Planting done

Did a whole post yesterday and somehow it disappeared, maybe someday I’ll re-write it, but not tonight b/c I just finished supper at 9pm.

Garlic’s all in.

Ya-hoo!!

Porcelains are in

Dad and I punched holes on Monday when he had some time. I went home and cracked all the Porcelains.

I went out after work yesterday and got all the Porcelains in, both the saved crop as well as the 3rd year bulbils. The sun sets really early these days, doesn’t it? I took a photo of when I finished. In the second photo you can see where the planted bits end in the 2nd and 3rd rows, where it’s no longer holes but raked over.

• 

• 

And now we get a Colorado Low with a lot of rain expected…better than snow! I will finish the rest on Saturday, or if it’s too wet then, Sunday. I hope the holes won’t fill in with the rain, but as always, it is what it is 🙂

In other news, I was able to get rubber boots on…I hate rubber boots but I did wear them the past 2 days even though I didn’t really need them. I was really happy to even be able to get them on! Very proud of how my foot is healing. It still hurts at times or if I knock it, but luckily I’m able to get a shoe on it now as the weather is getting colder. Good timing, foot!

I’ll update when our babies are all tucked in for the winter!

S.

Holes

Dad & I went out and made holes for 3 beds before the sun went down.

Ready for planting!

Drip tape

I finally found drip tape that has emitters 8″ apart. Had to go to the Internet and order from the States. There was none in Canada at a reasonable length…I don’t need 7500′ of drip tape!

It was shipped last week and I hope to have it for planting. If not, it should be here for the end of the month before I put the mulch down.

Imma make it rain next year, dammit!!

Nice seeing some of you yesterday…sorry to those I had to miss. See you next year, if not before.

DONE!

2020-21 season is finished later than any other year, I think, and now I have to turn around and start planning for 2021-22. Actually I’ve already started.

Thanks to all my patient customers, you’re the best!!

Cleaning

I’m almost done the cleaning, maybe have 4-5 hours left. I’m finding it harder this year to clean off the Rocamboles. The dirt seems to be stuck to the bottom of the bulbs and it’s very annoying.

This year has been an interesting and challenging one on the cleaning front. First, of course, I stabbed myself in the foot, which set things back about a week. But secondly, I have worked more this September than ever before. I have been booked every day but 2, plus the one I had to give up b/c of my foot. I even worked the first day of school this year. Usually I have a few days off which I spend cleaning the garlic but this year I’ve had to clean after work and sometimes I just do not have the energy to do that.

As well, another project I’ve been working on suddenly started to heat up greatly about 6 weeks ago. Hopefully planting the garlic and the culmination of that project won’t happen simultaneously but it’s looking more and more like they will.

On the weather front, what a week ahead we are going to have! I cannot believe it’s Sept 25th and I have not covered the garden once. I wish it was the mid-October forecast so that I didn’t have to worry about not having a window to plant the garlic. On the other hand, all this weird weather for the past 3 years is beyond disconcerting.

I’ll be in touch about when delivery day will be!

~S.

Update

Went to work on Thursday with one sock on and one sock off, plastic bag over the sock b/c it was raining. All class, all the time. Doctor told me I had to wear a sock to keep it clean. The antibiotics are working well, not w/o side effects though, but I’m grateful they’re keeping any infection at bay. The site of the tetanus shot was a bit tender, but nothing like my arm after the first COVID shot, so all good. I’m tough. haha Went to work Friday afternoon too and managed to get my foot into my loosened Teva sandals, with a sock on my right foot but not my left. I was at the high school and no one even seemed to notice, too busy trying to get under my skin I guess.

This afternoon I went out and cut down all the garlic and swept up the barn so Mary can put her potatoes in there. I’m assuming she’ll want to get them out of the ground soon.

So now it’s clean everything and see how many pounds short I am. And I will be short there is no doubt about that. The garlic is so small this year. Hoping to do some work on securing drip tape for October this weekend. I found some in the States, so we’ll see if they have it in stock and when they can get it here. I am a little worried about the mice chewing on it over the winter though. They, whoever they are, say to not put the straw down until the first frost to discourage mice from setting up shop in there but the only problem is that with our current climate winter has been coming in as an almighty blast. One day Autumn, the next full on Winter, not a nice, gentle ramp into the freezing cold. I don’t want to be spreading straw and freezing my hands off – that’s no fun at all!

~S.

Glitch in the system

So….cleaning was going well until….

Until a woman who brings her dog out to the farm to run around showed up and Fozzy came running over, I petted him, he ran away, he ran back, I petted him, felt something on my right foot and that’s when it started going horribly wrong. 😛

It looked like a dark slug or maple tree seed at first. My brain was like, “What is this?” Then I saw my pruners, that had been in my pants’s pocket, on the ground next to my foot. Then I register that the “dark slug” was in fact a gash in my foot and the dark was blood.

So I started towards the house on my left foot and right heel yelling, “Carol! I need a Band-aid!” Then 1/2 way to the house the blood was running down my foot, so I took off my sandal and yelled, “Carol! I need a… CAROL! I NEED A BAND-AID OR SOMETHING!” Got to the steps, Mary was there with all her first-aid items from the house and stood on my left foot whilst my right foot was up on the top of the stairs. Carol, aka Nurse Ratchett, decides we should put honey on it before wrapping it up. I’m like, “Do you think I should go to the hospital? Do you think I need stitches? Shit!”

After first-aid was administered, I sat on the grass with my foot elevated on the old well that is capped and we all had a little chat. I felt alright after about 20 mins so went back to cutting the stems off the garlic so I could bring them home to clean.

Last night I sat and cleaned a bunch of garlic until it got too dark and cold.

