The method I'm using, this year, to grow five heirloom Tomatoes

This year I'm growing five heirloom varieties of Tomatoes Buckbee's New , Black Cherry, Matts Wild Cherry, Oregon Spring and Stupice. I'm also doing something that I have never tried before I'm not going to prune off the sucker growth on any of the varieties. One of the gardeners that I follow on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/baconsoda , Brendan in Ireland did an experiment last year with some of his tomatoes and found very little difference between those that were pruned and those that were not. The only problem that I can see that this might cause for me is getting all of the tomatoes to ripen in our short season and that really isn't a problem as I want a lot of green tomatoes this year to make Chow Chow.

A little more information on the varieties: (Descriptions are quoted from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds , Territorial Seeds and Johnny's Selected Seeds.)

Buckbee's New - A pre-1930 variety introduced by H.W. Buckbee of Rockford, Illinois. Their 1930 catalog states, "The largest fruited, the smoothest, the finest in quality of all early scarlet tomatoes." Not as early as 50 days, but this is indeed a good producer that has an old-fashioned tomato taste; red and medium-sized. These are from seed that I saved from last years crop.

Black Cherry - Beautiful black cherries look like large, dusky purple grapes; they have that rich flavor that makes black tomatoes famous. Market growers report that this variety is an incredible seller; large vines yield very well. Very unique and delicious. These are from seed that I saved from last years crop.

Matts Wild Cherry - These small cherry tomatoes are packed with more taste than you can believe. 5/8- 3/4", deep red, round fruits have a tender, smooth texture, and loads of sweet, full flavor. High sugar content (11º Brix). Though the taste is superior, it doesn't yield well and the fruits are soft, so grow on a trial scale at first. Teresa Arellanos de Mena, a friend of former Univ. of Maine AG faculty members Drs. Laura Merrick and Matt Liebman, brought seeds to Maine from her family's home state of Hidalgo in Eastern Mexico. It's the region of domestication of tomatoes, and where these grow wild. Matt gave us the seeds. Some resistance to early blight and late blight. Indeterminate These are from seed given to me by http://www.youtube.com/user/steen1973

Oregon Spring - This now-famous determinate, slicing variety was developed at Oregon State University. Their research shows that Oregon Spring will produce incredibly early yields of 4 inch oval tomatoes when planted outside a month before your last frost date and given no protection except on frosty nights. These are from seed given to me by http://www.youtube.com/user/garygardens

Stupice - This cold-tolerant tomato ripens sweet, red, slightly oval, 2 inch fruit that make an excellent choice for first-of-the-summer salads, lunch boxes, and juicing. Stupice consistently gets high marks for taste throughout the summer. Pumps out fruit over the entire season. Bred in the former Czechoslovakia. Indeterminate potato leaf variety. These are from seed given to me by http://www.youtube.com/user/garygardens

First Nations Style 3 Sisters Permaculture - Video 4 - June 29, 2011

A short look at the progress in the 3 sisters permaculture garden

Building a Secure Hen Yard and the ladies enjoying their new yard.

The step by step process involved in build a secure hens yard and them some footage on my little flock enjoying the new yard. I mention a free newsletter about keeping chickens that has subscribers and contributors from all over the world, checkout the website and subscribe if you like:

http://www.keepingchickensnewsletter.com/

A short Time Lapse of the chickens enjoying their new yard. CCTV Chicken Surveillance:

Time Lapse Rose Blooming - Rosa 'Blanc Double de Coubert'

A six day time lapse of Rosa 'Blanc Double de Coubert' blooming. The bird song sound track used with this video is Creative Commons audio downloaded from http://www.freesound.org the sound was recorded by Herbert Boland and the track is called BirdSongEaster2002NL.wav

Corn Cob Chicken Circus

Corn Cob Chicken Circus, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Hand feeding the girls a treat of fresh corn on the cob. Five weeks old and looking like little hens with most of their feathers also making it easier to tell what breeds I have.

Check out the video:

SOLAR LIGHTS

SOLAR LIGHTS, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

I have looked at the inexpensive solar powered garden lights many times but never bought them before. Until yesterday they were only $2.50 each so I bought four and put them in my lavender garden and I must say I'm very pleased with the show they put on once the sun sets.

La Voie Du Puy

This is a copy of a DVD, in two parts, that I made in 2010 for presentation to the Maritime Chapter of the Friends of the Camino at their annual fall meeting. It is a compilation of video clips that I took with my Flip Camcorder as I walked the Voie Du Puy Camino Pilgrimage route in southern France from Conques to Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port in the spring of 2010. It was too long to upload to YouTube at the time and I just remembered that the file size limit has been increased so I though I would post it to my Channel. This is my second Camino walk I walked the Camino Francais across the top of Spain from Saint-Jean-Pied-De-Port to Santiago de Compostella in 2008. There is a copy of my slide presentation of that walk on my YouTube Channel. I hope you enjoy this little presentation and that it encourages some of you to try one of these long distance walks, they truly are the experience of a lifetime.

