January on the 'stead

Hooo boy, the seed catalogues are coming in. I just love looking through them, and I've already sent in my first order! OMG... but I'm fired up to try planting in the GH in January, like Coleman says I can, and I haven't any spinach seeds. And of course, once I get started....

Looking through my two favorite catalogues--Territorial and Johnny's--I see fewer and fewer OP seeds every year, some veggies offered are all hybrid. I like the two catalogues because they specifically mention if something does well in cool soil/climates and many others don't. In fact, in general I'm appalled at the lack of cultivation information provided by many catalogues... I also got Cook's Garden and they don't even tell you time to maturity, let along temp tolerances! How worthless is that? I also get Gourmet Seed, which carries some nice European OP seeds, but again little cultivar info, so it's always a bit of a crap shoot. I did get a nice short season eggplant (Kamo) from them, though the second variety (Rosa Bianca) performed poorly in my cool climate--something I see the Johnny's catalogue mentions.

In any case, I've ordered plenty of some of the OP seeds... like beans, corn, and sweet pepper. I'm trying some new varieties, too, as always, and dumping a couple. Like Glacier tomato--great taste, but not much of a producer for me-- and Fortex pole bean--the wind here just whupped it and though it grew, it didn't produce. Purple stringless and Helda both did nicely even in the wind. The bean beetles seemed to prefer Helda, so maybe another advantage to the purple podded variety? Anybody else notice this?

I'm also going to try a couple of varieties of shelling beans this year. I haven't tried them yet up here; the last time I grew shelling beans was when I lived in Albuquerque.

Levi's foot is healing nicely, the coronary band has already regrown on part of the heel, and he's educating all those horse people at the stable (they're impressed by how much wood he eats... a 6' 2" x 6" board gone in 10 days... and how much racket he can make at 5 am (It's so nice and quiet in the mornings here now... LOL)). I'm thinking of taking the harness and cart down to drive him on those nice dirt roads, but that's probably borrowing trouble with the foot just yet.

I'm gonna make up a batch of chili and beans tomorrow and can it... I can't believe what I'm paying for a can of store chili and it's not even organic or particularly good. Got 15 pints of pinto beans canned last weekend.

What's happening on your place these days? And what are you dreaming up? =0)

So today's the big chili day.... here's what I WON'T be adding to my chili....
chili flavor ???
corn flour
oatmeal
TVP
hydrolyzed corn
soy or wheat protein
flavoring ???
autolyzed yeast
modified cornstarch
MSG

Ack!!! it makes me want to take my liver out and give it a good scrubbing! And I'm sorry, but mechanically separated anything still sounds like a fancy name for roadkill to me. =0)

OP seed? -

http://www.seedsavers.org/

I ordered almost exclusively from them this winter, had to go to other sources for some seed and plants though.

Do they evaluate crops on how well they do in cool soils and climates? That's my beef with many OP orgs... not enough cultivation information.

Have not checked into that facet however they are a good source of information (as are many other sites on the web).

Yeah, well unfortunately for me the web has its drawbacks... 5 min. later and the Seed Savers page had still not downloaded. So it kinda comes under "Never mind" for me. =0)

I think I got one of their catalogues a few years back and found it didn't give me the info I needed to make intelligent choices... maybe they've changed, but to find out takes a 20 min. ride into town and my curiosity just isn't that strong... another company I wish provided more info is Native Seed.

Mmmmm, the chili smells good! We didn't raise the meat in it (buffalo), but I was able to use our own onions, garlic, tomatoes, dried green pepper, and dried jalapeno. Next time I'll get even more organized and get the meat from a local grower who's grass finishing his beef. Or maybe local goat... yum.

Yummmm, chili! I made some while the kids were here to help me move. I'll do another batch before winter has fled, I am sure.

I'm still trying to figure out what all needs to be done here at the new place immediately, and not very many seed catalogs made it over my way to the new place yet.
First order of the week, get the chimney unstuffed. Had fun with that when we tried to make a fire with my new order of wood. I looked the fool running up and down the stairs hitting the smoke detectors till the smoke cleared out o_o
Then after that, probably getting the flapping tin under control on the barn and the potting shed-to-be.

