A gardening post... and Celtic Solstice ;)

We're well into July of 2015, and I really haven't posted much of my garden-in-action this year.

The upper garden only saw a minor walk-through today since we've spent the past week focusing on it.
The lower garden, however, saw lots of action today in-between running to-n-from school to either pickup or drop-off one child or another (that was a LOT of hyphens!)  7:00, 8:00, (no 9:00 today -- she biked home), 12:30, 2:00.  4.9 miles away... it's a lot of to-n-fro, but...

• the plot of white potatoes were hilled up and weeded
• onions freshly weeded
• small row of tomatoes weeded and mulched (grass)
• the corn was fertilized with nitrogen
• the strawberry patch fencing was taken down, rolled up (I have a feeling it'll come in use again once the tomatoes start ripening--those silly chickens!)
• the strawberry patch was thinned/tilled from 3 ginormously wide rows (plus the new one) into 6 thinner rows (plus the new one). 
• raspberry rows were mostly picked;  we're starting to get tuckered out, so we're finally calling it a day

With the capability of pantograph photography, both of our gardens can be caught each in their own single snapshot.

Upper garden...

Back left corner:  lettuce, kale, chives, asparagus -n- the like...
Large plot of cabbage and broccoli right in front by the door
rows of carrots, kohlrabi, peas, basil, more lettuce
some rogue dill and parsley
berry bushes (currant, gooseberry, and two other varieties that Paul picked out)
tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes (in the background)

... and up close ;)

Lower garden...

the raspberry patch
the strawberry patch
red potato patch (mulched in grass)
rows of corn
dead spot -- nothing
more corn
white potato patch
more corn and beets
onions, garlic
trellises of cucumbers and beans (before the mobile chicken coops)
hills of melon and squash varieties along the back edge
grapes are back there too
... and Cassie, walking down to feed the chickens

Teens!  I tell ya!  It doesn't matter what species they are, it seems like all they want to do is lounge and laze the day away ;)

Oh yes--- and yesterday, we set ONE more set of eggs in the incubator ;)

Due date:  August 4th

 On the quilty side of things...
Celtic Solstice was loaded and quilting was begun yesterday.  It was another day of taxiing children to-from school, so not much was completed.  Tonight, it won't see any action, either.  We are headed out shortly for Cassie's volleyball league.  Love that sport!

Alrighty---Happy Wednesday everyone !

Jamestown Landing and the property

Summer 2015-16 quilting has finally been kicked off!  With a day of Hans Zimmer movie soundtracks, Jamestown Landing was quilted.  

I can't even remember anymore when I started this or when the top was completed.  Sad, sad, sad that I've become "one of those quilters" who has been around the block long enough to have a pile of UFOs percolating (and dying?) off in the corner.  LOL.

One at a time though.  One at a time.

Jamestown Landing ended up coming to the forefront since it will be a raffle quilt for a friend of the family.  The raffle kickoff will happen during a 4th of July celebration;  therefore, the binding will be completed today and (hopefully) we'll venture up to deliver the quilt to its destination this weekend.

Life around the yard is in full swing...

The ducklings are over a month old now;  only one has been officially named so far.   Meet Afro-Jack!!!! LOL

Only one pig of the six has been named this year;  Smudge.  Candace was out treating them to some Daisy treats;  what a beautiful moment!!!

A new, simple-n-portable, coop is being made for our ever-expanding flocks.  

After all, if you've got 'em, ya hatch 'em, right???  ;)

Our younger tomato plants couldn't wait much longer;  they were itching to be planted!

Although, when this visitor was seen, the planting endeavor was ALMOST halted for the day!

However, hero Paul came to escort this guy (or girl?) to a new location, and we were back to the planting!   

In the end, SEVENTY-THREE tomato plants are happily growing in the upper garden.  SEVENTY-THREE!  LOL.  Way to hold back this year, Amy :D

And TRUUUULY, I'm not one to do much 'gardening' unless vegetables are involved.  Pretty flower/shrub gardens aren't my thing----but.... THIS has become an eye-sore after spending ZERO time on it last year.  Plus... it's in the middle of the front yard!  What must the neighbors think?!?!?  (LOL!)

A few hours and sunburn later, with the assistance of my helpers Caitlyn and Candace, it is all clean and new again.   I had started some perennials (per Paul's request) back in February, so they were moved into this location. 

We have Achillea planted in the southern portion... 

Some Black-Eyed Susans and HolyHocks towards the west...

A plot of McKana Giants Columbine planted from seed on the northern edge.  *shrug* We'll see what they do...

and a section of Lupines towards the east.

Again, I'm not much of a perennial flowery/shrub gardener, so..... *shrug*.  At least the weeds have been tamed :D

On the topic of taming.....

Caitlyn has reached the age (crazy enough!) to learn how to mow with the riding law-mower.  We were in a win-win situation with her the other day.  She had fun learning AND our 'hay-field' was able to be mowed at the slower pace required due to the extra length!

Then sister Cassie took over with the yard-rake.  Right about now, having that mini-baler Paul and I talked about last year would be pretty nice.  I'm sure we'd be able to bale up quite a bit!!!!!  Cass seems to be enjoying her time on the mower, though, singing along with her iPod tunes.

