Late April Days

Hello, friends.  Last week,  I was delighted to see male rose breasted grosbeaks at the feeder a couple of mornings.  I've seen them here in years past, but it's always a welcome sight, when they migrate through.  We had another cold spell, with lows in the 30's and 40's, early in the week.  While the woodstove was going, the veggie scraps were simmered, and I canned the broth the next day.  I made the decision, until we use up a good bit of the broth, to just directly add the veggie scraps to the compost for now.  We've got plenty of jars, for the moment.  We've been doing the inside/outside game with the seedlings, putting them on the porch during the warm days and nights, and bringing them back in for the cold ones.  We've never had luck with strawberries here, after trying them in strawberry pots, and in a few spots in the garden.  I decided to try transplanting some beneath fruit trees, which is a permaculture concept.  I'm not sure all of the first round made it, as it's been so dry, even with trying to water them.  We did receive the first measurable rain in a long time Saturday night, probably 1/10", with more in the forecast later in the week, so I plan to transplant more.   

J worked on integrating the chicks, over several days last week, with great success.  We figured they were close enough in age, and breathed a sigh of relief, when it worked out.  The smallest ones had been in a large box, in the same coop, so they'd been exposed to each other the whole time.  He pointed out a chick from the original batch, which appears to be a rooster.  Oh well, one should be OK, provided it's not aggressive.  It was warm enough (80's) that the door to their outside yard was opened a few days, and a few of the bigger chicks were beginning to venture outside.  We did lose two more this week, and those were the last of the first batch that were half the size of their "siblings", so we're hoping that's the end of that.  All but the one original chick that arrived looking poorly, from the second batch, seem to be thriving.  They appear to be a much hardier bunch.  

We shared tomato plants and sweet potato slips with one neighbor, and sweet potato slips with another.  The first neighbor brought eggs to share, which we couldn't use, and the other brought us three Fourth of July tomato plants, which we'd never heard of.  It'd be lovely to get some early tomatoes.  J planted sweet potato slips, and I fertilized them with compost extract.  Library books were picked up, while in town.  Golden paste was made for Guinness.  My initial meeting with the Dr's happened this weekend.  They went through a lot of information, during the visit.  I wrote down some of it, but am waiting to receive their typed recommendations, and a link to review the meeting, to wrap my brain around it all.  The info included imbalances found, many supplements that are not supporting me currently, a few that would be helpful to add, and some discussion on diet.  Though the Medical Medium info got me this far, things have been at a standstill for a long time now, and it feels time to be open to other possibilities.  I'll give an update, once I've had time to implement the changes.  Wishing you peace, comfort and support, during these last lovely days of April.

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.