Obnoxious Roosters, Planting, Mulch and Crazy Miss Izzy

Saturday started out pretty normal, load up the truck, and head to the Compound.  Along the way we filled up the truck.  Has anyone noticed the price of gas lately?  We live in Orange County, FL, gas was $3.61/gal on the way out, and the Compound is in Brevard County, where we paid $3.47/gal.  Makes you wonder what Orange County does with the extra tax we pay in our home county.  Doesn't look like things will get better anytime soon, as some oil refineries are filing for bankruptcy, and then throw in the threat by Iran to block the Straits of Hormuz.  We're in for some high priced gas.  There's already been a run on the pumps in Europe.  Here's the article.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092129/Petroplus-bankruptcy-Queues-pumps-despite-Coryton-oil-refinery-opening.html

Things are all ready tough, this won't make it any easier. 

We did get some more seeds planted in the garden;  cucumber, squash, spinach, lettuce, carrots and swiss chard.  I tried to pick my strawberries, but they had holes drilled in and through them.  I'll need to do some extra research to see what this could be, so I can stop the little devils from eating my favorite fruit. 

 For those of you who have followed along for the past year or so;  remember the tiny fish in our pond, the ones that mysteriously appeared all on their own?  Well, the Moose decided to feed them some dog food along the way.  They really like the stuff, and Miss Izzy can't eat this particular brand any longer.  But, she's determined not to share it with the little fish.

This is a dog that doesn't like a bath, won't get near a hose, and refuses to go outside in a sprinkle.

We did finish putting mulch around the outside of the garden fence, to help keep the weeds back.  The Moose did his quarterly cleaning of the fresh water container.

The Hooligan's enjoyed their day outside the chicken run.  We're up to around 4 dozen eggs a week, from the 9 layers.  The eggs are so big, I can hardly put the lid on the egg carton.

The roosters are still obnoxious. I avoid them, but each time we're there, they seem to take their aggression out on the Moose. He just rolls them over until they're too tired to keep it up. Then typically they leave him alone, but not yesterday. It happened more than once from each of the two roosters. We're thinking maybe only one rooster would be better. I would like the one we're thinking of getting rid of, to go to a good clean home. Not for fighting, and one where the owners care for their animals.

Looks like raccoons are again trying to get into the chicken run.  They have been biting off some plastic zip ties we used to keep the fabric roofing material in place.  We just replaced it again.  I'll keep my eye on it, and if it happens again I'll find metal ties.  Even if they get past the fabric material, they would still need to get through the chicken wire.  One of these days, I'll do an article to show what seems to work for us to keep the critters and snakes out of their coop and run.

Basics of Transplanting Tomato Seedlings

Planting tomato seedlings is not as simple as digging a hole, plopping them in, covering them with dirt and watering.  There's a little more art to the science.

You are not supposed to plant seedlings until at least 2 sets of leaves have formed.  Then when transplanting, you should plant the tomato up to the bottom of the 2nd set of leaves.  This goes against the "norm".  I always thought you planted in the same root base as in the container, but with tomatoes that is not the case.  The entire stalk up to the 2nd set of leaves is burried.

We had a cold snap, so we waited an extra couple of weeks before transplanting, and we actually had a third set of leaves form.  Those needed to be pinched off, disgarded in the hole (they'll just compost), and then plant up to the 2nd set of leaves.  This third set of leaves will actually become additional roots.  Pulling in more nutrition, and stablizing the plant as it grows taller.  Here's a picture of the third set of leaves, I removed before planting.

I've planted heirloom Brandywine, Beefstake and Speckled Roman, I've had good success with seeds from  Botanical Interests.   I still want to plant some cherry tomatoes.  I have 30 holes in the ground, and have 2-3 plants per hole.  After planting, mulch was put around them, and they were watered.  I'll keep you posted on their progress.

Trap Door, Shooting and Planting

Well, here it is!  Brought to you by my Padre'.  My Dad (Padre) worked on the trap door over the past couple of weeks, and here is the final product.

He and the Moose put a smelly concoction of old beer, wild hog food and chicken scratch as the bait.  Well, it worked on a raccoon, brought him out in daylight!  We'll see if we can draw in any wild hogs.

Daughter Number 1 got to shoot her 9mm today.  For someone who only handled a gun once before and for a very short period of time, she was a great shot today!  Annie get your gun!!  We'll make a redneck out of this city girl yet!

She took turns on the orange targets, and then she was on to hitting door hinges that hang on a cord.  Not sure if you can tell, but that shiny blur in the middle is the hinge she had just hit.

I got my tomato, cabbage, broccoli, and brussel sprouts in, but didn't get to the greens seeds.  I slipped and took a nice spill into the pond, then landed on my keister.  Between the spill, and the number of plants I put in, I was done for the day.  Thank goodness my Mom brought out lunch, so I didn't have to worry about that.

Weather was wonderful, again, and is supposed to remain that way for at least another week.  Our only concern this time of year is brush fires, due to the dry weather.  I'm praying for some rain.