Hot Compost Success & A Bath

Hello, friends.  Last week, I harvested asparagus, lambs quarter, nettles, lettuce, and lemon balm. All but two heads of lettuce were harvested.  With temps around 90 for three days, I was concerned the lettuce would get bitter.  Some were shared with a neighbor, and some with J's business partner.  Several tomato plants were shared with my sister and her family.  Basil seeds were planted.  I strained all the herbal glycerites, and bottled them, other than the lemon balm recently started.

I've been working on using the first pile of wood chips.  Our raised beds are along the fence of the garden.  The garden was a bit of a jungle, so I weed-eated in front of the beds, laid down cardboard which had soaked in water overnight, then laid down the chips, suggestions from the permaculture consultant.  Guinness had his first bath of the year, other than a wipe down with a washcloth.  I used my homestead systems book to turn on the outdoor shower for the season.  I had forgotten to make notes about the hot water valve, so required a little assistance, but have it down for next time.

I made our first successful batch of hot compost.  It stayed in the 130's for three days in a row, and then was time to turn it.  It's remaining at that temp, even after turning and wetting down, which is great.  It's required a bit of a learning curve, with some tweaks along the way.  Earlier batches looked pretty good, but never got that hot, which likely means the weed seeds are still viable.  I learned the heat comes from active microbes.  If they dry out, they die, which is one of our remaining challenges, as we don't have a water source in that area.  The chickens current drinking rainwater is a closed system, and doesn't harvest enough to also use for compost, so J recently bought a tote, to collect rainwater off the new coop section, which should serve that purpose well, once it's set up.  In the meantime, jugs are carried from the house.  

J has done quite a bit of work for a local brewery, and we were offered his spent grains, to use in our compost.  We first picked up one bucket, but last week, picked up two.  This is one of the ingredients that help to heat the compost, plus the chickens will find some as they scratch through the compost.  While in that town, I stopped by the farm & garden store, to pick up more electrolytes for the chickens, and also picked up thyme and oregano plants.  A bit of hand washing was done... sweaters and wool leggings, which were hung on the clothesline to dry.  Cold weather clothes were swapped out for warm weather, in the closet and dresser drawers.  J called me outside at dusk one evening, to see an eagle, perched on the snag in our pond.  That was a first, and a happy surprise.  

Sweet Spring Days

Hello, friends.  What sorts of things have you been up to lately?  I spent several days working out doors last week, which was lovely.  I started filling up 5 gallon buckets, while I'm weeding, and adding it to the compost, which the chickens rummage through.  More of the Amish tomatoes were transplanted into separate cells, as well as several wintersown flowers, including calendula, Hopi red dye amaranth, celosia, and gazania.  The hay fields behind our land are sadly sprayed with herbicides these days.  As they're not fans of "weeds", I've been gathering dandelion seed heads right where our path comes out, bringing them back, and scattering them here and there.  They're pretty, a great early food source for pollinators, good food and medicine for us, excellent for skin, and you can make wine from the flowers.  Really, what's not to like?

There were a few cooler days last week, On those days, I canned lima and pinto beans, to restock our shelves.  A batch of cashew parmesan was made.  I shopped at Harris Teeter, after dropping off a soap delivery, getting the 5% senior discount, and picked up a few things at Dollar Tree.  I wish there was a happier update on the chicks.  We ended up losing 12 of 25, so almost half our flock.  The company finally responded, telling J they had shipped more, this time 20, which arrived three days later, on Saturday.  One looked poorly from the start, and didn't make it through the first night.  We hope to have a better outcome with this batch of chicks.  

If you've been around here a while, you'll have heard I like to thrift our sheets, and enjoy mixing and matching them.  I have bought some new sheet sets from a good brand in the past few years, but they really don't seem to hold up any better than the thrifted ones.  J has a queen sized pillow.  Our bed is a double, so I'm always on the lookout for larger pillowcases for J.  I almost always find king sized pillowcases, and found one last week, so shortened two of them for him on the sewing machine.  I went up in the attic, and J helped me get down my warm weather clothes and our summer sheets.  The first flannel sheets in the Fall are always welcome, but I'm looking forward to sleeping on crisp cotton sheets again.  One of life's simple pleasures, especially when they smell of fresh air and sunshine.

