My Dad's Garlic

The family and I met out at my Dad's and Mom's house yesterday to begin the process of culling and cleaning up their personal property.  The sibling rule was that we could have one item not specified in the will if the other two agreed.  My sister wanted just about everything she saw.  She walked away with the jelly safe and all the Christmas decorations as well as a queen/full size head board and bed frame, Dad's rubber boots and waders, some linens for the bed and Dad's rubber floater.  She also got most of her personal property that was intermingled with the estate's personal property.  All told, she had four pickup truck loads.

I dug up some of my Dad's elephant garlic that had naturalized throughout his old gardens, took an old hickory stick that he had carved into a walking cane and a stone that he had smoothed into a fake Indian artifact to sell to stupid tourists, a Christmas wreath I had made for the family when I was thirteen and four cement blocks.  Now you can see the difference between my sister and I.  She has the hoarding instincts of both parents.  I can't even imagine where she will put the stuff she took.  Most of it was Mom's very old Christmas decorations.  When I got home last night, the cement blocks were set up to hold the Langstroth hive, the garlic was pulled apart and planted, the wreath went into storage until Christmas, the fake Indian artifact was put on a shelf and the cane awaits me in the carport should I ever have need of it; it will be my snake poker, rat whacker stick.

We filled up a 3300 pound trash container which amounted to half their carport yesterday.  They saved frozen dinner trays, all empty containers like coffee tins, vegetable cans, wine bottles, plastic cups, you name it and they had it.  It was covered in rat poop.  A rat leaped out of the lumber that Cody and Trent, my nephews, were moving and dived in Cody's truck engine.  My Uncle Doug came over to work on the old truck that I signed over to him; it was the first new truck my Dad had ever owned.  For a bit, it was wonderfully crazy again - just like when Steve and Arthur, my brothers and their family, lived nearby.  I didn't realize how much I missed that kind of family interaction.

We had a trash fire going for all the cardboard boxes that they saved and roasted hot dogs over the open flames.  Shannon, my brother's wife, made delicious homemade cookies.  Yum!   It was a good start toward the cleanup of their personal property.  It was such a fun and successful day that we talked a bit about having Easter at the old place - one last time before it sells, if it hasn't sold by then.

Rain today and cold but gloriously nothing to "Have" to get done.  A day to worship and then enjoy with my hubby.  Praise be and Glory to God!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am 56 years old tomorrow, 2/11/2012.  This is the first year without my Dad and Step Mom.  We always celebrated at Red Lobster (they loved Red Lobster!).  My Step-Mom, Polly, was born 1/7/1936; Dad was born 1/21/1926 and I was born 2/11/1956: we were 20 years and 30 years apart.  What nice round numbers!

I miss them but I wouldn't wish them back for anything in the world.  God bless them and I love them so much. If memories are forever, then I have many, many years of wonderful and loving birthdays to remember.

The last birthday we spent together, I stopped by Red Lobster and ordered our birthday meal to go.  Dad ate very little.  He was already in his rapid death decline.  He said he could have the rest of it for his next meal.  In actuality, he never finished it.  Mom enjoyed her shrimp very much.  My brother and sister and her hubby joined us and we pulled chairs in from the florida room to eat on.  Mom and Dad were both pretty much confined to the living room couch at this point and we wanted to eat with them.  The TV was on and it was the ever present Bonanza that was Mom's favorite show.  She watched back to back episodes whenever they were on.  It was a sweet birthday.

Three years prior to this birthday, we all met at Red Lobster for lunch.  Dad, Mom and my hubby all got some type of flu sitting there.  By the time we left, all three were running high temperatures and had body aches.  That was not a great birthday.

Five years ago my Dad and Step Mom were in much better health and we met for our birthdays at Red Lobster.  Dad flirted with the waitress, Mom chastised him for being a dirty old man and we laughed and joked and had a wonderful meal.

Maybe I'll go to Red Lobster for dinner this weekend.  I'll have Dad and Mom with me, in my head.  It will be lovely

The red clover seed has sprouted, my To-Do list and Pesticides

I' m always excited to see any seed that I broadcast sprout.  The red clover is up and creating a blanket of green in my future garden.  I'm amazed to see the little bright green seedlings in the otherwise dull brown field.  The red clover will fix nitrogen back into the soil and is a bee food source.


Winter in North Alabama has been extremely mild.  We've had boat loads of rain and temperatures above freezing for most days. Purely from a farmer's point of view, I'm disappointed.  Freezing temperatures over several weeks would help control pests this coming spring and summer.


