That's my mathematical breakdown of gardening. No, I'm not a stereotypical redneck that counts by taking off my shoes. I know that my percentages are more than a 100. But gardening is far more than numbers. My heart is in it 100% of the time. Heartache is a factor of life and most definitely a big part of gardening. (i.e. failed tomato plants and no pumpkins in 2010) 50% of my time is spent getting plants to grow, either by preparing the soil, planting, watering, and harvesting.
However, had I known that 80% of my time was going to be spent on weeding, I may have considered another route, such as covering my entire lot with concrete and building only raised beds. Around my raised beds, I even dug up the grass/weeds, laid down that lovely black anti-weed fabric, then covered in several inches of rocks to hopefully subdue the weeds and grass from getting through and thwarting my progress in the garden. Kudos to that guy who invented that black fabric. I would hate to think that my weeds were bored out there, but fortunately they have the black fabric, a dense yet not impossible obstacle to entertain them on their passage to sunlight and happiness amongst my veggies. I do find a slightly deranged humor in that the weeds could potentially find humor in my weed cloth.
I start at one edge of my garden and work my way around each raised bed. I like to do this right after it rains because its much easier to get the weeds out by their roots in damp soil. I swear that by the time I get around the last bed, the first bed where I started already has teenager weeds growing again. If only my veggies had the gusto of weeds. If only.
Anyhoo, another odd, chilly, cloudy day in the 'ville. Happy weeding!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
You're already home if you're loved
Its Sunday. I am loved. I am making bread. I am making strawberry jam. I will be outside soon with my little Sophia, planting beans and transplanting tomato midgets. You could take me to the cliche paradise and it is nothing compared to my home, my hobbies, and the comfort in the love that Hubby shows me. I have met some new people recently and in their short time of existence in my life, have already created a new excitement for me. I love learning new things. I love sharing what I know. I feel like a broken record sometimes because happiness was so easy to accept for me. Maybe its sad that a simple cup of coffee and watching chickens run around your yard creates such a euphoric feeling to me. But, alas, I am simple. And life is what you make it. I was lucky in love. I had two great relationships. One lasted for 7 years and we are still good friends to this day. The other, well, I married him. Two very respectful, intelligent, loving men and I was lucky enough to have them in my life. There is never a 100% guarantee in love or life, but I am really trying to make the best of it all. I haven't always revered my relationships as they deserved to be, but now,everyday, I wake up its my first thought and always in my future goals. Show love and respect. Be polite. Be thoughtful. Be honest.
I feel the same way about the garden. I'm not an expert gardener, but I love it and try really hard to make it work. Tomato seedlings seem to be my biggest struggle. I have high hopes every year of not buying a single starter plant. I want to grow them all from seeds. It almost never happens. I have two of my own starts that I think will make it. Who knows. I still have bed prepping to do. Hopefully the freshly rained on ground will be soft enough for this preggos chick to till up with minimal effort. Hoeing seems to be a struggle for me. It wears me down more than anything. Enough whining.
Yesterday I got to go to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival. SO MUCH FUN! Packed up the car with fruit and tuna sandwiches, Sophia, and my momma. It was a little over an hour away in Lexington, KY. We saw an overwhelming amount of handspun/dyed yarn. I got TWO books autographed. (I'm far more star-struck over true talent and hard work than I am for the overpaid monkeys of Hollywood and professional sports) "Spud and Chloe Go to the Farm" by Susan B. Anderson and "Welcoming Home Baby the Handcrafted Way" by Tricia Drake are two books that were on my wish list, but now I have them AND I met the lovely ladies who wrote them. We pet sheep, goats, alpacas, and llamas. After browsing at the festival, we went to a store called Mother Nurture where I got a cloth diapering lesson. They had some super cute diaper covers and the lady was so helpful. I had so many reservations about "natural parenting" and things that I wanted to do with Sophia such as cloth diapering that I actually just refrained from doing them. With this new munchkin, I'm not holding back because I didn't know that I was even going to get this opportunity. Now if I could just think of a name for this little one...
I feel the same way about the garden. I'm not an expert gardener, but I love it and try really hard to make it work. Tomato seedlings seem to be my biggest struggle. I have high hopes every year of not buying a single starter plant. I want to grow them all from seeds. It almost never happens. I have two of my own starts that I think will make it. Who knows. I still have bed prepping to do. Hopefully the freshly rained on ground will be soft enough for this preggos chick to till up with minimal effort. Hoeing seems to be a struggle for me. It wears me down more than anything. Enough whining.
