Down Mulberry Lane

Busy day, no pictures, LOL

I was so busy, I didn't have time for picture taking!  Actually there wasn't much to take pictures of.  At least with what I was doing. 

I finished planting the BIG garden today!  WOO HOO!  I am keeping a close eye on my squash however, because I am almost sure they aren't coming up... I used old seed and the pumpkins (same year seed) came up, but the butternuts are not up yet.  I may have to replant those...*sigh* 

Steve helped me in the garden some today.  We got a fence up for the cucumbers.  We figured we have 10 more rows of climbers to fence up.  We don't have enough fence, so we plan to put fence post and weave baling twine between the posts for the climbing peas and beans. 

Yesterday, while working in the garden, I was feeling flustered... nothing was coming up.  Two rains, two weeks and only about 3 plants of okra seemed to pop out of the ground.  Well, between yesterday evening and this morning... my potatoes popped, many of my wax beans, my snap peas...and much of the okra, a few cucumber plants and pumpkin plants... PHEW!  How impatient I am, but in just 12 hours... things were up and my heart was lightened.  God is good! 

I also finished the box gardens today.  I planted some huckleberries in containers (new to me).  I planted tomatoes, peppers, radishes and carrots in the boxes.  I also worked on the container potatoes which are now HUGE!  They are as tall as the can... they got away from me.  I buried up about a foot more today and will try to bury some more tomorrow.  It seems that I was stressing the plants so I quit for a bit to give them a rest from all that soil being dropped onto them. 

Now, I can focus on the weeding.  We actually got round one of the BIG garden done today as well.  The grass and weeds came up in their fury after that last tilling... Dh is actually letting me do a bit of layering around in the big garden!  I'm so excited!  LOL  I am testing lasagna style gardening in some of my boxes in the box garden.  But Steve didn't want me to do it in the large garden.  However we are going to test it with a couple rows to see if it makes a difference with weeding.  So I have 3 beds of onions.  The first bed Dh tested with some urea... which he didn't tell me about until tonight.  He was fertilizing the pasture and threw a handful on my one bed of onions and they are up about 4 inches taller than the other two beds... crazy.  He says it is natural... but I'll have to read about it before I fall for that one... he said Round up was safe, too... but after alot of reading... I am not using that anywhere near our garden again... likely not on our property either.... since we drink well water.  I am a researcher and my husband is a truster of small words when it has outstanding results... like killing all the weeds so he doesn't have to bend over and weed.  *grin* 

I understand that awesome thought that a product could make life so much simpler, but I believe that when God said we would have to work in the ground... it would be work... and the chemicals to eliminate work... are proving to be bad for us... just as not doing work is bad for us... God only knew what was best for us and I believe there are things we can do to make gardening easier... like the raised beds... the soil is so much easier to work with... crazy idea... but it works!  I can run my 3 tined hand tools through the soil and it is easy to work with... not so with my large garden... which is hard as a rock from over tilling!  I still have to get out and weed, I still have to work the soil, but it isn't back breaking labor.  It is work that is good for me! 

I also am going to work on mulching more in the gardens this year... hoping to put some more organic material back into the soil by mulching heavily ...as heavily as possible.... our garden is quite large and the amount of mulching materials on hand is limited to grass clippings and a pile of compost. 

Well, off to shower.  I've been in the garden since 11 am short of a meal break and a rest break... about 7-8 hours in the garden!  Whew!  It was a long day!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Box garden is growing...

Box of four o'clocks and zinnias.

Box of wildflowers.

Box of sunflowers on upper left.  Box on right not planted yet.  Box in center is cosmos and dwarf hollyhocks.

Salad box.  Spinach is growing well and ready to start picking.  The lettuces will be thinned out and fed to a baby rabbit that my daughter found/saved from the dogs. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

A Blister a Day Keeps the Weeds Away

Today I got my official first blister of the season from weeding the garden.  Actually I don't believe I have had a blister on my hands for several years (tells you how much I weed my gardens!)  LOL  The blister isn't very large, it is just under my middle finger. 

