Phaedra's 2021 Garden

[Phaedra]

i've never heard of toughening up sprouts like that before so that is interesting to read about. have you done this before?

Yes, it's a trick that I've learned after growing my mung bean sprouts, and it works well. Collectively, those sprouts show incredible strength.

 

[flowerbug]

Yes, it's a trick that I've learned after growing my mung bean sprouts, and it works well. Collectively, those sprouts show incredible strength.

oh yes, plants are amazing to me and always have been. no doubt about what they can do. life in general is always amazing to me.

 

[Phaedra]

And, they are beautiful leaves 🦋.

Just like the person in the magazine, sometimes I have to say, "Dammit this greenhouse is too cold!" Okay I know that this spelling doesn't have anything to do with the German language . However, since mine is 180 square feet (17 square meters), a candle won't be "holding a candle to" the likely cold. I have thought of using my hibachi for heat, if necessary. It might be able to keep things from freezing and I have 2. I have had a regular routine of moving flats into the utility room during the coldest hours in the weeks before the greenhouse heater is turned on.

I have a basement with a furnace. It isn't as warm as yours, even in the room with the furnace and water heater. In some ways, I'm okay with that because I haven't done anything to keep the 2nd room cooler - where the potatoes, onions and flower roots are stored . It isn't really cold enough although it may be down really close to freezing during times when we have subzero weather (-18°C), day after day. I watch it carefully during those unusual days thinking that I may have to open the door to the furnace room.

Most of the year, I pay little attention to the basement. I once grew mushrooms from a kit down there. Even having those, I wasn't paying enough attention. It turned out okay but there were too many days there at first when I was going down and seeing nothing happening in the box. Plant starts require attention at least twice a day, in my experience. Therefore, they are started above my kitchen refrigerator where, even with turning the overnight heat down, the temperature stays closer to what the thermometer says in your picture.

Best of Luck with your adventure. I really have the expectation that you are a person with an ability to carefully observe what is going on in your projects.

Steve

There are four rooms in our basement. I just made a joke to my husband this evening - sometimes I felt like an ant, trying to build the underground nest. All of them, including the boiler room (thanks, Steve, now I know a boiler is a furnace there), are on duty. But besides the boiler room, the temperature remains low in the other three rooms as there is no heating at all.

I grew different mushrooms outdoors in the past few years, but only during rainy seasons because I was lazy to build something that could hold proper moisture for them. When it rained a lot, I just put them in a tray and let them sit under trees or some covers. The results were not bad, but as you said, they need attention. Usually, we should be able to harvest from those kits twice. A good soaking into the water after the first harvest should bring the second smaller harvest. However, I seldom had a good enough second harvest. Maybe this time it will be different, I hope.

 

[Phaedra]

hibachi for heat,

Hibachi is a good idea!

 

[digitS']

thanks, Steve, now I know a boiler is a furnace there

This house has a forced-air, gas furnace. A boiler is also a boiler, Phaedra .

How would I know about them? When I worked at a commercial greenhouse, the acre under glass was heated by 2 boilers. The primary was natural gas and required little attention. The secondary was a coal and then a wood pellet boiler. The secondary was used in the coldest months. An important part of my job was cleaning the ... thing. Lots of dirty soot, when it burned coal. Lots of ash after it was converted to wood.

My mushrooms were all very usable but I nearly missed the first harvest! And yes, the second was not nearly as large.

Steve

 

[Phaedra]

This house has a forced-air, gas furnace. A boiler is also a boiler, Phaedra

Ah, I thought it was the same thing, as the wiki said: "A furnace, referred to as a heater or boiler in British English, is a heating unit used to heat up an entire building."

Wow, so you work in the gardening-related domain, that's cool.

 

[Phaedra]

In the end, I didn't have my coffee today. Just about going to make my coffee, my hens are attacked by a goshawk. I heard a lot of crows and magpies screaming in the garden - they used to fight each other almost every day, but it's my first time hearing them screaming.

The poor girl, Bravi, was injured but alive when I reached the run; I could only quickly disinfect and wrap her wound and let her rest in a cage; then I boiled the water to sterilize my scissor, removed the feather around the wound, carefully rechecked the wounds, and cleaned. She is now sleeping in the cage in the living room - a tough day for her and me.

The vet in the surrounding didn't even want to take a look at her, just asked us to take care of the wound and don't let her stay with the flock Bla Bla Bla... Holy crap, as a vet, he said nothing I didn't know.

Anyway, her wounds are cleaned and handled now, and she would stay in the sick bay for some time. Hopefully, she will drink and eat something tomorrow morning.

No choice; before the protection net arrives, I will bring roosters back to the flock and let them be the warriors.

Boiler room project update, 70% of broad beans already have their primary leaves, so I removed those into the greenhouse. The rest went back to the boiler room with one tray of spinach and some more garlic.

The day became chaotic, and tasks stayed on the to-do list. Going to bed earlier might be a good idea.

"After all, tomorrow is another day."

 

[digitS']

My experience in a place with more numerous predators was that roosters will sacrifice themselves. That happened twice with coyotes.

A goshawk is a big bird. I remember a sharp-shinned hawk tearing into a big rosebush trying to catch a sparrow. He was very determined.

A couple of days ago, a crow was sitting in the bare tree across the road. I was near the window and turned away for a few moments. When I looked back, I saw what I thought was the crow shoot out of the tree and into the neighbor's backyard. I'm thinking, I've never seen a crow fly that fast!

Just then, the bird shot out from behind the house, crossing the road and straight at the window. Not 10 feet from the window, it veered upward and flew over our house. I had just time enough to say "Whoa!" and realize that it was a sharp-shinned!

Like lightening! Birds of prey are very, very aggressive.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Anyway, her wounds are cleaned and handled now, and she would stay in the sick bay for some time. Hopefully, she will drink and eat something tomorrow morning.

You may already know this but when I have a weak chicken that won't eat or drink on its own I give them sugar water. I actually use hummingbird liquid. You can buy booster packs at the feed store here, probably in Germany too, but I always have hummingbird liquid on hand so I use that. I take a medicine dropper and put a drop on the end of the beak so they can swallow it. Don't force it down their throat, you might drown them.

The water hydrates them and the sugar gives them energy, hopefully enough that they can eat and drink on their own. Keep putting a drop on the end of their beak until they stop swallowing it. Good luck.

 

[Phaedra]

My experience in a place with more numerous predators was that roosters will sacrifice themselves. That happened twice with coyotes.

A goshawk is a big bird. I remember a sharp-shinned hawk tearing into a big rosebush trying to catch a sparrow. He was very determined.

Yes, it is determined. She (a female bird) saw me but kept standing on the hen's body until my hands touch the chicken run door, it's less than 80cm distance between us. I grew up in the city, and this can be takens as the shockest moment I have ever had.

After this I am considering to assign 3 roosters into 3 mini flocks - each one has a rooster and 3~5 hens. I also heard that roosters will sacrifice themselves, just have no idea if the young guys (5 months old) know how to do. They saw what happened yesterday, but unfortunately they were in their rooster pen that time.