I've Been Spoiled And Back To Eden

That beautiful stretch of weather we had spoiled me. It was some what unseasonably warm for nearly a week here in my part of Maine. The Beech trees started to bud out. Now we are back into "normal". It was 6 degrees out this morning when I got up at 3:45. Not as bad as was forecast, they were saying -6. I think the chickens are thinking the same. During those nice days they started wandering around the yard and came up to the porch to visit me and get some treats. Now they are snuggled back in the barn with looks on their faces that say "What the...?.
      I am impatiently waiting for my seeds to get here so I can start what needs starting ahead. I think this is the first year I've actually planned out where every plant is going to go on paper before planting (tsk,tsk, I know).  I used a chart out of my old "Back To Basics" book by Reader's Digest. It has a chart of what plants do well with what plants, and which ones don't. So, keeping that in mind I made a layout for both our garden plot and the raised beds. I'm sure we will run into the same problem that we have every year; there just is never enough compost! Even after having several cows and thirty-some chickens, pigs, veggie scrapes, you name it. There just never seems to be enough for what I want to do! I would like to start working on making our garden a "back to Eden" garden. I will be making some phone calls to local wood cutting businesses this year.
     If you don't know what a "back to Eden" garden is, basically it is a garden which resembles the model of how the very first garden in the Bible (God's garden) was thought to have been grown. In the book of Genesis, after man sinned and was cast out of the garden it says he started to till the soil (Gen.3:23, KJV). Tilling causes erosion of the soil, and that is what makes your garden look like a dust bowl if you don't put mulch down. You know how the soil in the woods is black and damp? The leaves, sticks and branches of the trees fall on the ground, making a dense cover and hold in moisture, while also providing natural compost. The man in this documentary realized this, and incorporated it into his garden by adding wood chips. This is amazing and well worth your time to watch if you love growing stuff:

As a side note, if you use this method, you should know that when wood chips and similar, low-nitrogen material is breaking down, the microorganisms that feed on it use nitrogen from the soil in order to break down the material. That nitrogen is then later returned to the soil when the microorganisms die. But in the mean time, it temporarily lowers the nitrogen level in your soil. Composted chicken manure is great as it is high in nitrogen. You will want to incorporate some into your garden with this method (or other, high nitro compost). DO NOT put fresh, un-composted chicken manure on your garden, you will burn your plants! On the other hand, rabbit manure may safely be applied to your garden while fresh. But it is only about 2% nitrogen (which is exactly the reason it is safe to use fresh). 

Anyway, those are my thoughts this morning. I've got to get to the chickens now that it is light enough to see outside. Thanks for stopping in, I hope you have a great day!!!!!


   

Exciting News!

Up here on the hill in the Maine woods, we take great pleasure in the simple things. As I had said in a previous post, Darlin' gave me a bird feeder for Christmas. I hadn't had any birds visit until this past Saturday. Here are some pictures of our first little visitor:

She is just about the cutest thing!

 We all enjoyed watching as she came and munched on seeds throughout the day.

 Just one thing; we don't know what kind of bird she is! If anyone knows, could you please comment and enlighten us?? I have ordered a bird book,but it isn't here yet.

I hope she will return and bring many of her friends with her!

Have a good day y'all and don't forget to enjoy the "little things" in this life.

I'm Losing It

It is only December. We just started getting snow. And I've already got cabin fever! That makes for a LONG Winter!

     In the early morning, sitting by the stove in my rocker, drinking coffee, I find my mind wandering to thoughts of Spring. I blame the seed catalogs!! LOL. I keep thinking about what new plants I want to try, things I want to do differently (like keep a garden journal, to start with!). And how good fresh turned sod smells. Then I think about peepers in the pond. I love peepers! And how nice it is to hang out laundry on the line, and how fresh it smells. And how awesome the song birds sound just before dawn! And watching the chickens scratching around in the dirt, looking for tasty treats. Oh, yes. I've got it BAD!
*Sigh*

How will I ever live through to Spring?! LOL.
     Have a good day y'all! God Bless!

A Secret...

Good morning everyone! I am excited to tell you I'm working on a little secret surprise to share with you! I can't spoil it though. I think many of you will like it, so stay tuned!

It is hard to believe that my youngest sister was wearing this snowsuit when Darlin' and I were dating! It fits Big Boy perfectly this year!

What a face! I guess he can't wait for the surprise either!

Let's see....what's been going on around here? Well, we got some hay on Saturday. Our Taurus is in the shop, again. We have decided that once the inspection runs out in April, we will retire the car. It's been a good little car. We've had it for over 3 years now. It's a 2003. We bought it from a private owner for $2,300 and it had 83,000 miles on it at the time. Up until recently, it has been very reliable. What I liked most about it is that we didn't have a car payment. I'm more of the "cash on the barrel" type, and I hate having loans. It still isn't a bad car, but the body is wearing out. That's the biggest pain about Maine Winters. I don't mind the snow nearly as bad as I mind the fact that we have to salt the roads. It is hard on vehicles. Car washes are a must! Even then, the salt eventually always wins in the end. We've never had a vehicle that the motor went before the body did. 

What else is going on...? Oh! We now have two calves. One heifer and one bull. If I could just remember to take the camera out to the barn with me I could share some pictures before they are all grown up! 

     I've done a little Christmas decorating. I still have some lights to put up. Big Boy is really excited for a Christmas tree! We will get one this weekend. He did some sliding with Daddy yesterday and loved every minute of it! 

     Little Boy is walking all over the place! And talking up a storm! Next Summer he will be tromping through the garden with me instead of watching from the stroller! 

Which reminds me. I think when I find some time (somewhere, LOL) I will make my seed order out. I've already been getting seed catalogs in the mail. I want to set out a new garden plan though. I'm going to move some things around , which, you are supposed to rotate anyway. For example, for the last two years, I've plated Jack-Be-Littles in the raised beds on a trellis. Next year I will not plant anything on a vine in the raised beds. They somewhat take over, and make it hard to get to anything else without damaging the vines. Carrots, on the other hand, did extremely well in the raised beds. This was the first year that I've had good luck with carrots. Planting them straight in the ground doesn't turn out so well for me. Oh, it probably would, if I mixed sand in the soil like you're supposed to. 😉 And maybe I'll do just that next year. I did find out, however, that I need to plant MANY more carrots than I did this season. I thought I had A LOT. Then I washed, peeled and blanched them. I ended up with only 3-1/2 pints. Not nearly enough for us. That's just a snack! I also am going to order all heirloom seeds, because I want to start saving my own seeds. It saves money, and I think it would be neat to plant the following year seeds that I've saved myself. It's sustainable. 

Anyway, life is calling. I will come back to "see" you tomorrow! 

Graduation Day!

Our Red Star hens started to roost on the sides of the brooder and flying around the cellar, so yesterday was graduation day! Out to the barn they went! They are just over 5 weeks old, about 15 more weeks to go, we should start getting some eggs in September! I can't wait. There just is no comparing "store" eggs with farm fresh eggs.

The girls were a little leery of their new digs, I think all the space startled them a little. When they settle in I will start to introduce the older hens and eventually incorporate them into my free range flock.

This is Fluffanutter. She just had to wander in to see what all the fuss was about! She is my oldest BLRW, about 7 years old I think.

We had some wild turkeys visit us in the upper field the other day. I looked through the scope to see what we had. Two jakes and a hen. After watching them walk across the field and back again, they disappeared into the woods. Then after looking up the laws, hunting times and such, I find out I could have blasted one of them for supper! Since finding this out, I have not seen them, of course. Here is a jake, hunkered down in the grass after hearing me walk around.

We have seen a lot of wildlife on our property. I have yet to see a bear though...

Blackberries and cream with a sprinkle of sugar for a special dessert...

 Mmmm!

 Playing trucks and climbing stairs!

 Lots of humming birds. I had about 5-6 males fighting over the feeders one night. Today I saw my first female, she was a lot more timid than the males.

 Double rainbow on Thursday, can you see it?

 Beautiful colors.

 Little Boy, sporting a cowprint cloth diaper cover.

 Big Boy fell asleep with Daddy

Then Little Boy's turn! Lol.

Fired up the beast this weekend....

 Bacon cheese burgers....

 with grilled mushrooms and onions-oh yeah!

 Look who started standing up in the playpen! Lots of growing around here!

 Good day to wash bedding. I love the look of quilts on the line.

Friday Darlin' came home with some grape plants. I just never know what he is going to bring home, Lol! So here is the start of our vineyard...Elvira grapes:

 Blueberry bushes...

 They don't look like much now, but should be greening up soon.

 Our strawberry plants are looking robust lately...

 White Henry and Blackie hanging out in the shade...

 Wow, what a long post. Lots of pictures to catch up on! I hope you have a good day! Call me, maybe? Ha,ha.

Oh My! And Cherry Pie

I made my first cherry pie, yum! Don't think I'll win any "beautiful crust" contests though, lol. 

 We found out that Little Boy will have to have routine MRI's until he is 18 to watch that the tumor which caused the hydrocephalus doesn't change. We were told that was highly unlikely, and even so would be easily and totally treatable. Praise God!

 Gorgeous sunrise one recent morning.

 The little robins are so fast, it is hard to get a good picture of them. It is so nice to hear song birds again!

 My pansies are growing beat-jingles! I have to thin them though.

 Onions that Darlin' planted are coming up too!

 Apparently pansies make an ideal landing pad for flying crayon rockets, who knew?

Enjoying the sunshine while it lasts, gonna snow and rain for the next three days! *Yuck!*