I know hose spigots are not very exciting for most people. But boy was I excited to discover this spigot behind the bushes in front of our house. Too bad it was not working. Grandpa J fixed it though. He got the front hose spigot working and two old hoses repaired. Yes! Now I have a spigot that is less than 300ft from the orchard, and enough hose to reach my trees.
And now I have a new sunny spot for more edible bushes! Smokey Saskatoon berry bush soon to move in here.
There was an old bird feeder falling apart on a post in the back yard. I love wild birds, but I hesitate to invite them into our yard with 7 cats roaming the premises. Grandpa J removed the old feeder and installed this mason bee house instead. He even made a hook so that it can be taken down and brought in over the winter.
And so many smaller projects! The lights in root cellar were not working. He fixed them. He pried the lids off some ancient 5 gallon buckets of wheat someone gave me. And he installed a new toilet seat in the kids bathroom.
Meanwhile, Hubby labored on the high tunnel and got all the cross beams installed. Now for the wooden support boards.
I mostly worked on planting out more comfrey patches in the orchard. I planted three comfrey plants on either side of each bush/tree in the row closest to the road (33 plants). Digging holes here any deeper than a few inches means a lot of hacking with a pick axe. It took me several days to dig all these holes. I filled them with rabbit manure mixed into the natural soil (minus the shale). The comfrey should be well-fed for years to come. I hope to eventually fill this outer row in enough so the road is not so noticeable and the orchard can be a nice place to stroll in. Long term dreams, I know.
I also managed to do some canning: Stewed tomatoes of various flavors, ginger carrots, more minestrone soup, and some bean soup.
The kids helped me start marking all my perennials so that I don't accidentally forget where they are in the spring. I will have a landscape map too, but this is more exact. I have tried both wooden and plastic tags with zero success, but the internet tells me that these metal ones will last for years.
I set-up my barley sprouting system for feeding rabbits and ducks. It is supposed to reduce feed costs by 75 percent... we'll see how that goes. The grain is best fed to rabbits and ducks on day 8. That is too mature for the chickens. They say it's best to only sprout for 3 days for chicken fodder. Again, we shall see. I still have several kinks to work out. The biggest thing is trying to keep things moist, but not too moist. An indoor set-up is nice because I can sprout grain year round. (The temperature should be about 70 degrees ideally for sprouting.) But being indoors also means that I need to keep the water contained so I don't ruin the floor etc. I am hoping to have things in good working order before winter so that I can keep feed costs down.
And finally, years after she gave them to me, I replaced the funky Christmas lights in the gazebo with some from my friend Alissa.
I mostly worked on planting out more comfrey patches in the orchard. I planted three comfrey plants on either side of each bush/tree in the row closest to the road (33 plants). Digging holes here any deeper than a few inches means a lot of hacking with a pick axe. It took me several days to dig all these holes. I filled them with rabbit manure mixed into the natural soil (minus the shale). The comfrey should be well-fed for years to come. I hope to eventually fill this outer row in enough so the road is not so noticeable and the orchard can be a nice place to stroll in. Long term dreams, I know.
The kids helped me start marking all my perennials so that I don't accidentally forget where they are in the spring. I will have a landscape map too, but this is more exact. I have tried both wooden and plastic tags with zero success, but the internet tells me that these metal ones will last for years.
I set-up my barley sprouting system for feeding rabbits and ducks. It is supposed to reduce feed costs by 75 percent... we'll see how that goes. The grain is best fed to rabbits and ducks on day 8. That is too mature for the chickens. They say it's best to only sprout for 3 days for chicken fodder. Again, we shall see. I still have several kinks to work out. The biggest thing is trying to keep things moist, but not too moist. An indoor set-up is nice because I can sprout grain year round. (The temperature should be about 70 degrees ideally for sprouting.) But being indoors also means that I need to keep the water contained so I don't ruin the floor etc. I am hoping to have things in good working order before winter so that I can keep feed costs down.
And finally, years after she gave them to me, I replaced the funky Christmas lights in the gazebo with some from my friend Alissa.
No comments:
Post a Comment