As the Spindle Turns . . .

Helluva Week!

2026-04-18T22:51:54Z

Anyone else have whiplash from the global events? The more I hear, the more I am bearing down on fixing up the garden. More potatoes got planted in containers. The next round of lettuce got planted. The squirrel dug up half the yellow onions. I put another grill on top but may have broken the stems and killed the plants. I also planted the rest of the onion bulbs that didn't fit the first time around. Next year, I will use a wide wire mesh fence right away, flat on top of the ground or raised boards when I plant bulbs. The red onions in the front yard only have signs of a few right along the fence that are coming up. No evidence of digging - the straw hasn't been moved.

My budget has been stretched as far as it will go. Buying anymore top soil is out of the question until after much of planting season has passed. Growing is more necessary than ever before. I went to the food co-op on Tuesday. Half of the store was empty shelves. It included every category from produce to dry goods to milk and meat. I am not sure what happened, was the buyer sick, the delivery truck delayed, or what? There was no bread at all. I spent a day making bread. But seeing all the empty shelves was a wake up call.

I also got my natural gas bill and almost fainted. Nearly 2/3s of the charges had nothing to do with usage. To have an account with them is over $20 a month. There were climate change "adjustments" so they could survive even if no one bought natural gas. There were other changes as well that I didn't understand. It was bizarre. I'm trying to figure out how to lower my bill. Cold showers is all I can think of. We only use hot water for laundry to felt hats for sale. The pee pads also have to be washed in hot. Everything else is done in cold. I wash dishes daily. Should I go outside and start a fire to heat water? I don't understand. We make just a smidge too much to qualify for aid. I'll have to do a cost comparison from before this climate adjustment was enacted. We already keep our thermostat lower than normal people (64 F). I guess next year we try for 62 and hope no one catches pneumonia. I am pissed to say the least. The US is selling LNG to the highest bidder. I watch train load after train load leave the area.

I don't want to even think about the water and electric bill with the advent of data centers. We are slated for three! I will be doing some experiments to see what we can cut back on. Just when we're about to get hit with a super El Nino! I've seen the temperature data that the scientists use to calculate the model. We are certainly headed there There's a chance it could reverse, but I am skeptical. The Pacific ocean is too warm.

Concentrating on what is in my control, I set up a new garden bed. I have a second but haven't put it together yet. I have to shore up a retaining wall first. I need to clean up my grow room so that it can be used for a summer bedroom when temperatures get too high. I need to haul old junk out to the curb on garbage day. We are now being charged triple for garbage pickup except that it now includes once a week junk pickup. The catch is you have to call ahead and they don't always answer. The cleavers still need to be removed from about half the yard so I can plant tomatoes, using an old bed frame as a trellis. More Dig Defense needs to be installed. Once that is cleared, I may find space for a small pine frame bed that was on sale. I could buy soil for that as it is for zucchini, which can be planted later once we get another paycheck. So yes, there is stuff I can do. I am not helpless.

The current forecast is dismal for Monday night. While I have been out enjoying 80 F temperatures all week, it'll go down to 26 F on Monday night. I moved the seedlings back inside. Tomorrow I dig out frost blankets. All the potato containers must go into the garage. The concrete should be warm. We'll likely lose the apple crop and the Asian pears. I can't afford the tree coverings. The goumi may survive since it's next to a brick wall. Micro climates are great. I need to cover the lavender. It's barely hanging on after the harsh winter. The quince will just bloom more after the cold snap. It doesn't believe in blooming all at once. There's a lot to do.

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Prices

2026-04-14T11:33:21Z

In keeping with garden advice, I looked for the nitrogen fertilizer I used last year. I used an organic feather mix that is slow release. I liked it and it was easy to use. While it was easy to find this year and reasonable at $17 a box, the shipping costs for a couple of boxes from CA was $78! It wasn't oversized nor are the boxes heavy. Either their shipping algorithm is screwed up or something is way off. Yes, I left an "abandoned" cart. But prices are going up. Last year I bought packs of coco coir for about $7 or $8 a pack. The discount was bigger in packs of 6. This year I can only find single packs at $22 a pack. Same exact size. Same company. Just wow!

That means a couple of things. One - I'll be looking at bokashi to fertilize. Two - Like it or not, I am going to go flip that compost pile and water it periodically. I'd chase over to Starbucks for coffee grounds, except that uses gas. Once I have the backyard beds all built, I may call for a chip drop. It's a LOT of work hauling those chips up the hill. We'll see if that even happens. The third thing I am doing is making biochar. My latest bed is getting the winter cover crop as plant food. I guess that makes four things. My costs will be water and seed for the cover crops. Just hoping my watering can makes it through the year.

Rain has been a scare commodity. I'll be harvesting the comfrey leaves for the buckets soon. Any digging or reshaping of the land (cinderblock leveling) will be put on hold. The clay will break the shovel. I have a broken tool collection.

It burns me to know that we get plenty of water BEFORE the last freeze but not after. I can't collect rainwater in March when it's plentiful. Hard freezes trash the container and the spigot valve. April 6th was our last hard freeze. We haven't had rain since nor is any forecast for a while. Going forward, I am going to have to do something about that. I am considering a water trough heater, just for those April days when temperatures dip. Before climate change really hit this area hard, we'd get close to 4" of rainwater every month - like clockwork. Now, it's all or nothing. I don't like it but I need to adapt. El Nino not only means high temperatures for the summer, but it also means drought in our area. I've been buying organic straw for all my beds. The Oya will be installed in the newest garden bed. I may make oyas out of old terra cotta pots. I also snagged a failed pottery attempt from Tosten. He was making clay pots with lids. The glaze failed. I think it'll work.

https://youtu.be/gkLRanqTKWw?si=tjvXEz4SRjdbEa0S

My latest video is out on the potatoes. In it, you'll see the latest "purchased" raised bed. I picked up a 2 for 1 sale on Birdies beds last fall. I don't know if I'll like it. My galvanized steel "fire ring" garden has never done well. A lot of garden catalogs are getting rid of a lot of products. Shipping has gotten too expensive. I picked up a wooden bed too, 41" x 36". If I can get that set up this year, it'll hold a zucchini squash plant. That depends on whether I can finish getting the mulberry tree trimmed. It's been too windy. I have quite a ToDo list. As time allows, I'll be working more with items I make out of scrap things. There is no money for purchased items any longer. (With the exception of perlite or soil that I have to get from the hardware store if I am to plant this year)

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It's going to be tight this year

2026-04-12T02:04:23Z

The impacts due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have yet to hit us completely. The last tanker out of the strait just arrived into a US port. There will not be fertilizer for food despite farmers ordering early. There just isn't enough that arrived before the closure. We've been blessed in that we haven't completely run out of gas like some Asian countries. With that in mind, I'm working hard to make sure I have food in my yard, starting with calorie crops.

This is my makeshift bed. I have boards from my business that I no longer use, four cinderblocks, and 4 rebar stakes. The method I'm using was pioneered by Ruth Stout. Potatoes sit on soil and get covered in 8 inches of straw.