I'm tired already thinking about all that needs to be done! Of course, it may be due to nearing the end of my 12 hour shift that is really making me tired...haha!

Hineni ~ glad to see you settling in and making plans. What are you going to do with that chimney? Have it checked or are you going to tackle it?

Glad to hear someone else likes beans with their chili. Only problem here, it never lasts for enough to can. Hope you put up enough to suit ~ Jayrunyen. Just finished up the last bait of chili here. I absolutely refuse store bought chili. Need to make a pot of stew next weekend.

And I understand on the phone line/internet issue. We are served here by Possum Bell, pretty rural and pretty bad. As it costs me nothing, I can't justify hi speed for what I do online at home. I do go to the seed company home pages and 'request' a catalogue though. Hineni ~ catalogues usually aren't forwarded unless you have someone picking up your mail and sending them on. You might want to request online too.

Now, don't laugh but we have had a week of rarely or barely above freezing temps. Not common here and I have been working at learning to maintain GH temps with a wood burning box heater. It is all brand new to me and has been interesting. Also enjoyed a warm up yesterday so spent the day bonding with my chainsaw... working on next winter.

January it is....

I make venison chile, and we like pinto beans and jalapenos in ours. I am also still making venison jerkey from a tough old buck.

Deer season is closed, but I am wishing it wasn't. A huge buck with a beautiful rack is challenging us when we go outside. Very brave, as he knows season is closed, and stomps and lowers his head and shakes his antlers at us. I have gathered a big supply of sharp rocks on the porch and whack him every chance I get.

Last week I scared one who was thinking of going over the garden fence, and he ran into the fence and broke one of his antlers off (prematurely). They will be shedding them soon anyway, and once they do, they will not be so bold.

In addition to putting up deer meat, I am making a small coldframe (about 2 x12) from cement blocks and big glass shelves. So far I am just leaning the glass to the ground, but may change that before planting my spring greens under there. I used to have a real cold frame, but time and termites took care of that. Now, DH is disabled so I am gonna try this method. I have stacks of glass shelves left from our business.

I also like to spade a few rows every day that I can, just to remind my body that I still plan on working it hard next summer. At my age, I will rust if I sit still too long.
OP seeds have been ordered from High Mowing and Territorial.

I have 4 pounds of onion sets waiting to go in the ground as soon as I finish adding compost. Lots of projects planned and have expanded my garden area.

I am wanting to build a cold frame from straw and old windows, so I'll be interested to see how yours goes Caliche. I need to get some manure, some potting soil and a fence up though, because if I don't fence it all the dogs will be destroying the straw and trying to roll in the newly tilled in poop. :D I did get a line on horse manure, and there is a dairy nearby that will probably sell/give me some cow manure as well. Just gotta figure out how to meet them. Lots of Amish round abouts here as well.

Oh, I went back to the general store tonight and am now known as 'that new woman'. LOL! I forgot how quickly news spreads in a very, very small place ;)

Hineni, that is the beauty of a small community. News spreads rapidly, and if you are in trouble or need help, there will probably be someone come to volunteer to help. If they find that you are friendly and considerate, you will be well received.

Hay bales work great for the north side of a coldframe, but it would be better for the south side to be lower, so the plants will not be shaded in early spring. A 2x8 might be about the right height for a front, if you are using bales, and windows. My first coldframe was windows from a barracks we bought and tore down at Ft Hood, when they were replacing them..

Well, tax season has started, and it's still slow, so I'm back checking out the Homesteading blog! I find SeedSavers and many others to be to expensive for me, I've been ordering from Cooks (I pretty much know what will grow here and what won't), but I think this year I'm going to try Shumways - I haven't ordered from them in probably 20 years, but their prices are OK and they do have some OP tomatoes and such. I've been making a hay bale cold frame for the last 10 years - it's true the south side is kind of high, but as long as I don't have plants right up against the south bales, everything seems to do all right - except for the plants right against the bales - bugs come out of the bales and eat stuff. But, I've never had anything freeze on me - in NWA we get freezes in Feb/March, but not horrific. I start my onions in Nov. inside with heatmats and lights, then move them outside around the middle of Feb to harden off to plant the middle/end of March. Once they move out, I move the more tender stuff out in April to grow, harden off, and plant out the first week of May.
I finally sold my house and wooded 60 acres and am in the process of looking for a farm! Been dreaming about it since I was 16, now at 53 it is finally becoming reality!

