More Curious Google Ad Placement

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post dealing with the sometimes odd Google ads that appear on this blog. I've been led to think that a good deal of the logic behind the ad placement is content related. On my PC, when I view my blog, I see quite a few ads for farm related products - with pig farming equipment coming up most frequently.

In that earlier post, I noted that the ads for farming seemed logical because many of my posts have been about my attempts at gardening and the raising of pigs. It struck me as odd, however, that along with the ads for pig farming equipment, I was seeing ads for products related to prostate problems.

Now, along with the swine related ads, I'm seeing ads for Facebook with Arabic lettering.

I have no explanation for that combination.

Not All the Plants Were Squashed by the Rain

Last week I wrote that heavy rains had destroyed three of my six yellow squash mounds. I was awakened by a heavy rainstorm Monday and I was fearful that the three remaining mounds would not survive the onslaught.

When I went out to the property in Magatas yesterday, I saw that, so far the squash plants are still doing OK.

As can be seen in the photo, I need to do a bit of weeding, but there is still a possibility that we can harvest yellow squash in a month or so.

Not So Good News on the Yellow Squash

A month ago, I transplanted my yellow squash plants into six separate mounds in a garden plot on our property in Magatas. As I mentioned at the time, I had attempted growing yellow squash in the past, but the plants had fallen victim to heavy rains.

We've been getting quite a lot of rain lately and the plants on three of the six mounds have been wiped out. I'm left with only three mounds with one or two plants in each one.

I can only hope that these plants survive to give us squash. Time will tell.

A Pig Update

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I have two sows - Peppa and Olivia - both are pregnant and due to deliver this month. I've estimated that Peppa will farrow on about June 15, with Olivia having hers about 2 weeks later.

The photo above shows an area next to the existing piggery where my wife's papa will build an area to hold the piglets after they're weaned. According to websites I've visited, sows in the U.S. average 12 piglets per pregnancy. Neither of the sows have farrowed before, so I don't know how they'll compare to that average. It would be nice to have an additional 2 dozen pigs in a month's time.

The second photo shows the current status of my yellow squash plants. After applying pig manure to the garden area, I've learned that using manure as fertilizer on vegetables isn't recommended if the plants might come in direct contact with the manure,  particularly if the veggies are eaten raw,due to concerns about E.coli. With a veggie like tomatoes, this wouldn't be a problem due to the way tomatoes are staked. The fact that the yellow squash won't be eaten uncooked means that there shouldn't be reason to worry about E.coli, but I will lay down a layer of mulch before the plants put on fruit to prevent the squash from touching the manure.

Morning Chores

After my morning walk, I drove out to the property in Magatas for a few chores. There was a little bit of weeding to be done. The squash plants appear to be doing fine. With luck, we can harvest the squash in early July.

The heaviest chore involved toting water from a nearby spring. Carrying a 2 1/2 - 3 gallon bucket (can't say what the exact size is) I made three trips to the spring to top off the 20 gallon (?) plastic trash can that sets near the piggery.

My wife believes the time has come to modernize the water supply source. We have two options. We can run water lines from the main road and hook up with the municipal water provider. My wife's papa estimates that we will need to run approximately 300 meters of line. The second option would involve installing a water pump onto the property. My father-in-law has a pump, rescued from an abandoned property. There is most definitely an underground water source on our property which can be tapped into. We would only need to have to hire someone to drill down to the water.

I'm for the 2nd option - my wife supports option one. We're checking on the cost of both options. We'll make the decision on which option we'll use next month.

Little Teepees

This morning, when I drove to the property in Magatas to water the squash plants, I discovered that in addition to other assorted chores on the property, my wife's papa has taken it upon himself to water the new plants. Never-the-less, I still went back this afternoon, after the sun no longer fell on the garden plot, in order to check on their status.

