Showing posts with label spraying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spraying. Show all posts

Saturday, April 30, 2016

What's in Bloom and Miscellaneous things on the Farm

Good Saturday morning!

and it is a good one.  We finally got some measurable rain and no storms accompanied it.  It did turn much cooler which is also a good thing for pastures.  Fescue grass which is the major grass in our area will quickly go to seed if the weather gets too hot.  The quality of it for grazing and hay goes down rapidly.

We have had way too many trips to town to suit either of us......some for MIL.  computer, printer, clock  batteries, alarm clock set wrong.....etc.  Her internet just isn't happening.  They won't come out to check until Thursday of next week.  Also the men who work for the assisted living facility came  and tried.....knowing zero about anything!  I saw a plug laying (unplugged) on the floor behind  her  computer......followed it to its source.  It was her oxygen machine!  She would never have found the issue and she has to have oxygen most of the time.  I plugged it back in and she is now safe.

The other trips were initiated by me....I needed some outside work tee shirts....and Max wanted to check out yard tractors.  I quickly got him off that notion when we looked at those monsters.  They would be nice for a large open space but our yard is filled  with shrubs, flower beds and trees and has very little open spaces.....even the orchard would be iffy.

i wanted to check out mulch at Lowe's but I was so tired after other shopping including the monster mower that we passed.

Maybe we can schedule yet another trip to town!!! and maybe not.

We did get the yard mowed before the rains,

I made two tours the  day before the rains started and in the few hours between this clematis opened fully, The President



These next  two pictures are from the same peony bush.  I don't remember the pinkish buds before,



Remember the budded peony of a couple of days ago?  Well here is what some sunshine will do:



The singles are nice landscape plants because they do not droop  with heavy rains.  Very few are fragrant however.

Another iris opened (and more yesterday but I haven't taken photos yet....it is raining),  I call it California Gold  but really should just call it an heirloom.  The previous owner planted it way back

 

I have very few roses left because of  Rose Rosette Disease but one is a very fragrant rugosa, Blanc Double de Coubert



I hesitate to show this picture because it was taken in full sun and the color is not accurate but most of you are familiar  with it anyway.  This is a bed of poppies, perennial that are being swamped by cheat grass.  I show it for a record of what is blooming when for  my use.



This is my one remaining dark lavender hesperis matronalis, Dame's Rocket.




Nepeta Walker's Low is in full bloom in the Kerria Bed,


This is a very hardy perennial for our area.  I see Lowe's has it around  their drive now.

I found another peach seedling tree.  It is in the chicken yard.  I left it purposely and now it is loaded with peaches.  These seedlings are much hardier that the ones you buy and they don't take that long to produce.  I have peaches on the 4 seedling trees and I don't have a single surviving peach tree on the place. The last one, I see is dying.....



FYI:  I am trying to keep to a spray schedule this year.  I have done a dormant oil and one regular fruit tree spray.  My next is due the first day the sun is shining.  Most of the sprays I use are safe up to the day of harvest and I never spray when bees are present.

Next post will be about the Ruby Locust tree that wasn't  and my first seedling clematis.

Random Chicken Shots

These are just of my heirloom girls, Dominique (also called domineckers and the Pilgrim Fowl)

 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

May 7, 2013

Another very foggy morning. 50° - highs 70°

Watered plants under lights. I need to re-pot some, especially the tiny lavenders.

Plans: Work outside today weeding beds and pulling dead shrub by lr window.

What actually got done (usually very different from plans!)

I mixed up 2gallons of herbicide (generic Roundup product). I don't like using them but this year the weeds have simply overwhelmed me.

Sprayed most of it. Then decided to get the 25 gallon sprayer out and spray the part of the garden that is completely covered with a short grass that has already set seeds. It is almost impossible to till.
We hooked the garden cart to the ATV (my towing mower is still in the shop) and got it to the garden when a tie rod dropped off the left front wheel. This made it impossible to steer. I had DH drive it straight forward off the garden plot. I went ahead and sprayed by picking up the sprayer (I just mixed 5 gallons so it wasn't too heavy) and moving it forward when I ran out of hose....then I had to go back the get the battery. I did get it done but am slightly sore this morning.

The only way we could get the ATV out of the garden was to remove a cattle panel that was tied to t-posts for beans; then pull the t-posts. He would drive a few feet and I would manually turn the left front wheel. We got it out......hooked up the trailer and was able to drive the ATV on. That meant a trip to Bolivar to leave it for repairs. The poor thing is 10 years old and has been used daily since we bought it. I hope it is fixable.

