Tomato 'Black Cherry'

“Black Cherry” is a lovely jewel of a tomato, still fairly rare, they are the only truly black cherry tomato available. Perfectly round with the classic black tomato flavour, sweet yet rich and complex.
The plant produces huge clusters of 2.5cm (1in) round, deep purple, mahogany-brown cherry tomatoes on vigorous, tall plants. The fruit picks clean from the stem. Easy to grow and disease resistant, they can be grown in the greenhouse or outdoors in a sunny spot.

Timing: 
As they cannot tolerate any degree of frost the timing for sowing and planting outside is key to successfully growing tomatoes. Where the seeds are sown under cover or indoors, aim to sow the seeds so that they reach the stage to be transplanted outside three weeks after the last frost date. Tomato plants take roughly seven weeks from sowing to reach the transplanting stage. For example, if your last frost date is early May, the seeds should be planted in early April to allow transplanting at the end of May.

Position: 
Tomatoes require a full sun position. Two or three weeks before planting, dig the soil over and incorporate as much organic matter as possible.
The best soil used for containers is half potting compost and half a soil-based type loam: this gives some weight to the soil.

Sowing:
Plant about 3mm (1/8in) deep, in small pots using seed starting compost. Water lightly and keep consistently moist until germination occurs. Tomato seeds usually germinate within 5 to 10 days when kept in the optimum temperature range of 21 to 27°C (70 to 80°F). As soon as they emerge, place them in a location that receives a lot of light and a cooler temperature (60 to 70°F); a south-facing window should work.

Transplanting:
When the plants develop their first true leaves, and before they become root bound, they should be transplanted into larger into 20cm (4in) pots. Young plants are very tender and susceptible to frost damage, as well as sunburn. I protect my young plants by placing a large plastic milk jug, with the bottom removed, to form a miniature greenhouse.
Depending on the components of your compost, you may need to begin fertilising. If you do fertilise, do it very, very sparingly with a weak dilution. Transplant into their final positions when they are about 15cm (6in) high. Two to three weeks prior to this, the plants should be hardened off.

Planting: 
Just before transplanting the tomato plants to their final position drive a strong stake into the ground 5cm (2in) from the planting position. The stake should be at least 30cm (1ft) deep in the ground and 1.2m (4ft) above ground level - the further into the ground the better the support. As the plant grows, tie in the main stem to the support stake - check previous ties to ensure that they do not cut into the stem as the plant grows. Dig a hole 45cm (18in) apart in the bed to the same depth as the pot and water if conditions are at all dry. Ease the plant out of the pot, keeping the root ball as undisturbed as far as possible. Place it in the hole and fill around the plant with soil. The soil should be a little higher than it was in the pot. Loosely tie the plant's stem to the support stake using soft garden twine –allow some slack for future growth.

Cultivation: 
A constant supply of moisture is essential, dry periods significantly increase the risk of the fruit splitting. Feed with a liquid tomato fertiliser (high in potash) starting when the first fruits start to form, and every two or three weeks up to the end of August. In September, feed with a general fertiliser (higher in nitrogen) in order to help the plant support it's foliage. Over watering may help to produce larger fruit, but flavour may be reduced. Additionally, splitting and cracking can result from uneven and excessive watering.

Pruning:
When the first fruits begin to form, pinch out the side shoots between the main stem. Also remove lower leaves which show any signs of yellowing to avoid infection.

Harvesting:
Pick as soon as the fruits are ripe, this also encourages the production of more fruit. Harvest all the fruit as soon as frost threatens and ripen on a window sill.


Black Tomatoes: 
Black Tomatoes are native to the Southern Ukraine and their seeds were later distributed throughout Western Russia after the Crimean War by soldiers returning home from the front during the early 19th century.
Though black tomatoes originally existed in only a relatively small area on the Crimean Peninsula and were limited to only a handful of recognisable varieties, in the years to follow, new varieties of all shapes and sizes began to appear throughout the Imperial Russian Empire.
Today there are at least fifty varieties of black tomato found in the territories of the former Soviet Union, as well as nearly a dozen other types of new black tomatoes which have cropped up elsewhere, most notably in Germany, the former Yugoslavia and the United States.
Besides their extremely dark colours, black tomatoes are especially noted for their exceptionally rich, earthy tastes. Among all colours, black tomatoes are blessed with the strongest taste and are typically the most admired among true tomato aficionados.

