Suntan Lotion for pigs. 
Yes, it’s a thing! Pigs get sunburnt. Most especially on their ears, an area that is hard to cover in mud from their wallows. Summer is here so the suntan lotion goes wherever I go now.
Better probably to stay inside where the sun cannot reach us. But the pigs and I are outside creatures.
Lady Astor is milking once a day now and doing very well with it. We milk in the early morning when there are no flies and it is still cool. Bobby Blue is with her 24 hours still, he is strongly attached to his herd and does not even come up to the barn when she does. She walks up alone, is milked, then wanders back to the herd afterwards. Absolutely no drama.
Every summer is different. Every calf is different. This one is small and efficient and we are cow-sharing very nicely at this point.
This is Alex’s last week with me and today he is going to try and get all the grass under all the electric fences trimmed while I hoe the weeds out of the North garden. Tomato pruning and training is ongoing. I will also sow two rows of nasturtiums (I will sell the flowers to the chefs) and another row of beets (baby beets sell very well). Plus remind me to asparagus and rhubarb seed. Can you buy garlic seed? I need to check. The chefs are after green garlic and I need to find a cost effective way of growing a lot of it for next year.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
Weather Forecast: A perfect temperature. This Northerly is a bonus wind for my fat chickens in their last week.
Tuesday 06/06 0% / 0 in
Abundant sunshine. High 76F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Tuesday Night 06/06 10% / 0 in
Clear skies. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
The Kitchen's Garden 
42 responses to “Slip, Slop, Slap”
White cats are similarly at risk of sunburn and they love sunbathing!
True – crazy cats.. c
Now all you need is to put them in dark glasses! And, maybe, provide a beach and a towel?
I thought garlic bulbs were pretty cheap. They may not be where you live. I bought some in a package, broke them apart and my garlic has had the greenery since it turned warm.
I looked up nasturtiums to remind me what they were, as I had momentarily forgotten, and came across this recipe for nasturtium pesto: https://www.popsugar.com/food/Nasturtium-Pesto-Recipe-17943939 If you are growing lots of them then perhaps you have an overabundance of leaves and would be a shame for them to just go to waste. Also saw a recipe for pickled nasturtium seeds, often called Poor Man’s Capers… lol
I was surprised to see you will sow asparagus and rhubarb seeds, as opposed to pre-started plants — but I guess if you want a large amount then seeding makes some sense. How long before they begin producing from seed? Many years ago I planted some asparagus in my garden and even with putting in plants it still took two years before there was any real production. It was quite a process to plant it, but well worth it as it produces forever and becomes more and more each year. Hope you have a great day! ~ Mame 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration and link for nasturtium pesto… nasturtiums are rampant in my garden and I love pesto’s ♡
Did you have any luck with the Italian seed catalog ? I love it that you are raising food for chefs. So exciting! I also love that pigs get sun cream. Sounds like a potential
plot twist in a story lounging out there in the future somewhere.
Garlic seeds? It is still early for me – tea has not reached my blood stream…. but I thought you started garlic from individual cloves and split the plants once they sprouted….. I never thought about starting from seeds. (My uncle sprouted everything and tried to grow it all….. he was successful with all the bulb items – leeks, garlic, onion, tulip, iris… not so much with avacado, lettuce and such. But he lived in black clay land. But he tried it all the time.
yes, that is how I grow the hundred or so I grow for my kitchen. However for the chefs we grow GREEN garlic, they have not formed a clove yet – they look like spring onions and I need to grow hundreds and hundreds of them as we sell them by the pound.
Oh yum….. I bet I would like them. Garlic is my favorite seasoning.
I found a site for garlic seeds. Hope this helps. Going back to check other seeds. http://sustainableseedco.com/certified-organic-seed-garlic/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP%20-%20NonTM%20-%20Vegetables&utm_term=Garlic%20Seeds&utm_content=Garlic%20Seeds
That is so interesting! Did the chefs approach you or did you approach them?
Garlic simply grows from garlic- I just plant my cloves in the fall – they start growing when spring arrives. Super easy to grow, but does not compete well with weeds. 😊
That’s what my neighbor does.
The actual seeds must be in the pod head that the scapes set. Hmmm. I will have to investigate when my scapes are bigger!
I think they are – but I find planting anything in the allium family (I think garlic is in that family) from seed requires more patience than I possess. I’d rather dry the scapes in butter and stick the extra cloves in the ground 😄
I mean ‘fry’ the scapes….
And better yet – for cost effectiveness, simply save some over for replanting. (I wait until mine is dry for storage then stick it back in the ground).
you are such a good caretaker of all the animals…and Bobby Blue sounds like a terrific calf!
He is! c
I found this interesting article about growing garlic from seed: http://garlicseed.blogspot.com/p/growing-garlic-from-true-seed.html
I suppose if you are growing a hardneck variety right now, you could let one or two go to seed and see what you get (I’ve already harvested mine or I would give it a try!). Sounds like a very interesting project. Also sounds like there are benefits to reproducing sexually that go beyond cost. I’d be curious to know what you try and how it goes. I’ve always wanted to try onions this way but haven’t had the time and/or space in my little urban farm.
This year I got a lot of inadvertent green garlic because I planted some cloves under new artichokes. Then of course the artichokes got big (I clearly wasn’t thinking) and the garlic was shaded out. However I just pulled it early and used it for green garlic.
It’s interesting what chefs want. And it’s great that you’re able to grow directly for them.
Have a great day – I have some weeding of my own to do. 🙂
Cheers, Elizabeth
Yes I grow onions from seed too!
I always forget to put lotion on my ears, thinking that they’d be covered by my hair. No such luck, and I’ve had burned and peeling ears more times than I care to remember. So I feel for the piggies…
“Slip Slop Slap” ~~~ love that title!!!! aww ~ bet you are going to miss Alex ~ thanks for all of your help to Celi and the Farm, Alex!! Come back again!!!
It’s from an Aussie ad from the Cancer Council…….and maybe other places have it too ?……….slip on a shirt, slap on a hat, slop on some sunscreen. Helps the kids remember.
And NZ – bless them.. c
Pigs get sunburned. Huh. You learn something every day….