Noodle Farm

Last night, I played hooky from the Lomax market so I could make noodles. The corn stove is no longer running so I decided to set up my greenhouse shelving in front of a window and fill it with noodles. I had this set up at my old farmer's house last year. One of the nurses dubbed it "Sue's Noodle Farm". It fits :)

The forecast is for severe thunderstorms this evening, so I don't know if there will be a Burlington of market tonight and the same is forecast for all day tomorrow so who knows? 

We have to go to Burlington tonight anyway to deliver eggs to Hy Vee  and spend some money. I got done with my assessing job last week so I got my big check :) I'm gonna miss the money, but not the job. I did tell them I'd do some field work during the winter if I have time, but no frustrating office work!

I'm going to buy a new clothes line :) The rest of it is going for feed, egg cartons and paying down loans. We now only have a mortgage and a little bit left on the and hopefully the tractor will be paid off soon. :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Fruit Tree Bug Control

If it is sweet and it's in my house, it's usually made with either honey or stevia, but I have to admit, I do have a stash of the white stuff. I use it to kill bugs.

One summer, many years ago, when I was first learning to garden, I did a farmer's market down in Niota with a real master gardener. She said she hangs milk jugs filled with 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of vinegar and enough water to fill the jug half full in her fruit trees. I haven't done this the last couple of years because I've just been to busy, so I have no idea if it would have helped  with those horrible Japanese beetles. But, I do know that when I put them up in the spring after the blossoms are gone that my apples don't have many bugs in them. The little critters that like to bore into the apples are attracted to the jugs instead. They get down in there and then can't find their way back out. 

Grampa Tom thinks all the rain we've had in this spring should have drowned a lot of the Japanese beetle larva. So, hopefully, that won't be as much of a problem this year. 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Aloe Turning Brown?

So often people tell me they can't grow aloe, that it just turns brown on them and dies. Last night, my daughter said the aloe I gave her last summer had turned brown and seemed to be dying.

Sometimes, my aloe turns brown, like the little one in this picture. I can usually bring them back to health, but I haven't really understood what was going on. There were actually several little aloe plants in this pot that were brown last week. I had it sitting beside an open window and the babies on the window side all turned brown.

Last spring, I went out to my folks in Southern California. Out there, aloe grows wild, but I noticed that most of it was brown. They have been having a drought, so I figured that was the reason, but my aloe has had plenty of water.

Thanks to the magic of the internet and a little digging, I think I finally understand! :) Aloe will turn brown if:

1. The temp dips below 45 degrees.
2. Or if it experiences big environmental changes such as lots of light or wind.

So, if your aloe is turning brown don't despair! Move it to a warm protected shady spot and it will probably recover :) Then harden it off by moving it to it's summer spot slowly. Make sure the night time temps are high enough, then, place it in a shady spot that is protected from wind or just put it out for short periods at a time to start with. Then slowly increase your aloe's exposure to light and wind. It should be alright :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Laundry Soap

Made laundry soap today. I've been using home made laundry soap for years. It is so much cheaper than the store bought variety :) I've tried several different recipes, both liquid and dry. I prefer the dry because it takes up less space in my crowded big trailer and I like this recipe because it includes baking soda which helps with hard water. 

Being Creative does a great job at explaining how to put it all together so I  won't try to reinvent the wheel. Hop on over to http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html to get all the details. 

I use my handy-dandy little chopper-grinder rather than a grater because it does a better job of chopping up the soap.

And I've decided to ditch the plastic bag part next time. All I ever accomplish with that is tearing up a perfectly good plastic bag. After I get the soap mixed up, I put it into plastic ice cream buckets anyway so I don't see the sense.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Progress

Got the raised beds uncovered and planted a bunch of stuff today: more lettuce, spinach, strawberries, holy basil, basil corn, squash ... probably a few more things :) Lots more to plant! More rhubarb, asparagus, herbs and lots of flowers. Grama Sue is home! This place is going to shape up :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

What's Growing in My Cold Frame?

What better place to raise your kittens on a cool spring day?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Beats a cat condo, that is until the crazy lady decides she needs to water the plants :)

Blackberries

Yesterday, we planted almost 100' of black berries along the garden fence. 

It was a perfect day for planting berry canes. We had lots of rain in the last couple of days so the soil was nice and damp. It was also sunny, beautiful and not too hot! Can't ask for much more than that :)

Payton and Kathie had a great time filling the holes that Grampa Tom dug with compost and pushing the blackberry sticks into them. I followed them and made sure every thing was done right. It was so much fun! I  love working with my family!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue