Hello SUNSHINE!!!!!

Wow, it's been a rough winter and spring. 
The lack of sunshine and cold weather had me in the blues.  I hadn't realized how bad it got till the sun came out. 
The first nice day we had I spent outside, doing a bit of garden prep. It felt like I was coming out of hibernation.....waking up in a way. Feeling alive for the first time since Christmas season. I owe quite a few phone calls and apologies for dropping off contact.
  It's a lesson for me to actively plan winter and cold weather activities for this coming winter.  (Shuddering even thinking of it)

Any way....THE SUN IS OUT!!!!!!!!


I've been digging in the dirt, the flip flops are out and I'm ready to dive in.  Mother nature gave us a bit of a tease with a false spring & we took advantage of it by tilling the garden.  Of course we tilled again a few weeks later as the soil packed with another heavy snow but....we got a jump on it. After adding all the rabbit poo these past few years the soil seems to be in great condition.


Peas, spinach, kale, carrots, broccoli, cabbage & radish are in. 


Most of the herbs are coming back but, I will need to replace a few due to the deep polar freeze we had this winter.


I've lots to catch up on, many of your posts yet to read....now that I've finally remembered my login info I'll even be able to comment!   Now, if I could only remember my live writer log in .....




Hope your all enjoying sunshine or, at least hear the dripping of snow melt!


Be back soon, I have lots of catching up to do
Katie

Gardening on the Cheap-Free Grapevine!

Every year we try to add a new food producer/source to our land. Most of the time we can find what we want or need by trading or, best of all free.ie.”Gardening on the Cheap!

We had the offer of domestic Concord grape vine from family.  It was an established 15yr old vine they were planning to pull out & change in landscaping   The vine is/was a super heavy producer ….even totally ignored the past 10 years. I nearly cried at the thought of destroying it and asked if we could dig it up. The thought of just ripping it out was heartbreaking to us.  We planned to add grapes in the near future so it was a no brainer to at least try.  Being Texas transplants and used to 0 yard maintenance they were happy to let us have it.   We dug and dug…then dug some more attempting to get the entire root ball. Mercy this thing was big! We left a mini crater in the ground.   I’m not sure if it will survive our efforts but it was sure worth the try.  We trimmed about 15 ft. of vine from the fence & planted a bunch of the cuttings along the new trellis. I know we way over planted the cuttings but I figure only a few will survive. I’ve been keeping it watered & 1-2 of the cuttings have bits of green showing so I have hopes some may live & our cooler weather is really helping cut down on the plant stress.

Hard to tell but the main stalk is nearly as large as my wrist.

The kitchen garden has done well.  I’ve added bits here and there through the season.  Mostly herbs & nearly all were transplants or cuttings I was given. Carrots seem to love this soil.  The area originally had a sand base under the pool (which I have amended) so the soil is loose and loamy. Beets have done well as have lettuces.

The 1 cherry tomato plant I put in here just took off like gang busters and is still producing heavily.

Lettuce is coming up faster than we can eat it.

There are various mints, sage, lavender, chives, oregano, thyme, bee balm planted willy nilly in and around veggies as I was given the starts. I’ll say one thing, this area has been virtually bug free, although next year may be a different story I’m enjoying it now.  I need to get out there and do a bit of rearranging/spacing  & separating. I think I want to ring the entire area with lavender. The blooms I want to harvest & dry to use to protect  the wool stash from potential moth problems.

Well, The dust bunnies in my house are scheduling a party tonight their friends all come and don’t leave so I need to go break it up now

Have a wonderful day

Katie

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Summer is fading fast

This morning I actually put a denim shirt over my singlet when I was on the patio with my morning coffee.  There was a definite chill in the air. Trees in back are dropping leaves..most are just plain brown from the late summer heat.

