The Shed

The Shed
The Shed

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Hidden Treasures

Moving into October and its is nearly time to put most of the veggie Garden to sleep, weeding, cleaning, digging certain beds and preparing for next spring. But that isn't to say that no growth is taking place; see the previous post on rutabagas and yellow turnips, for example. Bell and frying peppers are growing like they never heard of winter, jamming their plants with limb breaking yields.

SOME OF OUR RED BELL PEPPERS, STACKED ON THE PLANT
AND ABOUT TO TURN A BRIGHT CRIMSON

But even more interesting are the garden treasures we find when we least expect to, well after we though we had harvested the last of them. Like this stealth zucchini:

A STEALTHY FELLOW INDEED!
Note the ovals on the stem and base of the zucchini itself; these are squash bugs and in a day or two would have damaged the veggie. We were in time to rescue it! (So we could eat it ourselves)

We found a yellow summer squash, way past its peak season.

A LATE BUT TASTY FIND
Quite well hidden indeed were about 4 butternut squash, after we were sure we'd found all of them.

NEVER TOO MANY BUTTERNUT SQUASHES!

This unexpected bonanza of green and yellow squash, combined with tomatoes that had ripened indoors, the bell and frying peppers still on the vine and the onions which we had picked a month ago allowed us to make (with ground beef, cheese and garlic) a favorite one skillet meal known in these parts as "Wot from the Pot".

"WOT FROM THE POT", RECIPE RIGHT HERE

But these are not all the surprises the garden still holds, there are red potatoes still in the soil, and some Lima beans yet dangling on the fence.

So never give up on the garden until the last bit of fall clean up is complete. You really never know what you might find!





FARM GIRL'S CORNER - The Boules of Bashan

Hi! Farm Girl here with a few slack moments in which to give you all an update on the progress of our Boule D'or (yellow) turnips as they wend their inexorable way toward our cooking pots.

GETTING A TAD CHILLY FOR THIS LOOK
And here are our little jaundiced prizes as they appear in their 7th update photo, at the conclusion of their 6th full week of growth. They were sown on August 17th.

THICK, LUSCIOUS YELLOW TURNIP GREENS

You can see how densely packed the leaves are, so much so that we will be trying a pot full of yellow turnip greens tomorrow. While we don't really expect a noticeable difference in flavor from the greens of the ordinary white turnip it certainly is worth a try.

Not doing so well are the leaves of the Brussels sprouts in the foreground (flea beetles suspected). These received a good dose of pyrethrine which we expect will sort the situation out in short order.

And of course the weekly report would not be complete without a few words on every one's favorite fatty, Mr. Big, our own prized rutabaga.

EXPANDING LIKE THE NATIONAL DEBT, MR. BIG
Mr. Big is now a full 19" in circumference, putting his diameter at a stately 6" or so. Normally you don't want rutabagas getting any larger than this as they begin to get woody and tough beyond this point. But, since we want to see just how large this fellow will get before the first frost we intend to let him keep growing.

Also, the woody portions may always be cut out, and if the weather conditions are optimal - and they have been - even a large rutabaga may remain tender throughout. 

That about wraps up the boule and 'baga report for this week, as always thanks for visiting us here at Farm Girl's Corner!




Today's Farm Girl Model, Jamie Eason

Photographer, Johnny Crosslin

More of Miss Eason and Mr. Crosslin's remarkable work can be seen at:


We highly recommend a visit to the site!

Friday, September 28, 2012

SOMETHING DEAD FROM THE SHED - Smilodon, the cat who came to dinner.

Hello everyone its your old pal Jacky straight from Whitechapel to Uncle Mac's shed by the miracle of the wormhole. I don't pretend to understand wormholes, mind, although I can navigate one well enough in a pinch. I do know that because they exist my neck has gone unstretched for over a century now and that's enough to be getting on with.

I was up in the hayloft - yes the shed has one, sometimes several, although you'd never know from the outside - trying to think of a new topic for "Something Dead from the Shed" when one dropped into my lap, figuratively and literally.

L TO R, YOURS TRULY, LEATHERFACE SANS LEATHER, FARM GIRL AND THE LATE CARBORUNDUM OF MORGOTH. ITS A LONG STORY. 

As I was saying there I was lyin' about waiting for inspiration when Farm Girl comes in through the orchard door and starts making a pot of coffee. At about that moment I hear a "pop" outside the garden door announcing an arrival via wormhole, and Uncle Mac comes banging in, arms loaded. From my vantage point I could tell he wasn't quite ready for Farm Girl.

