False Economy!

[Colorado_west]

I do not know thew word but they wick up the mosture.

I tried the library on commerical growing tomatoes. They sent to Denver and they sent back you dig a hole and plant them. If the ground in too dry I can not core the holes and have to soak it up. I ditch before I set. I do fill all the holes with water before I set them . Goes down ready to set. Some methods I use I know are old. I do have a batch of peat pots different sizes. I make newspaper pots too. I mold it around an old square vitamin bottle and I like square ones. But pan works and I try to keep some dirt on tomatoes and the peppers and drop them in the holes and then set them . Then irrigate. I wear plastic gloves on setting. Peat pots good for something that can not stand transplanting. like melons and cukes. But paper works okay too. Foam cups for plants to sell should work. They are cheap enough. Peat pots are handy and fast. I transplant from seed starting pans and to the growing pans. I can stick them in pretty fast.

Weather here one day tee shirt weather and next winter coat and stocking hat. Chance of rain today and tomorrow.

[JackE]

Plastic gloves when setting plants? So you are a lady gardener! It's hard to tell here sometimes if people don't sign their posts with a first name. I'm old-fashioned and I always form an image of the person in my mind and I feel embarrassed when I get it wrong. If I guessed you wrong, I'm sorry.

Jack

[Colorado_west]

Yes, JackE, I am female. I am 79 and took up market gardening at 72 when I retired. I water with dirty irrigation water from the Colorado River. Every area you garden little different.

[JackE]

I'll be 75 next month. What's your first name? If you don't want to say, just make one up. Anything but Sue! LOL

Our gardens are a church fund raising project with volunteer labor, mostly older ladies - seems like the guys have all given-up and sat down for good (big bellies!! Nothing harder on an old back!). Our dear Sister Velma is 94 and still works in the garden - she called the other day and wanted me to help her turn-over her queen-size mattress. She said she can do it alone, but she has to work slowly.

Jack

[Colorado_west]

I was sure I had replied. Could be I did not hit the right spot.
Jack, my first name is Lila and that is my real name. Anything but Sue.

Cold again here. I have not seen the water on yet. 25* when I looked this morning. Garlic , winter onion, and horseradish is up. Plum trees trying to bud out to bloom. Been windy.

I wondered how you had volunteers in market garden. One has to get up and keep going to live. You sell the produce? Farmers' market here and it cost too much now and not enough people will come buy. Seems people don't want the bother to come when market was open. Crafters really about took it over.

[JackE]

High Lila --

Sounds like y'all are having lousy weather too. We are officially in "EXTREME" drought. We are 46 inches down in rainfall. Everything is brown and tinder dry and we are starting to get fires in the woods - so far, all have been caught early and controlled while small. Today was a real heartbreaker - they've been predicting 60% rain today for a week, but when I checked the NWS this morning they had lowered it to "slight chance of showers." We got a brief one around noon - didn't even wet the ground. So far, we've got irrigation water - but not for long if it doesn't rain soon!

We don't actually sell the produce, LIla, but give it away with a can for voluntary donations. Lots of deep rural poverty around here - but they still make a donation, however small. There are also a few wealthy people here who support us generously. We sell in front of the furniture store in town (owned by a member of our church) and pick-up a lot of hwy business from people passing through - and that's where the "fund raising" comes from. Some people get a few tomatoes and put a twenty in the can - now and then even a hundred dollar bill. Our local people put-in a dollar. LOL

Jack

[Colorado_west]

Jack, here this is classed as desert. Yearly total mosture is like 8 " and wet year 12" Any time you get out past the irrigation it is.

I tried selling at a reasonable prices. Once in a while some one would give me extra money. But there were some that counted out the pennies to pay. Here they are still building houses to sell. But on the other hand the thrift shop here does a good business. It has not tanked out here yet but county is short money and state too. It is not good. Two churches went together and started an emrgency food bank some years ago here. And soup kitchen in the big city.

I buy most of my seed from the seed house here in the big city. Much cheaper.

[JackE]

Yes, I've driven through western Colorado - spent a couple days in Grand ★★★★★★★★ once with a burned-up transmission on a truck. It was desert-like - and it was desert all the way through Utah and Nevada, all the way to the Sierra Nevada mountains.

This area is normally very wet - lots of water, big rivers huge impoundments, swamps and alligators, etc. It sure has changed in recent years. There might actually be something to that "global warming" theory. I remember a bad drought in the late fifties though - I looked-up our records for hot and dry weather - most were set in the late fifties and mid-thirties. We are breaking some of those records now.

We don't have a farmers market here but there's one in the next county. We couldn't participate in that, of course - not with our donation format. It would be unfair competition to say the least! LOL

Jack

[Colorado_west]

Jack, it is raining here this morning.

