Homestead Happenings

 

Well, it's finally happened!

Spring made Her way to our region.

We are still having a few cooler mornings,

but overall, I'd say She's here to stay!

Here's what's been happening on our Piedmont homestead.

All the leeks have been planted in one of our

Birdie raised beds.

There are still a few ready to be harvested 

that were planted in the fall.

They make fantastic soup!

The Walla Walla onions have been planted

in an adjoining bed.

I've never had too much success with growing onions,

but I'm not giving up yet!

We use onions often when cooking,

and this variety is supposed to store well.

It may be hard to see here,

but this is one of two lettuce beds.

By the time it was watered three or four times,

I noticed that some of the seedlings had already been eaten.

The most likely suspects are the pill bugs.

They have been difficult to deter,

so we'll see what we end up with.

Not to worry, there are backups in the winter sowing containers.

We have more lettuce, kale and other goodies

waiting for their turn at planting.

The new strawberries have been added to this round bed.

I've never tried growing them on a teepee,

but it was something I wanted to try.

Now I need to devise a plan to keep the squirrels away.

One decent-looking blueberry bush is leafing out.

There seems to be another next to it,

but I didn't think blueberries could self-propagate.

Any thoughts on that?

In any case, I plan to dig up the smaller plant,

and give it a different spot in which to grow.

Blueberries have turned out to be

one of my favorite fruits!

Color is slowly coming to the flowerbeds.

This vibrant phlox is not only gorgeous to look at,

but the chooks find the flowers irresistable!

I hope they leave some blooms for us to enjoy.

It's wonderful to have this pop of color from the tulips

out in the otherwise rather dreary butterfly bed.

Soon enough, its neighbors will wake up

and fill the space with brilliant blossoms.

Daffodils always seem so cheery,

especially in the early days of spring,

when cold snaps can still wreak havoc!

The way I deal with weeds/grass coming up in the garden,

is to throw some plain cardboard on top of the area,

and follow up with a layer of woodchips.

Works like a charm and no chemicals needed!

Some time was taken yesterday to sift through our 

yard waste compost pile.

We fork or shovel the material and sift it through a sieve

over a cart.

The larger debris is added to a separate pile to use

around flower beds or other areas of the yard.

The final product is easy to clump in one's hand,

just the texture I am looking for.

With half of the compost pile sifted,

I had five 5-gallon buckets of compost

to use on anything and everything I plant.

I'm hoping to be able to complete this task soon.

In the next post,

I hope to show you the redo of this area

just off of the kitchen.

It's quite a change,

but will make my life so much easier.

I'm so happy to report that all 5 of our girls

are doing well.

Even Henrietta, who had to join the Olive Eggers

after she lost both of her coop mates.

It seems that everyone is doing well with the transition.

Our new chicks should be here in a couple of weeks,

and I will introduce them next time.

Until then, look after yourselves.

Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on 

here on our Piedmont, North Carolina homestead.

I recently made a garland out of these harvested

marigold blooms.

It is featured at the end of this post.

It was an easy and fun way to bring a bit of summer inside.

We were fortunate to have had a minor impact

from the recent Hurricane Helene.

Our neighbors to the west were not so fortunate.

Much of Western North Carolina has been

absolutely devastated.

We were inconvenienced with a few hours of pioneer living,

and a few days without internet,

and about 10" of rain over two days.

Feeling so very fortunate.

It's been over a month since my last post,

how did that happen?

There was a pup sitting job that took me away

from the homestead for a good while.

I am playing catch up on all things gardening,

and relishing the time spent with the chooks.

This week, I took the time to sift through our compost.

This is done every 6 months,

and I get enough to fill about five 5-gallon buckets.

This meets my needs for compost,

so there is no need to purchase it.

Our handy neighbor Joe,

made me a screen that just happens

to fit perfectly over this garden cart.

Works like a charm!

Several Seminole pumpkins were picked earlier this week,

and I look forward to roasting one soon.

Seeds will be saved, as I am very impressed

with their lack of pest issues.

There are still a few that are ripening on the vines.

The sweet potatoes were also harvested.

The results were a bit disappointing,

but I am grateful for what we got.

The last two years have not been the best for spuds.

One crop that never disappoints is 

Red Ripper beans.

They are a drying bean and once they get going,

they produce pods for months.

I allow them to dry on the vine,

and shell them for storage once completely dry.

The herb garden is rockin'!

Periodically, herbs are picked for drying

in paper sacks.

The pollinators have been enjoying the basil.

Some cool weather crops have been transplanted.

In this bed we have cabbage and kale,

and in another bed we have broccoli, lettuce and more kale!

(I am a kale junkie!)

Once all the beds have been topped off or constructed,

(I have Birdie's beds to put together and place in the garden),

more brassicas will be planted,

as well as carrots, onions and turnips.

The fall planting season is my absolute favorite!

These girls love roosting!

Our "baby" chooks are doing well

and laying up a storm.

Since they are so young,

they did not have a first molt yet,

and so their eggs have been coming regularly.

They are all so gentle and seem to get along well.

I'm thinking it is because they were hand raised,

and that makes a world of difference.

Matilda!

Baxter and a friend.

