Day 75 of 365

Sunny!

• Low: 27° F
• High 62° F

Finished one garden aisle all the way down to the wheat patch. Put the dirt in beds that needed to be built up. Added another terrace log to one new bed and planted Swiss Chard (Fordhook, seed from Pinetree Garden Seeds). Dan and I don't care a lot for chard, but I dried surplus a couple years ago and the goats loved it during winter. I'll grow it do do that again, plus it's a companion to tomatoes.

Took down the cattle panel pea trellis and fed the remainder of the dried vines to the billy boys. Elvis ate it all I think.

Planted:

• the Swiss Chard mentioned above.
• Jericho cos type lettuce, seed also from Pinetree. It's supposed to do well in hot weather. We'll see.

October 2 - 8, 2011

Temperature Range

• lows: 42 - 53 F
• highs: 67 - 78 F

Rainfall: none

Planted:

• radishes (saved seed)
• garlic (saved cloves)
• multiplier onions (Territorial Seed Co)
• lettuce (saved seed)

Harvested:

• beet thinnings
• Swiss chard
• 1st lemon
• tomatoes
• melons (to feed chickens & goats)
• radishes

Seeds Saved

• 4 o'clocks
• antique marigolds
• okra
• melon

Egg Counts

• Sun. 1
• Mon. 0
• Tues. 0 (found broken egg shell out in the field though)
• Wed. 1
• Thurs. 2
• Fri. 1
• Sat. 2
• Week's Total: 8

Accomplished:

Sunday
• day of rest
Monday
• planted radishes & garlic
• found 1st lemon on the ground
Tuesday
• waxed a cheese for food storage
Wednesday
• thinned beets
• gathered 4 o'clock seeds
• watered fall garden
• made mozzarella
Thursday
• multiplier onion sets arrived from Territorial Seed Co
• fed overripe watermelons to chickens
Friday
• gathered antique marigold seeds
• planted multiplier onions & more lettuce (Ruby lettuce had poor germination)
• cut broom corn sprouts to dry for goats
Saturday
• planted radishes & lettuce
• gathered seeds
• weeded fall garden
• waxed cheeses

Sept 18 - 24, 2011

Temperature Range:

• lows: 57 - 66 F
• highs: 68 - 82 F

Rainfall: 4.75 inches

Planted:

• broccoli, Waltham 29, saved seed
• cabbage collard plants, purchased
• radishes, China Rose, packaged seed
• Kale, Siberian Dwarf (Baker Creek)

Harvested:

• Swiss Chard
• popcorn
• buckwheat for hay
• green peppers
• tomatoes
• watermelons

Seeds gathered:

• buckwheat
• 4 o'clocks
• popcorn
• pole beans

Preserved:

• 2, half-gallons goat milk, frozen

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 2
• Mon. 2
• Tues. 3
• Wed. 2
• Thurs. 3
• Fri. 3
• Sat. 2
• Week's Total: 17

Accomplished:
Sunday

• day of rest

Monday

• cleared more summer garden beds
• planted broccoli, radish seeds & cabbage collards plants
• harvested popcorn
• saved popcorn stalks for goats
• cut buckwheat for goats (hay)
• watered fall garden
• watered hazelnut trees

Tuesday

• planted kale
• husked popcorn

Wednesday

• Rain! Welcome rain! No gardening activities.
• froze 2 more half-gallon jars of milk

Thursday

• more rain
• worked on shelling turnip seeds

Friday

• more rain

Saturday

• harvested watermelons
• deer track noted in buckwheat
• ground too wet to do anything
• noted fall seeds coming up!

