Time To Plant

This week, it is time to plant your fall garden if you live in Texas or in another warm, southern climate. It is still horribly hot but, hopefully, it won't last much longer. I am done with the awful heat. How about you? Unfortunately, it is still coming.

Time To Plant - 8/28-9/3/2023

Monday, August 28, 2023

Good morning! It is time to plant your fall garden! Yay! Now if only the temperatures will cool down!

Good morning! Happy Monday and welcome to the work week! Unfortunately, it will be 101° today and for the next ten days, it will either be 99° or 100° plus according to The Weather Channel where I live. But it is still time to plant for your fall garden. If you don't yet have your seeds, hop on over to David's Garden Seeds® and make your order. We are currently having a 25% off sale on all of our seeds. I will try to get them out to you quickly since I am doing the orders. We still have some garlic for fall planting as well. There is no sale on garlic. That stuff is expensive this year so the sale does not apply to it.

It is time for me to go out and feed all of the animals and then I need to tackle all of the weekend seed orders. Thank you all for your orders. We appreciate each one very much.

Starting today, it is time to plant your fall garden and we will be planting ours this week as well.

I let the five Ideal 236 hens out of the kennel today and we had a sick hen that we put in to quarantine her. She was feeling bad last week so Matt took care of her. By the weekend, she seemed fine but this morning, she was just lying on the ground. She ate and drank but by 5pm she had checked out of this world and passed on to that great chicken city in the sky...Matt found her. I am glad he did because it just freaks the stuff right out of me when I find them that way. I have found quite a few that way and the first thing I do is scream. Then I feel so bad.

The Ideal 236 hens seem to be doing well. They have bonded with the Easter Eggers let out several weeks ago since they all lived together in the small hen house.

This evening, we got a little rain. I went to the house and pulled out our leftover pizza from Saturday night. I added mushrooms, onion, cilantro, and extra cheese to each piece and put it all in the oven for seven minutes. It came out delicious and I wished there were more. The phone rang and it was an Amazon delivery driver at the gate. I went out to get the packages and it was raining.

Then at 8pm, I had to go out and put away the chickens. The rain had stopped but I could not get the small chicken coop door shut. Somehow, the rain had moved dirt, not allowing the door to close. I jammed it up as best I could and went inside. We watched some Murder She Wrote. In fact, we started season four. I am loving the outfits that Jessica wears. She always looks so elegant, except when she is at home, of course. If you have not watched this show, consider it. It is pretty good.

Time To Plant

I know it is still summer, but it is time to plant your fall garden this week. Some of you may have a small one bed plot and it might take just a few minutes to plant some carrots or onions. Others may have two or three garden beds and you can plant your fall garden over several days. Hopefully, your beds are ready, you have added some compost and mixed it in and you have your seeds in hand.

Let's talk about planting your fall garden and let's do it right. The number one mistake new gardeners make is they dig a deep hole for a tiny seed. Planting the seed to deeply means nothing will come up.

Most seeds will do great when planted at a 1/4 inch. Some of the larger seeds can go a bit deeper. We have had people complain that our seeds did not grow, but when asked how deep did they plant them, they will answer "1 to 2 inches". When starting seeds, the most important thing to remember is not to plant them too deep. Here is what David has to say:

Placing the seeds in 1/4 inch of soil will do. Larger seeds like beans and squash can be buried at 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

As I stood out with the dogs early this morning, it felt cool at 74°. The roosters were crowing and I was starving.

This morning, Nacho and his crew are out here fixing things, including hen house doors that no longer open thanks to the recent rains, broken air conditioners, mow, and so many other things. David always has a list of things for him to do since David no longer has time to fix things. Running our business is a full time job. No, we don't have time to dig your garden or plant your seeds. We don't even time to do our own!

Meanwhile, Matt helped me move more chickens over to the big house. The five hens we moved over today are more Ideal 236 hens. Then, he caught one of the extra roosters and put him in the tiny chicken coop with the other rooster. I put on Facebook that we have two roosters to give away this morning, and someone said they want them both right away. Yay!

We now have one Ideal 236 rooster and two Ideal 236 hens along with ten Easter Egger hens in the small chicken coop. This chicken coop holds 16 so we are good. The tiny chicken coop will be used for isolation in case a chicken is ill.

The big chicken coop has 20 nesting boxes and plenty of roosts so it is where most of the chickens will live. We are already getting white eggs from our Leghorns who are 20 weeks old. Soon our Ideal 236 hens and our Easter Eggers will be laying and then we will have a good amount of eggs again. We are hardly getting any eggs at all from our older hens and they are beginning to molt. There are feathers all over the big house now. We have air conditioning on them since the weather has been so horribly hot, but they still are not laying like they should. The trick to having eggs all year long is to buy new chicks every spring because the first fall, they do not molt. They will keep on laying while the adults molt.