I weeded the flower beds, my salad bed, part of my strawberry bed, then decided I would tackle the larger garden and I weeded about 1/3 of the garden.  I will let Dh work on the corn area as I am unsure where the rows exactly are... he didn't mark them and the corn isn't up, yet.  I haven't decided how to weed the other third of the garden as of yet.  That is my vine part of the garden where everything sprawls.  It's not all planted yet, either, so I sit and Hmmmm... and I still haven't figured it out!  LOL. 

I've hit the bad spots down.  Now I need to finish planting what is left to plant (another salad box of greens, zucchini, yellow squash, MN melons, watermelons, and huckleberries...plus a box of peppers, a box of tomatoes, and a row of tomatoes).  I also need to put some poles with baling twine to support the peas and beans.

After that, I hope to weed it thoroughly one more time in another 8-10 days.  Then we're off to campmeeting.  I always return to weeds that grew feet in height over our short vacation... I'm hoping that we can stall some of that.  Last year our efforts weeding before we left were not for vain... it really did help.  Get the weeds when they are small and they can't bite you in the butt!  *grin* 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Box Garden

Here are pictures of our box garden.  In previous posts you've seen the campfire area, which is on the opposite side of this area, you can see the chairs that are around the campfire area.  You can also see the manure compost pile behind the fence that I posted on a few days ago as well. 

The green strip that looks like grass will later show some yellow lilies. 

We added 7 more boxes, making our box garden total 10 boxes total (if you include the strawberry bed). I've got some lasagna style gardening in trial in 3 boxes (still not planted, but the layers are starting to break down).  I've got flowers planted in 5 boxes.  And the roses are starting to return.  I've also planted sweet peas by the trellises. 

This is one of the flower boxes with the seedlings just popping up. 

Here is my salad box.  Each quarter has different items... spinach, romaine, and two different lettuce mixes.  

This is the sunflower box.  Again it is just starting to sprout. 

One of the climbing roses that is coming back.  It will be another year before I will need to provide a support for them.  It is always exciting to see that they've made it through the winter!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Growing Potatoes in a can...

This year we are trying something new.  We are growing potatoes in metal cans.  This is our first attempt at raising potatoes in a can.  I was unsure if it would work, but so far, so good. 

The two garbage cans and one large barrel are being used to grow my potatoes.  They sit in our smaller garden.  Dh wishes I would paint the cans to make them a bit more attractive, but I have not had time as of yet.  I wondered if the tall cans would struggle to have enough light to grow the potatoes, however the sun must be rising high enough for the plants to get their sunshine as the leaves are nice and green. 

These are pictures of when the plants just broke through the surface.  Since then, (about a week) they are now about 6 inches or more tall.  The soil in the can is a mixture of compost and peat moss.  I filled it about 6 inches deep and then planted my potatoes and topped it with another 3-4 inches of soil.  It seemed to take a long time for them to break through, but when they did... we sure did smile.  Our biggest concern was that they would lack sunshine, but that is not a problem and they are growing quite well. 

I hope I picked out the right type of potatoes.  You need to use a late season potato so that it will have time to grow up to the top of the can, however we heard that the yukon gold's are not good choices (and they are a late season crop).  We picked potatoes from the seed house that were said to be a late season... they are Kenebecs. 

 To continue growing them in the can, we will need to add soil to the can so they plants can grow upward in the can.  When the plants get to about 6-8 inches high, you want to cover them up to about 3 inches above the soil, repeating until the can is full and the plants are up at the top of the cans.  Come harvest time, we should simply need to tip over the cans and sift out our potatoes.   

Dh thinks this is alot of work for a potato, simply because they are rather affordable at the store.  However, I think it is good to know what is in our soil as we grow the potatoes and I believe learning how to grow another crop is fun and rewarding.   In the three cans I wasn't able to plant but about 1/4th of my 5 pound bag.  We will see how many potatoes we gain to see if it is worth continuing to grow our own potatoes. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Campfire

We've been working on our small garden.   I'm sharing pictures of the campfire area in this post.  The above picture is our campfire ring, which originally was just the rectangle brick ring.  I added some flat stones around the base as I didn't like having mulch right up against the fire, as it didn't seem very safe.  Dh and I had added mulch a couple weeks ago on the entire garden area, surrounding the boxes and campfire area.  He did most of the work with the mulch. 