Everybody's plans and doin's are so inspiring... you all keep me going for sure. =0)

I used the chili recipe in the Ball canning book that starts with 5# of meat, then added about 6 cups of cooked beans... I ended up with 12 pints and a nice dinner that night. =0) Next year I think I'll double the amount of beans.

I don't know if this will be a help to anyone, but here's the pressure canner loaded... I can double stack in my canner, with a rack between the layers of jars.

Here's the lid on, and the steam venting... that little spike on the right is the vent...

This is a weighted guage pressure canner... I've found it much simpler to use than the other kind, which I used for years but is tricky to keep at the correct pressure. This one, once it's vented long enough I just pop the weight on and adjust the flame so the weight jiggles 3-4 times a minute, a much easier way for me. It doesn't really need the pressure gauge on it, that's just a reassurance, more in case the vent gets plugged than to ensure there's enough pressure. Anyway, here's a picture of the weight in place and the pressure up at 15 psi, which is what I need at 7100'.

It's cloudy and grey here today, a slight chance of snow... not very inspiring for getting out and working in the GH or thinking about planting seeds. I'm more in a settle by the fire and read mood.

There's a talk in town tonight about the geology of the area as regards natural gas. Companies are starting to look at our area for natural gas drilling and no one around here owns the mineral rights under their land... Ted Turner couldn't even stop them when they wanted to drill on his big ranch. =0( He was rich enough to force environmental concessions, though, which us small time folks won't be able to do unless we band together. Already a wind generator company has divided and conquered a local mesa top land owners by offering money on the hush-hush and not doing the public meetings that would have given the whole region the heads up. Some refused and raised a fuss (that's how it all came out), but there's enough folks around here desperate for money that I think it's going to be tough.




This message was edited Jan 14, 2010 9:59 AM

We've had the same things going on over here vis a vis wind generators. There is a new wind farm that just came online a couple of months ago, and they want to put in more, but the surrounding landowners are raising a stink about the wind people's tactics and lack of meetings. What usually happens is that they do have meetings but they aren't publicized, then they go ahead with their plans regardless of what the "little people" want.

The new wind farm is far enough away from me that it is not a bother, and I have to admit that from a distance of several miles the generators look really pretty, like big white birds. None of the electricity is used here, it is all sent someplace else.

I am much more afraid of the possiibility of a nuclear plant nearby, and our cash-strapped governor has been looking at them as a money raiser. 15 years ago plans were afoot to put one just about where the wind farm is -- frankly I prefer wind generators to nuclear power plants. Fortunately that plan died.

The meeting was interesting, though not as informative as I'd hoped. But I did learn that in that geologist's opinion our basin doesn't contain enough natural gas to make it worth the extraction. By his estimates, 3 days worth at current national levels. There is a basin to the north that contains much more... that's where Ted Turner's place sits and they started drilling there about 8 years ago.

Both sides of the debate shade the truth so much that it's hard to make informed decisions. Still, one must try...

I checked the weather forecast and it looks like if I put my lettuce in the ground, they'll be greated by a week of cloudy weather. That just doesn't seem like a good idea, so I'll start some in flats too.

What a gawd awful tragedy in Haiti... makes me wish I was 30 years younger and trained in disaster response. What Mother Nature can serve up... =0( Prayers to all affected by the earthquake...

Jayryunen, I'm just following along (alright...lurking), but I'm sure learning a lot!

Luannewolf, are you looking for a farm in the same area?

Dear msrobin,
I think so. I'm originally from California (Santa Cruz) 30 years ago, but didn't realize when I moved out here that I would never be able to afford to move back! The ocean still calls and I miss it. I get the feeling that the climate in KY and TN are almost the same as here in NW Arkansas (with a little more rain!), so I figure I'll stay around here where I know people (I've been here about 12 years). How much does land go for in KY? I'm looking for hopefully 40 acres with at least 10 acres open and ten acres in woods with some live water.

