225 of 365

Clear blue sky and dry humidity.

• Low: 57
• High: 79

Planted:

• cabbage plants: savoy and hybrid
• cabbage collards plants

Harvested:

• apples
• okra
• tomatoes

Watered the newly planted cabbages (greywater). We've only had a quarter inch of rain so far this month so everything is dry.

Dan's been on vacation so we're doing a lot of non-gardening projects that are needful nonetheless. Anyway, I haven't had much computer time either.

The ants are really bad in the okra. In the pods! not just the ground around the plants.

April 8 - 14, 2012

Temperature Range

• lows: 35 - 52° F
• highs: 64 - 77° F

Rainfall: 0

Frost: Thursday, April 12

Planted: nothing this week. Glad I waited too.

Harvested:

• lettuce
• broccoli
• beets
• asparagus
• collard flower stalks for goats

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 8
• Mon. 7
• Tues. 6
• Wed. 7
• Thurs 8
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 7
• Week's Total: 49

Observed & Accomplished
Sun

• day of rest

Mon

• transplanted 3 volunteer rugosas
• finished bedding for worm bed
• cut grass by wheat field fence, drying for hay
• geese flew overhead, heading east
• wild roses are blooming

Tuesday

• harvested all the fall beets except a few for seed
• filled in potatoes

Thursday

• frost!
• potato growth frost bitten
• Dan tilled the bottom of the garden
• also tilled bed near almond tree except where landscape cloth is fixed to the ground thanks to the wire grass
• mixed old grass cuttings into worm bed
• gathered up cut hay
• transplanted a volunteer forsythia

Friday

• posted a garden update on the homestead blog
• new elder bushes leafing out
• blueberries on new blueberry bush
• raspberry bushes dwarfed in weeds

Saturday

• ordered compost worms
• made top for worm bed
• made yogurt from frozen milk
• transplanted rugosas not doing so well even though I'm giving them lots of water

Mar. 18 - 24, 2012

Temperature Range

• lows: 56 - 63° F
• highs: 73 - 82° F

rainfall: 0.85"

Planted:

• potatoes, Red Norland, 5#

Harvested:

• kale
• lettuce
• broccoli
• collards
• cabbage collards
• mangels

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 10
• Mon. 10
• Tues. 7
• Wed. 5
• Thurs. 9
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 8
• Week's Total: 55

Observed& Accomplished:
Sunday

• day of rest
• more rain!
• peas up
• wheat heading
• crabapple & sand cherries starting to bloom

Monday

• weeded some in garden but soil very wet
• tulips blooming

Tuesday

• pulled more weeds
• spirea blooming
• found 4 surviving comfrey plants from 2010

Wednesday

• worked on weeding strawberry/asparagus patch
• decided where to transfer the strawberries
• strawberries beginning to bloom
• Came home from TSC to find a hawk circling over the chicken yard just above the pecan trees. Cowboy had all the hens huddled safely together under the cedar tree.
• bought 10# Norland potatoes from TSC
• also bought 2 more sand cherry seedlings

Thursday

• planted the sand cherries
• planted half the seed potatoes
• 1st bed full of ants!
• noted quite a few volunteer potatoes growing too

Friday

• more rain
• strawberries & elders arrived

Saturday

• noted lots of vetch growing around the place

March 11 - 17, 2012

Temperature Range:

• lows: 38 - 58° F
• highs: 64 - 82° F

Rainfall: 0.2"

Harvested:

• turnips, all except a few for seed
• mangel
• collards
• cabbage collards
• broccoli
• asparagus 
• beets
• carrots
• parsnip (just 1)
• kale

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon. 9 (1 broken)
• Tues. 9
• Wed. 8
• Thurs 7
• Fri. 8
• Sat. 4
• Week's Total: 50

Observed & Accomplished

Sunday

• day of rest
• blueberry bushes blooming

Monday

• cleaned out barn
• dumped manure in field to till in
• weeded Egyptian walking onions & 1 herb bed
• composted fruit trees
• gave a dozen eggs to a neighbor
• made yogurt from frozen milk
• drizzled at sunset