"Thought you might like a kitten." He said, sheepishly.

The coffee pot banged on the top of the potbellied stove.

"Well what..." said farm girl, approaching, "another bobcat? And what is Mrs. BobKat going to think about that? You know how territorial they are! Wait just a second here..."

She took the "kitten", about the size of a middlin' house cat, held it at arms length looking it over closely. Then she pulled it in and held it like a treasured pet. The kitten seemed to be sleeping.

"No." said Farm Girl. "No, Mac. No! We cannot keep a saber toothed kitten, I don't care how cute he is. Sooner or later he'll be a saber toothed cat. Nobody is going to believe its an ocelot with an eating disorder and big teeth. He has to go back! Now, before everyone else sees him and the arguments start."

"Too late!" I said, not wanting to appear to be spying, and I dropped down the ladder from the loft. "Let's take a look at the little bugger."

And indeed, a cute little bugger was he. The out sized fangs had barely started to develop and the soft fur was patterned much like that of a clouded leopard. This should really have been no surprise because although we call the critters "saber toothed tigers" they are not particularly close relatives of tigers at all, and no one today has a clue as to how their coats may have been colored and patterned.

"I'll get him something to eat", said Farm Girl and thrust the wee creature at me. "I hope you were not counting on cream in your coffee, Mac."

At this moment there was a thump from the side of the shed and Mrs BobKat dropped in through the second floor hay door, fresh from her sentry post atop the garden fence from which she kept watch for interloping bunnies, chucks and other furry marauders.

MRS. BOBKAT ON SENTRY DUTY

Sniffing suspiciously Mrs. B soon detected the odor of strange cub and cat-footed up to where I held him. She sniffed the cub from nose to tail tip, and then head butted him gently. The kitten half woke, demonstrating the blue eyes of a baby feline, and with a protesting mew biffed Mrs. B on her nose with a paw.

Mrs. BobKat took this as a signal to begin a thorough washing of the newcomer with her excessively raspy tongue. There ensued a number of loud kittenish complaints, which were completely ignored.

Farm Girl, now in latex gloves and holding a bowl of warm cream, plucked the cub from my lap and Mrs. B's tender ministrations. She presented the saucer. There was much rejoicing.

YUM!

"So!" began farm Girl conversationally, but with just a hint of an edge to her voice. "What year did you pluck this hungry little guy from?"

"Oh, about 32,500 back, give or take." replied Mac, studying his boot tips.

"So he isn't Gracillis and we can't do a little dentistry and pass him off as a leopard, as if that would be easy to explain."

"No, not Gracillis" said Mac, staring with great suspicion at something in the far corner by the gardening tools.

"Did he perhaps come from California, you whiskery old waste of denim?" The edge in her voice was no longer a hint.

"No, no." replied the Waste of Denim, suddenly finding something extremely interesting in the uppermost rafters. "Not Smilodon fatalis either."

"Populator. Smilodon flippin' populator, big as a bear and 5 times more dangerous. Oh good choice Mac he'll fit right in with the rest of the psycho killers! What do you use to think with? Never mind, I know the answer to that already!"

"Well it is not going to happen. When he's done eating you take him back." 


Our errant Uncle looked straight at Farm Girl for the first time since he had dropped through the wormhole.

"He's an orphan. His mother tried for a giant ground sloth and missed her hold. The sloth tore her to bits. He has no where to go." 
  
THE HEINOUS CRIME RECONSTRUCTED AT THE PAGE MUSEUM

As you might expect, the debate raged on for some time and the outcome has not, as yet, been determined. If you want my best guess I'd say we probably have a new cat.

One thing we don't have to guess at is the topic for this episode of "Something Dead from the Shed"! And thus with no further ado...


***************************************************

SMILODONS, PERE ET FILS


When is a tiger not a tiger?

A tiger is not a tiger when it is a saber toothed cat. The saber toothed cats represent a now extinct line, the Machairodontinae that diverged from the line that leads to the Panthera genus or modern big cats about 23 million years ago during the Miocene epoch. There are no descendants of the Machairodontinae line living today. The last of the breed, Smilodon fatalis and Smilodon populator are thought to have become extinct about 10000 years ago.

