prepping for some winter greens

earthbox reloads

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Earthbox

If lovin' chicken is wrong...then my chickens don't wanna be right.  Yes...chickens love to eat leftover chicken.  

They picked the bones clean.  

Ben got a new tip to tip measurement today.  Last one was on January 10th.  He is up to 16 3/16" - growing at a rate of about 3/4" per week now.  Next milestone is when his horns are as long as his ears.

I filled up the bio orb composter with a fresh batch of old hay, horse and steer manure today.  While I was at it - I sowed 5 of last years Earthbox planters ( www.earthbox.com ) with kale, pole beans, yellow squash, green zucchini, and spinach.  I am starting from seed this time instead of seedlings.  I had great success with this growing system last year.  Replanting them is much cheaper than the initial cost and these should last for many years to come.  48,62,27,0,B,0

my girl

OBC made her first all day appearance at TFL since her legal adoption....she brought friends.  From the cow photo - which one of these is not like the other?  ( JustMe is not allowed to play - she's too smart and fast)  First correct answer in the comments wins a free Benita Memorial Tshirt.  Caged the gangly beefsteak tomato plant today.

Got the first viable avacado sprout in the dirt today.  Salad for dinner.
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pea fail

The peas never quite took off...yanked 'em today, had a tiny lunch, then planted bloomsdale spinach in its' place.  Since the Earthbox folks were so kind to donate 4 units to me, I just bought 2 more and five organic replant kits.
http://www.earthbox.com/  Another good salad with dinner tonight.  Might not weigh very much but it sure feels good to eat it.  91,105,77, .37,B, .12    LATE UPDATE:  caught the edge of a thunderstorm between 10 & 11PM.

plant shuffle...

Built two EarthBox stands....shuffled everything around in the courtyard - trying to envision the jungle.  Yanked another squash off today, 434 grams.  76,78,53,0,B, .96

greenhouse monday

Somethings been nibblin' on my morning glories.  Set up the game cam last night to see the final strand disappear - thanks to a mouse.  Good news is...so far they have left all the other vegetation alone.  Disuading mice from my oasis will be a bit of a challenge.  Someone suggested cats - might be time for some felines to move into the courtyard as soon as I get it buttoned up a bit more.

Bush beans and squash are flourishing. 

My test with two earthboxes is rather revealing...both boxes have identical plants started from seed on March 25th and transplanted on April 4th.  Each planter has 3 Mexico Midget tomato plants and 2 wild organic spinach plants.  The earthbox that is winning was planted as per their instructions http://www.earthbox.com/...the other was planted using no fertilizer - just potting mix, native soil, and old cow poo.  The message here isn't that I have to use chemical fertilizer. I have to work on getting really good compost.  86,97,60,0,W,0

The Super Jeep

Called in the big gun this morning for my Toyota extraction from the outback.  We changed the flat with an ever ready spare and Chuck yanked me out of the hole with his superjeep. 

Earthbox plants planted per instructions are growing very fast...squash week6, beans week 5 - first bean bloom today. 
My fig tree is still happy.

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seeding...

Started 4 more tubs with spicy salad mix, malabar spinach, peas, and swiss chard.  The squash is exploding with growth.  Beans are just starting to take off. 

Harvested some Cat's Eye seeds from the recent bloom from Mother Plant 1.  Got a sweet potato sproutin.  74,84,39,0,B

If you are not using PayPal...Benita Tshirts can be ordered the old fashioned way...snail mail cash and specify size to:   John Wells   2500 Mailbox Rd.  Alpine, TX  79830.  Make sure to include an email address so I can confirm the order.

made in the shade....

Built and installed the final 3 shade panels today.

Earthbox week 3 for the beans and week 4 for the squash.

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Crazy Aunt Jean

2 of my Crazy Aunt Jean Palo Verdes finally sprouted some new leaves.. They grew from seed to 2' last year.  Got a crazy snow globe from my friend Joe in Denver.

Earthbox week 2 for the beans and week 3 for the squash.

Cleared the NE corner for more planters.

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plantmonday

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Bob met Carl...

Day of pondering...the greenhouse is closed in but the list of stuff still to do keeps growing.  Tended the plants including lots of sprouts from the Mexico Midget Tomatoes I grew last year thanks to Dr. Deb.  This is the first time I have saved seeds and started new plants with them.  Rather empowering!

Got some volunteer mushrooms growing in some cells on my flats.  I pull 'em as they spring up.  Fired up the first EarthBox today as per instructions.  http://www.earthbox.com/   Got 3 (from seed) squash sprouts going in this one for the first test.  First test is to monitor the watering.  More tests to follow.  71,84,58,0,B