No Excuses

I intend to blog more, but more posts are not in my toolkit right now.  Let me update you...

Happy spring!

Our old "garden shed," a hand-me-down from friends, was slowly disassembling itself in the fierce Kansas winds.  We'd reached a stage where it was no longer water-tight, cobbled together with repair pieces more than original, and thoroughly repulsive with mouse feces.  Two weeks ago, the Assistant took it upon herself to begin the tear-down.  I helped her with the roof and finding tools, but she and Spunky removed screw after screw, requiring three different types of bits, and made a fine pile of plastic and metal.

We ordered a new one from Sturdi-Bilt, where the sheds are locally made by Mennonites.  Today, it was delivered.  We all marveled at the little but mighty machine that transported the shed into place.  We intend to paint the floor to aid in cleaning, but the current weather will be too cold and too wet for it to dry properly, so we moved in a few things and will adjust them later when we're ready to paint.

The girls (all three of them) painted the tool bench, which was evicted from our garage due to a space issue.

As part of the preparation for this (enormous) upgrade in a shed, the dead pine tree came down on Saturday, March 17.  The process was a comedy of errors, as the chainsaws didn't cooperate, the two-man saw operated by vastly different sizes of people (our oldest helped) meant the two cuts were very uneven, and James and I didn't do so well either.  It took both my parents as well as James and me to knock it down using large PVC pipe for leverage.  Hilarious.

Today, we burned our burn pile and as much of the pine tree as we could manage.  It's still smoldering now, and we're keeping a sharp watch on it.  We've been waiting for time and weather to coincide, so leaped at the chance this afternoon.

Also on the 17th, we planted this year's onions (red and white), scallions (that look inappropriately like onions), and three rows of potatoes.  Sadly, all the drip hose stored in the old shed had been nibbled by mice, probably for the residual water inside and so were set aside as garbage.  I immediately ordered another roll of drip hose, since we used up the last of the old roll, and will lay hose for the potatoes once it arrives.

We finally had an inch of rain the night of the 18th, so things are looking splendid!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Spring Planting

Nine littles running around...

 Chickens and guineas snapping up bugs...

 Fresh eggs...

 Friends to help… The potatoes are all planted!  This year, Yukon Gold and Purple Viking.  The exact poundage is unknown, as we are planting sprouted potatoes left from last year.  I would estimate 80 pounds.

Potatoes are at YJ Acres this year, not Purgatory Ranch.  Our difficulty in keeping ahead of the weeds should be ameliorated by the closer location.

It was infinitely more enjoyable to plant with friends than alone, and it's far more compelling to get to work when friends are coming!  We're excited to have the drip tape out and the mainline repaired in preparation for future planting.  Next up is onions!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Life in Pictures

Blueberries for pots

Ripe blueberries

Zucchini

First zucchini

Okra (and weeds)

YJ Acres

After 21+" of rain since July 14, we are enjoying drier.  I would not wish away any rain God sees fit to send us, but I am glad we are finally able to wade through the weeds and try to tame the chaos!

One of my three new rose bushes is blooming.  I normally don't choose something yellow, but this rose is cheery and bright against the rest of the green path.

The below hill has been a trouble spot for us.  We lost the only tree planted on it last year in the terrible drought.  When my mom and I were planting bulbs, the tree was so brittle that we could pop off large branches.  We planted a sweet cherry tree in its place.  The hill is also problematic because mowing over it, what with the stones and uneven ground, results in excessive need to trim as well as bald spots where the mower has scalped the high spots.  Our solution, over the next several years, will be to gradually kill of the grass and replace it with rose bushes and mulch.  I had to leave behind my collection of roses at our old house, so I am looking forward to choosing all over again!

 I started the spring with a cleaned up front walkway.  Herb plants were planted, weeding commenced, and... the summer and time escaped me.  This week, every time I leave the house to pick up or take the girls to school, I have been pulling a few weeds.  Although there's plenty left to do, I can now tell where the oregano, basil, echinacea, chamomile, sage, rosemary, lavender, and tarragon are... and where they aren't!  I ran out of mulch from chipped limbs, so I may be at a stopping place in this yard improvement for now.

 Apples and peaches are slowing approaching ripeness in our orchard. When we made a trip to Lowe's for supplies for the new and improved chicken tractor, we also splurged and bought several more fruit trees.  Even better, we already planted them!  Another honeycrisp, gala, and Wolf River apples were planted, as well as a plum.  We're looking forward to maturity in a few years!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Potato Harvest 2013 Results

Sad, especially when I just read that a 10 pound per pound ratio is considered "normal."  I suppose not watering and minimal weeding is a fair trade-off for such a large yield, but it didn't encourage me with the results this year...

