Much as I hate to do it (I'm feeling twinges of withdrawal symptoms already), I'm taking a leave of absence from Blogland. In truth, I'm considering not even turning on my computer for a couple/few weeks.
Somewhere, somehow, someway I need to gain extra hours in my day. I've considered sleeping less (which makes Mama Pea a cranky girl), eliminating food preparation and eating (which would make not only me but that guy I live with VERY bad tempered let alone weak and unable to do what needs to be done) and a couple of other totally ridiculous ideas in order to have more time to be spent on gardening and the preparation of our winter fire wood supply. And other things. Like trying to find a balance in our lives.
Much outside work that would normally have been completed in the month of April simply didn't get done because of our crazy, late, heavy snowfalls.
We have yet to enter into warm weather that is conducive to encouraging green and growing things. The continued cold weather has created unneeded complications for started seedlings and food production in general. The last two nights we've dipped down dangerously close to freezing. Highs during the day are only in the 50s. On our warmer days.
Here we are at Memorial Day Weekend and the only thing I have planted in the garden is one bed of onions and the shivering cold frame-covered bed of transplanted salad fixings.
There is much to be done out there, Folks, and my highly-skilled crew of six has, so far, failed to arrive.
Although I will miss reading and commenting on all of your posts this late spring/early summer, backing away from the computer is necessary until I feel I've gained some control of the chaos swirling around me right now.
I may feel a need to turn the machine on and check e-mails every day or so, but I'm not even sure I will do that. We'll have to see if I even remember how to function in LBC (life before computers).
Sending best wishes to you all in the next couple of weeks and hoping the remainder of your holiday weekend is spent just exactly as you wish.
See you . . . when? Who knows. Perhaps sooner than I think. Perhaps not. It all depends on that crew that seems to have gotten lost on the way to our place.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Checking In
After several days of rain (2" measured during one overnight period), we are finally seeing the sun this morning Yippee!
I found plenty to occupy my time indoors (imagine that) while waiting out this wet period. Now my outside list is so long I keep tripping over it, but I know I won't be able to actually get in the garden without giving it some time to dry out. (Days?) There are still many tasks (imagine that) I can work on around the yard (squish, squish, squish) and will get going on them today.
My chives have finally grown high enough to cut and process for my annual stash in the freezer.
The lawn is knee-high. (Not quite.) (But almost.)
We've never been able to get more than that first coat of tong oil on the new raised bed frames which are still spread out in our back parking area. And which need to be finished and put in place BEFORE I can plant in them this year. The frames are definitely on the list for another (possibly two?) coating today.
Our wrought iron deck furniture which we stored under a big pine tree all winter was hauled out more than a week ago. It was plastered with bird poop and needed a good scrubbing (or sandblasting). Now after several days of hard rain, much of the wild bird fertilizer has disappeared. I will wash it though, I promise.
I could truly go on and on with the list of fourteen (there are indeedy-do fourteen things listed) items on paper in front of me, but I'll bore you no longer.
Yep, plenty to do today out in the sunshine. So what am I doing sitting here?
See ya!
I found plenty to occupy my time indoors (imagine that) while waiting out this wet period. Now my outside list is so long I keep tripping over it, but I know I won't be able to actually get in the garden without giving it some time to dry out. (Days?) There are still many tasks (imagine that) I can work on around the yard (squish, squish, squish) and will get going on them today.
My chives have finally grown high enough to cut and process for my annual stash in the freezer.
The lawn is knee-high. (Not quite.) (But almost.)
We've never been able to get more than that first coat of tong oil on the new raised bed frames which are still spread out in our back parking area. And which need to be finished and put in place BEFORE I can plant in them this year. The frames are definitely on the list for another (possibly two?) coating today.
Our wrought iron deck furniture which we stored under a big pine tree all winter was hauled out more than a week ago. It was plastered with bird poop and needed a good scrubbing (or sandblasting). Now after several days of hard rain, much of the wild bird fertilizer has disappeared. I will wash it though, I promise.
I could truly go on and on with the list of fourteen (there are indeedy-do fourteen things listed) items on paper in front of me, but I'll bore you no longer.
Yep, plenty to do today out in the sunshine. So what am I doing sitting here?
See ya!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Ya Can't Keep A Good Man Down
We're having what looks to be a day of thunderstorms passing through our area. Steady drizzle has been coming down since we got up. Every now and then we hear thunder rolling around in the sky above us, then we get a heavy downpour of rain for several minutes.