Types of Feeders for Beekeeping

Learn about the different types of feeders for your Langstroth beehive, the most common hive style, and when and how to use each of them.

 Inverted Pail Feeder
An inverted pail feeder is just that: a plastic pail, usually one gallon in size, that has a small opening in the middle with a friction-fit plug with holes and a screen in it, through which the bees drink the syrup.

Once full of syrup, the pail is inverted over the inner cover hole. Just like a water cooler, the liquid is held in with vacuum pressure, but when the bees drink it, it flows easily.

This setup requires an extra hive body, which is placed around the inverted pail. The outer cover is placed on top of the hive body.

Pros:
Fairly high capacity - although must be filled at least weekly
Easy to handle
Can refill without disturbing the colony much
Inexpensive and DIY-friendly

Cons:
With very cold nights and warm days, can "pump" syrup onto the bees
Limited access to syrup means only a few bees can feed at one time
Requires an extra deep hive body placed around it


Miller or Hivetop Feeder
This type of feeder, as you might guess, sits on top of the Langstroth beehive, with the outer cover providing protection from robbing. It can hold one to three gallons of syrup. Bees enter the feeder from below via a screened access hole.

Pros:
High capacity
Can refill without removing the feeder
Can refill without disturbing the colony

Cons:
Some drowning
Heavy and awkward to move when full

Frame or Division Board Feeder
A frame feeder is a plastic container that is shaped like a wooden hive frame. It replaces two frames along the wall and can be filled with a pint or two of sugar syrup. Ribbed pieces of plastic are often inserted like ladders into the syrup so that bees can climb out.

I personally tried two division board feeders in my hives and found them full of dead, drowned bees in a week. I ended up removing them and went back to a pail feeder.

Pros:
Inexpensive
Can refill without removing the feeder

Cons:
Often heavy drowning of bees occurs
You only have eight frames in the hive body with this feeder
Must smoke and open colony to refill


Boardman or Entrance Feeder
A Boardman or entrance feeder is often provided in "starter" hive kits. It consists of a small, inverted jar of syrup that sits in a wooden device in at the hive entrance. The bees access the feed from just inside the hive entrance. Vacuum pressure delivers just a bit of syrup at a time.

Pros:
Inexpensive and often included in kits
Can refill without disturbing the colony

Cons:
Relatively small capacity
Encourages robbing because of smell and sight of syrup outside the hive
Syrup spoils quickly in the hot sun
In spring bees are not clustered at entrance so can be ineffective for feeding
Risk stinging by guard bees when refilling


Baggie Feeder
One-gallon zip-close plastic bags can be laid on top of frames. Pour roughly three quarts of syrup into a one-gallon bag, zip it up and lay it on the top bars. Use a razor blade to cut several slits in the air bubble in the top of the bag. Squeeze the bag slightly to allow a little syrup to ooze. Cover the baggie feeder with an empty super and an outer cover.

Pros:
Very inexpensive
Puts feed in easy access spot
No drowning

Cons:
Must disturb bees to refeed
Relatively small capacity
Bags are disposable; can't reuse

5 Easy Animals to Raise on the Small Farm

Wondering where to start with raising animals on your small farm, hobby farm or homestead? Here are some easy animals to start with, complete with all the information you'll need to learn about and decide which ones are the perfect fit for you.

1. Laying Hens

Chickens are a terrific way to start raising animals on a small farm. They're hardy, easy to take care of, and don't cost much in terms of setup. A small flock can easily produce enough eggs to meet all a family's egg requirements, and a flock of a few dozen can generate a nice little egg business.

Plus, hens eat food scraps and provide great compost for the garden. On the downside, they're a free chicken dinner for every predator out there, so you'll need to keep them safe and secure to prevent losses.

2. Honey Bees

Honey bees are another great choice, especially if keeping bees appeals to you. Honey crops can be abundant, and you can also harvest beeswax for lip balm, candles and other products.