Over the weekend we harvested the last of the potato’s.  All in all I estimate roughly 30-40 lbs. if I add in those I snitched for meals the past few weeks.  We started out with just 2 Lbs. of seed taters.  My watering,( or lack there of) was inconsistent enough about 1/3 have healed splits in them.  I’m hoping they will still store well. If I had stayed on top of watering I probably would have had a much higher yield.  For the first year in the ground I’m happy with what we have & learned a lot. For example, I learned you don’t need a 6 inch trench..(which I did in the first small section.).  I think you can just about toss the spuds on the ground!  In the main tater bed I planted half of the spuds trenched a few inches & the other half I scratched a planting line. I kept them well covered with loads of compost & there really was no difference between the 2 sections. They actually produced much more than the smaller deeply planted bed. 

Most of the tomato’s in the main garden are done & the plants pulled.  This is the last large harvest I’m sure. They are all bagged in the freezer with the rest of the harvest waiting for canning in cooler weather.

Most of my potato’s produced these tater berries.  After doing a bit of research I learned you can plant them & they will produce seed taters which can then be planted the following year.  I may save a few to try but, I’m not dedicating much space for a 3 year process…..although I probably should

I’ve been so wrapped up in everything else I totally forgot about the strawberry bed once they were done.

It’s loaded with weeds & I’m afraid a lot of plants got choked out or are dead.  It’s on the list for the next few days chores.  Spring will tell if any survived

Remember the weird random squash that came up and took over the garden?

After the vine died back this is what I have.  Can anyone recognize the squash/pumpkin? It has a squash/pumpkin smell and texture…..

But hit with a lawn mower its yellow inside

I bet there are over 30 out there in the garden waiting to be harvested!  Now I need to figure how to store and preserve them

The herb garden is doing pretty well so far….I’ll get photo’s tomorrow

Have a great evening

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,garden update,harvesting,potatos,lessons learned

Rain, Lovely Rain

I know, I know… last week I was singing rain – rain go away!

It was getting pretty dry & everything seriously needed watered. 

The thick & fluffy clouds rolled in early yesterday morning.  They were beautiful…. so low, they looked to be brushing the tree tops

Perfect weather for processing corn outside. Mr.Fix-it is an early riser…What I call “O”-God thirty”   You know, when most of us look at the clock and groan and roll back over.  By the time I came out at 8AM, he had everything set up and was well into having the corn shucked and ready  (My Hero)

While the first batch was in blanching for 10 minutes & then cooling,  we finished the shucking

Turkey fryer works perfectly with a large kettle

Corn bagged and cooling a bit more in the breeze before going in the freezer.

I love this burner, canning (water bath) works so well outside & saves tons.  I’m not using the house propane, the heat stays outside saving the A.C. usage…& electric bill which I love!

The weather stayed beautiful all day, much cooler & the rain (wonderful rain) came at dusk once we were inside. I couldn’t ask for better than that!

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As far as a garden up date goes, I fought the squash bug & borer’s but they won.  I had to pull 3 of the squash plants out.  I found finally found Neem oil but it was to late for these.  I’m hoping I can get it sprayed soon enough to save the other plants… once it quits raining. 

The rest of the garden is looking decent,  the potato’s are showing blooms, melons are setting fruit & the surprise pumpkin are growing like crazy. Now it’s down to the waiting game. Other than the raised beds and cucumber area, all sections have been weeded clear & bare areas ready for fall planting in a week or so…but, that was yesterday….today who knows.

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The first batch of blackberry jam was made the other day..the first 2 gallons went in the freezer slated for winter cobblers

I’ve another batch waiting to be made now while Miss Alix is napping so, off for jam making & house cleaning while it’s to wet for outdoor work.

Katie

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Beans Beans The Magical Fruit

The more you eat the more you …wait!

Wrong kind of beans!

I’m talking Green Beans!  The blue lake bush kind.  We (My SIL Jessie & I)picked and processed green beans yesterday.  I think it was her first time from picking to looking at the pretty cooling jars fresh out of the pressure cooker. 

