Category Archives: gardening

2023, Family, gardening, Uncategorized

The Wild Garden

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The other day we got a call on our landline from a neighbor on the next block letting us know that the Postie delivered our Bismarck Tribune to her house instead of our house. We walked down to get the paper, and realized that neither of us remembered exactly what house the neighbor lived in. Husband asked someone in the yard next to the place we thought was the correct house if that was where she lived. The person indicated it was and then said “Oh, you are the people with the wild garden”.

I suppose our garden does look pretty wild in comparison with the tame and typical lawns and flower beds in the rest of the neighborhood. It looks particularly wild these days now that the butternut squash and cantaloupes are running amok. The butternuts are taking over the flower bed on the north side of the driveway.

If you look closely toward the back of the last photo, you can see cantaloupe vines growing up the red rose close to the house

This is the view from the street looking south and west.

The pole beans look sort of wild, I think.

My last name, Boomgaarden, conjures up visions of exploding vegetables and flowers, although the name is just the Dutch word for apple orchard. I suppose there are worse things to be know for than having a wild garden.

What are you known for in your neighborhood? How has your mail delivery been lately? Any garden updates?

2023, animals, Automotive, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Seasons

Summer “Farming”

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Thankfully theaters are equipped with AC these days.  This week was all about theater.  

I was at the Rochester Repertory Theater Monday and Tuesday evenings finishing lighting and dress rehearsals for ‘I and You’ by Lauren Gunderson. That opened on Thursday with a preview audience on Wednesday so that Wednesday night I was headed to the town of Chatfield, 20 miles South of Rochester to begin lighting ‘Hello Dolly’. I drove down on Monday with my friend Paul to scope out the place since I didn’t work there last summer, and the building had a lot of renovations done. Potter Auditorium, built in 1936, is attached to an elementary school built in 1916. 

The theater was renovated in 2016. The renovation done to the school revealed the original skylights and main beams in a ‘great room’. It removed a lot of steps and ramps and various levels and added more bathrooms and elevators. It’s pretty nice.

I started working in Potter Auditorium in 1986, building the set for ‘Annie’ for $500. My dad and brother helped me carry 40 sheets of 4×8 particle board up from the basement to cover the gym floor (because of course it was a ‘gymnatorium’) and we couldn’t mess up the basketball floor.  

The next year I built the set for ‘Barnum’, and the next year, some kind of original talent show.  

Working in Chatfield always feels like going home. Lots of good memories there. There wasn’t AC until the 2016 renovation. Back in the 80’s, hornets would come in and buzz around on their backs on the floor. I’d walk over and step on them. Good times.  

I recently heard someone mention how, when they were a young kid, their dad talked about hunting and outdoor sports so that’s why they hunt now. And I thought, I got mail order books, and Disney records of Musicals. Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Hmmm.    

I mentioned we had hail last Saturday. I notified crop insurance, and they assigned an adjuster. Haven’t met with him yet.

It knocked some oats out and beat up the corn and soybeans a bit. Left some marks on our cars too.  

The ceiling insulation for the shop was blown in on Wednesday. The ball is back in my court to start working again.  

I started cutting oats on Tuesday. It was so hot the swather wouldn’t run right and it left me walking home twice. And then we got an inch of rain Tuesday night. Because of course now it would rain.

Also Tuesday the electrician buried the new electric line to the shop. He cut the phone line, which I didn’t need to the shop anymore. He also found the phone line from 1968 when we lived in the machine shed while the house was being built.  

And then he found the current electric line to the old shop. The one my dad buried in the 1950’s and the one being replaced. It was 30 feet from where I thought it was. So, he changed course. Oops; found it again. Thinking back; there was a ravine and a tree there, so I guess Dad had to go around the tree. Maybe that’s why it was way over where it shouldn’t have been.  

But this guy is an electrician, and he was able to fix it; no harm, no foul.

Here is Kelly posing with her new Gator.

We like it better than the old one already.  

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE OR SONG?   PLEASE RESPOND BY SINGING IT.  

2023, gardening, home, Uncategorized, Weather

Good Pea Weather

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It is often a real crap shoot if we will get a good crop of peas in our garden. Peas and spinach are hard to grow out here because the ground isn’t ready for planting until late May or early June, and then it gets too hot and dry by the end of June for good growth, This year has been really different, as June and July have been cool and wet. Our peas are flourishing. It is weird for things to work out like this for us.

We planted six trenches of peas, one on either side of three pea fences we constructed a couple of years ago with the help of the neighbor children. We water with soaker hoses to reduce powdery mildew. This last week, every time I look at the peas it seems that new pods have grown overnight.

