What Homesteading Activity Did You Do Today?

[synergy]

Hmm, I doubt this stuff counts as homesteading but I extended an ornamental garden bed in my back yard out further into the lawn and planted my last two blueberry bushes .

[steev]

Planted out asparagus and rhubarb, long-term perennials; planted hardy kiwis, ditto.

Discussed use of my fallow acres with a neighbor, for her potential goat/sheep grazing, in return for her mowing the roadside (and me losing my star-thistle crop; yay!).

Discussed fencing with another neighbor in my plans to end predation by pigs, deer, and ELK. I hear somebody reduced the local herd from six to four (I'd noticed), at the cost of a lot of front-end body-work on his car. Those air-bags aren't cheap, either.

Planted out a bunch of roses along the roadway fenceline; could make things more attractive for the neighbors; couldn't hurt.

[12540dumont]

Leo potted up apple and peach cuttings, I cleaned the chicken coop, and decobbed corn. Packaged more seed. Ground corn, made pumpkin muffins...it's been a long day.

Steev, does this mean you need me to come up and help make sausage...don't tell me they wasted the meat!

[synergy]

Must be the day for cleaning chicken coops, I added the manure to a future garden bed . Strapped pallets around 2 tiny young gold weeping willows starts and 2 tiny young italian prune plum starts to protect them from the grazing beasties .

I am hopeful planting these, you have tostart somewhere right?
Somedays I am more hopeful than others ...

[steev]

Holly, did you do anything special for the potted cuttings? I've never had much luck getting either of those to root, even with rooting hormone.

I have no idea what happened to the elk meat; I know the fines for getting caught with any roadkill are serious, plus the elk are very strictly protected (and chipped). Given that even I, not very familiar to the local news network, heard about this would lead me to suppose the local game warden was pretty well informed of the occurance, and Colusa County, as well as the State, would really like the income.

It does occur to me that the remaining elk of that band are often on my land, where I keep a '62 Valiant, which packs actual steel, unlike some plastic, crumple-zoned, air-bagged late-model car. I wonder whether Princess Valiant still has her gazelle-like acceleration and agility. I don't actually remember her ever having that, but it's my faulty memory, no doubt.

Would hunting big game with an old car count as a homesteading activity?

[circumspice]

Here in Texas, the disposition of the road killed meat is up to the Game Warden's discretion. In the past, they used to donate meat that was confiscated from road hunters or poachers & the meat from road kills to orphanages, asylums, jails, prisons, nursing homes, homeless shelters, etc. Now the law requires inspection & processing by a licensed facility. So oftentimes if you are courteous to the Game Warden, he will most likely give you the animal after you report the accident.

[steev]

Um, Mister Game Warden, is it OK if I put this elk in my freezer? I have no idea who painted those elk silhouettes on the side of my Valiant.

[12540dumont]

Steev, regarding the peaches and apples, Leo put them in rooting hormone and stuck them in the soil. We have only had small luck with these. But I'm working on an experiment. Do diploids root more easily than triploids? Are certain varieties, like those with spurs more likely to root. I have become enamored of the work this fellow is doing in the UK and want my trees on their own roots. So I'm fooling around with apple pips and cuttings.

My mother had a 62 Valiant. I distinctly remember a bear in Yellowstone putting his paw in the window and gouging the headliner. It was pretty fast....now I really don't think it would take out an Elk. I think you're better off with a salt lick and a nice rifle, a freezer and a friend who you can call to help make sausage. Let me know if you decide to sell the 62.

www.orangepippin.com/resources/general/own-roots

[ottawagardener]

I am presprouting pepper seeds and starting alliums and apiums

[synergy]

Okay I am just blindly following your lead ottawa gardener and starting my onions indoors in a flat and I have grow light for when they start growing . I am so hopeful as I love onions and I am made french onion soup today .

[ottawagardener]

Let's hope we both get great onions this year! The drought of 2012 made my onion harvest rather poor though it did create some unusual effects like bulb division.

[steev]

I was pulling unnecessary T-posts, when I found a shed elk antler in the star thistle; six serious points and four spikes 4" to 1/2". It's now decorating the grape arbor.

Used the T-posts and a roll of fencing wire to put up another pea trellis (which will be for beans, in season).

Did some rototilling; the soil is Goldilocks: not too wet, not too dry, juust right! Mantissed along the Big Field Brown lentils for weeding.

Planted elephant garlic, French fingerling potatoes; from Cortona: small favas, large favas, and ceci beans; from Oxbow: Hannan Pop beans; as well as Danvers carrots, Walla Walla onions, turnips and beets.

There is clearly more snow on the western peaks, but down at farm level, the surface is drying where the dry wind hits. Hope the Spring rains do some good, so I can postpone irrigating until June.

[davida]

Started our one year old grandson on Peaches milk. He loves it. It was his parents idea. I have always strived to have perfect cleanliness but this adds a new dimension to the equation.

[steev]

You're fortunate to have Peaches and a burgeoning family. Mazeltov!

[davida]

Feb 9, 2013 1:39:25 GMT -5 steev said:

You're fortunate to have Peaches and a burgeoning family. Mazeltov!

Thank you very much. It is good to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. I am excited for the time that you get to live on your farm fulltime.

I am making yogurt with this morning's milk. My yogurt was always thin until I read in Bon Appetit about minimizing stirring and cooking the milk at 185F for 20 or 25 minutes. Then put the pan in cold water to quickly lower the temp to 110F and add the starter that is simply yogurt from the last batch. This way the yogurt is thick and creamy, almost like greek yogurt.