This year I am using all my grow bags. I have 24 planted so far. There is another 10 to go plus a few big plastic pots. I'm not a big fan of the grow bags but I will use what I have to maximize production. I have 12 Lehigh taters to plant yet, plus 10 yukon golds, and 10 raspberry red seed potatoes. In July if I can afford it, I'll get some organic potatoes at the regular grocery store to plant for fall. I can get two crops a year but finding seed potatoes in July is too hard. Yes, if you do the math, I don't quite have enough containers. I expect I can scour a few more big containers from the basement or garage.

Water trays for the bottoms are harder to find. The hardware store is already out, but then again, so is my pocketbook. I'll have to get creative.

I'm already starting to harden off plants. Beets, leeks, and celery are outside. Some of the herbs I overwintered in the house are also getting hardened off. My chives came back and several thyme plants did as well. In another week or so, I'll know whether my clove currant survived and my grapevine. There is asparagus to pick. Soon there will be rhubarb. Today I spent time up-potting sweet potatoes. I have 24 slips so far. My goal is 48. They won't go outside until June so there is still time. Meanwhile, the grow room is moving into up-potting as well. I have asters! They sprouted. I also up-potted lemon basil. There is so much more to up-pot so I can start another tray of seedlings. I need to get the dye plants started. My first attempt at madder failed. I'm going to try seeds from another company. It looks like I'll have one Florence Fennel and one chamomile for the herb spiral. I also moved the excess quantity of Autumn sedum to the way-back. The deer don't bother it.

I finally got a mouse trap that works. It's a live trap. I thought we only had one mouse but then I saw a second. I have caught three so far. I reset the trap just in case. I don't know where the mice are getting in. Today was spent cleaning all the surfaces in the kitchen. I'm hoping that is the end of it. After the mice set the stove/oven on fire, I have had it with them. They'd stored their seed stash next to electrical wires on the interior lining insulation of the oven. I'm sure they chewed the wires too. Anyway, with a new stove, I'm not doing a repeat. Everything is getting ridiculously expensive.

Taxes are done. That is a big relief. Somehow my business still made money. I owe the Fed but will get roughly the same back from the state. It doesn't always work out that way. As a business, I have to show a profit once every three years. They say five but it raises a red flag for auditing. A profit can be as low as $5. Or at least that used to be the rule; I haven't read the entire code lately. Don't quote me on this. I don't give tax advice. Bottom line is I'll survive April. Costs are rising and total sales are way down. I think a lot of small businesses will close this year. Doing the taxes was painful to see exactly how much I spent and on what.

Time will tell if my business survives or closes for good. Chrono will be at Oddities in Boston for MayDay and I will be at Great Lakes Fiber Memorial Day weekend- just Saturday and Sunday.

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Preppers

2026-04-05T14:07:50Z

Yes, I watch their videos. This war has caused them to reach a fevered pitch. I think that seeing the total blackout in Cuba triggered something in the psyche. I'm an old lady. I have had a tad more experience than a housewife with little kids or an over-educated white male urban prepper with a decent income. Why do I watch? I want to learn about alternatives. Personally, I think the innovation coming from people with no income is preferable. They've learned to invent solutions from things around them. However, that isn't the reason for my rant today.

You can "prep" all you want to but unless you use those tools regularly already, you don't know what could go wrong. Many people start gardening and even spend a ton of money on infrastructure. You can't expect to have all the answers your very first year at it. You may not know that leaving bare ground invites ground hornets. All of a sudden, you cannot even harvest your carrots. Or that the cute little squirrels and rabbits will eat all of your plants. Farming is a learning experience. It's like that for other things as well.

Until you have lived through a week long blackout in the middle of winter, you have no idea what all the pit falls are. The pile of logs were frozen to the ground from the ice storm preceding the snow. How in the world do I do laundry? I have diapers and bedding to wash. Hurricane Helene taught many that paper plates are a godsend so you don't have to do dishes because there is no clean water. Can you even flush the toilet? How long before other peoples' sewage backs up into your basement? There is an awful lot to unpack. Some of the channels out there are better than others. Some people actually have experience. It's not just about gardening or stocking your pantry.

I think the best one I heard came from some x military guy. Step One in an emergency: Do I stay or do I go? It's important to prep for both. Randomly, we found ourselves in DC with some time to kill and visited a museum, something to do with buildings. As part of their traveling exhibits, artists had built little houses out of canned goods. There were workshops on how to make a bug-out bag. Stuff like that. It was interesting. It got me thinking. We live near a nuclear power plant. If something were to happen here, what is the recommended evacuation? I've actually seen loudspeakers in farm fields near here as early warning sirens. I googled it. The people who live in that town directly by the power plant are to evacuate to our county fairgrounds, about 5 miles from here. That's it. That's the whole plan. That power plant is 50 miles from here. Is that far enough? They are going to say, "That depends". And it does. Nuclear plants are not all the same. Each company that built them may use a different process. The type of accident may require venting (atmospheric) or it may release into the river. We're back to "do we stay or do we go?" They've since decommissioned one of the two stacks. Someone else told me the second stack is a normal coal processing plant. I don't know.

Every area in the US has some form of disaster that could happen to it. Drought fueled fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, the list goes on. Where does that leave me? I'm thinking about a bicycle driven washing rig that someone posted on Instagram. Do I have a long gear chain? No but the premise was fascinating. But squarely on my mind is clean water. Yes, I have rain barrels but during El Nino, really every summer lately, the sky stops producing water after May. It's raining now, but Tuesday will go down to 24 degrees. I can't collect it without wrecking the container or the valve. Ice expands and really trashes plastic containers. So, yes. Water is still my number one concern. Do I have experience setting up an outdoor portable shower? Only in theory. There's a lot that needs done. I just hope I never have to use it. I think step one is repairing my gutters. They are barely attached anymore on the garage.

I'm up for some learning. How about you?

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Clueless

2026-04-03T22:50:07Z

on Tray #2. I planted these on February 24th. Some are slower germinators than others. I have repotted the small seedlings from the feverfew, the statice, the artichokes, and the basil. That leaves me delphiniums, Bells of Ireland, Lemon Grass, Giant Snapdragons, and Eggplants. I planted a row of five each. Some are old seed like the delphiniums and snapdragons. Some have poor germination like the Bells of Ireland. Cells got shifted to make space for the transplanted pots. My bad. Empty cells were removed.

That leaves me with a few mystery plants. I'm pretty sure one is an eggplant. That leaves me with two unknown plants. Here's what I have:

I have some thoughts but I'd like to hear yours. Keep in mind that in Tray #1, Dead center, I grew a dandelion. Last year, the potting soil grew unknown tomatoes that the seed apparently hadn't decomposed. It adds to the spice of growing, not knowing what you are going to get.

Today's warm snap produced a bunch of asparagus, the very first outdoor harvest of the year. Violets also are blooming outside.

Just before the last rain, I was able to plant a Chandler Blueberry in place of a very dead honeyberry. I picked up 10 new June-bearing Brunswick strawberry plants. Those have been planted as well. To finish the bed, Red Baron onions are planted under an old oven rack to keep the squirrels out. Straw has been laid down. I now have a huge pile of purple dead nettle for compost. The starlings are delighted for the nesting material. People have no idea how necessary dead grass or straw is for our bird population. I've watched robins make nests out of plastic from people's garbage bins. They shouldn't have to do that. Why do we worship grassy lawns and throw away the clippings? The garter snakes are delighted with a small woodpile I made. They eat slugs and are very welcome in my garden.