More compost extract was made, and a new round of plants were fertilized.  Once everything has been fertilized once, I plan to start over.  Ideally, I'll get to everything three times, helping to ensure all the good microbes take hold.  The plants I've already fertilized look noticeably healthier, so that's encouraging.  This weekend, I cut back the Virginia creeper and kiwi vines encroaching on the fence and fruit trees.  Little by little, I'm weeding flower beds, and covering them with wood chips.  Our oregano patch in the garden was totally decimated by moles this winter, and only a few sprigs remained of a patch in a mixed herb and flower bed, as the soapwort overran it.  The remaining oregano was transplanted, to a place I hope it will thrive.  Last Fall, I bought what I thought was oregano, but turned out to be marjoram, which turns out I'm not fond of.  Last week, I reported seeing the first hummingbird at the window.  I finally saw one at the feeder a couple times on Sunday.  Such magical creatures.  Wishing you a beautiful week, friends! 

Pretty Spring Days

Hello, friends.  I hope you had a lovely Easter, if you celebrate, and hope this in between time is pleasant, wherever you are.   Last week, I strained lemon balm glycerite, gathered more, and started a new batch.  A number of tomato and pepper seedlings were transplanted to larger containers, and 6 varieties of lettuce were started.  Wintersown cosmos and bachelor buttons were planted in the ground.  Lots of things are blooming this week, including lilac, wild iris, creeping phlox, blue star amsonia, and columbine.  It's such a pretty time of year here.

Sadly, we're still losing chicks, up to 10 now.  So far, the company J bought them from has been ghosting him.   Though it does seem USPS is partially at fault, the company really should send them overnight, rather than Priority Mail, which does say it can take up to 3 days (though I've sent packages that took many more than that promise).  It's obvious which ones are struggling, as they are significantly smaller than their flockmates.  As it's a brand new building, we feel the air quality is good, and we open windows on hot days.  We've got various lights and heaters, and check throughout the day, to keep the temperature in the correct range for them.  The levels of food and water show that they're eating and drinking.  We've added electrolytes to their water, and I've used VetRx on ones that are struggling to breathe.  We figure those first days of stress impacted the weakest ones, to where they just can't recover.  

Two more batches of compost extract were made, and used to fertilize the potatoes and fruit trees.  We also tried something new, a product the permaculture consultant recommended, called Bone Sauce.  Just as it sounds, it's cooked down bones, with some proprietary ingredients, and works to repel animals.  Most people use it for deer, but others have used it for rabbits and groundhogs.  We're really hoping it helps to keep the squirrels from eating the majority of our fruit and hazelnuts.  It works by scent, and if painted on wood, is supposed to last for a number of years.  In researching it, there seems to be variation in how much people apply, and I'm hoping I applied enough to work.  It's pricy, so we combined it half and half with tallow, as recommended to do, if you'd like.  Our fruit trees and hazelnut got an application.  Fingers crossed.  We didn't use it on the figs or pawpaws, as nothing much seems to bother them.  

I spotted the first hummingbird on Sunday.  It flew around the fountain, and then looked at me, while flying back and cross in front of the window.  There was already one feeder up, but I added another.  McNibs and Hickory's graves needed some attention, and Easter seemed like an appropriate day, with rain in the forecast.  I transplanted more creeping jenny, and a sprig of creeping phlox for them.  Some of what I planted last year didn't make it.  Hopefully, the rain will help these settle in well.  I like the baked fries I usually make, but I'm always about trying new things.  I tried a recipe that used fresh herbs and garlic, which was a fail.  It mostly tasted like charred garlic, which is not very pleasant.  In the meantime, I've printed out several more recipes to try, lol.  For Easter, I roasted our first batch of homegrown asparagus, and harvested tender lettuce for a salad.  Wishing you a lovely week ahead.

Stressed Chicks & Self-Care

Hello, friends.  Last week, I noticed garbanzo beans were getting low in our pantry, so I canned up some, on the coolest day.  I sewed a button on a shirt, and hung all the laundry to dry.  Another batch of compost extract was made, which was used to fertilize asparagus, two young cherries, and other odds and ends.  The usual composting, shredding paper & cardboard, and making biochar happened.  I haven't yet seen a hummingbird at the feeder, but it shouldn't be long.  J finished broad forking the potato bed, and got the potatoes planted.  He's also going to try a new tower idea, with other potatoes.  The first few sprigs of asparagus were harvested.  