I was just curious. Yep, a lot to be said if you already know lots of people and know your way around, to stay in the same area. The prices are pretty varied in TN and KY. Had we given it more thought, we probably would have chose TN 8 years ago when we bought our place, but we love our 15 acre hilltop, so guess we're staying. Ah, yes, the rain....however, we don't suffer so much from drought conditions come summer.

Things are still frozen here so not much going on. hens are laying about 8 eggs a day. Gotta love my girls. Need to breed my goats still. I have garlic and onions and about 10 strawberry plants growing. Started on another bed for Spring. Snowed last night so we have about 5" on the ground right now. Hope it doesn't get worse. Got a tarp up around the goat pen. Also got the wire up for the goat lot. Charger isn't working well so I had to put them back in the pen for now. It's a solar charger and it's not holding a charge. I'm gonna take it apart and see what kind of battery it needs. I may just stretch a wire from the goat fence to the horse fence and run them both off the hard wired charger. It's plenty strong enough and I can turn it off at the house before I go up the hill if I need to. Had to go out after midnight 2 nights ago when I heard a coyote in the yard. Dogs kept it away from the livestock. I had my gun but didn't see it to shoot it.


Do any of you do winter sowing? There is a new forum on it and it is interesting. But it sounds too easy.

Cajun, I haven't done winter sowing, yet, but I follow that forum. Basically the same thing happens as leaving a cucumber, tomatoe, squash, etc out in the garden over winter and a few of the seeds come into contact with the soil, then come spring, they sprout when it's the right time. With WS, it's just more controlled...all of your little seedlings are contained so you plant them where you want them. Would sure save a lot of indoor space that's used for seed starting trays.

We got 7" of snow, but it's the soft and fluffy snow. At least we didn't get any ice.

If you have any kids or bred nannies to sell this summer, I'm interested.

I'm having trouble getting my nannies bred because of this weather. Goats only stay in season for 2 days and I can't get a buck here in that short window. I'd like to borrow a friend's buck and keep him here until one of my girls comes in season. Then I could breed right away. Problem is, I don't have a pen to keep him in during this weather until one of them comes in. We have about 5" on the ground now and it's still snowing. May continue until tonight. I hope I get at least one of the girls bred this year. This is very frustrating. No baby, no milk.

Cajun, how are you starting a bed in the ground at this time of year? Mine is either too wet or too frozen to work at this time, and I know you are further north than I am!
Sorry to hear about your lack of goat, errr, success? I can't even begin to think yet of raising any animals apart from my three dogs - well, I *can* think about it but I also know I don't want to rush and I have no fencing and lots of predators so....that will have to wait until money falls out of the sky :)

Louanne: Come on down to TN (or over I guess!), I could use another close-by DG neighbor! Lots of live water in TN. I didn't look at raw land here much; there is a small farm of 30 acres nearby with a house, chicken coop and other amenities going for about 120K (or so I've been told). I don't know if it had live water or not, most of us out here have well water and some have creeks nearby. There is one just off of my property here. Wow, it still feels a little dreamy to type 'my property'!

I have my first little seedlings going - chard, cabbage are all that are up yet. I planted broccoli, chard, cabbage, lettuce and...oh spinach. My house is pretty cold so they are taking their own sweet time to germinate. I was looking at a great position for a cold frame today while I was watching ice melt off the downspouts. I had considered using hay bales, but I'm pretty sure if I put hay where I was thinking about it that I would have tons of field mice in it! I saw their little feet prints in the snow...ha! I had previously looked at boards when I was making yet another Lowe's run a couple of weeks ago. The good quality boards that weren't treated would have added up to about 30.00. I think milk jug halves would do the same thing, except I don't buy milk at the store and when I did, I only bought half gallons. So I'm still pondering. I just figured I could vent through the lids and I could push the jug down deep enough into the dirt to deter critters. Maybe my farmer neighbor lady buys milk in gallon jugs. I know the other lady I've met doesn't because she and I get our milk now from the Amish farmers, along with eggs. Great stuff!

