Cabin Crafted

Category: farm

  • The Garden

    When granddaughter N lived here for a couple of years, she liked helping me in my garden (so did her big brother). When both of them were working, I had to make sure everyone was spread safely apart because garden tools were sometimes dangerously wielded as they hacked at weeds. They moved to a nearby town into a beautiful home with a yard, not a flat city yard, her neighborhood is noted for steep driveways and heavily sloped yards. Late last spring, N said she wanted a garden and her Mom didn’t know where to begin. One Saturday, I joined them in the morning and we set out to get a couple of raised bed boxes, lots of cardboard, garden box bagged soil, seedlings, and seeds. I had taken some low plastic erosion fence and step in poles. We dug away sod to level, laid the cardboard, assembled the boxes, filled them, and mulched around them. Put up the “fence” and planted her boxes. The boxes are close to the neighbor’s fence and they have a little garden on their side of the fence. This was a good and a bad thing, it meant fewer weeds along the fence line, but it is a 4 generation Asian family and grandmom whose garden it was, doesn’t speak English. She took it upon herself to water N’s garden every time she watered her own and N’s garden was saturated, which didn’t help. One day when I was staying with the kids, I tried to let grandmom know that we didn’t need her help watering. I don’t know if I succeeded.

    About the time her beans sprouted, something dug up most of one box and something feasted on young pepper and tomato plants, so it wasn’t a great success, but she did end up harvesting a few tomatoes and peppers before the season was out. This didn’t deter her or dampen her desire to garden at all. About a week ago, I got a request to help plan this year’s garden. She is now 8 years old and quite a good reader, so this week I have contributed to her lessons with emails that she has to read aloud to her Mom and then write me back with questions and what she wants to plant. She decided she wanted to expand her garden to a third box and plant some early spring veggies this year. She and her Mom stripped the sod uphill from the first two boxes, built a new box, filled it, and mulched around it yesterday. Then she sent me her wish list.

    I had already sent a list to daughter with instructions on a better, more secure fence arrangement and she ordered the supplies to be delivered today. Last night, I designed N’s 3 garden boxes to accommodate her plant wishes and put planting dates by each type of plant. I suggested to daughter that she buy seedlings on as many of the plants as she could, though not the cheapest option, it will guarantee better success and enough quick germinating plants were included that planting those seeds will allow N to have the full experience. I love that she wants her own garden. I hate that I can’t be with her to do it this year, but it has been fun helping her plan. It is contact I miss so much with this social isolation. Daughter has been terrific about sending pictures nearly every day of lessons and projects and it helps.

    I wish my garden area was that neat. My celery experiment is growing nicely. I had two celery hearts that were getting soft, so I chopped the celery and froze it for cooking and stuck the ends in a shallow dish of water in a sunny window for about a week or 10 days. When the centers were showing signs of growth, I stuck the two in a clay pot of potting soil and put them in the sun. It will be interesting to see the end result.

    The Asian Pear trees are in full bloom and there is no indication of frost in the next 10 days so I am hopeful for fruit. The apples are beginning to leaf out, though I have seen no blooms there.

    Today is another sunny day, though cooler than the past two near record breaking days, but yesterday and today, the wind is howling. If I can secure my long hair so it doesn’t whip my face too bad, I will do some weeding in my garden today and maybe try to move some compost into the newly rebuilt boxes.

  • A few days ago, I posted about the feeding station for the birds. This morning when I entered the kitchen and looked out, it wasn’t there. Upon closer examination, the pole was pulled over, the feeders emptied and some minor damage. It doesn’t look like the doings of a bear, but probably a raccoon climbed the pole and was too heavy toppling it. All the sunflower seed and the new suet cake were gone, the suet cage bent and the lid ripped off. The pole was stood back up and anchored with rocks as the fork like prongs that stabilize it in the soil are bent, the feeders cleaned up, repaired, and refilled. I guess one of my new evening duties is going to be to go out and gather the feeders and bring them in to the garage for the night from now on.

