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

It's Friday and time to share what's going on 

around our Piedmont Homestead.

Spring has definitely arrived,

and we have color popping up all over!

These purple irises have never looked better.

Something I've wanted for a while now,

is a pulley system for drying clothes.

I had been using a whirly-gig type,

which worked fine,

but as I get older, I am looking to

streamline chores and make things easier on myself.

What a thrill it was to use it for the first time!

What can I say?  I find joy in the everyday.

These lovely blue pots had contained our blueberries.

They had been relocated to this area,

after a disappointing harvest a few years ago.

Unfortunately, the move didn't help.

I decided to again try growing in the ground,

in a different location.

When I pulled up the plants,

none of them had much root development.

No wonder we didn't get any fruit.

Back into the ground they go,

this time right on the outside of the new chicken run.

I placed wire cages around them,

because I noticed Betty eating the flowers off of the stems.

Ugh.

I'm hoping that the fertilizer from the chooks

will aid in healthier plants.

I also added tons of organic material

collected from the recent cleanup of our woods.

The pine needles and leaf mulch should benefit them.

Time will tell.

The strawberries have been replanted

in the round Birdie's bed,

after redesigning the garden layout.

It was promptly fertilized with 10-10-10.

I’ll need to come up with an idea

to keep the squirrels out of this container.

I'm thinking of adding more strawberries to another bed as well.

The potato cages were placed inside this silver metal bed.

This will be a flex-bed, changing out crops as needed.

The other silver bed was placed between the two tall Birdie beds.

The plan is to sow herbs here,

or maybe designate it as a tea garden.

As each bed is moved to its new location,

hardware cloth is added to the bottom,

to deter critters (read squirrels), from digging up from below.

Before the soil is added,

the irrigation needs to be fed up into the side of the bed,

to offer a more efficient watering system.

The bottoms of the taller beds will be filled with

logs, branches, twigs and a layer of shredded leaves

before the soil is added.

We have plenty of wood piles to clean up around the homestead.

This takes up some of the cavernous space in the bed,

and saves on soil costs.

These deep beds are great for root crops,

but the height actually makes it easier for harvesting at waist level.

These two are enjoying their time together.

Betty (left) and Queenie (right) have become best buds.

They spend their days (and nights) together,

and can often be found sitting side-by-side sunbathing.

In fact, I'd say that Betty's balance issues

have become almost non-existent due to Queenie.

Friendship can be a great healer.

And, believe it or not,

she has started laying eggs again.

It's been months since she's offered us anything,

but now she is laying quite regularly.

Just shows you what a little love and understanding will do for a body.

These leeks that were started from seed that a friend shared,

are jumping out of their winter sowing containers.

I've never had such good germination of leeks.

Just look at the root development!

These beauties were transplanted into pots

and left to grow on before placing in beds.

Up ahead-leek soup!

My French momma would be proud.

The front garden is coming along.

I've been working on this over the last year,

adding some much-needed evergreen interest here.

It's still a work in progress,

but I'm feeling very contented with our movement forward.

What a treat to once again have fresh picked flowers

to bring into the house.

No doubt there will be plenty more

throughout the growing season.

I'm not sure why,

but I'm feeling a renewed sense of stewardship 

that I've never really felt before.

Things are coming together in a most

extraordinary way,

and it's such a blessing.

What's happening at your homestead 

on this fine spring day?

Garden Friday

 Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share our Zone 7b Piedmont garden.

This clematis was found near our back porch steps

when we bought the place.

It never did anything until just recently

when I moved it closer to the back entry of the garden.

I think I've found the right spot!

 

This week, the rest of the blueberries

were planted in pots and relocated to offer them a bit more sunshine.

For the past two years, although I amended the soil,

we got very few berries and the soil's pH was not balanced.

I used Holly Tone and a good organic potting mix

to foster the chances of success.

Time will tell.

 

Next to the blueberries are the extra strawberry

plants I was gifted.

These are mostly for giving away,

once they have some size to them.

The wire mesh is to dissuade squirrels from 

digging up the soil to bury their treasures.

The Birdie's bed is filled with more strawberries,

some which were transplanted from a washtub,

and a few more that were added this year.

Soil was collected from all of the berry pots,

so that it can be tested by our local Cooperative Extension.

 

 

Most of the smaller beds are filling up with 

containers from the winter sowing project.

It will soon be time to get them planted,

as soon as I come up with a solution to keep the chooks 

from eating all the kale and lettuce they see.

Insect netting may be my best option,

as it will also protect the brassicas from cabbage moths.

Beans, broccoli, cabbage,

leeks, tat soi and some flowers are also growing

in the repurposed salad containers.

 

 

It was a busy week, but with spring moving forward,

I don't expect things to slow down anytime soon.

I've been enjoying my umbrella as I sit at my makeshift workbench

and pot up seedlings and commune with the chooks.

If you notice the two blue grow bags hanging on the bamboo uprights,

there are more strawberries in them.

This is the first time I've used grow bags,

but it's a nice option for so many uses.

 

The potatoes that were planted in February

are finally starting to pop up.

This is unusually slow,

but I'm using a new technique called

"The Ruth Stout Method", 

so I'm not really sure what to expect.

 

There is lettuce volunteering in some of the small beds.

I want to say it may have been sown in the fall,

but I honestly don't remember.

In any case, it is more than welcome!

 

I'm trying my hand again with the chook composting method.

I used welded wire to make a ring right in the chicken run,

and have been throwing all sorts of scraps into it.

Since I shortened the wire to about a foot and a half,

they have been climbing right in there,

scratching, pooping and moving the pile around.

We'll see what comes of it.

 

I put up some flexible fencing around the wooded area

near the garden.

We have a dog who is not too friendly who lives

across the street and this gives me a bit more confidence

that the chooks will be safer.

They are only allowed to roam in the woods

when I am working outside, so I can keep an eye on things.

They have been enjoying the cool shade

and ample dust baths!

 

 

 

 

Cooler weather lies ahead for us next week,

after a good dousing of rainfall over the weekend.

I embrace it all!

Here's hoping your weekend is just how you like it.