Papa Pea went over to our neighbors' place a couple of hours ago. He and D are working up and planting out a small meadow there with what we hope will be good browse for the deer in our area. The guys got caught in a couple of the downpours but kept working until getting to a good stopping spot.
After coming back home and changing out of his soaked duds, he remembered he's been wanting to spread some wood ashes under our fruit trees for several days now and during this wet period would be a perfect time.
So back out he went (between bursts of the heavy rain) to do the job. I have a feeling when he comes back in there will be an extra cup of strong coffee enjoyed this morning. The outside temp is only 46°, and it's 68° in here so I've finally started a small fire in the kitchen wood stove to help keep away the dampness. There's a pot of chicken soup with dumplings on the stove which helps chirk up the atmosphere, too.
If we can stop thinking of outside jobs to be done (duh), looks like it will be a comfy, cozy day inside. We aren't minding the rain at all, but jeepers, could we use some consistently warm weather about now.
Papa Pea went over to our neighbors' place a couple of hours ago. He and D are working up and planting out a small meadow there with what we hope will be good browse for the deer in our area. The guys got caught in a couple of the downpours but kept working until getting to a good stopping spot.
After coming back home and changing out of his soaked duds, he remembered he's been wanting to spread some wood ashes under our fruit trees for several days now and during this wet period would be a perfect time.
So back out he went (between bursts of the heavy rain) to do the job. I have a feeling when he comes back in there will be an extra cup of strong coffee enjoyed this morning. The outside temp is only 46°, and it's 68° in here so I've finally started a small fire in the kitchen wood stove to help keep away the dampness. There's a pot of chicken soup with dumplings on the stove which helps chirk up the atmosphere, too.
If we can stop thinking of outside jobs to be done (duh), looks like it will be a comfy, cozy day inside. We aren't minding the rain at all, but jeepers, could we use some consistently warm weather about now.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
A Day to Rest My Body
Our area has been drying out fast. Hard to believe, I know, after those big snowfalls we had late this spring. But we haven't had any moisture fall on us since that last snow, so we've really needed rain.
It has been raining steadily, not hard but a gentle rain which is perfect for soaking in, all day today. More of the same is forecast for tomorrow and Monday.
I think I can see that the grass has turned a greener color since first thing this morning.
We put on rain gear a couple of hours ago and went to pick up the six new blueberry bushes we ordered.
They look like strong, healthy plants and we're happy to have gotten them. At $11 each, I think they were a good deal considering we didn't have to travel more than a few miles to get them. (Gas has recently jumped to $4.41/gallon up here. Can you believe that? What's it going for in your area?)
Yesterday morning before we started playing in our new dirt, we got one coat of protective finish on the eight new raised bed frames for the garden. Papa Pea is determined to do all he can to insure these frames last as long as they possibly can because replacing them is not one of his most favorite homestead-y tasks. (Please notice Tucker in foreground helping.)
We're painting them inside and out with a tung oil mixture, wanting to get three coats on in total. Right now they're standing out in the rain, but we can tell that even the first coat is doing some good as the rain drops are beading up on the wood rather than sinking in.
Unfortunately, with rain in the offing for a couple more days, this project isn't going to get finished as soon as we had planned. There are some raised beds I can plant in right now, but the eight beds yet to be replaced with these new frames won't be ready for planting until . . . well, until they're ready. Of course, we had planned on having this whole operation done in April of this year, but there was that rasty thing about the tons of snow we had to deal with in April that threw a clinker into our plans.
Today's rainfall has given me an unexpected day inside. Probably a good thing because I seem to have a bit of a pain in my back between my shoulder blades that I suspect has a direct relationship to my carrying of 5-gallon pails full of black dirt yesterday. A little rest will be a good thing. (Just ask Martha. I'm sure she always rests a day after carrying 5-gallon buckets full of dirt.)
Of course, there's plenty to do inside. Unfortunately, the gray, dark, dreariness of the day has taken away all my get-up-and-go. What I feel most like doing is taking a nap. Therefore, I must get up from this chair and M-O-V-E.
Hee-hee. Maybe I'll M-O-V-E into my quilting room!
It has been raining steadily, not hard but a gentle rain which is perfect for soaking in, all day today. More of the same is forecast for tomorrow and Monday.
I think I can see that the grass has turned a greener color since first thing this morning.
We put on rain gear a couple of hours ago and went to pick up the six new blueberry bushes we ordered.
