Well another year coming down

[Rahmota]

Well this has been a fun week. Got the crops in and if everything goes the way it should and nothign comes up looks like another fun filled exciting reward of just breaking even. Yep I'm really rakin it in by being a farmer.

Still though I wouldnt trade it for being ceo of the biggest megacorp in the world though. I got the better life.

I can look out and know I did something. I can point out the history of this place to the kids and help them appreciate the world around them. I walk out in the middle of the field and sense and feel and know this is home, this is who and what I am. This is a part of me and my legacy. No matter where I go or what I try to do this land is me. I cannot deny it and was a fool for even trying to do so.
I can only hope and pray to whatever listens that I live my life here and that my kids understand and appreciate this place as much as me.

Anyhow. Just passing along some thoughts. Hope yours are as pleasant.

[SnapAddict218]

:cheers: Here's to you!

Uh!!! We just started picking corn on friday and already the BF is wound tight. I want some rain so he'll have to come home and take it easy. The beans are almost-but-not-quite ready, and he's thinking about that too.

Nobody works the earth to get rich, they do it because it's what they were cut out to do. The level or stress and the long, gruling hours spent coddling these plants out of the ground- no normal person would continually put themselves though that if it were all about getting rich.

I bet it feels good-I cant wait until we're done!!!!!!!!!

[FuzzyKitten99]

I hate derailing the thread, but being as you two are more experts on this than I am, I have a question about growing veggies... This is my first year doing anything like this.

I planted about 5-6 seeds for corn in my small garden earlier in the spring. I started the seeds in a seed starter thing -the little peat-moss things that you can get and fill with your own soil, etc, then plant after they have started. Well, the corn stalks grew to about 2 feet, and then just stopped. They were watered and fertilized nicely, yet, they didn't grow past that. I did see some ears starting to pop out, but they were the size of the baby corn ears in oriental cooking, but they certainly didn't look edible. They kind of had a mealy/mushy look to them. What happened? Did I do something wrong?

Then there were my pumpkins. I planted the seeds in the starter thing, but after I planted them in the ground, they just took off, and the vines consumed the whole garden-giant leaves and vines everywhere. I had already harvested the rest of my veggies, so there is nothing else to get in the way. But the problem is, all 3 vines have now just pretty much died off without producing so much as a gourd. There is one vine that is still surviving, but still no fruit. I would get tons of the flowers that the vine is supposed to get, but nothing amounted from them. I was told that the flowers indicated where a fruit was supposed to be, but nothing happened. I watered regularly and made sure the soil had nutrients it needed. Did I do anything wrong on this one?

[Rahmota]

Fuzzy: Well not knowing wher eyou are this has been a rough year overall for plants thanks to the lack of rain. I watered and took care of my garden and all and some of the corn still didnt come up right and some of it didnt give ears or if they did i got maybe some gi joe ears. I only got about 1 bushel of real eatin corn ears a couple watermelons and no pumpklins either. Tomoatoes we got goign spare. You want any? Same thign with the lima beans (which I'm the only one who eats them, friend in butter yummm) I dont know what exactly goes on. One of the joys and mysteries of farming/gardening. You can do everything absolutely right and still have random chance come out wit all ones. At least they are still edible, maybe not that sweet or what not but baby corn is still corn.

Snap: :cheers: right back. :) Like I said in another thread I dont think there's enough bandwidth to explain why I'm happy doing this. One year you're ready to tear your hair out scream and kick thigns and the next year you dance with joy and have a grin big enough to split your head open.

Yeah it does feel good to sit in somethign that isnt moving...Good luck with you and yours. Hope it goes well.

[FuzzyKitten99]

Fuzzy: Well not knowing wher eyou are this has been a rough year overall for plants thanks to the lack of rain. I watered and took care of my garden and all and some of the corn still didnt come up right and some of it didnt give ears or if they did i got maybe some gi joe ears. I only got about 1 bushel of real eatin corn ears a couple watermelons and no pumpklins either. Tomoatoes we got goign spare. You want any? Same thign with the lima beans (which I'm the only one who eats them, friend in butter yummm) I dont know what exactly goes on. One of the joys and mysteries of farming/gardening. You can do everything absolutely right and still have random chance come out wit all ones. At least they are still edible, maybe not that sweet or what not but baby corn is still corn.
I am in Anoka, MN, which is about 22 miles northwest of Murderapolis Minneapolis...

While we did have issues with lack of rain, I still watered the garden daily (nightly actually). I totally violated the water ban, but so did our neighbors behind us and next to us. We all have gardens of some kind that we have put a lot of time and money into, and I have both kinds now. Our backyards are shaped kind of odd and we have large, older trees, so hiding sprinklers is pretty easy and we all kind of cover for each other and even going so far as to overlap our sprinklers into each others' yards. So in all, the watering wasn't an issue.

And yes, some garden fresh tomatoes would be nice. I got quite a few from my plants, but I used them all to make a really good marinara last week. :)

[Rahmota]

Hmmm well fuzzy thats interesting.

I'm not real surewhat to tell you. It sounds like it just wasnt a good year. Did any of your neighbors have good gardens or did they have some issues too? If its just you look at the soil quality/water quality of your garden.

Shade is a major factor. Bacteria in the soil not enough good and too much bad can causes issues. Too many chemicals is another problem. General soil type can be a big factor. Age of the seeds. Quality of the seeds. Did you get the seeds from a garden store/seed supply store (I got mine at the local farm bureau supply house) or someplace like walmart or lowes? timing of the planting. Weather while the seeds where germinating. Weather during their growth phase. All kinds of factors and variables come into play with a garden.

Cool homemade marinara. MMMMMmmmm. We canned some, salad some, fried some, hamburgers, homemade catsup among other thigns. I'll see if the wife has any left or not. She was getting sick of looking at them and was talking about going to take them to the homeless shelter or foodbank or something.