    Yesterday afternoon, I did go out to work on the fencing and realized that it is too much for me to do by myself, so instead, I finished rebuilding the garden boxes. Several years ago, I purchased cedar raised bed boxes from Home Depot. The box assembly as a grooved post and the boards fit in the grooves. That assembly did not hold up well. I have been taking them apart, and using outdoor deck screws, fastening the boards to the outside of the post, making the boxes slightly smaller but sturdier. One box needs leveling before I can finish filling them with compost to planting. If I ever succeed in getting rid of the mint that I foolishly planted in one several years ago, there will be a blank spot in the garden as I removed that box to make mint removal easier. The box failed to contain the mints and mint is in the aisles and beginning to appear in adjacent boxes. Lesson learned.

    The area to the right of the lowest box and barrels will be a corn patch. I rarely plant corn unless it is popcorn in a three sisters garden, but decided to try some sweet corn this year.

    The peas are coming up nicely, I am happy to see. Still no sign of spinach and the flat started in the house several days ago is also not germinating, it might be a poor batch of seed.

    With the warmth comes the Carpenter bees. I had left the traps up overwinter and dumped the contents early this week. They are already filling up. We don’t usually see them until mid May. This is indeed a weird year for the climate.

    As the day cooled and the sun was low, I took my walk down our rural road. Nothing new to see, the calves were not where I could see them from the road, but I did find a branch with many shelf fungi on it.

    Once dark has fallen, I retire to my easy chair and knit or spin. My current project is a lacy skinny scarf out of hand spun wool and silk for my daughter. It was in my lap along with my needle case and I realized that they nicely coordinated.

    I am determined to get at least one run of fence between the chicken pen and the garden stable today so that I can let the hens clean up that side of the garden area. The forecast is for it to get into the 80’s today in March.

  • Another beautiful spring day on the farm.

    The first thing I do each morning, is look out the windows of our bedroom and see if we have clouds, fog, or rain. Next I check the weather app to see how warm it will be to determine how many layers need to be donned. This morning is was bright and sunny and the weather app said mid 70’s before the day is done. The porch thermometer read 51 so the short sleeved wool tee was topped with my wool hoodie until it warmed some. Once coffee was made and dogs fed, I stepped out to let the chickens out and give them some scratch. It was almost too warm for the hoodie already and the walk over to the coop reminded me that the grape vine needed to be trellised before it leafed out.

    Before attacking the grape vine, I carried a dozen eggs up to my neighbor’s porch for him to enjoy. That half mile walk revealed that with the sun and no wind, the hoodie was too much clothing. It was exchanged for a cotton sun shirt to protect my arms from the vines and the sun and donned a large brimmed straw sun hat, grabbed my car keys and the post pounder. Because of all the rain lately, the T posts that weren’t being used but were still pounded in where an old fence had been were wiggled free and repositioned in line with the grape vine about 7 or 8 feet out from the trunk. I knew that there was a good amount of high tensile wire at the very back of the hay field, it was found by the brush hog the first time we mowed that field and it got tangled in the blade, so I drove the car down, yanked it from the brush and loaded it back to the house. This was my first experience with high tensile wire except to get it out of the brush hog. I had no idea how tough it is to work with, but with two pair of large pliers and a wire cutter, I managed to run two strands between the poles. That was a tough job and they aren’t as tight as I wanted, but the best I could do with the equipment I had.

    The grape vine was seriously pruned. There may be no grapes this year, but next year when it does produce again, the grapes will be strung out along the wire for good air flow and ease of harvest, not in the tall grass and tangle of vines like last year. The best canes were stretched out along the two strands and anchored with tomato plant clips until they wind themselves on the wire.

    The vine trimmings will be soaked for an hour and made into a grape vine wreath, you can never have too many of them.

    The smiling panseys and the coral bells are loving the warm sunshine on the back deck steps.

    With the ground still soft, I think the afternoon will be spend moving fence posts for the garden and chicken run. It will get me out of the noise of the exhaust vents and smell of the self cleaning oven. Windows are open and fans are blowing. It needed to be done before I made bread again and it is a nice day.

  • What is that bright orb?

    Oh my, the sun actually came out. I had forgotten what it was like.

    This morning I sliced the loaf of bread that was made last night and it is delicious.