May your week be filled with simple gifts.

Garden Friday

 

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday.

Isn't this cactus zinnia amazing?  

They are one of my favorite summer blooms.

 

*(Just wanted to let y'all know that I may not be posting much,

as I am having major difficulties 

uploading pictures onto the computer,

Updates have been done,

and it takes much longer to upload.

Honestly, why can't things be left alone?

I am not skilled in these types of areas,

and don't have the desire or patience to learn.)

 

We were gifted with a load of wood chips last week,

as one of our neighbors was having tree work done.

Some has been spread in the chook run,

and the bulk of it will be used to refresh the garden walkways

and a few new areas that are being cardboarded.

 

We also bit the bullet and ordered a yard of compost

for the garden beds.

I'm not sure I'll do this again,

as I've recently learned about a much more affordable option.

 

Our old compost bin, (which the previous owners left here),

was given to our neighbors.

We purchased a new, smaller version.

The idea is to create mini-compost piles in different areas,

which makes it a bit more manageable for me.

This one has ventilation all around, 

a lid that closes, and a trap door on the front bottom

to help make it easier to collect the finished compost.

 

Queenie is slowing down,

and although I can find nothing ailing her,

she may not be with us much longer.

She is the dominant hen in our flock,

so it's tough to see her acting differently.

We don't know how old she is,

but we will watch her carefully

and try to make her as comfortable as possible.

We've lost two chooks in the past month,

and it is so heart wrenching every time.

 With the cooler weather here to stay,

it's been a pleasure working outside.

The flower beds are getting tweaked 

and seeds are still being saved,

while the cool weather crops slowly grow.

I hope I can continue to post at least once a month,

but my tolerance for technical mysteries is limited.

 

I hope your garden is still blessing you well. 

 

(Thank you for the comments below.

Unfortunately, now I can't reply to the comments,

but rest assured, I appreciate your contributions.)

Garden Friday

 

 

 

It's Garden Friday

and the livin' is easy.

At least if you're a chook.

The flock has been moved around the property

with temporary fencing keeping them safe.

We are working on ideas for a more permanent fence solution.

 

 

 

 The asparagus bed was prepped for planting.

We use the hugelkultur method to fill the bottom half of the bed

with twigs, branches and shredded leaves.

 

 

 The nutrients from these materials feeds the soil

and also helps with aeration.

It also encourages tiny critters to hang out,

which adds even more goodness to the soil.

 

 

 

We were finally able to pick up some compost

from our local source.

It was so hot, that it was necessary to wait a few days

before planting, lest we burn the crops.

 

 

Yesterday I took the time to plant the ten crowns we had,

spacing them 18 inches apart on each side of the bed.

This bed measures 2 X 8, and  the plants were staggered to fit.

It will be 2 to 3 years before the asparagus can be harvested.

 

 

This handy-dandy gizmo was purchased for some of our strawberries.

We have some planted in a large washtub,

and those plants are thriving,

but I wanted to try something new.

This vertical planter is made by Mr. Stacky,

a company located in Lake City, FL.

Don't feel that it limits you to strawberry planting,

I can imagine herbs, flowers or salad greens doing nicely.

 

I first saw this type of growing container

on one of the YouTube channels I follow.

Mr. Stacky is a bit more affordable than the ones I had seen,

and, being made in the USA, I felt good supporting this company.

The feature I really like is that when the top pot is watered,

the water continues to drip down to the lower pots,

so it's easy to make sure everything is evenly watered.

I'll let you know how they work out.

 

Speaking of the washtub with the strawberries in it,

I moved it and look what was found underneath.

You know what they say,

if you see one, there are certainly more.

 

After checking out a new nursery in town,

(what fabulous news that is!),

a flat of marigolds was purchased and planted

 in one of the front flower beds I'm working on.

There is plenty of space to fill in,

so I can see myself patronizing that lil' nursery throughout the season.

 

I'm especially fond of the French marigolds,

with the bicolor, ruffly petals.
 

 

The hostas in the back of the house are coming back.

What a thrill to see them pop up through the heavy leaf mulch.

These were added last year to some of the shadier spots out back.

The back area is another spot that I'm working on.

 Most of the soil testing got done this week,

although there are still a few beds to be done.

When these boxes are dropped off next week,

I can pick up a few more to complete the tests.

It usually takes only a week or two to get results back.

This service is free from our County Extension Service.

 

With the busyness of the birds lately,

I thought it would be nice to help them out with nesting materials.

A bag of potatoes that had the mesh lining on it

(onions come this way too),

was repurposed to provide string, leaves, and pine needles

to the birds for nest making.

It was hung on a shepherd's hook right underneath several bird houses.

One stop shopping!

 

After years of holding onto these birdhouse gourds,

I was finally motivated to create bird houses out of them.

The tools were assembled and the task was quickly completed.

 

 

They were left natural, although I did cover them in a

coating of bee's wax/mineral oil to help protect them

and make them last a bit longer.

It was a fun project, and I hope to make it an annual ritual.

They are a welcome gift for most nature lovers.

With an abundance of seeds shaken out of the gourds,

it looks like we'll be growing plenty to share!

How's your spring garden shaping up?