This morning I was all ready to go to work, when, after 1/2 hour of being on my foot I was like, hmmm, maybe not. I didn’t think I could make it to this particular teacher’s classroom and back at least 4 times. I was also worried b/c I know my tetanus shots are not up to date. Like, as in I cannot remember the last time I had one. Had to give up my day of work and make a walk-in (phone) app’t. Earliest I could get in was 2:30. The doctor decided I needed to see someone (obviously), so sent me to the ER as they weren’t busy.

I just got home from the ER where the doctor was on the fence about stitches but decided against it b/c there was a little bit of swelling. So taped it together and gave me a course of antibiotics. The nurse gave me a tetanus shot and I left.

I’d post a photo from last night of the gash, but I’m sure some of you wouldn’t appreciate that, so here’s what it looks like presently (photo bombed by Cleo in the first one):

• 

• 

Needless to say, this puts an extra little hurdle in the way. I was totally planning on having everything done by the weekend. Now I’m not so sure that will happen. I’ve got quite the limp going on but hopefully the healing will be fast. I’ll keep you in the loop.

It will be touch-and-go for everyone to get their full order this year. I have, however, found 8″ drip tape in the States (none in Manitoba) that might work, if they have it in stock.

For now though, I think I need to go back to bed for a bit.

Ciao!

PS: What is the lesson you ask? Don’t wear sandals when working in the garden. Will I learn it THIS time? Likely not.

Harvest complete & irrigation woes

Well, it finally rained.

Right in the middle of the harvest, of course.

A friend of mine had her birthday on Thursday and we went into Wpg for it, there were combines everywhere. She was hoping for rain for her b’day but didn’t get it…it came on Friday, and again today.

After my harvest on Thursday, this was all I had left:

I could have finished it but I wanted <oh! a big clap of thunder! There has hardly been any thunder during these rains. And it’s started raining again.> to leave the rest in for a couple more days. Yes, I knew there was rain in the forecast, but honestly this year my motto has been: Unless it is raining on my head, there is no rain. The “30% chance of precipitation” was like: whatever…

So it rained quite a bit on Friday and I finished the harvest yesterday morning. The remaining garlic was wet for sure so I hung them in batches of 3 instead of 5. They’re closest to the door of the barn, so they should be ok. Fingers crossed.

I forgot to write about the last irrigation episode on July 28th. I got a 3/4 ton truck from a friend, then went to another friend’s to pick up the 1000L water tote, pump, and his hose. I took my hose from here at the house. It took 2 hours to gather everything together and take it all back. Once I filled up with water and went to the farm, the actual irrigation of 2 tote’s full of water took 2 hours, including going to fill up the tote again. I had a big sprinkler set up on one of the hoses and on the other one I went from plant to plant down the Music rows. What a hassle! I was a little worried that giving them a blast of water like that would cause them to split, but it didn’t. I did about 550 plants that way, before I ran out of water. I have to devise a better way next year. Trying to find a 3/4 ton truck is a big challenge. Also overhead watering with a sprinkler is definitely not the most efficient way to water a crop that is under a good deal of straw mulch. Back to the drawing board…I’ll have a plan by the end of September for sure. Or…is it going to rain in June & July next year? Can anyone tell me? Please!!

Harvest is in full swing

I know this b/c one billion flea beetles have relocated from canola fields to my horseradish in my back yard. I’m not worried about that stuff b/c nothing can kill it, but so.many.flea.beetles!!

I have been going out first thing in the morning to beat the heat. Yesterday at 7 & 8am it was 21C. That’s pretty crazy. I’ve been spot harvesting b/c I want the garlic to get the maximum amount of time in the ground as I possibly can. The Music looks alright. The Rocamboles (German Red, Dad’s) are terrible. Terrible. The 1st and 2nd year bulbils are mostly really good. I’m very pleasantly surprised at how big the Italian softneck bulbils got, Montana Roja (Rocambole) and some of the others too…they’ve produced really nice rounds that *should* produce nice bulbs next year or in 2023. I mean, in theory, right?

Look who I saw on Thursday. A couple days later I saw a WAY bigger one! I think he said his name was Jeremiah 🙂 I’ve also seen a garter snake in the patch and a bigger one in the bush adjacent to the field. Nice to see them again…I guess 😉

After one day – just a couple of varieties out, plus all the bulbils.

I chatted with Mary a few days ago and she said that we’d had some visitors to the barn area over the past little while – a skunk, a groundhog, and a raccoon. The groundhog had got into the barn and one morning it sat looking out the window at her when she was doing dishes. LOL!

After 2 days. It’s a slow go this year. I should probably just pull them all but I just don’t want to. Bet they won’t grow one iota more anyway. 😛

I took some photos of Mary’s flowers that are in front of the leading barn. I spied an actual hummingbird in the white flowers that look like hummingbirds would like them. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a hummingbird not at a plastic feeder. I heard it before I saw it. At first I thought it was a hummingbird moth, but it was the real deal!

• 

• 

• 

• 

  I thought to myself, this would be a good place for a hammock (for a really small person!).

• 

Went out yesterday early in the morning just for an hour, a mini-harvest, if you will.

• 

• 

I think tomorrow and Wednesday I will go out and finish off the harvest. Can’t leave them in there forever LOL On Thursday I’m off into Wpg to celebrate a friends 50th! What? How did that happen? haha I’m looking forward to a lovely day and she said the best b’day pressie would be rain, so hopefully that can be arranged. I so wish it would rain in BC and everywhere there are forest fires burning. The images coming out of BC’s Okanagan are horrific. This one got me in the feels:

Hoping for rain for them all!

~S.