We are grateful that things seem to have worked out just right for a good pea harvest. Once the peas are done we will pull them up and plant spinach. I hope the stars align for a cool and long fall for a banner spinach harvest.

When have things unexpectedly worked out just right for you? What has this summer’s weather been like for you and your garden and yard?

2023, animals, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Weather

On and On It Goes

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

It rained again a bit. We got another 0.44 Wednesday morning; a nice gentle rain pretty much all morning. Is it too little too late? We wait and see.

The soybeans that didn’t germinate back in May are coming in and we are just starting to see the rows. Man, they’re gonna have to hustle to amount to anything by fall. 

The corn looks terrible; it’s just all over the place for height. I’ve seen some barely as tall as me just beginning to tassel.

And some is only knee high… I don’t know… it will be what it will be. It’s interesting on the edge of a field, the trees use so much moisture, the plants are only a couple feet tall in a patch matching the canopy of the tree. There is something called ‘Field

Edge Effect’ meaning the field edge suffers from winds or herbicides from neighboring fields. Must be nice to have huge fields with no trees around the edges.

The agronomists are saying we should still think about applying fungicide to the corn because it will actually help prevent senescence (and cannibalism) even if it stays dry. Too much science behind it to get into it, but it’s always interesting what is happening in the corn plant to create an ear!  

The oats are turning color. I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen with the oats and it’s stressing me out. I don’t expect it will have a good enough test weight to meet the requirements for human food grade, and we won’t know until we start harvest. I don’t know if ‘those guys’ are going to combine it all anyway, or if they’ll start, find out it’s crap, and bail, meaning I’ll have to get my other guy to combine. And who’s hauling it anyway? I’m working on answers to all these questions, just haven’t gotten them yet. 

We had a family reunion / potluck last Saturday. Twenty-six people attended. It was a far cry from the 50 that were there in 2007, and sad how many people we’ve lost since then. And it’s hard to get the next generation interested. I better stop before I sound like an old fart. 

I’ve had the 20′ scissor lift rented this week, so it’s all been about the shed. Added the 2×4 ceiling joists under the roof trusses, the ceiling steel will be attached to the 2×4’s. 

That went quick; however, the rental lift is being temperamental and only works when it wants too. Course it worked when the repair guy was there. 

My brother has helped, my friend Paul has helped, our son came done one day and helped and of course Kelly is always helping one way or another; moral support, ideas, helping move things, and even driving the lift.

And the teenage helper from last summer, young padawan, has come back, bringing a friend with him. Two teenage boys…I tried not to roll my eyes too hard. But they did good. When we took a break, padawan took this year’s new kid around the farm in the gator. 

They’ve all been good help. We got the last big window in, and some of the ceiling steel installed. And my brother and son were impressed with the cool tools I have; like the metal shears that attach to a cordless drill. I didn’t know it was anything fancy. 

Course I also poked myself in the thumb, twice, using a dental pick like thing while working on something. Not cool.

Black raspberries are out, and right by the shed, so they’ve been a nice snack for us.

The lift was supposed to go back Friday,but I paid an extra day to keep it over the weekend. The ceiling steel goes fast once we get going. And I need to finish sealing off the one truss to keep the birds out. Half done with that.

Once all that is done, it’s up to the contractors to do the wall insulation. I called them the other day to let them know I’m ready and to get on the schedule. I have an ‘attic access’ panel, but I wasn’t sure how much they need to get around up there. Turns out they need more than I had, so I used some old 20′ sections of pipe to make walkways in the rafters so they can get to all the corners. Use what you have available. Dad would be pleased. 

Funny story about the lift. It doesn’t take much for the battery to get weak and it won’t go up. It tries, it goes up about 6″, then stalls. Oh, it whines and makes noises, but it doesn’t go ‘up’. So, the boys would jump in the air, thereby fooling the lift about how much weight it’s lifting, and it would raise another 6″. They’d jump again, it would gain another 6″, and then it would lift the rest of the way. So stupid it was funny and it made us laugh. 

The boys also cleaned out an area next to the shed where we’ve been dumping stuff for years. They dug out some old wire, cement blocks, even bricks! No idea where the bricks came from. I need to smooth it out a bit, and it will be nice to mow in there eventually. 

I’m hoping next week to start mowing weeds. And oats will be ready soon. And I’ve got a show to light in Rochester opening 7/25 and another to light in Chatfield opening 8/4. And then I’m back at ‘work’ work 8/10. 

But let’s not get ahead of myself. 

HOW MANY CANNIBAL JOKES DO YOU KNOW? DO YOU GET RIGHT UP OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING?

2023, Fantasy, Food, gardening, Nature

Watermelon Gone Wild?