In 2010, we planted and harvested 130 pounds, for a 3.5:1 ratio.
In 2011, we planted and harvested 265 pounds, for an almost 4:1 ratio.
Last year, we planted 40 pounds and harvested 293.5 pounds, for a 7.3:1 ratio.
This year, we planted 81.5 pounds and harvested 253, for a 3.1:1 ratio.  After going back to find the earlier years, it is disappointing that this was the lowest year ever.

We also had a cold, wet spring.  We saved potato seed, and they were too sprouted to produce reliably. Also, we used our younger, less fertile bed.  All that being said, I could probably crunch numbers, but we'll just leave it as it is.

Of course, last year, we planted LOTS of onions and lost most of them.  This year, we have a rock-star performance by onions, harvesting 282.5 pounds at this point, with one more largish harvest to total. Reds were definitely less productive than yellow.

Let the numbers speak for themselves...

Type	Seed Weight	Yield	Ratio
Russet Burkbank	5	3	0.428571429
All Blue	7	8	1.142857143
Kennebec	6	18	3
Purple Viking	5.5	0	0
Dakota Pearl/Crisp	26.5	55	2.075
Red Norland	12.5	97	7.76
Yukon Gold	12	72	6
Total	81.5	253	3.104294479
Onions
Candy	4	151.5	37.875
Red Candy	3	17	5.666666667
Vidalia	4	97	24.25
Burgundy	1	17	17

Next year, All Blue, Yukon Gold, Dakota, and Red Norland will be back on my list.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

a Gasp for Breath in the Rush of Summer

I have used my vacuum sealer to put up to pints of dried fruit.  While I would love to put up more, the mulberries have not been so popular, and I haven't enough strawberries.  Next year, I will start drying strawberries sooner!

The {almost} daily compost bucket. We have just enough spoiled food (and eggshells) that I don't want to give to the chickens, so into the bin they go!

Onions are bulbing out fabulously.  This year, I'm striving to use onions as soon as I pull them, including chopping extra for the freezer.  Last year, too many onions spoiled through my failure to chop and use.  I know few things that smell quite as horrendous as a mouldering onion.

We are slowly... slowly... slowly beating down the weeds.  While they are still ahead, I think we are making great strides.  I'm not sure the same can be said in the battle against the whiteflies, although a judicious application of neem may help me.

The first garlic has been harvested.  The bulbs are disappointingly small overall, but they were planted too closely, in haste, by a nauseous pregnant woman.  I blame it mostly on me.  I'll save the biggest for this fall's planting (by Columbus Day).

Fava beans, why do you hate me?  Like in a past attempt, many are beginning to shrivel and burn up.  Is it the unexpected heat?

Tomatoes!  I am anticipating the first ripe ones with great delight!

A gift... an unexpected mulberry tree.  It is a weeping mulberry and quite attractive.

We also have apple trees suffering from cedar rust and peaches from oriental fruit moths.  I think our neighbor has not cared for his trees in the past, so we have work to do next spring to handle these issues!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Fencing, Weeding, and Purgatory

After weeks, even months, of intermittent work, the fence encompassing the front 20 acres of Purgatory Ranch is complete, gates and all.  The barbed wire on the easy end will remind me of the location of the  dreaded poison ivy.  (Speaking of which, how have I stumbled into it three times this summer with tiny patches?  No major outbreaks, but itchy nonetheless!)

 Weeding this year is a battle.  JoJo is a most delightful baby, much more cooperative than Jimmy ever was at this age, but I still can't seem to get ahead of the weeds.  James set out to help me today... But before that story, bask in the sight of my not-quite-so-empty north potato bed.  At one point, I thought I had lost 95% of this bed.  Now I'd estimate my losses at 40%, which is much more reasonable and will undoubtedly yield more potatoes than we can possibly consume.  I enjoy extras when it comes to food.

(The exuberance of tree onions always fascinates me.)

And the purgatory of the title can be summed up as... A once-friendly neighbor may have irreparably damaged our friendship by calling James some terrible names and attempting to bully James to solve his own problems.  Thus, James spend 6 hours burning brush piles.  I even have sunburned forearms to prove my participation in the excitement.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Onion Planting

600+ onions later!
Starting from the east side of the south bed:
Four bunches/rows of Candy
One bunch/row of Red Burgundy (okay... it overflowed into 1/2 of the first row of Vidalia)
Four bunches/rows of Vidalia
Three bunches/rows of Red Candy

I still have one bunch of Red Candy, one of Super Star, and one of Yellow Bermuda to plant.  The kids were too dirty by this time, and I needed to return home for Hope's training appointment.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Planting Time

Spring is definitely on its way...

Our yard is replete with daffodils planted by the previous owners.  I may be sick of them by the end of spring, but for now, they are a bright splash over color in the dark greens and browns of the end of winter.

