We're Having A Heatwave...A Tropical Heatwave....

Today our heatwave and dry spell continues. It's 86 degrees on our screen porch,which is shaded,so that means with the 65% + humidity,it's well over 90 degrees. We are thankful that we have some wonderful trees to help bring a bit of shade if we went outside,but the garden is full blown in the sun until about 4:00 PM.when the sun starts going down behind the pine trees. The chickens have found a nice cool refuge under the coop in the dirt. Right now it's getting dark,and thunderheads are overhead,so we are praying for some rain. We did have some rain on Saturday,but it was a fairly quick,heavy downpour,not what we want or need. We need a nice,leisurely,steady rain,one that lasts for several hours. Our well is the lowest it has ever been,so we have been trying to be more efficient with our water use. My brother Valmore lives in Wisconsin and they are having more rain than they know what to do with,and his garden is being affected by it. I told him he could send a day or two worth here!

Today I am trying a new recipe-Lavender Honey Lemonade. I got it from Mother Earth News. The lavender is soaking in the honey water,and once it's done ( you can let it sit anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours, I am letting mine sit for a couple of hours),you strain it to remove the lavender blossoms,then mix in fresh lemon juice and more water. It should be interesting. I love lavender,but when I handle it my allergies kick in,so I just deal with it. If it comes out well, I will post the recipe,with credit to Mother Earth News,of course!!!

Today I was grocery shopping,and it felt great not to have to buy lettuce,onions,or cucumbers! I literally was grabbing a cuke when I remembered that I now can get them from my garden! After I got home,Zach went out and picked more peas,then he "shucked" them,so tonight we will have our fresh peas with our haddock. How wonderful to step outside the door and pick it when we need it! It's times like this I envy areas that can grow easily year round. We have a small growth window here in NH,unless one has a greenhouse,which I don't,but who knows what the future will hold?

The mail has arrived and my latest copy of The Herb Companion came in.I am still waiting for my Lehman's catalog to arrive,and I just ordered "Radical Homemakers" from Amazon.com.My Dear Friend Michelle is reading it,and she was referred to it by Stephanie,who started our Gardening Roundtable.It sounds like a good read.I will certainly chat about it when I do finish it.

Still waiting for rain....and off to make my lemonade!

What Makes It All Worthwhile

Growing up,we never had a garden. I was never taught how to sew,can food,knit,or cook. I would help mix the cake batter out of the box,but that was it. My mom grew up on a farm-she had chickens,rabbits,a big garden. I believe they had a cow,and some pigs. My Memere would can food,make their clothes,and sell eggs and veggies,though I don't believe that she ever taught my Mom how to make clothes.My mom grew up during the Depression,and later,during World War II,lived through rationing and they had a victory garden. My Dad's family was very poor,and he had to quit school at 14 to help support the family by going to work. I am not sure if they had an area for a garden or not. They had a large family,and the Depression was very hard on them.

I mentioned this,because we were discussing this very topic at the Gardeners' Roundtable that I am a part of. Basic survival skills have fallen to the wayside,they have not been handed down. Modern conveniences have taken over. Why can when you can buy canned goods at the store? Why grow a garden when you can buy produce? Why sew your own clothes when you can go to the mall? Why have chickens when you can buy eggs at the market?

Depression People like my Mom saw modern conveniences and were ecstatic. Life was now easier!!! Time was saved!!! One didn't have to work so hard anymore,especially when one had to work in a shoe shop for 8 hours a day. They saw how hard their families had to work in the past,and if they didn't have to do it,well,that was a good thing. Their children wouldn't have to live as they did. Their lives would be better and not so hard. We all want a better life for our children,don't we? We want their lives to be easier. That is a noble goal. However,people have gone overboard and buy everything for their children.Now children feel entitled and don't appreciate anything. When Zach was in fourth grade,some of his classmates had cell phones! I couldn't believe it! He asked me when he could get a cell phone. "You can have a pay as go cell phone when you are 16,have a job,and are driving a car.Right now,if you are sick in school,they have phones to contact me. If you are at a Scouting event that I am not at,the leaders all have phones. If you are at a friends house and need to get a hold of me,they have phones.Children do not need cell phones." He thought about this for a minute,and said," You're right,Mama. It doesn't make sense for me to have one."

The problem is,once modern technology took over, basic human survival skills seem to have been lost somewhere. People have become fully dependent on the oil companies,supermarket chains,and Walmarts of this country to provide. The movement towards being more self reliant has taken hold,however,and more and more people are realizing that some of these conveniences are not all they are cracked up to be. My fresh lettuce takes 100 x better than that in the supermarket,because I go out and pick it when I need it. It isn't picked,then shipped hundreds perhaps thousands of miles to the supermarket,where it sits until it finally goes bad. For a while,the cukes I was buying at Market Basket were coming from Mexico. They never lasted very long. The last batch was from the USA,but still,they didn't last very long. I am now finally getting my own cukes from my garden. What a difference!!! I also don't use pesticides,etc,and my veggies don't have that lovely wax film over them,either.

Our whole reason for dipping our toes into the self reliance pool is because...well...we WANT to,not because we HAVE to. It's not because we think it's the End of Days,or some major catastrophe is heading our way. (Though it is good to be prepared,of course!) It's because we want to do for ourselves as much as we can,with what we have.

We are now starting to reap the benefit of all our hard work in the garden. Building the boxes,sifting the compost,starting the seeds,planting,watering....we are enjoying fresh veggies that WE GREW. There is a sense of accomplishment and pride when I go and see what we have done,though it is small,it's a start. We will be expanding our garden next year.

