Inchworm's cocoon - busy spinning away

[inchworm]

I have laregly been avoiding the journals, but lately I have been enjoying the conversations on them. I thought I would start one, even if it is just a conversation with myself. That can be really helpful, you know I also hope to figure out how to post some pics soon.

Things I need to deal with soon:

Culling peaches;

Dividing and transplanting my irises;

The leaves on my roses are getting eaten - should I spray and with what??

I think I'm gving up on my tomato seeds I planted. The beefsteaks might do somehting, but the cherry toms are still only about 1" high. I should buy some from the nursery today.

Also think about buying impatiens for the window boxes and geraniums for the pots;

Hill the potatoes;

Pick some perenniels to fill in the border garden.

We also need to deal with our well soon. It has been a slow producer while my family has continued to grow. We could drill a new well, probably for about 10k. We've been researching putting in a storage tank in the laundry room which will hold 300 gallons in reserve. You set up a timer on the pump so periodically it tops off the water tank from the well. That way the full load of use comes off the storage tank and the well fills it back up slowly as it can. This option should be about 3k. It seems a gamble either way. No guarentees on success for the tank, no guarentee on price for the well.

 

[keljonma]

Hey, inch! I write my journal in a word document on my pc and then just copy and paste it to my journal on ss. It is interesting to look back at a prior year and see what was going on in the garden or farmyard......

I would use soapy water on the roses. Get underneath the leaves also.

I wouldn't give up on the tomatoes just yet. Plant them and consider it an experiment. Keep your journal up to date with what you did to process the seeds and planting & caring for them. Then take pictures before you plant them. Plant them in a trench, so you can get some extra rooting. They may be late tomatoes, but if they grow, you will have the ability to say "I did it!"

Can you get a dowser to help with the well issue? If you're like us and the pump won't run if the power is out, I would think extra storage of any size would be a good way to go. That way you can access the water when you have no power.

 

[Aidenbaby]

Maybe you are having the same problem with your tomatoes as I am having with my peppers. I'm just going to plant them and keep going. Worse case scenario I end up putting more tomatoes in instead.

Kel is right about the soapy water. You can use the water from washing the dishes too. Do be sure to hit the underside of the leaves.

I like the journals here too. You get more communication and feedback from the other SSers.

 

[inchworm]

Thanks! I'll save the soapy water from the lunch dishes.

This morning, ended up digging out a ditch by hand that drains the seasonal spring. Go figure - too much water where I don't want it and not enough where I need it! Someone came out last weekend to give us an estimate on installing a perforated pipe in the ditch. Hopefully, that will cut down on the ditch getting filled with wet leaves, silt, and roots, and help it flow better. We briefly tossed around an idea for connecting it to a cistern. Waiting for the estimate...

 

[Beekissed]

Glad to see your journal, Inchy! I agree with Keljonma...its interesting to look back and see what you wanted to do, what you have actually done and how one's goals have changed (or not) over time.

It will be fun!

 

[inchworm]

We had a 12-year old house guest (my oldest's best friend) this week. Her family needed to go out of town to deal with a problem and they asked if she could stay with us. Her visit was a real affirmation that we parent the way we do for a reason

Over the course of the week, I could see this child rubbing off on mine more and more and we started to wonder if we would ever get our kids back.

Well, she left today at 3:00. My oldest closed the door behind her and said, "Thank goodness that is over!" I was so surprised. We all sat down and had a talk. Both of my kids cried for 20 mintues, just letting off steam. I had no idea they were being so stressed by this visit. They then started to express all the things my husband and I had been observing over the week. I'm so proud of them for being able to analyze their relationship with this child and for being so patient with her this week.

I'm sure they'll still be best friends. But I think they now have a healthier perspective on it. It was a good learning experience for us all and my kids did a great job with it.

 

[TanksHill]

I am glad to hear all about your tomatoes. Please let us know how they turn out.

You must be very proud of your children and the job you are doing as a parent.

I look forward to hearing more.

 

[inchworm]

I added some nursery tomato plants to the garden. I planted most of the stem and pinched off the flowers. Of course, now the ones I started indoors have perked up and look more promising. It will be interesting to compare them against the nusery plants.

I also picked up some stevia. I've never used it. The price for it in the grocery store is somewhat prohibitive, but I thought I would try a fresh plant. Now what do I do with it??

Also tossed some watercress in the pond. It likes to grow in running water, so I tied a string around it and tied it near the base of the waterfall area.

I'm running out of dirt to toss on the potatoes I'm going to start tossing in dried leaves.

My broody hen is sitting one one chicken egg and 1 duck egg. The chick was due yesterday. I never saw any life in it when I candled it and it hasn't hatched yet. I saw the duck moving a week ago, but it is still now. It is due Sunday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My hen has been so faithful to her eggs, I hope she gets 1 baby out of it.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I hope your hen gets a duckling!! (we can add that to the list of "things I'd never thought I'd say!")

 

[inchworm]

The duckling pipped today. The anticipation is driving me nuts. You can feel the duckling wriggling and wriggling around in there.

In the irony of life, I lost my first hen today (after about 18 months). I let them free range on days when we are mostly home. We left for a little over an hour in the middle of the afternoon. When we got home, Iris, a silver-laced wyandotte, was dead in the back yard. No blood. No missing feathers. I never saw any sign of illness. Her neck was floppy, so I guess it was broken. If the predator didn't it take it for food, I can only guess it was a dog or cat. It is very rare for a dog to come on our property. We have 4 cats, but they are basically terrified of the chickens. I guess I'll never know what happened. But one of my cats won't look me in the eye....

Inchworm