Origins:

The big saber toothed cats are all thought to have descended from Megantereon, a true cat that enjoyed a wide distribution throughout Africa, Asia, North America and Europe over a period of about eight and one half million years during the late Miocene and into the Pleistocene. Megantereon had all the credentials. Its stocky jaguar sized body maxed out at about 350 pounds and this apex predator sported enlarged canines like his famous descendants. Megantereon's immensely strong forelegs were as large of those of a modern African lion.








MEGANTEREON AND LUNCH

Megantereon died out about 500,000 years ago, its remains have been found at some of the same sites as our ancestors Homo ergaster and Homo erectus, giving rise to speculation that the latter must at least occasionally have become prey.

Smilodon gracilis:

SMILODON GRACILIS, SMILING
 
Replacing and possibly evolving directly from Megantereon, Smilodon gracilis appeared about two and one half million years ago and became extinct about 500,000 years ago. Gracilis was actually a smaller animal than Megantereon, at most little more than 220 pounds, yet it was a true saber toothed cat and in all likelihood spawned the behemoth species which followed.

The big boys:

Gracilus gradually gave way to two larger species, Smilodon fatalis and Smilodon populator. Fatalis roamed North America and parts of South America. This species was approximately the size of a modern Siberian tiger, but the build was more powerful, almost bear like, and the fore body strength is unmatched by any of the predators of today. Smilodon fatalis may have reached a weight of 650 pounds, and may have stood almost 40 inches high at the shoulder.

 
Smilodon fatalis is thought to have fed on most of the larger game animals extant at the time and as it became extinct no earlier than 10,000 years ago it would have crossed paths with modern human beings. It is hard to visualize a positive outcome for the humans when such encounters occurred.

If Smilodon fatalis was awe inspiring, how much more so Smilodon populator, a true giant who roamed South America from approximately a million years ago to just under 10,000 years past. These titanic cats could weigh 900 pounds, measure over seven feet in length and stand four feet tall at the shoulder. Their famous fangs could top eleven inches in length.

YOU THINK YOU HAD A BAD DAY?
SMILODON POPULATOR AND CANAPE

Populator had immense front body strength compared to that of modern day big cats and even to its cousin, the remarkably powerful Smilodon fatalis. As the enormous canine teeth were not truly adapted for biting it is thought that Smilodon used its strength to pull down and hold its prey, and then utilized its tremendously powerful neck muscles to power the fangs through the windpipe, blood vessels and nerves resulting in a relatively quick kill.

Prey:

Smilodon would have needed all of this power to subdue animals like the horse, camel, bison, deer, young mammoths and mastodons and even the ground sloth and occasional human on which it apparently fed. The trade off for this robust body build was a decrease in speed, and Smilodon would probably have had difficulty in subduing smaller, fleet footed game.

It has been suggested, although it is not certain, that Smilodon behaved more like the social African lion and lived and hunted in prides or packs, rather than like the solitary tiger or leopard.

GET THE POINT?

Extinction:

This lack of speed may have contributed to the downfall of Smilodon, which occurred only yesterday on the historic time line. Ten thousand years ago many of the larger game species also became extinct either due to the activities of upstart Homo sapiens or to clamate change consistent with the end of the ice age. In any event, Smilodon of all species were left without their best source of prey, the result was evidently catastrophic.

Visualization:

Many intact skeletons of both fatalis and populator are known, the former from the La Brea Tar Pits among other sites, and the latter from a number of cave sites in South America. Excellent reproductions may be found on line and in museums, and in various film specials on the History Channel, A and E and Discovery.
  


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Root crops in the fall

Not everyone knows the secret of root crops in Autumn. Farmers do of course and veteran home gardeners as well, but the casual home gardener may not . Let's set that to rights right now.

The secret simply is that most root crops, grown as a matter of course in spring grow better, heavier, tastier and more disease and damage free growing from the warm days of late summer into cool and even cold weather.

RUS - RADISHES OF UNUSUAL SIZE

A -HAH Uncle Mac, you mendacious old rascal some might say, you are holding yonder overblown radishes a foot in front of a very small pepper to inflate their size, not to mention egos.

No, scoffer, I might reply, those radishes are touching what is in reality a reasonably good sized bell pepper. These are common "French Breakfast" variety radishes but they exceed their Spring grown brethren by a considerable margin both in volume and crunchiness.

The same is true of beets, kohlrabi, turnips of all varieties, and rutabagas. (Which is often called a turnip but actually is not.) Carrots grow well although not necessarily bigger and will overwinter in situ if cared for properly. Parsnips fairly cry out to be grown until the first frost at least, it greatly enhances their flavor. They also overwinter well.