Yesterday I got to go to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival. SO MUCH FUN! Packed up the car with fruit and tuna sandwiches, Sophia, and my momma. It was a little over an hour away in Lexington, KY. We saw an overwhelming amount of handspun/dyed yarn. I got TWO books autographed. (I'm far more star-struck over true talent and hard work than I am for the overpaid monkeys of Hollywood and professional sports) "Spud and Chloe Go to the Farm" by Susan B. Anderson and "Welcoming Home Baby the Handcrafted Way" by Tricia Drake are two books that were on my wish list, but now I have them AND I met the lovely ladies who wrote them. We pet sheep, goats, alpacas, and llamas. After browsing at the festival, we went to a store called Mother Nurture where I got a cloth diapering lesson. They had some super cute diaper covers and the lady was so helpful. I had so many reservations about "natural parenting" and things that I wanted to do with Sophia such as cloth diapering that I actually just refrained from doing them. With this new munchkin, I'm not holding back because I didn't know that I was even going to get this opportunity. Now if I could just think of a name for this little one...
Sunday, May 15, 2011
An eye opener for the record books
I have been taking baby steps towards homesteading and having a farm of my own some day. I started a little garden. I added a few more raised beds. Then, yet again, added a few more. Hubby and I built a chicken coop, so I ventured off into chickendom. I have lost chickens. I have added new chickens...and lost a few of those as well. This year's adventure was supposed to be bees until Mini-Me set up shop in my belly, so instead I decided meat birds would do the trick for my need to expand, without really adding any new forms of animal life. I ordered the meat birds along with a few new layers to replace the ones I lost over the winter. I had high hopes. I've been reading and reading about the harvesting day. Confident that my need for self-sufficiency would see me through the gut-wrenching experience of taking a life, even for my family's nourishment, I didn't name these boys or really bond with them much. Everyone kept asking how I was going to be able to do it or IF I was going to be able to do it. I would respond with "I don't know." Which was true. A part of me was hoping that some chicken fairy would fly down and turn them from warm, feathered yard munchers into naked, headless freezer decorations.
I got the opportunity to see, firsthand, how this was really going to go down in the end. As it turns out, I was WAY off on the chicken fairy fantasy. A friend invited me to a "harvesting 101" class at a small farm in Southern Indiana. I got up early, dropped Sophia off at my momma's house, and followed my friend out to the farm so we could meet a few other couples interested in the process. I was happily surprised to see so many young people into chickens and gardening. For awhile, I've felt like the odd-chick-out. I think I recall posting about people at work calling me the crazy chicken lady. Its all fun and games, but when it comes down to it, there aren't many girls that would rather spend a night knitting with a glass of wine when there are clubs to be danced at and the latest fashions to be worn. Its lonely. I really only have had my mom on this journey. And while she is more than sufficient, I feel like I lean on her too much for support and ideas and time spent doing gardener/crafter/farmer stuff. She has a life of her own, but I am forever calling her up to talk about whatever came up in my garden that day or our plans for who is growing what so that we can share veggies.
Anyhoo, the chicken seminar. Back to it. Once everyone arrives, the very sweet and down to earth couple that is teaching us starts by taking us down to the brooder boxes where our future dinners lay unaware of whats to come. Without warning, he grabs up a chicken, bandages her wings and feet down, explaining that this prevents bruising of the meat, and takes her over to a wheelbarrow. His wife grabs a pair of loppers and proceeds to chop off the chicken's head. I started getting light-headed when the bandaging was going on. I thought there might be a grace period for me to get acclimated to each step. When I get blood taken at the doc, after they clean my arm and tie it up, I always ask for a second to breathe and mentally prepare for the excruciating pain about to come. (of course, its never excruciating, but you never know! I hate needles) Everything happened so fast that when I saw the little bit of blood, I knew, right then and there, that I would not be able to do this myself...EVER. I know EVER is a big statement, but I think I really mean it. Seconds after the chicken was in chicken heaven, it was dipped in boiling water, feathers then plucked, legs trimmed off, and insides were removed. It was a very fast process. Nothing past the initial activity bothered me, but I was so bothered by the initial activity that it affected my whole experience. Waves of light-headedness and nausea, the need to flee the scene, they were overwhelming. It got easier with each chicken and watching the process. I did decide that if someone could do the first step, I really could do the rest. All in all, I was so thankful for the experience because I learned many lessons. #1 I bought meat birds that may actually never end up on my table. #2 Its ok to want to try new things, but always know what you're getting into FIRST FIRST FIRST!!! #3 I have a new friend and she is wonderful! She is what I someday hope to be. #4 I am not the only "almost 30" gardener, crunchy mom, wannabe farmer in Louisville. I am not alone. I just have to keep looking! Someday, I will host a Knit-n-Wine right here at my little abode with lots of gals.
