe down to help Dearest and she picked it up to use it. She was looking at the head because it felt loose to her, next thing I know the head fell off the hoe. Yep, it was broken... best part was that it broke within 2 minutes of us using the hoe. Now I will admit, the ground hadn't been worked in a few years, it did have some rocks, and the ho was really dull... but for a $25 hoe to break within 2 minutes of being used?

We called it a day. Guess I will have to take both of them to be returned tomorrow.

Memorial Weekend: Saturday

Today, Dearest & I drove to town to get a few gardening supplies. The one thing I really wanted was a new gardening hoe. We went into the store and I found two hoes. One was a $25 fiberglass shaft with single piece head and the other was a $13 Ash shaft with the shaft welded onto a metal shaft attached to the Ash shaft. I really don't care for the look and feel of the fiberglass hoes. The Ash shafted hoe looked nice enough for light gardening. Plus it had a 5 year warantee.

After getting all of our supplies together, we headed to the new house. We haven't moved in yet, but we already have the garden set up. This year, we have been doing our gardening in traditional rows. Thats how my grandfather always gardened and that is the only way I knew. Regardless, after two hours of hoeing in the garden we are both starting to get tired. Unfortunately, we would both be done very soon.

At the two hour mark, we heard a ding and the head of the hoe flys off the end of the shaft. The ground wasn't solid and there weren't any big rocks. We still don't know what happened, but that was the end of hoeing for that day. We didn't get a whole lot more done considering the new hoe was broken.

We did get onions , bell peppers , jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, cucumbers, and potatoes transplanted.

Ducks!

Well, this weekend we were at the Co-op getting horse feed and Dearest saw the ducks and chickens. We talked about getting some, but dismissed it. On the way home, I was thinking of names for ducks and chickens... after coming up with Rubber Duck & Odd Duck, we went back to the Co-Op to get ducks and chickens. They are bright yellow and love shiny silver rings & braclets. Keeping them in the house, it started to get kinda stinky. After a few days we decided to give them a bath. They loved it!

We now moved the ducks and chickens to the basement to keep the smell down. Maybe it will work...