A Change

Blogging was different when I made my first post in mid-2008.  I've thoroughly enjoyed it as a way of communication and treasure the many readers with whom I've become friends even though we've never met.

 

Times change, people change.  I often wonder what happened to certain bloggers I knew years ago.  I miss them.

 

All is well here.  We'll always be busy on our little homestead.  We have plans for the future, but are trying to be sensible(!) about jumping into anything too soon.  (Been there, done that.)  Some changes are being made first toward creating more balance in life prior to adding anything new.  (Wait.  Could we be gaining a bit of wisdom?)

 

All this is to say I will miss all of you who read my words, but it's time for me to discontinue, close down, put to bed A Home Grown Journal.

 

 

Food from the Garden, Driveway Repair and Thankfulness

Too much rain, not enough warmth, but the garden is starting to come through.

 

Although my lettuce seems super-slow this year, and none is ready to be picked quite yet, I harvested some nice salad greens yesterday.  Wasabina, arugula and mizuna mustard.  Added to a local organically grown salad mix I purchased at our Co-op, the greens are being enjoyed.

 

Also in our salads are scallions and radishes from the garden.  The first picking of strawberries yesterday was only one pound, seven ounces, but it's a start.

 

Using two cups of those berries, I couldn't resist making the first Strawberry Cream Pie of the season.  (Too bad nobody likes it.)  The remainder of the berries are ready for eating with milk (or maybe cream) later.

 

I've hilled up the potatoes with more soil twice now, but the heavy rains we're continuing to have are washing my efforts away.  I hoed the soil back up and then laid some old straw I had over the mounds to hold the soil in place.  I sure hope that helps since more rain is coming again this week.

 

Speaking of way too much rain, our good neighbor was here first thing this morning to see what repairs we might need on our driveway.  Some folks have had their gravel drives wash out twice now making them impassable.  Ours has held up remarkably well with only a couple of spots showing minor run-off ditches.  That has a lot to do with this same wonderful neighbor who put our driveway in over 20 years ago and keeps a careful eye on it for us.

 

Even with the occasional troublesome weather (drought last year, followed by very little snow in the winter months and now flooding this year) we are blessed, in many ways, to have our little homestead in the area we do. 

Lotsa Garden Pictures

Papa Pea finished the huge job of mowing today.  Yes, we absolutely have to wear our bugshirts when doing ANYTHING outside.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  The biting bugs are horrendous this year.  Ugh.

 

I put eight full trays of mint in the dehydrator today.  That's the first cutting of mint for the season.

 

One of our peony bushes has a gazillion (okay, only half a gazillion) buds on it this year.

 

And look what I cut to bring in today.  (The blooms are FULL of ants!)

 

Checking out the strawberry patch, I found many plants with lots of developing berries on them.

 

And one beautiful berry that is already ripe.  The very first one always goes to my husband as strawberries are his most favorite fruit.

 

About every four years I lose my senses and try planting corn.  Again.  This isn't a good picture, but I got 100% germination on the four 12-foot rows planted.  Now if we have warm enough weather and the stalks don't get flattened by some of our crazy wind storms . . . 

 

I just hilled the potatoes up for the second time and they're lookin' good.

 

As with the corn, every few years I pretend I'm Ruth Stout and try planting a few potatoes under straw mulch.  So far, this method seems to be doing what it usually does for me.  Only half of the eyes  have popped up with sturdy green vines.

 

A week ago, I planted seeds for some mini pumpkins, little things only 3" across that I would like for fall decorations, next to each side of the garden trellis.  Seed packet says germination should take place in 7-14 days.  Nuttin' yet.  (The garden soil looks cracked and dry, but right beneath the surface it's quite moist as we've had many cool and wet days.  That could be slowing up the sprouting of the seeds, too.)

 

Shell peas are coming along.  Slowly.  (So are the rocks.  Always the rocks.)

 

The cabbages are growing great.  Both the green and red ones.

 

That's all for now.  More to come if all goes well.  Some sprouts are so small yet they're not ready for their close-ups!  