This in it's self makes it worthwhile,but the biggest sense of pride and happiness I have felt so far was yesterday.Zach asked for a tuna fish sandwich,and while I was making it with fresh onion from the garden,he came up to me and asked if he could have fresh lettuce on his sandwich! My child has never asked for lettuce on his sandwich,ever. Now he wanted it because it "tastes good." That is what really makes it all worthwhile!

Our First Homegrown Meal

Our chicken coop is almost complete. Brother B and our neighbor Kelly have been working on the finishing touches-clapboards and paint.The coop will be yellow,to match the house and garage. The finished building is 7' x 8',with a shingled roof. I will have to take a picture of if when it is all finished.

In the photo above,you can see our girls-The Rhode Island Reds,Silver Laced Wynadottes (with the white on their heads and body) and the black Buff Orphingtons. In certain light their feathers have a greenish tint.

You can see our Jumbo Cornish Game Hens here,one of our Rhode Island Reds,and our lone beige Buff Orphington. We were suppose to have two,but I think they mixed a Rhode Island Red in with the batch,because we wound up with 5 Reds instead of 4,and only one beige Orphington. She is a feisty little thing. I started calling her Buffy,but Brother B named her Runt,because she is smaller than the rest of the flock. Now we all call her Runt. Can you tell which two are roosters? We let the Jumbos grew past when they should've been harvested. Brother B wanted to wait until Rick was home so he could enjoy the first bird;of course,we thought he was going to be home sooner than he was. Yesterday, Zach harvested the two roosters.Brother B was there to help if needed,but Zach did the "deed" on his own.

We gave one of the roosters to Kelly. They were big enough for roasters ( like I said,they went a bit past the time). So last night we had roasted rooster,fresh lettuce,fresh peas,and leftover homemade baked beans. I did have fresh radishes from our neighbor Ron,but I forgot about them ( we will have them tonight). My store bought cuke was no good since I had already cut some of it up and it had been in a sandwich bag for a few days,so our salad consisted of lettuce and peas ( not enough peas to cook up). The whole meal was delicious!

Today is going to hit the 90's. Yuck. I helped Rick stretch this AM. He has his first PT appt on Friday. Today is last day taking blood thinners,and he even shaved yesterday. He was going to wait,but figured he would try it ( if he had cut himself,he would've bled and bled bled because of the thinners)and he did a great job. It's amazing what being in pain can do to one's face. His face looks younger now,and more relaxed. What a difference!!!

Playing Catch Up

Yesterday Zach and I went back to visit Rick.It did his spirits good to see The Boy. Rick did have his low grade fever back (went up to 100.5 before going back down again) and he wasn't feeling as spry as he did on Saturday. They checked his incisions and they are healing well,no red angry areas,and the swelling was minimal. Rick can now lift his left leg easily,and control it as he lowers it.He could not do that just a few days ago. Each day he gets more mobility in his knees,though he still anticipates pain in his joints when he stands.Of course,there is no more pain in his knees,all the pain is in his muscles. Today he begins his Physcial and Occupational Therapy,and will be walking around with walker. He should be starting to practice climbing stairs soon.

Today and tomorrow I am playing catch up around here. Because of the weather over the weekend,the lawn could not be mowed. Between today and tomorrow,I plan on mowing and weed whacking the lawn,weeding the garden,planting potaotes ( I am woefully behind),more lettuce and carrots,the blackberry and blueberry bushes,and I need to find a home for my coneflowers. I need to get groceries,more chicken feed,and clean the house. Today I have ironing and tonight we have a Boy Scout meeting. Happily,Zach is done with school on Friday,and he will be a big help with chores and with Rick.

We hope that Rick can be home by Father's Day-if not,we will bring Father's Day to him and celebrate it properly when he gets home. My Mom and I are going on Weds to visit,and then,since Zach has a 1/2 day of school because it's the last day,we will go visit him on Friday. I feel bad that I can't get there every day to see him,but I know that today he begins his therapy sessions,and that he is going to be tired. He understands that there is a lot going on here,and I have to do what I have to do,but I still feel bad. I miss him very much and will be so very glad when he is home.

Thanks again for all your kind words! I pass along your good wishes to Rick and he appreciates them all.

Holy Smoke!...Or Holy Pollen!!!!!

Here I am with our Chocolate Lab,Sasha, on Friday with the beginnings of our chicken coop. I had to hang on to Sasha's collar,because every time Rick tried to take our photo,she would walk away! My pink hat is always on my head when I am working outside,whether I am gardening,building,or doing other yard work. I thought that since working outside would be dirty and sweaty,I wanted something in a pretty color that would be fun to wear.

Our coop is on the southwestern side of the garage. You can see the window facing the northwest. The other window,which you can't see in this photo,is a small frosted one that faces the southeast.

Saturday,I woke up with a horrible headache,and I had no Excedrin Migraine ( damn! I know I forgot something at the grocery store today!!)so I took some ibuprofen. Well, let's just say I took six of them during the course of the day and I didn't get rid of my headache until that night.

I did get my tomatoes planted,and I put out the cantaloupe and the peppers to harden them off. After I watered,I grabbed my "Outlander" book and sat in the screen house and read for the rest of the day,with some breaks.I watched Rick's brother Brian (who had the day off from work) and our neighbor Kelly working on the coop.

Zach wanted to help,so Rick helped him put some screws into the studs while they put up the walls. You can see the frosted glass window in this photo.The human door will be in the front on the left,and you can see the chicken door down by Zach's legs. I am standing in the garden area.

During the day,we kept seeing this fog like cloud that was blowing through the yard. Pollen has been terrible this year.We have never seen so much pollen,it was blowing through the yard in clouds.Everything is yellow.Thank goodness today (Tuesday) we had some rain,so that will keep it down.