While down there we checked on the mower......next week hopefully. They are having trouble getting some pulley wheels off.

Then we stopped by the License Bureau and got the taxes and paper work taken care of on the new truck.

I know we should get a new ATV, but this is not the year for more equipment purchases! There also looms the possibility that they can't repair the mower....the newer mower does not have a hitch on it.
I think one could be welded on it. I definitely need something for the garden cart and sprayers. Machinery …......something always needing attention.

I have loaded the sprayer on the kids old wagon but it isn't long enough for the battery......I need a long piece of plywood to make that work. 

Last Saturday was baking bread day again. I made DH's white and my whole wheat. Also made pizza.

Gardening Pictures

The first iris of the year is from our neighbor so I call it the Lisenby Iris:


Lisenby Iris photo IMG_0186_zps719a2f3f.jpg
This is the first year in a very long time that the snow ball bush hasn't been covered with black aphids. I kept watching to spray and so far haven't needed to:

Snowball Bush photo IMG_0183_zps964dca9a.jpg 
It is still in the green phase, soon to be white.

Does anyone else but me have gardening mysteries?  I thought I just had one rhubarb plant I grew in a pot last year and finally put in the new herb bed last fall.  I thought  it was Chipman's Canada Red.....I remember dividing it and putting some small pieces in the bed too.  Well this spring the largest piece jumped up and grew but it is more green than red or pink, a real disappointment.  A few days later I see tiny little leaves coming up along the edge of the bed.  I was sure it was rhubarb..and it is  and it is red as can be!  

This is the green one:

 photo IMG_0181_zps921686d0.jpg
I still think the stems aren't large enough to pull this year.

and here is the red one:

 photo IMG_0180_zps42eadb4b.jpg

I will never figure this one out unless I possibly blogged about  it.....probably didn't use the label feature though.  I must remember to do that. I am just going to enjoy that I have a red one!

I had too many chives to put all in the herb bed so I planted them at the base of the rose in the cistern planter.

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 Birds

The orioles are still here and I think I saw an Orchard Oriole late yesterday afternoon but haven't seen it yet this morning.

The oriole is feasting on grape jelly for breakfast as I type.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Grunt Work - Test Picture

Well the beetles were alive and well this morning after spraying yesterday with Sevin and a Bayer 3inl product. The roses look so sad; completely disfigured; same with a Rose of Sharon shrub by the garden gate.

Serious measures were called for so I broke out the battery powered sprayers. One is just a 15 gallon one I use for pesticides and diseases and the other is a 25 gallon one for herbicides.....yes, Virginia, I do resort to these things were push comes to shove!

I read the malathion label and it listed Japanese Beetles so I mixed up 5 gallons of it and sprayed most things. I need to pick the pole beans before I hit them again.

Went back to the orchard and sprayed those trees. The beetles don't seem to care about the peaches.....sprayed them anyway. I also took time to water all the trees again.

Back to the barn and mixed up 5 gallons of glyphosphate to spray some areas that I can't trim. Ran out of spray before I really got finished but I stopped anyway.

I noticed that the beetles are dropping off the roses by the back door either dying or dead. At last something that works. It may be the hose-end products are too weak a solution. I never trust that kind of spraying.

One of the glads was covered with the darned things.

Thursday Morning, July 7, 2011

Up at 3 AM again. It is overcast today so I plan to try to trim the front ditch with the string trimmer.

By 6 AM, I rev it up and begin. I was able to do both sides of the drive. I should have taken before and after pictures, but I didn't so I won't take one now.
It is not a thing of gardening beauty! It began a light shower when I was about half finished but I was determined to get it done.....so I wouldn't have to 'look forward' to it again.

I came in changed clothes (I blow grass all over me when I trim...maybe because I am left handed?)and made a new pot of coffee. DH is out on the porch swing right next to my desk. I cracked open the window so we could chat if need be. It is still showering but very, very lightly.

I will have to re-spray.........I don't really mind because the malathion seemed to give a very good kill. I did pick up two traps yesterday afternoon when we went to the feed store for salt blocks for the cows. I will put them up some time today.

We stopped by the library yesterday before the feed store. Our location is perfect for us: 20 miles from Springfield, 5 miles from a new library and wonderful local super market and maybe 7 miles from a hardware and the feedstore.

What more could a country gal want!

I am thinking about make bread again today. I haven't decided exactly what kind yet.

Summer Flowers

This is a test.

The same daylily growing in diferent locations. Can you see a difference?