    The hens are overwhelming me with eggs. I didn’t realize really how many eggs the produced in a week until I was trying to use them all myself. Not being able to go out and share them is eye opening. One of the gals seems to be having egg laying issues. Her eggs have been oddly elongated with a distinct “waist” and off center yolk. This started when she resumed laying from winter.

    Her egg is upper left.

    With the sun, I decided to try to get the lawn mowed before it rains again. I got a couple of smaller areas mowed and the riding mower broke the belt that drives the blades in the deck. Power Zone has ordered me a new belt, daughter will pick it up when it comes in and then the fun begins.

    Today’s walk took me back out our rural road and up the hill above our house.

    Blue sky finally.
    You lookin’ at me? Leave me alone and let me eat. Go on now.
    Blacksburg is right through that gap, can’t you see it?
    Six spring calves hanging together while Mom’s are off somewhere.

    It was a beautiful day even if the mower broke. Our daily outing was to take the overflowing garbage and recycling bins down to the “convenience center” and home for a thorough hand washing.

    Staying busy in this trying time and making the best of my time and resources. Stay safe everyone and wash your hands.

  • Another rainy day

    But at least it isn’t snow. My two year memory for today on Facebook was a good amount of snow and the dogs playing in it.

    The grass needs to be mowed, it is emerald green now and growing so fast you can almost watch it change, but it is too wet, way too wet.

    The chicken pen was slick as a sloped ice rink when I went over to lock them up at dark last night. I grabbed a few hands full of the moldy spoiled hay from the big bale near their run and laid down a path to the pop door. This morning in the rain, sheets of the bale were put in the pen to keep it from being so muddy and to make going in to let the hens out a bit safer to my old bones. They get free range time for part of each day, but unlike prior flocks, this group has a few that won’t follow me back to the safely of their pen when I shake a cup of scratch, thus making them a target for our Mastiff to try and chase. He couldn’t catch one even when he was young, and running hurts his hips so he become even more lethargic in the house. Usually the hens are released when the dogs are fed in the afternoon and they stay out until dusk when they wander back to the pen and eventually coop up for the night.

    As soon as they are let out, they peck around the hay bale for a while then run straight for the gravel under the cars. Eventually out to the front yard and under the cedar trees across the driveway from the forsythia. When the forsythia and lilacs are fully leafed out, they prefer to shelter there and are really difficult to get out of that place.

    The half barrel planted with lettuce, radishes, and Chinese cabbage is showing signs of sprouting. When the sprouts are a little larger, the second one will be planted with lettuce, radishes, and Pak Choy. The third one will get some edible flower seed, dill, and basil, but it must get a bit warmer before that one can be planted. The 4th one is undecided, it has a returning perennial of some sort coming up in it. I want to try to sprout some parsley seed. If successful, it may be planted with more herbs for summer cooking to dry or freeze for next winter.

    The area inside the wall that gets so overgrown I think will receive a generous handful of mixed sunflower seed and allowed to grow and bloom until it can be cleared of rocks, weed mat or cardboard put down and covered with leaf mulch to plant as the herb, flower, and dye garden. Today’s exercise was moving more rocks and extending the path from the deck to the stone step that was where the old deck ended. That required heavy lifting and some serious weeding. On the step you can see a pigweed root that somehow I managed to lift from the earth whole, it must be 18″ long.

    The grill is always in the way when I mow. Eventually it will have a stone pad inside the wall on which to sit. Today, I just moved rocks, weeded a spot and wrestled it to the inside of the wall. It is not a permanent place and I wouldn’t cook on it at that angle, but it is out of the way. The new part of the path starts at the stone step and comes toward the deck. Those six boulders aren’t the only ones I had to move to do that much.

    The mower got gassed up and the tire pumped up and it started. It is running a little rough, hopefully once it is out of the garage and can move some, it will be in better shape. The rain stopped in the afternoon, but it is too wet still.

    The little potted rose my love gave me for Valentine’s Day was transplanted to a 10″ pot today now that it finished blooming. It is sitting in a sunny spot by the French doors until it is warm enough to put it on the deck. For some foolish reason, I decided last fall to overwinter,indoors, the begonias that were in the front of the house. One begonia and another pot were in the utility room window, two begonias on the floor by the French doors. I decided today that they were going to have to tough it out outdoors and put them out on the deck and front porch. If a frost is threatened, I will cover them, if they give up, I will plant some seeds in those pots.

