Fitty's Angling Ramble 7.0

[Nainoa]

Looks like the garden will be too wet to till this weekend. Oh well. I'll just have to golf.

The only thing worth tilling for right now (Unless you're from the school of Double Tilling for weed control) would be to get potatoes, onions, spinach and snap peas in the ground.

If you're just going to till once it's a little early for things like tomatoes and peppers. They do a little better with loose soil that has air in it when they are first planted because it helps them spread their roots faster and get a good footprint for nutrient absorbtion as well as handling summer wind and storms.

If you were just to till now and then plant tomatoes in 6-7 weeks, all the spring rains will pack in the soil.

So you're not missing much by not getting a head start on tilling. Where you'll really make up time in the grand scheme is taking this weekend and doing the little stuff, like organizing hoses and replacing washers. Getting all your potting tools straight, turning the compost pile to max out it's decomp, and all the other little stuff you can imagine you'll need to do.

Then when you get to garden planting time you'll have that out of the way and you can just till and plant and till and plant. Seems like I'm always running around like a mofo trying to untangle Christmas lights snarls of hose in May, because I didn't take a weekend in April to do all those kinds of things.

[GREENFEATHER]

Might be a little cold up there, but it's damn HOT here today, lol.

[Nainoa]

Well... Blessedly... It looks like the first round of that storm COMPLETELY missed me... I guess there's a 60% chance the second wave of the storm will get me tonight.

Sucks I've got guys coming up this weekend to help me with final assembly on the green house and to take down the snow fence and the snow fence is still burried in up to a foot of snow in some places!

[Hartski]

Sure glad I didn't get 2 feet of snow or an inch of ice like some people did.
Hey, Nainoa, that crap miss you again?

[storm1507]

Finally had the opportunity to fish a little.

Dad and I caught 3 stripers the first day and 2 a little bigger the next. Turkeys were gobbling great....season opens Sat.

[Procta]

nice stripers

[Nainoa]

Sure glad I didn't get 2 feet of snow or an inch of ice like some people did.
Hey, Nainoa, that crap miss you again?

Well it's certainly been schitzo... The "First Wave" missed me completely...

Then the Second wave was originally supposed to be like 1-2 inches... Suddenly in like 3 hours the icon changed from a fluffy cloud with a small snowflake next to it, into the Easter Bunny being raped by the Yeti in a blizzard!


Turned on the forecast last night and it was now suddenly calling for 7-11 inches.


Now they've re-downgraded it... Again... I currently have 4 inches and the snow JUST let up in the time I've been typing this.


The really crappy thing(s) The power was knocked out this morning JUST as the morning heating cycle was firing up. So the house is down to 64 degrees. I want to heat up the furnace room and just stick my wife and the baby in there to keep them warm, but she'd rather they sit up there, wrapped in a blanket being all pissed off.
(Baby had her first big round of shots yesterday and was sore and fussy all night)

Then my wife goes back to work tomorrow morning at 4 am... So I'm going to have to clear the snow tonight... Watch the baby until midnight... Then get up at 4 and make sure she has a path to get out to the main road... And Mother in Law can't come down to watch the baby in this weather... So after I get my wife free in the morning, I'll be on Daddy duty for 13 hours.

The next 2 days are going to be friggin' ROUGH!

[Hartski]

Not to mention it'll set you back another week or two in the garden!

[Nainoa]

Not to mention it'll set you back another week or two in the garden!

At this point I'm thinking that I'll just throw all the tomatoes and peppers in the Garbage and set myself to growing Potatoes, Onions and Cabbage (All cool soil temp loving crops) this year.



I actually thought I was getting myself a head of the curve because I cleared out a couple of strategic spots in the garden down to the black soil so the sun could heat them and just start eroding the snow pack, so the sun could start heating it.

As of yesterday 75% of the garden was exposed, and a third of that was thawed enough that I could get a shovel into it. While the Neighbor's garden still had 18 inches of snow on top.

As stupid as it sounds... The only answer here for me is to go dig the F-ing garden out again... Otherwise I fear that your "Set it 2 weeks behind" is a generous estimate... More like a month, when you compound this with the second coldest spring since 1965!



