I say that because hot weather makes me a tired bitch, but cool weather turns my mood around rather quickly. Now that I’ve self-admitted…
I could not be in a better mood as our area is getting oddball 40’s and night and 60’s during the day – a total blessing for this time of year, shortly before we descend into summertime hell. I get to light the wood stove tonight! yeah! I’ll be able to get in a ‘quick’ 8 loaf order of bread and use up extra eggs on frittatas and whatever all else I can think of.
No rain but Will’s been methodically turning on and trouble shooting all 21 zones of drip irrigation for the four acres under regeneration. No small task. He’s also grubbed out a spot in the orchard garden for the 70+ tomato plants going in. That was after he unloaded the first load of 3 Tons of straw by hand (back hoe still busted) while making sure we didn’t have any more rattlers.
There’s always lots to do during this ‘spring’ season – so much so – it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When it’s time to rest, we rest – or run the risk of getting injured – so that’s a rule around here; when you’re tired, lay down. I looked in on my favorite indoor beings this afternoon and found what looked like a pile of puppies sans the canine; Yoshi, Will & Dora all wrapped together in a Snooza Palooza. There was a blanket involved. The great thing about being a little on the cool side is the low temps might slow down the weeds (I hope), which so far, are winning the ‘seed yourself’ contest this year.
My lemon balm is coming in second, along with the sunflowers, lambsquarters, parsnips, onions, and leeks
Lemon Balm
Sunflowers, with a volunteer Horse radish from the worm feeding station coming up in the back
Self propagating onions with culinary sage behind the onions
parsnips…these guys are everywhere in the orchard garden!
Leeks
yep I have to pull them up, divide them, and transplant them in the 7 garden row down by the Q – Hut.
There’s a pork shoulder in the slow cooker from the 2018 pork order (Cable Creek Farm) we ‘just’ picked up yesterday from the butcher over in Coeur d’Alene that works with CCF and now the freezer’s looking good.
Brody’s not looking so good right now. His favorite hobby is eating the well seasoned critters around the property, courtesy of the barn cats.
“hi my name is Brody and I eat dead animals”
Ma Barker is broody for the third year in a row. She’s no spring chicken and all the other hens have decided to lay under her.
Wow those Rhode Island girls are tough. That means….Red my fancy pants rooster is going from his bachelor digs into the orchard flock tomorrow…stay tuned…
The Patio’s been cleaned up, and this year’s crop of oregano, mint, and scarlet runners are looking good.
Big thanks to Jan from McGraw house in Ithaca NY for the scarlet runner beans!
The deck still looks ratty but I figured the longer I waited the more the weather would do the job for me and I won’t have to sand as much before I hit it with a coat of stain – different color though – more like this picture of my friend’s deck back in upstate NY. A memorial to the late great Mr. Higgins.
Over at bottle central, it looks like a mess, but won’t be for long. In this weather I’ll be able to finish the bottle wall by the end of the weekend. I’ll chip away at that 7 ton haul of straw in the background sitting in the flatbed…
One more mud session and the bottom of the pond will be uniform and sealed enough to hold water.
only thousands of pounds of mortar and hundreds of bottles to go…
yes, this baby is my Cercis Canadensis (Red Bud) which has NO business being out here in the intermountain west but then either do I so that makes two of us. I’ve got a dozen of them lined up to go in the ground in November of this year.
One day this thing will be a tree. Cultivate patience, plant a tree.
Remember my FB post ‘give the world the finger, plant a tree’ ? well check out the candles on this young Austrian pine, pretty impressive. he he
Well that covers about a fraction of what we’ve been doing, but I wanted to get an update post in before I post the April 13th bombing part two; There are No Conspiracies where I hack away at language technology, pattern recognition, shame and betrayal. Yikes.
cheers!
And once again thanks to Marie for making the straw thing happen!
Sheila – you’re a machine! It’s obvious you love wot you do! Are you familiar with the Bealtaine Cottage permaculture site? We have a 30′ diameter pond on our 3/4 acre yard that adds such a pleasant dimension. It’s a bird magnet. I followed a small frog thru the yard making it’s way to the pond the other day but the excessively keen interest the corbies have taken in the pond the last two days tells me they have eaten it. I call them the birds with a guilty conscience, they take flight the second they hear the doorknob turning, no less! Clever black devils.
I have questions. Do you ever get tired of the size of the thing you are doing & the relentless labor? We have a larger than normal yard & sometimes I think we created a monster. Wot will you do with the produce from 70 tomato plants?
Hi Corinne, yes I love Bealtaine Cottage and all Colette does. I think I found her site around four years ago and find her work sublime and inspiring. Her photography brings peace in a chaotic world. Will picked out the ‘maters and there are three varieties of Romas – all for freezing/drying; one heirloom/one hybrid/ one from our own seed from last year. He’s the master annual veggie gardener around here.
As to the million dollar question: do I ever get tired? Big yes. Do we ever get overwhelmed? yes. If you don’t mind I’m going to kick out a blog about that specific question because it’s a valid one and very relevant.
I’m up at 4:30 am and the sun’s light is already in the sky.
cheers,
sheila
Corinne, quick question (two actually)
I’m not familiar with the name corby, what kind of bird is that? Also, did you create your pond or was the pond a natural feature of the property?
Hi Sheila – OMG I can’t get over all the plantings and how uber healthy all your plants are, I’m drooling. Your work ethic is off the charts! I think of Karen Blixen in Out of Africa and the small pond she made and how it became a central part of her farm and I bet that’s what will happen with your pond. Are the 4 acres under irrigation the area around the house or are they additional acres that you are healing? Just wondering. Do you have a lot of wild birds around because your place must be a magnet for critters considering all the mono crops in the area?
Hi Miss Connie,
I’m being pretty liberal with my math on those 4 acres so we’ll all take that with a grain of salt. I’ve not actually gone out and measured how much ground, but, having said that here’s what I know for sure. 21 Acres, of which 14 will not be touched, irrigated or disturbed to allow the crustose lichen surface (that used to cover 10 million acres in the Columbia Basin) to come back on it’s own. 7 Million acres of that delicate brittle shrub steppe Biome have been erased by we the monkeys in 110 years in order to grow heavily pesticide-laden wheat, GMO potatoes, and associated crops; peas/mint/alfalfa, some irrigated to the tune of 84 million/year of tax payers money. The Columbia Basin project is the most heavily subsidized project in the US.
.
The 4 acres are; house & outbuildings (11), driveway access, road firebreaks, and drip irrigation, the remaining 3 are not fed by well water drip irrigation. Probably time to outline those specifics too. Yes we are a tiny oasis and magnet for wildlife. I startled two mulies resting in the wild tree field the other day.
This place has so many birds it sounds like an Aviary.
cheers!