We have some bulbs sending up shoots of mysterious hues.  These are the bulbs my mom and I planted last fall, and I don't remember everything.  I look forward to the surprise.

The new trees and the old lilac bushes are also budding out, holding forth the promise that colorful days are ahead.

I've tackled the first plantings in our new garden after James tilled again.  So far, peas, spinach, and lettuce are tucked in the ground, while a myriad of other tasty treats still await.  Planting is a hit-and-miss type of activity, racing to plant while the baby naps, hoping to beat the weather and the tears.  We are due for snow and ice yet again on Saturday.  But today, well, today is a gift, and I think I made good use of it.

Inside, my seedlings look better than in previous years.  Even my peppers, thanks to a heat mat, sprouted and look healthy.  Some of my tomatoes are ready for thinning, and all the slender stems arcing towards the light are beautiful signs of new life.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Potato Planting Insanity

Our helpers dug too!

As we enter our fourth (can it really be the fourth?) year of planting potatoes at Purgatory Ranch, the situation has changed.  (Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3) Since James and I now live within miles of P.R., driving out is much less of a trial.  However, since we moved, all our potatoes that had been saved for seed were exposed to extreme heat this summer in the moving van, and they were a tangled, vine-y mess.  See what I mean?

I always intended to snap off the sprouts earlier in the winter but never got to it.  Famous last words, right?  So this year, we opted to purchase some seed potatoes and sort through this mess to see what might survive planting.  Since last year we actually had a pretty decent yield from our over-sprouted potatoes, why not again?

I had two buckets and five boxes to sort.  All the small potatoes were pretty well exhausted, so I tossed them into the compost bin.  However, even after discarding all those, I had 35.5 pounds of potatoes (and sprouts) to plant. Add to that the potatoes my dad purchased, and we are well on our way to another record year.

Then, there is always the challenge of calendar.  We received two feet of snow not so long ago, and was the ground still saturated?  James and Dan work opposite schedules.  Myle was caring for a neighbor's children.  I have an almost-newborn.  Spring break is coming and we both had plans that would prevent potato planting by March 17.  Then, the kicker, for me... it was supposed to rain all day this Saturday, meaning the ground would be (God willing: we need rain) saturated, so I couldn't plant in the coming week.

This is the insanity part.  I made plans to plant the potatoes by myself, with three of the kids.  It's a good thing I had a friend offer to help.  In preparation, I cut up several of the bags of seed potatoes.  After toting up my pounds of seed potatoes, I opted to leave the bags of Red Norland and Yukon Gold uncut for a future planting scramble, as I felt confident we had no business planting 81.5 pounds of potatoes alone.

90 minutes later, we had this:

The north bed is almost entirely full.  My friend had a giant blister, and JoJo was complaining of the wind, even well-sheltered in the Moby wrap.  I consoled myself that even if it rained, we had the lion's share planted.  On our way home, the rain started.

Meanwhile, James' plans of building chicken tractors after school fell through.  Upon learning said information, I wildly suggested we plant the rest of the potatoes.  Right now.  As in, throw the kids in the car, scoop up the cut potatoes, and take on the rain, which had stopped momentarily.

This year, we left most of the south bed empty of potatoes.  We have planted potatoes in this bed every year and are risking disease buildup.  So, the only part of the south bed used was the section planted in onions last year.  It received the remaining Red Norland and Yukon Gold that didn't make the first cut.  This was accomplished in 30 wild minutes (wild, because we had four kids with us) of James digging holes, my tossing potatoes, and the girls burying.

And... Done!  All the potatoes are buried in the ground, and I'm off the crazy potato planting hook for another year... (We shouldn't think about the garden that is planned for Yahweh Jireh Acres)

Final totals:

Type	Pounds	Source	Rows (from the north)
Russet Burkbank	5	seed	3
All Blue	7	saved	5
Kennebec	4	saved	4
	2	seed
Purple Viking	5.5	saved	2
Dakota Pearl/Crisp	12	saved	13
	14.5	seed
Red Norland	7	saved	3
	12.5	seed
Yukon Gold	12	seed
	81.5

If that's not as clear as mud, just ask.  We planted 81.5 pounds of potatoes.  The rows are for my reference in July, when I can't remember what's what.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Spring...

... always tries to come a little early.

Go back to sleep, little bulbs!
The girls, Mom, and I planted hundreds of bulbs last fall.
I look forward to seeing what grows... but not yet!

Site of the future herb garden

a work in progress
but progress is better than nothing!

What are we going to do with this ugly guy?

We should have watered our cover crop a little more last fall.
This is the consequence of a pregnant momma who can't face 100+ heat!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

katie z.