At the conclusion of my presentation I gave each person attending the conference a copy of the DVD and this handout:

Friends For Zambia


Thank you for listening to my presentation and watching my little home movie from La Voie Du Puy I hope you enjoyed it. I'm making this copy of my DVD available to you free of charge,(Who in their right mind would buy one anyway), but I would like to encourage you to visit the website of the Friends For Zambia an NGO founded by two of our membership Patricia Ellsworth and Mary McKean,who along with their friend Sally Moore are walking the Voie Du Puy right now (September 2010) ,and make a small donation to help build the school in Lilayi Zambia

http://www.friendsforzambia.org/

The Mission of Friends For Zambia is to support basic education for the children of Lilayi, Zambia. We believe that education is the key to a better future for these children and their families. We put particular emphasis on encouraging the education of girls.

Any donation will be greatly appreciated and if you should decide to be a regular monthly contributor for only $25.00 a month you could sponsor a child's annual tuition fee.

Thank you

Dale Calder

PS:

The official opening of the School is scheduled for July 2012 and if all goes well I plan to attend. I would like to encourage you to support this most worthwhile charity any donation no matter how small will be put to good use.

Chick Cam the Girls are one month old today

Took this video over the past few days showing some of the chicken entertainment. They are a month old now and really developing little personalities. I've removed the brooder walls so they now have the full run of the coop, but still have the brooder lamp to return to if they start to get cold. I've also started feeding them greens from their window box gardens. Just a leaf or two of either spinach, Swiss chard or lettuce per day. It took them a while to catch on to it but now they get very excited over their greens and eat the whole leaf in no time.

Nevaeh's Princess Balloon

My sister and her granddaughter Nevaeh visited for a week and Nevaeh had to leave her Princess Balloon behind because she couldn't take in on the plane. So today I set it free with a message.

A look at what's happening in the Gardens and Greenhouse June 14, 2011

Things are looking good in the gardens and greenhouse in spite of our cold wet spring. I would also like to thank everyone who exchanged seeds with me and show you how the varieties you gave me are doing. Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out, if so it wasn't intentional.

First Nations Style 3 Sisters Permaculture Garden

First Nations Style 3 Sisters Permaculture Garden, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

The permaculture garden is coming along nicely, some slug and cutworm damage but nothing serious. The transplanted corn, squash and pumpkin plants are growing very well and the bean and extra corn seed have germinated and are starting to grow.

Chick Cam 3 Weeks old today !!

My little flock of 12 chicks are three weeks old today and are starting to look more like little hens getting more feathers as the days go by. The material to build them a secure yard will be delivered tomorrow and later in the week my order of 164 feet of 4 foot high electric poultry netting and solar charger will arrive. This will be used to make a larger safe pasture area of the back lawn, a place that they can free range in when I'm home to keep an eye on them.

Fresh Plain Bagels - Nevaeh has to have her bagel and cream cheese every morning for breakfast.

Fresh Plain Bagels - Nevaeh has to have her babel and cream cheese every morning for breakfast., originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Had to make a second batch of bagels this morning Nevaeh has one with cream cheese for breakfast and now she is having them with cheeses slice sandwiches for for lunch.

Easy to make

Ingredients

2 Cups warm water
1 tbs instant yeast
1 tbs salt
Flour enough to make a firm dough

Add yeast and salt to warm water then add flour about 2 cups and mix until you have a soft but wet dough turn out on a work surface and knead for 10 minutes by the clock adding flour as needed until you have a firm dough that no longer sticks to your hands. Put a few tablespoons of oil in the bowl return dough to bowl turn to cover with oil. Set to rest covered with a clean tea towel for one hour. Deflate the dough and divide into 12 equal portions. I use kitchen scales and they average 100 grams each. There are two methods to shape into bagels I use the first:

1. Roll each portion into a log shape 6 to 7 inches long. Wrap around your hand place the two ends together in your palm and roll back and forth on the work surface to join the ends.
2. Simpler method, shape into a ball poke a hole in the middle and expand it with your fingers.

Cover the shaped bagels with a tea towel to rest for 15 minutes. I put mine on a parchment covered cookie sheet.

While the bagels are resting preheat the over to 450 degrees f. and boil a large kettle or stockpot half full of water with 3 or 4 tablespoons of honey added.

Once he bagels have rested and risen a bit you kettle them, place 2 or 3 bagels at a time in the boiling water and boil 30 seconds on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon are return to the baking sheet.. Once they have all been kettled bake in the 450 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack and enjoy.

Ferry Boat Ride to Grand Manan Island

Ferry Boat Ride to Grand Manan Island, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

It is too early in the season for whale watch cruises so we decided to drive to Blacks Harbour and take the ferry boat ride to Grand Manan Island and back as foot passengers. It's a great inexpensive way to get out on the Bay of Fundy for a three hour cruise and it only cost $10.90 return trip for adults and children are free. We even had lunch on board in the restaurant.

Chick Cam 2 weeks old today !!!!

The chicks are 2 weeks old checkout their chick cam performance.

First Nations Style Three Sisters Permaculture Garden - Video 2- May31, ...

Lovely warm weather so I made my planting mounds and transplanted the corn, squash and pumpkin seedlings and planted the bean seed in my Three Sister Permaculture garden. The night before I planted this I had coons in the garden digging up a row of beans that had just been planted. I don't think they were interested in the bean seed I suspect they were checking the freshly turned earth for grubs. I'm pleased to say that the Three Sisters survived their first night, when I inspected the garden this morning there had not been any further damage. I could see where the coons had been in the area though there were some new holes dug in the path going out to the garden. Hopefully they have decided that the grub feast is more plentiful in the lawn than in the raised beds.