    Right after lunch, I got some bread started. The last loaf in the freezer is almost gone and since we are eating in 100% of the time, more will soon be needed.

    Tomorrow is warmer and drier, maybe I can get the lawn part of the farm mowed. Next piece of equipment to fight with is the weed wacker, my least favorite, but necessary to get around the stone wall and the west side of the house. Maybe I can get it started too.

  • Week Three

    This is the third week of our social distancing. We have left the house, other than for walks on our property or rural road only 4 times. Three of those were for groceries, one, a failed attempt to walk in the National Forest where there were so many cars, we returned home.

    I had read that the local grocer opened at 9 a.m. for seniors so I left with a list this morning to be there when they opened. When I arrived, the sign on the door said they opened at 7 for seniors. There weren’t too many cars in the lot, so I went ahead. The shelves were not well stocked, but I was able to get most of what I was seeking, using the hand scanner (I sanitized with a disinfecting wipe first) so that I didn’t have to have another person handle the items and so that I could load them directly into a washable bag. I had worn clothing that could all be washed in hot water on my return, had taken a canister of disinfecting wipes to wipe down my car handles, debit card, and hard surfaces of bottles and cans before putting them away. When I got in the lobby, an employee asked whether I wanted a small or large cart, sprayed it down, wiped the handle before letting me take it in the store. Once home, bags were emptied in the utility room. Hard packaging wiped down, other items put on shelves until needed, bags were tossed into the washer. Clothing was stripped and put in washer and a hot shower was taken. After the shower the stall was sprayed down with 1% bleach spray and towel added to the washer and it was run. There are still no reported cases in the New River Valley, but I wanted to keep us safe.

    Today’s walk was on our farm. Since my farm walk a couple day ago, a partial skull appeared on the edge of the field. I can’t identify skulls, so I don’t know what critter it belonged to, and it was missing parts.

    In the field there were many mysterious holes about the size of a half dollar, I expect skunks looking for grubs. And two ankle breaking size holes that I expect are ground hog holes. One in my path, so I filled it with rocks and took a picture of the other.

    There were some wildflowers I can’t identify and the day lilies are up both in the cultivated bed and huge patches of them along the creek where I planted a few corms 15 years ago before the house was finished. The ones up by the creek came from my Dad’s garden and have multiplied and spread.

    As long as I can get out to walk or garden, I will be okay. I tried to start the riding mower and it is out of fuel and wouldn’t start. There is no fuel here, I will have to go to the village and self pump a couple of 3 gallon cans. I also have to pump up a front tire and hope it holds air.

  • The Feeding Station

    The Feeding Station

    From fall into early summer, the feeding station is kept full of seed and suet to attract the native and migrating birds to the feeder. This has been a habit for more years than I can count. In the home that our kids mostly associate with as their growing up home, the yard had dozens of mature trees, so squirrels were often feeder raiders and I tried every trick to foil them. Feeder poles with baffles, greased poles, hanging feeders with top shields, nothing worked until… I had the idea to dangle a feeder about 15 feet from a large branch, high enough that I could mow under it, but still reach it to fill, and 10 to 12 feet away from the trunk of the tree. Squirrel proof, but how to accomplish it. By then, Son 1 was at least a young teen and already 6 feet tall, and a Scout so he had bear bag experience camping. I don’t remember what we used as a weight, but a weight was tied to a light rope and after several attempts, he lobbed that weight over the branch. If I recall, it wasn’t heavy enough to pull the rope and fall very far, but somehow we managed to pull it down, tied a vinyl coated clothes line cord to the rope and pulled it over. With his ingenuity and strength, I had a squirrel proof feeder. When asked how we got the rope there by visitors, a sly, “trained squirrel” comment was used more than once. Later as an adult, he built a terrific deck off the back french doors and many hours were spent in the shade watching the birds.