I got the opportunity to see, firsthand, how this was really going to go down in the end. As it turns out, I was WAY off on the chicken fairy fantasy. A friend invited me to a "harvesting 101" class at a small farm in Southern Indiana. I got up early, dropped Sophia off at my momma's house, and followed my friend out to the farm so we could meet a few other couples interested in the process. I was happily surprised to see so many young people into chickens and gardening. For awhile, I've felt like the odd-chick-out. I think I recall posting about people at work calling me the crazy chicken lady. Its all fun and games, but when it comes down to it, there aren't many girls that would rather spend a night knitting with a glass of wine when there are clubs to be danced at and the latest fashions to be worn. Its lonely. I really only have had my mom on this journey. And while she is more than sufficient, I feel like I lean on her too much for support and ideas and time spent doing gardener/crafter/farmer stuff. She has a life of her own, but I am forever calling her up to talk about whatever came up in my garden that day or our plans for who is growing what so that we can share veggies.
Anyhoo, the chicken seminar. Back to it. Once everyone arrives, the very sweet and down to earth couple that is teaching us starts by taking us down to the brooder boxes where our future dinners lay unaware of whats to come. Without warning, he grabs up a chicken, bandages her wings and feet down, explaining that this prevents bruising of the meat, and takes her over to a wheelbarrow. His wife grabs a pair of loppers and proceeds to chop off the chicken's head. I started getting light-headed when the bandaging was going on. I thought there might be a grace period for me to get acclimated to each step. When I get blood taken at the doc, after they clean my arm and tie it up, I always ask for a second to breathe and mentally prepare for the excruciating pain about to come. (of course, its never excruciating, but you never know! I hate needles) Everything happened so fast that when I saw the little bit of blood, I knew, right then and there, that I would not be able to do this myself...EVER. I know EVER is a big statement, but I think I really mean it. Seconds after the chicken was in chicken heaven, it was dipped in boiling water, feathers then plucked, legs trimmed off, and insides were removed. It was a very fast process. Nothing past the initial activity bothered me, but I was so bothered by the initial activity that it affected my whole experience. Waves of light-headedness and nausea, the need to flee the scene, they were overwhelming. It got easier with each chicken and watching the process. I did decide that if someone could do the first step, I really could do the rest. All in all, I was so thankful for the experience because I learned many lessons. #1 I bought meat birds that may actually never end up on my table. #2 Its ok to want to try new things, but always know what you're getting into FIRST FIRST FIRST!!! #3 I have a new friend and she is wonderful! She is what I someday hope to be. #4 I am not the only "almost 30" gardener, crunchy mom, wannabe farmer in Louisville. I am not alone. I just have to keep looking! Someday, I will host a Knit-n-Wine right here at my little abode with lots of gals.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tales from the coop...
To me, its cold and rainy. I go inside. I get a cup of tea to warm me up. To a chicken, its cold and rainy. Thats it. They have to wait for someone to bring them new food and warm, dry bedding. And today, they waited. The temperature dropped. The rain came in and down hard. I was at work. I looked outside and I was sick. They were all I could think about. All of my feathered babies...in the cold...in the rain...needing me for warmth and comfort...and I wasn't there. As soon as I got home, I was on damage control. I still had three bantam babies in the brooder box with the heat light on them which was unneccessary so I took the light outside to the teen-chicks. I threw on my muck boots and went to work. In the pouring down rain I hooked the light up for the chicks to get dry and warm under. Cleaned out with coop with new bedding. Put new bedding underneath the coop, which is where the teen-chicks sleep together in a side-turned rubbermaid bin. They won't go up in the coop to sleep for some reason, but their rubbermaid bin seems like home I guess. New water. New food. All is well. I stayed out there with them for a bit and the huddled under me as they pecked at their crumbles. I put my hands on their backs to warm them up more and they didn't even scurry off. Their feathers are so soft and clean. Whomever said chickens are dirty creatures, obviously didn't have a clue. They are beautiful, spunky, interesting animals with ways of showing love...and disgust. (i.e. Princess) Even the little boys intended for dinner are full of personality. I won't name those guys, but I can't deny them identities.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Oh you productive weekend you!