Bonus: they help pollinate your crops. Negative: they cost a good bit to start up, and while they don't require a lot of hands-on care in terms of sheer hours, they do require timely care and attention, and take a while to get the hang of.

3. Goats

Goats are hardy, useful animals who can browse stands of small trees and shrubs, clearing land for you. They're very adaptable to poor pastures. They produce a ton of milk-okay, not a ton, but one to three quarts per day! If your family can't drink that much, you can make and sell cheese, or feed the milk to other farm animals.

On the downside, goats require strong fencing.

4. Turkeys

Like chickens, turkeys are pretty easy keeping. They can be a bit difficult to raise from poults, but once established, they do well. The market for Thanksgiving turkeys can be a big one, making them a great value-added product for a small farmer.

5. Pigs

Pigs are also great browsers and famous rototillers. They can churn up whatever area you want, quite easily. They are also great eaters of food scraps and producers of manure.

Pigs can be vicious, so you'll want to think long and hard before getting them, especially if you have small children, and just plan to be safe around them.

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How Much and When to Feed Chickens

Feeding backyard chickens is an imprecise science. It’s difficult to tell someone how much to feed their chickens, or even when to feed them. So many variables are involved: the type of chickens, whether they’re growing or laying, how active they are, how neat you are, the type of feeders you have, the number of free-loading pests you support, and the weather.

Use these guidelines for feeding your chickens, but alter them for your own flock.

Our modern, high-production egg breeds convert feed to eggs very efficiently, especially if they’re fed a ration formulated for laying hens. After they’re laying well, it takes about 4 pounds of a quality feed of 16 to 18 percent protein to produce a dozen eggs. The breeds kept for dual purposes (eggs and meat) generally have heavier body masses to support and need more feed to produce a dozen eggs than a lighter production breed.

It takes about 2 pounds of feed to produce 1 pound of body weight on a growing meat-type bird. So if a broiler weighs about 6 pounds at 10 weeks, it will have eaten about 12 pounds of feed. Remember that it ate less when it was small, and the amount of feed consumed increased each week. A medium-weight laying hen will eat about 1/4 pound of feed per day when she begins producing. These are rough estimates, but they give you some idea of what to expect.

Chickens eat more in cold weather and less in hot weather.

If you are unsure how much to feed your chickens (and don’t want to accidentally deprive them), fill the chickens’ feed dishes so food is available much of the day, or use feeders that hold several day’s worth of feed. You can use this feeding method for all types of chickens. It’s the way chickens would eat in nature; they eat small amounts frequently.

You can continue that method if you like, or you can feed your chickens at certain times of the day. (Most people who use this method choose morning and evening.) This allows you to control the amount of feed that may attract pests. And if the chickens are too heavy, it restricts the amount they can eat. With free-range birds, it encourages them to lay and to sleep in the coop. Usually, however, it’s just a matter of preference; some people like to observe and tend to their chickens more often than others. This method works well for all but meat birds.

Because of their heavy rate of growth, the meat-type broiler chickens need to have food available to them at all times, day and night. Remember, chickens don’t eat in the dark, so the lights must be on for these birds all night. For the Rock-Cornish crosses, the lights should be on 24 hours a day, and feed should be in the feed pans at least 23 of those hours. Some people recommend an hour of no feed, but most home chicken-keepers find that difficult to regulate. Just make sure they always have feed. Laying hens, pets, and show birds are fine with restricted times of feeding and don’t need feed at night.

Be very careful not to feed moldy food, which can kill or harm your chickens, and make sure food is stored so it won’t attract rats, coons, and other pests. If you’re using a lot more feed than you think you should, pests like rats may be eating it at night. You may want to empty feeders at night or put them inside a pest-proof container for all birds other than the broiler-type meat birds.

If you need to add grit to your chickens’ diet, you can supply it in a small dish from about the fifth day of life. Chicks should be eating their regular feed well before you add grit, or they may fill up on it. Make sure the dish is covered or narrow so the birds don’t dust-bathe in it. Discard it and add clean grit if it becomes contaminated with chicken droppings.