Weeds

are center stage right now.  The men hoed more today.  No pictures or other news currently.

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.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I haven't purchased laundry detergent in more than two years, to the best of my recollections.  My mom did bring me a container of liquid store detergent a few months ago, after I sprained my ankle and wasn't up to making my own (I was trying to lie down as much as possible, in case the ankle was broken).

So, Thursday, when I descended to the basement to start laundry, I was unpleasantly surprised to see that I had used all but one load's worth of detergent.

Gathering the ingredients: I have a hand grater (used only for soap).  For one batch of soap, I need a bar of Fels Naptha or Ivory soap (just plain jane soap... no additives, no fragrances), 6 oz. borax and 6 oz. WASHING soda.  A container to hold the soap.

Grate the soap on the smallest size possible.  In the summer, the soap has a tendency to warm up in my hand and get a bit gummy.  It can always go in the freezer for a little bit to harden up again.

Mix the soap with the borax and washing soap.  Put a lid on the mixture and shake it up.  The borax and soda can kick up some fine powder, so it's easiest to mix it by shaking.

2 Tb. is enough of a big load of laundry.

And now I'm set for the next month.

Spring Chores

include lots and lots of hoeing.

So that's what we did today.

Foreground, gooseberry bushes and rose bush.  Background, onion, asparagus, Rose Finn Apple potatoes, kiwis, and blueberry bushes.  Oh, yes, and more of those six tons of compost.

Roadside potato bed, after hoeing.  There's a large pile of compost still awaiting adding.

We also planted 6 hardy kiwi vines and 3 blueberry bushes.  I checked out the gentlemen's planting of a rose bush and several gooseberry bushes.

My godfather is now at eternal peace, or at least on his way.  May our labors today free him from any time necessary in purgatory.

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

Making Homemade Vanilla

Although this won't make a lot of vanilla extract (8 ounces... the recipe has it scaled to 1 gallon of vodka).

In six months, I'll let you know how it tastes!

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

... say a prayer for my godfather, who is on his deathbed.  I was blessed to have a chance to say goodbye to him yesterday.

Spring Warm Weather Chores at the House

More onions.  Lettuce, spinach, peas, turnips, fava beans.  Outside planting.

Two tons, give or take, of fresh compost.  Still-manure-smelling compost.  As in, our yard smells a bit "barnyard fresh."  Now spread across beds that await planting.

Packages from the guys in the brown.  Our UPS guy even knows our daughter's name, since she gets so many packages, but lately these have been for me.  Blueberries.  Grapes.  Yum.

Cumin, more lettuce, okra.  Inside planting.  Daily heating and lighting for tomato, pepper, broccoli and tomatillo seedlings.

Bike rides to Sonic.  To Chipotle.  To somewhere, anywhere.

Pumpkin bread made from the second to last pumpkin left from the fall.  Home-ground wheat too.

Plants moved from the basement to the outdoors, to take refuge in the garage when a freeze threatens.  Raspberry, blueberries, grape.  More yum.

Hail and rain at the end of a beautiful evening with friends.

Until next time, remember: this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.  Although, frequently, I marvel that paradise will be so much more amazing than these snippets of our lives.

Planting Time

Dan has determined one ought to know what they are doing before riding a tractor like a bucking bull. ... but that is a story best told by the men.

Today, we planted several hundred onion plants (Vidalia, Texas Sweet, and Red Candy), 12 asparagus crowns, and 2.5 pounds of Rose Finn Apple potatoes from Seed Savers.

Hopefully, neither Dan nor I had any more contact with poison ivy, as we have not yet recovered from the last encounter. I could have skipped the sunburn too - at least I only burned where I missed the sunscreen on my upper arms.

There is the case of the missing tractor key, but a pocketknife solved the case. Our research suggests it is well-cultivated into the onion bed. Perchance it will give rise to a key tree, in which case I would never worry about James losing a key again.

The manly men hauled a trailer-bed of dry wood to the land from a neighbor for later cutting and splitting.

We are without pictures today. I said to Myle, "I should take a picture before we leave," but we were so tired by the time we were packing up, a camera was the last thing on my mind.

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