I spent yesterday afternoon trying to get a sparkplug changed in the tiller engine. First time on the new engine. OHV B&S and the plug in down in the stuff on one side. Got out the smallest long socket and of course have to find an extenstion for it. Of course one I found first is too big a size and started hunting to see if had another one. I found one in my brothers old tools I had been given. My socket was too big and I went up town and with mine and wanted a smaller one. She said only 3 sizes of them and got me the littler one. Back home I get in and I get it loose I thought and screwed and screwed on it. Was not finger loose and I screwed and screwed some more and it was out. Real long base on it. Go back up town and get a new one and extra. Then try to get it in. My hand just will squeeze down in there and I get stated in and work in as far as can by hand then screw on it. I got it tightened down. Tiller would not start and decided it had to be the plug. By that time late. I need to go fill the gas cans. I had gas in the tiller. Hopefully it was just the dirty plug was the trouble. Electric start and do not want to run that battery down. It should be ready to run now. I got the mower up and running a few days ago. Where I have gotten gas for years has closed down. Got go some where else. Spring fun.

Water is in the canal and should have water in a few days. I met one the neighbor women when I was out walking yesterday and she said the guys are working on the pipe an anti airlock vent was not working. Kinda late water coming on. I had better check the one in my line. Valve is not stuck this year. Son repaired the line and checked the valve when he was down. I had another split pipe.

[JackE]

Raining at your house! I'm green with envy!

I can understand the hassle with the plug. I'm not much of a mechanic myself - I always get frustrated with bloody knuckles and start to fight it, and that's when you can really do some damage! I just have two plug sockets, a big one and a little one, and that covers everything I have.

I have very few gasoline engines anymore - diesel tractor, diesel back-up generator and a Grasshopper diesel mower (my wife about died when I bought that mower - 12 big ones, but it will last the rest of my life!). The diesels rarely give any trouble. There's no little mickey mouse stuff like plugs and carburetors. When a diesel won't run it's either the fuel or air filter - very simple! I still have a lot of little 2-cycle gas tools - chain saw, weed eater etc.

Next time your son comes to visit, make sure he gets all that mechanical stuff done before you let him go home! LOL

I am a retired painting contractor - no mechanical background. I also speak fluent spanish - learned on the job over many years - and do some mission work with our local hispanic church.

Jack

[Colorado_west]

Rain did amount to much but did get enough to make the side walks wet. It had dried off by 10:30 AM.

My son comes down to shop and really does not have time to do things but he has. He fixed my stove beside the pipe. I can cut and glue pipe but takes two to get that last joint put in. 4 " . He works full time and does mechanic work on the side. Take 4 hours to come here and back. Over the pass. I hate to ask. Right now he has a guy moving a building to his MIL's farm for hay and equipement storage. He said it was tore down last email and ready to move. And has bid on another building to move in. He will know next month. He has his hands full right there. Changing a sparkplug should not be that big of job. Next time I will know how to do it and what it takes. I am no mechanic. But being on my own all these all these years I have had to learn to do things. My stuff what little I have is gas, but the electric little chain saw. I have all three plug sizes it seems now. And I try to have on hand extra for things. Extra qts of oil and so on.

[JackE]

There's a raging forest fire currently about 8 miles south of us and coming this way. 5500 acres of pine timber has burned as of midnight, a few dozen homes have been evacuated and all have been saved so far - it's moving toward the town of Warren, though. There were rumors of arson, but they have determined it was accidental. There is thick smoke in the air here right now, and we rehearsed last night what we will take if we have to evacuate.

So far it's been all timber company land, but there are many communites in it's path. It all depends on whether this south wind lays down at dawn or not. It's been blowing all night and they don't have control of it. Local churches are getting ready to provide food and shelter later today if they don't get control.

We've never seen anything like this - this is wet. humid, swampy country! Fire has always been the least of our worries!!

Jack

[tam91]

Oh no Jack, I hope you are ok, and not having to evacuate! Fingers crossed.

[Colorado_west]

Sorry, Jack, hope they get control. It did not get that close to us but I have had where dumping inch pieces of ash on us. Some years we had the fires up there. Ones from Utah . Hope the wind lays and or back tracks.

I have to finish tax papers and get in mail.

[JackE]

It's 75% contained and the wind is down this morning. Our volunteer firefighters from Woodville and Warren worked all night to save houses and none were lost! God bless those guys - people that live out in those woods don't have much besides their homes.

When I checked at 2:00 AM, the smoke was so thick here that I woke-up my wife and told her to get ready. It turned-out alright. We thank the Lord and ask for His blessings for the folks who lost everything in the tornadoes yesterday. All that weather passsed us to the east. I guess we should be grateful, but we sure needed the rain! Officiallly - this is the driest April since 1917!

I better sign-off. I tend to get Biblical in these situations and I understand that doesn't fly in most of the country nowadays. Mischka is a great moderator and I don't want him on my case! LOL. Back to tomatoes.

Jack