EDIT: Well at least the power is back on and my wife can stop being a bear on the last day of her maternity leave.

[Hartski]

Yeah, I'm hoping we turn the corner and the warm temps show up here soon. So far, the cards are just stacking against the farmers and gardeners like crazy.

Golf courses, on the other hand have greened up nicely and will be doing great business.

[Nainoa]

Yeah, I'm hoping we turn the corner and the warm temps show up here soon. So far, the cards are just stacking against the farmers and gardeners like crazy.

Golf courses, on the other hand have greened up nicely and will be doing great business.

With all the massive drought across the upper midwest still a factor, this is a mixed blessing.

I mean soil moisture levels were bone dry after last year... So Farmers would be counting on timely rains had we not gotten this much snow this year. (At least around here.)


The Farmers around me rely heavily on Crop insurance, and then they plant and grow with some pretty risky practices.

Well the drought last year was so bad, that it set the premiums so high, that at least one of the big family farms just bought and installed a monster irrigation system.

There are places in South Western MN that didn't get all the crazy snows I've gotten and they were in a worse state of drought than my area was... Can't imaging what their summer is going to be like!

[lhprop1]

(Baby had her first big round of shots yesterday and was sore and fussy all night)

Pro tip: Give the little one a dose of tylenol right before you head to the doctor's office. Fussyness and pain magically go away.

[Nainoa]

Pro tip: Give the little one a dose of tylenol right before you head to the doctor's office. Fussyness and pain magically go away.

Actually we were told specifically not to do that by the doctor... He said the Tylenol can sometimes interfere with her body's natural reaction to the vaccination, because things like Low grade fever (sub 101) and histamine reaction are a part of how the immune system diagnosis the inert pathogen. And that baby tylenol interupts this process... So we weren't to give her any for 24 hours before going in or 24 hours after.

I guess they are also stressing the whooping cough vaccine for children and even pregnant mother's, because a lot of the immigrants coming to this area (****lians) have never been vaccinated for whooping cough and many of them are carriers.

Since my wife works in health care, we went with the full battery, since you never know what she'll bring home to Eva and I in the "Quarantine Zone."

[GREENFEATHER]

91 degrees on Wednesday, 70 yesterday and today. Gonna have to relight the woodstove tonight. I did get my plants in the ground. Next week I start putting in the supports for them.

[Hartski]

That reminds me. I need to get tomato and pepper cages

[Nainoa]

That reminds me. I need to get tomato and pepper cages

As I've learned... You can get by on cheap short cages for peppers... Hell you can actually just plant them with a stake near the rootball... Let the rootball grow around it as the pepper gets bigger. 75% of the time you won't even have to tie the plant to the stake. Peppers are pretty strong with woody stems as they grow.

With regard to Tomato Cages... I took the cheap and small route years ago, and I pay for it every year, so if you're going to buy cages, spring for the big ones... Otherwise I would just save the money and buy Three 1X2's for each plant... Cut the ends into points and spear it deep into the ground, then you can tie them or brace them together.

When you consider that my personal record for the tallest tomato plant I've ever grown was 8'6"... I'm really starting to think that the eight foot tall 1X2's are the way to go!

[Hartski]

Grilled meat for the week yesterday. $60 worth of burgers, steaks, salmon, and chicken breasts. mmmmmmmmmmmmm........

[Nainoa]

Did anyone catch that new show on Discovery Channel last night "The Naked Castaway" (IIRC)

It's the guy who did the walk the Amazon... Only he's on a south pacific island, starting out completely nude without even shorts on... Then films his 2 months living on the island Les Stroud style.

I guess they just drop battery packs every couple of days on the far side of the island for him to keep filming.

Pretty cool concept actually.

If Hairy Teet had survived his CIA waterboarding I'm sure he'd love it!

[storm1507]

Update....I've been turkey hunting but have dropped the ball. No success pics.

[Hartski]

I actually had to slow down on the highway this morning to avoid two huge toms fighting....

[GREENFEATHER]

Grilled meat for the week yesterday. $60 worth of burgers, steaks, salmon, and chicken breasts. mmmmmmmmmmmmm........

You had me at burgers and steaks.