Then,yesterday as Zach and I were leaving to march in the Rochester Memorial Day Parade,we noticed that it was really hazy outside,but it wasn't hot enough to be hazy,and it looked different than it does on a hazy day. We smelled something...like something was burning. Of course! The wind currents had brought some of the smoke down from the fires in Quebec. Rick tried to putter around outside and make the door for the coop,but the air quality was poor,so he had to come back inside. The smoke seems to be gone now,and the smell as well.

Tomorrow is a full,full day. We have two Dr appts at the Manchester VA,one at 9:00 AM,then one at 10:00 AM,then one at Dartmouth at 1:00 PM.All are mandatory for surgery. Very busy indeed! But all for a good cause! :)

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned

I started making my own clothes detergent last year. I make liquid detergent,using Fels Naptha soap,Borax,and Washing Soda. I spent approx $8-$10 for the ingredients. I never figured out what the savings would be,until I went grocery shopping on Tues. I figured I would see what the price was on the detergent I used to buy,Purex. It comes in a 2 qt,8 fl oz jug,which costs $5.99. I averaged it down to 2 qts for easier figuring.

I make 2 gallons at a time. I have enough Fels Naptha for one more batch,so in all,I will have made 6 batches,which equals 12 gallons. Then I will have to buy more Fels Naptha soap (which is .99 a bar). I still have several batches that I can make with the Washing Soda and Borax before I have to replenish them.

If my math is correct,if I bought 12 gallons of Purex,it would cost us $143.76. So I saved $133.76,if I base it on spending $10 for my supplies.

WOW!

Not only that,what I make lasts about 2 1/2 months.The Purex doesn't go that far,so I would wind up buying it more,which in the long run would cost even more money. I never did figure out how long the Purex would last,but I think I usually bought it roughly once a month.

What do you do to save money?

Summertime In May

Once again,our little Granite State is HOT! Today it's going to hit 90 degrees,with some areas of the state inching towards 95. Needless to say,we are not working outside today. I did get my gardens nicely watered this AM after Zach got on the bus,while it was still somewhat cool. I doused them well. Our Jumbo Cornish Game Hens are doing A-OK in the turkey cage,and our smaller chicks are getting the food they need.

My peas are coming up,and I noticed this AM that my lettuce is starting to make an appearance,as well as one carrot stem. The Walla Walla onions are doing well,the pumpkin vines are growing,and the cukes seem to have taken to their new home. The strawberry plant leaves are a beautiful rich green color,and I do see some leaves coming out on our blueberry bushes. So things seem to be moving along nicely so far.

Rick was going to work on the chicken coop this AM,but after he checked the chicks,he wound up on the phone with the VA trying to make sure that his pre-surgery physical was going through . Dartmouth requires the Dr to OK Rick for the surgery,otherwise they will not do it. Apparently,Dartmouth has been playing phone tag with the VA for a couple of weeks trying to set this physical up with Rick's primary Dr.Friday we went down to the Somersworth VA Outpatient Center where Rick sees his primary to talk to them about it,and they informed us that the VA does not allow primary Dr's to clear anyone for surgery. Rick's Dr did make a referral to another Dr who is a cardiologist who does pre-surgery physicals,and Rick called today to see how that was going. After a few back and forth calls,and the VA calling Dartmouth,he finally got good news. He has an appt on June 4 with a Dr. His surgery is June 7! Talk about cutting it close!

I came back home from grocery shopping at 10:30,and Rick had finished the dishes and his phone calls. It was already broiling out,and he was dripping with sweat just from helping me bring the bags into the house. So I told him,no working outside today.We'll see if he listens to me. He worked really hard yesterday,all by himself. He wasn't feeling very well in the AM,and we had to cancel his appt with his PTSD counselor,Ken. Later in the morning he felt better,so while I brought Zach down to his physical for Boy Scout camp,Rick had started on the coop. He got the floor,the framing for one wall,and a window put in. He pushed himself,as usual.The coop is 7' x 8',and is tall enough so Rick,who is 6 ft tall,can walk in to it.

This morning as I was watering my lavender, I noticed a tiny garter snake,laying right on top of it! I have never seen a snake laying on top of lavender before. I don't like snakes. Actually, I don't like when I come across them unexpectedly. If I see them from a distance, I have no problem checking them out. I am thankful that here in NH poisonous snakes are rare. There are some timber rattlers up in the mountains,but not many,and one might find a stray copperhead or water moccasin,but that is very very rare. We have milk snakes,garter snakes,black snakes,rat snakes. This little garter snake was actually cute. He was just hanging out,watching me water,and then when I got to where he was laying,he slowly slid down to the ground,and slithered off along the foundation of the house.I find myself observing more of the world around me as I putter in the yard. Butterflies,bees,birds,snakes-they are all a source of interest for me. I will stop what I am doing and just watch them. I find it relaxing. They don't have schedules to keep,they just do what they do. This is their home,too,and I enjoy sharing this little piece of earth with them.

Hot Day Ahead

We are looking at a day with temperatures hitting the mid to upper 80's. That's a bit warm for our neck of the woods this time of year. It also makes for very hot conditions working outside. The spot where we are putting the coop has a lot of southern and western exposure,though it really only gets direct sun for about 4-5 hours. The sun goes down past the pine trees at about 3:00 PM. This led to a discussion yesterday about window placement in the coop. Our neighbor is giving us a couple of windows,one a small frosted glass square one,the other a rectangular,clear glass window. We don't want to fry the chickens,but we do want some light getting into the coop for the winter months. We decided to put the frosted glass on the south side,and the clear glass on the north western side.