I pulled out the older chairs that used to sit on the porch.  The legs have been bent and aren't perfectly straight anymore, but no one really notices when they sit out in the campfire area.  The mulch helps them all find a level spot and they work GREAT!  I had to wash the chairs as they were covered in pigeon poo from being stored in the barn. 

This is my rock mess.  I still have yet to decide what to do with the rest.  I am considering making a base underneath the barrel/garbage cans.  Dh made a table out of the large rock that you see in the top left of the picture.   I've been enjoying working outside, hence the reason I haven't been blogging much. 

It is fun to see things come together.  

Warmly, ~Melissa

Manure Compost

Whew!  it is that time of year when our noses cringe when we go outside!   Springtime is cleanup time around the farm yard and Dh has been busy cleaning up! 

In the winter the animals get fed in generally the same area over time.  The animals try to stay warm by sticking close to the food.  That means all the manure drops with the scattered bits of hay that they pull out and stomp down which they have deemed unacceptable for consumption! 

If we would leave the manure/hay mixture it often does not break down.  We visited some farms and found someone with a pile as tall as the barn of manure and hay.  If you do not turn it, it just doesn't break down.  The top forms a crust (which is wonderful because it stops the smells from drifting).  It is not so wonderful to have a large pile of manure to look at day after day, however. 

Dh found that by turning the piles, it will break down and turn into a manure compost.  Basically it is like compost in that it resembles dirt when it is completely broke down.  However, the manure adds more nutrients to the compost, so that it is wonderful for the garden. 

This is the pile from our chicken/horse barn.  It is what is cleaned out from inside and from the feed area outside.  The ground where we feed is often lacking hay because the manure concentration is so strong it often kills the grass.  When Dh cleaned up this area, the chickens didn't mind one bit as you'll notice in the next picture...

They are scratching and digging the ground that was roughed up.  A chicken's favorite past time. 

This is our front pasture's winter feeding area.  It is to the north of my garden.  We are resting 1/3 of our garden area and putting the manure compost pile on top of it.  It will get turned throughout the summer and break down.  This will fertilize our garden beneath it so it is ready for next year.  Dh plans to do this each year, resting a different part of the garden each year.  The resulting compost will be used in other garden boxes and spread over the entire garden once it has broke down. 

Here is a close-up of our compost pile.  It is about 2-3 feet deep and 30 by 60 feet wide/long. 

This is from a different direction.  It really doesn't smell very good for the first couple turns.  But after a while, it loses it's smell and no one will be bothered by it.  Which is good, because our campfire area is just next to this area (close to the garden it is covering, yet before the house... it is very hard to see at this angle.)

This is last years pile of manure compost.  There is still some left, which I will use on the garden.  You can see a few stumps in the pile.  Dh pushed it onto some stumps and the sheep used it this winter to lay on, hence the brown crust you see on top where they drug a bit of hay on top of the pile.  But below the crust it is a nice dark compost... ready for the garden.  We're still in the midst of clean-up and need to get  the bale twine out.  We have about 4-5 trees to drop this fall in the pasture area; the trees have simply lived their life and died.   We need an area to feed in the winter and we limit the space for hay feeding.   Come spring, we use that same area to clean up and make the compost while the sheep, horses and chickens go out to pasture.   Removing the trees will help with this clean up. 

I love to watch the piles break down.  You will actually see the piles "steaming" when they start breaking down.  It is actually quite warm.   I think it is interesting to see how God planned for things that seem "useless" and a "bother" to actually be something that will help the ground replenish it's nutrients.  The cycle takes about a year for it to break down and be usable.  At first I thought it took too long... meaning I thought the mess of compost wasn't worth it.  The space it takes up wasn't worth it.  The time of working with it, wasn't worth it.  But some things take time and there are spiritual lessons to be learned when you work with God's land.  Seems to take that time working the earth to learn many of them. 