This is what I see while I am mailing out orders from my desk. I have view of the front gate so I can see customers coming in.

I have been sitting here in Fulfillment, filling seed and garlic orders.

The full moon looked very cool at 8pm.

When I went out to put the chickens away, the moon looked pretty cool up in the sky above the oak tree.

Time To Plant

Yes, it is time to plant your fall garden. The bold words below are David's.

The seed is a living embryo that contains enough energy to germinate and break the surface of the soil. If planted too deep, the seed will run out of energy and die before it breaks the surface. Once it breaks the surface, it produces the energy it needs through photosynthesis to keep growing.

It is best to actually measure how deep the hole is with a measuring stick.

Be careful that you do not plant seeds deeper than one quarter to one half of an inch below the ground.

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

I took this sunrise from my kitchen window. You can see my sweet potato vines growing in the windowsill.

Wow! The night went by so fast. I had a hard time falling asleep three times last night. It is time to get outside and feed everyone and then fill seed orders again. Have you ordered your fall seeds and garlic yet? It is time to plant your fall seeds now. Plant your garlic in October once the temperatures have cooled. It's still too hot to plant it right now.

It is currently 3pm. I filled orders and did social media posts for most of the day. We haven't had any customers. I was wondering what might be going on in the area. It is not a holiday.

As soon as I typed that, I saw a white truck in the parking lot, our first customer today. LOL!

Tomorrow, our two extra roosters will be going home with our housekeeper so this is their last night together in the tiny coop.

Tonight was supposed to be the Perigee Blue Moon and it was cloudy at 8:10pm when the moon was supposed to rise. It was so disappointing. Around 10:30pm, the moon was up high in the sky above the clouds. I am hoping that I will get to see this spectacular moon rising tomorrow night. This moon won't happen again for another 92 years and I am fairly certain that I will be dead by then. Interestingly, I did not get a photo but I got one last night and it looked impressive.

Also tonight, I saw that the Rossville Volunteer Fire Department truck was coming back from a fire in Lytle and a tire blew, causing the truck to roll over twice on FM 476. Two were taken to the hospital. No names were mentioned so we do not know if it is someone we know. We contacted our source and no information was known.

Time To Plant

Now that it is time to plant, and you have your seeds in the ground, you need to water them. Let's see what David has to say about watering:

Keep the soil moist, but not wet with a soil temperature of at least 70 degrees. Over-watering will drown the seed. A good rule to follow is the dirt should be moist so it feels like brown sugar up to your first knuckle. If it feels dry like salt, it is too dry. If it feels like wet flour then it is too wet.

Don't just look at the soil and think that it looks moist or too dry. Actually get your hand down in the dirt and feel it. Why? Because looks can be deceiving.

We have been busy all week long running the business but tomorrow morning, we will take time to plant for fall. At least we will begin.

Thursday, August 31, 2023

This morning, it was clean out the greenhouse day to get it ready for winter growing.

Some of the guys helping to clean out the greenhouse. This is the high tunnel David grows spring tomatoes in starting in December.

It is now 1pm and 99°. At 6am, it was down to a very cool and lovely 71° and then the sun came up. David and the crew went out back to plant but decided to repair things in the greenhouse today instead.

Kitty enjoying a quiet moment away from the puppies.

Matt took care of all of the animals this morning except the fish. I fed them and opened the store. Our housekeeper got here before 9am. She and her helper finished the house before noon and took away our two extra roosters that we were trying to give away on Facebook. Matt got them and we packed them up and sent them on their way to their new home.

We had a family come in to the Farm Store this morning for fall garden seeds. They said they knew it is time to plant but they have never before done a fall garden. I went around the store with them and helped them pick out the seeds of vegetables they enjoy plus a few herbs. They got a 25% off discount which is what we are offering today.

We still do not have any information on the people who were in the firetruck. Our source is checking but I have not heard anything.

I took this from my back deck because it was already too dark to walk out.

The moon rose 36 minutes later than last night so it was dark and the moon glowed orange. Of course, my phone did not do it justice.

Time To Plant

It is already Thursday of our time to plant week. Have you started your garden yet? How long should it take for the seeds to come up?

Most seeds should germinate in about 7 to 14, and sometimes even 21 days. But chili pepper seeds and strawberry seeds can take as long as 30 days from the day the first seedling comes up.

