Crazy times...

Been a crazy couple of weeks both work and weather-wise, tornadoes on the 24th...missing us thankfully. Temperature variations giving the veggies a difficult time and then the rains associated w/ all the storms. Drought for months and then 3" monsoon rains pounding the ground. Oh well, it's Oklahoma after all.

Tomatoes are ripening but the asparagus picking is about to come to an end. Time for peppers, squash and cukes to get going.

All for now...stay dirty my friends!

First Tomato....

Got my first breaker tomato last night...thank you 4th of July tomatoes for being early producers. Should keep getting a steady flow of them from here on out. Sugar snack cherries are going well and hopefully will start to turn in the next week or so.

Also noticed my first fruit on the Black Krim plant, yum...can't wait. Ate the first batch of strawberries last night...not too bad.

1st round of carrots are progressing nicely and will be good to go shortly, while the next batch is cranking up. Onions are bulbing and the ones that over-wintered in my garage to almost nothing...well, i pulled one of those last night and used the small bulb in dinner. Home grown onions, and for that matter anything, are so much better than anything store-bought.

Sent the 2nd round of plants w/ the wife to get to the farm today...hope they produce. 3rd set is having issues since i ran out of good soil and had to use something else...killed quite a few of them already. :(

Soil is too heavy for them, so lesson learned there. Time to start the okra, squash and eggplant now.

Keep on digging...

What a great day...

Before starting with my usual subject matter, i would just like to say that it is a great day to be an American. My thoughts go out to all those affected by the worst of mankind and hope that yesterday's news brings some sort of comfort to them and those around the world! Thanks to the men and women in uniform.

Now back to our regular scheduled program...mother nature decided to give me more work this past weekend by bringing in two days worth of winds on Thursday and Friday. Repairs once again were done to the greenhouse and i had to redo part of the roof on the chicken coop...nothing extensive thankfully.

Cooler temps yesterday and today plus some more moisture are always welcomed but the predicted low for tonight may mess some things up. Last report was a low of 38 degrees for tonight....yeesh!

Onions are enjoying it and the spinach that i thought was going to burn up in April is rebounding but my early planted peppers are not going to like this at all. Also worried about bloom drop on my tomatoes...guess we'll have to wait and see.

That's it for now.

April showers bring May....

BUGS! It's that time of year again. After some much needed rain, the veggies have started a growth spurt finally but i know this will lead to aphids, whiteflies, june bugs, etc. eventually. Looks like it is about time to stock up on Neem oil and BT since i try to be as organic as possible, depending on your definition of "organic".

Potted-up some more tomato plants last night, noticed they had some purple on the underside of the leaves and some hue in the stems...phosphorus deficiency, so i will be taking care of that this weekend too.

Second round of peas are up, onions are finally looking better but the pepper plants haven't done much due to the cooler temps...that's ok w/ me though. Burn bans are finally lifted so i will be burning some garden debris from last year tonight and prepping the next areas for squash, eggplant and okra.

Last but not least, thoughts go out to all those that have been affected recently by the storms...from Oklahoma to East coast and especially to Alabama, most recently.

Rain...and other things!!!

It might have kept the little ones inside for Easter but it was worth it...that's right, we got RAIN!! Woo-hoo!!

Just when you think it might all burn up and produce nothing....mother nature gives in, for once! Now if we can just get that once a week for about the next month or so, our drought might end.

Also saw on Friday or Saturday where another food recall happened, this time w/ cucumbers from a Florida-based facility for possible salmonella....when is someone going to up the standards for food-producing facilities???

At least i have my own cucumbers growing...right in my backyard! And they won't be contaminated w/ anything that i am not aware of!

What's going on in April...

Well, the wind took its toll on my sugar snap peas, the tomatoes and peppers are wind-burnt but surviving. I have some on the vine already thanks to some 4th of July and Sugar snack maters. Potato plants are about 8-10" high and the onions are doing ok but last year was better. I harvested a lot of asparagus already and the cukes that i direct-sowed last weekend are breaking the surface.

Next will be the squash and beans to direct-sow and then it becomes the waiting game...

Herbs are doing good and the strawberries are turning red. Next set of farm-ready plants are growing and i need to finish potting up the beefsteaks and black cherry toms. Get an eggplant or two in the ground and an okra plant...should make for a good summer of growing. Need rain....

Repairs...

Had to replace a couple of panels on the GH...not bad. Plants still look a look a little "winded"...LOL!

Now time to transplant more seedlings to bigger containers in preparation for a visit to my friend's farm in about a month. I guess the ones we already planted out there made it through the hurricane-like winds, so we'll see if they fruit or not.

It's always something in Oklahoma...drought, tornado, high winds, bugs....oh, the joys of gardening/farming!

Losing the GH!!!

So, mother nature has decided to be a pain today.

She's tore off 2 of my GH panels to the hobby GH in backyard. Chickens are in the coop not enjoying her wrath and plants are whipping around hoping to survive.

Oklahoma in the spring...gotta love it....NOT! No rain but plenty of wind...thanks you cratchety old woman! Appreciate it!

Might be replacing GH w/ an inexpensive or less expensive hoop house...will wait til tomorrow for final assessment of damage. NOT HAPPY currently! I already have tomatoes on the vine and temps are supposed to be close to 38 degrees...we'll see what happens!

Where to Start?

Welcome any/all who care,

Let me introduce myself...my name is Brad and i have become a gardening fanatic in the last 4-5 years.

Reasons: My 3rd child was born in 2007 and shortly after my wife developed Type 1 diabetes after having gestational during pregnancy. My son was born healthy but my wife is now insulin dependent. We don't know the factors of causing it as no one in her side of the family is stricken w/ this horrible disease. But, it is what it is!

One of my favorite sayings as things happen for no reason.

I decided to change our eating habits shortly after her diagnosis, not only for her but for my son, me and anyone else who cared to eat as natural of veggies as possible. My mom is also a cancer survivor and will reap the benefits. I don't use the word organic, since i really can't, but i do what i can.

Based on the screen name, you can tell we live in Oklahoma but i am a Nebraska fan...ironic, right!

I have a hobby greenhouse in my backyard and raised beds for planting...plus i added a chicken coop this spring, 4 hens. We're in city limits so i don't have much space.

We do our best.

I'll go for now but there's a short history.