Tuesday

• harvested & ate our 1st ever asparagus!
• weeded the parsnip patch

Wednesday

• published my March garden post on the homestead blog
• harvested all the turnips except a few for seed
• pulled a first parsnip for roasted veggies tonight!
• Thinking about making the turnip bed into a permanent strawberry bed
• weeded the collards

Thursday

• light rain

Friday

• wet & drizzly

Saturday

• another light rain
• dogwood trees beginning to bloom
• found a source for dolomitic limestone by the ton

Feb. 19 - 25, 2012

Temperature Range

• lows: 32 - 55° F
• highs: 38 - 74° F

Rainfall: 0.25"

Planted:

• 30 comfrey crowns
• white Dutch clover

Harvested:

• broccoli
• kale
• collards
• cabbage collards

Gathered:

• acorns

Preserved:

• 2 dozen eggs, frozen in muffin tins, 2 eggs per cup

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 6
• Mon 8
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 8
• Thurs. 7
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 8
• Week's Total: 48

Observations & Accomplishments
Sunday

• day of rest
• rain
• high temp was in the am

Monday

• icy this morning
• Dan finished the blueberry bush fence
• worked a little more on threshing wheat

Wednesday

• planted 30 comfrey crowns
• very windy
• thunderstorm at bedtime, but only 0.2"

Thursday

• applied bone meal to broccoli, kale, & beet beds
• sowed Dutch white clover seed around the new comfrey bed
• Japanese magnolia is blooming

Friday

• applied blood meal to the wheat

Saturday

• Dan rented a skid loader to scrape the saplings, poison ivy & ground clover vines from the back field

Feb. 12 - 18, 2012

Temperature Range:

• lows: 18 - 53° F
• highs: 41 - 63° F

Rainfall: 0.1 inch

Harvested:

• cabbage-collards
• kale
• lettuce

Gathered:

• acorns for the goats

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon. 7 - 1 = 6
• Tues. 9
• Wed. 5
• Thurs. 5
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 6
• Week's total: 42

Observed & Accomplished:
Sunday

• day of rest
• 1st dip into the teens this year
• cabbage collards wilted most from the freeze

Monday

• hauled more logs out of the woods for garden terraces
• completed one more terrace
• caught one of my Barred Hollands eating an egg! It'd better be the only one or she's a goner. 

Tuesday

• wet, chilly, indoor day
• 100% homestead dinner: slow cooked chicken, steamed cabbage collards, baked sweet potatoes, & salad of lettuce, kale, radishes, & pickled, hard-boiled eggs
• made more pickled eggs

Wednesday

• Dan worked on fencing for the blueberry bush

Thursday

• cold and rainy

Friday

• my comfrey order arrived

Saturday

• bought hay
• Dan worked on gate for blueberry corral
• so far, no more egg eating by chickens
• experimented some with wheat threshing
• started raining again around bedtime

Feb, 5 - 11, 2012

Temperature Range

• lows: - 23 - 49 F
• highs: 42 - 68 F

Rainfall: scant

Harvested:

• beets
• kale
• radishes
• collards
• cabbage-collards

Gathered:

• acorns for the goats

Egg Counts

• Sun. 7
• Mon. 6
• Tues. 9
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 8
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 8
• Week's Total: 48

Accomplished & Observed
Sunday

• day of rest
• break in the rain
• sprayed wheat with fish emulsion (5-1-1)

Tuesday

• cutting down milking to every other day
• pickled hard boiled eggs are yummy!

Wednesday

• day started with a drizzly rain
• terraced a few more garden beds
• mulched a few more garden beds
• steamed beets & garden salad for dinner
• fed tops & trimmings to goats
• they still like their grain better

Thursday

• seed order from Shumway arrived
• took the goats into the woods with my while I cut evergreen branches for the boys to eat

Friday

• got a puppy as a livestock dog!

