May 27th 2012 2:39 pm
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Day 1 of Planting the Garden...
As the Prairie TattleTail,I must say
Thursday was the LLLOOOOONNNGGGEEEESSSSTTT
day of my little doxie life!
We all trucked over to the patch called the garden.
Starting with stakes and twine to mark off our planting
area. Gpa grabbed a shovel and started digging holes.
Oops,this was after Gma said,let's mark the rows with
stakes. Then Gma crawled along with her box of seed
spuds. Laying the spuds with the eyes up,so they can
see where to grow! The ground was dry so,they put some
water in the holes. They spaced the rows about 3 feet
apart and covered the holes. The small box of spuds
made 5 rows. I HAD TO DIG A COUPLE UP TO SEE IF THE
EYES WERE STILL UP! This didn't make Gma happy and
I was told to sit down! Next came the two kinds of
sweet corn. An early all yellow variety and a late
bi-color corn.
Once we started,Gma was like a possessed devil!
She felt Gpa had drug his feet in prepping the soil.
Gpa is our professional procrastinator of the family.
She is thinking about the growing season and how
long to harvest veggies. Now that the soil is ready,
if not planted quickly....will have to work it all
up again.
We also planted yellow and green beans,then onions.
Don't plant your potatoes by onions they don't like
each other,so she says. I thought after that we would
quit...clean up and fire up the grill for supper.
Gma decided to plant the purchased tomatoes,broccoli,
cauliflower,red cabbage as they were already
hardened for the garden. Now are we done????????
She goes and get ice cream pails to put around
the started plants for protection from elements.
Nope, she plants purple and orange carrots. I've
retreated to sitting under the edge of the pickup
in the shade. Can we go in now? I've had all the
FUN,I can stand for 1 day.
Gma goes to get them a beverage and I race to the
house. I'm done supervising for the day! I settle
into the soft loveseat for a nap. They mark off
another area for lettuces,radishes,parnips and swiss
chard. Before Gpa can leave, she realizes there isn't
any room for the tomatoes and peppers she started
from seed. So, Gpa marks off another area for her.
We also have two 8 foot stock tank filled with dirt.
They have to have peat moss worked into them. One
is for summer and winter squash,cucumbers and cantaloupe.
The other is for red,green,orange,yellow,purple
sweet bell peppers.
It was only in the high 60's so not too Hot for so
many hours in the open with no shade. Ground was
dry so Gma started watering right away. She cleaned
up her tools,this dirty little doxie and then herself.
We fired up the grill for BBQ'd ribeyes,corn on the cob
and salad.
My old people had ouchies all over the place! Here Gpa
thought he'd get the fence up too.FAT CHANCE!!!!!!
Before bed the weather man is on TV and he is saying
possible Frost in NW North Dakota. They thought he
was full of it! Well didn't freeze here, but did drop
to 35...That was too Close! Gma will now cover the
started plants as needed. Good thing, there is alot
of miles between NW and South Central N.D.
I beat the old folks to bed!!!! Gardening is WORK!
I'm asking for an increase in my treat allowance.
This is doggie slave labor....I want a Union!
May 27th 2012 2:27 pm
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GRANDMA'S PLAN....Grandpa run the grain plow through
the future garden. Followed by Call the Man with the
garden tiller tractor to finish the soil prep.
GRANDPA'S PLAN.... Run the old grain plow through
and Plant said garden!
NOT GOING TO FLY.....
Grandma quietly told Grandpa that he had NEVER RAISED
VEGETABLES. It wasn't like seeding oats,barley,wheat,
flax or hay grasses. She wouldn't tell him how to do
that!
The ground had to be REALLY WORKED...NOT HIT AND MISS!
So, Grandpa conceded he has not raised Veggies only
Eaten them..
Grandpa plowed to break the ground. Followed by running
the disc over the ground. Gma was curious with all
the equipment noise. She went out to LOOK! OMG,what
does he think he is doing????????
Gpa thought, they were ready to go...NOT!
