Oct. 30 - Nov. 6, 2011

Temperature Range:

• lows: 33 - 49 F
• highs: 56 - 64 F

First Frost: Oct 30

Rainfall: 1.2"

Planted:

• 2nd section of wheat (total 46#)

Harvested:

• green peppers
• green tomatoes
• thyme
• spearmint
• calendula blossoms
• Hutterite soup beans

Gathered:

• pecans

Egg Counts

• Sun. 2
• Mon. 2
• Tues. 1
• Wed. 1
• Thurs. 1
• Fri. 0
• Sat. 1
• Week's Total: 8

Accomplished & Observed:

Sunday
• day of rest
• first frost
• picked frost damaged green peppers
• green tomatoes still look okay
Monday
• sliced & froze those peppers
• planted most of the rest of the wheat
• sprinkled compost over most of that
• shelled pecans
• noted frost damage on tender plants but everything seems to still be alive
• watered Egyptian onions, mangels, broccoli, lettuce, radishes
Tuesday 
• made & froze banana bread & muffins from bag of overripe bananas 
Wednesday
• made mozzarella (1 gal milk)
• made hard cheese (1.5 gal milk)
• gathered a few handfuls of pecans & hickory nuts
• gold Ameraucana is starting to lay again
Thursday
• rain
Friday
• more rain
• the wheat is up! (1st planting)
Saturday
• gathered more pecans

October 16 - 22, 2011

Temperature Range

• lows: 35 - 54 F
• highs: 54 - 79 F

Rainfall: 0.6"

Harvested:

• spearmint
• thyme
• sweet potatoes
• beets
• pecans
• persimmons

Preserved:

• 1 ice cube tray of whey
• 1 hard cheese

Seeds saved:

• antique marigold

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 1
• Mon. 0
• Tues. 1
• Wed. 1
• Thurs. 2
• Fri. 1
• Sat. 2
• Week's Total: 8

Accomplished:

Sunday
• day of rest
• discovered deer had been eating & pulling out my beets!
• covered beets with black plastic for the night
Monday
• harvested 2nd bed of sweet potatoes
• made cheese
• covered beets again
Tuesday
• rain
Wednesday
• more rain
• made mozzarella
• gathered pecans
• made sweet potato fries!
• Dan made a live animal trap to catch the ground hog living under the house
• no further deer damage so far
Thursday
• gathered & shelled pecans
• one of the Welsummers is laying again
• ground hog trap remains empty
Friday
• heard 2 owls in our oak trees before 1st light
• gathered more pecans
Saturday
• checked persimmon tree & gathered what we could
• gathered pecans
• tilled part of the corn field to plant wheat

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 4: 20 - 26

Temperature range:

• lows: 35 - 67 F
• highs: 52 - 81 F

Rainfall:  2.05"

Planted:

• sweet pepper seeds (indoors)

Potted:

• horseradish root
• Dan's olive tree (into larger pot)

Transplanted:

• 1 sassafras tree
• 2 redbud trees
• 1 Sargent crabapple
• violets
• daffodils
• strawberries
• 1 crepe myrtle
• forsythia

Harvested:

• beets
• lettuce
• broccoli
• carrots

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 6
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 5
• Fri. 6 plus a stash of 5
• Sat. 3
• Weekly Total: 39

Eating Our Own:

• fresh beets
• fresh turnips
• fresh lettuce
• fresh carrots
• fresh broccoli
• fresh eggs
• stored potatoes
• canned strawberry jam
• canned blueberry pie filling
• canned dill pickles
• canned cucumber relish
• canned applesauce
• canned tomato relish
• canned blueberry jam
• frozen hash browns
• frozen blueberries
• sauerruben

Feeding to chickens and goats:

• amaranth
• sunflower seeds
• cabbage leaves
• Swiss chard
• overripe buttercup squash

Accomplished:

• measured & staked new permanent garden beds
• pulled cabbage plants except those going to seed
• moving strawberries to new double dug rows

Observations:

• Sprouting:
• St. Johnswort seeds 
• Roma tomato seeds 
• Spearmint 
• creeping thyme
• pyrethrum
• volunteer calendula coming up 
• strawberries flowering
• fig tree beginning to leaf out
• blueberry flower buds forming
• azaleas blooming
• robins everywhere
• lots more rain on Saturday

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