TO REAP WHAT I SOW, NOW I MUST HOE

   I can tell it's been a year since I've done this. I'm tired! I finally made some time to go work in the yard and down in the garden. I got a good bit done, but there is still a ton to do. At this rate I'll probably get it all done by first frost!

   A good pile of limbs got burned, some leaves got raked and burned too. Earlier today I got some bulbs from my Aunt's house and I planted them down in the garden near the rose bushes to help in pollination. They are called the Twelve Disciples because each section puts out 12 blooms at each end. I also planted some mint near our birdbath. We hope to have a good herb garden this year too.

   My neighbor's dogs are constantly digging holes under the fence and they won't fill them in so I put some broke pieces of concrete in to try and close the holes. There always seems to be a fresh jungle of scrub brush each year creeping in on my garden and blocking the sun out. I cut a good sized pile down and boy were the goats happy! In no time all that was left was a big pile of limbs. Looks like I'll be burning again soon.

   The last chore of the day was also the toughest. Hoeing the potatoes and pulling the dirt up to the plants. I have every farmer's fantasy. A good hoe! Mine really is, it's around 50 years. I found it around 30 years ago in an old abandoned shack deep in the woods. The handle was actually a sawed off tree limb. I brought it home, sharpened it up, and put on a new handle. We have been tearing up weeds ever since.

   I'm ready for some french fries!

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

FUN IN THE GARDEN

   There is a lot of work that goes on in the garden, but it's also a place to rest and relax when the work is done. We have a park bench at the backside of the garden so we can sit back and see over the fruits of our labor at the days end. In the middle of the field I planted rose bushes a few years ago to attract the bees and butterflys for help in pollination.

   "Big Momma" added some metal ladybugs at the end of the rows for cuteness, she said. Some where we found a mushroom shaped frog house for all the toad frogs we have hanging around when we irrigate the field. Sometimes my wife likes to bring the radio or a CD player down to listen to while we sit and talk or have a cool drink before we put the tools back in the barn for the night. It may not be a trip to Vegas, but it's pretty good for L.A. (lower Alabama).

   We got pretty side tracked this weekend, and not too much got done around the farm. I walked down to the garden before supper to check on my crops. There is a lot of hoeing that needs to be done. Dirt needs to be piled up to the potatoes. My tomatoes are almost ready to be transplanted into the ground . They have really jumped in the last few days. My squash, onions, & peppers have broke the ground in their cups.

   It's time to cut down the rest of the brush around the garden so I can till up the soil and plant some sunflowers. There's a ditch to be dug around the posts of the new henhouse so I can put chainlink fencing around the bottom half to prevent critters from digging in. A new henhouse to build, and a 20 foot run to wrap in chicken wire.

   Maybe if I can get about half my chores caught up, "Big Momma" will give me some time off for good behavior on that old park bench with a cold glass of homemade lemonaide.

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

THE FIRST STEP TO WORLD DOMINATION

   CRICKET FARMING!!!
   I"ve always been a fisherman. My Dad actually had me catching fish before I could walk & talk. No matter what kind of fishing you may be into, it's hard to beat the basics. A cane pole, some crickets, and hopefully a bream bed!

  I came across a video on U-TUBE sometime back on raising crickets. It looked fairly simple. A lot of kids raising them for lizard food. If these kids can do it, I can too!  I had thought about trying it for a little while but then I went to the trash dump the other day and someone had set out this aquarium . It may or may not hold water but it will do for crickets. We'll see. Besides, have you seen the growing cost of crickets these days!!! Scandalous!

Jim Cobb.

BREAKING NEWS

PEAS ARE UP!! SO ARE CUCUMBERS!

FARM LIFE- NOTHING NEW

    I found something I have been looking for, for a couple of years yesterday. The old black & white movie "THE EGG AND I". It stars Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. The tale of a city couple coming to the country to start a farm and a new life. It was also the first time the characters of "Ma & Pa Kettle were introduced. I found it in a collection of 10 movies for the price of one movie, what a deal. If you love farming you'll enjoy this. Good, clean, fun!

Jim Cobb.

THINGS TO COME

   It's been a busy day today.I stayed in the road the whole day. I went over to my Dad's this morning to try and get him to go to the Doctor's office. He has not been feeling good lately. But, Dad being Dad, wouldn't go. He said he was doing much better, but he was still coughing.

   While I was at Dad's I got a call from a job I checked on yesterday. They called me back to tell me to come pick up an application. I spent the next few hours filling it out and running all over town getting references to fill out forms for me so I could turn it in. A part of the job required a Dr. visit for myself, so I had to go get that taken care of so I would be ready if they call me back.

   I got all that done just in time to pick up "Big Momma" from work.We got home and I walked down to the garden to clear my head from the rush of the day. I always think clearer in the woods.I need this job. My family needs me to have this job. Maybe it will happen. I look around and see other things that need to happen in my life. There's flower pots that need to have seeds planted in them, and a bar-b-que grill that needs a wild hog slow cookin on it, and brush to be cleared so I can plant my corn & watermelons & peppers.


   We left shortly there after for Church tonight. I'm enjoying going back to Church. I'm trying to find the answers to the things in life I don't understand. Hopefully I'll find the time to do all the things I need to do, and there will be better things to come.

Jim Cobb Coleman.

PIDDLIN AROUND THE FARM

Today was just an average day around the farm, nothing special. This morning I took "Big Momma" to work and I came home and enjoyed some good ol Eight O'Clock coffee while I sat out some Roma & Black Cherry Tomatoes in cups.

I turned on the sprinkler for the potatoes and peas in the garden. While I was moving the sprinkler around I bogged up over the tops of my boot tops in the newly tilled up soil. Yesterday evening I added 3 rows of heirloom okra. Some of the seeds produce green okra and some is crimson, but it all comes from the same plant.

I have a big mean-looking billy goat named BLUE. He's called BLUE because he's about every color there is except blue. He's not really mean, in fact he is very timid around us. He was grown when we got him and very skiddish. I had to rope him in order to put his collar & bell on him. Since then he won't even let me get close to him. But, he is slowly starting to come around. The other night he forgot for a few moments and actually walked right up to me and started feeding in front of me.

Not much excitement, but still a fun day.

Jim Cobb.