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I knew when I planted two little watermelon seedlings in one bale that I was probably making a mistake.  While I’ve never grown watermelon before, I’ve certainly heard that it likes to spread out.  And spread out it has – it has completely overtaken the bale, spilling out over three of the four sides (I’ve been pushing it away on the 4th side where the cherry tomato plant is trying to hold it’s own).

You know me, had to google “watermelons gone wild” to see what funny stuff was out in cyberspace.  The first thing I discovered is that the comedian Gallagher, who was famous for smashing watermelon, passed away last year. I remember thinking he was hysterical back in his heyday.   Here is a clip with more smashing and less talking:

I also googled watermelon books.  There are a lot of kids’ watermelon books; none of them seemed all that exciting to me.  I did find Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro with big watermelon slices on the cover.  Can’t find anything online that explains this so I requested the book from the library.  We’ll have to see.

But the biggest watermelon issue for me is the logistics.  If we get even a lukewarm harvest, what the heck are we going to do with all this watermelon? There are just two of us and I expect we’ll also be busy eating tomatoes at the same time. 

Any good watermelon books?  How about recipe for using up watermelon?

2023, animals, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Weather

Cooler Weather

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The weekend farm report comes to us from Ben.

The header photo are some of the wildflowers on the CRP ground. It’s looking good. 

I’m really liking this week of cooler weather. Especially as I plan to spend the next week installing a ceiling in the shop and working 15 feet in the air of a tin building.

We’re at 1375 growing degree units, about 265 GDU above normal. On Monday night, July 3, we got 3/4 of an inch of rain. It was a nice gentle rain. It soaked in fast and Tuesday afternoon, when Kelly and I took our gator date drive around the fields, the surface was already dry. It hasn’t really improved anything yet; grass is still pretty brown, the corn is uneven, (although the leaves have opened up, simply because it’s not so hot), but the beans haven’t filled in yet nor grown much. And we’re gonna need more rain than that to keep it going. But it sure was helpful and by Friday there was some more seeds almost sprouting.

The dang deer eating what is there doesn’t help . 

Cutting some grass Wednesday night, it sure did stir up a lot of dust.

Work on the machine shed continues. Every week another trip to Menards where I save big money while spending more. More screws, caulk, foam sealant, metal cutting blades, more screws, on and on it goes.  I rented a 20-foot scissor lift and picked that up on Friday. I’ve got it until next Friday. I’ve got two of the three windows installed.

 I’ve begun removing some of the old Electrical stuff. Keeping a few outlets but taking down a lot of them and will be replacing a lot of lights.

An order of lumber and pole barn steel was delivered, steel for the ceiling, but not the walls yet, and some steel to close off one of the rafters to keep the birds out of the newly remodeled shop end. The lumber is to frame the ceiling and line the walls after insulation. 

I moved our five guineas to a bigger pen. One of them is certainly going to be a troublemaker. At least once a day, if not twice a day, he flies up over their 5-foot fence. They’re a month old, I didn’t expect them to be flying quite so well, yet. The other day he went over two 5-foot fences and was perched on top of a 7-foot screen door on the baby chicken side. If he decides to hop down and venture out into the real world, I can’t protect him anymore. He’s only pigeon sized. Not big enough to defend himself yet. 

I finally took down the 5’ fence. Four of the five guineas were on the other side anyway. You may as well take the whole side, why don’t you. Pretty soon I may as well let the little chickens and little guineas run together. 

I spent a few hours on Monday hiding in the AC of the tractor and using the grapple to pick up the tree trimmings and some other stuff. It was pretty fun.

My tractor snack lately has been life savers. Individually wrapped, so at least they don’t all melt and stick together in one big glob.

WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES? WHO DO YOU KNOW WITH ‘BEDROOM EYES’?

2023, Food, gardening, Nature, pets

Tomato Time!

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My bales are doing quite well this summer.  I’m managing to keep them watered and the added calcium seems to be helping the romas keep their beautiful shape.  We planted watermelon plants on one bale and as expected they are going crazy.  Guinevere is enjoying hiding beneath all the tendrils that have exploded all over the place.

As well as they are doing I didn’t expect to be eating my first cherry tomato on July 3.  I knew that there were a couple starting to turn but was surprised to find THREE ready for picking yesterday afternoon.  The photo above is not the tomatoes I picked.  After a quick squirsch of the hose, they went straight into my mouth, one after the other.  All three were wonderfully sweet and juicy – no way was I waiting to go inside and get the camera. 

I know this is early for tomatoes but whatever goddess of the garden is looking out for me right now, I’m thankful!  Better start pulling out my favorite tomato recipes.

Tell me about your favorite summer produce!