As can be seen in these photos, her papa had already watered the plants for the evening, but he had also built little teepees over each group of plants. I'm not exactly certain of the purpose of these teepees, but my wife believes it's a support to keep the plants from bending. Honestly, I don't see much use in that with yellow squash. That's not the way we did things back home.

Although I see no practical purpose for the cone shaped thingys, I left them alone - at least for the time being. There may come a time when I'll remove them, but not now.

In the Ground

This afternoon, as the sun was going down behind the mountains, I drove to the property in Magatas and set out the yellow squash seedlings I started about 11 days ago. If I manage to get squash from these plants, it will be my first success in growing vegetables since we arrived here almost 3 years ago.

The yellow squash I tried growing before became the victim of the heavy rains. The butternut squash I attempted to grow last July died from the heat and lack of rain. The tomato plants given to us by some American friends, failed to produce blossoms.

As I mentioned before, I've set these squash plants in an area where, I hope, the shade will protect the plants from too much direct, Philippine sunshine.

Yellow Squash and Japanese Cucumbers

For the third day in a row, I've gone to the property in Magatas and taking up a hoe, I've worked on the area set aside for the yellow squash. While I was there this morning, my wife's papa pointed out where a portion of Peppa and Olivia's dung is drying for use as fertilizer. I've done a bit of weeding, and while the photo doesn't do a good job of showing it, I've made a number of mounds to set out the squash plants this afternoon. I'll spread a bit of the baboy tae after the plants are set.

I've mentioned that the area set aside for the squash is near the area where my wife's papa is growing Japanese cucumber. I've taken a few photos of the cucumber and I'm posting the photos below.

Getting the Planting Area Ready - Day Two

For the 2nd morning in a row, I drove out to the property in Magatas shortly after breakfast to work on getting a spot ready for transplanting my yellow squash seedlings, and like yesterday, I knew before starting the work that I wouldn't finish in one day. The Philippine sun is brutal at even 9:00 AM.

I'll return tomorrow morning to start preparing mounds for the seedlings. I suspect I will take the seedlings to the property late tomorrow afternoon after the sun no longer falls onto the planting location. I've done a bit of weeding on the plot and can continue to weed after the seedlings are transplanted into the mounds without disturbing the plants.

With a bit of luck, we'll have yellow squash by the middle of July.

Getting the Planting Area Ready

As can be seen in the top photo, my yellow squash seedlings are doing nicely and it won't be long before I'll need to transplant the squash to a permanent location.

There is limited space available on our property in Magatas. A portion of the available space, not taken up by the house and piggery, is currently being used by my wife's papa to grow Japanese cucumbers.

In my proposed area, there is a young goat doing its part to clean off the location. Unfortunately, it isn't eating fast enough to suit me.
I went to the property this morning to begin work on the planting area. It was not my intention to do too much today. After doing my morning weight training and my daily walk with my son, when breakfast is finished, it is beginning to get too hot for much work.

The final photo shows the little work I accomplished this morning, and the two tools I'm using to get the spot ready -
 1) the goat and 2) propped against the papaya tree, the hoe I'm using.

One of the reasons why I'm happy to have this spot for the squash is that, while the area will get sunshine, the banana plants and coconut trees help shade the area; I'm afraid the squash might not withstand too much direct, Philippine sunlight.

As long as we don't get typhoon - like rains, the plants should be alright. Time will tell.

Yellow Squash Seedlings

Last Sunday, I planted about 2 dozen yellow squash seeds in another attempt at growing veggies that I eaten in the U.S.A.. Now, a week later, we see a few seeds have sprouted.

The location of the seed container receives a small amount of direct sunlight. I don't want to expose the seeds to too much, too soon. I water the seeds every morning before the sun hits them and in the evening after the sun goes down.

Let's hope I'm more successful this time.

Another Try at Growing Yellow Squash

In my seemingly never ending quest for American veggies, I am once again attempting to grow yellow squash. This past December, I received a packet of squash seeds from an American visiting from Texas. I gave a handful of these seeds to my wife's papa who planted the seeds directly into the ground at the property in Magatas. As can be seen in a previous post, those seeds sprouted and seedlings began to grow.

