Temps were really nice today and the it was sunny. I really enjoyed it to the fullest. Did all my regular work and a lot more. Unloaded feed and shavings, filled feed barrels, and worked in the barn. I took the mat out of Godiva's stall, cleaned out under it very good, built the floor back up with dirt and topped it off with gravel. Put in fresh shavings and called it done. Then I had Ben's stall to do. He didn't get the royal treatment today but soon. His mat is a lot heavier than hers so I will need help with it. Now I need to send some pics to a Wal-Mart in Louisiana so a friend can pic of the pictures. They are for a school project for her grandson.
The weather is supposed to get bad tonight and through Sunday. The snow, ice and freezing rain should stay North of us but we will get rain. I will take it.
winter is here on the Homestead...
We have snow and ice forecast for Monday and I'm hoping that's the last of it... the winter of our discontent (Steinbeck and Shakespeare).
I've been avoiding looking at all the seed catalogs that are arriving, but with the harsh winter in the grain belt and drought in California that produces so much of our fresh veggies, I'm sure food prices will escalate even more, so where I thought I'd cut back on my garden this year (age and health) it ain't gonna happen unless I fall over dead.
Forecasts now say the frozen stuff will make it down to us. Not looking forward to that. High forties today and rain all day. Still raining and the temps are dropping. Left the cM parked up the hill at the church so I don't get stranded again and not be able to go feed the horses.
I have come to the same conclusion about food prices. It costs way more to eat healthy so you have to raise as much as you can. A good number of my seeds have sprouted. I had to take some out of the little sprouting greenhouse I had them in. They were touching the lid. They may be taller than me before I get them planted out. LOL
We got the wet front coming up from the South which became snow and ice here, timed just right for our heat pump to quit working. Good thing I have lots of firewood for my wood stove, and can cook on it if the power goes out.
Freezing rain seems to kill our heat pumps fairly often. Stay warm!
I have a terrible headache this morning. No wonder with the night we had. We had to have Ben put down last night. I will tell you more about it later but right now we have to get his body taken care of. Please say a prayer for us.
Caj, I don't remember who Ben is. Sorry for the travail.
Turns out the heat pump compressor is bad, but it's still under warranty so a new one is free. Otherwise a new one runs close to $1,000. The catch is that installation of a free replacement plus cleaning and re-doing the freon system will run $800 to $1,000.
I'll be feeding my wood stove for the next several weeks, glad I have a pile of dry firewood.
Ben was our colt.
Sorry about your heating problems. Hope you can get it fixed soon. I think we still have a bit of cold to contend with. I will be so glad when it is warm for good.
I was able to get my tires layed out for growing my corn and okra. I have 5 tires but won't rule out adding a few more. I only need two for okra because 3 plants will be plenty for the two of us. I am growing one emerald and two burgundy. I am growing golden bantam sweet corn. I laid the tires out on a double layer of plastic feed sacks to keep the weeds down. I am also going to put feed sacks around the edges and cover them with wood chips to keep it neat and easy to work in.
Well, I get along pretty good with the sisters I have and the sisters that have gone ahead of us; but there isn't anything special about Nik.
Debbie and I bought a double wide the other day. We had ben all over looking at different options, and finally decided on this double wide with a full basement. It falls (barely) within our budget. Which most of the others didn't. Or if they did we had to give up too many of the things on our list. We went over to the factory in Indiana and watched them being built. With the options that we chose it is costing us 58K. That's with shipping, sales taxes, and a 6 year extended warranty. We already got estimates on a new well, septic, and today we got one for the basement. We still need to find someone licensed in Ohio to set it up, but we have a list we are looking through.
Our whole budget was/is 100K, and it looks like we're going to come in around 98K. Anyway, here is the link to the one we bought. We got it with the 2 bedroom (vice 3) option, and the interior stairwell to the basement. Debbie picked the colours except in the Kitchen which is all mine. We hope to be in it by about the 1st of June.
http://www.expohomes.com/westwood.asp
you may have to cut and paste the link into your address bar.
Is this instead of the cabin?
It was really nice here after lunch day. I was able to get a little done in the garden before going back to church for the evening service. I got a layer of sacks put around the edge of the tires and put pleats of rotted hay around the outer edges to hold them down. Then I started covering the sacks with wood chips. I need about three more buckets to finish the job. Then I have to get the compost to fill the tires. It is coming along.
