Well, after a few months off, a lot has happened here. We had three baby chicks hatch with in the last few weeks. One of our hens decided to go broody. At first I thought she was just being mean. Then I realized she hadn't been going outside and that she seemed to just be sitting in the same nest box all the time. So, we let her do it. We didn't even know when she had started doing it. But after a few weeks one started to hatch. A few days later another one, and then another. there are 5 more eggs in the nest, but I don't think they are going to hatch. She gets off of them and goes outside now with the little chicks a few times a day. So we'll see, but I think its just the three. They will be some kind of mutt chicken too. The hen is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, and the rooster is a Rhode Island Red.
The starts are all coming a long great. I have a lot of extra brassicas after planting out a full 75' long row, but I think I am just going to try to make space for them in the garden. I have a lot of flowers going too. Both annuals and perennials. The lavenders ended up doing really well and I have about 160 of those transplanted into 4"pots. I am really looking forward to putting in the small lavender plot near the chicken house.
I have realized that I have learned a lot in the last few months about what I need to do for next year in the garden. And its all about mulch mulch mulch with leaves if I want to have a good sized area to plant early spring crops. The soil here is just sooo clayey. Which means it is just really wet in the spring and probably won't dry out until middle of May. Last year we rototilled the whole garden at the end of May because it was so wet. We'll see how this year goes, but it takes a while for it to dry out after all the rain. So, I decided next year I will be mulching a rather large area with leaves so I can just rake them off when I want to plant my spinach, peas, arugula, broccoli, chard, cauliflower..etc etc. This year, I am not able to plant most of that stuff because I allowed a lot of weeds to grow in the beds. So, next year if I mulch it, and then rake it off and just fertilize it before I plant, it should be good until tilling for summer crops. I realized I am unable to turn that amount of soil over by hand and pull all those weeds. Yikes. I am disappointed at myself for not having the foresight to see and know that I would need to mulch those areas. But now I do for sure! Then I can do crop rotation and be sure that the area that didn't get cover crop over winter, will for sure have cover crop the next season.
I think this year we are also going to try to move the greenhouse, which Casey extended so it is now16 feet long instead of 8 feet, into the garden. We can grow the peppers and other things in there that need it really hot.
This is short. I am going to bed!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
deer fencing deer fencing deer fencing and some seeds
Balancing the reality of the prolific quantity of deer we have in this vicinity with our desire to grow a large amount of food that deer like to eat has become a very strenuous task. When we first bought this property, deer and the issue of keeping them at large didn't even cross my mind. I suppose it was ignorance or maybe denial? But as soon as they began eating the buds off the roses that are 10 feet away from the house I knew we were going to have a big problem with them.
So, last summer we deer fenced our big garden...8 feet tall. We didn't think to tack down the fence in between the T-posts, and the deer crawled under the fence and then back out again after they had had their fill of kale pepper plants and all kinds of other veggies. I was absolutely amazed. They are smart.
This year, we have been discussing the different deer fence options. Since this amount of land we fence will be about 900 feet worth of fence. About an acre. We chose a good spot on our property that will get a lot of sun, and doesn't seem to get super water logged. Casey has estimated the fence will cost about $1200.00. and a lot of time and energy to put it in. We are going with 10 foot T-posts(metal posts you commonly see fencing any sort of livestock). And Half of the fencing we are going to be re-using some 4 foot fence from our property and adding a layer on top. While the other half we are going to be purchasing new fence wire. 6 foot tall and adding two layers of wire on top of that.
I am including this aerial picture of our property so everyone can see the plan......
Phew!!!!!
As for all these plants we are going to put behind this fence...? well they are coming.....
I called a berry growing nursery here in Oregon, called Weeks Berries. They are one of the few that grow many varieties of berries and sell wholesale. They are located in Keizer, near Salem. They grow most varieties of raspberries and blackberries you could ever want. But unfortunately they are mostly sold out for this season. So I will have to put my order in this July and get the berry plants in early Spring of 2013!!! It seems like a long ways away for the berries. Which I am kind of sad about because they are what I really want to get started. So this year we decided we will focus on annual veggies and see how they do in this new spot. Work on soil fertility ( it needs a lot of work), and plant more fruit trees.
We also bought some seeds today. Just the cool weather crops to start. Some brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts), spinach, some snow peas (the kind you put in asian stir fries), artichokes, asparagus (yes, I am starting them from seed. they will take like 3 years to get big enough to harvest but we have time. Plus we will be putting in some different varieties that we can get from the Weeks Berry people.)
I also bought quite a lot of flower seeds form Thompson and Morgan. They have a very large selection of perennial flowers and plants. The plan for those is to grow a lot of flowers to make arrangements and sell them in the roadside stand. I hope people that are going to or from the wineries around the corner will want to buy a few bouquets!! We'll see. This is all just such an experiment. The flowers are something I am really kind of excited about. I bought a lot of perennials and a few annuals. The plan is to turn the garden we had last year into the cut flower garden. That way, people can see them from the road when they drive by. This will maybe utilize those many hours I spent in flower arranging classes at Portland Community College when I was like 22.