New chicken condo - under construction

The 14 new chickens are celebrating their 7th day with us.  The transition has been reasonable, but it's time to get them permanently settled into their own coop.  Egg production has been kinda off due to the stress.  These 14 have not been given access to the coop we have attached to the run; we've shut off the access door.  I few of them have figured out how to fly up and out of the run, and I THINK they've figured out how to get into the coop from the main coop door that we've been opening and closing everyday for our original flock.  Some of the nesting boxes in the coop are being used that haven't been used before, and.... there have been more eggs in the coop than what our flock is able to produce.  But mostly, any eggs that these chickens are laying are scattered around the ground in the south chicken-run.  That's not okay.

These poor girls -- truly.  Stress doesn't help ANYONE, not even chickens!...

But, the stress isn't just affecting the new chickens...

... Cassie started cleaning up the north chicken-run on Friday, which will be the run available to the new chickens once a new chicken coop is made.  She came across a collection of eggs.  I am almost completely positive that these are Big Mama's eggs;  she's only one of two of our chickens that lays green eggs.   We left them alone, and when I went back to check on them yesterday (Saturday), there was another egg added to the 'nest.'  Poor Mama.  She's stopped using the nesting boxes.  I can only imagine why -- she has a favorite box, and it was occupied the other day by one of the new-chicken escapees.  

So it's time!

The coop materials were purchased on Thursday and much of the construction was done on Friday.

Cassie is developing into an excellent "farm-hand."  And I think she's been newly motivated by our Agriculture teacher...

... Being a 7th/8th grader, Cass is new to the FFA experience.  Our Ag teacher visits students in the summer; those interested in taking on projects, etc.  She visited us Friday morning; did a walk-around to see everything we offer and what Cassie could potentially concentrate on during her first true year of participation in/with SAEs.   "Poultry Production" is one area of interest -- certainly!

Documenting aspects of projects is important ---  PSSHHT!  Got that covered!  Pictures are always being taken around here.  And documented!  LOL.

So, once the Ag teacher left, Cassie grabbed the hand clippers and started trimming up the north chicken-run.  This will be the run that will be accessible to the new chickens once the new coop is completed and attached to the run.

A room with a view!  There are different opinions in various 'how to build a chicken coop' articles about whether or not coops 'need' windows.  This lil' addition is a simple, inexpensive slider variety.  It'll offer light for the chickens AND ventilation.  Would YOU like to live in a place without windows???   Silly, right?  Of COURSE we want to see light... and have air movement on those warm days!

Wouldn't you agree, Paul??

Once the new coop is done and placed alongside the north chicken-run, our plan will be to transplant the new chickens into the north run, and into THEIR coop-condo!  The south-run coop access door will be opened up again, and hopefully, our original flock will notice they have their original access to the coop again.   And they'll all live happily ever after! ???

Our flock wanders the yard during the day.  Maybe 1-2 weeks after settling into their new environment, the new chickens will be given access to the yard.  I really don't know how/if the two groups will eventually get along and play nice.

And THEN--- we'll have our nine chicks to deal with too!  I didn't record when we received them, but I think they are about 16 weeks old (give or take 2 weeks).  They currently are housed in a moveable ground-coop;  no nesting boxes (they don't need them yet), but no roosting bars either.  Their housing will be next to problem-solve.  I THINK we'll put them back into the south chicken-run (we kicked them out when we got Steve, the rooster), and give them access to the original coop.  We simply need to be sure Steve plays nice with them!!!!

And not to forget the NINETEEN eggs that are in the incubator!  LOL.  Oh boy! 

Cassie and I candled them on Friday (day 9).  Many, if not all (?), showed signs of growth and development.  It was kinda cool to watch the movement in the eggs, seeing the embryo dart around the egg!

Our chicken whisperer.

And, as always....so much else is going on around the house...

Weeding...

Combing through weeds...

Finally finding the tiny green onion sprouts...

... treating the goats to our weeds

... picking strawberries

PROCESSING the strawberries!....

mashing...

and stirring to make a couple batches of jam.

And fitting time into Friday night and all-day Saturday for a 3rd/4th grade Softball tournament. 

The days are filled with happy and fun living!  That's for sure :)

Celtic Solstice progress, and more(?) chickens

With Cassie away all day with her FFA group, chilling and playing at Valley Fair, and the other two girls still in summer school classes, I decided to make today a ME day.  Truly.  I can't remember the last time when I had a day off -- ALONE.  And I think I've actually managed the feeling of guilt quite well today.

No garden.

No laundry.

No cleaning.

Not even emptying the dish washer.

I'm catching up on blogs and emails.

I've enjoyed wanderings outside, spying in on the chickens.

And I turned the sewing machine on for a couple of hours.

Celtic Solstice is getting bigger... slowly.  The first border was attached before turning the machine off for lunch.  And now that lunch is over, I'm thinking of putting my feet up, turning on some background noise, and spending the next few hours with some crochet.

On the way upstairs, I peeked in on the incubating eggs...