Well, we lost more chicks, not surprising after their three day shipping journey.  After J said he found a second one with pasty butt, I looked them over closely.  It makes for an adventure, with a bunch of tiny chicks, skittering this way and that, let me tell you.  We ended up bringing 11 into the house for a "spa treatment".  As pasty butt is caused by stress, it makes sense.  We lost another one that night, and I've been keeping one in my vest today, who's been struggling to breathe.  I've tried electrolytes and VetRx, for this one and the whole group.  We lost that one by the evening.  I've said before I'm not much of a chicken nurse, but I do the best I know to do.  

Another load of wood chips was delivered, by the work crew, and I was able to give them all soap.   I expect they may have preferred a cash tip, but it's something.  We went on our first date in ages, to see the Hail Mary movie.  I thought the book was wonderful.  Though movies never seem to live up to the book, we both thought it was good.  The chiropractor set me loose, after my third visit.  The visits made a significant difference.  I recently learned about a couple, doing some interesting integrative medicine.  He is an ENT MD/PhD, with training and practice in many things.  He regained his vision using sound healing, which started him down the integrative path.   She is a Naturopath, and also works with sound healing.  I've long felt the future of medicine would involve sound and color/light.  As a massage therapist, I took several sound healing classes, and purchased tuning forks and a chime to use in my practice, so this is right up my alley.  I'm excited to have a virtual appointment scheduled with them.  Are you making any changes, or trying any new self-care practices this year?  

Happy Spring

Hello, friends.  I hope your week has been a good one.  Last week, I prepped a bed, and planted the remainder of the chard.  Having leftover sweet potatoes on a cold morning, I made a pie.  I changed insurance the first of the year, and with the new one, I get $50 in OTC benefits quarterly.  I placed and quickly received my order for this quarter.  I'm pretty happy about that.  Our Barred Rock chicks shipped on Wednesday, were supposed to arrive on Friday, but didn't make it to the Greensboro hub in time, so didn't end up at our PO until Saturday.  Amazingly, they appeared fine.  There was one that seemed less active, and we think it's probably the one we lost on Sunday.  It really surprises us that they're shipped "Priority", rather than overnight.  They all seem to be eating and drinking well, and are as cute as they can be.

shortly after arriving

I finished weeding two out of three asparagus areas.  I'm placing cardboard around the perimeter of our newest bed, to help cut down on weeds.  Speaking of which, there has been a crew working on cutting all large limbs near the powerlines along our road, and chopping the undergrowth.  When they came to let J know they were working in our area, he told them we'd love chips, if they needed a place to drop some.  We were delighted to get a load a few days later.  They talked like we may get more, which hasn't happened yet, but we're very happy to have this load.  When I came to the house, to let J know they were dropping off chips, I intended to give all the guys some soap as a thank you, but they were already gone, when I got back out there.  We have so many uses for the chips.  I was already planning to clean the coop the day the chips arrived, and used some for that, as well as some in the new compost system.  We plan to use most of them in the garden, for paths and mulch.  

I shopped the clearance sale at Vitacost, getting some good deals, and got an additional 4% back, by going through Swagbucks.  Vitacost was recently bought by iHerb, and I'm sad to see the majority of what I had been getting is no longer being carried.  I redeemed a $25 GC from Swagbucks, using a sale for the equivalent of $3 off, plus used another $3 redeemed for an activity.  Golden paste, suet and hummingbird food were made.  I saw a post online, with a hummingbird in Charlotte, and then saw that the early ones arrive mid-March, so I put the feeder up on Sunday.  I always keep Easter in my mind as the approximate timing for hummingbirds, but as that date moves around so much, it's not very accurate.  I made my first batch of compost extract, following the instructions of the permaculture consultant, and used it to water all the lettuce, chard and broccoli plants, as well as all the seedlings in the house.  J has been broadforking a row in the garden, which our consultant said is much preferable to tilling for healthy soil.  I'm doing lots of shoveling and forking, with our new compost system, so we're both getting regular workouts.  I'm working with a chiropractor, for the first time, and he's told me I have wonderful range of motion and excellent spinal health.  So nice to hear, when you're in your upper 60's.  Staying active must make a difference.  I hope I can do so for many years to come.