    Once here in the mountains, I heard horror stories of feeders attracting bears, so I didn’t hang feeders for a few years, but finally broke down. There is a double shepherd’s crook pole in the back with two seed feeders and a suet feeder, and a single shepherd’s crook pole in the front for the hummingbird feeder from mid April til they leave in October. That one attracts ants and I haven’t been able to foil them.

    I love sitting at the dining table or looking our the kitchen window at the birds that come to dine. The usual cast of characters include Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Purple Finches, House Finches, Gold Finches, and in the winter, Juncos that hop around under the feeder for dropped seed. This spring for the first time there are three woodpeckers that come to the suet. I identified them based on what my Dad used to call them, but then when I looked in my bird book, I’m not so sure about that. He called the smaller one a Downy Woodpecker, but this bird is larger than the description and better fits the Hairy Woodpecker description, but the book says they are shy birds, so I’m not sure they would come to the feeder. The other he called a Flicker, but I think it is a female Red Bellied. The third is definitely a male Red Bellied. For the past few days there has been a dove and this morning for the first time, a female Cardinal. I guess we will have to start folding our car mirrors in when not in use or Mr. Cardinal will fight with himself.

    Mrs. Cardinal sharing the feeder, though the other birds seem to fear her.

    At two corners of my garden are nesting boxes put there for the Eastern Bluebirds. The first year the boxes were there, we had a nest of baby Bluebirds, then the boxes were overtaken by the iridescent Tree Swallows who have occupied both boxes for the past few years. I was pleased to see that the Bluebirds have again staked out one of the boxes and the Swallows the other. I have a third box but the only available post that is already set is too close to the box the Bluebirds have chosen. I have a young peach tree that looked last year like it had died, though it has 4 blossoms on it this year. If it dies, perhaps I will strip the branches off and use the trunk as a post for the third nesting box for next year.

    We have a very persistent pair of Barn Swallows that insist on building a nest against the logs on the top of the bathroom exhaust vent. I am as equally persistent in destroying their work before they lay eggs. We have a barn and they can build all the nests in and around it that they want, but I don’t want them on the house. Last year they sneaked around me and build a nest where the logs cross at the back of the garage, but the 6 foot blacksnake I later relocated after it found my coop, was heard and then seen trying to get back down from getting up to that nest.

    I liked having it around as long as it was only eating rodents and other pests, but not when it took to climbing the house and getting in the coop.

  • Vernal Equinox aka First Day of Spring

    It dawned clear and very springlike warm. The large flock of turkeys were in the hay field, but moved to the house side of the fence and strutted and swelled doing their mating ritual. A zoomed shot, cropped and zoomed again shows a Tom strutting his stuff. We had some clouds later in the day, even some misty sprinkles of rain. To wet from prior days rain to work in the garden, but not to wet to play with deck pots. Rosemary and thyme were put in pots, one half barrel planted with Mesclun mix, radishes, and Chinese cabbages. Some weeding around the barrels and the back bed.

    Exercise yesterday was rock moving. When we rebuilt our deck last year, it is smaller than the original. You can see the original bottom step with the terra cotta pots on it. Daughter in law has built a stone wall from the edge of that step to the base of the retaining wall. There are still lots of stones that were under the old deck. The larger flat ones are being used to create a path to the step and will be expanded to make a small patio for the grill. Several of them were jigsaw puzzled together to extend the first part out a few more feet.

    The hens got a spring cleaning on the first day of spring.

    Unfortunately, there was only a slight half bale of pine shavings so there isn’t a very deep layer. Since we are self isolated, I don’t know what I will use when it is soiled. Maybe after a few dry days, I can go rake oak leaves to use.

    The hay man sent the Southern States truck out yesterday to spread fertilizer and lime on the hay fields. Since winter was so mild, the grass is already growing. Normally, the first yard mowing isn’t done until May, but working in the back today, that part of the yard already needs to be cut. I guess I will have to go down to the village general store and pump a can or two and hope that the riding mower will start.

    Though there is a fair amount of rain due in the next 10 days, the temperatures will remain mild to warm. It is a good thing, my favorite WoolX hoodie had a major zipper fail night before last. I want to commend the company. When I contacted them, they sent me a label to return the damaged garment and shipped a new one to me immediately. It isn’t the same color and for that I am disappointed, but I will order another in the gray next fall when they are again in stock.

