Green Times

Seeing our potatoes lively and thriving (albeit with a few bug holes - go away, potato beetles.  I will squash you!) reassures me that life goes on despite economic hardship, shaky world relations, and other superfluous worries.

Dan, Myle, and fam have officially moved to the Little House, about four miles away from P.R.  Hopefully that means they will be able to provide some water for our onions, who are in the new bed to the north, which is much grassier and lumpier than the potato bed.  (That requires a truck first... Wanna donate a truck to the cause of non-wealthy [cuz we're not poor] Catholic families homesteading?)

Today we met at P.R. for some good, old-fashioned work.  Our neighbor to the south (who likes to call James a city slicker) was happy to see us and is probably shocked at how much better our potatoes look compared to last year.  The addition of a few tons of compost, a large tractor, some gypsum, and an awful lot of perseverance creates a recipe for much happier potatoes.

The garlic stems are thick and the leaves are tall.  They look better than the garlic at our home in town, where the kids attempt to dig up my garlic any time I'm not looking.  The tree onions are already setting bulblets, and some of the bulblets are trying to sprout.  I'm unclear as to how that is really supposed to work, but they do look amazing.  Again, that God is so good to provide us with some good things through the fruit of our labor (and sometimes, in spite of it), stills my worries. 

Somebody likes to honk the horn.

 Even the trees we planted last year continue to grow as true survivalists... no additional water, weeding, or protection so far.  They were watered by Dan and James for the first time today!

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

All in a Day's Work

Oops... forgot to rotate.
The garlic is thriving.

Weeds...

What's your favorite brand of garden tool?

a survivor from our tree planting last year, now mulched

Fun at the Little House

Saturday Work

The gentleman should have finished their 100 bushes and trees by now.  The holes were already dug, so it was "just" laying a tree in the right hole, adding a shovel full of compost, and planting.  Add to that their work at getting four tons of compost delivered, as well as a truck-load of mulch at the Little House and Purgatory Ranch.  Myle was a workhorse too, watching kids, some not even her own, hauling water to water the orchard at the Little House, shoveling compost, and planting trees.

Needless to say, compared to their intense labors, my weeding of two rows of potatoes and watching kids is pretty puny.

Evergreen bunching onions (left) and garlic are thriving.
Looks like the onions are even forming bulblets just as they should!

Potatoes.  Awesome.

Trees we planted last year the day before Bear Cub Q's birthday.  Many are still alive.

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

Spring Saturday = Visit to the Land

It hailed last night.  Stormed mightily.  So, upon arrival to the land, our neighbor to the south (who we always provide with a good laugh) informed me that I was "just like a city farmer.  Always showin' up after the storm."  Hey, I mentioned it hailed.  Do you think the van will look any better with a second round of hail damage?  Methinks not.

 Our kiwis look like someone to a blow-torch to them, so they are dead.  Meanwhile, the gooseberries, castoffs of my brother, are sprouting from the roots, and the blueberries are greening up nicely.  The pond has mud at the bottom, which has not been the case for MONTHS.

Purple, red, yellow and green stakes = homes for future windbreak trees

The men marked out where Dan's windbreak will go at their future home.  By the time they finished that, it was a little warmer than I can take (I'm a redhead, and apparently don't adjust well to heat.  I like think I'm not a wimp as I did deliver three babies without an epidural or much pain medicine, and James is too gentlemanly to suggest such a thing).  They also hoed the potatoes.

Garlic and tree onions thriving on neglect

First potato sprouts

James still says we should have named the land something OTHER than Purgatory Ranch, but I think he's stuck.

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

Seedlings: Update

In an effort to prolong the time we have until being forced to plant 150 seedlings, James and I spent the afternoon heeling in the saplings in our garden beds at our house. This should buy us at least a week, if not two or three, before they MUST be planted on the land. That should give me time to have a baby without worrying about all these other babies dying.

We have American Plum, Native Pecan, Bur Oak, Mulberry, Lilac, and Hackberry, 25 of each. The pecans look like twigs, and the hackberries have well developed roots. It will be fascinating to see what grows best (and what the rabbits eat).

Seedlings!

Today, 150 seedlings arrived on our porch. These are destined for the land, but we weren't quite prepared for them today.

They are to be kept from freezing, but we are still 5 weeks away from our last frost date. They should be planted soon, but I am due to have my own baby any day.

This could get interesting.

Dan will upload some pictures from the land on the first day of "Spring".