Baled mine yesterday, got 14 round bales off of 3.5 acres. Got 18 last year but quality this year is much better. Red Clover was thick and really close to 36" tall. Last year after second cutting we got drought condition here. Clover grew but not enough to make a 3rd cutting. Looks like the clover reseeded itself which made some very nice hay this year. Kids are going to eat well this winter..!!
2026 gardens
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Finally got my tomatoes, peppers, brussels sprouts and cabbage set out Monday evening and yesterday afternoon. Rows are 6' apart so I can get my water wagon between rows in case Mother Nature shuts of the water tap. I may have overdone it a bit trying several new hybrids of tomatoes and some extra cabbage. Ended up with 14 dozen tomatoes and around 23 dozen cabbage plants. Still playing with the idea of selling bulk cabbage later this summer.
Weather service has been predicting 70%-80% chances of rain/thunder showers all week so spread urea on the hay field on Monday morning. So far only light sprinkles and not enough to set it in. At $700 a ton, sure would be nice to see a good 1/2" -3/4" of rain. Week before last when predicting 60%+ chances of rain we got 5.5"+ or rain. Never fails...
Weather service has been predicting 70%-80% chances of rain/thunder showers all week so spread urea on the hay field on Monday morning. So far only light sprinkles and not enough to set it in. At $700 a ton, sure would be nice to see a good 1/2" -3/4" of rain. Week before last when predicting 60%+ chances of rain we got 5.5"+ or rain. Never fails...
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1.6" of rain here over the last couple days ----now 90+ heat and humidity back so the ground will scorch again. --- never did fill the cracks in the ground. The lady over on the other side of the field got over 4" in same session. Super spotty over the county too so hope the plants get growing good before the water is gone again.
Had to fix a flat to the big tanker ---somebody didnt do a good enough plug in it so i had to redo it---we see if this one holds or not.
Had to fix a flat to the big tanker ---somebody didnt do a good enough plug in it so i had to redo it---we see if this one holds or not.
Pumpkin plants were not doing well. Some leaves turning yellow, except for a few plants that were sewn in soil where I had burned a pile of last years dead vines, etc. What a difference! The plants in the burned soil are thriving and have easily grown well beyond all others - and, the leaves are all dark green. So, yesterday I mixed in some wood ash around all the other plants. Today's rain should bring the yellowing plants back to health.
Harvested my German hard-neck garlic today. About 75 plants. Planted in October of last year, and as usual, they all came up! Removed the scapes a few weeks ago to allow the bulbs to get large. Scapes are the "flowers" that show up in June and are a delicacy. Now they must be dried so that they can be stored properly. It can be eaten now but will not store well without drying. I hang them up in the garage and air-dry them.
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Some pears trees you have to plant in pairs of same identical species to pollinate them each other
Don McCombs
501 Club
You need to either keep honey bees or provide encouragement for other pollinators to get your blooms well pollinated.
last year our peach trees were overloaded with nice peaches and this year nuttin! apples quit producing several years ago and since they are over 20 years old are probably done so i been whackin them off when i get a chance----not gonna keep them if they not gonna produce---cant mow around them so always have to cut bottoms off and i dont have time for that nonsence just to mow!
Most of the onions have been harvested and disposed of. --- nothing is going to keep this year so not gonna store much since i cant get it down to the basement anymore very good. Cabbage going to waste --probably 150 heads out there yet. I am going to can a couple 7 quart batches then i am done with it.
Potatoes dieing out and not much under them ---bad garden year just like i said in Feb when i was mowing the farm off! people didnt believe me but now there is proof here!
Tomatoes are makin plants and setting fruit but have a long ways to go til ripe.
peanuts usually always make a crop but they are giving up now too as are the few sweet potato plants that i got planted.
Most of the onions have been harvested and disposed of. --- nothing is going to keep this year so not gonna store much since i cant get it down to the basement anymore very good. Cabbage going to waste --probably 150 heads out there yet. I am going to can a couple 7 quart batches then i am done with it.
Potatoes dieing out and not much under them ---bad garden year just like i said in Feb when i was mowing the farm off! people didnt believe me but now there is proof here!
Tomatoes are makin plants and setting fruit but have a long ways to go til ripe.
peanuts usually always make a crop but they are giving up now too as are the few sweet potato plants that i got planted.
Farmallsodbuster
Active member
Don McCombs
501 Club
No peaches or apples here either. Late frost got all the blossoms.
got all of the tatoes dug --- plants were dead and should have stayed growing for 2 months yet. Anyway i got a few decent ones to keep for us and the rest goes to the food bank if they want them. i dont think anything is gonna store for very long so not gonna try to drag a bunch of stuff down to the basement this year--old back wont hack it anymore. This is the worst garden year i ever had and could be my last one---jury still out on that but old body getting to the point that i gotta cut back on something --- wife is down so now i gotta carry her around and that limits my work time for stuff that needs to be done.
My little garden has about give out in the heat and so have I with a few weeks of picking, canning and freezing. Mowed it all down except for lady peas, okra, peanuts and butter beans.
Had some sweet tater plants I started from cuttings and also some pulled up some slips and planted. Got a late start due to something eating the complete leaf off the cuttings even though the trays were in a screened porch, but they kept growing back. Went from dry to wet and the grass started taking over, but as usual the little cub amazed me at the job it does on one pass. I'll start working on adding some beans, peas, corns and more maters next week for a fall picking.
Had some sweet tater plants I started from cuttings and also some pulled up some slips and planted. Got a late start due to something eating the complete leaf off the cuttings even though the trays were in a screened porch, but they kept growing back. Went from dry to wet and the grass started taking over, but as usual the little cub amazed me at the job it does on one pass. I'll start working on adding some beans, peas, corns and more maters next week for a fall picking.
Planted about 4 acres of Ladino clover, beets and rape and with the lack of rain, not a seed has germinated. It's happened before and I learned not to overseed these food plots. Just gotta be patient. Typically, I wait until the first of August to plant, but I wanted to clear time to detail my '54 Ford for the MMOGTA show in August. Even too hot for me to spend much time in the garage, but fortunately it really won't take a lot of work. No pressure this time around.
Strange year here. Wet and cool spring, hot for a week and then 75-80 for July with rain every week. Tomatoes planted this year are crap, stunted, but the volunteer cherry tomatoes are awesome and hearty as you would expect. Even hard to germinate seeds. Pole beans seem to be growing good, we'll see about yield in a couple of weeks.
took over 2,000 pounds of potatoes, onions, and cabbage to midwest food bank over the last week. NOW waiting for tomatoes to make a crop---hate pickin them BUT ya struggle along the best ya can!! Messed up year around this area too and not getting any better! zero fruit on any of the trees this year. Neighbors acre of sweet corn gave him 2 dozen ears off the whole acre when usually it makes a dump truck load! ---he is fit to be tied! first failure he ever had in 20 years on that acre!
I went ahead and planted a 130' row of late green beans and 1 row of late cucumbers --- probably a waste of time but we see!
I went ahead and planted a 130' row of late green beans and 1 row of late cucumbers --- probably a waste of time but we see!
Reminds me of an old Roger Miller song: ..."things are so bad, the weeds won't grow in this town."