My 84 year old boyfriend... Or As The Garden Grows....

My garden partner or as my husband calls him... My 84 year old boyfriend!

Planting under plastic.

I heard from my uncle that a family friend was having some health issues. He's 84 so I expect him to start slowing down. He always gardens and I believe this has a lot to do with how mobile, smart and kind he is. Jack Dorsey helped me last year when I planted my first garden. He shared his decades of experience with things like how to plant my potatoes and why it is important to keep it measured out so that after the tops die off I will easily be able to find my little gems. Without him I would have been lost!

<--- notice the size of the tomato plants to the left and the row of bean plants to the right of the plastic.



June 23



In June I called him and offered to be his garden slave. The next morning I went over with some fresh eggs and we had breakfast & talked about how I could help. We started working together June 23rd. (Keep in mind that the big storm hit on June 29th.) He had some sheets of thick plastic and he wanted to try an experiment. The month had already had several days above 90 without rain it was creating a real drought situation.

We broke out the plastic on a tilled up section of bare garden and I got busy cutting holes into it. He also wanted to try planting some plants closer together to see how they would do. We had 3 corn seeds per hole spaced about 5 inches apart. Some never sprouted and the ones that have seem to be doing just fine. I fertilized them like normal when first planting then again two weeks later and one more time in July. In between, I continue to water them with Miracle Grow. All the rest of the other plants get Miracle Grow and/or Epsom Salt at a rate of about 1 heaping T per gallon of water.

After just over a few weeks the beans & tomato plants had grown nearly to the same size as the plants he had planted outside the plastic. The dry conditions seemed to have no impact on plants under plastic while the other plants had been stunted a bit. We did continue to water the rest of the garden with collected rain water.

So far we have been super excited about this and Jack even decided IF he gardens next year it will be by plastic. He doesn't have to get out and hoe weeds etc which makes it easier for sure. It just seems to be lower maintenance over all.



July 20th
Notice the tomatoes to the left and bean plants on the right



Then today, I was listening to The Chicken Whisperer radio show and their guest was Richard Freudenberger, Owner of Back Home Magazine. He was discussing compost and I brought up the plastic and learned that it can cause exposure to endocrine disruptors, or hormone disruptors.

That sounds scary enough to make me want to avoid doing it in the future. It is amazing really, the common every day items we are exposed to. I have never really given any thought to any of these things being carconages.

Last year in my garden I did not use any pesticides as I wanted to see how difficult it would be to have an organic garden. I did have some problems with bugs eating leaves on some of my plants but it didn't seem to be too destructive. It certainly wasn't bad enough to make me want to use poison on my food.

 I did make the mistake of fertilising my tomato pants after they had started bearing fruit. But my single biggest issue was with my chickens. Paul & I had put up an electric fence (solar powered) with the though of keeping them out. Even though the unit stated it was made for smaller animals like chickens it did nothing to deter them and they had their run of my garden. I didn't get a single tomato and they even found the watermelons I had cleverly hidden among a significant weedy section.

So far this year I have been enjoying squash, zucchini, potatoes & Roma beans from our partner garden. The peas haven't done much growing and I despair of them bearing any peas at this point but you can never tell.



Aug 3rd



<-- my bean plants outgrew Jack's. This time tomatoes on the right and beans on left.

Jack picked off a ear of sweet corn and after removing the leaves we stood in the middle of the garden eating raw sweet corn. I had never eaten raw corn before and it was great! I had a grin on my face from ear to ear... pun most definitely intended!

Friday evenings are a favorite time for me to go to Jack's and spend some time in the garden. It is my truly "Happy Hour". Working until the sun sets picking a Sugar Snap pod as I go... or grabbing an apple off the tree.

Last week when I went over for breakfast Jack had boiled some apples and put them in a hand crank food mill pot. Nothing but apples and a splash of sugar.

Tomorrow morning I will be back at Jack's to get my hands dirty, have breakfast, laugh at his stories and learn about food.

Saying Goodbye To Friends

Fergus, Fionna & Jenny



Today is a sad day, we will be culling Fergus and I am finding it hard to say goodbye. He is sitting next to me on the desk as I type this. He was part of my first chickens, I was given a trio of Cochin bantam cross. I was scared to bits of killing them and that is when I started listening to the Chicken Whisperer.

 As time passed I grew to adore Fergus, Jenny & Fionna. Sadly, Jenny was taken by a raccoon. Last fall I noticed a chick belonging to Fionna & Fergus was having a hard time walking and just assumed it was a broken leg. Time went on and we eventually culled the juvenile bird as it was unable to stand on its own.



Fionna & I Christmas 2011

Last winter Fionna developed the same symptom. I was told more than likely it was Range Sickness since one of her legs was sticking out. I kept her for about 4 months on top of a small cage where she could eat, drink & watch the comings and goings.

This week Fergus developed the same symptoms and while he still has strength in his legs and they are not sticking out at an odd angle, he keeps falling over. He is simply unable to stand. He has had no loss of apatite and no other chickens have developed these symptoms which leads me to believe it to be a genetic issue. I had hoped after nearly a year passing by that he might be safe and that the issue was solely with Fionna & her offspring.

 

Paul has offered to cull him for me as he knows that Fergus has always been a pet. My little trio of chickens that started me on my quest to farm and live a more sustainable life. I credit nearly everything I have done over the past three years to them. They were my inspiration to learn about food.

 

I could keep Fergus on top of a cage like I did with Fionna for months but it somehow seems wrong with my beautiful, regal rooster. So, before Paul goes back on the road I will have him do this for me and I will save some of Fergus's lovely feathers to remind me how special he was.

Learning to say goodbye on the farm is one of the hardest things I've had to learn. It doesn't matter how often I go through it, it never gets easier. Some of these creatures have such distinct personalities that they find a way into your heart even when you know you should not let them in. There are the ones you name and the ones you know are food.

I will never forget how Jenny laid the first egg on the farm, the week of our 5th anniversary. Or how Fionna loved to perch on my shoulder as I walked around the farm. Fergus, would always come up to the house as he knew I would let him to sit on my desk and feed him special treats. He was my special guy.

 

I hope that his son Angus, will not develop this disorder. Since he was hatched from a Rhode Island Red hen I hope he will have enough new genetics to keep him safe. At the moment, I currently have two chicks who have feathers down their legs... Fergus's legacy, they are his "grand chicks" and so far the second & third generations seem to be doing well. Could it have been something as simple as the original trio were too closely related?

Anyway, I'm sharing a few photos of my terrible three... sweet, smart and darlings to the one.