I am going to spray our fruit trees we planted last year with a dormant oil soon as well...if it ever stops raining for a few hours. They will get a little protection from fungus and pests from that. I also need to prune them soon. First pruning!!! I was looking at them a week or so ago and picking out which of the new side branches I should prune off. This is very important as this will decide the shape and form of the trees.
The other project that is in contemplation is the lavender fields. Since this adventure is all on a shoestring... I will be starting them from seed this year. But they will definitely get big enough to plant them out this summer. I am going to put them near the chicken coop. So they will be relatively close to the house and will be a great view! Deer don't eat lavender!
And finally we had a lengthy discussion about where to sell this produce we will be growing. There are a few ideas for that. 1) roadside stand. Which we are allowed to have according to the county. 2) Spencer Creek Farmers Market 3) what I call come to the farm and get it....This is where we will send out an email to interested people and inform them of what produce we have available that weekend. Then we'll be open saturday and sunday for a few hours at the farm and people can come out and get what they need, see the gardens and pick their own if they want. 4) Possibly other markets during the week around Eugene
This is just for this first year, as we get accustomed to growing more produce than we can use ourselves.
Its all looking good though. I'll be planting the perennial seeds as soon as they show up in the mail box, as they take quite a while to get big. Exciting!!!! I can see Spring just around the corner.
So, last summer we deer fenced our big garden...8 feet tall. We didn't think to tack down the fence in between the T-posts, and the deer crawled under the fence and then back out again after they had had their fill of kale pepper plants and all kinds of other veggies. I was absolutely amazed. They are smart.
This year, we have been discussing the different deer fence options. Since this amount of land we fence will be about 900 feet worth of fence. About an acre. We chose a good spot on our property that will get a lot of sun, and doesn't seem to get super water logged. Casey has estimated the fence will cost about $1200.00. and a lot of time and energy to put it in. We are going with 10 foot T-posts(metal posts you commonly see fencing any sort of livestock). And Half of the fencing we are going to be re-using some 4 foot fence from our property and adding a layer on top. While the other half we are going to be purchasing new fence wire. 6 foot tall and adding two layers of wire on top of that.
I am including this aerial picture of our property so everyone can see the plan......
Phew!!!!!
As for all these plants we are going to put behind this fence...? well they are coming.....
I called a berry growing nursery here in Oregon, called Weeks Berries. They are one of the few that grow many varieties of berries and sell wholesale. They are located in Keizer, near Salem. They grow most varieties of raspberries and blackberries you could ever want. But unfortunately they are mostly sold out for this season. So I will have to put my order in this July and get the berry plants in early Spring of 2013!!! It seems like a long ways away for the berries. Which I am kind of sad about because they are what I really want to get started. So this year we decided we will focus on annual veggies and see how they do in this new spot. Work on soil fertility ( it needs a lot of work), and plant more fruit trees.
We also bought some seeds today. Just the cool weather crops to start. Some brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts), spinach, some snow peas (the kind you put in asian stir fries), artichokes, asparagus (yes, I am starting them from seed. they will take like 3 years to get big enough to harvest but we have time. Plus we will be putting in some different varieties that we can get from the Weeks Berry people.)
I also bought quite a lot of flower seeds form Thompson and Morgan. They have a very large selection of perennial flowers and plants. The plan for those is to grow a lot of flowers to make arrangements and sell them in the roadside stand. I hope people that are going to or from the wineries around the corner will want to buy a few bouquets!! We'll see. This is all just such an experiment. The flowers are something I am really kind of excited about. I bought a lot of perennials and a few annuals. The plan is to turn the garden we had last year into the cut flower garden. That way, people can see them from the road when they drive by. This will maybe utilize those many hours I spent in flower arranging classes at Portland Community College when I was like 22.
I am going to spray our fruit trees we planted last year with a dormant oil soon as well...if it ever stops raining for a few hours. They will get a little protection from fungus and pests from that. I also need to prune them soon. First pruning!!! I was looking at them a week or so ago and picking out which of the new side branches I should prune off. This is very important as this will decide the shape and form of the trees.
The other project that is in contemplation is the lavender fields. Since this adventure is all on a shoestring... I will be starting them from seed this year. But they will definitely get big enough to plant them out this summer. I am going to put them near the chicken coop. So they will be relatively close to the house and will be a great view! Deer don't eat lavender!
And finally we had a lengthy discussion about where to sell this produce we will be growing. There are a few ideas for that. 1) roadside stand. Which we are allowed to have according to the county. 2) Spencer Creek Farmers Market 3) what I call come to the farm and get it....This is where we will send out an email to interested people and inform them of what produce we have available that weekend. Then we'll be open saturday and sunday for a few hours at the farm and people can come out and get what they need, see the gardens and pick their own if they want. 4) Possibly other markets during the week around Eugene
This is just for this first year, as we get accustomed to growing more produce than we can use ourselves.
Its all looking good though. I'll be planting the perennial seeds as soon as they show up in the mail box, as they take quite a while to get big. Exciting!!!! I can see Spring just around the corner.
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