They look like strong, healthy plants and we're happy to have gotten them. At $11 each, I think they were a good deal considering we didn't have to travel more than a few miles to get them. (Gas has recently jumped to $4.41/gallon up here. Can you believe that? What's it going for in your area?)
Yesterday morning before we started playing in our new dirt, we got one coat of protective finish on the eight new raised bed frames for the garden. Papa Pea is determined to do all he can to insure these frames last as long as they possibly can because replacing them is not one of his most favorite homestead-y tasks. (Please notice Tucker in foreground helping.)
We're painting them inside and out with a tung oil mixture, wanting to get three coats on in total. Right now they're standing out in the rain, but we can tell that even the first coat is doing some good as the rain drops are beading up on the wood rather than sinking in.
Unfortunately, with rain in the offing for a couple more days, this project isn't going to get finished as soon as we had planned. There are some raised beds I can plant in right now, but the eight beds yet to be replaced with these new frames won't be ready for planting until . . . well, until they're ready. Of course, we had planned on having this whole operation done in April of this year, but there was that rasty thing about the tons of snow we had to deal with in April that threw a clinker into our plans.
Today's rainfall has given me an unexpected day inside. Probably a good thing because I seem to have a bit of a pain in my back between my shoulder blades that I suspect has a direct relationship to my carrying of 5-gallon pails full of black dirt yesterday. A little rest will be a good thing. (Just ask Martha. I'm sure she always rests a day after carrying 5-gallon buckets full of dirt.)
Of course, there's plenty to do inside. Unfortunately, the gray, dark, dreariness of the day has taken away all my get-up-and-go. What I feel most like doing is taking a nap. Therefore, I must get up from this chair and M-O-V-E.
Hee-hee. Maybe I'll M-O-V-E into my quilting room!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Every Gardener's Dream
Now I don't know about the part of the country in which you garden, but up here what passes for soil is primarily rocks and a little dirt (little being the operative word). The dirt that you can find is either heavy, red clay or what the locals refer to as "rotten rock" . . . a label which does not conjure up visions of nutrient-rich, loamy stuff conducive to growing carrots . . . or much of anything else.
Last fall, hubby and I located a great, huge pile of lovely, wonderful, rich black dirt. I told him, "I want that! I want a LOT of that!"
So early this spring, we looked into getting some of it transported into our yard. We talked with our good neighbor (who has the heavy equipment business) about hauling it for us. It happens he and his wife have been wanting to get into gardening and have been developing a small plot behind their house. Hauling some of the soil for us would be no problem, D said, plus he'd be interested in getting some of it for their garden area. A win-win situation.
We had to wait for the huge pile of black dirt to thaw. This required a bit of patience since our cold winter weather lasted so long into spring this year. But finally everything was in place and our dirt was scheduled to arrive.
This morning shortly before 8 a.m., we heard the rumble of one of D's dump trucks.
Oh, oh, oh! Here it comes! I was so excited!
Oh, my. Will you look at that beautiful stuff.
A big bunch of that beautiful stuff! (Suddenly, the soil we've built up in our pumpkin patch doesn't look so great, does it, Lisa?)
Five cubic yards of rich, black soil. We got busy and wheelbarrowed it into all of the raised beds we replaced last year that ended up a little short on dirt.
Since the black dirt came from a swampy area, it was most likely on the acidic side so we spread wood ashes over the added dirt in the beds to add some alkalinity. I'll till everything in before planting each bed.
There's still a lot of dirt left in the pile, but you can be sure I'll use every last bit of it . . . and be pickled tink to have it!!
Last fall, hubby and I located a great, huge pile of lovely, wonderful, rich black dirt. I told him, "I want that! I want a LOT of that!"
So early this spring, we looked into getting some of it transported into our yard. We talked with our good neighbor (who has the heavy equipment business) about hauling it for us. It happens he and his wife have been wanting to get into gardening and have been developing a small plot behind their house. Hauling some of the soil for us would be no problem, D said, plus he'd be interested in getting some of it for their garden area. A win-win situation.
We had to wait for the huge pile of black dirt to thaw. This required a bit of patience since our cold winter weather lasted so long into spring this year. But finally everything was in place and our dirt was scheduled to arrive.
This morning shortly before 8 a.m., we heard the rumble of one of D's dump trucks.
Oh, oh, oh! Here it comes! I was so excited!
Oh, my. Will you look at that beautiful stuff.
A big bunch of that beautiful stuff! (Suddenly, the soil we've built up in our pumpkin patch doesn't look so great, does it, Lisa?)
