Author: Cabincrafted1

Questions answered

My favorite local organic farmers harvested a bumper crop of salad for their local restaurant and natural food store deliveries and I scored a pound of their “extra” that was delivered to my door for the same price I would pay if I went to the farmer’s market for it. Two of my hen gems are boiling, a few chunks of cheese are cut, some leftover cooked asparagus and I am about to have a late lunch fit for a tired queen of the castle.

While he was here, I asked about the mystery weed

that was threatening to overtake the garden. It is Smart Weed and it does have pretty little flowers a bit later in the spring. It does spread, but is relatively easy to pull.

This morning I went out to finish mulching the garden with the spoiled hay. There is now a good thick layer in the paths, around the grapes and around the berries. Hopefully this will keep the lambs quarters, smart weed, henbit, deadnettle, horse nettle and oxalis at least reduced. For now it looks neat and tidy and I am still picking splinters out of my hands. Yes, I know that I could wear gloves, but I never garden in them.

A few days ago, when I was away from the house and Jim had been off on his motorcycle. He had left the garage door open as it is difficult to close headed up the gravel driveway on his bike. When he came back, he passed two adolescent males walking up our driveway and we wondered why they had been down here. The house is secure with the two big beasts that live inside and I saw nothing amiss in the garage or the chicken pens. Today, I think I discovered what mischief they wrought. The end of the big round bale of spoiled hay that was going on the garden and had been used in the chicken coop until it molded is charred on the end away from the house. Fortunately it didn’t catch, I guess they left it smoldering and it went out, thank goodness. It does make me a bit concerned as we don’t know who they are or where on the mountain they live. None of our close by neighbors have kids or at least kids that age.

Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

May 21, 2014
Garden Day

The afternoon had a 60% chance of rain and after lunch it was mostly overcast. It seemed a good idea to at least attempt to finish getting the garden cleaned up and planted for the season. Between yesterday’s burn and today’s 4 + hours in the garden, I should have my quota of Vitamin D, however, due to a prior bout of skin cancer, I stay totally covered with a wide brimmed hat, long sleeves and long pants. Much crawling around on my aging knees and rooting around in the dirt with bare fingers, the weeds are cleared.

Cleared beds and a ground eye view of the raspberry bed as I inched along that path pulling weeds. After my efforts, 4 rows of black wax bush beans, 1 row of lemon cucumbers, 1 row of spacemaker cucumbers, a small patch of carrots, and several hills of yellow squash have been planted. I still need to transplant the pepper and tomato starts and get a thick layer of spoiled hay in the paths to try to keep the weeds down and to get a bit more around the raspberries and grapes. I still have a space between the garden and the chicken run that is full of tiny stones and some weeds that needs attention, but I gave out and it was dinner prep time. Wouldn’t you know that the rain chance has diminished to 40% without a shower and the sky has alternately cleared and clouded while I worked.

The chickens love my efforts as I take armloads of weeds and bugs to them to peck through. Everytime I go to the fence they come running to see what the load contains. They particularly like when it is full of chickweed or if I dig up a grub or two. I was rewarded with 7 eggs collected in my hat as I quit for the day.

My hope is to try to stay ahead of the garden this year and not be faced with a later season weeding as I usually have to do. As soon as the garlic is harvested, a second planting of bush beans and a fall planting of kale and cabbage will be planted in those two beds. I still haven’t figured out where to plant the pie pumpkins and winter squash, but I am leaning toward putting them near the berries and let them run where they can’t do any harm.

Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

May 20, 2014
Farm Chores and Relativity

For several years, we have had a burn pile of scrap wood collecting near a huge nut tree and a rock pile. It makes mowing that area difficult and haying that area impossible. A couple of years ago, I placed a Craigslist ad for free lumber and siding and had a few takers that reduced the size of the pile some. Two years ago, the neighbor that hays our fields came over and removed cedar trees that had grown up in the hayfields that we had just been mowing around and while here, he stacked the scattered parts of the pile more compactly and cleared up some rocks that were also an impediment to the mowing and haying. Every time we think to burn the pile something gets in the way. You have to dedicate an entire day to the job as it has to be watched constantly and a hose needs to be nearby to squelch any errant flames. We will plan the burn after a heavy rain only to have several days of too much wind. Today was perfect. I had mowed two brush hog widths around the pile, a couple hundred feet of garden hose were connected to each other and the yard hydrant and we set the pile ablaze.

The burn was a little slow starting but once the two sides merged, we were a bit concerned as the flames leapt dangerously close to the lower branches of the nut tree.

We hosed and watched for hours as it burned down, never both of us leaving at once. Unfortunately, much of the wood contained nails, screws and large fasteners that hold our logs together, so now that the fire is out, there is much cleanup to do so we don’t pop a tractor tire on a spike. We also discovered a pile of large rocks under the burn. They are perfect to use for the retaining wall at the end of the garden, but it will take both of us and the tractor bucket to move them and they need to cool first.

I have oft mentioned the pups. Big dog, little dog. Ahh, no, Big Dog, Bigger Dog. The Shepherd weighs about 75 lbs., the Mastiff a slight 210 lbs. She is the dominate one. She can run under him, grabs him by the legs and pulls him down, but he is so gentle and tolerant of the behaviors.