My fil offered us his compost bin (the type that are on a stand in a barrel and you add to it and turn it).  It is very nice, but Dh laughed and said... we really really REALLY don't need a small compost bin when we've got these huge piles to work with.  *grin*  

This is our third year with making manure compost.  This is, however, the first year we actually developed a plan of how to use it and where to work it.  I guess when you have 60 head of sheep, 60 chickens and a couple horses, eventually you HAVE to figure out what to do with all the mess.   I'm glad we found a natural way to deal with it and I realize how blessed we are to have it when I see the prices at the store for what might fill a 5 gallon bucket... Gardening can get expensive if you simply are purchasing everything... seeds, compost, etc.  Yet it can be very affordable if you are able to make your own compost, save your own seeds, etc.  God is good! 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Lilacs

Two large lilac bushes.

Butterfly gathering a nice treat.

Looking up into the lilacs.

Lilacs inside for us to enjoy.

I just love it when the lilacs bloom.  It isn't long and they are gone.  Ours just bloomed here around home.  Unfortunately their fragrance is competing with our manure compost piles.  It is windy and with a south wind, when you are outside the manure piles win out.  We decided to cut a couple sprigs and bring them inside so we could enjoy a few days of the lilac scent. 

When I was a teenager, my step-mom gave me a small bottle of lilac perfume and I just LOVED it!  I've wanted to try making my own.  I found a recipe for making my own online and I hope to try it.  There are different methods for making it, so I guess I won't know what is best until I try it.  I'll post about it, if I find time to make it this year. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

The garden has begun.

Today, I went to the seed house to pick up the last of our seeds and other items for our garden.  I think later I will be buying tomato plants and pepper plants due to the fact that the kittens got into my starter plants and I'm not sure I was left enough for the garden.   :(  

After unloading the corn for the chickens into the bin, I went and got the strawberry roots that I had purchased a couple weeks earlier.  I do hope they grow this year.  Last year I put in 40 new plants and transplanted 12 or so plants into the new raised strawberry bed.  Only the transplants survived.  The 40 new plants never sprouted a leaf.  I had bought them at the end of the season, but still... very frustrating.  Today, I planted 30 strawberry plants into the raised bed.  I also weeded out around the plants that were still alive and found them to just be starting to come out of the ground with little buds.  I hope that means I've got these new ones planted soon enough to catch up with the others. 

Dh put compost on the garden the other day from our large pile of compost.  Today, he tilled the garden once and got the compost mixed into the soil.  We are hoping that helps add a bit of fiber to the ground, as we over-tilled last year and with the large heavy rains, our normally soft soil turned to a cement like state.  I may buy a couple bags of peat and also add that in right when we till before we plant next month. 

Next, in the garden chores, I will need to prepare my raised beds.  I hope to do a lasagna style on the beds, as a trial.  Dh isn't quite ready for a full blown effort on the BIG garden until he sees success with the smaller beds.  Maybe next year.  

Also I need to prepare my garbage cans for the potatoes.  I picked up some cans on freecycle to experiment with this method of potato gardening.  I'll need to drill holes in them and then ready them with soil and peat to begin planting. 

I love early spring planting!  It always gives me some hope that things are changing, even though everything is still pretty drab outside. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Asparagus Planting...

I finally am having time to post my pictures of the asparagus planting. 

First you need to soak the roots for a couple hours.  So I had them in a bucket to soak.

Next I had to dig a hole about 8 inches deep.  I didn't even need Dh's help!  I amaze myself sometimes!  LOL

Then I was to lay the asparagus roots in spider like fashion into the hole. 

Then I am to cover with 2-3 inches of soil at this point.    I will redo this as the roots grow up through the soil until the hole is filled in.  2-3 inches at a time. 

You can't see it, but I still have quite the hill of dirt there.  After I got this dug, I realized I had no fencing to put around it, so I am using the baby gate until it gets all filled in.   It's been almost two weeks and I do not see any greenery peeking up through the soil as of yet.  So, it may be a summer project. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

UPDATE: Year Two - 2008 (link)