Also, know that in the garden, birds, ants, and other insects like seeds for dinner. It is possible to plant them and have them stolen, especially smaller seeds. Even worms will eat the seeds.

So don't be alarmed if your seeds don't come up in just a few days. Some may but most take at least a week, if not longer.

Friday, September 1, 2023

Our new flags look great blowing in the breeze this morning.

This morning, we left the farm at 8:30am to go to a new dentist in Pleasanton. We arrived and filled out paperwork. Then we were each taken into a hygienist room and had cleanings. I will say this hygienist was incredible compared to the one I have been seeing every six months for quite a few visits in San Antonio.

She did not tell me what a bad job I am doing. She did not threaten not to clean my teeth if my blood pressure did not calm down. She got in and did the job quickly and neatly. She used a tool similar to a Waterpik and the nerves in my mouth hurt but she did not measure and call out endless deep pockets and tell me I am not doing a good enough job of brushing. She told me I had very clean teeth and that I had one area way in the top back that had a bit of plaque. She got that with the water tool and that was that. I was pretty amazed and I will be going back to this dentist.

The dentist came in and said one molar with a very large filling is cracking and it is just a matter of time. I made an appointment to get a crown before that happens when I am out of town and cannot enjoy myself.

After that we got some groceries for the holiday weekend that we will not be taking. We will be open tomorrow from 10am to 2pm, closed Sunday as always, and closed on Monday for Labor Day. Starting at midnight tonight, we do have a special Labor Day sale that will end on Monday night at midnight Central time. The garlic bulbs are not on sale, but all regularly sized half ounce packs of seeds are.

I have been filling orders all afternoon and I have a huge bag to go out tomorrow morning. It is now 6pm and I am going to lock up and go in the house for some dinner.

The 9am opening time last Saturday did not work. No one showed up to shop until almost 10am so I rushed around for nothing. We will open at 10am and since everyone started showing up at noon when we closed last week, we are closing at 2pm. But don't be surprised if I am at the house getting lunch instead of being in the store to help customers. I have to eat or I start feeling sick. David has to have lunch on time or he will get sick now that he is diabetic. No, our employees will not come in to help us. I asked. They said no. This is why I took the summer off on Saturdays. I needed a break. I am in that store six days a week and now I am sending out all of the orders also since our order person quit about a month ago.

Come on by the store in the morning. I will have farm fresh eggs. We have some beautiful white eggs now from our Leghorn chickens and soon we will have other colors. Our Easter Eggers and Ideal 236 chickens will start laying any day now. They turn 16 weeks old on Monday, Labor Day.

Sunset was very pretty this evening.

LABOR DAY SALE

Use Code LABORDAYSALE starting at midnight Central from September 2 through Monday, September 4, Labor Day at midnight Central to save 50% on all regular sized half ounce packs of seeds. Use the code when you check out on the website. Seeds will also be 50% off in the store. Seed Collections are not a part of this sale. Garlic is not 50% off.

Time To Plant

Today's time to plant tip is about fertilizer. Do not fertilize the ground before you plant.

Do not use any fertilizer until plants are six inches tall. Then only use half of what is recommended until plants are a foot tall (12 inches). Use an organic fertilizer. Most chemically made fertilizers have salt in them. Too much salt in the soil and the plant roots will not absorb water like they should which will result in wilted plants.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Here comes the sun! I love the early morning pink.

Good morning! Our Farm Store is open and waiting for you. I have fulfilled all of this morning's orders. Only one customer took advantage of our 50% off sale and used the proper code at checkout. I find that very interesting.

I cleaned out the pond and I am filling it now. I took care of all of the animals this morning with no help. I let the five chickens in the kennel out in the big coop this morning. They did not have any trouble being social with all of the other birds. I am done moving them around for now.

It is 10:45am and 89°. We opened at 10am and we will close at 2pm today. So far, we have not had any customers.

It is now 12:30pm and the only visitor we've seen today was the mailman. A customer showed up about 45 minutes before we closed. We had a good visit and she found many seeds to take home for her fall garden as it is time to plant. Due to the lack of customer turn out, we will not be open on Labor Day. I will use the day to relax and do things I want to do. The store will open back up on Tuesday, September 5.

I put some chicken breasts in the crockpot for tonight's dinner. I got a recipe from This Is How We Bingham on YouTube for Hawaiian Haystacks so I am attempting to make it for Svengoolie this evening. It takes six hours in the crockpot.

The haystacks turned out very well. I made a blueberry banana cake which turned out to be very tasty. No frosting but I did put a bit of whipped cream on mine. It was a delicious meal.

However, the local San Antonio station had football on again plus the movie was the 1931 Frankenstein which we have seen so many times. Instead, we started watching 1923. Wow! It was very good. We got through all of the first DVD and started on the second.