Today Rick is not feeling well. This is due to a jar of spaghetti sauce that had been previously opened. It was in the door to the fridge,and when he made himself some corn spaghetti last night,he had me check it. It smelled OK,and there wasn't any crusty stuff on the jar rim,so he ate it. Well,he told me this morning that the sauce had tasted a bit funny,but he still ate it,which caused everything to run through him early this AM. He is letting it run through his system,then he plans on working outside. I don't know how much he will get accomplished.I will not be here,and like I mentioned above,it's going to be HOT. I am bringing Zach to the Dr's for his annual physical,which he needs to go to Boy Scout Camp this summer.I am picking him up at school at 11:30,we are going out for lunch,then heading down to Newington for his appointment at 1:15.

Yesterday Rick and Brother B started on the floor to the coop. Rick was not having a good day mentally.He kept forgetting things and getting confused,so only part of the floor got done.His speech was not good,either. He would start to say a word,then he would drag out the word a bit. This happened several times. When I asked him about it,he says he really isn't sure,but he thinks that sometimes it's because he has too much going on in his head,and he gets overwhelmed,or sometimes he will start to say something then forget mid word,and then he remembers again.

Yesterday I planted the corn,more peas,and discovered to my horror that I had not planned for my zucchini and summer squash! Where in world was I going to put them? The only bed left was the one for my peppers and green beans. So I rearranged the box plan,and planted two green beans,and had one square apiece for the zucchini and summer squash. I did notice yesterday that my pepper plants FINALLY have their true leaves! I had tried putting them back on the heating pads for a while,and that did nothing. I did give them a bit of plant food a few days ago,before I moved them upstairs,so perhaps that was the missing piece. At any rate, I am happy that I finally have my true leaves on the peppers. My first planting of peas are coming up nicely.

We moved the Jumbo Cornish Game Hens into the empty turkey cage. They are considerably bigger than the other hens,and they were crowding them out and eating most of the food. We put hay down in spots and made small shelter for them,and are using the big feeder and waterer. We checked on them this morning and they were curled up together,sleeping. So they survived the night well. We still get visited by our neighbors chickens. I think it's such a hoot to hear rustling in the tree line,and when we turn around there is a chicken going ," Bawk,bawk," checking things out.

Hope things are lovely in your neck of the woods!

Clearing Out

Good morning! The sun is starting to break through the overcast sky as I type this. It was quite foggy this morning,but it has burned off nicely and it is suppose to be a great day.

Our trip to Dartmouth went well,with only once glitch. Our 3:00 appt was held up due to an emergency that Dr Bernini had,and we didn't see him until 5:15. The other appt,which thankfully was first, went quickly. EKG,blood work,urine test,and a chest X Ray. We also got Rick's Coumadin prescription filled,and booked a room at a local hotel for the night before the surgery. We left home at 9:45 AM,and didn't' get back until just about 8:00 PM. It was a long day.

Yesterday we finished clearing out the area where our chicken coop is going to be built.It is amazing how much can accumulate. Wood pallets,a snowmobile,more misc wood from remodeling,etc. We ripped out a horrible little shrub that I have hated since we moved in back in 2003. Now we have this lovely cleared out spot....with the rest of the stuff in piles in the yard. Rick is going to chop up the bad pallets for kindling,and we will keep the rest to stack our fire wood on. The snowmobile is going to get put into the tree line with a tarp over it. The rest will get burned. I also planted my cukes,put out my herbs and tomatoes to harden off,and planted more peas. My first planting have just started to show! They do grow fast. I also planted more lettuce.

Today there will be more work in the coop area,and I do want to plant my corn,zucchini,summer squash,and beans. I have Sunflower seeds I need to plant,I just need to figure out where I want them. We have juice barrels that we need to cut the top off of,clean out,and put in the spigots for rain water.

We are going to put our Cornish hens in the turkey cage. They have gotten HUGE and are eating the other chicks out of house and home. Since we have no turkeys yet (hopefully we will find out the status of them tomorrow) it will be a good temporary home until the coop is built.

Out black flies are pretty much taking a back seat to the mosquitoes now. They are getting nasty. My brother in law,Brian,also known as Brother B went hunting this morning with our neighbor Kelly,and when he came back he reported the mosquitoes are thick. It's also humid,so that doesn't help. It seems we go from one bug to another with no break.

There's Something Missing Here.....

Lo and behold,I give you......our turkey home!

For the most part,it has been done for a few weeks now. The only things left to do is make a shelter and a feeding trough,which won't take much time. We have some roosts that we nailed to a couple of saplings,and the roosts are actually saplings that we cut down to make some room around the cage. We bought a stretch plastic type of netting that looks like chicken fencing and put it across the top of the cage,so they can't fly out.

The only thing missing is the turkeys.

Our friend CJ,who is selling us the turkeys,wound up having an accident with his incubators,so the batch of turkeys that we were suppose to get didn't make it. It has put poor CJ behind,but he says we will still get turkeys,just a bit later than originally planned.

This weekend was a beautiful one. Rick mowed the lawn on Saturday,and I finished putting the square grids on the garden boxes. Rick's brother Dale,and his son,Brody,came over late Saturday afternoon and we had a cookout,with hamburgers,hot dogs,chips and potato salad that I made Saturday AM. We had a fire in the ring out back,and the boys had smores. Then they decided that they wanted to sleep in the screen house,so Zach and Brody took out our camping cots,and zero weather sleeping bags,and slept outside.

Sunday I planted some carrots,dill,and planted my Jack O'Lantern and Sugar Pumpkin plants that I had started. I am still not impressed with my peppers,still very small,and no true set of leaves yet. When they first sprouted,I took the heat off them and put them under lights. Now from what everyone says,I should've kept the heat on them. I put the heat back on,but I think it may have been too late.Sigh. My neighbor did give me some of his pepper plants,so if mine don't pan out,I will have those at least. My Straight Eight and National Pickling cukes look great. My herbs aren't very big,though. I wonder if it's the same reason as the peppers. I may have to bite the bullet and buy the plants outright.

