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Post by 12540dumont on May 7, 2013 22:04:47 GMT -5
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 7, 2013 22:44:11 GMT -5
Yeah, the Asparagus has turned into an alternative spot for husbands to hide.... I need one of those... But alas, my asparagus has not even emerged yet. |
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Post by billw on May 8, 2013 0:37:32 GMT -5
Lazy bed digging continues. I got all of the seed potatoes planted and I was ready to take a break when a box of potatoes from wingnut showed up today. So, back to peasant labor tomorrow after work. I have room for one more group of beds in the back and that will probably be just enough. For this year. ;D  |
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Post by bunkie on May 8, 2013 10:09:58 GMT -5
We've been nurturing a small patch of asparagus and strawberries for three years now, and this winter a gopher wreaked havoc and tunneled and damaged all the crop...or so I thought! Went out there yesterdaay and saw a few tiny strawberry plants and some HUGE purple aspragus stalks...that were really tasty! And now to start a new patch in a different area with the plants I found on sale to replace the ones I thought were gone...oh my...and the camera broke!
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Post by mnjrutherford on May 9, 2013 4:35:51 GMT -5
That must be one plump and happy gopher.... Should I mail you a strawberry from my raised beds? Though I tease, I must say that they are doing pretty darn well all things considered. So are the asparagus. WAY easier to keep weeded and watered too! About how many plants did you have in your patch? I got about 10 strawberries from a friend who was moving. She dug them up and I transplanted them here. Then I bought 10 additional plants from the feed and grain store. Last years plants are thriving. I didn't think I would be able to do strawberries. Since we dug up all the asparagus and moved it all to the raised beds, we haven't tried to eat it. It's coming up pretty well, but we are letting it go this year just for the sake of allowing it to become established. I imagine that next year we will be loaded for asparagus bear!
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Post by bunkie on May 9, 2013 10:34:59 GMT -5
Yes Jo, I want you to send me that strawberry! ;D
We had over 25 plants. I think it was the late winter and the deep snow. That fat old gopher must've liked travelling under the snowcover!
Today we'll be setting up some watering hoses till we can get the irrigation tapes in...getting dry here...very unusual!
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Post by davida on May 9, 2013 11:36:04 GMT -5
That must be one plump and happy gopher.... Jo, is a gopher ever happy? It seems that no matter how much damage that they cause today, there is always more damage the next day. With the barn cats and a couple of stray cats and a HUGE chicken hawk (that wiped out a lot of my chickens), our gopher population is declining. I was aggravated with the chicken hawk until I saw him eating a gopher. Bunkie, so sorry about your loss but glad that some survived. Changing subjects but how are the ducks handling your dry weather. I would love to have ducks but was concerned about the heat and dryness. |
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Post by steev on May 10, 2013 1:01:30 GMT -5
One of my neighbors was troubled by hawks preying on her chickens. One day, she killed the male as it swooped, with her hoe. Since then, the female has swooped at her (I've seen it do so). Our cousins are not so dumb as we may wish.
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Post by bunkie on May 10, 2013 9:51:42 GMT -5
...Bunkie, so sorry about your loss but glad that some survived. Changing subjects but how are the ducks handling your dry weather. I would love to have ducks but was concerned about the heat and dryness. Davida, we have a homemade pond that we use for irrigation and to keep the ducks' pond full. But, in the past before the pond, we used a kiddy pool with water in it for the ducks during the hot/dry spells. Infact, I got the pool for us to cool our selves off, but once the ducks heard the hose and water, they jumped in and took it over! Also, during the winter months when the pond froze, I used to fill a styrofoam chest with water and put a ramp up to it and they enjoyed that in the cold! They're quite flexible, and I have read that they don't really need ponds, just enough water to clean their beaks out. |
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Post by steev on May 11, 2013 1:43:55 GMT -5
Ducks are a hoot; I've not dealt with ducks for more than fifty years; it would be good to get back to them.
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Post by synergy on May 11, 2013 18:18:35 GMT -5
Cleaned the barn and dumped the manure where I intend to put the next tree I plant, whenever that is . Rotated layers from the brooder to the tractor and put meat chicks in the brooder ( they were in a Rubbermaid bin in my living room getting fragrant ) Picked bouquets of lilacs and the house is smelling better already : )
Got soaked under the hose to cool off , fooled around planting apple seeds and heading off to mow . I am now in love with goats after visiting my neighbours herd of fifty moms and babies .
Does any of that count as homesteading or is it just how we live ?
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Post by 12540dumont on May 17, 2013 14:15:59 GMT -5
My Pomme de Terre. This is my annual new potato harvest. Yes, I can't stand the wait. I haven't had potatoes since February, when we ate the last of what we planted. If I had to eat rice once more, I would have sunk into a funk. So 22# from a 50 foot row. Dar, go ahead and laugh. They are as purdy as new potatoes go. Remember, we have not had a drop of rain here...only a slight drizzle. Today was a marvelous 75 degrees, perfect for harvesting potatoes. It's supposed to be 90 by Sunday again. The rest will have to stay in the ground until they make 150 pounds per row. I think I'm going to try flood irrigating them. I found another box of potatoes in the barn  Maybe I should plant it? They have sprouts about 9 inches long... So much to do, coops to clean, irrigation to move, squash, okra, and butter beans to plant. I think I need a nap! No hammock, but I have a lawn chair (without the lawn). Attachments:
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Post by davida on May 27, 2013 17:37:54 GMT -5
Making Maraschino Cherry ice cream from this morning's cream from Peaches. The recipe was quite by accident but it is the family's favorite. I was wanting to make cherry ice cream but did not have any fresh cherries. This is the simple recipe for the size of our Cuisinart ice cream maker:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup maraschino cherry joice
30 maraschino cherries diced
1 to 3 tablespoons of vanilla extract, I like 3
Let this all soak together
Then I use the morning cream off of the Peaches' milk from the morning milking to fill the container. It is about 1/2 cream and 1/2 milk at this time.
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Post by steev on May 28, 2013 0:13:48 GMT -5
Looks like life is sweet, davida.
I've not had homemade ice cream since I was fourteen; we used to make in hot weather, flavored with our canned boysenberries, in the hand-cranker, with salt and ice.
No, I'm reminded of once in Guatemala, when I was 31, we decided to make some, having access to a cranker, so we went to a local cooperative dairy, but it was late and the only cream they had was going sour. So we bought it, sugared it, and flavored it with Drambuie; it was superb!
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Post by davida on May 28, 2013 10:52:17 GMT -5
Looks like life is sweet, davida. I've not had homemade ice cream since I was fourteen; we used to make in hot weather, flavored with our canned boysenberries, in the hand-cranker, with salt and ice. No, I'm reminded of once in Guatemala, when I was 31, we decided to make some, having access to a cranker, so we went to a local cooperative dairy, but it was late and the only cream they had was going sour. So we bought it, sugared it, and flavored it with Drambuie; it was superb! Now that is an exceptional drought for lack of an essential food group, homemade ice cream. Certainly wish that I could share some Peaches cream with you. |
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Maybe I should plant it?