Saturday

• wind! very cold, temperature dropping all day
• Welsummer egg today. 1st in a long time

Jan. 22 - 28, 2012

Temperature Range:

• lows: 37 - 52 F
• highs: 43 - 62 F

Rainfall: 1 inch

Seed Orders:

• R. H. Shumway
• Buckwheat, 5 lbs 
• Collards 
• Vates
• Morris Heading 
• Elderberry bushes, 2 
• Sugar beets, Bucklunch 
• Strawberries, 50 
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Beans, long, Red Seeded Asparagus 
• Celery, Tendercrisp 
• Cushaw, orange 
• hairy vetch, 1/4 pound
• Oats, hulless 
• Sorghum, Mennonite 
• Summer Savory 
• Summer squash, Tatume 
• Coe's Comfrey - 25 crown roots of Bocking 4 Russian Comfrey

Harvested:

• turnips
• cabbage collards
• collards
• kale

Egg Counts:

• Sun - 7
• Mon - 7
• Tues - 6 plus a broken shell
• Wed - 4
• Thurs - 6
• Fri - 6
• Sat - 3
• Week's Total: 40

Observed & Accomplished:
Sunday

• day of rest
• drizzled all day
• tried some of my canned green tomatoes (fried)

Monday

• more rain! :(

Tuesday

• finished the last of the window sill ripened tomatoes picked last November.
• daffodils blooming
• made yogurt
• finished de-seeding BOSS heads

Wednesday

• sun! too wet to work in the garden though
• hauled logs for terrace beds
• egg production has really picked up

Thursday

• drizzled all day
• hauled more logs for terrace beds
• mailed in my Shumway seed order
• finished shelling cowpeas

Friday

• 1st double yolked Buff egg!
• sent off Baker Creek order
• ordered 25 more comfrey plants
• another round of broccoli looks ready to harvest
• pickled a dozen hard boiled eggs in leftover pickle juice

Saturday

• wheat is growing tall. cut a bunch back for the goats. something has been laying in it!
• made & froze 3 quarts of turkey soup

January 15 - 21, 2012

Temperature Range

• lows: 29 - 44 F
• highs: 44 - 52 F

Rainfall: 2.85"

Harvested:

• broccoli leaves (for the goats)
• mangels
• turnips greens
• kale
• cabbage
• collards
• cabbage collards
• beet greens

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 4
• Wed. 6
• Thurs. 4
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 5
• Week's Total: 35

Observed & Accomplished:

Sunday

• day of rest

Tuesday

• baked with wood cookstove for the first time!
• raked acorns for the goats
• rained all night

Wednesday

• gave 2 doz eggs to my DDL

Thursday

• started shelling black oil sunflower seeds

Friday

• rain
• daffodils blooming

Saturday

• rain
• noted a vinca blooming!

Jan. 8 - 14, 2012

Temperature range

• lows: 24 - 50 F
• highs: 39 - 60 F

Rainfall: 1.25"

Harvested:

• lettuce
• radishes
• turnips
• kale
• broccoli & mangel leaves for goats
• collard, cabbage collard & cabbage leaves for goats

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 2
• Mon. 3
• Tues. 3
• Wed. 3
• Thurs. 3
• Fri. 5
• Sat. 3
• Week's Total: 22

Observed & Accomplished

Sunday

• day of rest
• rain
• some of the wheat looks a tad yellowish. Should I be concerned? Need to research

Monday

• damp and drizzly all day
• raked leaves & mulched empty garden bed

Tuesday

• another damp drizzly day
• raked leaves in the back field and mulched
• planted the potted lemon cypress Dan got me for my last birthday
• mulched the lemon cypress

Wednesday

• worked on the summer garden plan & seed order

Thursday

• winter blew in 

Friday

• I'm surprised the garden survived the low temps as well as it did
• Daffodils trying to bloom!

Saturday

Applied nitrogen fertilizer to the wheat. I hate to use a chemical fertilizer but I do believe it is nitrogen starved and that is what we had. 

