Monday, May 6, 2024

This & That


Hello, friends.  Last week, I harvested lettuce, chard, peas, rosemary, thyme and parsley. I repotted all the seedlings into larger pots, and fed them with banana peel water, which is a good source of phosphorus.  I've been working on cleaning up the garden fence, which has lots of Virginia creeper and cleavers along it, as well as other weeds.  I brought a wheelbarrow full of weeds to the chickens.  Joseph placed our first order with Azure Standard.  Once he got it home, we transferred it all into jars.  I vacuum sealed some, and J dry canned some.  I recently borrowed The Martian from the library, and enjoyed it.  The movie was available on Prime, and due to my credits, I was able to watch it free.  




We've been on well water for a couple of weeks or so, after running out of rainwater again.  It seems we may have a leak, but it's not clear at this point.  We thankfully got rain, starting Friday evening, which  J refilled our backup tank with, then after the main tanks filled, we were able to switch back to rainwater on Sunday.  We got close to 5 inches.  So thankful!  J planted our largest tomato seedlings into the garden, as well as sweet potato slips, eggplant, basil, and a large patch of marigold seeds, which we hope will deter the voles from our potatoes and sweet potatoes.  We're always trying something new!



I've done some seasonal chores, including changing out the winter sheets and bedspread to the summer ones.  All the house plants were moved out onto the porch over the weekend, while it was rainy and cloudy.  I went through Swagbucks for a business purchase, for 2% back. Sunday was cooler and rainy, so I ironed the few things that needed it, and mended  a homestead shirt and shorts with iron-on patches.  I also mended a sweater.  Yarrow was gathered for salve, and steeped in olive oil.  I believe I forgot to mention I also did this with plantain and chickweed recently.  I mowed our walking path for the first time this year.  I've pulled many ticks off of myself already this year, and a few from the pups. I'm hoping this will help.  That's life on the homestead.  I hope you have a wonderful week!


8 comments:

daisy g said...

Wow! Five inches of rain! I was quite pleased with our 2 1/4 inches. Glad the rain came in time to fill up your tank.

I am hoping to have enough sweet potato slips for this year, but as a friend also wants some, I may end up having to purchase some. Did you grow your own or purchase them somewhere?

You'll have to let me know how you like working with Azure. I've been on the fence about them for years now, because the drop off point is about 45 minutes from us and I'm not sure I want to add that to our schedule.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Laurie said...

Joseph bought the slips, a new to us variety. I'll ask him the details when he's back home. Our Azure drop off point is at a church 30 mins away. He & his business partner go out for lunch, so just ate nearby that day, as the truck came at noon. I know the prices were good for what we got, which was just a few things. I intend to check prices for dried beans next.

April said...

Rain, gardening, rain, gardening, rain, gardening. Sounds like a spring week to me!!

Laurie said...

Indeed it does, April!

Daisy, J got the sweet potato slips from George's Plant Farm @taterman.com. The variety is Orleans. I hope that helps.

Staci @Life At Cobble Hill Farm said...

5 inches of rain! That's fantastic!!! A nice little harvest! We haven't braved changing to summer sheets yet as it's still cool overnight, which is wonderful. Maybe in a couple of weeks. Ticks....we've found them as well. So frustrating. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Laurie said...

We're thankful for the rain! Not looking forward to upper 80's today and tomorrow, but thankfully it goes back down again. Cool nights are a blessing!

Andrea said...

Yes it is tick season! My husband trimmed a tree and got one on his arm. Five inches is a good amount for your rainbarrrel. Our state is selling them for a big discount plus compost containers. I've done the composting in our original house on a corner of our fence, just roughly using chicken wire and the soil turned out great. Good to know about bananas. andrea

Laurie said...

I'd love to change our compost set up. It's in one of those square plastic ones, and just always seems wet. Been hard to talk hubby into changing it, but maybe one of these days. I'd rather have something like yours.