That short break in the rain was all I needed to grab my mudboots and hit the dirt. Sophia and I stole Daddy's truck while he was sleeping on Saturday. We hit our fav gardening places to the point of no leg room in the cab and the back got a nice heaping scoop of compost. Before Daddy woke up, us girls had shoveled out every last bit of the fresh dirt into the beds. He was so proud of us! He couldn't believe we did all that without bothering him for use of his man-arms! We also got some serious plantage in the ground as well as some seeds!
Plants:
2-Poblana Peppers
1-Golden Summer Bell Pepper
1- Red Beauty Bell Pepper
1-California Wonder Bell Pepper
2-Big Bertha Bell Peppers
1-Orange Wonder Bell Pepper
3-Sweet Basil
2-Rutgers Tomatoes
3-Hazelfield Farms Tomatoes (heirloom)
2-Dill
2-Jalapeno Peppers
1- Red Chili Pepper
1-Hungarian Wax Pepper
Still to plant...
5 strawberry plants
10 marigolds (these belong to Sophia)
tons of tomato babies (diff varieties)
tons of pepper babies (diff varieties)
3 varieties of eggplants
Seeds in the ground:
Babette Carrots
Yellow Straightneck Squash
Danvers Carrots
New Orchard Watermelon
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Spicy Globe Basil
Parade Onions
Jarrahdale Pumpkins
Seeds waiting for a spot:
too many to mention
This weekend was much needed and felt great. I've got a little color. This was majorly good for the baby bump. Working like that makes me feel good and therefore is good for me!!! I'm not a *feet up* kind of gal. After all of the gardening, Sophia and I made Carrot, Raisin, Oatmeal cookies which were quite delish. Dinner consisted of salads from the yard, CSA delivered green beans, and pork chops. I had never made my green beans this way before, but here is the recipe...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/sauteed-green-beans-with-garlic-chips-recipe/index.html
Even Sophia ate some of those guys! I received my first CSA delivery from Green B.E.A.N. http://greenbeandelivery.com/ I think I was more excited for this than Christmas and my birthday combined. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Sophia's room is painfully close to being finished. Plants are in the ground and growing. Feathered babies have been moved out to the coop and are doing so awesome. Much happier to have room to run! Oh happy days!
Plants:
2-Poblana Peppers
1-Golden Summer Bell Pepper
1- Red Beauty Bell Pepper
1-California Wonder Bell Pepper
2-Big Bertha Bell Peppers
1-Orange Wonder Bell Pepper
3-Sweet Basil
2-Rutgers Tomatoes
3-Hazelfield Farms Tomatoes (heirloom)
2-Dill
2-Jalapeno Peppers
1- Red Chili Pepper
1-Hungarian Wax Pepper
Still to plant...
5 strawberry plants
10 marigolds (these belong to Sophia)
tons of tomato babies (diff varieties)
tons of pepper babies (diff varieties)
3 varieties of eggplants
Seeds in the ground:
Babette Carrots
Yellow Straightneck Squash
Danvers Carrots
New Orchard Watermelon
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Spicy Globe Basil
Parade Onions
Jarrahdale Pumpkins
Seeds waiting for a spot:
too many to mention
This weekend was much needed and felt great. I've got a little color. This was majorly good for the baby bump. Working like that makes me feel good and therefore is good for me!!! I'm not a *feet up* kind of gal. After all of the gardening, Sophia and I made Carrot, Raisin, Oatmeal cookies which were quite delish. Dinner consisted of salads from the yard, CSA delivered green beans, and pork chops. I had never made my green beans this way before, but here is the recipe...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/sauteed-green-beans-with-garlic-chips-recipe/index.html
Even Sophia ate some of those guys! I received my first CSA delivery from Green B.E.A.N. http://greenbeandelivery.com/ I think I was more excited for this than Christmas and my birthday combined. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Sophia's room is painfully close to being finished. Plants are in the ground and growing. Feathered babies have been moved out to the coop and are doing so awesome. Much happier to have room to run! Oh happy days!
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