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.

Saturday's Work

Spring is a delightful but challenging time at Yahweh Jireh Acres.  A plethora of tasks clamors for our attention, but the abundant rain we've received makes some of those tasks difficult or downright impossible.

This Saturday morning, we pruned out dead wood from our blackberries, sweet cherry bushes, and roses.  We gathered the winter's collection of dead debris and piled it for a future burning or disposal. All the chicken tractors moved, uncovering burrowing mice (excitement for the chickens).  The damp reek of overwet chicken bedding (with the rain, it's been a muddy two weeks) will fade as it dries in the heat.

Asparagus spears are launching themselves out of the soil, so the weeding around them is particularly important.  We also have rhubarb, one trying to bolt and two that required transplanting.  In addition to digging rhubarb, I transplanted four sweet cherry bush stems that were growing too far away from the main plant to be viable in their current location.  If even one or two survives, we will have greatly increased our cherry treats!

Disappointingly, James labored much of the morning on tractor light rewiring and was ultimately unsuccessful.  Another day, God willing, he will find success.

There are still strawberries to tend, always weeding, honey to rob, and a turkey Tom to butcher.  Our tom, named Effingham Sandwich, bit JoJo.  Attacks on humans is a capital offense, so we will be enjoying turkey for Easter.  Ooh, and tomato plants to transplant and turkey poults should be hatching any day.

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

Bee Joy

Asparagus

Red Buds

Plum

Peach

Rhubarb

Crocus

Sweet Cherry Bush

Too-Early Spring

As it is supposed to drop to 26 F tonight, these little bits of growth may all end up frozen, but on the day I took the pictures, it was gorgeous.

Rose leaves...

 Daffodils...

 Plum buds...

 Willow green...
I love the way green creeps over this tree until, suddenly, it's full of leaves!

 Strutting tom, named Effingham Sandwich...
It's a long story.  He likes to show off for me, but he stalks the rest of the family and scares them.  He may not last past this summer.

 Buzzing bees...
I'm ridiculously grateful that the bees survived the winter, as we are new bee-tenders.

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