More blossoms are showing on the plants so I’m hoping for another harvest.  I also planted the Italian broad beans this year for my oldest daughter Danielle. She picked 2 full grocery bags worth & cried enough!  Blossoms are showing on those plans as well so I think we may just be sick of beans by end of canning season let alone this winter!

Cucumbers nearly got away from me…

We picked 16 and were able to re-home 3..so I need to get these processed. Not sure what relish recipe I’ll use but I want to try one from Erin

Be sure and pop over to check out her blog.  She and her husband have just purchased land to go off grid.  I can promise her posts will be a good read.I’ve been known to have coffee pass through my nostrils on a few LOL!

The garden is *cough* nearly under control.  OK, just over half..but I need to stay positive about it right?  Healthy weeds mean good soil and ours are growing well.  I’ve been having a morning & evening meeting with them. The potato bed is cleared and received a new layer of straw as well as the additional rows in the main garden, Some of the plants are showing blossoms forming so they are looking good.

  The peas planted in a shaded area are hanging on.  Very slow growing but the blossoms are turning to pods so I’m hoping they continue to produce.  Other than fresh out of the garden I love them dried.  Can’t stand cooked peas (say tuna and pea casserole & watch me gag!) so these will be dehydrated for general munching!

I watered the front flowerbed last night and realized what a sad state it was in.  I used to keep it so nice and now…it’s looking sad, neglected and full of weeds. I don’t have/take the time to care for it as I should so I’m thinking of making some changes there as well. More perennials that take less maintenance but give those pops of color I love. I need to get back in my routine of spending at least 15 minutes a day devoted to the flower beds.  It sure made a difference and they looked great. Someday I’ll grow up and get organized….

Well, morning comes early & I have a date with the canner.

Hope it’s staying cool where you are

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,gardening,canning greenbeans,canning,cucumber

This & That

Ah…., Monday.  Oops I mean Tuesday!  Reality kicks back in. We had such a fun weekend with family. You know how it is, weddings and funerals are the only time you have the chance to see some family due to time, distance & commitments.  A few of my husbands cousins were in from Ohio and PA.  We had 2 days together, talking, eating and laughing as they relived childhood memories & we created new.

But real life kicks back in…

The boys helped me clear over half of the underbrush in the back where I will place the compost bins…hot and stick it was about 86 with super high humidity…we stopped before we melted and cooled off with popsicles. 

The wild blackberries are ripening.  Mr. Fix-It has been donning long sleeves, jeans & boots every few evenings and picking what he can. He’s gone out 2 evenings and harvested a bit over 2 gallons

This was last nights haul….he said they are just starting to ripen & we’ll both need large buckets when they fully ripen.  I believe this batch will be blackberry jam.

Mike and Jessie brought us a few of their berries as a thank you when they picked up the boys &

 

thrilled Mr. Fix-It with a cobbler.

Since the oven was already on, I used some fresh picked zucchini and made a few loaves of

Chocolate zucchini bread. It weighs a ton but is soooo good! 

Green beans are calling my name to be harvested this morning.  Since it’s already 78 degrees and they are calling for high 90s I’m heading out to get that done.  Jessie is popping in to help me can some this morning/afternoon.  I have a feeling I’m going to regret not being out at first light!

Have you harvested much this year?

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,blackberries,harvesting,canning,garden,gardening

Lazy Morning Wandering

in the garden.  It’s in need of some serious weeding after all the rain.  For the first time in weeks it’s beautiful out, low 70’s and as light breeze & perfect for garden work. 

The only work being done out here is with my camera.

One of my nephews if getting married this afternoon and I’m trying to look presentable.  Garden stained feet & hands are not quite the look I’m going for.  I’ve soaked my feet in peroxide 3 times and scrub them nightly but cannot get rid of the stains. 

