October 23 - 29, 2011

Temperature Range:

• lows: 41 - 51 F
• highs:  57 - 74 F

Rainfall: 0.25"

Planted: 

• 1st section of winter wheat

Harvested:

• horehound
• sage
• Hutterite soup beans
• calendula flowers
• kale
• beet greens
• broccoli thinnings
• lettuce
• collards
• cabbage leaves

Seeds saved:

• okra
• antique marigolds

Gathered:

• pecans
• wild onion tops

Egg Counts:

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

Accomplished & Observed:

Sunday

• day of rest
• added chopped wild onion tops to scrambled eggs
• found one of my layers (the Delaware) dead in the coop

Monday

• picked herbs & dried beans
• gathered & shelled pecans

Tuesday

• pulled half the okra plants & fed to goats
• pulled 1 bed of popcorn stalks
• cleaned chicken coop & spread litter over an empty bed for the winter
• pulled dead melon vines. Noted nematode nodes on roots
• made yogurt

Thursday

• planted 1st section of wheat
• tilled for a 2nd section
• cut broom corn sprouts to dry for goats
• gathered more pecans

Friday

• waxed cheese #15

Saturday

• a light rain
• autumn has definitely arrived
• frost warning for tonight

Sept. 25 - Oct. 1

Temperature Range

• lows: 46 - 70 F
• highs: 64 - 82 F

Rainfall: 0.15"

Planted: Nothing this week

Harvested

• spearmint
• horehound
• beets
• radishes
• sweet pepper

Preserved

• 3 cheeses

Egg Counts

• Sun. 5
• Mon. 2
• Tues. 1
• Wed. 2
• Thurs. 1
• Fri. 2 (I think Mrs. Gold Ameraucana is hiding her eggs again)
• Sat. 1
• Week's Total: 14 

Accomplished:

Sunday
• day of rest
• checked soil in corn field, very muddy
Monday
• started cucumber pulp for seeds
• made cheese
Tuesday
• made cheese
Wednesday
• weeded herb garden and trimmed border beds
• harvested new growth of spearmint & horehound
• started cutting corn stalks in corn field
Thursday
• thinned a few things in fall garden
• 1st steamed beets & greens for dinner
• 1st fall radishes
Friday
• nothing in garden, ran errands & worked on house
Saturday
• made one more cheese

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 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

Feb Wk 4: 20 - 26

Temperature Range

• lows: 35 - 60 F
• highs: 58 - 71 F

Rainfall: 0.1"

Egg Count:

• Sun. 3
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 3
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 3
• Fri. 4
• Sat. 5
• Week's total= 27

Planted (indoors):

• Joe Pye Weed
• Pyrethrum
• Spearmint
• St. Johns Wort
• Horehound
• Skullcap
• Chicory
• Valerian
• Bergamot
• Creeping Thyme
• Tomato, Brandywine

Planted (outdoors):

• 2 dogwoods (from National Arbor Day Foundation) in bird garden

Transplanted:

• strawberries

Seeds in freezer:

• Narrowleaf Echinacea
• marshmallow

Harvested:

• lettuce
• carrots

Accomplished:

• actually remembering to turn the compost almost daily
• tilled in annual rye
• made a compost sifter

Noted:

• winter wheat starting to grow
• daffodils blooming everywhere
• raspberries beginning to leaf