Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on 

here on our Piedmont property.

Last week it felt so much like summer,

even though it is still days away,

but this week has been fairly mild,

which made it a pleasure to accomplish 

a few tasks outdoors.

This cattle panel arch will be soon supporting

our Seminole pumpkins.

This particular variety is less prone to trouble

with the vine borers that plague so many squash plants.

They store well and make a wonderful and hearty soup.

Garbanzo beans (also called chick peas),

are one of my favorite beans.

They are so versatile and I use them in everything

from hummus to salads to stews.

It makes sense to try to grow my own,

so I sprouted some in a bowl and planted them.

It's always exciting trying a new crop.

We'll see how it goes!

The new lettuce bed is making great progress,

thanks to some much needed rain.

Baby greens will be harvested in the next few days

and this bed should do an ample job of feeding me

for a couple of months.

I'm thinking of placing some sort of cover over the bed,

to keep the harshest of the sun's rays off of the plants.

It may be something as simple as a beach umbrella,

if that's all I can find to keep the crop cooler.

The straw will help with this objective.

It took me a minute,

but I finally remembered what had been planted in this pot.

It stayed in the garage over winter

and started to emerge over the past week.

It's turmeric, and it comes back

reliably, year after year.

Maybe I need to put a tag in there

so as not to strain the old noggin next year.

The garlic was harvested and is now curing 

on the front porch (see the photo below).

Out of 100 cloves planted,

we got about 50 bulbs.

A bit disappointing, as I grow for myself and sister,

but we are cooking less and less, so it will be enough.

Two new areas in the ground were used this season,

so perhaps the soil was not ideal.

We'll try a new spot in the fall and hope for the best.

Here on the front porch,

a rack was set up to cure the garlic, leek and onions,

as well as dry some herbs like lemon balm and rosemary.

We had been using the garage for curing,

until I thought about the emissions from the cars,

and decided to make a change.

When you learn better, you do better.

This lavender is bursting with blooms!

What a delight to brush up against it

and take in the fragrance.

Even I can smell it,

and I can't smell much these days.

I'm thinking about drying some of it

so that I can make something with the dried flowers and stems.

This low maintenance plant does quite well

with very little water and absolutely no fertilizer.

What a dream!

Going Local-Garden Neighbors

Recently, neighbors who live about 10 minutes away

started a garden group on our local community app.

It's been so much fun to participate in the conversations.

As you may know, gardeners are always happy to share

their tips, tricks and design ideas with others.

They were kind enough to allow me to have a tour of

what's growing in their beautiful garden.

Welcome to Tammy and Stephen's backyard oasis.

These folks relocated to our area after having lived

in both New Jersey and South Carolina.

They are diving into gardening with both feet!

Their beautiful beds are filled with all sorts of goodies

that will allow them to be quite self-sufficient.

Among the jewels you'll find planted are

carrots, green beans, lettuce, peppers (from bell to Carolina Reapers),

squash, Swiss chard, tomatoes, and a host of herbs.

The raised beds were a recent project, and they also include

a complete irrigation system with a timer for ease of watering.

One unique fact about this particular garden is that

the residents on this block have access to a nearby stand of bamboo.

Tammy and Stephen have created a number of vertical frames

out of this free resource.

The patio hosts a number of herbs used for cooking.

This family does a lot of homemade meals,

and having the herbs right outside the back door

makes it convenient to add a little spice to their daily fare.

It was fun to meet up with another family who has caught

the gardening bug.

No doubt they will have a bountiful harvest!

Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings!

We're here to share what's been going on

here on our Piedmont property

over the last couple of weeks.

Here is a well crafted nest found recently,

which had been meticulously created inside an azalea bush.

It wasn't removed until the eggs inside were long gone.

What a work of art!

After some much needed rain,

(over 4 inches in a week!),

the pumpkins sprouted right up.

These were planted in a straw bale

that I had left over from the winter.

The seeds were collected from volunteers

last fall, so we don't really know what we'll get!

The okra also germinated in the other bale,

and two plants is all I need.

I'm the only one in the household who eats okra,

and if I get more than I want,

I'm sure I can find someone who will use it.

If you're not familiar with straw bale gardening,

there is a long process of prepping the bales

before planting, involving heavy watering and 

adding fertilizer periodically.

I skipped all of that because I knew we were

going to be getting a lot of rain.