Five cubic yards of rich, black soil. We got busy and wheelbarrowed it into all of the raised beds we replaced last year that ended up a little short on dirt.
Since the black dirt came from a swampy area, it was most likely on the acidic side so we spread wood ashes over the added dirt in the beds to add some alkalinity. I'll till everything in before planting each bed.
There's still a lot of dirt left in the pile, but you can be sure I'll use every last bit of it . . . and be pickled tink to have it!!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Winter Might Be Gone, Summer Might Be Here
We had the temp reach into the low 70s yesterday. It was almost more than we could take . . . a great adjustment to our bodies that were getting used to wearing multiple layers of clothing long after usually necessary. 'Twas, however, a glorious day and even the stiff breeze couldn't damper our spirits working outside. It was wonderful. (But just imagine how warm it would have felt without the wind!)
Today was full of sunshine although not nearly as warm as yesterday. I still stripped down to my short sleeve t-shirt while working in the garden.
Papa Pea cultivated the whole field garden for me so now I can get those taters planted and trellises up and ready for pea planting.
He also ran the cultivator over the area that we've been prepping for two years for more blueberry and possibly haskap berry bushes. We have six blueberry bushes ordered that we should be able to pick up this Saturday. They will go in the cultivated area behind the third white stake you see in the above picture. The three white stakes mark our little haskap berry bushes we planted last year. I'm delighted to report they all made it through their first winter and are putting out new buds and leaves.
Maybe I should hold a contest to see what you all think these newly constructed frames are for. They will eventually go in the garden when they're completed. They still need to have screening attached to the sides and tops. Any guesses?
If you read in a previous post about our new (and hopefully successful) idea of protecting broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage from the dreaded cabbage moth that lays those dreaded eggs on such plants which hatch out into those dreaded worms that ultimately end up on my plate (eeeeeuuw!), you may have garnered a hint as to what these structures are for.
They will sit on top (and be fastened in some manner so they don't blow off into the next county) of 4' x 8' raised beds and the screening will keep the moths from getting to the plants underneath. Clear as mud? It will be more understandable once these contraptions are finished and in place. I promise more pictures then.
I have now reached the bottom of my glass of white wine and I'm hoping I can stand up and make it into the kitchen to heat up some fish chowder for dinner. Well, the chowder will be for my dinner. When the chowder was served the first time around, Papa Pea saw a bone in a piece of the fish and will indulge in it no more. (He had a really bad experience with a fish bone caught in his throat when he was a wee lad and it proved to be a traumatic experience for him.) He has requested a cheese sandwich for dinner which I am glad to make for him. If I can stand up and make it into the kitchen.
Today was full of sunshine although not nearly as warm as yesterday. I still stripped down to my short sleeve t-shirt while working in the garden.
Papa Pea cultivated the whole field garden for me so now I can get those taters planted and trellises up and ready for pea planting.
He also ran the cultivator over the area that we've been prepping for two years for more blueberry and possibly haskap berry bushes. We have six blueberry bushes ordered that we should be able to pick up this Saturday. They will go in the cultivated area behind the third white stake you see in the above picture. The three white stakes mark our little haskap berry bushes we planted last year. I'm delighted to report they all made it through their first winter and are putting out new buds and leaves.
Maybe I should hold a contest to see what you all think these newly constructed frames are for. They will eventually go in the garden when they're completed. They still need to have screening attached to the sides and tops. Any guesses?
If you read in a previous post about our new (and hopefully successful) idea of protecting broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage from the dreaded cabbage moth that lays those dreaded eggs on such plants which hatch out into those dreaded worms that ultimately end up on my plate (eeeeeuuw!), you may have garnered a hint as to what these structures are for.
They will sit on top (and be fastened in some manner so they don't blow off into the next county) of 4' x 8' raised beds and the screening will keep the moths from getting to the plants underneath. Clear as mud? It will be more understandable once these contraptions are finished and in place. I promise more pictures then.
I have now reached the bottom of my glass of white wine and I'm hoping I can stand up and make it into the kitchen to heat up some fish chowder for dinner. Well, the chowder will be for my dinner. When the chowder was served the first time around, Papa Pea saw a bone in a piece of the fish and will indulge in it no more. (He had a really bad experience with a fish bone caught in his throat when he was a wee lad and it proved to be a traumatic experience for him.) He has requested a cheese sandwich for dinner which I am glad to make for him. If I can stand up and make it into the kitchen.
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