Unfortunately, the heavy rains at the time killed the seedlings.

I'm trying once again to grow squash. I've taken a egg tray and cut it down to 12 "chambers". After adding soil, I put 2 seeds per "cup". (a few may actually have 3 seeds).

Let's hope I'm successful this time.

Confusion Over World Naked Gardening Day 2017?

Although the wikipedia article covering the subject maintains that World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) is an annual event dating back to 2005, I had never heard of WNGD until I came upon a link to a news story about it on Facebook.

As can be seen by the photo, the link informs us that this year World Naked Gardening Day lands on May 7th this year. However, clicking on the link, we see that the story gives the date as May 6th.

From what I gather, WNGD is suppose to be the first Saturday in May, so that would put it on May 6th this year (2017).

Also, according to wikipedia, the first annual World Naked Gardening Day event took place on September 10, 2005. It was in 2007 that the date was changed to the first Saturday in May. Perhaps that might explain some of the confusion about this year's event.

Nah.......probably not. I don't think anyone I know is planning to participate. Trust me, that's just as well.

New Wine Into Old Bottles

Looking at my list of books I've read in 2016, one can see that two writers have tied for first place in number of books listed by author - Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes and E. Phillips Oppenheim. In the past year, I've read four books each written by those two particular writers.

I discovered Lowndes in April and enjoyed the novels I read written by her, but I can't recall why I stopped at four. There are, certainly more of her novels for download at Project Gutenberg.

When I discovered Oppenheim, the problem was were to begin. He had written more than 100 books, with most (if not all) available for download at Free Read Australia. I finally decided on his first two novels, Expiation and A Monk of Cruta, followed by his most successful work, The Great Impersonation and his memoir, The Pool of Memory. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was his memoir that introduced me to Elizabeth von Arnim. With von Arnim, I began with her most critically acclaimed work, Vera. As I also wrote in a previous post, Vera may very well be the best novel I've read in 2016. If not the best, it would certainly rank in the top five.

As soon as I finished with Vera I downloaded Arnim's first novel, Elizabeth and Her German Garden. The difference in tone between the two works is striking. Arnim's first novel is so "light" compared to the later Vera that it's hard to believe the books were written by the same writer. I absolutely loved both.

It looked as if I might be able to finish reading Elizabeth and Her German Garden before the year ended, but a bit of side work prevented me from reading the entire book until New Year's Day. Immediately upon finishing the novel, I went to Project Gutenberg to download 3 additional books by von Arnim.

I want to end this post with a quote from Elizabeth and Her German Garden. When I began reading the book during the New Year's holiday, I had no idea that the main character, Elizabeth would include an anecdote about a New Year's holiday of her own. Like me, she had gone to church New Year's Eve.

If it had not been so dark, and if the wind had not howled so despairingly, I should have paid little attention to the threats issuing from the pulpit; but, as it was, I fell to making good resolutions. This is always a bad sign,—only those who break them make them; and if you simply do as a matter of course that which is right as it comes, any preparatory resolving to do so becomes completely superfluous. I have for some years past left off making them on New Year’s Eve, and only the gale happening as it did reduced me to doing so last night; for I have long since discovered that, though the year and the resolutions may be new, I myself am not, and it is worse than useless putting new wine into old bottles.

After Yesterday's Rain - Part Two

In addition to the work on the foundation of the house, there is more to report following yesterday's rain. The yellow squash, which I wrote about close to two weeks ago, seems to be doing ok, although there's no sign of blossoms, as yet. I'm still looking forward to squash casserole.

While I was at the property Tuesday, I looked into the hole where I had seen a trapped frog the Saturday before. I did not see a frog yesterday, but there were two frogs in the hole this afternoon. It's possible that I could have missed one Tuesday......I didn't photograph an empty hole.

