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thesylvaniatimes.com The Sylvania Times
Farm and Land
Cairn Fa You!,
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - Page 13
Gary Weaver of Buzz Me Weaver’s Local Honey
Day craft that
the kids could
take home and
complete. Ven
dors included
Buzz Me
Honey, Jacobs
Farm, Star-
view Farms,
Poythress
Farms, Kildare
Station, Mi
chael Wratch-
ford, Parker
Boys Farm,
Scrabble Tile,
Ogeechee
Peaches, and
several others.
The group was
serenaded by Bill Lane.
New this year, is the Statesboro Farmers Market 2 Go where you can order
items and they deliver each week at the Market on Maple. Visit www.states-
boromarket2go.locallygrown.net to order from Statesboro Market 2 Go.
The farmers market meets every Thursday from 3 pm to 6 pm with a different
theme for each week, (photos by Sarah Saxon)
Kevin Buecher and Jim Williams of Starview Acres
The Farm Wife
May is listed on the farm calendar as the start of mowing
season, but because of the dry spring we had, the pasture
is out of balance. It doesn’t need mowing, it needs some
growing. I should have taken the goats and the pony off it
for a few weeks last month to let it grow, but because of all
the travel we had to do, that didn’t happen. I started feed
ing hay again to take some of the pressure off it, but since
animals would rather eat the tiniest bit of fresh grass over
the tastiest bit of hay, it hasn’t helped much.
I’ve started staking the goats outside the pasture to do weed
control, and this works well as long as I’m there to watch
out for them. Goats are very smart in some ways, but not
about tie-outs. I’m careful about making sure there’s noth
ing they can get tangled in, but they always seem to find
something. They used to be easy to lead to their tie-outs,
but they’ve forgotten all their manners and drag me hither
and yon. They’re big goats. Derby is about 120 pounds and
Golly is about 100, and they’re strong. They’ve knocked
me off balance more than once. I think it’s time for some
proper collars and some lead training.
I was letting the pony at liberty during the day to mow
down the grass around the house, but he likes to herd the
chickens and chase the dogs, so that wasn’t working out
so well. Last night after I put the chickens up and gave the
dogs their last potty, I opened the gate and let him roam the
property. Horses graze approximately 18 hours per day, so
the 10 hours he’s out at night will take some pressure off
the pasture grass and let it grow a little.
Balancing the growth rate of forage plants against the
consumption rate by livestock may be easy for some, but
not for me. I end up with either too much forage which
then matures out and is less nutritious or too little forage
which results in buying hay during prime grazing season,
which makes no sense economically.
I read about rotational and re-generative grazing and try to
implement their practices on my little plot, but a lot more
than book knowledge seems to be needed. I spend a lot of
time staring at the ground and the grass trying to figure out
what the pasture needs and when it needs it. One of these
days I will figure out how to balance forage growing with
livestock grazing. Till then, I just keep trying.
PLANTING DAYS ACCORDING TO MOON SIGNS
Above-ground crops: 1,4,5,6,12,13,14,15
Root crops: 18,19,22,23,27,28
Seed beds: 4,5,6,14,15
Kill plant pests: 2,3, 7,8,9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25,
26, 29,30,31
FISHING DAYS FOR MAY 2022
Best: 4, 5, 6, 14, 15,22, 23
Good: 18, 19, 20,21
Fair: 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 27
Poor: 1,2,3,7,8,12, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31
PLANTING TABLE FOR MAY
Gardens: This is the big month for outdoor planting of all
kinds. You may plant the entire list of garden seeds of both
hardy and tender varieties, and make a second planting
of snap beans, com, and if not already planted in suffi
cient quantities, continue to plant lettuce, mustard, beets,
spinach, radish, turnips, kale, cabbage plants, onion sets,
cauliflower, celery carrots, parsley, squash, cucumber, to
mato plants, peppers, eggplants, watermelons, cantaloupes,
butter beans, pole beans, okra and anything that you like in
vegetables
Talmadge Fries
Gfardenincj
with
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Hummingbird
Garden
Creating a hummingbird
garden is easy to do and
is very enjoyable.
First select a couple of
very shallow bird baths
and place in your garden
to begin your garden
design. The reason for
shallow bird baths is to
keep the hummingbirds
from drowning. Next is to
select the plants you want
to attract the birds.
A neat and unusual way
to create a hummingbird
garden is to use a bag
of potting soil and hang
it on a fence or a trellis.
The first time I saw this
was when Mrs. Ellen
Fields placed one on
the fence with pansies
in it. It makes a nice
conversation piece for
your garden. Nastur
tium, Dwarf Sweet pea,
Morning Glory Purple
and Marigold Sparky are
recommendations for the
hanging garden bag.
There are a lot of seed
packets available this
time of the year in almost
any chain store and in
your local garden center.
Cosmos, Nasturtium,
and Moring Glory and a
few that are bright and
carefree.
Canterberry Bells and
Poppies, Zinnias and
Larkspur make colorful
additions to the garden
and are fresh arrangement
friendly.
An added bonus to
creating a hummingbird
garden is that it will
attract butterflies and
other pollinators to your
garden. You will have
an abundance of enjoy
able hours of beauty and
wildlife to watch. It is
amazing to see how small
the beautiful humming
bird is and how delicate
the butterflies are.
As always, join your
local garden club for a
wealth of information and
fellowship.
O
o
SI
\
Need Lawn Maintenance?
Call Lane Today!
Grass Cutting
Yard VC6rk
Pine Straw
Shrub Trimming
$ More
** Lane Clark,
Pink Houses a™.
■ 1 (912142MIZ77
-Sarah Saxon
The Market on Maple opened
last Thursday to shoppers want
ing local goods.
The theme for the day was
“Cinco de Mayo” as Grace
Waits, Screven County Chamber
of Commerce Director handed
out chips and salsa donated by
Chilito’s Mexican Grill.
Starting at 3 pm, shoppers were
ready with their bags in tow to
“shop” the various vendors who
came out selling their wares.
For sale were all kinds of fresh
vegetables, Screven County lo
cal honey, flowers, homemade
crafts, aprons, breads of vari
ous kinds, jelly, and other good
items.
Wonder
Horse Farms
was on hand
with a couple
of horses for
the kids to sit
on for pictures
or even to take
a ride.
Belinda Wa
ters from the
Screven Coun
ty Library had
a Plant a Flow
er for Mother’s
Don Jacobs assisted customers on opening day
We
0076
at Two Pennies Farm
Balancing
Act
Nancy Baker