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Po-tay-toes

2026-03-30T22:38:17Z

The potatoes and onion sets arrived on Saturday. That same night was a hard freeze. It could be our last. It's very hard to tell. We have a week of decent weather ahead. I spent the day cutting up a pallet. Then I worked on Bed #2. It's weeded, cinderblocks have been leveled. Soil has been leveled with compost added. The first bag of onions is mostly planted. I ran out of space. The yellow onion sets are called Stuttgart. I hope to plant the rest in the cinderblock holes. I just ran out of soil and need to go scrape more off of the hugel bed.

My goal right now is to plant 10 potatoes a day until they are all planted. I save potatoes to plant but I wanted a bigger yield this year. So, I bought some. They are called Lehigh, similar to Yukon Golds. The bag was huge. Unfortunately the potatoes haven't chitted yet. I put them under a grow light to hopefully get something going. Meanwhile, I am working on the grow bags and pots of my own seed potatoes. I have blue viking, purple majesty, raspberry, French fingerlings, and a red variety. We also have 4 straight days of rain in the forecast. I want to get a few more things planted before then. Unfortunately, tomorrow I'll be hanging out at the garage for state inspection.

The grow room is also hopping. I planted tomatoes, nasturtiums, alyssum, Thai basil and blue salvia. Salvias are excellent for the hummingbirds. For tomatoes, I am concentrating on paste tomatoes, Amish, Roma, and San Marzano. For eating on sandwiches, I planted an Heirloom variety from the food co-op from saved seed. Once the week moves into the rain, I'll be up-potting some seedlings. I need to review what I already planted to see what I missed. I won't plant any cucurbits until mid-April, likewise Sunflowers and other fast growing plants. That gives me time to finish building the additional garden beds.

Here's a video of what I got done so far:
https://youtu.be/0nMdoQk49Co?si=hVSjzwbRJUVZpljU

You may wonder why I am getting rid of the hugel bed. The answer is simple. I need a fence to keep out the deer. While it may look like a fence could go along the retaining wall, the property line is actually right through the center of the hugel mound. The hugel mound was built in 2015. There is a lot of good soil there to be harvested. Since the deer do not bother the potatoes, the grow bags can go on the other side. My problem will be watering that far from the house. It's possible to tip the garage gutter to collect rain up the hill. It's a matter of if the rain barrels are taller than the gutter. It could be tricky since the garage is built into the hill. The gutter needs work anyway. I'll have to play around, assuming the skunks are gone. I think I still have one skunk in the front yard.

Squirrels are also my bane. Already 4 onions were dug up. I laid the chicken wire fence on top of the bed, flat to discourage them. I also put down straw so I could see where they dug, especially in the cinderblock holes. Today I finished planting bed #1 with just beets. I put an old oven rack on top of those to prevent digging.

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Sunday is the day

2026-03-27T15:09:32Z

I've been working on the infrastructure for a large garden this year. The side fence line is complete. The rug has been removed - it'd been laid down 30 years ago to appease a neighbor to keep weed downs. It was under 3 inches of soil at this point and a bear to rip out. Rugs these days are made of polypropylene and do not break down. When I laid it down, I thought it was wool, which does break down. Live and learn.

I have been continuing to chop up branches by hand, a little each day. The end is in sight. Work can only happen between storms and on days where personal issues aren't planned. I started out slowly, an hour a day of work. Then increased to one hour early in the day and one later in the day. My last stint was 4 hours straight because of previously scheduled things. I knew I only had one good day this week. Yes, I hurt. Had to be done.

I am still slicing and scalping the weeds and soil, respectively. The potato bed is ready to plant. Several grow bags and pots have been topped off. The soil I scalped is from a hugel bed I created 11 years ago. It's good rich soil which includes a lot of broken down mulberry leaves. I'll be starting on Sunday to plant potatoes. The weather appears to have settled a bit. No more hard freezes for at least a week - after Sunday. There are covers for garden beds in case of a cold front. The grow bags are right near the garage and can be moved inside. That's the current plan.

Wednesday, I planted Bed #1 with spinach and lettuce. But first I had to remove all the branches, twigs and leaves. It was more work than I thought. The storm came in last night with a vengeance. The temperature dropped from 70 to 28 degrees overnight. It's 35 and overcast right now. I just came in from carving up the Japanese maple. I'd have done more but the tiny electric chainsaw overheats and the battery pack was done for now. I will go back once the motor cools down. I'd rather do this now while it's cold outside.

While carving up the Japanese maple, I noticed an awful lot of strawberry plants are just gone. I have more on order, but it was frustrating to see. I don't know if it was a rabbit or if deer just stepped over the fence. Something had been eating my sweet potatoes in there last year. Originally, I thought it was rabbits. Perhaps not. With the exception of the peas, I have not touched the front yard garden yet. A taller fence is definitely in order. Another item in that area is to remove the buttercups and the purple dead nettle. That'll happen when the shipment comes with the new strawberry plants. No shipping date has been set.

My order of seed potatoes and onions comes in tomorrow (in theory). I'll be working on bed #2 to plant the onions on Sunday. I still have to haul 30 grow bags out of the garage (and up the hill) to plant more potatoes. Potato planting will be an all week affair. The beets are hardening off outside with the leeks. Planting could happen Wednesday. Tuesday I must babysit the car at the mechanic's. State Inspection is due. Meanwhile my van is still there. There were staffing issues at the garage. I am not in a rush and he knows it. It's cool. The car on the other hand must be inspected before the end of the month.

My first harvests from the garden will be rhubarb and asparagus. The asparagus could happen this week. Perennials are a marvelous thing. Temperatures are expected in the 60s and 70s.

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Everyone Knows it's Windy

2026-03-21T01:17:57Z

Today was suppose to be our third windstorm of the week but so far so good. The whirlwind of weather put the garden on pause. In between bits of rain and cold, I started scrapping the weeds in the back. They got composted. Topsoil got scrapped to go into the potato bed. Cardboard and mulch goes down after I finish a section. Doing work piecemeal takes time but eventually progress will be made. The compost pile is growing if nothing else.

In the midsection (Middle Earth), more branches got cut. It's slow going. Clipping greenwood into bits is hard on the hands and the clipper. Yinz were right, a huge branch doesn't yield much mulch. The mini-chainsaw made quick work of the larger branches.

In the front, the yew bushes are being hand-trimmed. It's time consuming and will take multiple days. I tried to attack the fallen Japanese maple. Dang. That is some hard wood. That's going to take a while. I switched from the chainsaw to a hand saw. I wasn't getting anywhere and the chainsaw was overheating. If I see the neighbor kid, I may borrow him to help me haul it into the way-back., where it can rot in peace. I started to clear the dead plant material from last year. There was a marigold from last year in a crack in the sidewalk. That definitely got cut out. The sedum is up and growing as well as the poppies. The first asparagus is poking up its head.