...having realized too late about candling the duck eggs, I grabbed a flashlight to do a quick check on our eggs entering day #7.

Oh.  My.

ALL NINETEEN of the eggs showed signs of blood vessel networks!  I'll candle them again in three days to see if the embryos are developing before I worry too much that we'll have another 19 chickens joining our flock soon.

Happenings around the Ranch

No, we don't live on a ranch, but we sometimes refer to our lil' place as the Skattebo Ranch.

The morning routine has been established.  I typically wake around 5:30-6:00 and enjoy blogging/FB time with a cup of coffee.  The girls get wakened at 7:00, and we leave for summer school at 7:45.  

The two youngest attend summer school from 8:00 - 4:00.  WHAT a full schedule for them!!!! Archery, weight training, touring our town on bikes, art, and then an afternoon of science, more art, outside games and swimming lessons.  Cassie participates in some weight and agility training every morning 8:00-9:00, while I spend some time in my old & new classroom; decluttering, cleaning, organizing, and moving.

By 9:30, Cassie and I are usually back at home, having a morning snack, before embarking on our task for the morning.   The garden has been claiming most of our time lately.

The last of the seeds have been planted..... (SO I THOUGHT!)

While just "taking a look at the corn," I started hoeing the weeds around the stalks seeing that we loaned our tiller out to a friend for a short time.  {{I really am looking forward to having it back -- parts of the garden are starting to look like a lawn!}}

The little bit of hoeing turned into a full-fledge TRANSPLANT operation of corn plants.  As typical, not all of the seeds sprouted.  In the end, nine rows (~30 yards ea) of corn were condensed into five.  The four emptied rows will be tilled up and replanted;  this will be the third (and final?) planting of corn for us this year.  On Monday, Cassie and I planted four more rows of corn for her "little" garden plot (yup, her rows were ~about 30 yards long, too).

But now---at least the corn rows are looking a bit more lush than before! :)  And we'll have more corn.  {{yeah, I'm sure I'll be revisiting this post come September, saying...IDIOT!  Didn't you realized how long it would take to harvest all of this corn???}}

I started "looking around" the corn at 10:00....

... I was quite surprised when I came inside for a quick lunch break and the clock read 1:30!  My stomach is usually a better timing device than that!  Truly!  11:30, and my stomach is typically moaning and groaning, "feed me.  feed me."

While eating my sandwich at the table, THIS GUY rolls into the driveway!  Oh boy.  More work :D

Short version:  last year, we ordered a load of wood because the price was right!  Over the crazy snowy winter, our neighbor was having difficulty getting wood shipped (something to do with loggers unable to get into the woods due to all the snow).  Our neighbor processes wood for selling to others, so he was hurting for some supply.   We had barely TOUCHED our load last Fall, but had plenty of processed wood to last the winter, so Paul and neighbor worked out a deal.  The neighbor could have his hand at the entire load from last summer, and when time came to order a spring/summer load, he would simply put our name on the order as well.

Today was the haul day. 

Not having been around logging all my life, I found it interesting to see how all of that wood gets unloaded.

What a little contraption!!!  And 45 minutes later... we was rolling right back out of the yard, emptied.

The chicks were all mesmerized by the noise of the unloader too.

Along the topic of chicks... Big Mama had been given one more day to decide if she was going to sit on the eggs we've been leaving in the nesting boxes.  But, she was still out wandering around with her hen friends.

With 19 eggs neatly organized in the nesting box, I decided to gather them up and play Mama Hen myself.  For those of you who have chickens -- do you find that all of your hens have a favorite box too?  ALL of our hens (mind you, we only have 4 right now) use the same nesting box.

The duck eggs led to zilcho babies :(, but I'm going to give this egg incubating one more try with chicken eggs.  I've been reading up a bit more on incubation -- I think part of the duck-egg zilchness was because we waited too long to get the eggs in the incubator.  These chicken eggs have been laid within the past week, so.... let's see if Steve and the girls have been getting along ;)

Like my little path along the floor taking me to the incubator (on the table) ??? ;)

SOON, Celtic Solstice... SOON you will get some work time.

Another animal we've been seeing around lately :)  I dare say that this is one of Paul's bees....

Parts of the garden are SLOOOOWLY starting to take shape...

Wittle-bitty carrots....

cucumbers... we have 12 plants this year.  The pantry is completely OUT of dill pickles!!!

... onto my tomatoes......

:(

To let you all know:  I'm worried.

It's been cold.  

And wet.   

Here's a variety we produced from seeds we dried and saved from some heirloom tomatoes a neighbor gave us two years ago.  They will make BIG, BIG, full pound+ tomatoes.  We have three planted.

A new variety that I'm excited about:  Red Oxheart.  But, they are CERTAINLY taking their time to grow big and lush.  I hope it warms up soon to give these guys a boost!    We have 10 planted.

{{BTW, it's raining.  Again.}}

Another new variety this year:  Abe Lincolns.  Gah!  See how yellow those leaves are?!??!!?   These plants really need a break from all the water.  We have 8 of these planted.

There's more garden to show -- eventually.  Right now, it's really a bunch of brown dirt without a lot of green.