Tomato Cages

Wanted some cages that were easy to store, ie. that would fold flat, and be relatively cheap.  I decided to build my own.  Settled on using some cattle fencing, 4x12 panels of heavy duty welded galvanized rods that will last forever.   Had to borrow the neighbors truck <same one used to haul the alpaca poop> to get them home, after first cutting them in half at the local Tractor Supply.

Then came the rough design.  Priority was easy storage... hanging them on the wall of the barn.  Decided to cut them down into 24" pieces... 8 pieces per panel... equals two complete cages per panel.  How big to make them?  I saw several online that ranged from 12" up to 24".  Played around with different sized and settled on 18" square.  They would fit in the beds with some room to plant around them.

First I cut off the bottom horizontal rail.  This left 3 spikes per side to press down into the beds.  I used a piece of square steel with holes in it as a jig of sort, to bend every other bar all the way up to the side.  These would eventually form the hooks to attach the sides together.  Like this... <the trimmed bottom is at the top of the pic>

The excess was trimmed, and the center loop was offset to form a lock of sorts... so the sides would not slide around.

Offset center loop...

Then the sides were put together and the loops bent closed.  The finished cages looked like this.

This weekend they are going to be painted and then placed over the plants.  Future pics to come.

They were pretty easy to make once I decided what I wanted, and cost was minimal... each panel costing $22... and I got 2 cages per panel.  I wanted to powdercoat them at a cost of $16 each, but a friend of mine talked some sense into me.  I was in love with my cages, but not enough to spend almost $250 to bake some paint on them.  I'm gonna prime and spray my own paint on them.  They're gonna look purty when i'm done.... hopefully this weekend.

Strawberry Wine... Part Deaux

Last Monday I racked the strawberry must from the primary fermentor into the carboy, or secondary fermentor.  Carboy is the name of the big glass jar where the wine will sit for the next 4-8 weeks.  During this time, it continues to ferment, but at a much slower rate, and begin to settle and clear.  My parents had a ton of these big carboys in the basement.  This one is a 5 gallon, but they had them up to 10.  As a kid, I couldn't even put my lil arms around them.  Childhood memories.  Anyway...

This is what the must looked like after popping off the top.  Did you watch the Bubbling Video that i still am unable to embed into this blog? <hint hint Short One>

This is the foam side, and this is the berry side... much more appealing.

Racking is just siphoning from one container into another... like this.

And this is what the finished product looks like... sitting on the shelf... looking just beautiful... kinda.  You can already see some of the settling at the bottom.  Once it's clear, it's gonna be purty!!!

So what does it taste like? ... you ask.

I didn't want a sickening sweet wine, but a dryer wine, so I used Pasteur Champagne yeast which is able to withstand higher alcohol levels and doesn't die off as it converts the sugar into the alcohol.  The faster the yeast dies off, the less sugar is converted, and the sweeter the wine. 

My starting gravity was 1.121 and ended up at .982 when i racked it 6/4/12, which equates to an ABV of about 16%. 

It was dry, crisp, and going to be very good.  I already have several people lines up to taste it when it gets racked into bottles... probably in August sometime.

Burial Mound, Horse Shoes, and 2nds

Cleaned up and planted the "burial mound" next to the barn yesterday.  Moved the big green plant, and cut back the Naked Irises.  I didn't square off the plot, but sorta chunked it out.  Divided it into 8 plots.  From the fence to the sidewalk, barn side to house side, I have squash and LG's plot, Burpless cukes and Lemon cukes, Pickle cukes and regular cukes, and future pole beans and Purple Bush Beans.  Yes, that's a lot of cukes, and no, there is no zucchini... yet.  Neighbors got a lot of them coming up, and will probably be the beneficiary of some.

The Burial Mound... in the early morning.  Stepping stones are the corners of the plots and divide it in half long ways.

I can't believe it, but LG is turning me into a flower guy.  Sheeeesh.  Then I ran into a vendor at the Farmers Market who said tending veggies is one thing, but you really get in touch with your soul with flowers.  Double Sheeeesh.  So, I planted my horeshoe pits with sunflowers.  But didn't just throw seeds around.  Dug most of the clay out and put in topsoil, peat, and some compost.  Red Sun and Teddy Bear will hopefully soon be gracing my pits.  Sorry Stevo, no horseshoes for you!!!!!

My first coneflower...

Cauliflower peeking thru leaves...

and 2nds on Broccoli

Snap peas reaching new heights...

and pole beans tied up and trellised.

And finally, my lone asparagus out of 18 planted.  Here's hoping more will show.  :-/

Wait... here's my dark side.... coveting my neighbors blueberries.  heh heh heh

Peas and Romanescu

Peas are doing great.  You can see both varieties i planted... the tall is a snap pea, and the shorty is something Marvel.  Both are producing and i've been eating peas off the vine for almost a week.  LG said she's picking some too.  Harvesting broccoli and some cauliflower that is starting to flower.  Most of the cauliflower is wrapped in the leaves to keep the sun from turning it green.  Neither one likes hot weather, so this spring planting is nearing it's end.

The Romanescu is all leaves, no head.  Disappointing for LG who really wanted it to do well.  The brussel sprouts have tiny sprouts on them.  Maybe we'll get some of those before it get too hot.  Either way, all 4 of these will be planted in the fall for a late crop.

Here's some pics. First the peas...

Romanexcu leaves

and the lil baby brussel sprouts... might have to blow up the pic to see them.  They are the little nubs at the intersection of the stalk and the leaves.

Weekend is almost here and I already got my grass cut.  Maybe more strawberries for future jam, or freezing, if I have enough time.