While we started the week with 16 degree nighttime temps, they are now calling for 80 degrees on Sunday as a high. Tuesday sees us back into the cold with a low of 26. Never have I seen weather so unsettled for so long. They say we could get hit with a super El Niño. In my experience, besides hot temps, it means no rain. I'd love to be collecting water now but cannot with lows below freezing. The ice trashes the spigot in the water barrels. It is something to ponder.

Inside: Statice got transplanted into bigger pots. Looks like I might get 2 rosemary this year. More celery got transplanted. This one is a pink variety. The beets have been going outside daily to harden off during daytime.I'll keep them inside on Tuesday. I needed the space in the grow room. Sweet potatoes need to go into the front window instead of hogging my heating pad. So far, so good.

I also did a video on when to plant because my neighbor can't be the only one who doesn't read seed packets. https://youtu.be/6qZ761cMIv8?si=8MrTUpmZlAVOFvc9

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Snowdrops are Finished

2026-03-14T17:55:13Z

The coltsfoot is finished blooming too. It is now the week of the crocuses.

Bumblebees have been out. Fickle March is not done with us yet. It's currently 29 degrees. It will be even colder on Tuesday. After that, I have a lot of work to get done outside. Meanwhile inside, the baby plants are getting put into bigger pots.

Artichokes

Celery

Next to transplant will be statice and safflowers. I am beginning to think that the instructions on the back of the packets were too early to plant. The "8 to 10 weeks before last frost " seedlings are really growing fast. After next week's cold snap, I need to harden off beets. Now spring starts to accelerate my workload. It's time to plant the 6-8 week plants. I am running out of space in the grow room. I finished up the first batch of lettuce and the spinach to make space. there is also over a dozen sweet potato slips. (The goal is 48). Those will have to get moved into a sunny window now.

I am looking forward to planting out the potatoes as well as moving the outdoor plants back outside. Patience is a virtue. Meanwhile, it's time to plant dye plants as indoor seedlings as well as stuff like alyssum, which I want everywhere in the yard. Time to check previous years' planting dates to make sure I don't forget anything. Flax, bachelor buttons, and salvia have been pulled to plant. More poppies went into the freezer.

It's time to go back to knitting my sweater and wait for the next nice day to work outside.

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Phase One

2026-03-09T20:53:15Z

Phase one is to get the potato bed ready. Today went a long way toward that goal. First, I studied the sun to make sure the area was not shaded out by the garage. It's on the north side after all. It gets full sun. It will get even more as we approach solstice. I had to change my plans. The bench that I was going to put grow bags on is almost completely rotten. Strike that. Second strike - there is still a large ground hog hole where I was going to put the wire grid tiered plant stand. It is also in complete shade. That's out but I found a new location for it. The opposite corner of the yard is in full sun and has nothing except the mulberry stump in it. Then, while moving the neighbor's RV stairs (they gave me the steps), a new area is available after I cut the forsythia out. I still need to kill that forsythia but the location is sound.

New Potato Bed

It still needs a middle set of rebar for support. The soil is in the car and the straw is in the garage.

The stairs should hold 9 plants. The bed should hold 12 plants. The wire plant stand holds 6 plants. That is 27 potatoes. The rest of the grow bags will still go along the edge of the driveway. I forget how many fit there, maybe a dozen?

My plan also called for me to place plants on the garage steps. The pots are too big. That isn't going to work. Perhaps a different shade-loving plant in a smaller pot would work. We'll see.

Now the biggest snag to planting is the weather. On Wednesday night, temperatures will dip down and keep going. The 10 day forecast calls for nighttime temperatures of 17 degrees. Brrr! Now, it's just a waiting game.

Last Year:

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Unseasonably Warm

2026-03-07T00:38:21Z

The week of rain has left everything muddy. I finished a good bit of my fence-line in the back yard. I have three pallets along the split rail fence to keep the neighbor's dog from going underneath. The chicken wire fence has been extended. Fourteen feet of fence are up. I still need to work my way up the hill with more fencing and remove more carpet. The daffodils have had the detritus removed to allow them room to grow.

Last week's progress
https://youtu.be/y6jwPPBxazQ?si=xRrQk_yGa4r3M6mK

It's suppose to rain tomorrow. It might be dry enough to make a small fire and burn some diseased wood. Rain should move in during the afternoon. If nothing else, I may start potting potatoes. The low temperatures will not get below 34. Weird. I plan to keep them in the garage so they stay frost free. If it gets really cold, I'd have to bring them into the house at night. I don't have space for 40 planters.

The ground hog is up and about. The exit hole ha been enlarged. I started pulling together my collection of gridwalls to setup a blockade. I think I have enough hardware cloth to cover the bottom of the fence. The babies can do a lot of damage and get through the holes easily. Meanwhile, there is a boatload of weeds to dispatch. We'll see what I can get done tomorrow.

Gas is up to $3.599 a gallon. (50 cents of which is state sales tax) I expect it to go higher. Right now a barrel is going for $87-$91. The oil producing nations say to expect $150 - $160 barrel soon. We won't go into what the Lying Liars have to say. This isn't temporary enough to wait it out. Diesel is over $4.00 a gallon. Marketplace (APM) had some economic scholar on saying that we pay less for food than folk back in the early 1900s. The stress on the household budget is much higher now. I don't care if one farmer supported 19 households back then. My food costs are 30 % of my budget. Housing, utilities, medical care, vehicle maintenance, there is nothing left over. We are on a fixed income.The guy just made me mad. He assumed everyone could order Doordash and could get higher pay if needed. No wonder there is no good will toward academics. They should have edited those comments out. That isn't anyone I know's economy.

The weather has us in a lot of pain. I expect volatile weather soon. Internet has been dicey. Electric too. Normally we'd be looking at cold weather. It's hot and wet. I've been emptying the dehumidifier regularly. The neighbor is grilling out in the opening of their garage. I need to stop aching and go make dinner.

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Planting Like My Life Depends on it

2026-03-05T02:15:44Z

(for it does -Colette O'Neal, Bealtaine Cottage)

I planted red cabbage today, inside. I still don't trust the weather. The snow peas have been planted outside. I have 8 ft along the new fence line. I splurged and bought more fencing since that company already declared bankruptcy. Whatever they have left is it. If I could afford it, I'd buy more. For once, it was delivered very quickly. It works well on my hill and it looks nice, plus it's easy to install. It's portable so I can move it somewhere else if I change my mind. Next year, I'm thinking of putting in a wattle fence and using the new fence elsewhere.

We lost power twice today. Once overnight and then again after I'd already turned on the plant lights. I got a text from my internet provider telling me that the issue was fixed between 10:30 and 1:30, so did someone hit a post? I did plenty of work on my seedlings this morning. There was no trouble. I reset set the stove clock at 11:12 because it read 12:57. I was out running errands all afternoon. So when did the plant lights go off? The computers got messed up too. (Or was it hackers?)

I located trays for the next batch of plants. Seeds have been pulled to plant. I just need to use the soil blocker tomorrow. Today was all about harvesting the last of the spinach and planting the new baby lettuce. With luck, I'll have enough spots for everything on the basement grow racks.