The Busy Season

Hello, friends.  Last week, I downloaded a free Amazon first read book, and sewed a button on a shirt.  Our upright freezer didn't get fully closed again, and defrosted overnight.  This makes five or six times over the past few years.  J had a good bit of meat in it.  He cooked up all the chicken, and refroze it for himself.  Quite a bit of other meat had been previously cooked, so he put it all in a pot, cooked and froze it in portions for Guinness.  He's loving it.  The chickens got some too, and were happy campers.  I'm not really worried about fruits and vegetables, but will try to use them up quickly.  The good news is J got a freezer alarm, to alert us if the temperature rises.  I think that's a great idea, because it's obvious it happens much too easily.  The chicken bones, skin and bits were simmered, then got canned up (without the bones) for future meals for Guinness.  The bones will go in the compost, so nothing will be wasted.

  

I'd been using bird strike stickers on the windows near the bird feeders, but they don't last long before degrading, so that they're no longer effective.  This time, I decided to put up a grid, purchased from Audubon.  It supposedly lasts 10 years.  Before applying it, we were getting lots of bird strikes, and we've not gotten one since.  I'd say that's a success.  I've been wanting to clean up the asparagus beds, and got started on it.  A good thing too, as I saw several 1" tall asparagus poking up.  They'll likely get killed back with the nights in the 20's this week, but maybe this will be the last of the frigid temps.  

I met my sister and niece on Friday, and we thrifted three places, then had dinner.  None of us found much, but I did find the perfect basket, to fit in a long space, under the dinette in the skoolie.  It will make getting things in and out of there much easier.  On Saturday, I went with a friend to see Temple Grandin.  She was delightful.  I was pleased to hear the event was sold out.   She was at another local venue the day before, and it was sold out as well.  One of the things she spoke about was how the world needs various kinds of thinkers, working in collaboration.  The diversity of humanity really is a strength.  Due to cold weather, our chicks did not ship as planned, and are supposed to arrive late this week.  J closed in the area below their coop, so none of the little gals can get under there.  He put up new gates on one end of the garden, and at the chicken yard, so he can get to the compost area with the tractor.  I picked up a six pack of chard, and prepped a bed for it Sunday.  When I started planting, I realized I got three bonus plants.  As I had run out of time, space and oomph, those will have to wait for another day.  It's a good problem to have.  Lots of the planted seeds have sprouted.  It's quickly turning into the busy season around here.  

Late Winter on the Homestead

Hello, friends.  A "spring" bouquet was gathered to enjoy.  The forsythias, cherry, peaches and apricot have begun blooming.  The remainder of wintersown seeds were planted.  Though it doesn't much feel like winter now, we're supposed to get some lows in the 30's this week and next.  It's a bit later than I usually plant, but you do what you can do.  I began watering the Amish tomatoes that I prepped in the Fall, and planted seeds of another 9 varieties, plus 5 different sweet peppers.  The wintersown seeds included celosia, black-eyed susan vine, dye amaranth, orach, portulaca, roselle, spilanthes, tansy, tithonia, sweet annie and zinnias.

 J has been working hard on the chicken coop addition.  It's now enclosed, with a door and ramp to their yard, a clean-out door, roosts, and a line of watering nipples.  He added an automatic door to the main coop, and the chickens took to it quickly.  Their feeder was moved inside the nesting room.  These changes were done to make future traveling easier.  Knowing gas was likely to rise, because of the latest war, I filled up early in the week.  The price had already risen .40, from a few days earlier, and when I passed by a day or two later, it had risen another .30.  I expect it will rise again, if it hasn't already, but hope it doesn't continue at .70 or more a week.  I'm sure it's going up everywhere.

I planted kale, cilantro and parsley seeds.  The trays all started next to the woodstove.  Kale started sprouting on Saturday, so the tray was moved to our little indoor grow station.  We haven't used the woodstove in a few days, so I moved all the trays there.  The onions in the garden are coming up nicely.  J worked up a spot in the garden for potatoes.  A male client requested a custom size neck pillow.  I finished it on Sunday, and will deliver it this week.  I hope your week has been a good one.  I put up a skoolie post on Friday, for those who are interested.  Take good care, and be well.