Today we are buying the lumber for the chicken coop. We decided on a spot,finally. Now we just need to move the firewood we have in that spot,and clear out the area.

It's gorgeous out there....enjoy it!

Say Hi To The Girls!

I'd like to introduce you to the girls! We have had them now for two weeks,and the they are growing like crazy! The large yellowish ones are White Jumbo Cornish Rock Crosses. They are huge,thus living up to their name. You can see how they compare to the others. The black and white ones are the Silver Laced Wyandottes,the beige and solid black are Buff Orphingtons,and the reddish ones are Rhode Island Reds. We have four of each.

This holding cage is in our garage. You can see the glow of the red heat bulb. We bought a new white one this year,but it didn't give off as much heat,which surprised us. The red bulb is a lower wattage. I wonder if it has to do the light color? We don't have electricity in the garage,so we run an extension cord from our bedroom window,which is right on the end of the house next to the garage. A towel stuffed in bottom of the window when it's closed keeps out any cold air.

At night we put old curtains and a sheet over the cage to help retain the heat. It still gets pretty chilly here at night,with temps ranging from the 20F's-low 40F's . ( You can see my old striped living room curtains in the photo).

We have been feeding them Blue Seal Medicated Mash. We now have to feed them at least twice a day. These are some hungry little ladies! They go through a bit of water,too.

Each day I go in and say,"Hello,Girls!" and check them out. I also talk to them a bit in a weird tone of voice. You know how when you talk to a baby,or a kitten or a puppy and your voice changes to a different tone and pitch? That's what I sound like talking to my girls. I try to pick them up,but they are quick. Sometimes I succeed. I think if I didn't have to bend over the cage I would be a bit quicker and have a longer reach,especially since I am only 5'2" and the cage is up to my waist. Sometimes I ask Rick to grab one for me,he is 6' tall,and has nice long arms.

You can see on the Rock Cornishes that they are getting their adult feathers. This weekend we are getting our supplies for the coop. Rick's looming surgery date and the rapid growth of these girls are pushing us along.

Chickens are cool!

Before and After

This is what our garden area looked like up until yesterday....mostly. I posted this photo after we built our boxes,before we put the soil in them and planted onions. You get the jist! All dirt,not very pretty. And not a pleasing area to work,at least for me.

Then.....this is what it looks like as of yesterday afternoon, after approx. 20 wheelbarrows full of shavings....

Ah. Much better. A much more pleasing sight for the eye,and nicer to work in. Smells great too! You can see my onion box on the left,with the grid. I am going to put tomatoes in that one,too. All the way down on the right is where I am planting my lettuce,peas,and cantaloupe. I did not pre start my lettuce seeds this year.

We are going to do our walkway and around the strawberry bed and kitchen garden bed. We were going to start that yesterday as well,but Rick had had it after doing the above.I had offered to shovel the shavings into the wheelbarrow,dump it and let him spread them out,but he said no. So he had to walk back and forth from Walter's house. Fortunately, Walter is right across the dirt road along the side of our house,so it wasn't far. But it wreaked havoc on Rick's knees. I love my hubby,but he can be very stubborn. He would rather be in more pain than have me do some of the work around the house.

Today he is down for the count. He had chills and sweated all night. This morning I awoke to find him wrapped in his quilt in the recliner. Did he take his meds? Yes. So it wasn't the reaction to a missed dose. Did he eat anything with gluten yesterday? No. So it wasn't an allergic reaction. I think it's his body telling him to take a break. He doesn't sleep well because of the knee pain and the nightmares,and he has been working harder than he has in months,trying to get everything complete before his surgery. Once the surgery happens,he won't be able to anything for a couple of months. Bless his heart! As I type this,he is sound asleep. I will let him sleep until it's time for his noon meds. I fed and watered the chicks,the cats,and the dogs. I washed the dishes,scrubbed the stove top,burners and burner pans. Once I finish this post I will wipe down the butcher block,sweep,and wash the kitchen and bathroom floors. I must also make laundry soap today,no ifs ands or buts. We are all out now.

I am off to continue playing catch up with the house.....have a lovely day!

My View

When I am sitting at the computer desk in the living room,I can look out the living room windows that are off to my right,which I do often. I took this photo this morning through the window,so you can see a bit more than what I normally see sitting down. Take the top half of the photo,enlarge it a bit,and that is my morning view.

As you can see, it's another beautiful day. The morning sun is streaming through the trees,making various shades of green. You can see my birdbath and just make out our bird feeder post with the feeders on it. One nice thing about this time of year is the leaves obstruct most of the view of the road. You can barely make it out-it's that gray patch that is above the stone wall.

We are surrounded by trees. We have trees all around on our property line,and a forest across the street. We have a nice lot. It's really a lovely,peaceful view. I like to sit outside and just LISTEN. I listen to the birds singing,the leaves in the trees whispering,or I just listen to the silence. I liken it to filling up a tank on a car. When I feel like I am running on low,I take a moment and just sit,close my eyes,and feel like a part of all that is around me. It's rejuvenating. This is my church-the outdoors. It reminds me of the pilot for the "Little House" series. Ma is concerned because they are so remote from anything,and there is no church,which she feels is important for the "girls to grow up properly." Pa puts his hands on her shoulders,and very gently replies,"I can't imagine them getting any closer to God than they are right here." Amen,Pa.

