End of vacation
Farmer take warning.
With moderate temperatures and no rain for a week, I have felt like I was on a vacation. I am used to working in the rain, but a stretch of dry days is always welcome, although in the back of my mind I worry about how a dry winter will affect our spring come next fall.
Last night in for a while.
Dry weather gave me an excuse to leave Della out at night. She likes the routine of coming in and having her own manger, but she had to just deal with the change. It was nice to not have stall cleaning duty for a few days. As you can see, she is quite wild – she is shedding like the dickens and I like to give her the once over every morning before I turn her out for the day.
Even though it has been around 25°F at night, she is still shedding.
Ten weeks to go.
Other stuff has been cooking a long too.
Sauerruben.
Enough eggs for pasta.
Perfect weather for getting the raspberries tied and side dressed with compost.
Also perfect weather for sticking cuttings of grapes, kiwi, and laurel for a friend.
Really excellent weather for playing dogs.
And perfect weather for watching some of the Olympic games 
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Glad that you are enjoying a nice stretch. Not so here, but I can’t complain, I’ve got a nice warm barn and plenty of hay! Got to be thankful for what we’ve got. :O)
Sarah, the right attitude is half the battle, we’re back to our drenching rain now, so onto the inside jobs that got pushed aside last week
We’ve been getting some sunshine here too and it is just wonderful! You’ve reminded me to get in gear with the grape cuttings and my raspberry plants. Thanks!
Paula, yesterday was our last dry day – we had rain by noon. Today it is pouring, but at least I got more wood in, cleaned the stove pipes, plus numerous other dry weather type things. I liked the dry days, but we do need the rain. Della liked getting back to her nights in the stall!
What beautiful homemade pasta. And what a smart dog to be an Ono fan :0)
Sandy, thank you on the pasta
Maybe the dogs are thinking strategy and speed are good things – since they like to pretend they are working dogs. HaHa more like gigantic lap dogs!
I would be very happy to send some wet weather your way! Our horses are starting to shed too.
Sandy, it’s wet here now, finally back to our rain forest type weather. The dry was nice while it lasted. Sigh.
love dogs in bandanas!
noticed that you trimmed the ends of the laurel leaves – I think – that you’re doing cuttings of. I never did that, but I guess it makes sense to lighten the load?
am I seeing that right?
Hayden, he wasn’t too happy about it, probably a flashback from getting neutered – the girls in the vet’s office have bandanas for the poor boys when they go home.
You saw that right on the laurel cuttings, if you cut the some of the leaf surface off, the stem can direct its energy to pushing roots instead of keeping the leaves from wilting. I took pictures of the whole process, I just didn’t think anyone would be all that interested so I didn’t post them. But I could if anyone is interested…
Don’t be so sure we’re not interested! I’ve taken cuttings of my laurel many times, and learned 2 things from the one photo…. shortening the leaves, and why the *** do I struggle with individual pots when I could plop several together in a bucket to keep each other company? Easier to keep moisture, easier to move when I need to, easier easier easier. Seeing what other – knowledgeable – folks do is always helpful, whether it’s brand new or something we think we’re familiar with.
Thinking about the buckets made me finally figure out that these 1 gal plastic milk jugs that I get my raw milk in could be cut off at the top, couple holes added at the bottom, and turned into nice temporary planters for all sorts of things. I knew they must be good for something… without holes, they’d be great for bringing home plants my neighbors are willing to share. Whew. I was beginning to think I’d have to take them to the landfill!
See what an impact you have?
Hayden, by having them in one pot, you can easily tell what is working or not. Failures can be pulled and the stars get to flourish. In one pot, it may be that they weren’t moist enough, or the location was too hot. That is one thing with black plastic, it heats fast and can cook tender roots in one day. Dappled light is the best, or early morning sun only for cuttings.
You could use those jugs for cloches too, for tender plants like tomatoes and peppers.
Winter hasn’t really left any of us yet. I am ready for spring.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
Linda, I hear you on that one – it is still winter here, despite the sunny days we had. Just enough to get the cover crop off to a good start and bring in the elk! Arrgh.