Beautiful day here today. Lots of sunshine, warm and a nice breeze. I spent most of the day working in my garden getting it ready for planting time. I finished my tire bed today. I have read a bit about hugleculture and like it but I like to make my beds on landscape cloth so I don't have to deal with weeds and grass from underneath. So I put a few inches of rotting woodchips in my tires before filling them with compost. I am hoping it will give me some of the benefits of hugleculture gardening. I will be growing my okra and sweet corn in the tires.
I also started weeding my biggest growing bed today. I have about half of it done. I still have to repair a good sized hole in one end before I can start planting. I had been reading the monthly DG newsletter today and realized from one of the articles that the stuff I was pulling out of my big planting bed was edible. It is some kind of cress. So I brought some in and washed it and DH and I both have it a try. It tasted a lot like mustard greens so neither of us cared much for it. Pity because it is all over here.
Weather is supposed to be very nice again tomorrow so I plan to do some more weeding and pulling the top off the well to fill all my gallon jugs for drinking. Our house is plumbed with city water but we prefer the well water for drinking.
The weather is supposed to take a nasty turn Wednesday. Calling for low temps and possible snow and freezing rain. I am so over all this mess. I wish it would just move out. But we have to endure it.
It was a beautiful day today and we ended up spending most of it in town. Had to do errands and get meds. Didn't get any water pulled up from the well today. Have to do it tomorrow. Also have to clean a stall in the morning. I only have one stall that I clean now. The other two are in run in sheds. Sure do miss Ben.
I bought two berry canes today. A blackberry that is an early bearer and a red raspberry that is a mid season bearer. The wine berries that grow wild here are late season bearers so that should spread the Bert as out over the entire season.
Yes, this is instead of the cabin. The cabin was 60K without plumbing or wiring or fixtures, or appliances or carpets or hardwood floors or linoleum or anything. By the time we were done it was going to be waaaaay outside our budget., And we were going to have to put in a LOT of sweat equity which is seriously time consuming. Especially with me working at least 3 days a week. SO we looked at other options. We're excited.
Well, our pullets are now laying. Gaining 10 to 15 eggs a day. Yesterday was 130.
Some are using nest boxes now. The roll-outs are nice, no egg washing.
This is every-bodies favorite cat, Blackie. He bothers us for a little petting whenever you sit down or are working in the garden. Loves to have his chin rubbed.
Nik, I hate you won't be able to get the cabin. I know you were looking forward to it and you seem like a cabin kinda guy. But I am happy you and Deb will have a new home. I am sure it won't be long before you both put your own special stamp on it and make it warm and cozy.
CG, great news about your eggs. I imagine you can sell all the eggs they can lay. Do you replace your whole flock every year?
We started off the morning with drizzle. It quit, warmed up and the sun shone for a bit. I got my trash out to the road because it was garbage day. Got the animals here fed and then went to the barn to clean the stall. It was about noon then and it started to rain. I got the stall cleaned out and put a new mat in. The mat had been in Ben's stall so I moved it in for Godiva. Got her clean shavings put down and fed her. When I left the barn I stopped at a friend's house to give him a half roll of barbed wire I had. The wind was gusting and nearly took me off my feet. I went to feed Firefly and then stayed inside until time to get ready for church. The temps dropped like a rock. By six it had dropped from the mid sixties to thirty two degrees and it was alternating between snow and sleet. Only five people came out to church. Calling for snow all night but I hear dripping so it must be raining. I am so tired of winter. I am ready to set my plants out and get my grow on!
That is a pretty cat. I have two black cats but neither of them are pets. I can hardly touch either one of them. They were both born wild and I rescued them. They are like employees . They kill rats and chipmunks and I feed them as pay for their work. We both win. One is a bit more friendly than the other but she has been here a year longer. She used to live in the house when she was a kitten but she was a bona fide nut case so she had to move out. She has always been happier outside anyway.
A friend of mine has got her garden plowed up. She has never had a garden and does not know the first thing about it. She has asked me to help her with it so this should be fun. I am looking forward to it. Everybody up here grows beans, corn and taters. I will introduce her to much more than that. Dare we plant squash, Cukes and eggplants? The devil you say!! LOL
I broke my toe at work yesterday. I tripped and twisted my foot while carrying a case (30 doz) of eggs. Went down to my knees but saved the eggs. It hurt whenever I took a step and this morning it is 2wice as big as it should be and all B&B. I really need this.
I worked the hatch yesterday. We hatched out 5000 meat birds and about that many coloured layers. Actually the hatch was mostly pulled when I went in, and I filled orders for shipping. Then as it was time to go to Columbus to the postal warehouse, the bossman decided he was going to drive. So I got to come home early.
Today I have to drive to Greenville, Ohio to deliver a load of meat birds. I always enjoy that trip. My mother is from that general area so I am always looking out for distant cousins and such. I don't know any of them, but I know the major names on her side of the family-Bolinger, Clark, Voar, and Shumacher. It's weird; in Eire I knew ALL my relatives, most of them lived within 15 miles of me. The American side of the family is here in 4 different counties of Ohio, West Virginia, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Michigan and I have never met most of them.
Ouch, Nik!
We get 250 baby chicks in early October ever year. We sold the last of the 2011 hens a couple months ago along with the Buff's from 2012. I don't think they ever laid an egg. About 75 Black Australorps & Araucanas are all that remain of the old hens. We will keep them in case we need the extra eggs. Eggs are counted everyday so if they get to lax, bye-bye.
I guess having pulleys every year assures you of more eggs? Do you have any problem selling the last year's birds? How many chicken houses do you have?
Nik, so sorry about your toe. I know that is painful but bravo for saving the eggs!! You da man! :)
We had about an inch of snow this morning so it was not a problem. Had go back to town today because the pharmacy had given DH the wrong strength meds. Had to exchange them. We went to Big Lots to get another knob for the day bed we bought. One was broken. The bed had been discontinued and they had even sold the floor model so they called a store in another town and they still had their floor model consensus to drive over there and change out a knob. We bought a cheap set of book however were there.
We fed the two mares before coming home and got home just in time to leave again to go to a district church meeting. It was a productive meeting. They have asked me to do a skit for the Mother daughter banquet. I had to feed the rest of the animals when we got home at midnight.
Poppa got his stitches out today and got the results from his biopsy. He is cancer FREE!! Thank you all for your prayers. God is so good!!!!!
I replanted the seeds that did not come up in the little greenhouse tonight. Now I am passed ready for bed.
We have a person who picks up the old hens, gives us a fair price for them.
We are building a new chicken house this spring. We are just using an old corn crib now. Roof leaks, etc.
Do you ever eat any of the older hens?
I would raise my own meat birds if I had a chicken plucker. I have seen videos of them in action and they work great. I imagine they are a bit pricey.
It is drizzling here. Has been off and on all day. They are calling for it too turn over to a wintry mix. Friends an hour north of us have snow and freezing rain already. I pray it stays north of us. I am so over winter and ready for spring.
I potted up my okra plants in the greenhouse. They are looking good. My three tomato seedlings are about four inches tall now so they will need to be potted up next.
Thank the Lord we did not get any of the wintry mix. It is very sunny and windy out today on the first day of spring. It is also a bit chilly so I have not been out but I need to get to work. Have a bit of a headache but some meds should soon fix it up. I was waiting to eat something before I took them. I boiled a big red potato and enjoyed it with some parsley and real cow butter. A friend brought me a pound of it to church last Sunday. It is delicious.
I potted up a few more of my seedlings. I think I will throw caution to the wind today and plant some lettuce. Call me crazy! :)
I noticed yesterday that my peas are starting to sprout. I am excited about that.
I am also excited about what a friend brought me yesterday. She and her DH are tearing down an old rent house her dad left her when he passed. She brought me five 2x8s that are eight feet long. That will make me two nice planting beds two feet wide and eight feet long. She also brought me four 5 gallon buckets for my tomato plants. They brought some 1x12s also so I can make some slats for the bed. We had bought a new mattress and the new foundation is just a bit too narrow. The bed wants to keep falling through at the corners. The slats will fix that problem.
Well, I will take my meds and get to work. Lots I want to do today and I am getting a late start. Praise the Lord for the nice weather and daylight savings time!! Hope you all have a great first day of spring. Be blessed my friends.
This message was edited Mar 20, 2014 11:17 AM
In case some of you weren't aware, Darius passed away on March 18th.
Her Memory Garden page is here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1353791/
Oh Lord. I had no idea. Thank you for letting us know.
Her niece also left a very loving tribute on Darius's blog:
http://www.2footalligator.blogspot.com/
She will be missed.
Still thinking about Darius. Trying to get used to the idea that she is gone. We need to not only appreciate people while we have them but we need to let them know it. I appreciate all of you and my life is fuller because you all are here to share it with me, the good and the bad.
I made two lettuce beds out of two plastic bread trays I lined with cardboard. I filled them with compost and planted Bibb in one and Buttercrunch in the other. I have them covered with plastic.
I finished putting the last of the compost in the wooden planting box. I got the grinder out and cut two more hoops for the box. Today I planted carrots, chard and spinach in the box, watered it all in and then covered it with bird netting and plastic. My seeds were a few years old so I am hoping they are still viable.
It was near 70 today, sunny and just a bit of wind. I put the pony out in one of his lots today to pick the new grass coming out. I put the big dog on his long chain and turned the pup loose to play with him. They had a great time and got plenty exercise.
It was down near twenty this morning. The sun has finally made it over the mountain but it has not warmed up much. I thankful it is dry at least.
I would like to get my onion sets planted today. I always put them around the outside edge of my biggest bed. I have the bed day for planting but I need to patch a hole in the bird netting.
I would also like to get my raspberry cane and my blackberry cane planted today. I will be putting them in two twenty gallon tubs that are the base of my strawberry towers. I need to get the few strawberry plants out that survived the goat and the winter. Sadly there not many of them. I am trying to scrounge up some aluminum gutter to plant them in. I have big plans but many times planning is as far as I get.
I have a few seedlings that are needing to be potted up. They are all still in the greenhouse and looking good. Except for the spinach mustard and the cauliflower. They are all spindly. I may ditch those and try again with cauliflower. The things I had to reseed are coming along. All three of the tomatoes are up. I need to check on the rest of the stuff.
I may be missing for a bit. My subscription is up today and it may take me a bit to get resubscribed. I hope you are all doing well and that your gardening is taking shape. I will be so glad when the cold is gone for good. It really cramps my style. LOL
Whoo hoo!! Got my subscription renewed already. Was figuring it would be more complicated. Glad to have it taken care of.
You guys are awful quiet. You must be busy.
Is everybody okay? I am feeling a bit lonesome here.
Today was nice. It started out cold, low twenties, but warmed up nicely when the sun made it over the mountain. Got up to about sixty with plenty sunshine and a bit breezy. We had to make a run to the closest Wal-Mart so DH could put some money on his card to pay a bill. I got some potting soil while we were there.
When we got home I got started on some garden projects. I made a trip across the mountain to get some wood chips and some compost. Fed my mare while I was over there. One of the other horses had gotten out of it's stall and got into my feed barrel that stays in the barn hall. Thankfully for her sake and mine, only eaten a half bucket of feed. I put her up and made sure the door was latched tight.
On my way home I stopped at the local deli and got a special. Barbeque ribs and a few sides. Tasted great but there was not much food for the money. Only one rib and it had a bone in it. I won't make that $7.25 mistake again.
When I got back home I tied the big dog on his long chain and let the puppy loose to play. They wore themselves out. I also put the pony out in one of his lots to pick the grass that is slowly greening up.
I was able to get last year's strawberry towers taken apart. I was never satisfied with the way they worked. I used the two bottom containers, two twenty gallon tubs, to plant my blackberry and raspberry canes in. I planted them in compost and woodchips and finished them off with a layer of wood chips and covered that with flat stones. I have to do that to keep the cat out. It looks nice and it will also help with the weeds. The blackberry is an early bearer and the raspberry is a mid season bearer. The wine berries that grow here are late season bearers so hopefully we will have fresh berries over a long period. That is the plan anyway.
After I finished with that I got to work on my hanging strawberry garden project. I got the posts pounded in and the pipe gate wired to them. Then I got the wooden supports wired to the top pole that will hold the length of gutter. The strawberries will be planted in the gutter. I only have about ten plants that have survived the goat and the hard winter so I will have to buy some more. I am planning to have three lengths of gutter this season. They will all be on one side of the gate. I can also expand the garden by putting some on the other side of the gate. I can double the size of the strawberry patch without taking up anymore room. I have one length of gutter and two pieces of downspout. To use the downspout I am going to take one side off with the grinder and then make two cuts and fold the ends in to close them up. I have a can of flex seal I can use to prevent leaks. Once I get that done and get the supports wired onto the other two pipes I can get the berries planted. Looking forward to that. I just love strawberries. My folks were strawberry farmers for many years and it shames me that I have not been able to get a decent crop of berries since I moved up here.
I took the plastic off my lettuce beds today for a peek. I see some sprouts in both beds and I am hoping it is lettuce and not weeds. I have been disappointed before.
Hope you are all doing well. I look forward to hearing from you all.
This is some of the work I got done today. I am trying to cat proof the flower bed. It is proving to be a lot of work.
When your strawberry garden project is complete, please post a picture. I am having trouble envisioning it.
I will. It is my take on a pic I saw on Facebook. Of course the one in the pic was very big and hung higher. I am making do with what I have. It will be a vertical garden so it will save space.
Here is another pic of my strawberry garden project. This is what the supports look like. I have one on each end and one in the middle. The length of gutter filled with soil and planted with strawberry plants will sit on top of this support. The berries 'll hang down and be easy to pick.
Clever!
I can't claim the initial idea. I just adapted it to fit my situation. I am hoping it works better than the towers. I worked really hard on those last year but the actual project did not turn out as I envisioned. Not the first time that has happened and I am sure it won't be the last.
I haven't been online for a couple weeks, but that blows about Darius. It has taken us a while and a lot of jumping through hoops, but we are getting the doublewide and the basement that we wanted.
caj, you don't need a subscribtion to use this thread. it's one of the few free ones on DG.
I am fighting a serious headcold right now. the first I've had in a few years. It's driving me crazy. I got my juneberries, and my new mulberry trees in the mail the other day. If you're looking for a good deal for nursery stock, try cold stream farm in Michigan. Good stuff at a good price.
Nik, so good to hear from you. I was starting to worry. Hate you are under the weather. There is a virus going around here that is putting people in the hospital. It's a doozy. I will say a prayer for you. I am glad things are going well with the new house. I am sure you will be one happy camper when it is all done. Will Deb have a big space for her quilting?
I did not realize this forum was free. It is nearly the only one I frequent but every now and again I go cruising around the site and visit old friends. I also was worried I might not be able to access the plant guide. I use it a lot.
I have had a good bit of trouble with my legs the last few days. I think I have a pinched nerve way down near my tail bone. It was much better today. Two days ago I could not get up and around. After a hot shower and some stretches it was a bit better. We went to town yesterday to go to the movie. We were going to see God's Not Dead but it was sold out. We were disappointed. I hear it is very good. We went to Wal-Mart before coming home. DH had to get some test strips and we picked up a few more things. I yarn on clearance and picked one up along with a crochet hook. I do not know how to crochet but I thought it would be fun to at around with and would give me something to do if I have to rest my legs a bit. I do know how to make a chain stitch. So I made a chain and then I turned it around go back then other way and just hollering on to itself in the same spots all the way down with the same stitch. I worked around the ends and now I am going around and around. It was starting curl up so I added a stitch and have kept repeating that and now it is looking like I could make bag out of it. I will need to get more yarn. But it is relaxing.
We had a dusting of snow last night and it was thirty this morning. Stayed cold until after lunch. Then the sun came out and the wind died down a bit. I took the plastic off my lettuce and my chard, carrot and spinach bed. I have some sports in the lettuce bed but I will have to wait for some true leave to develop before I will know if it is what I planted or if it is just weeds. My peas are up about an inch. I love looking at them. Gives me hope for spring. I am working on some planters for potatoes. I said I would not try potatoes anymore since I have not had any luck with them but I had some red potatoes that went to seed and I can't stand to waste them. I will take pics if my idea works.
I am building Debbie an 8 ft x 8ft formica topped sailmaker's table. All of her quilting is going into the basement so she'll have room for it. I'm also putting in a small kitchen. mostly for canning and the dehydrator and the vacuum sealer. I already have a fridge for it and an electric rangetop. I was going to go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and get a used countertop, and a sink. it'll be cool. Upstairs I'd like to keep pretty minimalist. After living all cramped up with all this stuff in here, I want as little around me as possible. We'll see how it works out.
I'm getting over my cold, but now Debbie's coming down with it and her Momma was hospitalized today. She has a big mass in her chest and has lost almost 30 pounds in less than 3 weeks. So even with all the good stuff happening we aren't feeling real jubilant right now
So sorry to here about Deb's mom's health issues. I know how hard I was hit when my Mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It is good you guys are close and can be with her. I will keep you all in my prayers. God is able.
I agree with you about keeping things uncluttered. I am trying to go through things in my house and pare down stuff. I don't know what goes on in my head that I think I need all these things. It may be because we have moved so much in the ministry and having all these familiar things makes me feel at home no matter where I am. Pray he I am just a hoarder. LOL