Farming

Knock on wood, please, because I may jinx myself by publically declaring that my tomatoes look awesome.  
It is the healthiest set of plants and fruit that I can ever remember, honestly.  
The plants are remarkably free of any pest problem, brown or yellowing leaf or rotting fruit.  
Most are heirloom varieties; they were fertilized once at planting with fish emulsion and immediately mulched with newspaper and pine straw. One irrigation occurred during a hot, dry spell but that is it.

If you have a garden chances are you appreciate nature in all its glory.  
But, sometimes nature gets in the way of our desires to cultivate.  
Deer browsing, rabbit munching, squirrel digging, bird pecking, mole trenching and resident vole feasting have all come up in the last two weeks.  
While I have no silver bullet for any of these problems, I do have some practical approaches to offset the shared use of our gardens.  
Squirrels are notorious for taking one bite of a tomato and then throwing it on the ground.  

We have a beautiful prickly pear cactus in bloom right now that is flaunting yellow and orange blooms like a peacock does feathers.  
It is tucked in a garden on the south side of the house so it thrives.  
In fact this cactus is native to Kentucky even if most people only associate it with the desert Southwest.
When it comes to prickly plants most of us automatically think of cacti in the desert; there are others with a more subtle prick to consider for the mixed border.  

John W. McCauley, State Executive Director of USDA’s Kentucky Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers that June 1, 2012, is the deadline for enrolling in the 2012 Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP), Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE). This is a statutory deadline for all participants in these programs.