Not the best of germination, but there is basil, artichokes, statice, and feverfew for sure. Some of the others may take longer.

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What's Next?

2026-03-01T18:45:22Z

One of the channels I watch is a politically neutral channel called What's Going On With Shipping? For business as well as global trends, I find it a good source on the pulse of business. I started watching when the crazy tariffs started to impact ports. As a business, I need to know the impacts on the import business. A lot of my yarn comes from Peru. I invite you to check it out so you can follow what is going on in the Strait of Hormuz. https://youtu.be/wck_88OaQX8?si=ix2_-qGd64HISP5z

One of my many concerns is how this will impact gas prices and thus food prices. It appears that it impacts Europe more than it will impact us. I still think oil companies will raise prices just because they can. I am, at heart, a pessimist. I am working real hard to not try to plant the entire garden too early. I am worried sick. Over the years I have worked with Israelis as well as Persians (and Palestinians). I fear for many things, including their children and grand-children. I worry about US Soldiers in Iraq, who are not surrounded by friends/allies. I pray for the families of those killed at the consulate in Pakistan. My cousin used to work in an embassy. They are merely public servants.

This is rapidly expanding into a religious conflict that impacts the globe. Right or wrong, the genie is out of the bottle. You are not going to trick it into going back in. I am profoundly sad today.

I worked outside despite the colder temperatures today. I needed the physical exertion. More branches have been rendered into tiny twigs. I am looking at planting peas a little early. Normally, peas and onions go into the ground mid-March. Tuesday and onward, we get rain with 70 degree temps. The soak of a week of rain may be good for germinating. I have a lot of seed so even if they die, at least I will feel better. Beets got planted today in my soil blocks. Generally I plant beets indoors around Feb 25th.

I am also working on some organic store-bought potatoes. I have them in a tray in the sun to start them chitting (growing eyes). I need to check on the seed potatoes I stored in the basement. I am sure those have grown vines, going everywhere. Next week I'll work on freshening up my soil in grow bags to get those started. They might live in the garage for a little bit until the weather settles. Then I need to check with the hardware store for raised bed soil. It's stupid early to be doing this but if we want to eat this year, it's gotta be done. Last year the hardware store ran out of soil before the end of March. I have a feeling that lack of affordability is about to get even worse. Mostly though, it just feels good to be doing something useful.

MI Gardener says that bare root plants will ship next week. I ordered 10 strawberry plants - June bearing, and another blueberry bush. As long as the pine tree in the front yard is doing well, the blueberries should too. They will all go in the SW Mandala bed. It'll be a good start to the season. Another thing I ordered was onion starts. Those are coming from The Maine Potato Lady. They could come anytime in March. It adds additional urgency to making new garden beds.

Last year's onions arrived March 18th.

Last night I took my list and started trying to do a plant layout for each bed. Since I haven't finished making the beds yet, it was hard. I think I'll find more motivation if I start clearing weeds in the back. Once I have the lay of the land, I'll have more confidence. This year's plant list includes peas, beans, lettuce, zucchini, onions, leeks, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes (4 kinds), pumpkin, beets, cucumbers, spinach, celery, and a couple of chard plants. If things work out, I also have sorghum and corn. There will also be various herbs and flowers throughout the garden. Those always depend on what actually germinates.

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Spring is Infrastructure Time

2026-02-28T22:10:44Z

I don't have a chipper shredder so I have been cutting up branches by hand. Longer, straighter branches could be turned into posts for a wattle fence. Some sticks will become biochar. The rest are getting chopped as fill to level one of my new beds. Chrono did some chopping too. Yesterday was the quince tree and today was the black cherry tree.

For a video of the work, visit my YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/4I2pKHr-r94?si=HPJqnFtkIu75jqfV

It hit 60 degrees today. Then comes two cold days, followed by a week of rain. I need it drier to finish what I started. I put fencing in. I have three more panels to do. Unfortunately past-me laid down carpet to suppress weeds. It was 3 inches deep. I had to remove soil and roots (quack grass) before hitting the rug. It was a chore to pull it out. I cut two sections out. There is still more but it involves moving pallets and firewood. I have three more fence panels to install. If things work out, I'll order more panels. I like this fencing.

It's starting to come together. The three cinderblock gardens and one metal raised bed are planned. The section by the fence looks like a zucchini bed to me. I could plant peas along the fence. I haven't decided quite yet. The soil is rich and full of worms. The garage garden is not yet planned out. I need to go back to my planting list. I need to put in a lot of spinach early. El Nino is on its way. The heat is harsh on the cool weather plants. I may put it into the former strawberry bed. It gets morning shade. Right now, I am concentrating on getting the beds built. There will be 5 new beds if all goes well; Four 3ft x 6 ft beds and One 4 ft x 3 ft bed.

I have my work cut out for me. The rewards are good.

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Things

2026-02-26T23:26:51Z

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The Uncertainty is Overwhelming

2026-02-22T19:50:22Z

There is so much going on in the US, news-wise, that at times it feels hopeless. Then there are snippets of hope. I am focusing on what I personally can do as well as finding comfort in normal things. (Why on earth would we send hospital ships to Greenland?) There are too many imponderables to go there.

The weather was nice for a short time. I got my husband out to therapy and chiropractic adjustment. They have performed miracles. He's moving without pain. Also this week, I chopped up tree branches to start leveling a place for one of the new garden beds. The fresh air and exercise felt good. This week I made blueberry muffins. I wanted to see how the freeze-dried berries worked out. They are fantastic!

I started a new sweater. That alone is a story. I had three half-pound skeins of a yarn that had been dyed in onion skins. The color was weaker and weaker with each skein. I redyed them blue but some turned out more green; there were spots didn't take a lot of color. When I unwound the skeins, there was a lot of breakage. I can't sell skeins like that. I decided to make a sample piece based on the last sweater I made. It's a dead simple pattern. I am currently alternating rows with each of the three different color ways. It's not too bad.

Overall, I am not buying this yarn again. It's possible the breakage is caused by age. Who knows how long the mill had it? I've experienced this before with other indy-dyed superwash yarns. The superwash process involves bleach which is harsh on the yarn. According to "the internet", the manufacturer coats it with a petroleum based coating. I hate to tell them, but in order to machine spin yarn, all yarns have an oil of some sort added. Regardless, I degrease yarn before dyeing it anyway. But, I find superwash yarns break easily. They take color beautifully, which is why so many artisans use them. I just hate yarn breakage.

With so many indie dyers out there, wool isn't my best seller. Alpaca, linen, hemp and organic cotton are. I'll stick with those. Meanwhile, I'll have a large over-sized sweater for next winter (if nothing else - I still have a case of this yarn to sell).

The preparation for this year's garden is coming along. I have a flat of leeks and another of potato onions going. I packaged lettuce seed and planted the chaff. I have a huge amount of lettuce growing from the chaff. The sweet potatoes are starting to give me slips. The goal is 48 slips. Nine is a good start. Sometimes they don't produce until May. All of this is right on schedule.