May Wk 4: 22 - 28

Temperature Range:

• lows: 60 - 68
• highs: 73 - 93

Rainfall: 0.8"

Planted:

• pole beans, Kentucky Wonder (in the field corn)
• pumpkins, Small Sugar (in the field corn)
• sweet peppers (2nd try), Chinese Giant
• yellow cosmos

Transplanted:

• dill volunteers, to sweet potato beds

Harvested:

• peas
• 1 lone potato
• garlic
• yarrow
• sage
• oregano
• thyme
• Swiss chard

Seeds Collected:

• radish (variety unknown)
• shell peas, Wando
• calendula

Preserved:

• 6 pints strawberry jam

Eating Our Own:

• canned green beans
• canned green tomato salsa
• canned sweet potatoes
• canned pizza sauce
• canned Swiss chard
• goats milk including:
• cheese
• yogurt
• yogurt cheese
• whey (in muffins)
• fresh eggs
  
• fresh peas
• fresh strawberry jam
• fresh Swiss chard
• stored potatoes
• stored carrots
• stored pecans
• frozen blueberries
• frozen cantaloupe
• frozen strawberries
• frozen bell peppers
• frozen eggs
• dried herbs

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 4
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 5
• Thurs. 0
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 5
• Week's Total: 30

Accomplished:

• watered herb garden & corn field
• watered fall garden & Brandywines
• cardboard mulched side of garden by corn field fence
• tried bunches of sage as fly repellant
• tried bunches of thyme too, but the goats ate them
• scythed part of hay field
• transplanted volunteer dill plants to sweet potato beds

Observations:

• daylilies, daisies, & hydrangia blooming

May Wk 3: 15 - 21

Temperature Range:

• lows: 47 - 61
• highs: 60 - 88

Rainfall: only sprinkles

Planted:

• sand cherry bushes (Burgess)
• butternut squash (saved seed)
• borage (Pinetree Gardens)
• field corn, Truckers Favorite (Shumway)
• black oil sunflowers (feed store)

Harvested:

• peas
• Swiss chard
• yarrow
• calendula
• comfrey leaves

Eating our own:

• fresh strawberries
• fresh peas (in salad)
• fresh Swiss chard (in salad)
• fresh goats milk, including:
• yogurt
• cheese
• whey
• fresh eggs
• canned strawberry jam
• canned sweet potatoes
• canned Swiss chard
• canned green tomato salsa
• canned dill pickles
• canned cucumber relish
• canned pizza sauce
• frozen bell pepper
• dried wild onions (in rolls)
• dried figs (in cake)
• stored pecans & hickory nuts (in salad)

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon 6
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 5
• Fri. 5 + stash of 3
• Sat. 5
• Week's Total: 33

Accomplished:

• mulched early potato beds
• finished planting corn field
• watered main garden

Observations:

• fall garden is a weedy mess

April Wk. 3: 17 - 23

Temperature Range:

• lows: 41 - 63 F
• highs: 51 - 82 F

Rainfall: 0.65"

Planted:

• spearmint seedlings (Shumway)
• green nutmeg melon (Pinetree)
• St. Johnwort seedlings (Pinetree)
• marigolds, antique (Chris)
• zinnias, antique lavender (Chris)
• horehound seedlings (Pinetree)
• horehound seed (Pinetree)
• skullcap seed (Baker Creek)
• pyrethrum seed (Shumway)
• chicory seed (Sustainable)
• calendula seed (saved)
• cukes, Marketmore (Baker Creek)
• Hungarian poppy (Baker Creek)
• Valerian (Pinetree)
• giant marigolds (Chris)
• broad leaf parsley (Pinetree)
• Ruby Chard (Baker Creek)

Transplanted:

• marigolds

Harvested:

• beets (last of, except a few for seed)
• lettuce
• carrots
• 1st 2 strawberries!

Gathered:

• cleavers
• wild onions

Preserved:

• dehydrated wild onions
• dried cleavers herb

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 4
• Mon. 5 (+2 hidden)
• Tues. 6
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 2
• Fri. 2 (+ 1 hidden)
• Sat. 7
• Week's Total: 33

Eating our own:

• canned green beans
• canned pizza sauce
• canned Swiss chard
• canned sweet potatoes
• canned blueberry jam
• dehydrated onions
• fresh eggs
• fresh broccoli
• fresh lettuce
• fresh carrot
• frozen green peppers
• frozen corn
• frozen summer squash
• sauerkraut

Accomplished:

• made more terraced garden beds
• weeded echinacea/hollyhock bed
• weeded asparagus & strawberries
• starting to fill herb beds

Observations:

• English peas blooming (at last!)
• 1st echinacea bloom
• small peaches forming 
• strawberries beginning to ripen
• everything needs mulch!!!
• ginger rhizome sprouting
• wheat heads forming

March Wk 5: 27 - Ap 2

Temperature Range

• lows: 36 - 46 F
• highs: 46 - 66 F

Rainfall: 1.45"

Harvested:

• broccoli
• carrots
• Swiss chard
• lettuce

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 6
• Wed. 6 + 2 found in hay
• Thurs. 4
• Fri. 5
• Sat. 4
• Week's total: 37

Preserved:

• froze 10 eggs

Eating Our Own:

• fresh eggs
• fresh beets
• fresh turnips
• fresh cabbage
• fresh carrots
• fresh Swiss chard
• fresh lettuce
• fresh broccoli
• canned blueberry jam
• canned blueberry pie filling
• canned vegetable soup
• canned pizza sauce
• canned dill pickles
• canned salsa
• dried watermelon
• dried cantaloupe
• dried sage leaves
• frozen okra
• frozen cantaloupe
• frozen green peppers
• stored potatoes
• sauerkraut

Feeding to chickens & goats:

• amaranth
• sunflower seeds
• frozen cantaloupe
• stored winter squash

Accomplished:

• again not much because of rain
• our neighbor plowed/tilled ground for our corn field!
• removed 2 sweet potato sprouts & put in water to root

Observations:

• Asparagus sprouting!  14 of 30 roots. This is a relief because I planted it in the mud.
• Blueberry bush flowering. Only the part where the goats couldn't reach.
• onions coming up
• DH gave me a lemon cypress tree ( Cypressaceae.m.golden wilma) for our anniversary. Never heard of them before but smells heavenly!
• left my tomato, herb, cabbage seedlings out in the pouring rain, but they seem to have survived. (Fortunately)
• dogwood beginning to bloom

March Wk 3: 13 - 19

Temperature Range

• lows: 40 - 58 F
• highs: 48 - 81 F

Rainfall: 0.8"

Planted:

• asparagus roots, Purple Passion & Barrs Mammoth
• yellow onion sets

Harvested:

• broccoli
• carrots
• turnips (last of)
• lettuce
• Swiss chard
• cabbage (last of)

Preserved:

• cabbage - 1 gal sauerkraut

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 4
• Mon. 7
• Tues. 6
• Wed. 6
• Thurs. 3
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 5
• Week's Total: 37

Eating Our Own:

• fresh cabbage
• fresh carrots
• fresh turnips
• fresh broccoli
• fresh lettuce
• fresh eggs
• canned figs
• canned green beans
• canned strawberry jam
• canned applesauce
• canned apple butter
• canned beet pickles
• canned swiss chard
• canned pizza sauce
• canned salsa
• frozen sweet pepper
• frozen chicken broth
• sauerruben
• stored potatoes
• dried watermelon
• dried popcorn

Feeding to chickens & goats:

• amaranth
• sunflower seed heads
• turnip tops
• carrot tops
• cabbage scraps
• overripe winter squash
• weeds
• dried, crushed egg shells

Accomplished:

• harvested last of the turnips & cabbage except those being left for seed
• fed turnip tops & Swiss chard to the goats
• mulched the rhubarb
• bordered and raked out the new bed in the herb garden
• transplanted a forsythia bush
• weeded mesclun, garlic, lettuce, & broccoli
• mulched mesclun, garlic & lettuce
• fenced blueberry bush (from goats)

Observations:

• echinacea, rhubarb, & comfrey starting to grow
• really still too muddy to do much outside
• 1st horehound, bergamot, & skullcap seedlings coming up
• Meyers lemons still green but getting bigger
• cabbage & some of the mesclun flowering
• soil is still cold

Dec. Wk 1: 5th - 11th

Temperature Range:

• lows: 16 - 35 F
• highs: 35 - 50 F

Rainfall: none

Planted: nothing

Harvested:

• broccoli
• cabbage
• lettuce

Notes:

• Meyers Lemon tree is blooming
• hard freeze pretty much wilted everything
• Swiss chard & lettuces survived though

Nov. Wk. 3, 14th - 20th

Temperature Range:

• lows: 40 - 52 F
• highs: 58 - 64 F

Rainfall: 0.9"

Planted:

• Crabapple tree (semi-dwarf)
• Stanley plum tree (dwarf)
• 3 Heritage red raspberry plants

Harvested:

• turnips
• Swiss chard

Gathered:

• more pecans

Accomplished:

• pulled dead marigold plants
• raking & hauling dead leaves for mulch
• pulled last of popcorn & KY bean plants
• tilled popcorn bed to plant crabapple tree

Food Storage:

• finished the last of the homegrown onions

Nov. Wk. 2, 7th - 13th

First Frost - Nov. 7th

Temperature Range

• Lows: 30 - 47 F
• Highs:53 - 71 F

Rainfall: none

Planted: nothing

Harvested:

• tomatoes (last of, mostly green)
• sweet peppers (last of)
• Swiss chard
• turnips
• sweet basil for seed
• beets

Gathered:

• a few more pecans

Preserved:

• green tomatoes & green peppers, in Farmgirl Susan's Green Tomato Relish
• dehydrated Swiss chard
• Sauerruben from turnips (lacto-fermentated)
• more pickled beets

Accomplished:

• pulled dead tomato, pepper, and sweet basil plants
• applied compost to carrot bed
• started raking, hauling, & piling leaves by garden for mulch 

Noted:

• wheat is coming up!
• annual rye is too

Nov. Wk. 1, (31st) - 6th

Temperature Range:

• Lows: 34 - 52 F
• Highs: 50 - 71 F

Rainfall: 0.4"

Planted:

• annual rye (green manure)
• winter wheat (2.25 lbs over about 120 sq ft.)
• rutabagas, purple top  
• parsnips, Harris Model

Harvested:

• tomatoes
• sweet peppers
• green beans (last of)
• Swiss chard
• popcorn (missed a few the 1st time)
• buckwheat
• turnips

Gathered:

• pecans

Preserved:

• dehydrated Swiss chard

Accomplished:

• tilled lower half of garden
• tilled old cucumber patch
• pulled the rest of the bush beans
• pulled popcorn stalks
• pulled most of the pole beans
• applied compost to cabbages
• applied compost to old cuke patch
• started new compost pile
• planted annual rye for a green manure cover crop
• planted an experimental patch of hard winter wheat.
• Joined our area food co-op
• Fri. pm, covered toms & peppers in preparation for frost

Noted:

• mesclun coming up
• radishes coming up
• garlic coming up
• broccoli starting to head
• ate our last mess of fresh steamed green beans for the year

Oct. Wk 4, 24th - 30th

Temperature range this week:

• lows: 44 - 64 F
• highs: 67 - 78 F

Rainfall: 2.2 " over 3 days

Planted: nothing this week

Harvested:

• Swiss chard
• zucchini
• turnips
• pumpkin
• tomatoes
• green beans
• sweet peppers

Preserved: 

• froze eggs
• froze sweet peppers

Accomplished:

• Not much in the garden due to 3 days of rain
• Finished organizing pantry
• Finished shelling popcorn
• Still working on black turtle beans
• pulled old zinnia plants from front flower beds
• packed harvested turnips is a cooler with damp sand

Ordered - from Stark Bros. Nursery for fall planting:

• 2 American cranberry bushes
• 1 semi-dwarf crabapple tree
• 1 Stanley European dwarf plum tree
• 3 Heritage red raspberries

Homestead Meal: (all homegrown except cheese)

• mashed potatoes & turnips topped with big blob of homemade (not homegrown) yogurt cheese, steamed Swiss chard, & chunks of fresh tomato. YUM!