May 19, 2014
Sunday Thankfullness

A beautiful day.

A visit with a friend at her shop with another cloud of Tunis to spin. When I am done there will be enough to make a rib warmer vest for this fall.

Cloud shadows on the mountains.

A motorcycle upright in a ditch thanks to VDOT’s lousy maintenance that was resolved with no harm thanks to the aid and ingenuity of neighbors and friends.

Glad I haven’t planted the peppers and tomatoes in the garden, we have a frost warning for tonight.

May 18, 2014
First Harvest

The first harvest from this year’s garden, a mess of curly kale cooking with some of last year’s garlic. Yum.

May 17, 2014
Critters and Weeds

We had almost 2″ of rain yesterday. The creeks are roaring and the low spots are soggy. After a few hours of dry out this morning, I attacked more of the garden, prepping it for seed and baby plants within the next couple of days. It amazes me how quickly the weeds grow. Just a few weeks ago, I dumped a tractor bucket of compost into one of the beds to spread it around and build up the bed where it was dumped. This is what it looked like today.

Lambs quarter, jimsonweed, oxalis, wild geraniums, Bermuda grass and these two I can’t identify but they are generous contributors to the disarray.

This is what a couple of hours of work have accomplished with muddy knees and grubby nails.

Ready for an assortment of hot and sweet peppers. A bed that wintered covered in straw wasn’t as bad and the few weeds that did emerge were dispatched and will be planted with carrots, bush beans, cucumbers and summer squash tomorrow. The tomato bed was also covered over the winter and needs only a little work, but there are still 2 1/2 paths that need effort. In another few days, the garden will be cleaned up, planted and just maintenance required until harvest. I have pumpkins and winter squash seed, but can’t figure out a place to put them. Maybe they can be planted on the edge of the grape bed and trained into the adjacent path.

My efforts kept Mr.and Mrs. Bluebird upset and I had to keep moving away so they could feed their littles,

but I did sneak a peek before I left the garden. I can’t tell how many are in there, it is too high to peek in. One time when I walked away to let them feed, I went over to collect eggs and stumbled on this fellow.

I encouraged him to move on. I like them in the yard, but not quite so close to the coops.

Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

May 16, 2014
Progress and memories

Today we had summer time with heavy rain and cooler temperatures tomorrow. We will then have a series of cooler, more seasonable days and not much rain. We trekked off to my favorite local nursery and bought 2 blueberry bushes. The first batch I bought several years ago were purchased from a website. They were tiny, bare rooted and have been a very poor purchase. Last year I replaced three of the originals with bushes from this nursery and over the winter another of the originals died. That one was replaced and the second one today went on the end of the row, making a nice collection of early, mid and late season varieties. Before they could be planted, however, the berry beds needed significant attention. The rainy spring has encouraged a plethora of wildflowers where they aren’t wanted (aka weeds); chickweed, dandelion, burdock, thistles, fleabane and several I can’t remember. The berry beds make up about 40% of the garden. The weeds had to be pulled, the volunteer raspberries that had escaped from their bed had to be removed, the two new bushes planted in the warm rich soil and watered in well and finally, a hefty layer of old hay spread over the areas of the bed where it was needed.

After tomorrow’s rain, while the soil is soft, the south end of the bed is going to be terraced with logs and stones to make maintaining the steep two foot slope easier. Then the young peppers, tomatoes, basil and tomatillo plants will be planted along with seed for bush beans, carrots, cucumbers, sunflowers and squash and the rest of the weeds pulled and aisles deeply mulched with more old hay. The hay is too moldy to use in the hen house, so it is perfect to use as mulch.

The cabbages, kale and chard plants that were planted a couple of weeks ago are thriving. The garlic is beginning to form scapes, so some garlic scape pesto is in order. The grapes need a better trellis. I can’t decide whether to try to build one or see if I can find a commercial one that appeals to me. In my weeding today, I carefully left every volunteer sunflower plant I saw. I love their look, the birds and chickens love their seed. I think sunflowers may be my favorite summer flower.

Within the garden are two birdhouses. My efforts today kept disturbing the bluebird that has occupied one of the boxes as she does each spring. Her young have hatched but not yet fledged as she flew in repeatedly with food for them. The other box seems to be housing a tree sparrow which seems odd to me as a nesting box is generally not their preferred spot, but I love watching them dart and fly over the garden catching insects on the wing.

After my efforts and a thorough clean up, there were some errands needed in town and as I was out and about, I saw this

As my first car was a 1958 VW convertible, this really amused me. I asked permission to take the photo and told the owner, a couple near my age that I loved their car.

Life is good on our mountain farm. I continue to love the changing seasons, the beautiful views and of course the mountains.

May 14, 2014
Mother’s Wonders

As spring began and I set out to refill the deck pots with flowers and herbs, I discovered two Preying Mantis egg cases on a spent Geranium in one of the pots. I carefully cut the cases off and placed one in the new Rosemary plant and the other in a pot of parsley that overwintered in the house.

