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You can’t add corn husks to a compost pile… Or can you?
Ever wonder what half eaten corn on the cob taught me about homesteading? Read on!
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Garden Journal – May Week 3
Gardening has a tendency to make you do things that you never thought you’d do. Things like talk about compost piles at the dinner table. Getting excited when the chickens fertilize the new flower bed. And saving worms for the struggling vermiculture bin. Who am I?!?! I don’t recognize myself anymore since mini-farming. The rain clouds can’t seem to make up their minds these days. We have been spoiled with unseasonably warm days this spring. So that makes the cloudy ones feel like they are out of place. Yet historically, the last few weeks should have been all rain this time of year! So I’m trying very hard to stay…
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What would happen if you stood really still?
My daughter and I like to play a game when we’re outdoors. We stop whatever busyness has consumed our mind and conversation, we hold hands, close our eyes, take a deep breath in and just listen. We listen. Just listen. Then without opening our eyes or loosening our grasp, we take turns saying what we hear. It’s magical. The sights we see are suddenly transformed into a brilliant expression of sound. Tonight I was watering the cut garden alone while she and hubby scoured the woods for salmon berries. My mind was occupied with all that I needed to do when I got back inside: Get her off to bed.…
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This chicken lady was terrified of chickens… until this happened
It's true. I was terrified of chickens as a little girl. So what changed?
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Garden Journal – May Week 2
This week we are at that limbo state where the ground is just about warm enough for new seedlings, but not quite. And the seedlings are almost large enough to go out in the garden, but not quite. So I water on the hot days, snatch up a weed as I walk around and sit inside on the rainy days wishing for sun, yet thankful for the drops of water that refresh the land. As I try to be patient for planting out the rest of the veggies, I can admire the cold season crops that are doing well. Look at the before and after of the Peter Rabbit cabbages…
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It All Started With A Sprained Ankle
I was thinking the other night about how far we've come since our first mini farm garden experience. As I reminisced, I realized that it all stared with a sprained ankle. My ankle. Ouch
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Garden Journal – May Week 1
It looks like the sun will be here to stay for a while. Hooray! Like I mentioned in an April Garden Journal entry, I don’t usually get down with the gray weather. But this year I was needing the bright sun to break through the mental fog There is a sweet little farmhouse close to our home that has gorgeous perennials for sale. Do you see those dilightful hues? Their prices are so reasonable that it is hard to not get carried away while browsing their selection. This beauty came home with me… along with 3 other perennials. Tonight we finished rebuilding the roost in the chicken coop. We came…
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Garden Journal – April Last 3 Days
So much was going on these last 3 days of April! It was crazy busy. The garden and mini farming can be a lot of work, and yet it also refreshed my energy and inner strength. ahhh… The highlight of the week was having 2 nucs of bees arrive. They weighed 6 lbs each and both were looking healthy. Hubby is the only one of us two with a bee suit so he placed them in the hives. I stood at what I thought was a safe distance…. and a blasted honey bee stung my right on the belly! Then another stung me on the leg. Seriously?!?! Oh well. The…
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Garden Journal Entry – April Week 4
This week started off with really mucky weather. I don’t consider myself someone who is often affected by dark skies and rain. More often than not I enjoy it. Unless I’ve straightened my hair. Then the drizzles are not appreciated my this frizzy haired woman! But for some reason I have been really down with these gray days. No amount of spring cleaning indoors, planting in the greenhouse or planning the garden had taken away that down feeling. Honestly, I was simply out of sorts. Then the sun showed up towards the end of the week. The spring chill could still be felt on the breeze but the sun’s rays…
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Garden Journal – April Week 2
We arrived home from our anniversary vacation with so many plans that we couldn’t wait to get started. We jumped out of the car and only unloaded the new plants that had been purchased while we were away. Our suitcases and all the random pillows and snacks stayed in the car. Priorities. We greeted all the animals, quickly donned our wellies and set about our garden doings. Hubby added several plants to the now growing dinosaur garden. I checked the seeds in the greenhouse. Nothing new had sprouted. Bummer. But the reality is that it had only been 3 1/2 days…. sooooo…. nothing should have sprouted. I was just so…
