It's done, it's done, it's done!!!

Hip hip hooray!

Everything is planted at long last!! As of yesterday, the cold frame is bursting with pots of corn and tomatoes. Heck even the left over odd balls (not counting the two six packs of cabbage? cauliflower? I found in the car today...and why was it in the car?) are in the ground. In about six weeks my new raised bed will be bursting with pumpkin plants, carrots, a couple egg plants, etc. Planted snap peas thickly along a fence panel, and I sure hope they come up! Nothing is quite as good as snacking on those while you are weeding, lol The onions are obviously pretty happy to be in the ground and I have buds on all my zucchini plants-pumpkins too. I put the acorn squash some distance away and it is thriving as well. All in all, pretty danged happy with how things turned out :)

Of course, along the way I discovered that I have a bad end on a hose that leaks something awful, and that the sprinkler I used last year on the main garden is kaput, lol So I now have a spiffy new sprinkler and hose end repair stuff on hand. Despite a short downpour or two yesterday, the sun today has everything dried out-so, tractor sprinkler is going on the lawn and I'll tend the baskets and greenhouse tomorrow morning.

I am especially happy that I don't have the greenhouse as crowded as previous years. This time, there is ample air flow and there is plenty of space for the growth to come. I even have room for a chair so I can enjoy my daily chores there-instead of feeling mildly annoyed about snaking a hose through the pots or accidentally missing watering a plant by hand. I moved the cukes to the back wall and put the melons on the westerly side-and that seems to make them both much happier than before. The cucumbers have tripled in size in about ten days and the melons the same.....they even have buds forming. Found a couple of nice sized green peppers too. The tomatoes are flowered, but not fruiting yet. I am a little behind on those because it took so long to get into there and get them potted up. But they too, are obviously happy and look marvelous.

Now if I could just get the lawn going.........

All that......and more!

When I mentioned in a previous entry that a saga was developing regarding All That, I wasn't joking......things are getting stranger by the minute and I am waiting the Cyclops to make it's appearance to complete this journey through the bizarre :)

As I ponder whether and/or how much to share, I think I will reverse the clock a little and toss out a few tidbits as they relate to All That.

All That is nothing if not persistent in her attempts to "right wrongs", even if she is in error. Thus, her assertions and accusations against various members of the local horse community in the past. No one was spared, especially lay people she did not like. But she was not above vilifying the professionals too.....veterinarians and farriers in particular. The sun shined out the butt of her chosen service providers and she made no bones about it. She was so bad about it, that several confessed to me personally that they would never be able to respond to her property for any reason. Ever. This is how you burn bridges here that cannot be repaired. There are a limited number of horse practitioners and professionals here in Alaska, and it is a foolish person that alienates anyone. I am pretty sure that a check of complaints made against professional license holders here, would have her signature on them. It's a logical conclusion, based on her own words.

All That used to laud praises upon the horses she owned, which she detailed at length on her little chat group. Having seen these horses in person, I can attest that they did, in fact, exist. So it was with great puzzlement when all learned that her youngest horse (a strapping QH/TB type) had been put down due to hoof issues. I kept my thoughts to my self about the decision, but horse owners know this is a painful, difficult thing to do. That left the senior fellow who was seemingly going great guns on a mash diet. After our falling out, I didn't hear anything about her horse for many months. Imagine my surprise when it was relayed to me that All That put down the old horse. On her property. And butchered him on the spot. And into her freezer he went-steaks and roasts of no doubt tender horseflesh. And yes, she did indeed consume his remains-and has even bragged about doing so.

I'll wait while you fill the barf bag-I know I threw up a little in my mouth at the thought. Now, I have actually eaten horse before.....and would not have any compunction against eating it in the future if I was starving. The point being, if I was starving. But All That was surely not, since they are employed by the State-who is generous indeed with wages. I can't get around this one at all....she ate her pet. Euww! Most horse owners I know who cannot bury their beloved equine friends on their property, either dispose of the remains at the landfill, or arrange to have a local dog musher harvest the carcass for their dog team. Now, owning 20 acres surely meant there was enough room, right? And if not, surely they had the money to dispose of her pet at the dump, right? And if not, surely she knew mushers willing to help, right?