Asparagus Explosion

We had an inch of rain overnight and into this morning.  Apparently the asparagus patch loved it.

 

I was sure I was harvesting about twenty-five pounds of it, but when I brought it in the scale read only six and a half pounds.

 

A hefty harvest, for sure, even at that.

 

Fresh asparagus at our local co-op is currently selling for $6.99 a pound.  That makes today's bounty at our little homestead 'round about forty-five dollars.

We'll take it!

 

Busy Summer(?) Has Begun

I woke to 36° this morning, a temperature which definitely does not qualify as summer time.  However, it's not unusual for this time of year for those of us living up here near the Arctic Circle.

 

The past few days have been lovely (except for the on and off showers on Tuesday) and much has been accomplished out in the garden.  Dear daughter has been helping me and to paraphrase (badly) the old saying, "Two people working together more than double the efforts of one."

 

I'm staying ahead (almost) of weeds springing up in still yet to be planted areas.  Our asparagus patch is flourishing as is our giant rhubarb plant.  I simply cannot indulge in another fresh rhubarb pie.  (Okay, maybe just one more.)

 

Our hens have finally (we hope) decided we are not letting them go broody and hatch out chicks quite yet this season and the egg production is climbing again.  Hooray.

 

As I was finishing the task of getting our strawberry bed ready for the season, I noticed the planting of comfrey was ready to be cut.

 

Although Papa Pea dries a lot of it each summer to use as a supplement to our chickens' feed during the winter months, I decided to steal some.

 

Since comfrey is said to be a great addition to compost piles and also adds lots of nutrients (fertilizer) to the soil, I cut it to lay between the double rows of strawberry plants before covering the same area with mulch.

 

The strawberry plants are now completely ready for the season.  I've already seen some white blossoms, harbinger of berries, on many of the plants.  Can hardly wait for those first, fresh strawberries! 

Attempt To Catch Up

Oh, my.  I can't remember a busier spring.  Maybe it is true that the older one gets, the faster time goes.  Uh-oh.

 

We've been having many rainy days lately.  Which is a good thing considering our drought conditions last summer and lack of snowfall this winter.  Yesterday morning our rain gauge held 3" of water.  This morning we have lovely sunshine, and I'm hoping it will dry some of the puddles and muddy dirt everywhere outside.  But rain is predicted to come again later tomorrow and continue through the weekend.

 

I've been using my time indoors to stock the freezer with casseroles and soups that will come in handy this summer.  (No rest for the wicked, they say.)

 

One more cutting of chives (if the four clumps in the garden ever dry out) should fill the quota of frozen chives I use all winter long.  Our asparagus patch is bursting forth with a bumper crop that gives us plenty to eat every day and still more to share.

 

Rhubarb is a miraculous plant that just keeps on giving.  Unfortunately, the rhubarb desserts I've been happily baking are giving me visibly tighter pants.

 

The southern part of the most recently plowed up planting area has so many good sized rocks (mini-boulders) in it that not only has my little Mantis tiller proved totally inadequate in working it up, but even Papa Pea has been hesitant to use the Gravely garden tractor in it fearing the rocks will cause unwanted damage.  If nothing else, we grow magnificent rocks here.

 

So our good neighbor offered to bring his small backhoe over to do the job of extricating the blankety-blank rocks.  He's a pro with his machinery, and now we only have to haul away the piles of rocks unearthed.  We'll use the bucket on our tractor once the ground dries enough so we won't tear up the area needing to be accessed.  The guys finished up in drenching rain.

 

Our haskap berry bushes have been totally blossomed out and the earth beneath them is carpeted with falling petals as the berry buds form.

 

That's all for today as I'm heading out in my muck boots to pull up the rest of the hardy and healthy weeds I was working on removing from the blueberry patch before the most recent rains began.  If the lawn area, which is particularly long and lush, isn't dry enough to mow before tomorrow's rain arrives, we may have to use a hand scythe to beat it into submission.