I need to do my taxes and I'm seriously procrastinating! (wonders what else she can go and do....)

I'm not making beds IN the ground. I'm making them ON the ground. It's raised beds. I put my ground cloth on the ground, put my pavers around the edges and fill it in with the dirt I brought from my old house. My beds were made the same way there, so I just shoveled the dirt into empty feed sacks and brought it all with me. It's slow going because of the weather but it's satisfying. Right now I am trying to winter sow some of my later season crops. I have broccoli in a tray in the cellar under a light. No green yet. I have a dozen eggs in my bator. I have secured the use of a billy for my older nanny. Just waiting for the weather to cooperate with me.

Cajun, sounds like you are well on the way for spring. Here is central Texas, we are having a beautiful and rare snowfall. I just walked out to the windmill to take pictures, as we may not have a pretty snow for years again. We have lived here for 35 years, and only had a snow like this 3 or 4 times.
Gardening comes very early here, so I have peas, onions, lettuce. and turnips up. I planted potatoes last week, under hay.

I tried planting taters in hay last year but my spot didn't get enough sun so it didn't do well. I have moved and I have a sunnier location this year so i may try again. Ihate snow and it wouldn't bother me if we never got another flake. I know it has it's purpose but it sure makes life hard especially on the animals. my sister lives in Dallas and they got 12.5 inches a week or so ago.

Cajun, I was born and raised in Colorado, and had enough snow for a lifetime, but it is pretty for a change, and it will be gone in a few hours.

I hope your spuds do better this year with more sun. I garden under heavy hay cover, as it is the best way in this light caliche and hot dry summers.

What kind of taters do you grow?

I grow Kennebec russets for big potatoes with few eyes, as they keep so well, but I really love red Pontiacs. Nothing better than to reach under the hay and pull out a handful of those small red potatoes to go with new peas. I can hardly wait.

Red potatoes are my faves to eat. I'd like to grow those.

Good for you, bringing your dirt with you! I am going to attempt lasagna beds this year for the garden. I don't feel like battling the hay/turf that is growing there. I have lots of boxes, free manure/straw mix available for the hauling, and maybe some leaves if there are any left. I figure I only have to buy the bagged compost and cut some of my hay to throw in there, and away we go.

I sure wish spring would arrive. The snow was pretty, I like the cold, but I'm ready for a change!

All this cold and snow is depressing.

Yeah, I am hoping tomorrow's snowfall will be the last one for the winter, but Ma Nature surprises us a lot. I am going to go ahead and plant lettuce, spinach and peas outside later this week when it gets sunny. Yesterday and today I worked outside, enlarging my veg garden from 10x30 to 30x30. Got the elk fence done but still have to add the rabbit fence. And weed! Lots of weeds & grasses already coming up, at least the ground is still damp from the major snowfall we had last week (all melted off now). Found one lorn onion from last year, moved it to the greenhouse. So I feel like gardening season has started! I have already ordered and received all the seeds I need for this year but the seed catalogs keep coming. That's okay, I love to read them.

I am collecting them for a craft project with my class at church. There are such pretty pictures in them.

True, Cajun. I love to look at the pictures, too.

In my last post I said my garden used to be10x30, should have said 15x30. Basically I doubled its size. I am already planning my next year's enlargement, to add another 15x30 feet. So the whole thing will be 45x30. That's as big as I can go without totally building a new one in a new location. I had to move 2 little trees (a filbert & a quince) this time, next time will have to move an elm and an ash. So far they are still small, but next year? I have so many rocks it is hard to pick a spot to dig a new hole in. I finally put the quince just outside the backyard fence where the filbert used to be, dug up a Manchurian apricot and put it inside the yard where the peach that died used to be, next to the Moorpark apricot, put the filbert where the Manchurian apricot used to be, and decided not to move the plum tree outside the vegetable garden but to reduce the height of the rabbit fence instead. Got that? I call this "musical trees". 8^)

The "tree shuffle" is enough to make one dizzy.

Sounds like an ambitious project!

You lost me at the second 15 X 30. :)