Homestead Happenings

 

allium 

It's nearing the month of May,

and there's been a lot of activity in the garden, and beyond!

Here's some of what we've been up to.

Yukon Gold potatoes were planted in two different spots,

both in the ground.

Using grow bags is my preferred method for growing spuds,

but there were none available,

so I found a couple of bare spots.

They popped up about a week later.

The wire seen on this crop (and others),

is to deter chooks from scratching up plants,

and to keep squirrels out of my food source!

The Seminole pumpkin seeds germinated quicker

than I thought they might.

This was a new-to-me crop last year,

and I was quite impressed with it.

No pest issues to speak of, which is very rare

for squash of any kind.

The loofah sprouted up in mere days,

so it was transferred to its resting place

underneath the gazebo frame.

This will provide the chooks with some 

much needed shade come summertime.

The bonus is that I hope to have many loofahs to give away!

The first harvest of salad greens took place

yesterday, and it looks like we'll have ample lettuce

for the coming weeks.

There are also seedlings that will be 

transplanted into another bed in a week or two.

Gotta keep the greens comin'!

Although we have five blueberry bushes,

this is the only one that is loaded with berries.

I sure hope I get some before the squirrels 

try to take them all.

I will continue to work on improving our harvests each year.

The strawberries are ripening,

and care was taken to surround the circular bed

with welded wire to keep the squirrels out.

New plants may be acquired next season,

as they have to be replaced every few years.

A recent trick I learned to deal with pill bugs,

is to slice medallions of white potatoes

and place them in the beds.

The theory is that the little pests 

go for the spuds and leave the other crops alone.

So far, so good.

The potato slices need to be replaced every so often,

but it beats using pesticides!

ajuga

A tray of both food and flowers was sown

using the soil block method.

This process is still very new to me,

and it takes some practice to get the consistency of the soil

just right so that it stays in the metal form.

I'll keep working on it,

as I'd like to do away completely with using plastic.

Our flower beds are really starting to fill in,

with familiar favorites and a few new plants.

There is still room for additions,

and I'm sure I won't have any trouble finding just the right ones.

All of these plants must be drought tolerant,

as there is no irrigation in this bed.

What a pleasant surprise to see this pink yarrow blooming!

There are many areas in which we have the white variety,

and I had pretty much forgotten that this beauty had been added

just last year.

The baptisia seed was sown a couple of years ago,

and this is the first time it has bloomed.

It's so exciting to see new things popping up!

A few projects were finished over the last two weeks.

I was able to get five 5-gallon buckets of compost

sifted and put in containers.

This process is done once in the spring and in the fall,

and it gives me compost to add to the beds

each time something new goes in,

or to top off the raised beds.

I think it has improved over the last few years,

as the chooks scratching it up and adding manure to the pile helps.

The compost/storage area was tidied a bit.

I call myself "chronically organized", 

because I just don't do well when things are a mess.

Why waste time looking for things 

when keeping things organized is so easy?

A big project that has begun is that we have added

a 6 foot wire fence attached to the chook run.

We have three escapees who refuse to be confined,

and they simply climb or jump over the fabric netting we currently have up.

This new system is at least 3 feet taller, so we are  hoping

it will keep them inside.

The fencing is kept in place using conduit.

It's not a fancy or super sturdy fence,

but it's what I can do myself, can afford and it will

also allow us to put bird netting over the top,

to keep flying predators away.

We still have a larger area to fence in this way,

and we hope to finish that before the hot weather ensues.

It's probably not clear in this picture,

but we have a mole problem.

The center part of this photo shows the ground

raised up and disturbed.

The vole issue we were having in the runs

seems to have been improved by the vibrating spikes

we installed a few weeks ago.

That, and I also add cayenne to the chooks' feed

and select areas in the run where we see holes.

The girls don't taste the cayenne, but the voles do.

Ah well, we have to learn to live together.

The three amigas

Isn't springtime just magical?

So many gorgeous things showing off

and the signs of new life all around.

We had a family of wrens in our porch birdhouse,

and the babies just fledged this week.

So exciting and joyful.

I'll take the joy where I can get it.

How's spring coming along where you are?

Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings.

Spring has indeed sprung here in the Piedmont of North Carolina!

We have all kinds of color popping up..

Let's see what's going on in our Zone 8A garden.

The strawberry bed is filling in nicely,

and flaunting a bevy of blossoms.

The goal is to transplant these to a tower planter

to hoodwink the squirrels!

Last year, we got only a handful of fruit,

despite my effort to thwart them.

This week, both the strawberries and

the blueberries were fertilized,

along with all of the trees and bushes on site.

The asparagus was sampled this week in salads,

as well as eaten fresh while working outside.

I prefer the narrow, thin stalks.

The spears are coming up faster now,

and I hope to have some to share.

The front bed is sporting many shades of purple,

with the ajuga, irises, nepeta, and phlox dancing together.

The pops of golden color belong to abelia and ligustrum.

I have come to really enjoy this color combination.

I'm not the only one who is enjoying the blooms.

The purple iris adds a dramatic flair to this corner of the bed.

The lamb's ear had all but taken over the front porch bed.

Some of it was dug up in order to help with our erosion problem.

Along the west side of our driveway the soil washes down,

as the property is sloped toward the back of the house.

Although we have lots of leaves and a few hydrangea planted there,

it didn't seem to keep the soil from running down the slope.

