Busy like a squirrel
2 Sep 2019 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursulas_alcoveThe day started with me doing some quick work out in the garden before a potential storm. Last night's storm was truly remarkable, lightning, downpours, wind, etc. Fearing more of the same, I set to work. I have been scraping the weeds with a cheap kitchen knife, covering the bare clay packed earth with an inch of coffee grounds, then a layer of sawdust with the bucket from the house. The entire top path above the kuiper belt is covered with sawdust/coffee ground mulch. The garage steps have been cleared of weeds. Next, the kuiper belt itself will be fertilized with coffee grounds as soon as I have enough. One small trash can a day from Starbucks isn't enough. Trying to grow mushrooms come spring.
The kuiper belt has black raspberries, a gooseberry bush, and Egyptian onions. That's about it. The black raspberries do not produce. Shortly, I have plans to cut them back for use in a dye bath. I need more gooseberry plants come spring. I want a thorny barrier against the deer. Another Goumi bush would not be amiss either. They are tall and have long thorns. The mulberry tree needs to be cut back. Last year's cuttings need to be moved first. Some can be stacked for firewood, the rest can go as mulch on top of coffee grounds. That's going to be a lot of work.
Another bed has been created below the raspberry patch (middle earth), last year's leaves, sticks, table scraps, dirt, coffee grounds, comfrey leaves, etc. All piled up behind the cinderblocks, creating a terrace. I used brick today to outline a small bed and plant spinach and claytonia. After all that, the rain decided not to oblige me. The sun came out and got hot and humid. I headed in to work on winding more skeins.
I put away yesterday's dried tomatoes and basil. Last night's dishes got put away. Then off to pick some more basil and some calendula. I have plans for making an herbal oil with the calendula. I need a minimum of 2/3 of a quart to make the oil. I waited too long to harvest the calendula last year. I'm starting earlier this year. The food dehydrator is packed. I really need one with more trays or a second unit. Lemon verbana, horehound, sage, lemon balm, more basil, all are waiting for a space in the dehydrator.
I'm working on clothing for myself too. So much fabric in the attic, spanning decades, from the 1940s to current day, waiting for a plan. I've been wanting a patchwork skirt. So I made some measurements this morning and started cutting pieces. Going to try to do three color fields, blue, purple, and pink/magenta in five rows. They'll be gathered in the manner of a Folkwear Navajo skirt. I already found the perfect piece of fabric for the waist band. 54 squares are needed. Cutting will take a while. Not going to be a fast project. If the concept works, I may make another in a different color. https://www.folkwear.com/products/120-navajo-blouse-skirt?variant=34869965198
My sweater is also coming along. Working both sleeves simultaneously, they are halway done. The front is complete. About 3/4 of the back is done. Once those pieces are finished, only assembly and the collar remains. I'm hoping to have it done by first frost.
I've two dye baths soaking, carrot tops and avocado. That will be bath #3 and #4 out of 32. SVFF is rapidly approaching. Working on that project too.
Plus the normal cooking from scratch. Lunch was BLTs, chips, and coleslaw or pickles for some of us. Dinner was corn chowder, from scratch. I had started a fire in the washbin, the above ground fire pit, the other day, roasting organic corn on the the grill. Today I finished making the chowder. A wide assortment of different small potatoes from the garden along with red onion, sautéed in bacon grease, a cream sauce bacon crumbles, and chopped chives from the garden. Yes, I worked hard today. Chrono made cheddar bisquits to go with the chowder. It was fantastic. But this buying food (milk, cheese, bread, bacon) just isn't in the budget at all. I honestly don't know how people are making ends meet. That's a whole 'nother post though.
The kuiper belt has black raspberries, a gooseberry bush, and Egyptian onions. That's about it. The black raspberries do not produce. Shortly, I have plans to cut them back for use in a dye bath. I need more gooseberry plants come spring. I want a thorny barrier against the deer. Another Goumi bush would not be amiss either. They are tall and have long thorns. The mulberry tree needs to be cut back. Last year's cuttings need to be moved first. Some can be stacked for firewood, the rest can go as mulch on top of coffee grounds. That's going to be a lot of work.
Another bed has been created below the raspberry patch (middle earth), last year's leaves, sticks, table scraps, dirt, coffee grounds, comfrey leaves, etc. All piled up behind the cinderblocks, creating a terrace. I used brick today to outline a small bed and plant spinach and claytonia. After all that, the rain decided not to oblige me. The sun came out and got hot and humid. I headed in to work on winding more skeins.
I put away yesterday's dried tomatoes and basil. Last night's dishes got put away. Then off to pick some more basil and some calendula. I have plans for making an herbal oil with the calendula. I need a minimum of 2/3 of a quart to make the oil. I waited too long to harvest the calendula last year. I'm starting earlier this year. The food dehydrator is packed. I really need one with more trays or a second unit. Lemon verbana, horehound, sage, lemon balm, more basil, all are waiting for a space in the dehydrator.
I'm working on clothing for myself too. So much fabric in the attic, spanning decades, from the 1940s to current day, waiting for a plan. I've been wanting a patchwork skirt. So I made some measurements this morning and started cutting pieces. Going to try to do three color fields, blue, purple, and pink/magenta in five rows. They'll be gathered in the manner of a Folkwear Navajo skirt. I already found the perfect piece of fabric for the waist band. 54 squares are needed. Cutting will take a while. Not going to be a fast project. If the concept works, I may make another in a different color. https://www.folkwear.com/products/120-navajo-blouse-skirt?variant=34869965198
My sweater is also coming along. Working both sleeves simultaneously, they are halway done. The front is complete. About 3/4 of the back is done. Once those pieces are finished, only assembly and the collar remains. I'm hoping to have it done by first frost.
I've two dye baths soaking, carrot tops and avocado. That will be bath #3 and #4 out of 32. SVFF is rapidly approaching. Working on that project too.
Plus the normal cooking from scratch. Lunch was BLTs, chips, and coleslaw or pickles for some of us. Dinner was corn chowder, from scratch. I had started a fire in the washbin, the above ground fire pit, the other day, roasting organic corn on the the grill. Today I finished making the chowder. A wide assortment of different small potatoes from the garden along with red onion, sautéed in bacon grease, a cream sauce bacon crumbles, and chopped chives from the garden. Yes, I worked hard today. Chrono made cheddar bisquits to go with the chowder. It was fantastic. But this buying food (milk, cheese, bread, bacon) just isn't in the budget at all. I honestly don't know how people are making ends meet. That's a whole 'nother post though.