2023, gardening, home, Nature, Science, Uncategorized

Scientific Method II: Weeds And Pests

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Our gardening goal this past week was to weed the veggie gardens and flower beds. After today’s carpal tunnel surgery, Husband will be somewhat out of commission for outdoor work.

Many people we know use the good old hoe to weed. That system has never really worked for us, as the weeds grow back so fast, so we are down on the ground puller-uppers and digger-outers. It is more labor intensive, but works much better. We also put down wet newspapers between the veggie rows and cover them with top soil. That method keeps weeds down all summer, and the newspaper disintegrates and can be tilled into the soil and improves the soil texture. It is a lot of work, though.

We don’t use herbicides at all, and only spray a fungicide called Daconil on tomatoes, roses, peas, peonies, and monarda to prevent powdery mildew and black spot. We use bacillus thuringiensis, an organic pesticide for cabbage worms. When the flea beetles attack the brassica veggies I will use Sevin, but most other insects are free to live in the garden unharmed. Bunnies just are kept out with fences. Our next door neighbor has threatened to get his shotgun and dispatch the rabbits in his yard. I would never go that far. We have never had problems with moles or voles.

Flea beetles are horrible, with hundreds of the tiny creatures showing up overnight devouring every thing in the cabbage family they can find. The flea beetles are often used as an organic solution to an invasive plant around here called leafy spurge. It is poisonous to cattle. People somehow catch a bunch of flea beetles and take them out to patches of spurge, and the flea beetles, who have a great love of spurge, eat it up. I think that is really cool! I just wish they would stay in the pastures and not come to town.

Would you consider yourself a scientific gardener? What are your preferred methods for weed and pest control? What are the worst insects, pests, and weeds you have encountered?

2023, gardening, home, Nature, Uncategorized, Weather

Microclimate

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It has been a long struggle adjusting to gardening in the cold and dry climates in Winnipeg and western North Dakota. We managed to find the plants that worked the best for the soil and the weather, and just persevered. The discovery of Morden roses, really cold hardy and beautiful roses from the Morden, Manitoba Agricultural Experiment Station has allowed us to have a beautiful yard of very low maintenance roses.

I am inordinately proud of our backyard for defying the odds and allowing us to grow things like hazelnut bushes, rhododendrons, ligularia, bleeding hearts, and ostrich ferns. There are very few trees on the western Plains. I believe that North Dakota has the fewest trees of any US state. It is windy. Our climate is semi-arid. The people who owned our house before us did extensive landscaping that made for an unexpected microclimate in the backyard.

We have a cool, moist, and shady backyard because of one Amur maple tree, a large and unruly lilac bush that goes along the entire back yard on the west, and the wooden privacy fences on the north and west sides of the property. That fence, with the lilacs, keeps much of the wind out. Here is our fern bed under the maple tree.

Plants like ferns, ligularia, rhododendrons, and bleeding hearts take a lot of babying and water, but if you are persistent, they will establish themselves. We also planted grapes to grow on the deck to keep the deck and the west side of the house shady. You can see in the lower right hand corner of the photo a small Red Hazel, which we planted not knowing it only can winter over in Zone 5. We are Zone 4 on a good, day, and usually Zone 3. The hazel is small, but we have had it for 30 years.

It is amazing what luck, water, and perseverance can accomplish. Our yard is relatively small, but it is a joy to nurture.

What microclimates are you familiar with? What joys do you derive from gardening?

2023, books, Business, Fantasy, gardening

Re-Retirement

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Yesterday was my last “real” day of work.  I probably have a handful of hours to put in on final accounting but from my perspective, I am no RE-retired.

I had only agreed to come out of retirement because the programs were our local warehouse programs – a little like the old supermarket sweep programs.  You get a big cart on wheels and a minute to run through our warehouse, all the while flinging stuff into the cart.   These are great programs as they usually target folks who might not otherwise have the opportunity to qualify for an incentive program.  The winners are all (well, just about all) extremely grateful to win these trips, even though it usually only involves one night at a Minneapolis hotel and you can’t bring your spouse/SO.  We even take them straight from the warehouse to the airport!  But they still seem to love it. 

The photo above is the decorations for the festivities.  Lots of beverages and snacks including a dilly bar car and a catered box lunch.  In addition to the fun of the run, we also had a 360° photo experience in which you stand on a platform (hopefully with a tiara and bubble machine or some such accoutrements) and the camera circles around you.  Then you can get the video emailed to you (or airdropped).  A hoot.

I have a few things on my to-do list for the few days, but mostly I think I’m going to laze around and read and work in my garden.

If you won a prize like this, what would you prefer — a warehouse, a supermarket, a bookstore?