New Bed In Progress

I have finally started on step two of my new garden room planting bed. I dug the goofy trench a few weeks ago but really didn't know where to go from there. So I decided to do something, anything to get this project going because I just don't ever have enough on my plate at any given time. I went "down below" (as we call it around here) yesterday and picked up a yard and a half of compost from the landfill about an hour away. They make very nice compost and our landfill doesn't. I am using a method I read about to get rid of the lawn in the planting area. I layed down cardboard, wet it and then started piling the compost on top of it to weight it down. In theory the cardboard will smother the lawn beneath it and eventually break down. The worms will love it and I will be able to plant through it until it finishes composting itself. I also plan to add more dirt and more compost until the height of the mounded planting bed is where I like it. This is a low spot in my garden and it should stay moist enough.

 

This is what it looked like with the little trench to define the planting area. Not very pretty but it made the project seem real to ruin my lawn. No turning back now!

 

Here is the bed in progress. I will build the area around the spigot into a roundish rock area because the spigot is access to a spring and that means free water! The compost I added did not fill the whole area but we go shopping in the valley at least every week and a half or so and I will get more compost then. It did however raise it up six inches towards the fence in back and it will look nice when it is done. I hope!

 

Not a very technical dirt piling project but I hope it will work. It will seriously stink to have to dig all this out and start over removing the grass. Newspaper works so I really think this will, time will tell. I decided I need my own personal sod cutter, not a rental. Doyle doesn't think I do. He may be the smarter one here. I would have planting beds everywhere. I still might if this is effective.

 

And last but not least, this is the rough plan. I never work with a drawn out plan so this is a first for me. I hope it will help me to stay focused on the main goal. The plan has already changed a bit but the basic design is the same. My very A.D.D. brain needs a plan, it works like a list does for me. Neat and orderly.

It Won't Win the County Fair

As the title of this post implies, my newly canned pickled asparagus will not be winning any County Fair prizes. Which is fine as the County Fair is two months away. I have plenty of time to pickle some prettier stuff. There is tons of this stuff grown semi-locally that can be picked up on the day it is cut. This particular harvest was "Starting At $.75/ lb". I should have known there was a reason it was so cheap and not just because they cut out the middle man. When I arrived at the packing plant, this was the stuff they couldn't sell to the stores. Still nice looking but not completely uniform. I had planned to can 75 lbs and a friend was to help us and split the bounty. After I saw the "sale" stuff, I settled on 30 lbs. and will do more later. My husband can't stand the idea of tossing out so much good stuff and used the tender stems too. I don't eat a ton of pickled asparagus but he does. If he is willing to eat the stems too, then stems it is. I have to agree, there is an amazing amount of waste if you only go for the pretty tops. We added lots of sliced jalepeno and fresh garlic cloves to the bottom of each jar before we filled them with asparagus spears (and stems). I obviously wasn't the one filling the jars with brine or the one on the right would be full to the proper level. I think my husband was on that duty. It took 3 of us about 2.5 hours to can 18 quarts of this stuff. I sure hope it tastes good.

CHICKEN HOUSE UPDATE

Our chicken house is coming along. Not as quickly as I would like but then nothing ever does. We put up the siding last weekend and still need to trim it out and build the attached enclosed and roofed run. That will be the length of this side you see now. The roof for it will begin below the window at the top. This side faces the south and should get some extra sunlight in the morning. Chickens need 14 hours of sunlight per day to lay in the winter. I will need to augment this as our days are short in the winter. The third pop door on the left will not be used initially as it opens to the ante room where I will store the food and supplies. I just wanted to plan for the possibility of a brooder if we ever hatch out our own chicks. Pre-planning for things makes implementing them easier later. We will add batons and trim, then paint it. I haven't fully figured out the color yet but something will come to me. I would like it to blend in so maybe the same color as the house. We will see, I just figured the lighter the color... the cooler it will stay in the summer. My brother will be wiring it for electricity this next weekend. I love my brother he always does this kind of nice stuff for us.

And The Winner Is.................

The GiveAway for the canning book, garden labels and Mini-Seedmaster has come to a close! We had lots of entries and I enjoyed reading all about the greatest things going on in your gardens this week. It is fun for me to see how far along everyone else is compared to us. Our spring has really just begun, so people eating veggies already is exciting!

We used a very scientific method to pick the winner. A bowl with all the names written on labels. High end, huh? But hey- it worked.

So without further fuss.......... THE WINNER IS..........

Isn't this suspenseful? We really should do this more often.

We could extend it for one more week. That could be fun too.

Just kidding!

So Maggie- You just won! This has been really fun and I thank each and every one of you who entered and left comments. You all make blogging fun!

New Intimidating Row Garden

When we decided to put in a new garden in the north field, we expected to have so much space that we would have to plant cover crops in some of it. Well guess what? I am out of space and all the area not yet planted is slated for planting with seeds that I have stacked up all over the place. I honestly didn't see that one coming. This garden has intimidated me from the beginning. My husband wanted to weed with a rototiller and I wanted a no-till garden with permanent planting areas accessible by paths around them. That way, once established, there would be no walking in the wide rows and no need to till and disturb the microbial underworld of the dirt. We compromised. His corn rows he could do with as he pleased. My area I could try my new method. We have worked very hard on this area in the last few days. We installed fencing (farm fencing) around the perimeter and electrified it. There are 50 or more cows on our place as of this past week and I don't want deer helping themselves. So far, so good.

