WTF??!!

Someone just mentioned that we only have a few short months til winter. WTF?! We just had a killer frost about a week ago!


Yes, it's true, only four short months until we will have a fire going again. I know that's only October, but yes, around here, that will be when the temps drop, at least at night, into the freeze zone.

Four months. I just can't get my head around that one. I knew summer was short here, but I've never really put a number on it. I know, I know: It's much shorter in other areas. But that's not for me. I can't wait to move south. As much as I love our place (and it's almost done, darn it!), I just can't take much more winter.

I don't even have the garden done yet. I still have a lot of plants to get out, and then a ton of other outdoor summer projects, and I'm supposed to start thinking about firewood?? AUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!

But I'll get over it, I suppose. It's just the initial shock of realizing that summer, at least here, is so short and winter is already looming. Oh, and the fact that my respite from firewood has been brief, to say the least.

I guess now I understand why so few people choose to lead a more self-sufficient lifestyle. I don't mind the work, but all of that in addition to a 'real job'...yikes. Thankfully, I'll be done with my seasonal job soon enough to concentrate on the dreaded F word (firewood), and put up the garden harvest. I hope.

The buzz

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! We sure did. I didn't get as much done as I'd planned, but I did get to rest, spend time with the family, and sleep.

The garden, however, is still under construction. It seems that no matter how much I plant, there's still more to do. I am also trying to keep better records this year. I've started a notebook, listing each type of plant and how many, the date planted, etc. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this throughout harvest, listing the amount produced by each variety, notes on hardiness, any problems or diseases...you get the idea.

So...here's the buzz....

I know it's hard to tell, but those are honeybees!! About a zillion or so. lol Our neighbor's hive split and swarmed right into one of our trees. Mega cool. Even better was watching them retrieve the bees. They took a ladder and attempted to climb up, but the bees didn't care for that idea, so instead they used the ladder to whack the branch, knocking the majority of the bees off, which fell into a box/hive. As long as the queen ends up in the box, most of the bees will stay in the box with her. A couple of pounds of bees ended up back on the branch thanks to the pheromones the queen left behind. There was still a small bee pile on the tree the next morning, but by afternoon, they'd all found their way home.

In other news, we have the only (as far as I know) arboreal rabbits in existence:

This tree stump is huge, at least four feet tall. It was an enormous double cherry tree. The hole at the top of the stump leads to the enclosed 'crotch' of the tree. Apparently, it is an excellent place for a rabbit to build a nest and have a nice pile of kits. The stump is inside our big bunny pen. We'd hoped the rabbits would dig it out, but instead they've turned it into a condo.

Dirty little secrets

Having returned to work, I'm starting to understand why so many people purchase convenience foods and fast food. Holy cow, I'm starving when I leave work, and fast food, which I usually think is gross, even sounds tempting. Thankfully, DH or the girls usually have something waiting for me when I get home. I don't even remember the last time I cooked a proper dinner, though.



Yes, I'm guilty of purchasing some convenience foods. This time of year, there's not much in the garden, the freezer is empty, and the pantry is bare. This, if all goes according to plan, won't happen next year, as I intend to grow and put up a LOT more than last year. But, for now, if I have to shop anyway, I'm buying stuff that is quick and easy to fix.



Time is precious lately. I need time to get the garden in, or there won't be any produce to put up for next year. The less time spent cooking something that I'm just going to wolf down without even tasting, the more time I have to work in the garden.

Between working (at work), and working in the garden/yard, I've completely lost touch with the outside world. Maybe that's not altogether a bad thing. (North Korea did what?)

You'd think having a job would put me more in touch with what is going on in the world, wouldn't you? But I am usually working outside, and the trip to and from work is short, therefore very little radio news. I don't watch tv, though I guess maybe I should start catching the news every now and then. Problem is, that when the news comes on, I'm either working outside or asleep.

I've made some new friends at work, which is nice. I do love my job, but when it's over, I'll be glad to be home again. Although, I've discovered another dirt little secret: working, at least at my job, is much easier than running a household.

Garden updates

The sweet corn is finally planted! Hooray! I do have some seed left from last year, though, and I may plant that as well. I'm not sure because I've read that the seed doesn't do well if it's old. I will probably put it in the ground anyway just to see what happens. I always have to see things for myself.

This year we planted 1 full pound of sweet corn. The variety is called Kandy Korn, I think. Last year, we put 1/4 lb in the ground, so I fully expect four times the harvest this year. Woot! Also we've gone an extra step to control weeds using newspaper mulch, which will mean bigger stalks and ears as there's little competition for nutrients in the soil.

We have had heavy frosts for two nights now, and are expecting at least patchy light frost tonight. What the heck? I don't think I've ever been this late getting the rest of my garden out. Although I suppose things are working out for the best: I'm behind on planting because of my new job, so only a few of the tender plants were in the ground. The late frost would've taken anything not covered, and covering ALL the tender stuff I usually plant would be a tedious and time consuming job.

My job is still going well, though I am exhausted most of the time. Thankfully, I'm working shorter days this week, which may give me an opportunity to catch up with the gardening and several other projects. Since my job is seasonal, I'm hoping to be finished well before harvest. With the amount of things I'm growing this year, I'll most likely be canning full time.

If all goes according to plan **evil laugh**, we'll be putting in our new patio pond this coming holiday weekend. Hooray! I only say new because it's not yet been used. I've had the pond (a hard plastic liner) for about three years now. But the patio wall needs repair before the pond can be put in, and with so many other things to do, it's been low on the priority list. Keep your fingers crossed!

Take a gander at this!

Meet the newest additions to our farmstead:

Both are male, but we'll be picking up a couple of lady friends for them soon. First they are getting a bigger pool, which will make them very happy.

A generous friend offered these guys to us because she had too many males and they were fighting over the female.

So the project for last weekend was to build a house for them and a pen. Thanks to DH for the great portable goose house!

I can't wait to get the gals and start raising goslings! We'll be hatching them for meat, down, and arrow feathers, just for starters. For now, the fellows are just fun to watch.

Is it the weekend yet?

I'm working on a nice, long post, but of course it's taking ages. It'll be up within the week, I hope.

The garden is coming along slowly. I've so much planting to do, but when I have the time and energy, it's pouring rain. And since I get soaked at work, I usually prefer to stay dry when I'm at home.

I hope to get the rest of the planting done, or at least a major portion of it, this weekend. We also have another project in the works for the weekend, so expect to see pics of it coming soon.

Our latest chick hatch went very well. We had 42 eggs in the incubator, and all but 14 (I think) hatched, which was much better than our last hatch (only 4 of those hatched). We'll probably start another hatch in about a week, and with any luck, we'll never have to buy chicken again.

The trees are leafing out, the weather is warming up (sort of, if you can get over the damp and the rain and the wind), and of course the yard needs mowing. We don't usually do a lot of mowing, but now that my mower is broken, I'm looking at spots that desperately need attention, and since I don't own a goat yet...

Tick season is in full swing, and it seems our two guineas just can't keep up. I'm seriously considering more guinea chicks, but then again, I may just wait until we move. Guineas go where they like, and keeping them in the yard is next to impossible.

I guess that's it for the update. More coming soon, I promise!

Behold! The Mighty Morel!