Tray One, planted on Imbolc, contains seeds for 5 each of Catnip, celery, Parsley, Thyme, Savory, Rosemary, and more lettuce. I'm transplanting the lettuce this week. The rest are slower to grow. Tray Two is on a heat mat. It has Feverfew, snapdragons, Bells of Ireland, Eggplant, Artichokes, Lemon grass, Statice, Delphiniums, and basil. It was planted on the Lunar New Year. A lot of the seed was older. We'll see what actually germinates. It's early enough that if it doesn't, I can find something else to put in the flower bed. All those plants can either grow in pots or are listed as 8 weeks before last frost plants. Next up will be the 6-8 weeks before last frost plants. I pulled two sets of those today. Tray three will be based on more 8-10 week plants. Tray four will be 6-8 week plants. I have a lot of transplanting lettuce to do before I start those. The lettuce is for the indoor garden, not the outdoor one.

I have a few potatoes that I started from eyes again. Those are in plastic cups. I didn't keep track last year if any of those survived. This year I'm marking the grow bags so I know if it's worthwhile. I don't have a lot of space for potatoes inside the house. The bulk of potatoes will be planted by April 1st.

The Wheel Turns toward Spring.

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It's been a hell of a week

2026-02-16T18:28:24Z

1. The mouse stashed seeds inside the oven lining. They caught on fire. The stove/oven is toast. The mouse is fine.
2. The water was unusable for two days. Electric went out during the cold snap and there was backflow. It took two days for testing to prove the water was potable again.
3. We got a call from the US embassy in Warsaw. Don't ask. It's too long a story.
4. The temperature warmed significantly. Bats were out. One made it into my laundry and is wrapped around my washing machine's rotor. I hope it didn't suffer. It's very sad.
5. The van is still dead in the driveway. It has to dry out before I can try to jump it.
6. I had so much going on that I didn't realize I had a show last Saturday. My apologies.

Please let that be an end to the month's calamities.

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Water Restored

2026-02-10T00:24:45Z

According to the water company's webpage, they needed to run two tests, 24 hours apart. It proves that there are no anomalies. With water restored, showers dishes and laundry were the order of the day. The indoor plants got a good drink too.

The morning started with a temperature of - 16 or -17 F. According to the US Dept of Agriculture, that would put us as a zone 5A instead of 6B. Zones are for choosing varieties of perennials that can withstand the cold temperatures. I won't know for 10 or more weeks if my trees withstood the bitter cold. My concern is for the Chicago Fig and the Pomegranate. The persimmon may already be a loss. The grower mistook the Zone 9 for a 6. I had plans to remove it anyway. If the willow in the pot survives, it'll go in there instead. Other concerns are a grape vine, an elderberry, and a clove currant that live outdoors in pots. It was a very dry autumn; they may already have been dead.

USDA zones have nothing to do with average last frost dates. My average last frost is May 3rd. We have had last frost dates as early as mid February and as late as June 5th. My planting schedule revolves around the last frost date. Plants like onions and leeks have already been started indoors. The leeks are up and doing well. More stuff was going to get planted last weekend but with the water situation, it's been put off.

An El Nino may be brewing which will greatly affect the growing season. Time will tell. It could affect rainfall and temperature. I've learned to dread them. Tonight I will look at how to set up another rain collection on a corner of the garage, linking two rain barrels. A trip to the hardware store is happening soon. The stove I want is on sale. I might as well make a parts list, getting everything at once.

Climate change will affect an awful lot this week. With this morning's low of -17 F heading up to 55 F tomorrow as a high. That's a big temperature swing. It's set to rain on top of 12" of snow that is still on the ground. It's going to be a mess. Before that starts, I hope to get at more branch cleanup in the yard.

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Water Update

2026-02-08T21:34:43Z

It hit a high of 0 degrees F today. I checked our thermometer. Still no safe water. It appears now that an electrical outage occurred around 4 am Saturday morning. There was back-flow. The boil alert went out around 11 am. Power was fixed right away but my guess is the staff to test the water doesn't show up until Monday or else there are a lot of pipes to test. The list of affected townships is staggering. Over 95,000 people were affected. That might just be the number in Allegheny county. All of Washington county was affected. The current estimate to finish checking the safety of the water supply is Tuesday around midnight. It sucks.

I just rinsed my hands with some vinegar water. I have more cuts than is safe to take a shower in this. I have a lot of chapped and cracking skin. I grabbed two more quarts of canned water which I put away for emergencies. I also brought up more frozen water out of the freezer. The "no stove" nor water is wearing thin. Monday will warm up enough to start the car and go get propane.

I am quite hesitant to go shopping for a new stove. I don't know if the mouse died. No point in buying a replacement until I know for sure.

Amazingly, I saw a Starling today. The snow cover is still pretty deep but I put out fresh bird seed. The temps were negative last night again. It's hard to imagine that they predict 52 degrees on Tuesday.

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Bitter Cold = Water Main Break

2026-02-07T16:48:25Z

I have been expecting a water problem. What I didn't expect was temperatures to go much lower than predicted. Last night was suppose to go down to 2 degrees F (-16.7 C). It went much further down because well after sunrise, it was -3 F (-19.4 C). I don't know what the low actually hit. Our low happens at 5 am and I am not getting out of bed for that.

We have a heater on our intake pipes. It cost us double our normal electric bill to run it. Also the solar panels don't do much in winter in our location. They only produced 52 kWh over a 30 day period. Inside the house, we were fine. We have water pipes on exterior walls with no insulation. All the cupboard doors are kept open to prevent problems. We've lived here 30 years. No problems on our end.

The water company alerted us at 7 am that there was a water main break and a boil alert. I got an automated email, a text and a phone call. The boil alert will last for 48 hours at the present time. We have two more bitter cold nights predicted before it warms up.

My only regret is that I would like a shower. Theoretically I can "bathe" but I won't. I have so many cuts from winding yarn that I just don't want an infection. Yes, it's that pinky tensioning thing - knitting, weaving, winding all get tensioned by the left pinky finger. I have other scratches from dry itchy skin. I will wait to shower, do dishes or do laundry.

I have bottled water both for washing hands and for drinking. I'm hearing trucks outside, maybe the break is on our street? I know there is a natural spring under the water pipe down the way. Every time a utility digs, you can hear them say, "aw, shit". It could be entertaining, but I'll stick to watching my birds at the feeder. Yesterday we had 10 mourning doves, plus the flock of juncos, song sparrows, house finches, and the two sets fighting cardinals. None have clocked on to the fact that there is a second feeder in the front yard.

That's entertainment!

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Seed Starting

2026-02-05T18:44:21Z

I thinking the word I'm looking for is "Coveting". I don't have money for a beautiful professional seed starting system. There is everything from grow tents to shelving units. This is my current favorite:
https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/products/fluence-razr-modular-array-led?variant=45764067197127&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ECI+-+%5BCONS%5D+%5BCONV%5D+-+ASC%2B+-+Cold+-+Higher+AOV&utm_content=Conv+-+Dynamic+Carousel+-+Higher+AOV+-+12%2F25&utm_id=120232348012860470&utm_term=120237030405140470&fbclid=IwY2xjawPc9F5leHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqyrxRSUxlnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR41frbi0SK_cLAA8UAJo6Z7NZZ-dFj3FStaI4-D58Kl1WUGFU3dx7YTUfSl6g_aem_rSVdR-Ir9HnG8MLkS2b9Sg

What a mess of code that is! Anyway, that is way too much money. MI Gardener recommends shop lights. He goes into Lumens and so forth to get ones appropriate for plants. Eventually I'll get there. Meanwhile, Ace hardware has Miracle Gro(TM) Light bulbs that fit regular sockets. I don't like watering with a danger of electrocution. I picked up trays to keep water from going through. My setup started with one single light, designed for hydroponics. Unfortunately, it isn't 3 feet long. It's 20". Most grow trays are 10" by 20". One fixture works for one tray. Even with staggering my plantings, that is not enough. I have a very gerry-rigged setup.