 

Later today or tomorrow we are picking up some wood shavings to put in all the permanent paths to keep our feet out of the mud and further define the planting beds from the walkways. I think that will make it look very nice. You can also see my Aquadomes at work in the garden. They are filled with water and are protecting 20 of the tomato plants so far. The others are just going to have to tough it out without them. 24 was the max the budget could handle this year. Maybe more next year. The long rows towards the top of the picture are 70 foot long rows for Doyle's corn. I hope to have that planted later today or tomorrow. I have a little more space to the east of the main walkway that you can't see in this picture. I need to define those areas before I show them to you. I am planting as much from seed as possible this year and only bought tomato and pepper plants. Next year I will start those from seed too.

MEAT CHICKEN UPDATE

  

Things are going well with the meat chickens we have growing in the barn. They hatched on the 5th of May and journeyed from Madison, Nebraska to rural Idaho. They all showed up alive and I am happy to say we have yet to lose one. Knock on wood! This type of chicken is hybridized to grow lightening fast and therefor  have a high mortality rate. This bothers me so, to maximize the health of these guys, we take their food from them 12 hours each night and give it back in the morning. That should help to keep them from eating themselves to death. I am still coming to terms with raising my own meat but I do still feel that they have a better life here with us than in a huge farm for factory use and subsequent grocery store sale. Healthier eating too! That is really the main goal here, to provide safe and healthy food for my family.

I WON! I WON! I WON!

I am so excited! I won a $100 Home Depot Gift Card on Dave's blog, The Home Garden. I never win anything so I was truly ecstatic to win this. In case you don't know, Dave has been involved with a building project through Better Homes and Gardens and Home Depot to build a project in a 48 hour time period, using materials from Home Depot for $500 dollars or less. He built a beautiful arbor as an entry way to a garden on his property and he did an amazing job! Since this was a contest for Dave too, he has asked that we all log into BHG and vote for his project. He may win an additional $5,000. You can vote daily! Think of all the great things you could do with a spare 5 grand! I know I could happily spend it! I haven't decided quite how to spend my new found wealth but I have a feeling I will likely be painting the new chicken house with the funds! Thanks Dave! (and the chickens thank you!)

Also, I have a GIVE AWAY on my blog too! If you just leave me a comment at the end of that post, telling me what the greatest thing going in your garden is now,  I will enter your name in a hat on Sunday evening and the winner will be announced on Monday morning. Please add a way I can get in touch with you too! You have the opportunity to win the latest and greates Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and a couple little extras. So head on over and add your entry!

 

GIVE AWAY!!!!

 

When I first started this blog I thought only my family would read it. You know, family from far that wants to know what we are up to here in Idaho. Well that didn't happen. I have an aunt in Texas (Hi Aunt Robin!) who reads. Both of our daughters read it and our moms too. But that is about it for family as far as I know.  My grandparents "don't want to buy anything" and that's OK since I am not selling anything. But a huge surprise to me was that so many other people read this blog. I am thankful for all of you who stop by and for those who leave comments. I have learned so much just by starting this blog/journal. I have 'met' some amazing people and discovered a wealth of fabulous information just by reading other garden blogs and links to great stuff. 

So, to celebrate the turning of 10,000 hits (I know I am a little late:-) my daughter and I thought a GiveAway would be fun! So here is the latest and greatest edition of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving 2009 as well as a seed planter and some great little plant markers! All you have to do is add a comment to this post and tell me what the greatest thing happening in your garden is this week. It can be flowers or veggies, in my book a garden is a garden. You don't have to be a canner to enjoy reading the Blue Book. It will make you want to preserve the harvest, guaranteed. Books like this are how I became hooked! I will add all your names in a hat on Sunday evening and draw randomly then. I will post on Monday morning who the lucky winner is! Please leave me a way to get in touch with you when you post. Email will be fine. If you aren't comfortable adding your email address to the comment, just drop me a private mail through the Contact Me link in the top right corner of my blog, Ollie the Goat is the picture to click. Good luck!

Gotta Love Old Houses

 

Normally when I ask for help digging a hole, I would like to be planting a tree or two. Not accessing plumbing and sewer pipes. That raised bed all askew behind my husband used to house some onions. Notice he did not dig up my flowers? He really is a nice guy. I am absolutely positive this is not how he planned to spend mother's day and the day after.

 

He carefully dug down and only destroyed as much as necessary. His mom even moved all my onions to a new bed! Very sweet. I have a great family and good friends. Doyle replaced the sewer line to the septic system and hopefully fixed the problem. Our home was the old RR Depot that they moved to it's current location many years ago using logs and chains. Then they began adding onto it and raising 5 kids. Our home is mishmash to say the least and our fixer upper projects are never small and cheap. They are always big and expensive. The family before us lived here 60+ years and died here. They are wholly responsible for the wonderful soil and good bones of the gardens. I just expand on or remodel what they started.

 

Ouch, huh? I worked so hard to hand dig out every dandelion last year so as not to have any this year. And guess what? I didn't. But all bets are off now as the soil has once again been disturbed. But I have a working bathroom again. Yep, in a very old house, there is usually only one bathroom as is the case with ours. So having it non-com was really an issue. Doyle put all the sod back in place and hopefully in a few weeks you won't even be able to tell this fun trench was even here at all. One can dream!