Wrong on all counts, sad to say. So that chapter of her animal husbandry closed and she continued on with goats.......If you peruse her website, you will find many walls of text, explaining in great detail everything. And I do mean everything. But what she does not confess, is her atrocious treatment of goat industry professionals-such as, calling the president of a national organization a liar. In print. On a public forum. She has jumped into the larger pond that is the US goat world, and left behind nothing but the lingering impression of what a whackjob she really is. From the various organizations who sanction shows, to those who record dairy information to judges, appraisers and other professionals (many of whom have become experts in their chosen fields due to many decades of effort) and breeders-none are spared from her scathing assaults. The private emails fly and speculation ensues and while they'll take her money happily enough, most are trying to stay under her radar. Privately, she has become something of a joke, in a "tsk tsk, oh my" sort of way-but a joke nonetheless.

Would that her goat endeavors here in Alaska be a joke also, but alas, they are not........


More to come. But you knew that, right?

Progress!

Yippee! There is progress on the garden! The main garden is planted, thanks in large part to the efforts of my niece. Everything that is remaining in the greenhouse is potted up, and the extra tomatoes and corn await attention in the cold frame. The raised bed is nearly complete too, I only need to add the little brackets and then I can spread the dirt and think about planting. Loaned out the tiller to our good friend and neighbor and it quit on him.....hopefully the problem is still under warranty and I'll hear about that today with luck. Aside from the cold frame, I have pumpkins and acorn squash to get planted, and peas and spuds if possible. And yes I am well aware I am very late with those two, lol

Also last night, I picked up two turkey chicks....these are for eating this fall. And, I have five more ordered to arrive at the end of the month too. Those are Sweetgrass, a very hardy bird that breeds true and is thrifty-not to mention very pretty. Hopefully they will all survive the shipping and then brooding and I will end up with at least one tom and two or three hens to winter over. Crossing my fingers on this one, because turkey chicks just aren't easy to raise. Very fragile when they are young! Another gal has chosen the same breed and number (from a large combined order) and between us we can hopefully establish the breed here in Alaska. A little genetic diversity is not a bad thing :)

As to the goat world....well, things are happening. And won't you all be entertained when I can lay out the story! But you'll have to wait because it has turned into a saga of epic proportions, haha!

Summer has arrived, woohoo!

Yes, summer like weather has finally arrived in Southcentral Alaska-and none too soon! We've had a very cold and dry spring with the birch trees leafing out several weeks later than normal. Lawns are beginning to green up, and the ornamental shrubs, bushes, and berries are leafing out as well. The past three days, we have had glorious sunshine and temperatures into the 70s.

Naturally this has lead to a frantic amount of work for those of us who garden. It's a mad scramble to get the garden plots and beds fully prepped and then planted. I am running around a week behind but with the help of family, it's getting done. Bless my niece who helped all day yesterday! As of this weekend, I should finally have room in my greenhouse to pot up my tomatoes and corn.....I haven't had a spare square foot in there since I moved in. I did manage to get the vegetables hardened off to sunlight, but the flowers-baskets, bowls and planters, have been put aside until today.

It'll be a busy, yet very productive weekend as I head over to help out a friend all three days.

Yeehaw, summer in Alaska! Where you burn both ends of the candle in the summer, and sleep all winter!!

Finally!

Finally it seems as though the weather has turned the corner into something we might remember as spring. It's been so cold overnight-with temps in the very low 30s or upper 20s for weeks on end-that we were all pretty discouraged. A few lucky areas have been blessed with warmer micro climates and have their plants out, but most do not. In fact, here it is, May 22nd, and the trees are not yet fully leafed out-and neither are all the shrubs. Typically, we're pretty much leafed out by Mothers' Day so this has been a set back to all gardeners.

