Independence Day Update #4

Happy Memorial Day!

A couple from Danville, VA came and bought some ducks today. They were here in December and purchased three of our Muscovy ducks and an Embden goose. They recently lost their drake and came back to get another. They also ended up getting another mature duck and a month old duckling. They will all have a wonderful new home with this couple as pets on their pond.

Here is my weekly IDC update:

Plant something - Russet potatos, Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb, Drunken Woman Lettuce, Iceburg Lettuce, Kuroda Long Carrots, Radishes, Bush Pickle Cucumber and Straight 8 Cucumber.

Harvest something - Fresh free range eggs from our chickens. Plantain (the herb/weed) from our yard, wild mint.

Preserve something - Froze fresh mint leaves, dried plantain leaves.

Reduce Waste - Did our usual recycling efforts. Took our once a week trip to town to save on gas. The kitchen scraps went to the chickens and/or the compost bin. Got a Little Tike basketball hoop off of Freecycle for the kids.

Preparation and Storage - Not much on this front this week.

Eat the Food -

Seedlings started.

I must admit I have been dragging my feet about the garden this spring. You see the chickens have invaded the raised garden beds and are in them daily scratching about. This is actually great for the soil but unless I come up with a way to keep them out I won't be able to grow anything in them!

I finally decided I needed to get some of my seeds going if I hoped to grow my own starts this year. So, today I potted up my tomatoes and peppers. 128 seedling pots are now sitting on the kitchen table under their covers waiting for the magic to happen.

In the kitchen I had to admit defeat with my sourdough. I have successfully had my sourdough starter what would have been a year this month. Unfortunately, the past six weeks I have been so busy (note the lack of blogging) that I didn't notice that the starter got left out after I last used it. I discovered it under a pile of papers and toys on the side counter. When I opened the lid I was sad to see that a mold had firmly taken hold. I had no choice but to through it out and start over. After sterilizing my sourdough crock I put in a cup of white flour and a cup of water (run through our Pur water filter) and set it aside to see if it would catch again.

Farm happenings

Not too much going on here today. Just the usual farm things.

I moved our American Chinchilla rabbit buck from Chamomile's hutch into Purslane's hutch. He had been in with Cham for 48 hours and she was starting to avoid him so I figured she was either bred or just sick of having him around. He and Purslane seem to enjoy each others company so I will keep them together until I see signs of Purslane possibly kindling again. Hopefully this time it won't take three months.

I had made a salad the other night with an avocado purchased from the store... it was yummy. The pit was so round and smooth that McKayla had kept it to touch and hold. I discovered it again today and was going to throw it away when McKayla said, "Mommy, can't we grow it? It is a seed isn't it?" That got me thinking... I wasn't sure. The thought never occurred to me. So, a quick zip onto the Internet told me that is was possible with a bit of TLC to grow an avocado tree from a store bought pit. Wouldn't that be wonderful to have homegrown avocados! So, we stuck three brads (very small nails) around the top of the seed and placed it into a small glass of water so that the brads held the pit half in and half out of the water. This we placed on the windowsill over the kitchen sink where it will get the most sun. It may take several weeks to sprout says the website I found. Only time will tell...
The hens gave 16 eggs today.

Growing Challenge Update

Wow, its Monday already and time for another Garden Challenge update.

The thing I wanted most to get done this week was to start a vermiculture bin. I was on the ball and ordered my red wiggler worms last Monday and hoped to get them on Thursday or Friday. But here it is the following Monday and still no worms in the mail. I did get the bin made on Friday so everything is all set for their arrival. I guess I will be calling tomorrow to see where my worms are.

I did get a flat of lettuce seeded early in the week as well. I sowed Rocky Top Lettuce from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. These were actually seeds from lettuce I grew last season and saved. They have already sprouted and the tiny leaves are emerging from the soil. I have never grown lettuce inside before. I do hope it does well as I am looking forward to fresh salads again.

I had hoped to get more seedlings going but I didn't manage to find the time this week. I still have plenty of time though. Here in NC it is typical to set out tomatoes on April 15th so I still have 8-10 weeks before that. I shouldn't try jumping the gun too much or I will have leggy plants to deal with.

Outside of the Growing Challenge, the kids and I took our barn cat Sweet Pea to the vet's this afternoon so she could be spayed tomorrow. I missed her when out doing chores tonight as she always follows me around as I am working in the barn. She has even started coming into the chicken coop as I collect eggs so she can rub against my legs. It will be nice having her home again on Wednesday.

The chickens gave 16 eggs today.

Growing Challenge

So, I have been having grand dreams about what I want to do with the gardens this year. My biggest aspiration is to get a greenhouse up so I can get my seedlings started in it in the next months. I have been reading Eliot Coleman's book "Four-Season Harvest" and I hope to follow his basic plan for an inexpensive greenhouse. We will see how that goes.

