missing updates

so I was not updating everyone for a while,
and here is what was going on in that time,

now that it is cooled off,
I planted spinach, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower
the second 2 are just a test to see how they do here in this soil and weather,
it is time to plant parsnips again, but I really need to grow clover and fix the nitrogen in the soil, so I am not going to have a big winter garden.
I repotted the apricot trees to pots big enough to leave them in for a year,

some of the squash is doing great and others are dying off now

it is less than ideal to plant things where they will get shade when the sun falls low in the sky in fall.

the sorghum is pollinating and some appears to be finished already

watering is taking less and less time now,
so it is time to start getting ready for winter and for next year,
remember it is way better if you set up the soil in the fall so that you don't have to in the spring when you have better things to be doing.


this tiny frog is so cute, I hope it is getting enough food

weather data accuracy

so it use to be that you could trust the weather data you got from many places for your farming,
but not true anymore,
I have had others tell me this in other areas,
but now I have seen it for myself

the last rain storm here was the first in a long while,
and that could be why I did not noticed it earlier,

I measured 0.75 inches of rain here in things like buckets and the rain gauge that was not straight up and down got almost that,
so I am pretty sure that is what we got,
and looking at how fast it fell it seems like the max. rate of rain was about an inch an hour.

but the NOAA and wunderground each said I got 0.25 inches of rain,
so I went looking as to why things did not match,
I got to the wunderground station data and looked, and the station north of me had 0.66 inches, the one south had 0.39 and they are the 2 closest by far, there is another one sort of close over a mountain and to the east and it said 0.55
now they likely read low due to error in the sensors as they can't get fast rainfall rates super well,
but (.66+.39)/2=0.25 or even (0.66+0.39+0.55)/3=0.25 seems very wrong to me

the 0.25 number only shows up in the data for a city that has an airport out in the valley,
it would appear as if they are now "averaging" the weather for here by simply using the weather in a place 40 miles away and 2200 foot lower in elevation, (and 10 weather stations away)
and that is just not close enough to use it for your farming needs,
so it would appear that even with nearby weather stations that they are to lazy to use them anymore,
and you need your own measuring tools to tell how much water fell and other simple things...

 I would have not bothered saying this if it were not for the reports of my farming friends all over the country that are having similar issues.

so go get your own data, use a 5 gallon bucket in the garden to record rainfall if you have to,
sadly it appears to be the best way to do it in this vast world of internet and linked data.
and yes you can go look up station data on your own (at least on the wunderground site), but it will not be near as good as your own data.

here is sunset the night of the storm

it sure is fall when the kitties make a pile

quality

so I got some clover seeds,

I need nitrogen and organic matter in the soil, and it will do that for me,

so I got one at a local nursery and the other at home depot,
now they look identical so far,
but lets look at the stickers at the bottom

the one I got at the local place is 99.95 pure seeds, with a 94% germination rate, and that all sounds good.

the one from home depot is 38.16 pure seeds with 90% germination, it says it is 40% walnut shell and 20% some sort of seed coating...

the instructions are the same on each one, but clearly you are getting 0.94 pounds of seed that will grow with the one, and  0.34 pounds of seeds that will grow in the other, and that seems like the one will work for a much larger area than the other, so how can the instructions even be the same ?

so I wonder if home depot is ordering extra low quality seeds in order to make more money,
I understand lot numbers being slightly different, but adding fillers is a lot more than just the lot number,
and the lot number is not even the same format.

so with all the questions I have, I called the company and asked,
they say that there is a big shortage of clover seeds and that is the only way they can keep selling it, and they have contracts to keep selling it,

and the date on the lower quality one is later than the other one,
I have noticed the price on it going way up lately, so maybe that is it...
but I will sure be watching anything closely I get at home depot as well


so check your labels each time before you buy
or just grow it yourself if you can (hard to do that the first year)

now for home made and home grown things

yay, rain

so I seem to have figured out how to log back in to my blog !

so it is fall and it is an exciting time in gardening !
I have many more posts with neat ideas to share, 

it rained here yesterday,

the rain gauge is not straight up and down (but not to far off), and from it and a few 5 gallon buckets that were outside it looks like
I got about 3/4 inch of rain
and most of that rain was sideways with the wind
it was all very exciting
but it was cold (I got caught outside in a short sleeve shirt and was drenched, the max rain rate was about an inch an hour at the peak of the storm)

so I guess fall is here (but I am complaining to others that it is winter here to get a good start on things), 
I miss summer already,
but I do like the 2 days off from watering that I am getting !

a squirrel got stuck in my car a few days ago,
it made enough noise that I found it...
I was really worried that it might have been hurt (but the cats were close and could have been called), but it is just fine (I can here it the last few days in trees around here),
and thanks to cuteoverload.com fancying up the video it has over 13000 views now
http://cuteoverload.com/2013/09/20/squeaky-brakes/

change

so google changed something with the blogger software (or it was broken),
it is now very hard for me to get it to log in now, 
there is a good chance this blog is done.
check tomorrow to see if I get in

watching

so this time of year there is lots of food in the garden,
it is a good idea to just sit outside and watch it all the time,


the deer now knows what the sorghum tastes like

as it is sweet I am sure it will be back for more,

anyone remember the bird buffalo woman story ?
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/buffalo/garden/garden.html
they would build a raised platform and watch the garden when it was near harvest time,
you don't know if it would be people or animals that would want to harvest your food,
either way your food is gone, 

so in any survival garden think about when it is time to watch your garden all the time so that you can harvest what you have been growing.

figs

figs are great,
I have had a fig tree for about 5 years now,
and I just got to have some of them,
they are super tasty.
it is a black mission fig
and got put in the ground this spring,
I hope it grows fast now that it is not in a pot
it is still getting watered often,
but I hope it will get big enough not to be watered