Overall the garden is going great,

The second potato bed is growing well with few bare spots

Pathways mulched with 4 inches of grass clippings

Zucchini are producing like crazy. Neither Mr.Fix-It or I care for it much as a veggie but love zucchini bread.  I think I have 24 cups of it in the freezer so far bagged in portions ready to use this fall & winter.

If this kind of production keeps up & the squash bugs don’t get me, I’ll be that person that drops off bags of zucchini on random front porches under the cover of darkness

The green beans & Italian beans are ready to pick but will have to wait until tomorrow or Monday.

As I was taking photos I munched quite a few of those nice fat beans for breakfast.  Wish I could preserve them raw & retain all that freshness

The broccoli bed stripped.I can’t get over how long they produced this year. All the rain really paid off.   I think I have 20 2 person servings in the freezer.

The rhubarb & pumpkin seeds I dropped.

The rhubarb lived!!

so far…

After 4 years of trying…success!  It about killed me but I’ve not taken one cutting from these 2 year plants.  They have such beautiful thick stalks….I may snitch just enough for a pie.  Next year God willing I’ll have a wonderful stash of rhubarb sauce & enough for a few pies.  The pumpkin seeds I lost (and found)have set fruit and there are about 4 softball size pie pumpkin forming up

Cucumbers think they own the garden.  Taking over everything!  I was planning on adding another row of green beans or fall planting of spinach.  I can see 3 that are huge and overgrown.  Its been to wet and muddy to get in this section.

But there are plenty more blooms coming. 

These are pickling cucumbers..I want to try sweet pickles this year although I’m not sure if there will be enough…after I find a recipe.

Off to play lady of leisure this morning and putter around the patio..till it’s time to put on the fru-fu clothes

Good golly it needs cleaned up!

What are your plans this beautiful day?

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,garden update,gardening

Plop, splat, plop…plop….splat

That was the sound of our wet clothes as they hit the laundry room floor at 9:30 Tuesday evening.  

It’s been so blasted hot we’re outside early morning and again after supper till dark.

Monday night we lost light at 9:30 along with all our energy…..it was still 85 degrees with 65% humidity. My hair was so wet I looked like I’d just stepped out of the shower. 

Last night wasn’t much different other than it was still 88 at 11 pm UGH!  But, It’s so worth it as Mr.Fixit is totally on board now with composting.

Don’t get me wrong, he was before but didn’t understand the amount we really needed for the garden. We do have a compost bin…but it is 1 bin & we keep adding to it….so its never done. I’ve tried shifting some to the side but it ends up mixed back in.

  So far this summer I’ve bought 4 yards of compost and could use 4 more .  1yard = a front end loader scoop.  Granted 1 yard was only $5.00 but, it was the time/gas/quality and yes money I had a problem with when, with better resource management we could do it ourselves.  So, after much discussion, I’m getting 3 large compost bins.  At the shop he receives shipments weekly on pallets & will be bringing them home to reuse.  I’m hoping we have enough to get 1-2 built this coming week and will add other sections as he receives more pallets. 

The other change is to put the plans for a pool on hold till next year.

Our pool became Fred and Ethel. 

Yes, that’s right I named them

A friend of ours retired & moved from a large land holding into a smaller home in town.  He sold us Fred and Ethel for less than 1/3 the cost of a new mower and trailer. Its half the size of the tractor and cuts the same width making it much easier for me to use.  Less than 3 years old and has just over 100 hours on the motor….to good of a deal to pass up!

Mr. Fix-It on Fred….

.Ethel was off to the side half loaded with grass clippings

With over 5 acres there is a LOT of grass to mow.  A lot of grass to mow = a wonderful base for compost~! Monday evening he mowed the 2 acres in front of the house blowing the clippings in deep rake easy rows.  When I finished yesterday afternoon (with help from my SIL Jessie and the kids), I ended up with 8 (1 yard) trailer loads of clippings!  That’s not counting all the clippings I used to mulch the pathways in the garden (1-2 more loads)    Talk about a work out LOL! 

