Friday Farm Blogging

YAY!!! It's Friday!!! YAY!!!

The Friday Farm Blog posts continue to be some of my most popular ones. I guess a lot of my poor city-slicker friends like to live vicariously through me and my garden, chickens, cats and dog. I feel sorry for folks who live in the big city with traffic, air pollution, smog, noise and no place to go for a walk in the woods and no yard to grow anything in. I'd go nuts if I had to live in the city again. My motto is "If you can't pee off the back porch without your neighbor seeing you then you live too close to your neighbor."

I am gonna start today's farm blog post off with a story about everyone's favorite dog, Saul Nall, aka....


Snoot Doggie Dog





Yesterday evening around 5:45 pm I decided to take Snoot out for a walk and a bathroom break. I live way up on a hill and have two window unit air-conditioners going full blast so it is hard to hear when someone pulls up outside. As Snoot and I rounded the corner there stood John Law beside his Sheriff's Deputy cruiser. My initial reaction was fear (naturally) and the dog started barking the second the adreniline hit my veins. I had his pinch collar on him (thankfully) but that didn't deter him much. He started dancing around at the end of the leash trying for all the world to get away from me and eat the intruder. The deputy started to move towards us and I hollered out, "Hang on, we didn't know you were out here and I need to put my dog up. I'll be right back." With his eyes glued to the dog, he took a step back and said, "OK."

I had to drag the ferocious beast back to the back door and damn near pick him up and put him in the house myself. He weighs well over 100 pounds at 8 months old. The whole time I was outside talking to the deputy I could hear Snoot rampaging through the house, barking and snarling. Going from window to window. It was a very impressive display of his protection instinct. This dog would not hesitate to kill over me or my husband and kids. I feel much safer knowing that if the kids are ever here alone and someone tries to harm them the dog will do his level best to stop it. It would be hard to get a shot off and hit him because he moves like greased lightning. He lunges on his hind legs and goes for both shoulders with his front paws to knock you down and God he is so strong. I should have named him Hercules.

It was a strange incident because his experience with other people in the yard has consisted of him being inside his fence when UPS or FedEx would pull up. He would sit at the gate and look at them. As soon as I got otside he would bark a little but not too much. He had never come around the corner and seen an intruder in his yard like that. I have never felt fear from the delivery guys. It fascinates me how he picks up on my reactions to things and acts accordingly. He is such an amazing animal and as gentle as a lamb with his family. He started using his right front paw to give me hugs this week. He'll come over and put his head on my leg, scooch his nose betwen my arm and body and put his paw on the outside of my leg. It's the sweetest thing ever. He is just like a kid.

John Law was looking for someone else, as it turns out. Kinda funny that he would stop at the most notorious Tallapoosa County citizen's house and ask for directions, especially seeing as how my case just made front page news here after the dismissal. It is possible that he did not know whose home he was at...he looked to be a green rookie. Who knows, maybe the guys at the Sheriff's office have started using me to break their new boys in as some sort of practical joke. I didn't know who he was looking for and wouldn't have told the bastard if I had. I ain't helping'em do fuck all if it has nothing to do with an actual crime like murder, rape, arson and so forth. I'll gladly help with those things but nothing like delivering subpoenas over old bills and what not.

Frances the Cat


This cat is Saul's nemisis. I also have a solid black one that he hates with a passion. He doesn't really ever go after the other cats but Frances and Smoke he has marked.

Here are some photos from the garden this week. We continue to have to water everything on an almost daily basis. Yesterday afternoon we fertilized everything with Expert fertilizer and Super Thrive which is vitamins, trace minerals, macro stuff and plant hormones. You add it to your fertilizer and it suppossedly increases size, blooms and yeild. I'll post the results when they are in. I had heard of Super Thrive before....know a huge number of pot growers who swear by it and was really surprised to see it at Wal-Mart.

Black-Eyed Susan Vine & Blanket Flowers


Dahlia


Zinnia


Romanesco Veronica (Cauliflower)


Lima Beans


Raspberry


Canteloupe


Maters



Malabar Spinach


Garden Squash



Container Squash






My container squash seems to be much happier than my garden squash. I guess the miracle grow soil makes a huge difference. A funny thing is happening with the squash though. It is producing both big and small fruits. The small ones are turning yellow and the big ones are still green. I think this may be the spaghetti squash that I odered and not the crookneck that I thought I planted. It'll be an adventure to see what it actually turns into.

The Girls

The girls have sure been enjoying their yard we made for them to run around and scratch in. I put them in every morning and take them out when the sun sets. They are pitiful when the sun goes down and they are still in their pen. They just cry and tweet really loud. They all bunch up in one corner and wait for me to come and rescue them. Yesterday one of the little black ones started clucking like a hen when I picked her up. It was so neat to hear a 'bok, bok' as opposed to a 'tweet, tweet'. Chicken's are some of the coolest animals on the planet. I really enjoy sitting by their pen in the afternoons and watching them scratch in the pine straw, chase bugs and fly around to the best of their ability. Later today we will be moving their house over to their pen and wiring it in. I'll put a plank or two in so they can walk in and out of their house and not have to have me rescue them when the sun set. I will also spend part of the afternoon making tomato cages. They are huge and beginning to fall over.





That will do it for this weeks farm blog entry. Hope y'all have a great weekend!