Odds and ends

By Rennie Phillips

There are times when there are a number of things I'd like to share, but each item wouldn't be enough for a whole article. So this is one of those odds and ends days. A little gardening, a little safety, a little fishing and some new baby calves.

With it being the middle of September, we have about a month of growing season left before the first average frost date of Oct. 24 in Scott City. Radishes would make it if you get them planted. So would some of the small turnips like Shogun, which take 30 days to make golf ball-size bulbs, or up around big hen eggs in 40 days. If you like spinach, it would work as well. Most growing guides recommend it be planted six to eight weeks before the first frost in the fall. That would be about now.

Don't forget to plant your garlic. I usually plant mine about the end of September or on into October. One guide said to plant garlic about six to eight weeks before the first average frost. Here in Missouri, our first average frost is Oct. 24, so we could plant the garlic about now. One older gentleman I met said to plant garlic around Labor Day or the first part of September. I plant my garlic cloves about 2 inches deep and about 6 inches apart in all directions. Once planted, I try to put 4 to 6 inches of straw over the top. If it isn't going to rain, I'd water it in. Once this is done, you can forget it until spring.

Have you ever saved your own okra seed? If you are still picking okra, pick out the okra plants that grow your best okra. I like the plants that produce nice, smooth okra that stays tender even when a little big. I also like the okra plants that branch out so there are multiple producing branches on each plant. Once I know which plants I like, I leave some okra pods on the stalk. Just leave them alone. If you leave cucumbers or beans on the plants, it seems to cause the plant to die. Okra isn't like this. Okra will continue to produce okra. The okra you leave for seed will eventually turn a light tan and then brown color. I try to pick them when they're brown and dry. You can break the pods open and dig out the seeds, or you can leave them alone until spring. I usually put them in my cool room and wait until spring. I find that okra seed I have saved starts and grows better than seed I buy.

If you are still getting zucchini or squash and it's open pollinated, save some seed. We grew a small round squash this year that is between baseball and softball size. When small, it is real similar to zucchini, but a lot more resistant to squash bugs. Ours was still alive when our zucchini had died. If the squash isn't picked while little, it gets real seedy fast. Most of the big green zucchini is open pollinated, so you can save the seed. The yellow squash I grew this summer called Golden Glory was an F1 hybrid, so you probably shouldn't save the seed.

If you haven't ever had your soil tested or are needing to get it tested again, now is a great time. Pick up one of the test envelopes at your local county extension office. If your soil test comes back showing it needs lime, fall is the best time to get it scattered on your garden. This will give the lime all winter to soak into the soil and do its job. I'm not sure of the cost for the test, but it will be less than $20, I'm pretty sure. If I had to guess, most garden soil will need lime.

There was another pedestrian hit down by Boomland. Something like this is really sad. When you are out walking or jogging or such, be sure to wear bright-colored clothing or have some reflective strips or clothing on.

We have driven up on people walking along the road and simply couldn't see them until we were right on them. They were dressed in dark clothes and were virtually hidden in the dark.

Get one of those super-lightweight vests with all the reflective strips on it. Add some reflective strips to your shoes. Wear light-colored clothing. Get some reflective arm bands or even a reflective sweatband.

I took some time off this week and drove up to Lake Girardeau and fished from the shore. I ended up catching a few bluegill, one sun perch and one bass. I had a good time just relaxing and fishing. I used some small red wigglers I had bought at Wal-Mart. What I need to do is start raising my own. We have night crawlers all over out where we live, but the bluegill don't really care for them. I need to raise some small worms or wigglers. The surface temperature at Lake Girardeau was right at 80 degrees, which is pretty warm.

We really need some cool nights to cool the water down. It seemed like there were a lot of little bass right along the shore in the grass and brush. I need to take my boat up there and throw a plastic worm along the shoreline.

Marge and I picked up the first two baby Jerseys a week ago. Both of them were about 4 days old. We will feed them on the bottle for a couple to three months before we wean them. Now we wait until we get five more. We try to get seven Jersey steers, or soon-to-be steers, every year. It's a lot of work, but enjoyable work. I hate it when they get sick, so hopefully they won't get sick.

Have a good one!

Until next time.