We continue to be thankful for the kindness of neighbors. One of our neighbors,Walter,had a few pines cut down a few months ago,and just the other day he had the stumps ground up. Rick and I had been talking about getting some mulch to lay down around the garden boxes,since right now it's all dirt with the occasional weed or grass clump. Lo and behold,now there is this lovely pile of pine shavings across the street from us. We figured we would ask Walter if he was going to do anything with it,and yesterday we finally saw him to do so. He replied he was going to ask if we wanted them! So now we have free shavings to lay down,where ever we need them. How nice! So we will be doing that today,and I do need to make more laundry soap. I have been keeping track of when I make each batch,to see how cost effective it has been to do it myself. It has been great. I haven't had to buy any soap or ingredients for soap since last September!

A couple days ago, I planted one row each of romaine and green lettuce,and a row of peas. I am going to stagger my plantings so we can have a longer harvest. Today I should plant some beans.

Yesterday we went to the VA in Manchester for a routine eye exam. I was hoping they had read Rick's file and knew about the stroke,blind spots,and double vision. That happened quite a bit when they were trying to figure out if his sight would remain like that or if they could repair it- every time we went to Boston we had to answer the same questions over and over and Rick had the same eye tests over and over. It seemed like they never read his file. We would both get really aggravated. We were pleased that Manchester was aware of everything,including the final determination that Rick's sight would probably remain as it is. Rick's eyes otherwise have not changed enough to have to get a new eyeglass prescription,so that was good. Now we don't have to go back to the eye clinic until next year,unless something changes before then.

Have a great day!

Seedlings

I went down to the basement on Friday night after we returned from Dartmouth to check on my seedlings. While my tomato plants were now starting to show their true leaves,my peppers were seemingly at a standstill. I lifted one of the peat pot cells up,and lo and behold,there were roots coming out the bottom of some of the pots. I knew what that meant for Saturday: I had to transplant them to bigger containers.In the above picture,you can see some of peppers on the left,herbs in the middle,and tomato plants on the left. I had started to switch the plants,as you can tell by the white cup,which at one point held Italian Ice. We have been saving cans,half and half cartons,Italian Ice cups,Crystal Light containers,and sour cream containers for this purpose.

I picked the best looking plants and got rid of the rest. I recycled the old soil as best as I could,whether I used it to help transplant or added it to our compost bucket.

When I was checking things out on Friday night,I checked on my recently started cukes,pumpkins,and cantaloupe. I had just planted them on Wednesday. Below is a photo of what my cukes looked like.

I couldn't believe it! The sprouts were pushing the cover of my seed starting tray up! My pumpkins were getting there as well. These roots were coming out of the peat posts,so I knew I would have to transplant these as well. I was able to get a few transplanted,before I ran out of soil. My brother in law Brian,had gone to the store and while he was there he picked me up some "keg cups",since I went through the cans,etc that I had saved up. However,I couldn't work on them without soil,and since we weren't getting to the store again until Sunday,it would have to wait.

So today I am going to transplant the rest of the cukes,pumpkins,and cantaloupes that are ready for it. I hope to get some seeds planted outside today,if the weather holds. Today it's quite chilly,and overcast. Hopefully we will not have any rain!

Time Flies,and Black Flies

Here it is,Wednesday already. Time flies when your busy working outside,doesn't it? Something that also flies are those darn black flies. They should be the NH state insect,if they aren't already. They are the most annoying things on earth,at least until they go away and the mosquitoes take over. Seems like if it isn't one thing,it's the other.


The woods across the road are in full greenery now. I love this time of year (with the exception of the above!) Blossoms are coming out..the grass is green...the sky is a beautiful blue...the weather starts turning warmer. How can one not love this time of the year?


We have been busy little bees. We finally got the blueberry bushes planted,so we shall have to see next year how they do. Today we have finally finished our raised beds. The mix is all in them. We started building them on Saturday.

Here they are without the fill. I have two others on the other side of the garage. Those two are for my strawberries (planted yesterday)and for my kitchen garden. I did also plant my onion sets yesterday in one of the below boxes.

One of the things we used for the fill was our pile of compost,which is comprised of leaves,grass,and pine needles. It has been sitting there since Spring of 2004. It's great,nice black soil with plenty of worms in it. Rick built a sifter so only the good stuff would go into the garden-no rocks,or miscellaneous "treats". At first,we sifted the dirt onto a tarp,but then,once we figured out how many cubic ft the wheelbarrow fits ( 1.5 cubic ft),we skipped the tarp and just sifted the dirt into the wheelbarrow its self.

We also used some vermiculite,humus and manure ( to give our compost a few more ingredients) and peat moss. Next year our compost will comprise of more ingredients,but we didn't really start composting our kitchen scraps until a couple month ago. Plus,we will have the turkey and chicken poo besides.

Mixing all of this was a lot of work! We wound up with about 72 square feet of compost mixture. We have 7 4x4 boxes,one 4 x6,and one 4x4 that is 12" high. This will be for our carrots and potatoes.

We were outside filling boxes when all of a sudden,Rick stopped and listened. "What's that noise?" he asked. I happened to look off to our property line and a chicken came into view! Rick and I both laughed. Our neighbors chicken was walking along our mutual property line,checking things out. She just poked around,then went back into her yard. It was quite cute.

Today I started our Straight Eight and Pickling cukes,our pumpkins,and our cantaloupe. My tomatoes have just started their true leaves,but my peppers are still not producing them. They are still on the first set. Hmmm. I know they take a while,though.

Tomorrow is a muffin date with My Dear Friend Michelle and then a much needed day of housework. My floors are crying for a good washing! It is suppose to shower tomorrow,but if the weather improves,I will have to go back outside and plant more seeds!