We’ve plenty of carbon to blend in with the grass clippings & intend to do this again 2-3 more times this summer.  A neighbor on the other end of the field has horses and cattle and are more than happy to let me fill a few buckets of manure to mix in the piles. WOOT! So excited I was doing a happy dance.

10 years ago If you told me I’d be dancing over compost I would have asked what time you were due for your meds!

The garden is going crazy, beans are nearly ready, squash and pumpkin are growing like gang busters…updates later I think I’ve rambled enough for now

Ah, I’m a happy girl!

Katie

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Water Logged!

As a friend of mine recently said…”If it doesn’t quit raining soon I’m going to rust!”

We had a semi dry week while Hayden was here but, after that rain. rain. rain. I was able to pop in the garden to weed a bit in the early mornings while he was here but never caught up.  Then the heavy rains started and things are out of control.  Plants are growing willy nilly and weeds are into full on party mode. I was out over the weekend in ankle deep mud trying to gain some since of control….Since its near 90 today and 70% humidity at 11 am I’m leaving it be for the day!

We had a minor emergency here over the 4th.

  My coffee pot died.

  Yes, you read that correctly.

In my house a broken coffee pot constitutes an emergency.

The on off switch broke.

If you jiggled it just right it would come on and stay on.  Mr. Fix-It (bless his heart) fixed it…..I think he was worried about life as we know it without coffee.  Rather his life with me when I don’t have morning coffee.  A $5.00 switch replaced and we were good to go for another few years.  A simple part to do the repair…made me wonder how many would have simply tossed the pot and bought another. 

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Erika and I spent part of last weekend working on a few updates at her house.  We pulled her shutters, power washed them and the house. We painted and rehung the shutters…  Oh my gosh the difference it made..to get the full effect, this is last summer & the condition of the house when we bought it a few months ago

This photo was taken this morning.

We’ve all kinds of plants waiting to put in the front flowerbeds. It’s been to wet to get in there to do it.  They would have really benefited from all this rain but we wanted to get the shutters finished first. The sun is out so I might get some in today…we’ll see.

Sunshine means laundry to hang so, I better take advantage of it while I’m able.

Hoping for a dry day

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katiedids,garden,little house,updates

Playing Catch up

We are home from our trip and playing catch-up big time.  Apparently it rained like crazy while we were gone because the garden has taken off like crazy! The beans are heavy in bloom and the squash has just gone crazy! When we left, this plant was knee high on me…keep in mind I’m 5’9 and have a 33 inseam.  Right now it’s hip high!

Glad I spaced these further than normal because it’s just huge. Now, we’ll see if these blooms fruit.  Last year I needed to hand pollinate them all…realllly hoping that’s not needed this time around.

The raised beds needed some serious work. Most of the lettuce has bolted & I’m letting it go to harvest seed.  The asparagus transplants appear to be a success.  There were about 6 new shoots popping up….which I munched on while weeding.  

My tomato’s are slugging along…very slow growing this year.  At this rate I’ll still have green tomato’s come the first frost

The potato’s are doing pretty well. I’ve needed to hill them twice this week. I added a layer of straw to help retain the moisture in this 90 degree heat streak.  I’m really hoping they do well this year.  The second potato bed is starting to show signs of growth as well. It’s my first year with them in the ground & both beds went in late…but it’s looking good so far …really hoping for some spuds this year after the last 2 yrs. fiascos!

Hmm, my rows don’t look to straight! I’ll have to run lines next year…lets hope those taters don’t mind LOL!

 

The strawberry bed…after all the rain & week of absence is a hot mess. Before I left it was weed free.

Nice,

Pretty blooms showing through all those green leaves.

What we came home to?

Looks like I have a few hours of work with the hand trowel in front of me.  We went through the bed picking what we could salvage and tossed over a gallon of soggy/rotting berries.  I’m so thankful the bed it tiered or it would be a rotting mess rather than just needing a serious weeding.  Think once I have it cleaned up I’ll add a bit of straw to those bare spots to  help slow those weeds down.