I have been watching them for the past couple of weeks, knowing that they would soon hatch. This morning, the one in the parsley rewarded me with this glimpse into the life cycle.

One of the cases with emerging nymphs.

A few of the tiny creatures, making their way to the sun.

There are hundreds of them on the plant and working their way to the outside of the deck.

Two that have made their way to the sunny side of a deck post.

I am glad that I saw this miracle occur today. The Preying Mantis are welcome on our farm, one of the more interesting and voracious predators of unwanted pests.

May 12, 2014
For Mother’s Day, We Went to War

War, West Virginia that is. As spring broke and Jim brought out his motorcycle, he set off one day to follow a route that had been given him at one of the dealerships while looking for a bigger bike. Somehow, he zigged when he should have zagged and missed the correct turn to do the ride and after thinking he had somehow gotten a bit out of his way, he found himself in War, West Virginia. After many hours, he finally returned home and we Goggled it to find out more about it and in doing so, I discovered a new to me, local author. Michael Abraham has written a number of fiction and non fiction books all set in the Appalachian region in which we live. His topics covering the heritage of this region.

The Appalachian region is rich in music culture and includes the Crooked Road, a music trail of venues that feature the local bluegrass and folk music of the area. This part of Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia are also areas from which a glut of coal is extracted. The industrial rise and increased use of electric power in homes caused an influx of population as miners worked in factory towns to extract the mineral at the expense of their health and often their lives. As mechanization was improved and fewer miners were needed, most of these towns began to fail. As you drive through the regions, abject poverty is evident. Homes that were built by the mine owners and rented to the miners are run down, many abandoned, stores boarded up and Main Streets vacant.

Each of these coal towns has a still functioning or abandoned tipple, the structure is used to clean the coal then load it into rail cars by the hundreds that rumble across Virginia to the coast to be loaded into ships and exported overseas, much of it to China.

This is the tipple at a deep mine, though mechanized, the mining crew still works underground. Coal developed in seams of varying thickness thousands of years ago. The seams are like icing in a layer cake and in deep mines, the miners dig down into a seam, reinforcing the tunnel as they go, extracting the coal and sending it to the surface. When the mine is spent and they are worked back out, the layers were often collapsed to prevent accidental cave ins. This is dangerous work, but causes less impact on the ground level environment.

Mountain top removal or strip mining is also prevalent in this region. It came about as a means to use fewer miners, more mechanization and caused a devastation to the area’s environment. The trees are stripped off the top of a mountain and the soil and rock are blasted out and dumped into the valleys to reach the coal which is then trucked in dumpers too large for traditional roads to the tipples. These mountain top removal mines have dams that hold huge ponds to clean the coal and there have been many accidents where the retaining dam has failed and in a few cases wiped out a town downstream (http://www.usmra.com/buffalo_creek.htm). The impact of this type of mining is the eradication of streams, deforestation, devastation of wildlife habitats.

Few of the young people in these towns stay. Those that do are in one of the most impoverished areas of the United States. After reading the novel War, WV by Abraham and doing more research about mining, I wanted to see the results. Today we took a road trip after our brunch and drove the loop that my husband rode so that I could see it for myself. There are many more pictures taken today, the mountain top removal photo used is from the internet as the only one of those mines we could see from the road was from a steep mountain road with a series of hairpin turns and no place to stop and take a picture. Today was quite a learning experience and makes me thankful all the good that I have been given.

May 11, 2014
Olio

Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things

Today the post is all over the place. First, chickens are mean. This is the result of the hens establishing pecking order.

One of the hens has pecked the upper wing of several of the others, plucking their feathers, but not drawing blood. The shake up has allowed the feathers to begin growing back in.

Her bare back is the result of the over zealous rooster. He is picking on the hens in the cull pen now and this gals feathers are coming back out as well.

Go away and give me some privacy! I’m trying to lay an egg.

The lace on the shawl on which I was working, did not win! I did. The shawl was completed this afternoon as Jim watched the last rounds of the football draft. I am pleased with the finished product. It is fairly generous in proportion, the color is rich, and the leaf lace border is interesting. It is currently being blocked with hopes that it will be dry to wear with a skirt to Mother’s Day Brunch at Mountain Lake Lodge tomorrow.

It is pinned to a double bed to give you an idea of it’s size.

This afternoon, our daughter sent an adorable picture of her daughter and she gave me permission to share. I particularly enjoyed the photo because when our daughter, our second child was born, I was excited to have a little girl to dress up. I took a smocking class and made dresses and bonnets. As soon as she was old enough to assert her opinion, which was quite early, she always wanted pants, sweaters or t shirts and mismatched socks. I would buy her skirts for school and she would pull out pants instead. She was an athlete, playing soccer for years and softball in middle school. When she found out she was pregnant for the second time, she told everyone that if she had a girl, she would not put her in pink. She decorated the nursery with a musical theme in greens, blues, teal and brown. Now that this little princess is old enough to assert her opinion, she chooses skirts and dresses. This is her afternoon outfit.

Life and good, I love being a Mom and a Grandmom.

May 10, 2014