Friday it's off to Dartmouth Hitchcock for Rick's Echo Stress test,the first of his pre-op appointments. That should be interesting. They have to make sure his heart can take the stress of the operation. I say if he can deal with the pain he has been in for this long,what's a little old operation? :)

Busy Hands,Good News, and Rememberances

Good morning!
The sun is shining right now,but the forecast calls for some clouds and some showers later on in the day. The leaves on the trees are popping out everywhere,and before we know it,all the trees will be full of them. I love looking out my kitchen window and seeing the transformation each day-just a tiny thin mist of green at first,then overnight the whole forest is a sea of green. Gorgeous.

The weekend was beautiful,and we got most of the turkey cage done. Rick,true to form,pushed himself so he could barely walk each night. We could only work a bit before he had to take a break,and we probably put in about an average of 3 hours each day,give or take. It depended on Rick's tolerance. We got the upper cross supports on,and the attached the top row of chicken wire to it. Today we are going to put the wire across the top so the turkeys don't fly out and flying predators can't get in. Then we just need to put one more roost in ( we use cut down decent size saplings and run them between trees) and a shelter for them and it will be done. Our friend,CJ,is selling us turkeys that will be big enough to go right in the pen.Then we have to organize the garage and redo a small cage for the chicks when they come in later this week. Then we need to build the coop,and make our garden beds. All this as soon as we can. Our rush is twofold. First,we need to get them done,because we need to get them done! The second,is Rick is finally getting his knees replaced! His surgery date is June 7. They are going to set him up for both knees at once,but if the anetheseologist says it's too risky,they will do one then the other about a month and a half later.The VA cleared it and he will be getting his surgery done at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. We are very excited and happy that he will finally get this portion of his life back!!! Pain free. Imagine the concept!

Zach had his Boy Scout Camporee this past weekend,and the troop did well-two first places and a third. He had a great time,and was quite tired. He and I redid our fire ring,and I thought he was going to fall asleep right on the ground. Later in the afternoon we watched "Avatar",and he fell asleep. Poor little guy. He had vacation last week,and was such a big help to Rick and myself outside. We didn't even have to ask! He was more than happy to help his Dad. He's such a great kid.

Yesterday was a sad day for me. It was the one year anniversary death of my dear friend,Alexandra O'Rourke. She passed away from lung cancer. I was going to say something about it to My Dear Friend Michelle while we were picking up the boys at Camporee,but I had a feeling we would both cry,so I didn't say anything. I didn't need to remind her. Alex was her best friend. We both knew,though I did mention it in an email to her later and I posted a remembrance to Alex on Facebook. It was then I started to cry,and went outside to help Rick. He gave me a hug while I wiped my tears. I haven't cried over Alex in a long time,though I think about her alot, and miss her,especially this time of year when she would out in the garden. Rick told me he thought Alex would be proud of me for starting to live this kind of life,and I like to think that she would be. It still feels strange and hurts a bit when I see her sons,especially her oldest boy who is in Zach's troop. He is the spitting image of Alex,and she loved the scouting program so much. A whole year. It has gone by so very fast. It seems like yesterday.

Black Gold

Our first garden was in the Spring of 2004. We didn't have much luck with it all,though we did get some lettuce. Our corn did nothing,nor did anything else we tried. We knew nothing at all about gardening,so we just tilled the soil and planted the seeds,watered,and weeded. So much for that.

That was our last garden until last year,when we had much better luck (see posts from 2009)

We did start a pile of leaves,pine and pine needles from our raking that Spring of our first garden. We figured at some point it would break down and give us some nice compost. Each year since 04 we have added to it. Last year we dug into it,and the soil was great! So we mixed it in with our regular soil,and with the extra help of plant food,our garden did very well,considering the horrible rainy summer we had. We did not get a few things,such as cukes,or peppers. Of course,these were planted from seed directly into the soil.

Going into this year,we were determined to learn more. So we started seeds inside. We looked at our pile of compost from the previous years ( we do have some left). Rick built a small box for the leaves,pine needles,and grass clippings (we now also have a riding mower with a bag attachment),which is full. We knew we needed more than just yard waste. So we decided to start adding kitchen waste to the mix.

We used one of our sap gathering buckets,drilled holes in the top and halfway down the sided for some aeration,and placed it next to the trash bin. Our coffee grounds,egg shells,shredded paper towels,shredded towel and toilet paper rolls,swept up dirt,veggie peelings,etc go into that bucket. It has also created less trash for the dump.

So...we have the bucket. Are we just going to dump it in the already full bin? We would get stuff everywhere.( Our bin really wasn't well thought out,to be honest). So.....we purchased a compost tumbler.

Rick and Zach starting the assembly

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Zach putting some of our yard waste in

After we put the kitchen scraps,and the yard waste in so it filled about up to the top of the tumbler,we closed the lid and gave it a few turns. I put a bit of water in it to keep it moist. In 2-3 weeks,we should have some nice compost.

Let the black gold creation begin!

Putting It On Paper

I don't know about you,but one of my resolutions to "improve self and surroundings" was to make sure I knew what I was doing each day-ie: a list. This way,I could keep our projects organized and I could see all that actually needed to be done,rather than trying to rely on my memory,which tends to fog up a bit at times.

I know we have a lot of projects outside that we need to do. I also know that not all of them will get done this year. For instance,painting the house. That will probably be done next year,as we need to get our little farm up and running this year,and that will eat up some money.It still goes on the list,however.

I sat down and wrote this list. It kept growing longer and longer,and when I reached the end of it,I looked at it in dismay.