I was just out playing with our raspberries today. I also took a look at our young hardy kiwis and was considering pruning off a few cuttings to expand them. I’ve had great luck rooting hardwood cuttings of grapes, and was wondering whether I can do kiwis the same way. It sounds like you know! Do I just snip some off, soak them for a day or two, and stick them partway in the ground? Any trick to it?
Anna, I’ve had the best luck with cuttings, making a nursery bed with some sawdust mixed in to increase the water holding capacity of the soil. Or in a large pot. Located in dappled sunlight or maybe only morning sun the cuttings thrive and escape getting mowed with a lawn mower!
On the kiwi just take last years growth, cut into lengths with about 3 or 4 buds and stick them at least halfway in the soil, keep moist and by late summer you should have a well rooted cutting. On kiwi just make sure you are propagating the female, many hard luck stories about kiwis not bearing are because of mis-tagged males.
Philosophy AND humor! Thanks, I got a good chuckle today! Linda Zoldoske
Linda, you’re welcome!
Love the picture of your pup pups
Watching them play is a so fun.
Wonderful pictures! Della is beautiful and the shot of your dogs running toward you really made me smile…
Your “vacation” was productive! I am learning how to make use of breaks in weather like that too, prioritizing my tasks to take advantage of whatever needs done outside while it can be. Came home from work last night and mulched up a huge pile of soggy ice plant before the rains come, worked by trouble light until well past dark and was exhausted afterward but so pleased to get that done.
I also appreciate the “tutorials” you share on sticking cuttings – that’s great info, highly motivating, and a wonderful reminder that attentive husbandry of plant stock is well worth the effort. Thank you.
TD, the dogs make us smile too – they had a rocky beginning, but now are pretty good together. We still keep an eye on the rough housing, but so far so good.
Della is princess for sure – and she knows it. Spoiled rotten, but what the heck she’s worth it.
Doesn’t that exhaustion feel good though. Definitely not the same as mental exhaustion!
you mentioned the raspberry plants. I have inherited a huge overgrown area of them on our property and wondering what/why you are tying them back?
My Revolving Passions, raspberries are biennial, bearing fruit on two year old wood only. Each winter the dead canes are removed, and the best of the new are kept and tied to a support, in my case, a wire. I don’t know where you live, but here anything stationary is prone to invasive blackberry predation. So if I keep my raspberries in rows, I can at least attempt to keep the blackberries set back.
If you have everbearing raspberries, they are treated differently depending on when you want your crop to mature. I cut my everbearing raspberries down each spring, they grow all summer and put on a fall crop.
Hmm, I have no idea what I have. They have produced well for the past two years without any real cutting back, and it seems that only the older canes are what is fruiting. We are in northeast ohio, so still covered with a foot of snow. I so appreciate you sharing your knowledge, thanks!
MRP, if they produce over the summer, or at least twice in one season they are everbearing. If they just put on one short burst of fruit for several weeks they are the type that grows a cane for a season and then that cane goes dormant and produces fruit the second season. Hope that helps.
Is it time to plant peas, yet?
Comma Queen, too early here, but maybe in your neck of the woods it would be OK.
You have quite a place with all the crops and critters. I get lots less produce, but my little garden plot is pretty easy to take care of. Even with only a little tender loving care I get lots of veggies to last all summer long. Not enough to live on, but plenty to add a fresh taste to our meals. – Margy
I’ve been loving the Olympics! Great pics!
Ah, the joy of Australian Shepherds. We love our tri (our second), though the papers he came with must have been forged. He would rather lounge upside-down on the chair in the basement then herd any livestock. He prefers sticks over our sheep and doesn’t like to get his feet wet. We are planning to add a new puppy in the Fall, hopefully one that has just a tiny interest in herding. We are also in the PNW, about 30 miles west of Portland. We have just 5 acres, so we are limited in what we can do, but we love it (and I live vicariously through blogs such as yours.)
Marianne