Dec. 25 - 31, 2011

Temperature Range:

• lows: 27 - 42 F
• highs: 48 - 59 F

Rainfall: 1.35"

Harvested:

• collards
• cabbage collards
• lettuce
• kale
• calendula blossoms

Egg Counts

• Sun. 1
• Mon. 0
• Tues. 1
• Wed. 0
• Thurs. 2
• Fri. 0
• Sat. 1
• Week's Total: 5

Observed & Accomplished
Sunday

• scalloped homegrown sweet potatoes

Tuesday

• heavy rain then winterish winds
• garden is very muddy
• lots of seed catalogs arrived today
• used a few more windowsill ripened garden tomatoes in scrambled (frozen) eggs
• violets are blooming

Wednesday

• finished off the rest of the roosters (all but 1)
• froze 3 chickens
• cleaned out goat stalls & started new compost pile
• put last of made compost where new comfrey bed will be

Thursday

• raked more pecan leaves for mulch
• mulched parsnips
• 2 Welsummer eggs today

Friday

• chilly & drizzly 
• saw 3 black vultures in the old oak trees

Saturday

• Barred Holland started laying again
• seeded most of the broom corn

Dec. 4 - 10, 2011

Temperature Range:

• lows: 27 - 55 F
• highs: 41 - 62 

Rainfall: 1.3"

Harvested:

• collard greens
• cabbage collards
• kale
• lettuce
• radishes
• turnips
• dill weed

Egg Counts

• Sun. 1
• Mon. 0
• Tues. 1
• Wed. 0
• Thurs. 1
• Fri. 1
• Sat. 0
• Week's total: 4

Observed & Accomplished
Sunday

• day of rest
• took some garden photos for a blog update

Monday

• buried a bucket of kitchen scraps in last summer's turnip bed
• raked leaves & mulched until it started to rain

Tuesday

• rain

Wednesday

• garden post up on my blog
• rain, then windy and cold
• picked some lettuce & radishes for lunch
• sweet potato fries for dinner

Thursday

• picked kale for dinner
• ice on the edges of the chicken's water this morning

Nov. 27 - Dec. 3, 2011

Temperature Ranges

• lows: 29 - 50 F
• highs: 42 - 67 F

Rainfall: 2.5"

Harvested

• collards
• kale
• broccoli thinnings
• mangel thinnings
• cabbage collards

Gathered 

• persimmons

Preserved:

• 5, half-pints green tomato jam
• 1 more hard cheese
• froze persimmon pulp

Egg Counts

• Sun. 0
• Mon. 1 + stash of 11
• Tues. 1
• Wed. 1
• Thurs. 1
• Fri. 3
• Sat. 0
• Week's Total: 18

Observed & Accomplished:
Sunday

• day of rest
• thinned broccoli & mangels to feed the goats

Monday

• Rained all day. So much for garden chores
• made yogurt
• canned the green tomato jam I'd been working on
• found an Ameraucana's secret nest in the haymow - 12 eggs!
• ordered more cheese wax
• found 1 more jar of 2010 pizza sauce
• persimmons seem about done

Tuesday

• wintry feel to the air
• light rain in p.m.
• inside day

Wednesday

• opened a jar of the chicken / okra gumbo for lunch, YUM
• pulled dead okra, marigolds, & broom corn stalks from garden
• raked pecan leaves

Thursday

• made cheese #20
• waxed cheese #19
• collected okra seeds from pulled plants
• need to pull popcorn stalks but the ground's too wet
• sauteed cabbage collards with onions for dinner. Very tasty

Friday

• One of today's eggs was light brown like the Delaware's, except she's dead. Could it be that the Buffs have started to lay?
• raked leaves for mulch

Saturday

• raked more mulch
• mulched collards & beets
• partially mulched kale & carrots
• pulled dead popcorn & bean plants
• fixed terrace logs
• thinned broccoli (& fed to goats)