Outdoor To Do List
1) Build turkey cage
2)Build chicken coop
3)Build raised beds
4)Rake and clean the yard
5)Get rid of all the junk wood
6)Install the dog fence
7)Have septic pumped
8)Install drainage
9)Rebuild porch
10) Rebuild the deck
11)Rebuild the walkway
12)Plant flowers,put in granite slabs around, and install walkway to our flagpole
13)Clean out the garage
14)Repaint and plant flowers around the well
15) Sand and repaint the bulkhead
16)Get rid of the misc concrete blocks
17)Rick make a sign for the house ("The Little Yellow Farm")
18) Replace rotted house boards
19)Paint the house
20) Plant the garden
21) Set up the pool
22) Set up the rainbarrels

Hmm..how many hours in the day,and how much money do we have????? Answer: Not that much!!!

It seems very overwhelming when it is written down. I didn't realize how much there was to do until I did so. Now I feel like we are up against alot and will never complete half of what we need to do. So...what does one do when one looks at all this?

One PRIORITIZES!

Priorities are important. Like I said earlier,we can forgo certain projects,but others (turkey cage,chicken coop,raised beds,planting the garden,etc) are mandatory. These are things that HAVE to get done,if we are to establish the kind of life we want. Next year we won't have to build so many things,so we will have more time. Rick will also be better physically,so the work will get done faster. Do we really need to plant flowers around the well and flagpole? No. That can wait.

When one is starting out on a path to self reliance,the list can be long,because there is more work than just regular maintenance. Starting out is when one feels overwhelmed. You think it's too much.

That's when you look at your list,and you do the essentials first,then the rest will fall into place.
We are on the end tail of our turkey cage now. The one thing we do have to get more of is lumber. There are no cross supports on the top of the cage,so the chicken wire is a bit loose and on the warped side. It is not nice and tight as on the bottom half,because there is a bottom and a middle cross support. Now ,we could get away with it,but Rick wants it to look right.

Your best bet when starting your journey is to make a list,determine what is mandatory,and take it from there. Remember, you are not alone! We are in this together!!!

The Little Yellow Farm

Rick and I were trying to come up with a name for our home. Though small, we figured that with a garden,turkeys,and chickens,we could call our place a farm. We sat down and listed the physical attributes of our property.
1) A stone wall
2) An oak tree in the front that drops TONS of acorns
3) Seasonal view of the Moose Mtns
4) Many birch trees in the back
5)Many maples

So we tried various names based on these factors: Stonewall Farm,Acorn Hill Farm,White Birch Farm,Oak and Maple Farm,and Mountain View Farm. None of them hit their mark. Then I thought of it: The Little Yellow Farm. It' s obvious! " Where do we get the eggs?" " Down the road at the Little Yellow Farm on the left." The house is little,and yellow. No missing it. I like the vibe the name gives off, a nice,small,quaint.cozy place.

Rick is going to make a sign to hang off our tree. We hope to sell some eggs,and some extra produce ( if we have lots of luck with our garden this year!)Extra pocket money never hurt! Our neighbor has already told us she wants to buy eggs from us. Kind to oblige!

Still working on the turkey cage....with Rick's limitations,it takes awhile,and Brother B is now working,so we only have him on the weekends. No problem. Slow and steady wins the race!

I Finally Get Through!

I have been trying for the past two days to post,but for whatever reason,I was not allowed to go to the sign in page. I am glad to see whatever issues were afoot are now resolved.

We knew it was too good to last. Our stretch of summer like weather has left us and now we are back to typical April showers and temperatures. However, that did not deter us. Thursday Rick and I put up the chicken wire around the bottom of the turkey cage. We also cut down some saplings that were in the way. It took about an hour,and that was all that Rick could do. Then yesterday it rained all day,so there was no outdoor work.

My seedlings are coming along nicely. I just went into the basement to check on them,and I now have three more pepper plants. So now I have 10 in total. Yesterday I planted 20 tomatoes,because I know not all of them will take.I put the cells that did not have their seeds sprout yet in the same tray with the tomatoes,and kept the sprouted ones under the light. I use regular heating pads for the seeds. I have heard that you should not use heating pads,that regular plant pads are the way to go,but so far it's worked fine. I did make one error,however-when I first bought the heating pads,I bought ones with an automatic shut off. After an hour,it would shut off and I would have to manually turn it back on. Not an option. Fortunately, I had an old heating pad and it worked, though it didn't get quite as hot as it used to. I checked at Rite Aid,and they had the heating pads without the automatic shut off,so I bought two for about $30. It sure beats one plant pad for over $50. You do not need expensive items to get your garden going. I have an basic shop light and cool fluorescent bulbs,for which I think I spent no more than $14. Plant lights are not necessary. I do make sure the soil stays moist,as that is very important.

Rick and his brother Brian are off to pick up the supplies for our square foot garden boxes. We are going to have 9 boxes this year. This is our first attempt at square foot gardening, and starting seeds,and while it does seem pretty straight forward,it's like anything else one tries for the first time-we feel a bit overwhelmed at what needs to be done.We can only do our best and learn from any mistakes we make. Hopefully we will have enough to can and maybe sell a bit by the roadside for a bit of pocket money.We didn't want to go too over board our first year.

Today I am going hiking with My Dear Friend Michelle and her two boys. Zach is best friends with her son,Ethan,and he spent the night there last night. We are going over to Strafford to hike Parker Mountain. It has been quite a while since I have done any hiking,but Michelle promised to go slow. The sun is shining,the air is brisk,so it it great hiking weather. Tonight Rick and I are going to the Abnaki District dinner.This is for registered adults in our Boy Scout district,where leaders can receive awards. Rick did not go last year. They had spaghetti for dinner,and Rick did not want to pay $10 just to eat a salad (he can't have regular spaghetti because of the gluten).This year they are having roast beef,so he can eat that and feel like he's getting his money's worth. :)

Enjoy your day!