My to-do list for the rest of January and February:
Prune my fig, my red ornamental maple, and my ornamental floral bushes
Spray with a dormant oil to kill over-wintering insects and diseases
Spray with lime sulphur to backup the dormant oil
Sharpen and clean my trimmers, lawnmower and garden tools
Do a soil test.
Resist the urge to till my garden while the ground is so wet (resist, resist, resist!)
Keep my electric lawnmower charged even though I'm not using it (yet)
The urge to use my electric lawnmower to mulch is strong (I may not be able to resist this one!)
Set up my new gardens, which do not require tilling, using my compost and chicken-doo.


My Dad was a child of the 30's.  He was born January 21st, 1926, but he was educated in the 30's and 40's.  I point this out because he was a strong believer in pesticides and during this time period chemical manufacturers were turning out numerous patents for their chemicals and spending cash on the products' marketing for public use.  He used so many different pesticides when he farmed that I cannot believe he did not have any cancers.  I sometimes wonder if  Mother's cancer was caused by the environmental heavy uses of pesticides in the U.S. during this time.  


Dad eventually became a believer in organic farming: picking off bugs from the garden, turning up soil on a mild day prior to a freeze to let the winter cold kill the pests.  But I remember white dusted gardens covered in 1-naphthyl methylcarbamate, Carbayl for short, that killed any bad or good insect it touched.  The popular name for this chemical is "Sevin Dust" and it is quickly eliminated by vertebrates causing no harm, or so the literature reads.  I don't believe it.  


I try very hard to limit my use of any chemical in the garden or yard.  In 1984, the largest industrial accident in the world occurred.  It  killed 11,000 people and injured 500,000 people (yes, those zeros are correct), in Bhophal India during the production of this insecticide.  Scary.


Lime sulphur found its way on my shelf because it is used by bonsai enthusiasts to age trees by creating white deadwood.  It is painted on with a brush.  It is a pesticide that when applied carefully kills insects that overwinter on trees and in the soil surrounding the tree.  It is also an effective treatment, when carefully diluted, for mange on dogs and ringworm.   And it stinks.  All pesticides should smell like this one - rotten eggs.  The odor alone warns one to leave it alone.

More spring time planning

I've decided on a rooster.  Finally, after two years I found a rooster that I'm willing to bring into our farm life.  It will be a day old chick and delivered about March 19th.  Its name will be Fred.  Fred the Rooster will actually be Fred the Roosters.  I have ordered a straight run, which means about a 50/50 mix of hens to roosters.  With the minimum run of 8, I will likely have 4 roosters and 4 hens.  This is fine since predators will take over half the new flock.  My plan is to put the young cockerel in with the 3 older hens once he is old enough to withstand their dominant personalities.  Hens without a rooster tend toward the bossy side.  At least one of the hens will take on male characteristics.  Penny, my beauty Sussex hen, is the most rooster-like.

I have accepted that roosters are necessary for the health of a flock.  Roosters will often turn away a predator, sometimes sacrificing his life for the hens.  I also plan to raise babies and then begin to encourage the best characteristics for my little farm flock.  I need quiet, friendly, egg-productive birds.

My Dad used to bring home fighting roosters and release them to forage for themselves.  This meant turning a corner of the house and coming face to spurs with the rooster attacking you and then running like crazy to escape it.  Once I had had enough.  I mean, come on, can't I go outside in peace?  So I beat that rooster until its wattle and comb were black and it was on the ground with its eyes closed.  I was certain I had killed it.  Nope, it got up and wobbled away to live another day.  I believe we finally did put it to good use by eating it (sorry to offend any vegans but it was one mean, ornery rooster!)

Anyway, my memories of roosters made me very hesitant to introduce any here at 2-Dog Farm.  Keeping my fingers crossed that Fred will be a worthy addition to our Farm.

Old Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

There was much about 2011 that was awful.  My Mom and Dad's death.  The death of three Aunties, one Uncle, a Neighbor, a Co-worker.  But Death is always there.

There was much about 2011 that was great - my family's trip to Japan, my garden, my work, my chickens and my Brother, Scott, and his wife, Shannon and my lovely extended family.

Here is to a great 2012!  Christ's Blessings to  each of us!

Church Singings in the South

One of my earliest memories is attending the "singings" on Friday or Saturday nights at my Granny Brown's church.  We had to bathe in the kitchen with a pan of water filled by using the water hand pump.  Granny didn't have an inside bathroom yet or running water.  My unmarried Aunties would be giggly about who might be there at the church that night.  Granny would shush all of us and get us moving in one direction out the door.  We would pile into whatever car or truck worked at the moment and drive the short distance to their church.  If the electricity died, as it sometimes did back in those days, someone would pull their old truck around to the front doors and shine the truck lights into the sanctuary so the show could go on.  There was always a "love" offering.  I could never figure out exactly what that was.  Refreshing water was at the back of the church and we all sipped from a communal dipper.  Here is one old time song  that I've enjoyed recently that brought this memory out to share with you:  The Cox Family - I am Weary, Let Me Rest .