From 2024

Right now, I have 2 trays each or 10 plants each of spinach and lettuce just for winter growing. Those will be done soon. Lettuce has a 12 week growing cycle. The finished plants will be composted and the soil reused after refreshing it with coconut coir and a pinch of feather meal (nitrogen). What will I do to replace them?

It starts with my average last frost date. Mine is May 3rd, basically Beltaine or May Day. I back off of that what it says on the back of each seed packet. It could be 4 to 6 weeks or 8 to 10 weeks. For me, that means planting onions first. They need to go in at the end of January or beginning of February. That is the Celtic holiday, Imbolc or St. Brigid's Day. Commercial onion seed is fussy. Old seed has really bad germination. All my seeds came from 2024 or earlier. I don't expect much. As a backup, I also ordered seed bulbs from the Maine Potato Lady. Hopefully, those arrive in March. The seed bulbs get direct sown into the garden. A short word on onions, the kind you grow is dependent on your latitude. Farther north requires long day onions. Farther south requires short day onion varieties. I'm at an intermediate latitude, about 42 degrees.

Back to planting:
The next crops I'll be starting indoors in February like cooler weather. They take a long time to get going. I am starting thyme, rosemary, savory, celery, and more lettuce to replace the outgoing crop. Brassicas are also good to start. Since I have an allergy, I'm passing on planting brassicas. Another thing I start at about this time (or earlier) is sweet potato slips. They need warmth and sun to get going. I plant an organic sweet potato from the store on top of some soil horizontally. I used to do the toothpick trick and water but they get knocked over too easily. I like reusing bone broth or tomato soup cartons (not jars or cans) for this. I cut a large hole in one side and lay them flat. I fill them with soil and place on a heat mat under a grow light. That provides more surface area exposed to the heat mat. My windows are too cold to get anything going until April. By then, it's too late.

At the end of February, I'll start on warm weather crops that need a long time, like artichokes, eggplant, and basil. If you are following the new moon planting for optimization, then February 17th is the day. Some people swear by that. I find backtracking from the average last frost date works better.

My biggest problem is space. The seedlings need to be transplanted once they are big enough and the weather doesn't always cooperate. The other problem is that most plants that you want to start indoors all say 4 to 6 weeks. It can seriously take up your entire house. If I seed a 50 plug tray (10 x 20), then I need to find 50 spots as they grow for just that one tray under my lights. One tray becomes 5 trays of bigger pots. I think this is typically when people buy a greenhouse. That is so not happening here. I live on a hill in Appalachia. Level ground doesn't happen. What I try to do is grow things that can be hardened off and go outside under frost covers. It works to some extent. The bunches of flowers always gang up on me; all those 4 to 6 weekers. My front porch looks like a plant store until I get around to planting all of them in the ground. The other side of the steps can hold just as many trays. In all, about 140 plants. I usually manage to grow 300 though. Yes, I have a bottleneck.

This year more perennials are planned. It should help with the seed starting backlog. I also picked up some direct sow seed like flax and poppies. Why do I do this? I have mice and voles that eat direct sown seed. I also have squirrels that dig things up (and skunks). My direct sow success is very limited. Usually, only volunteers from the previous year come up. I can't plan a garden that way. My feral plants include claytonia and calendula. Those I typically leave where they come up. Major food sources like lettuce, spinach, summer squash and melons can't be left to chance. The mice do love themselves some spinach seed. It doesn't stand a chance. The squirrels love squash seed.

Yes, maybe I work too hard, but I love doing it.

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In the Midst of the Storm

2026-01-25T21:17:58Z

Otherwise known as winter. It started around 1:30 am. By morning, it was coming from the east, which is weird. It wasn't deep yet. I don't know what the final totals will be, maybe a foot or 18". I am not worried about the snow. I am worried about the bitter cold. Friday night it hit 1 degree F. It never got above 10 over the weekend. It's still very cold and will dip into negative numbers over the next 10 days.

My fear is water main bursts. Our area rarely gets temperatures this cold and never for a 10 day period. I know where my house water main shutoff is. I am happy they upgraded it to a valve instead of a pipe wrench turn-off. What that means is it looks like a regular faucet like you'd have on your outdoor hose hookup. Pittsburgh already had a water main freeze today. Our neighborhood is old. Pipes are not insulated. Probably 80 % of the houses aren't either. When they were built, most had rainwater cisterns. I know my house has one. It's been filled in but still . . .

It's still snowing. The neighbor shoveled my walk when the snow reached 6" deep. The cold makes the snow be powdery. It's not heavy. They say it is currently 15 degrees but it feels like 6. The danger around the US is from exploding trees. January is when sap rises and people go maple sugar gathering. The bitter temperatures have created the perfect scenario to cause trees to literally explode. It's not a good idea to be out in the woods. Before the storm, I was winding yarn. I heard a thump A squirrel rushed to the window where I was working. I thought it had fallen off my porch roof. Nope. The wind took a limb. I had been cutting the tree to prevent this very scenario but I ran out of time. See below. The exposed bark is where it broke. More branches from above broke as well.

It's going to be a while before I can get out there to clean up that mess. Since I am stuck inside, I've been working on winding yarn and dyeing things on the stovetop. One, it humidifies the house a treat and two, it's warm. I'm using a glass jar to hopefully get more even dyeing. Typically the bottom near the heat takes on too much dye or even burns/damages the yarn. Electric stoves are not kind. This is working remarkably well. I'm on my 4th pound of yarn right now. There's a fiber show in February I have to get ready for.

Stay safe out there.

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Watching YouTube University

2026-01-18T23:57:37Z

With regard to gardening and self sufficiency:

Two things struck me this weekend, one is self sufficiency. I've followed any number of self sufficient homesteads and farms. There are guides for how much to plant for each person, how much land do you need, etc. Even people with 3 acres of land still buy certain staples. If you are eating a plant based diet, most will admit that you can only grow 80 % of your own food. They buy flour, sugar, salt, and oil/fats to fill their pantry. Making jelly and jam takes a lot of sugar, even using a low sugar recipe (or Pomona pectin). Pickles need vinegar with a specific acidity to avoid spoilage and disease. Everyone likes a treat every once in a while too, like coffee or chocolate. Screw the new food pyramid. 60% of the people developing it have stock in the companies it benefits. My garden plan reflects food I actually eat and how frequently. Example, I ran out of frozen beans by January 1st. I need to plant more than I did, probably double.

