I’ll just come right out and say it: of all the garden work, I love turning and sifting compost most! Yesterday was Amie’s first extended day at Kindergarten and the weather was glorious to boot. That left me with five (5) whole hours in the garden. I filled milk bottles with rain water as biomass …
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Note to Husband: *This* is What I Was Saving Them For
Hoop house biomass The one surviving cabbage: enough for Sauerkraut? Today’s harvest Next month’s harvest
Nasty Critters
Fall Coming On
It may still, officially, be Summer, but the day I put on my woolen socks is, to me, the first day of Fall. That was yesterday. Last night the temperature dropped to 47 F and my mind races to what we need to get done before the frosts come. Give our hoop house a “spine” …
Colorful Garden, and a Hive Update
Tricolor pepper harvest Fat buds and flowers on my two Sochi tea plants. Mushrooms in my schroom bed, but are they the anticipated King Stropheria? ~ I did a quick inspection of the hive today and found an amply supply of honey, nectar, and brood in all stages of development. There were lots of newly …
Today’s Kindling
While gathering kindling in the woods behind the house my mind turns to the future. There is enough wood that is down and dead to heat a household or two, perhaps, but not more. It could sustain many more households in kindling, but again we’re not talking of the feudal forests that could trip up …
Fall Mite Count
Again I used the sticky board to count the mites in my hive. The last time I did this was in June, and back then, after the requisite 3 days of waiting I counted 30 mites. This time I found 68. The threshold – the point at which you need to consider treatment – is …
Doll Making
Amie is getting very excited about entering Kindergarten – she has an orientation on the 7th and school starts (only!) on the 10th. But she is also getting a little apprehensive. She remembers how she was comforted by a little seal doll during her first days at her preschool, and requested a new doll that …
Riot for Austerity – Month 22
This month our household was even more in flux than in July (see this entry for all the coming and goings). In August we averaged 6 people. Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Don’t ask me how it works, all I know is it keeps me honest. …