Gone Feral In Idaho

I love this guys stuff.

The tomato pergola is coming along nicely. All 14 plants are being pruned to 1-2 vines only for each. The horizontal aspect is now under way, we'll se how they tolerate it. We did the upside down tomato before and it did well, so I'm hoping this method is a good solution for the plants growing taller than their stakes. We will cut off the growing tips later in the season to promote the ripening of the fruit that is already established before the first cold snap. 

We got our first tomato harvest on Sunday. These are (not quite ripe) White Queens, Honey Bunch, and an Egg Yolk. Since then we've gotten a few Pearly Pinks and a Black Cherry, but I ate them before getting pictures. I turned them into a little salad by cutting them up, lightly salting in a colander to get extra moisture out, then tossed them with oregano, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. This is one of my favorite ways to eat tomatoes. My other fave is with a few drops of truffle oil, basil, and fresh mozzarella. To me cucumber salad and tomato salad are the epitome of the taste of summer. Forget hamburgers, home grown tomatoes with a few simple ingredients are the best on a hot day. I also had the bright idea of building a tomato pergola. We knew the plants would reach far above their 6' stakes, so we made a trellis for them to grow across before we cut off the growing tips in about a month. So far I am keeping all my tomatoes pruned to only two vines per plant and ...

I loved the original . I hope this is good. Lets Kickstart this project!

DIY LED Light Show First I have so many people to thank for their help with this project. Homey Da Clown, Fritz42, Pshort, Gorak, and many more helped me figure out how to make the project work.  For information on Arduino, look it up on the web, Vixen Lights is free software that you can download. DIY Christmas is a great forum to use as a resource. They have forums on Vixen and even some on using Arduino with Vixen. As you will see, I am no electrician, but want to explain how I did this project for others that might be a bit intimidated. I say that if you don’t know what to fear about failure helps you charge headstrong into the unknown. You might even learn something. My goal last year was to have several discreet channels of led spotlights that I could dim and turn on and off with some spooky sounds. I had no idea where to start. I basically wanted a Light-O-Rama setup on the cheap and DIY. If you didn’t know LOR setups can cost thousands of dollars. I also wanted to po...

I've been noticing wasps in the garden, especially around the Dinosaur Kale. I did some research, and wasps are excellent predatory insects. They'll hunt caterpillars, aphids, and some ants. I guess we'll have to share the garden with these guys, since we are growing organically and free insect control is the best.  We've recently purchased a Neem oil product to deter spider mites and squash bugs. So far so good. 

We harvested the peas. Sugar Daddy and Lincoln turned out well. The Sugar Pods went bitter and mealy way to fast, I think we'll pass on those next year. Cosmos I added duck weed to help shade the water while the other plants get bigger. We had a nasty scare with Ich and the fish, we lost at least 5 of them, but with treatment and time, the survivors are better. The Triumphator Lilies are in bloom again and smell wonderful. Honey Bunch Orange Icicle Carbon White Queen Mortgage Lifter is starting to show some color.