Old Farmer's Advice

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered... not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain Dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

* Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old to fight, he'll just kill you...

My Own Tomato Topsy Turvy

You might have seen the Topsy Turvy Tomato planter on TV or in your local store. It is the invention that grows tomato plants upside down. Allowing for the plant to be hung instead of planted into the ground, this way it takes up less room on your patio or balcony. It works wonders for city dwellers you don't have a lot of land but want to enjoy fresh tomatoes. For people you do have enough land, such as me, we use it to keep the tomatoes off of the ground so that they don't rot before you get them.

The one main reason I am trying this type of growing is because we are getting so much rain here in Kentucky and not a lot of sun, so my tomato plants are really growing. They are healthy but have not reached for the sky like my other plants. So I thought I would try this other method after seeing my friend's tomato plant in a Topsy Turvy.

Instead of going out and buying one I found directions online to build my own at Instructables.com. The directions call for a two liter bottle, knife, strong string or twine, duct tape, aluminum foil, potting soil and a tomato plant.

First you cut the bottom out of the bottle then punch three to four holes around this cut edge. Tape the edge with duct tape, this way you can avoid getting cut on the plastic. String your holes. *Make sure that your string or twine is fairly strong, it is going to have to hold wet soil and a fairly heavy plant. Just think of all the tomatoes that will be on it. :)

Then I took a small piece of aluminum foil, I used foil because it was rigid and could be threaded through the mouth of the bottle easier. Wrap the foil around the top portion of the plant. Be careful not to get it to tight, you don't want to damage the plant just confine it. After you have wrapped your plant, thread it through the mouth of the bottle coming from the inside. You want the roots to sit inside the bottle. Once situated take the foil off, add potting soil and water. Then find a good place in full sun to hang your tomato plant. Just remember that a sturdy hook or fence will be needed because of the weight.

Because the bottle is acting like a greenhouse to the roots you must make sure to water often! Some say two times a day. Look at your soil and do what it tells you.

I will be interested to see what kind of yield I get from my plant hanging upside down. If this works I will continue to do it year after year. Hopefully the sun will peak out and all of my tomato plants will give me baskets full of beautiful red tomatoes.

Happy Gardening!

Hollyhocks

It was a 40 minute drive to the barn and wasting time in the car was not fun, I would drive as fast as I could to get there. But I always slowed down as a passed this one house, especially in the spring. The house and surrounding property were lovely in their own right but what made it stand out for me was the riot of color I saw in the spring. The hollyhocks were everywhere. They grew right up to the road, so close that when there was a bit of wind it looked like they were waving to the motorists.

This inspired me to one day have hollyhocks. That one day started last year. I bought five bare root tubers from Walmart. The are an old-fashioned favorite and maroon in color. They got planted outside my back door, next to the house where it was just a blank white wall. They all started to grow, resisting the constant motion of the dogs walking to the door. Their leaves were broad and each day they inched towards the sky. It was still early spring so the buds had not begun to show, but in a month I should have some glorious color and the start of my hollyhock garden.

My parents came to visit and my Dad was helping me weedeat. He was enjoying my lightweight electric weedeater! I rounded the corner just in time to see him start weedeating my hollyhocks! "Stop, Dad!" I yelled, running towards him. He turned around in confusion. I just stood there and stared at four weedeated hollyhocks. After I came out of my stupor I explained to him that these were not weeds but hollyhocks that I had intentionally planted. My dad was very apologetic and I can understand why he thought they were weeds. I did have some pretty big weeds growing. Weeds seems to take over in a drought, oh well, back on track.

At least one of the plants didn't get touched by the weedeater.,so I had hope of some color later. And like I had predicted in a month I had some beautiful maroon hollyhocks; except now it was only one plant. But it gave me hope for the next spring. The weedeated hollyhocks were still alive but they never got over a foot tall that year.

This year I have had more hollyhocks come back then what I planted. My one hollyhock plant produced a lot of seeds. I tried to capture most of them so that I could give them to friends and start some indoors. This spring I made sure that no one but me weedeated by the back door. I added some more seeds of different varieties, (I am trying to get the wild hollyhock flower feeling going). So far those hollyhocks have not made an appearance, but they are in an area where the wild strawberries like to grow. So we will see if they come up.

I have started a Peaches and Cream variety with double blooms in the house at the end of May. They are growing and in a few months time they should be ready to go outside.

I just love the tall stalk of color and the fact that they come back year after year. If I had my way my house would be surrounded by hollyhocks, at least the full sun portions. :)

Rain, rain go away...IT DID!!!

It seems like we have had so much rain this week that I should have been building an ark and not gardening. Now the sun is out and everything is growing. And I mean everything. This morning as I was leaving the house I noticed a batch of new house flies that were attached to my house.

And not only are the vegetables growing but now it seems I have a harvest of fungi. Little mushrooms are taking over my vegetable garden. They should be gone when the sun really comes out this afternoon. If not I will be pulling them out.

One great thing about this rain, is that I didn't have to water for awhile. And if it stays cool I shouldn't have to water for a couple more days. Keep your fingers crossed!

The sunflowers are loving the sun!

Kody and Willow

Here is Kody and Willow enjoying the nice June weather!