A PRIZE RUTABAGA IN AN EARLY STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT

One of the nice things about fall root crops is many can be kept not just in the ground but in the home as well to provide a food source all the way into early spring. The rutabaga shown above is an excellent example of a long keeping fall root crop.

It is almost certainly too late in most zones to plant a successful fall crop - with the possible exception of radishes - but you now have all winter to plan your "second season" garden for next year.

As always, thank you for visiting Uncle Mac's.

We hope to see you back soon!

Friday, September 21, 2012

FARM GIRL'S CORNER - The Boule is getting pretty deep

Hi! Farm Girl here with the 6th update on our Boule D'or (yellow turnip) crop which was sown August 17th, making this the 5th week of growth. The excitement around the shed is well nigh unbearable.

As is the smell of methane. It was chili and burrito night last night, Leatherfaces' special recipe. Let us not dwell on the topic.

FARM GIRL

And here are our little Boules on September 21. Doing nicely, but Uncle Mac has decided to give them a spritz of fish emulsion as a foliar spray. Not that they particularly need it, in my opinion, but because the wind is blowing directly toward our "favorite" neighbor. Delacroix suggested Saran but that seems a tad excessive. For now.


BOULES, WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS IN FOREGROUND, WEEK 5

And now the moment you have really been waiting for, an update on the life and times of Mr. Big, our very own celebrity rutabaga.


MR. BIG WITH OTHERS OF HIS ILK IN THE BACKGROUND


Mr. Big is now a portly 18" in circumference and we expect great things from him as time goes by. Other, lesser rutabagi can also be detected in this shot. The out of focus white blot to the right of the picture is a butternut squash, apparently come to visit. Always welcome at Uncle mac's, are butternut squash.

Well that is about that for this weeks update. As always, thanks for visiting Farm Girl's Corner!


Lead photo courtesy of April May Maple who retains all rights:
Lead photo model: April May Maple




Sunday, September 16, 2012

WOOT! WOOT! WOULD Y'ALL LOOKY HERE?

FREE TO A GOOD HOME
Howdy! It's me Aunt Agnes and Ah'm happier than Queen Cleopatra the day somebody told her that she had a nice asp. Would yew jist look at this fine product? Friend o' mine from Minnesota told me about it and Ah cannot wait for it to hit the market! Finally something for us farmin' Ladies on a cold and lonely night!

HELP US OBI-WAN CORNOBI!
Hoo-weeee! Whah, Ah remember some field corn we grew back In Texas as long as my arm and thick as a forgotten zucchini! Long as the batteries hold out Ah reckon a girl could pretty much...

"AAAAGGGNESSSS!!"

"That is not what you think it is! That is for children!"

"Oh Farm Girl that is jist sick! Even Ah do not countenance..."

"It is a corn holder, Agnes. It is nothing else. It is to encourage little kids to eat more vegetables! All that switch does is turn on a colored light to make the corn look like a light saber. It does nothing else at all!"

silence...

"It don't shake, rattle and roll?"

"It does not."

"It don't spin like a top?"

"No spinning either."

"It don't work like a piston on an oil field pump?"

"NO Agnes. It does nothing! It's a corn holder. It holds corn. For kids to eat from and pretend they are Skywalker or the Princess or what have you. Do you understand?"

"Well what in the wide world o' sports do Ah want with it then? Ain't got enough teeth for corn on the cob anyways and Ah don't need another flashlight!"

Ah am sorry, fans of Uncle Mac's Garden Shed Ah figured Ah was on to somethin' here. Well thank yew for readin' anyway and we'll see y'all next time, when Ah'll give y'all a crash course in bronco bustin'.





EDITORS NOTE: Please note, at no time did we sink as low as a "corn hole" reference. This is a class act, this blog of ours.





  


Saturday, September 15, 2012

FARM GIRL'S CORNER - Another week of boule

 
Farm Girl here! Wow another week come and gone already and this is the fifth Boule D'or yellow turnip update! Can you stand it? 

 
 


Sown on the 17th of August, this photo taken on the 14th of September shows acceptable progress. Tiny turnips are just beginning to develop and so we will be watering regularly if the dry spell continues as it appears that it will. These turnips are in extremely fertile soil and should require no nutrients and but little weeding, as the soil is now well shaded by the plants own leaves.


HOW 'BOUT THEM BOULES?
And just because we are that kind of people here at the Shed, here is a gratuitous picture of Mr. Big...


HI, LADIES...