  • Yesterday repeat

    Today was even warmer than yesterday and another beautiful day for a walk. No photos of it today, but we did walk farther.

    First thing this morning, the seed starter flat was set up on the warming tray and seeded.

    The growlight frame was 3 inches too tall to sit in that position and as there is no other convenient place to put it, out came the jig saw and the frame was knocked apart, the legs shortened by 3 inches. Now we can get plates out of the cabinet above it. I never could understand why it was so tall in the first place. The light will be lowered to within an inch of the dome once seeds sprout, but if anything gets as tall as the light can be raised, they will be leggy and fragile.

    After the walk, two more boxes were built from the corners and boards from the deteriorating boxes. There are now 6 in two rows across the top of the garden. The mint box was removed, now to try to rid the garden of all the mint and put some of it where it can grow without over taking the garden. The remaining two deteriorating boxes will be rebuilt into two 4 X 4 foot boxes and any remaining boards will be stored to use for repairs or to build a box where the mint is, if I can get control there.

    The center top box with green mesh around it is the asparagus, the one closest to the camera is the garlic and onions.

    In the kitchen window is a confused Thanksgiving cactus, thinking it is an Easter cactus. It blooms a few blooms every year around this time.

    Tomorrow is still warm, but rain is expected, so the sore back from two days of garden can recover some.

    I still need to figure out how to deal with the fencing.

  • Walk and Garden

    A beautiful day requires a walk. As usual, it was along the Huckleberry Trail, a paved retired rail grade. Lots of signs of spring abound.

    Crocus, daffodils, unknown purple daisy like flower, crabapple buds, pussy willow.

    After the walk, I pulled out the box of saved seed, the new seed, the newly purchased seed starter tray. Grabbed some garden tools and headed to the garden, trying not to be overwhelmed because of the weeds, the wobbly fence, and the deteriorating raised bed boxes. The upper edge of the garden has the compost pile, the asparagus bed, and a 4 by 4′ box. A bit of weeding around the boxes, cleaning up the asparagus bed, and the box. After pulling the spoiled hay off of the box, I planted 4 row feet of spinach seed.

    The next row below is a sound 4 x 4′ box that is planted with garlic and perennial onions, some straw needed to be pulled back from the onions, the garlic comes up right through it. Next to that box was a 4 X 8′ box that had not been levelled well when built and was breaking apart. I took the drill and some screws out, dismantled the box, created a spot immediately below the top row box, in line with it with a slightly narrower aisle, laid down newsprint and cardboard in the aisle and bottom of the proposed box. Using the old corners and boards, instead of putting it together in the corner grooves, using screws the boards were fastened to the corner posts to make sturdier though a few inches smaller box. Soil from the dismantled box was shifted to the new box and between that box and the one above it, 24 row feet of dwarf shelling peas were planted. The aisles and beds are full of this.

    Fortunately it is fairly easy to pull and it attracts native bees, so it only is pulled from the boxes. It is not going down to freezing tonight and tomorrow is another beautiful day, so I am going to take the rest of the 4 x 8 box and boards and corners from another box to build a fourth box between the one planted today and the garlic. I will try to get more newsprint down under that box and move the rest of the soil. The chicken pen is full of good compost, so I will move a barrow or two over to the garden. If I rebuild the long boxes that are falling apart and level the spots where they will be placed, a little at a time, the garden should be ready for the warm weather planting after Mother’s Day.

    Two long boxes are sound, one has the blueberry bushes in it, the other will be cleaned up and compost added to it. One smaller box is the out of control mint bed. If the boards from that box are removed, perhaps I can dig up some of the mints.

    Now that dinner has been prepared and eaten, the grow light and warm mat are going to be brought up from storage and the tomatoes, peppers, Chinese Cabbage, and Tomatillos will be sown and started indoors. The cabbages can be planted in about a month, the rest will go in the garden after the last frost date.

    Now I need a strong body to help me remove the existing fence, reset the t-posts, remount the fencing in a stronger straighter garden fence. And while that is being done, the chicken pen needs attention too.