This lamb's ear is very low maintenance, and grows quickly,

so I'm hoping it will fill in here and keep the soil in place.

The candytuft is such a gift to the garden.

It shares space with some johnny jump-ups here

in the pollinator bed.

It comes back readily in the spring 

and brings a brightness to the surrounding green foliage.

So, I was looking to start my winter sowing

and I needed topsoil as one of the components.

I mix topsoil with a couple of different elements

to create a wonderful planting medium,

used for starting seeds as well as for filling beds.

I decided to try a new resource, as last year

I was not pleased with the quality at my usual place.

This is what I got.

The stuff is like cement once dried.

After filling holes in the yard with the first batch,

(that's really all it was good for),

I went back to my original source to see if 

maybe they had a better option.

This is just some of the material that was sifted out of my haul.

Really?

This looks more like mulch than topsoil.

Not sure what I'll do next spring,

but I'll have to make the best with what I've got.

So disappointing.

It was so exciting to see this first ever (for me)

columbine bursting into bloom!

There are a couple more coming up

and I think it will be worth saving seeds to increase the collection!

The fact that it's purple doesn't hurt my feelings one bit!

After visiting the doctor last week,

(the office is right next to the hospital), 

I decided to check out the walking trail 

that surrounds the hospital.

What a great place to put in a couple of miles.

It was a crisp, clear morning, and the views were lovely.

When the scenery is so appealing,

you forget that you are exercising!

I can imagine those who work there

are happy to get outside into the fresh air

and take a stroll during their lunch hour.

The bonus for me during this visit was that I really liked

the practitioner, and I finally got some answers 

to the health issues that I've been dealing with 

since late last year.

It seems that I am on the right track with healing.

Grateful.

This is what spring looks like here.

Pollen, pollen, everywhere!

Hopefully, the rain will wash some of it away.

I'm just wondering if it's like this everywhere?

So much to love about spring,

I won't complain about the pollen too much.

Even the sweet dandelions are welcome here,

to help bolster the food sources for our invaluable pollinators.

How's spring shaping up where you are?

Homestead Happenings

Buttercup in her loungewear

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's been going on 

here on our Piedmont homestead.

The girls are enjoying the warm up

and spending ample hours under the shade of the trees

taking their frequent siestas together. 

The young girls (they'll be a year old next week!),

are cranking out eggs like nobody's business!

These eggs are an absolute masterpiece,

each and every one different and beautiful.

Even Henrietta, who is our only remaining hen

from the original flock,

started laying again.

The blue eggs are hers.

I guess she's never heard of "hen-o-pause".

We know spring is upon us

when the infamous Bradford pear trees

start to put on their display.

While glorious to look at,

these trees are notorious for splitting

and causing property damage.

Builders continue to plant them nonetheless.

The first strawberry flowers were spied this week.

This bed needs to be topped off with soil,

and I am hoping to add some new starts,

as strawberries must be refreshed every few years.

Hoping we get some of these sweet delights

before the squirrels steal us blind!

The asparagus started popping up this week as well.

You can see Henrietta there, patrolling the grounds.

After sampling a stalk or two,

I found it to be less tasty than last year's crop.

I'm thinking that perhaps I neglected to fertilize.

It's still early, so we'll see how it goes.

The daffs are in full vigor in the pollinator bed.

They share space with johnny jump-ups,

nigella and tulips (which haven't shown up yet).

I like the color combination of yellows and purples,

so this should turn out to be quite a colorful display.

Buttercup makes  her way past the phlox,

which has begun to fill in one of  the front flower beds.

The chooks have taken up scratching in these beds

when they are free roaming.

It may be necessary to put up some short border fencing.

front flower bed coming to life!

The parsley sailed right through the winter,

with absolutely no problem.

This is an herb that is used often,

so it gets pruned, chopped and placed in the freezer.

One of many beds of garlic are putting on some size.

The harvest isn't until June,

but it's something I look forward to every year.

I'm a bit behind in my winter sowing.

A handful of these have crops germinating,

but the majority have yet to be sown.

That's something I'll make time for this weekend.

This year the focus is on greens and Seminole pumpkin.

A few odds and ends just for fun like leek, turnips and zucchini will also be planted.

These onions are germinating in a friend's greenhouse.

It was irresistible to take a shot of these amazing seedlings,

and how the seed heads cling to the tops of the stalks.

Just another example of the miracle of nature.

sedum

Do you see the blessing in these dishes?

It means that we have been given the gift of

clean, homemade food to enjoy.

So much for which to be thankful.

"Houston, we have a problem."

Well, it's a little closer to home than that.

We have a vole problem.

Over the last two years, more vole holes

were noticed around the yard.

Fortunately, we do have a few neighborhood cats

that venture over into our yard.

I guess they haven't been able to keep up with them.

They are inside the chook runs, 

even though the chooks chase after them and catch them.

I'm not sure they eat them,

but I have seen the girls running with them in their mouths 

to all corners of the yard.

So C decided to install these vibrating stakes.

Time will tell if they deter the little buggers.

And this character, oh my, does he put on a show.

He is enamored with the flowerpot sitting on the deck.

He digs in the soil and uses it as a dust bath.

He looks as if he's having a spa day.

These squirrels are pesky critters,

but I can't help but be amused by their antics.

May your Spring be filled with 

family, flowers and good memories.