 
Oops, sorry ladies, Mr. Big is our very own potential prize winning rutabaga. Now over 16" in circumference and expecting to exceed 25" before he's invited to dinner, Mr. Big is the new star of the garden.
 
 
 
It appears to have gone to his head because he spends most of the day on the phone with his agent.
 
 
 
Well that's that for this weeks turnip teaser. As always thanks for visiting at Farm Girls Corner!


 

Monday, September 10, 2012

WHO'S GOT THE LINKS? - WE HAVE OIL SPILLS, BEARS, GARDENS, PAINTINGS, ENORMOUS CANNONS, LYNX AND A WHOLE LOT MORE!

SOME LYNX ARE CUTER THAN OTHERS
Here at Uncle Mac's we've come to know a lot of really fun, intelligent and well informed folks who have written, or built or created or simply know a lot about things that are worth sharing. These things probably have little if anything to do with growing a bumper broccoli crop, but hey, you can find that elsewhere.

We had a lot of fun tracking these links down for you, nearly as much as you are going to have following them. And so, with no further delay, the links!

    ****************************************************************

Glory Lennon is up first. She is a business woman, a Mom, a talented and prolific author and as much as anything, a Gardener, and yes, a Gardener with a capital G.

We are tumbling slowly into Autumn, and what could be better than to learn than how to save seeds from your own flowers and veggies. Glory knows these things. She is going to tell us how to preserve some seeds, but also why she just can't keep herself from doing so, right HERE.

Well, that's fine but suppose you want to save something specific like perhaps peony seeds? Then you should definitely take a look at THIS.

Want to get to know Glory better? No better way than to follow her award winning gardening blog, Glory's Garden, or her fun filled serial novel, Violets in Bloom!

   *****************************************************************

THINGS THAT GO "WHUMP" IN THE NIGHT

And then there is this guy. We try to conceal the precise date when we are assembling a "Who's got the Links?" segment, but he always finds out about it somehow. Today, his contribution to gardening and to gardeners everywhere is to tell us about some great whacking big cannon which no army has used for nearly seventy years.

Well fine. I expect it worked wonders loosening tightly compacted or clay soils, dropping those high explosives all over the place.

He also thinks that the turnip growing community has a deep and abiding curiosity about Dire Wolves. We do not, but then again we have one here at the Shed, 13,500 years old if he's a day*, but still a cub at heart. A really, really, big cub!


GOT BISCUITS?


But I suppose someone might like some info, so HERE it is!

Additional confusion from this same writer may be unearthed at Seeds and Weeds, Unnatural Foods, and Low Crimes and Misdemeanors.


*THIS DEMANDS AN EXPLANATION AND ONE WILL BE FORTHCOMING. SOON.

****************************************************************
EVERY BEND IN THE TRAIL BRINGS A NEW SURPRISE
 
Mike Logan is a story teller, and the tales he tells are of hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing and all manner of real life action in the great outdoors. Mike's clear descriptive style takes you right to the scene; you can smell the woodsmoke, feel the sun on your face and taste the cool, clear spring water. You can experience all of this at Saturday's Sunshine. We do, on a regular basis.
 
Sometimes the surprise that waits around the bend is larger than expected, and perhaps just a bit too surprising for the faint of heart. Michael brings that point home in this tale, entitled "The Merry-Go-Round". 

Another story which almost everyone can relate to concerns that "special place". Most of us had at least one, growing up. Not easy to get to, not necessarily safe either but oh so much fun and part of a shared experience lo these many years later. The story is called, "The Bay".


THEY REALLY ARE OUR BEST FRIENDS
Dog lovers, there is an entire section of doggy adventures for your reading pleasure at Saturday's Sunshine. You can find them right HERE.

Well, what are you waiting for?


     





 
    *****************************************************************************
 
THE ORIGINAL VIDA
This is Vida Guerra on Google...
 
AN ORIGINAL LYNN PARET

 
And this is Vida on my wall after Lynn Paret painted a colorful interpretation of the curvalicious Lady G.
 
Want to brighten up a corner of your house, office, apartment or in our case, shed? Visit Lynn's on line shop right HERE, or contact her with a special request, she honors many of those as well!
 
There is one problem with Ms. Parets work, and that is the cost. For the time being at least Lynn's magic is embarrassingly under priced, and arguing with her does not rectify the situation.
 
Sending her more than she charges does not work either, she simply sends it back. What are you going to do with someone like that?
 