The only turkey I ever shot was with my M16, lol. That was a story in and of itself.

[lhprop1]

The only turkey I ever shot was with my M16, lol. That was a story in and of itself.

We're waiting.

[|ceman]

We're waiting.

Nainoa tells the detailed stories. Greenfeather just leaves it to your imagination.

[Hartski]

Into the second week of my fitness kickboxing class. Think I'm seeing some results, already. Or else it's my imagination that my jeans are just a touch baggier this week. Nutrition plan is tough. 6 meals a day with 25 grams of protien and 43 grams of carbs......but they say it's 80% of the program........

[|ceman]

Into the second week of my fitness kickboxing class. Think I'm seeing some results, already. Or else it's my imagination that my jeans are just a touch baggier this week. Nutrition plan is tough. 6 meals a day with 25 grams of protien and 43 grams of carbs......but they say it's 80% of the program........

Nutrition really is more like 90% of the success of any fitness and weight loss program. And the more you can limit any cheats, the better your results. Two summers ago I did a physique competition and literally got in the best shape of my life and I can tell you that those results were possible because of very very strict dietary compliance. I didn't have a cheat meal (off plan) for 11 weeks.

The more amazing the results you want, the more intense your focus and discipline has to be.

[Hartski]

I'm eating every 2.5-3 hours, and I'm ALWAYS hungry......

It has been over a week since I've had an energy drink, though.

[|ceman]

I'm eating every 2.5-3 hours, and I'm ALWAYS hungry......

It has been over a week since I've had an energy drink, though.

Feel free to add a cup of green vegetables to every meal. it won't hurt your program and will provide more volume in your stomach. Since you're eating every 2-3 hours the extra volume will help you stay full until your next meal.

[Hartski]

Yeah, I'm loading up on carrots and green beans and peas. Would kill for a bag of cheetos right now, though.....

[|ceman]

Yeah, I'm loading up on carrots and green beans and peas. Would kill for a bag of cheetos right now, though.....

Watch the carrots and peas. They have a lot of natural sugars, especially carrots. I wouldn't consider them "free" in your diet plan.

Things like green beans, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts - those are free. things that have low sugars and high fiber.

[Nainoa]

Nainoa tells the detailed stories. Greenfeather just leaves it to your imagination.

Well I've got a lot of detailed stories over the last couple of days. Mother in Law decided to get flighty on me and decided she wanted to take a vacation to Milwaukee instead of watching the baby for me while I work.

So I've spent the last couple of days running around like a wild elk trying to take care of baby and work. Luckily she's been fussy at night and sleeping a lot during the day so it's not a total FUBAR, and I've gotten good at writing up work e-mails and proposals in the dead of night.

Also have gotten good at changing diapers in the pitch black. Ironically I'm better at the little snaps on the onesy in the dark than I am in the light!


On the bright side though... I've had some real magical firsts, like her reaching out and grabbing things and interacting with them for the first time... And I think today she made her first bonafide laugh! (I was making funny faces and she did a Huh-aha-ha noise... I have no clue at what age babies start laughing????)


Last night SUCKED... With the back to back to back minor storms up here the driveway went from gravel again, back to sloppy snow and ice.

My wife was 10 minutes late... Then suddenly started knocking on the door.


She comes through the door and says "I burried the car in the driveway." She proceeded to tell me this over emotional story about how her (Admittedly bald) tires started slipping and she got out and dug with the shovel (I leave at the end of the driveway for just such contingencies) and how she spread kitty litter under her tires but the car wouldn't budge.

So I took my truck out there while she watched the baby.

Now lets see if we can spot the problem here...

The 2002 Ford Taurus SE has Dual Overhead cams to power the front wheel drive of the 16 inch tires.

So I drove out there and found the car had indeed spun out, until the front passenger tire was straight up IN THE DITCH... And there was a ton of kitty litter spread BEHIND the REAR tires.



All the death storms, ground blizzards, ice storms, rain, unseasonable cold, mixed in with having a baby with a sketchy support system... And then she spins out a front wheel drive car and spreads gravel behind the rear tires to try to go forward.

Tonight is the end of my 2 day Daddy Duty shift, and the Keystones are a callin!