CIRQUE, VACATION, FAMILY

My youngest daughter attends a boarding school named Rabun Gap Nacoochee School. She was persuaded to seek admission by my husband’s visiting cousin in 2009. She is part of the Cirque performance every year so we persuaded Melissa, the cousin from Texas, to come for the performance this year.

Not only did she come for Cirque, she rented a house close to the RGNS campus and invited our whole family up. We had a wonderful time. Melissa is a MARVELOUS cook and made delicious food for all of us all weekend. Then we went exploring the Smoky Mountains on Monday, and on Tuesday I finally had to get back to the “farm” and play catch up to all the chores. My wonderful husband stayed home most of the time to make sure the animals were taken care of, he did come up for the performance, and a dinner or two :-). He doesn’t DO gardening though, so it was up to me to get home and make sure my work so far wasn’t for naught.

Everything was fine, it had rained a lot 3.5 inches while I was gone, so no watering was needed. We’re experiencing the extended winter, much like the rest of the country, only no snow , thank goodness. It seems like we have a couple of days of normal temps and then we go back to really cool days and nights, lots of rain. My peas, garlic, tomato plants, asparagus, strawberries, and herbs are all doing great, but my directly sown seeds are having a hard time getting warm enough to grow. I sure hope it gets warm and stays warm soon.

I’ve been listening to Joel Salatin’s book _Folks, This Just Ain’t Normal_. I love his farming method and am trying to wrap my brain around how I could make it work on my little 3 acres of farmable land. He has tours of his Polyface farm, I’m hoping to make one in the Fall when it’s not so hot. Lots to think about when wondering how to best feed a local market.

After this week of being away, and visiting with relatives, I was wondering how do other small “farmers” out there get away from the farm without worrying about the animals, watering, etc.? It’s a topic we just haven’t found the answer to so far.

Tucker and Clayton were glad to see me.

Home

The mountains

Charlie modeling her new outfit from Aunt Bertha

The mountain house

Charlotte stayed overnight right before Melissa came

Wow, time sure does fly……..

I’ve gotten so busy in the last couple of weeks I’ve not written any new posts in awhile, sorry. Every morning as I’m heading outside with my trusty camera in hand I’m saying to myself I’m going to update my blog tonight after dinner.  After dinner all I can think of is going to sleep, LOL.   Also been in a bit of a funk starting my 2nd gardening season after the death of my son.  Some days it’s just hard to put one foot in front of the other.

We finally had a break in the weather and I was able to get some chores done in my garden.  One of our dogs, the youngest, a pitbull mix, Henry is his name, undid everything I did in my garden.  I was very discouraged, and decided before I could do anymore work I’d have to find a way to keep him, and the other dogs, out of my garden.   I have tube gates at either end of my garden and they could step right thru.  In my shed I had some leftover horse fencing, so I took it out along with the sawhorses and laid the gates on the sawhorses and attached the fencing with zip ties.  Now it’s just me in the garden, which is kind of sad, but my work doesn’t get undone on a regular basis.  

The garden is coming along…..my peas are up and I need to get a trellis in there ASAP, lettuce is doing well, garlic is growing, growing, strawberries have flowers, there are 4 tomato plants, a habanero plant,  and lots of seeds(squash, tomato, Mexican cucumber, bush beans) waiting to show themselves.  My raised beds and my lasagna beds are doing wonderfully.  The soil is so rich and dark with lots of worms.   Unfortunately, my herb beds that I started first, with the asparagus in the middle, are in need of work.  My asparagus is NOT producing at all this year.  Probably because it has been forced out by the green apple mint.  Here’s a TIP:  DON’T PLANT MINT IN ANYTHING BUT A CONTAINER UNLESS YOU WANT IT TO TAKE OVER.  Mint is very invasive.  I think I’m just going to purchase more asparagus crowns and make another bed just for them.  The herbs are all doing GREAT.  

Yesterday I made worm tea from the worm castings in my worm bin.  It is brewing as we speak and I got enough castings to make two more batches.  My plants and trees love this stuff!!!!  And I know where it came from and what it came from, LOL.  The mowing has also started back in earnest.  I love my ride on, but in my garden the tight spaces I have to use the push mower and weed whacker.   Oh my aching shoulders!!!  

Henry waiting to come in

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS…..AND THAT….

I’m listening to the free songs my friend Martha Ann has on this site. She is such an amazing woman, and singer!!! Contemplating my day, where to start. Eating might be the ticket, LOL.

My husband and I have 5 children….our oldest passed away 11-11-11. Last July our middle daughter moved home and our youngest, also a daughter, attends boarding school and is home for breaks and some weekends. This weekend we will be without kids for the first time in a long while. When the kidlets were little Mark would say he didn’t look forward to having an empty nest. Nature has a way of allowing you to want to let them go, believe me. Even back when they were little, before I knew that I would want them to move out, I would tell Mark when we have an empty nest we will have a big party. We’ve not had that party, but it is not the sad occasion we thought it would be. I’m sure some of our reaction is that we need space to grieve, but I don’t think we’re uncommon. Turn, turn, turn, it is the time of my life to start the projects I want to start, and finish the ones that need finishing, lots to do and so little time……..

I’ve completed a few projects lately…..but mostly it’s been everyday chores and errands keeping me busy. An email I got from Mother Earth News awhile back had the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day http://amzn.to/162Mf5L So I made up a batch of dough, now I can make a boule or a pizza crust or a stromboli crust or pecan sticky buns, yummy. I love this book and the bread it produces. I also finally finished shelling the pecans I picked from our tree last fall.

I’ll be glad when the weather warms up again. My blackberries and raspberry beds need taming and I have some willow to plant for projects down the road. The wind is NOT my friend, especially when it is blowing cold!!

Here’s hoping everyone’s day is superb!!!

GARDEN IS WAKING UP

Raised beds

 

New Flower Bed Cooking under a tarp.

 

HERB RAISED BED
NEEDS WORK

 

I spent almost all day on Sunday out in my garden, trying to tidy things up a bit.  Cold weather and I don’t get along well.  I”m a Floridian, living in NE Georgia and this is as far north as I want to go.  Therefore, I don’t venture into my garden too much in the cold months except to harvest crops that pretty much take care of themselves, like collards, kale, chard, etc.   I covered most of my beds with leaves and straw a couple of weeks back.  Last year when I started layering my gardens with materials I had on hand; leaves, hay, compost, straw, my gardens yielded a lot more food.  So I’ve continued this layering of my gardens.  I  know Ruth Stout would approve.  On Sunday, I weeded some, planted potatoes in my potato bags, dreamed a lot, mowed with the hand mower around everything.  I already have my seedlings growing, as a matter of fact, I need to transplant some of them.  My soil in my gardens is finally starting to look rich and luxurious, after 7 years of amending mind you.  I still need to plan where I’m going to plant what this year, crop rotation, raised bed style.  

I took some pictures and I hope you can kind of come along with me in my garden this Spring.

Time to head outside before the temperature drops again…..the Forsyhia is blooming and it’s time to prune my roses.