I simply made a hole in the bale,

added some soil and compost and waited 

for Mother Nature to do the watering.

Voila!

These "new" potatoes were harvested last week.

They had been planted in February,

according to my plant marker in the bed,

but never developed beyond this size.

A bit disappointing, but they sure tasted good!

There is another potato bed growing for a future harvest.

The loofah is coming along.

The past couple of years have been discouraging,

having had germination problems.

This year, I stayed on top of it,

and have several plants growing at the base of

the gazebo frame.

I'm hoping to harvest some young for eating,

and allowing the rest to mature

so that I can give away some to be used as exfoliators.

There are green beans growing inside the chook run.

So far, they seem to love this spot,

getting ample sun and being protected from

the chooks scratching.

I love green beans, and hope for enough to put away in the freezer.

A new bed of lettuce was planted last week,

and because of the generous addition of rain,

it's looking very encouraging.

The other beds where lettuce is growing,

is starting to dwindle, as the plants are beginning

to bolt.

They have given me so many fresh salads this spring!

This border of spider wort has been a bee haven!

Every morning when i come out to free the chooks,

the sound of their buzzing is almost deafening.

Grateful for all the magic they do!

Another pollinator-friendly plant is this milkweed.

We are growing a ton of it in the outside run

for the monarch caterpillars.

We are a Monarch Way Station,

and have been supporting this species for a while now.

This particular variety volunteers every year.

We look forward to watching the transformation

from caterpillar to butterfly that we witness each summer.

Although we've had hydrangea plants on the property

for a couple of years,

this is the first time I remember seeing a blue bloom.

What a stunning display.

I look forward to bringing some of these inside 

and also sharing with neighbors.

The babies have graduated to living outside!

They have their own coop and run,

and will stay put until they reach a similar size

to the older girls.

Then we will begin the process of 

combining the two flocks.

So far, these girls seem to get along fairly well,

as you can tell by the way they all sun bathe together.

I hope it stays that way.

Goodness knows, there can be some drama with chooks!

Homestead Happenings

Well, hello there!

Welcome back to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on here on our Piedmont property.

New life abounds, with the latest family of bluebirds

taking shelter in one of our birdhouses.

These parents are no doubt getting very little sleep,

having six mouths to feed!
 

The lettuce beds are feeding me well these days,

with more being sown this week for a continued harvest.

Watering has been a ritual every few days,

as we are in an extreme drought situation.

This weekend we should see some much needed precipitation.

The kale and lettuce make up my daily

(sometimes twice daily) salads.

There is nothing quite as satisfying

as creating a meal using food you've grown.

The fresh flavor is like nothing else.

The outer leaves are picked so that the

heart of the leaves continue to grow,

creating a cut-and-come again salad bar.

Of course, some of the bounty is shared with our chooks.

They love greens of any kind!

I noticed flowers on the elderberry this week.

This year will be the first time I attempt to

make syrup, which many folks swear

has medicinal properties.

The chooks can also be found hopping up

to reach the berries for a midday snack.

There are blueberries forming on our plants!

I had all but given up on these bushes,

and had planned to replace them,

but lo and behold, they came back to life!

Another treat I hope to enjoy before the 

chooks and squirrels help themselves!

With one bed of potatoes growing quite vigorously,

a second bed was started.

(The netting is to deter critters from digging in the bed.)

This variety is Kennebec,

which I've never grown before.

You can find out more about them here.

All crops were fertilized yesterday.

Fish emulsion is applied by hand

using 2 Tablespoons per gallon of water.

A five-gallon bucket allows me to mix up

all that is needed.

New seeds were sown using the soil block method.

If you ever played with mud pies when you were young,

you'd love this technique!

Conventionally, soilless potting mix is used to start seeds,

but I only had standard potting mix.

Perlite and vermiculite were added for better drainage.

Sufficient moisture is key here,

in order for the blocks to stay together once discharged from the mold.

It was surprising to find how easy it was to get the balance right!

Both crops and flowers were sown, labeled,

and watered in before placing in a safe space

away from curious critters.

It was so much fun that more blocks will be created later today.

After all, how can one pass up the opportunity to feel like a kid again?

So much of the garden is filling in,

and it does my heart good to see that the effort

I've put forth in the past few years 

is paying off.

It's so centering to sit out here with the chooks roaming,

reading a good book or simply enjoying

the wonder of the nature around me.