What I did get done this weekend was to sort through the seeds I have remaining from last year as well as the seeds I managed to save myself (from some lettuces, squashes and carrots). All of these seeds are open pollinated, heirloom and/or organic.

Here is the list of seed I have:

Herbs:
Russian Tarragon
Cumin
Broad Leaf Sage
Lavender
French Summer Thyme
Common Chives
Slo-Bolt Cilantro
Siam Queen Thai Basil
Fine Verde Basil
Peppermint

Vegetables:
Purple Tomatillo
Golden Greek Pepperoncini
Mini Red Bell Sweet Pepper
Charleston Belle Sweet Pepper
Thai Little Red Chili
Homestead Tomato
Amish Paste Red Tomato
Riesentraube Red Tomato
White Currant Tomato (loved these last year!)
Gold Medal Striped Tomato
Yellow Brandywine Tomato
Catskills Brussels Sprouts
Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli
Snowball Cauliflower
Brunswick Cabbage
Lettuce Rocky Top Mix
Iceburg Lettuce
Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Giant Musselburgh Leek
Texas Early Grano 502 Onion
Red Creole Onion
Connecticut Field Pumpkin
Bush Buttercup
Baby Blue Hubbard
Yellow Scallop Squash
Black Beauty Summer Squash
Early Prolific Straightneck Summer Squash
Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon
Thai Bai Khuen Chai Celery
Kuroda Long 8" Carrot
Green Globe Artichoke
Mayflower Bean
Henderson's Black Valentine Bean
Chinese Green Noodle Long Bean
Lincoln Garden Pea

Flowers:
Mammoth Grey Striped Sunflower
Mexican Sunflower-Torch Sunflower
Clarke's Heavenly Blue Morning Glory
Pink Panther Pansy

Gourds:
Birdhouse Gourd
Small Spoon Gourd

This coming week my goals are to get my tomato and pepper seedlings planted. Start many of the herb seeds in pots. I have been craving fresh garden lettuces for a few months now so I also plan on sowing some lettuces in flats for growing here in the house. Something I should have been doing all winter but just never seemed to get around to it. Part of the problem I have is our home is so small (and it contains a 3yo, a 5yo and a dog) that I have no good place to put seedling flats so they will be safe and still have access to light. This is the main reason I really want a greenhouse (or I should say a hoop house as I don't intend to heat it). We will have to see how adventurous I get with the greenhouse construction in the next month.

The hens gave 15 eggs today.

My seeds are here! My seeds are here!

I was so excited to come home from work today to find the package from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds waiting for me! I have started my planning for my raised beds (that haven't even been built yet) for the new house. When I first opened the box my first thought was "OMG what have I done... I will never plant all these!" It wasn't an hour after sorting through all the seed packets that I was placing another order online with Heirloom Seeds for the few things that Baker Creek didn't carry or didn't have in stock.

Here is the list of seed I got from Baker Creek:
Herbs:
Russian Tarragon
Cumin
Broad Leaf Sage
Lavender
French Summer Thyme
Common Chives
Slo-Bolt Cilantro
Siam Queen Thai Basil
Fine Verde Basil
Peppermint

Vegetables:
Purple Tomatillo
Golden Greek Pepperoncini
Mini Red Bell Sweet Pepper
Charlseton Belle Sweet Pepper
Thai Little Red Chili
Homestead Tomato
Amish Paste Red Tomato
Riesentraube Red Tomato
White Currant Tomato
Gold Medal Striped Tomato
Yellow Brandywine Tomato
Catskills Brussels Sprouts
Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli
Snowball Cauliflower
Brunswick Cabbage
Lettuce Rocky Top Mix
Iceburg Lettuce
Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Giant Musselburgh Leek
Texas Early Grano 502 Onion
Red Creole Onion
Connecticut Field Pumpkin
Bush Buttercup
Baby Blue Hubbard
Yellow Scallop Squash
Black Beauty Summer Squash
Early Prolific Straightneck Summer Squash
Charentais Melon (Free Gift)
Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon
Thai Bai Khuen Chai Celery
Kuroda Long 8" Carrot
Green Globe Artichoke
Precoce D'Argenteuil Asparagus
Mayflower Bean
Henderson's Black Valentine Bean
Chinese Green Noodle Long Bean
Lincoln Garden Pea

Flowers:
Mammoth Grey Striped Sunflower
Mexican Sunflower-Torch Sunflower
Clarke's Heavenly Blue Morning Glory
Pink Panther Pansy

Gourds:
Birdhouse Gourd
Small Spoon Gourd