When Matt went with me to put away the chickens, we pulled the kennel out of the chicken coop since I am done. I will need to clean it out and then we will put it away until next time.

LABOR DAY SALE

Use Code LABORDAYSALE from midnight Central on September 2 through Monday, September 4, Labor Day at midnight Central to save 50% on all regularly sized packs of seeds. Use the code when you check out on the website. Seeds will also be 50% off in the store. Garlic is not 50% off. This sale does not include seed sets.

Time To Plant

Here is some information on nicking and/or soaking seeds prior to planting. This is something that we rarely do. When I have soaked seeds that I got once from Baker Creek because that is what they recommended, they did not come up. I also planted some of the same seed without soaking. They did not come up either. In fact, I tried with four packs of the same seeds, but nothing worked. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. No, I did not try to get my money back. Gardening is an experiment, a gamble. Most of the time, it works. Sometimes, it does not.

Nicking seeds is the process of opening the seed coat prior to planting them. This process makes it easier for water to penetrate the seed coat and reach the seed inside its protective cover.

Soaking can help. Many hard-shelled seeds, such as nasturtium, sweet pea and morning glory, germinate better if they are pre-soaked. By placing the seeds in a bowl and covering them with warm water to soak overnight, you can help the hard shell soften so the seedling can emerge.

Now I have tried soaking pepper seeds mixed with fish fertilizer. The article said it would help. I tried with the fertilizer and without. I let them soak overnight and several nights. There was no difference between the soaked ones and the non-soaked ones when I planted them.

Keep in mind that gardening is not an exact science. You may need to try several things before reaching your own conclusions about what works and what does not work.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Good morning! I have to go out and feed all of the animals but thought I would come on and say hello. It will be another hot day and week of 100° plus temperatures. When will it cool down just a little? It has been a miserable summer.

I have now been taking my thyroid pill for six weeks. I no longer feel nauseated all throughout the day but I still have not lost any weight. I will see the doctor at the end of this month and I guess he will make me do more blood work to check on my thyroid.

Here is our pond. Note the old fencing material in front of it.

The sun is up and heating things up outside so I will go feed everyone now. I fed the fish and noticed our neighbor's front fence all jumbled up and put in front of our pond. The neighbors are putting in new fence posts but I have no idea why they put the old fencing in front of our property instead of on their own. I am hoping they decide to move it.

This evening, my only peanut plant is covered with what looks like baby grasshoppers. I have never seen them on there before.

I went out back and spread fresh wood shavings all over both chicken coops before letting the hens out. Then I put some new shavings into all of the nesting boxes.

I showered and got ready for the day, ate breakfast, and felt much better.

This afternoon, we had leftovers from last night for lunch. They were delicious. We finished watching the entire first season of 1923. It is very good but everyone on there is in so much trouble. I looked it up and there will be a season two when the writers' and actors' strikes are over. But who knows when that will be?

We have been getting a lot of seed orders today but most of them are not discounted. It seems very few customers are using the LABORDAYSALE code in order to get the 50% off of their orders. I was also able to correct some of our products that were being discounted but shouldn't have been. I think they are all fixed now.

I went out to put the chickens away tonight. Usually, most of them are already away including Foghorn but he was still out this evening. I started trying to walk the hens into the roosting area and Foghorn came at me, trying to attack me. Then he did it again. I stepped out and got the net. He marched on into the roosting area. That is it, brother. Next, he will be attacking me full on. I am giving him and the other rooster away. I also just gave our guineas away on Facebook because the male guinea flies into me so I cannot even go in their coop. I am done with all of that crap. If an animal tries to attack me, he gone!

It is sunset and the clouds in the East are pink and fluffy.

Time To Plant

It is time to plant your fall garden. For those of you who have waited until today, you can do this. Make shallow holes or even a long trench with your finger across the dirt and space out your seeds at least two inches from each other so the plants have room to grow.

Have you seen the funny photos of carrots all twisted together so it looks like they are people doing unnatural carrot things? That is because those carrots were planted closer together than two inches. Beets and turnips need more room than two inches. Plant cucumbers and squashes a foot apart to give them room to grow. Most of the time, the planting directions will be on the seed packet or on the listing for the seeds online. If not, just Google how far apart they should be planted. It depends on the type of seed you are planting.

Good luck and best wishes on your fall garden. Remember to keep it watered. Once the temperatures cool off and the rain starts coming, you won't have to water so often. Soon, you will have plants that begin to flower and then produce beautiful food to eat.

Return from Time To Plant to Year Five On The Farm

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