The heat is up this afternoon so we caved and came inside till it drops under 90.  Looks like the laundry and dust are calling my name.

Maybe I’ll sew a bit or knit instead!

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,gardening,catching up

 

Day of Mulching

Monday morning we’re taking off to Milwaukie for a few days.   Business related for hubby and a nice break away from here.  He will come home & I’ll stay in northern Indiana visiting friends for a few days. I am so looking forward to it.  I’ve never been there so new places are always neat to visit.  The Harley  museum is close by the hotel so I’m hoping we can get over there.

The down side of leaving for a few days….lots of work to be finished up before I go.  Isaiah & I  were at earth first this morning for another trailer load of compost…we took it to his house and 2 hours later he, Erika & I had it unloaded in their flowerbed.

 

For right now, we’re using it as mulch…the addition (another bedroom) scheduled this fall will tear up the flower beds but my thought is we can start amending the soil some now.

We went back for a second load to finish it off & the rest I’ll use in the garden.

While they finished “mulching” I was able to get in 3 more rows of potato’s & 3 more roma’s.   My BIL had dropped off more rabbit poo the other day so I was able to mix it with the compost when I planted.  I’m interested to see how the 2 separate potato beds do.  The first bed I put in the main garden (generally used for spinach and lettuces) & it’s shaded for about 3 hours in the afternoon….the second bed is in full sun.  I ended up adding another layer of compost over both beds….and then went through the rest of the garden dressing everything with the black gold .  It was hot, and I didn’t want to know the temps.  About 3pm I turned the hose on myself & by 5 pm when the hubby got home my arms felt a mile long….and the ground was rippling.  A loooong cool shower later I felt human again.  The rest of it is staying in the trailer till morning but I need to have it emptied and cleaned out by 1pm. 

Because ……(insert drum roll) we get to go to pick up and load Erika’s bedroom set & Isaiah’s bunk-beds from…… her ex’s. 

It’s taken an entire stinkin year and a court order issued yesterday to get them.  Erika’s bed set was given to her from Mr. Fix-It’s grandmother right before she died so come hell or high water we’re getting it back!.  The old style inlayed bed frame and dressing table.  In all honesty were almost afraid to see what condition it will be in.  We’ll be taking snacks and water bottles as I know he’ll keep us waiting. ….because he can. 

Crawling off to bed…

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,composting,gardening,garden

 

Taters Are In

Late for our area but, they are in the ground.

 Yup, this year those spuds are in the garden and the buckets are empty.

I’d not had much any success with the potato buckets the past 3 years.  I harvested enough last year for a large skillet of fried potato’s. That’s all…. Not worth the time or water doing that again.  So late yesterday afternoon I learned to run the tiller.  I tried to get it going earlier in the afternoon but my arm strength is not quite enough to pull the cord hard enough, or fast enough.  Of course,  Mr. Fix-It came home and gave it one flick of his wrist (or so it seemed) & it was started right up dag-nabit! I figure there is no sense having these “tools” and not know how to use them.  Besides, the more I learn to do the less work it will be for him fit in after he gets off work…..and I won’t need to wait on him. Anyway, I was able to squeak in 3 20 ft. rows. They will get a few hours of late afternoon shade but it was the last useable space I had.  Next year we’ll mark out another section and have it prepped and ready to spud it up.

Everything else is growing well so far.

The lettuce is thick and filling out great.  I do expect the upcoming heat to put an end to that though.

Strawberries are still blooming and baring fruit.  I think we have 6.5 gallons in the freezer so far.  I’m pretty pleased with that as the first official picking season for these plants.

Squash…all but one have good growth

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Beets and turnips are both up and need some serious thinning

The beans are putting on a good showing

Blue Lake and Roma beans..

The weeds?