I figure that I can only grow 60% max of what our family eats. Another homesteader recommends 25 pounds of white rice, 25 pounds of quick oats, 25 pounds of flour, and a couple pounds of salt, plus a couple gallons of vinegar for a typical family of 4 for a 3 month period. I think the idea was to keep achieving food storage goals, first for 3 weeks without shopping and then 3 months. The person I watched was not US based so it had nothing to do with the current political climate. It was just general prepping. Since that person was a farmer, I think that is a good rule of thumb. She also mentioned pasta.

A lot of my harvest is weather dependent. If we have a late frost, I lose the stone fruit tree harvest. Some trees only produce big every other year. Then there is the late season drought which kills my attempt at fall crops. We have one very frequently. In the stupid high temperatures caused by climate change, squash won't even produce. It's a tricky balancing act. Don't even get me started on bugs and critters. This year I hope to get more fencing set up to prevent some of my usual problems. It always comes down to finances.

The other video I watched was on design. While I'd like to setup a watering system, I am not sure if I can. Water should be planned before anything else. I need gutterwork and may eventually move an IBC tub up the hill, but a first flush system needs to be setup as well as a leaf-catcher. Piping costs money too. Finding a reliable contractor who will actually listen to me, a mere female, that's another thing entirely. The garage may be missing a facia board and other side's gutter isn't exactly attached. A previous contractor cemented the PVC drainpipe to the driveway on the downhill side. The garage is built into the hill. I need the water to run in the opposite direction. Also I hate PVC. The glue they use makes me violently ill. Then there is the matter of overflow or winter drainage. A tape measure will determine if the IBC tub is even short enough to get under the gutter. If it fits, it would mean moving the compost pallets and rejiggering the potato garden. It could be done, but it depends on whether the last contractors did what I asked them to do. Then I'll need pipe fittings for that IBC. I won't be able to put it up on blocks for a watering can. There's a lot to take into account. The designer I watched would have me use 3 IBC tubs for the size of my garden. No space for that up the hill, just one fits.

I've drawn up plans for another set of garden beds. Once the weather clears, I'll get out and take measurements to see if they'll fit where I want them. I've 6 new raised beds that'll need soil. I also need metal conduit. Infrastructure isn't cheap. I'll be using a lot of scrap wood that's been kicking around too.

I am dreaming of spring and new beginnings. I won't be self sufficient, but I hope to grow 400 pounds of produce. Will it be 60% of my groceries? I think I need more infrastructure to do that. I already know I can't begin to grow enough peas, carrots, tomatoes or corn (raccoons). I've never been successful with onions, but I hope this year is different. (dratted squirrels)

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Back to Indoor Things

2026-01-12T02:03:25Z

While the false spring was here, I did spend time clearing the area behind the garage. I think it'll become my potato patch. I checked out the sun angles. In spring and summer, it'll get morning and afternoon sun. Parts will have full sun. There is room between the hazelnuts to put an old bench that a neighbor discarded. I can give it a coat of linseed oil or polyurethane. Then it can hold about 5 potato grow bags. I have in mind to make a makeshift bed with wood boards, rebar and cinder blocks. The steps to the attic of the garage can hold four more containers of potatoes and the wire mesh corner bench can hold 6 more grow bags of potatoes. That's 21 potato plants.

Potatoes are one of the first plants I start outside in March. It also means that it is the first area I need to have ready to go. The weeds have been pulled and grass has been sickled. The compost pile has grown significantly. It's also located right there. I need to turn the pile regularly as soon as temperatures get above freezing. I have a tarp to put up there to flip the pile. The ground will get covered with cardboard and woodchips. The bench has got to be hauled up there too. That'll be the hard part.

Rock wall on the bottom of the picture. From the 2022 incident:

The branches from the fallen Siberian Elm have been removed. I also was given a set of RV steps out of treated wood. I plan to use those on the rock wall. When the Elm fell, the rock wall kind of scattered and needs to be rebuilt. It was a 100 year old tree. It had three major trunks. Two fell at various times on my poor garage. Last year my neighbor took the rest of the tree out entirely. The area has sun now.

2022

The building is the garage. North is up. The curve is the rock wall. The H is a hellabore. The (P) persimmons and currant bush never got planted. One persimmon graft died and we don't know if the base stock survived. Persimmons need two to bear fruit. We could not obtain a second. The company read the original zone wrong and had it listed as zone 6 but it was actually a 9. I'm in zone 6. They refuse to sell me a zone 9 plant. If it died in the drought, I will replace the existing tree with a willow, currently growing in a pot. The three tiered wire rack will go where the currant bush was planned.

By removing the branches and portable steps, the ground hog hole has been exposed. The neighbor did leave mothballs there to deter the skunks. The mothballs offended some critter. It left me two huge piles of poop. It looks like small pellets. but the piles are large. Raccoon, ground hog or skunk, maybe even deer? I didn't notice any tracks when it snowed.

I've been watching the Back-to-Eden video as well as Ruth Stout on how she grows potatoes. My wooden boards will define an area for me to try a Ruth Stout garden. I need the compost to create ground on top of the cardboard. The boards are 6 ft long. Cinderblocks will be the end caps. Those are 18" wide. That will be the new potato bed, holding 6 plants, covered in straw.

I'm back inside because we've had snow flurries all day. I've sharpened my pencil and I am planning out what to plant and when. Some seed packets are old and may not germinate. I am doing a trial batch of onions. The seed is from 2024. In two weeks, if it doesn't sprout, I will start over with a different pack of seeds. I also have onion bulb sets coming later in spring. I have more garden plan sketching to do. I've outlined 17 crops that I want in the garden. I have in mind to grow 400 pounds of food. I have tons of flower seed packets too.

On that note, as the temperature drops again, I need to bring in my cabbage plant and a pot of herbs. They were on the front porch getting some vague sunshine. Hopefully this makes sense. I have a hard time articulating the pictures in my head.

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It's Been a Long Time Coming

2026-01-08T01:42:57Z

First, and probably foremost, I didn't get at the tree trimming because I had no healthcare at all. I went for 26 years or so without healthcare coverage.If you live in America, you'll understand. If not, I can't begin to explain how archaic our system is. Without healthcare, there was no way I was going to climb a ladder or a tree.

Second, I didn't have a ladder. Once a tree gets too tall, I couldn't trim it. Last year I broke down and bought a ladder when they were on sale. Previously, I owned a rickety wooden ladder that was really only meant to make it easier to change light bulbs. Being cash strapped has been a constant for me for many years. It started with the Bush (W) Administration. Recession hit us hard. Both my husband and I were laid off before 9/11 was even a word.

Third, a sharp object to cut with. All I had was a lopper. You can't cut 2" thick limbs with a lopper. I attempted to use a pole saw. It wasn't easy to use and got stuck in the tree for a year. Then I broke the blade. I lost the screw holding on the lopping attachment. It was a disaster. Then I bought a hand held blade but I still didn't have a ladder. The hand held blade took forever to cut even one limb.

Now I have a mini-chainsaw and a ladder. I shut the power off to the garage. I'm finally making progress. Wish I had a chipper/shredder but for now, I'm happy. There will be light in the garden and there will be less likelihood of contacting the power line, plus the tree will grow better. Win - win!

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