But that doesn't mean the preparation work stops. I have a new pile of what passes for topsoil up by the garden-ready to amend and plant. I've delivered more items to the commercial greenhouse, and brought home my own hanging baskets. Yesterday I got peppers, tomatillo's, cucumbers, and melons potted up for the summer. Today I will work on all the annual containers, which will be pitifully small indeed. They've been kept in their cell packs for easily three weeks longer than normal, darn it. I'm still up to my eyeballs in veggie starts, even after setting aside whats needed by friends and family. And I have tomatoes. Lots and lots of tomatoes, haha Which is going to mean lots of big pots and I am so thankful that I had the foresight to purchase a number of those this spring!

We've also come up with a plan to replace the (incredibly ugly!) gravel alongside the long garage wall, hip hip hooray! In about three weeks or so, that gravel will be removed-and carefully spread to alleviate some minor drainage problems elsewhere. Then, lots of dirt gets spread and we'll be seeding it for grass. For this wall, I got a total of five lilac shrubs to plant, they are going to look wonderful! For the back side, I have two Norland apple trees and a Centennial to plant too, woohoo! Of course this means a fence for protection from moose, but I don't mind, I have been wanting apple trees for years. And most exciting of all, I managed to snag onto three honey berry bushes. Very hard to come by, these Zone 2 plants will provide not only scented blooms, but some wonderful berries when mature. The berries look like an elongated blueberry, and taste nearly the same.

Yesterday, I about had a disaster. My wonderful husband removed some fencing at the barn that wasn't needed, and moved the coop over one stall. It freed up quite a bit of barn space, so we're both happy about that. His idea was to fence off the garden from moose (and chickens!) using the fence panels with chicken wire zip tied to it. Sounded really good, but then yesterday I barely managed to snatch up a flat of veggies from being wolfed down by the laying hens.....and, instead of fencing the chickens out of the garden, I now have to fence them in. There is no way I can harden anything off with those birds loose, they'll eat it, lol! So today, one of the first things to tackle is making a secure fence for the girls. They are not going to be happy, poor things.

Another little project is to construct a real raised bed down by the greenhouse. Just has to be done, and hopefully I will have this knocked together by midweek....it should be about 24 by 6 foot wide when completed. That's my pumpkin bed, and this time I will make sure I can easily add my plastic piping hoops over the entire bed, lol Also accomplished last week-thanks to my wonderful husband a couple of friends-the cold frame is up and sheeted. We used the scrap covering from the big greenhouse for it, and set the legs into concrete blocks. That's where the corn and extra tomatoes will be this summer.

I am sure am looking forward to all the new projects being completed-then I can share pictures!

Dancing with disaster

That's about the most on point description I can make about the big decision to move nearly all the plants into the greenhouse. We've had temperatures down into the upper 20s at night for several weeks, with highs only reaching into the 50s. But gosh darn it, all my plants were really suffering, being held under artificial lights.

We made the big move a few days back....which took quite a number of trips with the four wheeler and trailer, shuffling down over 60 flats, a couple dozen bowls and 30 or 40 pots of tomatoes and peppers. Any amount of sun and the greenhouse would heat right up into the 80s, and the fans would do their magic as usual. But it was the night time temps that had me most worried. I was able to borrow a 1500 watt electric heater from a fellow gardener, and thank heavens I did. Friday morning, I had a temperature of just 35 degrees inside. The expected low last night was forecast to be "in the upper 20s" which prompted me to find a second 1500 watt heater (also borrowed, this time from a neighbor) and I am so so thankful I did! Yes, 29 degrees here this am, but temperature in the greenhouse was about 40. Yay! Disaster averted!

And in the goat world here..........

All That continues to dance with disaster herself. A few days back I saw a partial post she made with the phrase "someone unmentionable". Really, All That? She is trying so hard not to publicly mention the farm, the breeder, and so forth, that she is forced to resort to stupid phrases like this. All That, many of us can see that big yellow stripe down your back from a long ways away.....stop trying to be cute. We're not buying what you're trying to peddle.

