Friday, May 06, 2011

Oh, about my tomatoes

I think there might be one tomato plant left of those I started in the house.  It isn't cutworms getting them, after all; I only wish I knew what it was.  Something is eating all the leaves off the tiny plants... every leaf!... and leaving only the stem standing.  The expensive plants I bought, so far, are faring OK.  Perhaps God is telling me I don't need to can tomatoes this year, since I'm having surgery.  Whatever.  Aldi's canned tomatoes are still forty-nine cents a can, so I'll just buy those; the way prices are skyrocketing everywhere, I'd better hurry up and get them.  
Jody is doing fine; hopefully she has adjusted to the change, from real milk at her previous home to milk replacer here.  Everything looks as it should this morning, and she ate grain and then frolicked and bucked and played for about five minutes.  
In my early days of calf raising I used raw eggs and Pepto-Bismal and Kaopectate and all sorts of other home remedies and human medicines, when scours hit.  When I began raising twenty-five to fifty calves per year, though, I started using more modern remedies.  I get really good anti-scours pills from the vet, and I buy electrolyte solutions to mix with water and give them in place of milk when they're sick; if I'd stayed with the home remedies, half my calves would have died.  As it worked out, the only calves I ever lost through the years were the ones that were already sick when I got them (from a sale barn).  Sale barn calves are a risky business.  Jody came to me straight from a dairy farm.  

7 comments:

  1. I know a few people who swear by home remedies like they came down engraved on a marble tablet. And some of that stuff is so ridiculous I'm surprised it hasn't killed somebody yet. Or left them horribly scarred, like putting butter on a burn. Sheesh!

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  2. Back in the olden days (prior to both Donna and Me) gardeners used to sprinkle Bichloride of Mercury on tomato plants and others things to eliminate pests. It certainly worked but I would not recommend it even if you could get some.

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  3. That is so sad about all those plants that you nurtured along inside. Hope the others make it just fine. I love Aldi's prices and I stock up on their canned goods regularly. They say you can save 40% on your grocery bill there. After a sunny start my day has turned cloudy and gray...sure hope it doesn't rain for us. Hope your Friday is a great one!

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  4. I don't think I could stand not having fresh tomatoes, but if our bad weather keeps up, they won't grow anyway. I'm a fan of what works and what's easiest. (which is sometimes traditional and other times modern)

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  5. So crummy about your tomatoes. You're going to be out of commission after surgery, for a while, so stockpile some of those cans, now. Glad Jody is adjusting to her new life with you.

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  6. Too bad about the maters. My seedlings are about 2" tall. The one I bought at WM was $3.33! Hope my babies make it.

    I know you probably have explained this before but was wondering exactly how your reader works. I remember you saying you had bought some time for it and used it when your home pc was down. How does that work? Buying time? Using while on the bike trips etc?

    We took a short bike trip last week (only about 6hrs with a stop for lunch and stop at a park/lake to watch the turtles. Was a great ride.

    Love the header picture!

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