Growing like gangbusters!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,sustainable living,garden,gardening,green things

Where Did The Week Go?

Its been a super busy week, Kitchen garden is ready to be planted.

Isaiah & I ran out to Earth First and got 2 scoops/2 yards of compost nearly killing the poor trailer.  After we were loaded and driving home I  noticed what I thought was heavy exhaust coming from the van.  It’s not been driven in months and figured it needed a serious tune up. Turned out it was the tire smoking!! It was rubbing on the bed of the trailer. Here I thought all those nice folks waving were being super friendly & admiring my towing skillz!

Thank goodness it was a old country road & not heavily traveled so I ever so slowly drove to a wide farm driveway and called for reinforcements.

Tire melt

The guys used some tie down straps a cinched up the trailer sides so I could on without transferring the load (thank goodness!) Unfortunately when we got home I couldn’t get the end board of the trailer off to easily dump and spread bits of it at a time….so Isaiah & I shoveled it out. Talk about a work out! It was 87 degrees and felt like 100.  We tried to make a a game of, took a few breaks spraying each other with the hose & got it done

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Kitchen Garden… Done and ready for planting

Raspberries are in the ground, I put them in last week but needed to wait for a trip to the lumber store to get posts for the trellis.  After Mr. Fix- it cut them to length,  Evie & I put them in last weekend. Instead of using the wire fencing I think for this frame we’re going with wire strands.  Cheaper…much cheaper.  Originally we used wire fencing for sturdiness & thinking long term.  The grid on the blackberries is nice for weaving in and controlling the vines but we would loose some berry clusters as the vines grew. Hopefully the standard wires will be different.

Laundry’s waiting

Have a great weekend!     

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,kitchen garden,raspberries,gardening,composting

Busy Day Ahead.

 I have PT again this morning….not sure if it will be my last?

I still struggle with rear rotation i.e.reaching behind scratching my back. Other than that I’ve had very few issues with my arm. The strength & stamina is coming back quickly.  Working in the garden has been great PT!  Insurance has FINALLY started to pay us back all the out of pocket expense for DR.’s visits. They sent a partial check to the DR’s..who will refund us. Then, checking the mail yesterday there was another check directly to us for another 9 visits.    You can bet I did a little happy dance walking all the way up the drive way!

Yesterday I ended up with both girls so I was not able to work in the garden much.  After PT I’ll get the trailer and head to Earth First for some compost for the new kitchen garden and maybe an extra scoop for the main garden.  Not having animals or chickens is sure a drawback in the compost department! We just don’t produce enough ourselves to do all the jobs that need done. On top of that I wasn’t a very good composter this winter. I want to pick up a few pallets from the shop and make a new compost bin anyway……one with 2 sections rather than the one big pile we have now.  It never gets “done” as I keep adding to it.

Last week when I decided to let the tomato garden rest for the season I raked up all the grass rows in the field and piled it in…trying to cut back the weeds. Luckily the grass was tall but had no seed heads so I mowed all the cuttings in 4 rows. I think there is about 8 inches of grass piled and compacted in there now.  Next time I think raking nearly 2 acres of cut grass at once is good idea, smack me upside the head…PLEASE!  I think I’ll focus on sections rather than all of it next time but, it was cheaper than purchasing straw = Free!

Erika, the girls & I picked strawberries last night after it cooled off. The spinner (knock on wood) seems to be working.

 

We’ve not seen any further rabbit or bird invasions or nibble marks  We came in with 2 full gallons! There would have been about another quart but we heard Evie say eww a few times and realized if the berry was not “perfect” she was tossing it in the field. Probably a couple of courts truth be told….

I’m just so excited to see something producing! Right now all the berries are going in the freezer & I’ll make jam when I see what we get.

Well, just notified by the DR.s that my appt has been cancelled as he is sick.  So it looks like I’ll be able to get an early start on the kitchen garden and digging post holes before the heat gets to bad.

Have a good one!

Katie

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