If, he could break up the big clods of dirt and then
level the garden area....Maybe, they were ready to
move on to the next step????? (Gpa,you mean there's
more to this,GARDENING BUSINESS?)
Gpa assured Gma, the ground would pass her inspection.
Even if, he had to go buy a garden tiller. His Dad
had always tilled Gma's garden for her.
Now Gpa has another brain storm.... He goes and gets
the garden dirt rake. He works and works to rake up
quack and other nasty stuff....Throws it out of the
garden. Then Gma looks again....BIG dip in the middle.
Can't leave that or all the water will run to the
middle and wash out all the plants... So, he rakes some
more...Throws out big dirt chunks,too! Now it is
LOOKING better....The tiller-man would have been easier!
(Gpa ends up wearing blisters on the hands, that do
manual LABOR everyday!) He also is READY to Admit
GARDENING is a BIG Project!
I helped by digging holes in the area to see how hard
the ground was. I was also looking for worms...
Gpa told Gma, I was practicing for the potato planting.
Sure, why not? I could dig holes for the potatoes...
Finally,Gma says, well will try it...The area for the
potatoes doesn't have to be worked as fine as other
areas. Leaving it, as we will see, how this goes?
The day before, they had to go to Bismarck for Gma
to buy some started plants,a new sprinkler,some
garden dusting powder for insects and some fertilizer.
Gpa had already made a trip for extra hoses,supplies
for the fence,some odds and ends.
GRANDMA SAYS: GRANDPA THOUGHT...
We could just whip the
whole thing up in 1 Day!
Gpa could agree to Help get this up and going
because he rented his cropland a young energetic
farmer with big dreams. Now Gpa will just work on making
hay for the cattle,fixing fence and rebuilding corrals.
Plus a few 100 other jobs that GO with those mentioned.
Of course, in Gma's defense she has a 100 other things
to do,too!
IT'S AGREED, THE GARDEN IS PREPPED AND READY TO PLANT!
Gma and Gpa go to load up everything they think they
need on the pickup and drive it over to the garden area.
READY OR NOT? HERE WE GO! NEXT,PLANTING SOME GARDEN....
May 27th 2012 10:59 am
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The Ponderosa hasn't had a full vegetable garden since
1989..She did raise a garden from 73 to 89.So, she isn't
a novice with vegetable production. The in's and out's
start to finish...Planning,prepping,planting,hoeing,
watering,pickin g,cleaning,freezing,canning and eating.
WowZer! So, why now in 2012 are we having one?????
Gma is NOW 23 yrs. older! WOWZER! Sure isn't because she
has less work these days. She isn't as fast as she once
was,either!
Well, there are alot of reasons to take this huge project
on again. Raising your own tastes better. The sky rocketing
prices of vegetables the last few years is just plain
CRAZY!!!!!! Gma hasn't been overly satisfied with the
choice or quality of available produce. SHE IS A BIG
VEGETABLE CONSUMER. The real decision came with
Grandpa being willing to pitch in!!!!!!
Grandpa was willing to do the soil prep-work. Put up a
fence to keep animals out. Help Grandma mark off the
areas. He would assist in planting...So Great! Grandma
had Gpa for the heavy duty stuff that would do her in.
Grandma took most of the winter thinking about what she
wanted to include in the garden. She wanted to add
several vegetables that she eats often, but hasn't grown
in the past. They are Neon Swiss Chard,Broccoli,Ruby
Red Cabbage,Cauliflower,Parnips and Red Romaine Lettuce.
Now have varieties made for the northern climates.
Tolerant of the extremes here on the northern prairie.
Grandma started making a list of things she needed for
the garden. She started buy stuff in February, I think?
Really? Yep, really! Gma is a planner! Now Grandpa is a
fly by the seat of your pants guy....Oh Boy! I already
see trouble brewing!
Stay Tuned for PREPPING,PLANTING,RAISING AND HARVESTING
THE GARDEN OF 2012.
IT'S SURE TO BE INTERESTING....
Mazy The Prairie TattleTail
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