Oct. Wk 3, 17th - 23rd

Temperature range:

• lows: 46 - 59° F
• highs: 71 - 77° F

Rainfall: 0.1"

Planted:

• garlic
• China Rose winter radishes
• mild mesclun mix

Harvested:

• zucchini
• Pink Beauty radishes
• Swiss chard
• oregano
• sweet peppers
• state half runner beans
• last black turtle bean plant
• watermelons (last ones)
• baby beets
• baby turnips
• baby carrots
• tomato - 1 ripe Roma

Preserved:

• pickled beets using this recipe

Accomplished:

• thinned beets, turnips, & carrots
• fed tops to goats & chickens (llama wasn't interested)
• applied compost to new beds & broccoli
• started mulching potatoes
• pulled old dill plants, noted lots of new volunteers
• watered zucchini, sweet peppers, cabbages

To Do:

• plant parsnips & more beets?
• finish packing & labeling saved seeds
• finish organizing pantry
• harvest herbs
• clean out front flower beds

Oct. Wk 2, 10th - 16th

Temperature Range:

• lows: 46 - 60
• highs: 70 - 82

Rainfall: sprinkle

Harvested:

• last of black turtle beans
• state 1/2 runner bush beans
• last buttercup squash
• Swiss chard
• zucchini
• sweet pepper
• sweet basil
• dill seed

Preserved:

• froze 4 quarts potato soup
• 13 quarts canned sweet potatoes
• froze 2 doz. eggs
• froze sweet pepper, both green & ripe
• dehydrated bananas (store bought)

Accomplished:

• shelled beans for seed & soup
• finished pulling black turtle bean plants & buttercup squash vines
• watered fall garden
• pulled out blackberry vines & as many weeds going to seed as possible
• husked amaranth & stored in trash cans for chicken feed
• pulled out okra plants
• cleaned out chicken coop & spread litter lower 1/2 of garden

To Do:

• finish goat fencing
• finish organizing 2010 saved seeds
• thin beets
• thin turnips
• thin carrots
• finish harvesting bush bean seeds
• till
• re-pot aloe vera

Oct. Wk 1, 3rd - 9th

Temperature Range:

• lows: 44 - 54° F
• highs:  66 - 80° F

Rainfall: none

Harvested:

• sweet peppers
• Swiss chard
• beet greens with baby beets 
• dried State 1/2 runner beans (for seed & soup)
• buttercup squash
• dill seed
• sunflower seed heads (last of)

Preserved:

• froze sweet pepper
• froze eggs

Problems noted:

• black rot(?) on curing sweet potatoes

Accomplished:

• started removing amaranth seed from heads
• pulling dead bean plants
• pulled out the last of the dead sunflower stalks
• thinning beets & eating steamed thinnings
• hilled fall potatoes (mostly volunteers)
• sprayed zucchini plants with Soap Shield (copper solution) for powdery mildew
• cleaned out old cantaloupe bed, pulling dried vines & weeds with seed heads
• fed weeds to the goats (much appreciated)
• working on new fencing mostly
• husked popcorn
• shelled dried sweet corn for seed

To Do:

• finish amaranth seed
• get something to store amaranth seed in
• mulch fall garden
• work on fall fruit tree & shrub nursery order
• finish pulling out dead squash and cucumber vines
• clean out chicken coop & spread on garden for tilling
• till summer garden
• plant green manure cover crop of annual rye

Homestead Cuisine:

• baked chicken, steamed baby beets with greens, potato salad with pickle juice in mayonnaise and ripe sweet pepper

May 18, 2010

Temperature:
~ low 62 F
~ high 80 F

Harvested:
~ broccoli (fall planted) - 0.2 oz
~ lettuce (spring planted) - 2.8 oz
~ peas - 0.1 oz
~ radish (spring planted) - 1 ct, 0.9 oz
~ Swiss chard (thinnings) - 7.8 oz

Notes:
~ sifted the oldest compost pile, using hardware cloth. Got a wheel barrow and a half of compost!
~ Mulched the Swiss chard, cabbages, broccoli, & lettuce with compost

April 8, 2010

Temperature:
~ low 62 F
~ high 69 F

Rainfall - 0.5"

Planted:
~ Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard