Finally!!

Today I was *finally* able to spray the peach trees on the farm. Now, I'm waiting for Ed to finish doing someone's yard so he can take me to Home Depot so I can get the supplies I need to start my strawberry bed.

On to other things

Well, I got started on cleaning up what I thought were grapevines - apparently they're scuppernog. As I was working my way down one row (there's like 1 1/2 rows), I studied just how much they had overgrown. So, I called a retired extension agent to get his advice. He said to cut out the "trees" (which are really privet hedge) and leave the vines alone until fall.

So, in the mean time, I'm *trying* to get a raised bed built for strawberries. And spray peach trees. But, dang it all, chickens and other farming just keep getting in the way. *sigh* I hope tomorrow I can get materials to start the bed....a whopping 4'x20'x2' for 16 plants.

I heard it thru the grapevine...

This year, I have the honor privilege chore of cleaning up the grapevines on the farm. And not just the grapevines....the peach trees, apple trees, and pear tree. They have been neglected for the past God-only-knows-how-long years. I have taken it upon myself to clean up around them - cut out the honeysuckle and small trees from the grapevines, spray the fruit trees, prune said trees, etc. So, tomorrow, the plan is - after chickens & cows - to spray the trees, make a Home Depot run for pruning tools, and start clearing out.

Another project that I have in the planning stages right now is a raised bed for strawberries. I'm looking to build a 16'x16'x2' bed with cinder blocks. As I was guesstimating the cost, I nearly had a coronary! I'm trying to look at it from this standpoint: it's an investment with delayed returns. (It'd be next year before I could harvest any strawberries. Then I'm planning to make jam and possibly sell it.) I looked at doing a smaller version of the bed for tomatoes but realized that, for the few plants I'd be putting out, it'd be more cost effective to plant them in (a) 5 gallon buckets (b) 2 square bales of wheat straw. The buckets I can get free, but the wheat straw provides instant mulch.

I hope to remember my camera tomorrow to get some "before" pictures of the fruit trees/vines. I'll try to take pictures during the whole process, including my raised beds, to document what works and what doesn't.