Exploit the heck out of her before she wises up, of course!
 
Do yourself a solid and visit Lynn's Etsy Shop, whether for your own unique piece or for a special Christmas surprise that can be obtained nowhere else.
 
 
 
**************************************************************
 
And now as is our custom, a few random lynx links, because that's the kind of folks we are here at Uncle Mac's.
 
TINY ONES CHECKING OUT THE WORLD FROM THE SAFETY OF THEIR LOG
 
 All work and no play makes a baby lynx a boring little fellow. There is nothing boring about these three; they are having a great time. Watch them HERE.
 
Want some interesting facts about the Lynx Genus? National Geographic serves some up right HERE.
 
You didn't think those three little rascals were done playing, did you? They were just warming up. See them HERE.
 
If Momma is going to feed those little bundles of energy she is going to have to do a lot of hunting. See a Lynx in action right HERE
 
 
 
And that is about that for todays' random Lynx.
 
 
************************************************************
 
This brings us to the enigmatic Alexandra Heep, creator of the popular blogs "A Heep of Nascar and "A Heep of Everything".
 
Alex has heeps of the interesting and entertaining in both locations.
 
 
 
But NASCAR is a particular love of hers and she is knowledgeable about all things NASCARian. Like, what happens when a fervent fan suddenly comes into a great deal of money. There is no need to guess, Alex tells us right HERE.
 
Ah but life is not all fun and games! We've all face our monsters back in the day. Which was yours? Alex has something to say about that as well. Just click THIS.
 
 
 
Don't forget to become a member while visiting these great blogs; you won't want to miss a thing!
 
 
****************************************************************
 
And now for Raymond Alexander Kukkee and Incoming BYTES. You really want to become familiar with that blog, and become a member.
 
Raymond is many things, one of which is a gardening buff and he had great success this year. He shares his bounty with us HERE.
 
 
  
But Raymond is an author as well and has been down the path so many of us have walked. He has some sound advice for those of us wishing to carve out a writing career on the Internet. HERE it is. 
 
 
Ray also has his eye on the environment. Sometimes the damage an environmental disaster causes is exacerbated by the ignorance, indifference and corruption that attends the "clean up". Raymond weighs in, and you'll want to read all about it, HERE.
 
 
***************************************************************** 
 
Our job here is done. We had the links, and now you have them as well. Enjoy!





Friday, September 7, 2012

DEFOLIATION VIA AGENT AGNES

Howdy! Aunt Agnes here and I'm happy as Uncle Mac with a case of Genuwine Napoleon Brandy and the Packers on TV! They's gonna let me do a trial post even though Farm Girl and Delacroix are "watching over" me while Ah do it which is completely unnecessary of course.

HOOOWWDYY!

Anyway this post is inspired by one which we found in Incoming BYTES, written by the inimitable Raymond A. Kukkee.

Raymond grew a shi, uh, a whole bunch of termaters this season, and he attributes this in part to the fact that he exfoliates them. As you...

What's that, Delacroix? He defoliates them? Exfoliate is what Ah do in the shower? Oh Ah hardly think so! Now Ah'm red as a termater myself!

RAYMONDS DEFOLIATED AND ABUNDANT TOMATOES!

Ok then, Dearie, thanks for the correction.

Anyway Uncle Mac no sooner read about the defoliation technique than he decided to try it himself. They's a big ass old Brandywine termater vine next to and climbing up and over the north garden gate, and Uncle Mac says, "Let's defoliate that sucker, see what happens!"

Then he gave Farm Girl the clippers.

Now, here is that Brandywine prior to defenestration...

BRANDYWINE, UNSHORN
Now what,  Farm Girl? Defenestration means "to chuck out a window"? You ever see Mac make his sauce? But yeah I forgot for a sec.

Here is Mr. Brandywine after his shave...




And his haircut...



There now! Looks tip top to me.

Now Raymond tells you all about this on his blog but essentially the idear is to encourage air circulation, suppress dampness and also to deny shelter to termater eating pests. This makes perfect sense, we'll tell you how this experiment works out but Ah have a feeling that when it comes to ripe, healthy termaters, exsanguination is the way to go.


You're a real buttinsky Delacroix you know that? Oh shoot that's right, defoliation! They's a whole lot of what'cher call syllables in that word to remember 'em all right out the chute!

Well now that went well Ah think! Read Raymonds post, the link is up top yonder, and you may well want to try this technique!

This is Aunt Agnes and that wraps it fer this one!