So here is the situation: A local breeder sold All That what essentially amounted to a starter herd. The breeder mentored All That for months, and answered questions and provided sound advice and so on-like anyone would do who is helping someone get started in something new. Now, breeders who understand breeding realize that pairings have several goals. No need to trot out the specifics as they relate to goats, but the aim is to improve quality not just create numbers. You look through the results, and cull what does not seem to be able to help you attain your long term goals-and if you are smart breeder, you also let a number of your best move on to new homes. This does two things: Allows the purchaser to continue with your lines, and helps to reinforce the farm breeding program. The trick is finding the right person to take those lines forward, you see? Culls are typically placed in either the stew pot or pet homes (in goats anyhow) and placing a promising doe or buck (sometimes with show and production accomplishments) is a gamble that knowledgeable breeders know they must take from time to time. Eventually the new owner breeds the animals and this helps the original breeder to see what different crosses and genetics can produce. In most cases, it's a win-win situation-but not, or course, with All That.

How the mentor became the someone unmentionable is a long story, but it boils down to the inexperience of All That, the breeder's decision under pressure to sell a particular goat, and then that goat did not turn out the way that All That expected. Therefore, the goat itself, it's parentage, and the fact of its origins are curiously absent from All That's public communications-but not the private ones, alas. She'll type any contortion to avoid the breeder's name, farm name, side and dam and so on. Just hilarious-and shows her true colors to all.

To anyone else, this is no big deal. We buy an animal, making a sound choice (hopefully) on what attributes are known and sometimes it just doesn't pan out. In horses, this can turn out to be an unknown physical condition, an undesirable behavior, or just a case of "don't click" at all. All That knows this, but seemingly does not believe it applies to herself and her choices in goats.....because, remember, she IS "All That".

As far as the court case, it moves forward at the glacial pace of the legal system. The Alaska Mini Goat Cache is moving forward as a club and several shows are planned this summer. It's a happy group of goat loving people and the meetings are well run, organized, and much gets accomplished each time.

Rumors continue to arise about the missing club funds' and All That's newly purchased (and expensive!) goats from the Lower 48 earlier this year, but we are all quick to squash this one. Since All That does not participate in the club any longer, and does not interact with us online or via email lists, this is just one of a number of questions that remain unanswered. Of course, this didn't stop the (former, resigned on Jan 9) president and All That herself from attempting to seize control of the club's bank account, haha This happened in March, btw. Of course they were not able to take the funds....but it surely shows intent.

Doesn't it?

A little sunshine

We have a little sunshine this afternoon, and it has surely lifted my spirits! Now if the night time temperatures would just come up about 8 degrees, I'd be a happy camper too.

Speaking of sunshine.....You may have heard the word used to describe exposing various schemes, plots, past actions of ill repute and so on. As in, "shine a little sunshine" on some person or situation. Today, I'd like to shine a little light on what can only be called a "smear campaign".

The important thing to know about smear campaigns, is that they are deadly effective. Whether the aim is to ruin reputations, or carried out for spite, revenge or whatever, they are insidious. In the right situation, just casting doubt is as damaging as renting a bill board for the world to see. Another important thing to know about these, is that the target is forced into a defensive posture. Rarely does a victim go on the offensive to curb or muzzle the perpetrator-they are too busy attempting to smooth the waters by providing the real truth-or simply too upset or angry to cope with the attack. Some folks will retreat into their circle of friends, family and supporters, and not deal with it all....which is essentially allowing the smear campaign to continue unabated and unchallenged.

They are incredibly effective when they are carefully planned and executed with the shield of anonymity, typically by using third parties, or such venues as can be found on line easily. Having been the victim myself a number of times, I understand the frustration that results. That said, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who might be gunning for you, either. It will someone you had a run in with (even though it may have seemed inconsequential at the time), someone you had a big argument with-in person or on the web, or simply someone who has bought into whatever gossip/rumor/innuendo was fed to them.

The people who orchestrate smear campaigns, I consider to be cowards. Not brave enough to face someone and have it out-they resort to using other means to do their dirty work. And dirty work it is, make no mistake about it.

So, consider this a public warning to the two people attempting to "ruin" me. I won't have it. If you don't have the balls to take it to me direct, then remember this: It's a two way street.

And you live on it too.