What a blessing.

This baptisia is one of my favorite sights in the front flower bed.

It's taken 3 years to bloom, but so worth the wait.

The magic of perennials never ceases to amaze me.

This clematis, which resides on the north side of the garden,

was also slow in getting established.

I look forward to seeing it bloom every year,

and am grateful when it surprises me

by being one of the first pops of color in the garden.

Along with winter sowing and soil blocks,

I thought I would try my hand at sprouting some seeds indoors.

Simply using a damp paper towel,

these fresh seeds from Sow True in Asheville,

didn't disappoint after just a few days.

I never tire of the magic of seeds.

Our new babies are two weeks old,

and growing like nobody's business!

They have already figured out how to hop up on 

the warming tray.

They are so much fun, and as you may be able to tell,

they are non-stop!

They all look lively and well,

and we are handling them every day.

Our older gals are enjoying their foraging time,

with plenty of grass, clover and bugs to savor.

I'm so grateful to have these souls in my life.

Life is just better with chickens.

I'd love to hear how spring is treating you!

Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where spring has taken hold!

One of the first signs of the warmer season

is these lovely dandelions that pepper the lawn.

We leave them be, as we know how beneficial

they are to our pollinator friends.

The color is making its way across the flower beds,

with pops of chartreuse breaking up the greens and blues.

It's wonderful to see how much the beds have filled in,

leaving less area for me to have to apply woodchips as mulch.

Densely planting discourages weeds from taking over.

The columbines seen here have really taken off

this year.  A few will most likely be moved within the same space,

just to fill in where nothing is growing.

They also add a bit of vertical interest to the garden.

They remind me of a fountain!

The pink dogwood in the front yard

is one of my absolute favorite trees on the property.

Each spring, I look forward to their splendor.

We have a white dogwood in the wooded area

on the east side of the yard.

What treasures!

The ajuga, phlox and irises are all 

strutting their stuff in various shades

of purple.

These return every spring and in fact,

spread to fill our beds even more.

Great plants to divide or share with another gardener.

We've been seeing butterflies for the past

three weeks or so.

This milkweed springs up every year

in our front porch bed.

It will be ready to greet (and feed)

the monarch caterpillars in the summertime.

The veggie garden is humming along,

with onions, leeks, garlic,

potatoes, kale and lettuce growing.

This leaf was recently found on our Yukon potatoes,

although just this one leaf was affected.

It looks a bit menacing, so out it came.

All of the chooks are enjoying the spring weather.

Once or twice a day, they are out foraging

for bugs and other treats they find in the grass or under leaves.

We will be picking up our chicks later today,

so I hope to have pictures in the next post.

This is the breed we hope to get.

They are blue-laced golden Wyandottes,

and I've been pining for the Wyandotte breed 

for a couple of years now.

Photo courtesy of BackyardChickens.com

The fresh-milled flour journey continues.

This past week I tried my hand at making Morning Glory Muffins.

In college, these kept me alive.

I was absolutely mad for them, and with good reason.

They are filled with pineapple, apple, walnuts, carrots and 

other goodies and they tasted like absolute heaven.

A recipe using FMF could not be found,

so I winged it.

They weren't what I remember,

so I will have to tweak the recipe,

maybe add some zucchini to give them more moisture.

I'll let you know if I come up with something tasty!

Last time,

I told you about a minor project 

in the room adjoining our kitchen.

Did you guess what it is?

This house has no pantry, and I've tried to work around

that for the almost nine years that we've been here.

I bought this little cabinet (on the left),

to help with storing bowls, jars and things,

and used a couple of upper cabinets next to the stove to store food.

I gave it a year, but still wasn't happy with the arrangement.

Big K and C put in these two IKEA cabinets

and while we are still getting used to the new location of items,

it seems like a good use of the wall space.

I think it'll work out just fine.

I'm thinking of covering the glass with fabric or frosted paint.

So grateful to have handy men in the house.

The sprouting has begun!

I've been wanting to get back in the habit of 

growing sprouts in the kitchen window.

They are one of the more nutritious foods

to add to your diet.

They really take tacos and sandwiches up a notch.

So easy to grow in a mason jar with a sprouting lid.

Even if you're still dealing with winter,

you can bring a bit of spring to your homestead!

ajuga

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today.

I'm sending peace and good wishes your way.

Do look after yourself.