Yellow Squash

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a neighbor returning from the U.S. brought a package of yellow squash seeds for me. Rather than rely completely on my gardening abilities, I gave a portion of the seeds to my wife's papa. I haven't done anything with my seeds, but his seeds have already sprouted into seedlings.

The seedlings in the photo are only just a few of the seedlings that have come up. With luck, we should be harvesting yellow squash in a few weeks.

Calabaza Pie

One of my holiday specialties when living in the U.S. was sweet potato pie.

Occasionally, I would make pumpkin pie instead - the basic ingredients to either pie is essentially the same, you just substitute sweet potato for pumpkin or vice versa.

Over the years, I had even begun using a third substitute. Butternut squash.

There were a few obstacles in my way when I wanted to make the same pies here in Sibulan. My attempts at growing butternut squash were unsuccessful. The sweet potatoes grown here aren't like the sweet potatoes grown in Georgia or Alabama, and I don't particularly like the taste and texture. It seemed to me that a good substitute would be the squash grown here, generically referred to as calabaza.

There was one problem which I thought might be insurmountable; the crust. In the U.S., there was really no need to learn how to make a proper pie crust. A perfectly good, frozen pie crust was always available. If I was going to bake this pie, I'd have to make my own crust. Fortunately, I found a pie crust recipe on the Crisco shortening can.

I went online and watched a couple of videos showing how it's done and I put together my own pie crust. As can be seen in the photos, the crust isn't the prettiest crust I've ever seen, but taste is the important thing, and this one tastes as good as any I've ever had.

As for the filling, I simply followed a recipe for a deep dish pumpkin pie and substituted the baked calabaza for the pumpkin.

All the Way From America

The husband of one of our neighbors has just returned from Texas, where he works, and, as promised, he has brought a package of yellow squash seeds for me.

I'm hoping that I'll have better luck with these than I've had with other seeds from the U.S.. I believe my mistake with the butternut squash was that they were planted in a spot that received the full brunt of the Philippine sun.

Unlike my tomato seeds, I was able to germinate the butternut squash seeds, but the plants could survive the intense sunlight. If these yellow squash seeds germinate, I'll plant the seedlings in a spot that has a shade covering.

I know, I shouldn't count my squash until the plants bear fruit, but I'm really looking forward to making a squash casserole.

Weeds and Feeds

My wife's Papa has been growing a plant on the property in Magatas, which he calls spinach. As one can see from the accompanying photographs, this does not look like the spinach we grow in the U.S.. These particular plants have grown to height of 5 and 6 feet. I'm not 100% sure what he's growing. but it ain't spinach.

My American friend says the plant is called hog weed in South Carolina. I saw to reason to doubt him, until I did a Google search of the word "hogweed". Judging by the photos, this plant is most definitely not hog weed.

From what I've come across on the Internet, I believe the plant is the green stem variety of malabar spinach. I was told Papa was growing it to sell, but I haven't seen any evidence of any selling going on. As can be seen it the photos, insects have eaten holes into a few of the leaves.....those can't been sold to customers, I'm told. Maybe the leaves with holes aren't salable to humans, but I can't see any reason why the leaves can't be fed to the pigs. The pigs are starting to require more feed and anything I can get to supplement their diet is very much appreciated.

In addition to this "spinach", the pigs seem fond of the madre de aqua that grows wild on the property, as well as banana skins and a number of vegetable peels from our kitchen.

Come next pay day, we'll be finishing up the 2nd area of the piggery so that we can separate the larger pig from the smaller two. She doesn't like sharing the food and that's affecting the growth of the others. They're doing OK, but they'll put on more weight if she's set apart.

Madre de Agua Video

In my post on Madre de Aqua, I wrote that one of my goals - now that I've discovered the uses of Trichanthera gigantea  in feeding swine - was to learn how to propagate the shrub.

Thanks to the Youtube video of this young lady, I now know how to do that.