I see MsRobin has logged in from the hospital, glad she could get ya'lls wishes first hand :)
Welcome Nik and Sapphire, to our humble li'l group, pull up a chair and share.
Today my ornamental pears, violets, and hyacinth are in bloom and the wasps are out in full force, especially on my deck. My daughter had a panic attack trying to hang out the laundry so I finished it up. She got stung once a few years ago and now is literally terrified, as in cannot breathe, when any stinging or other insect is near.
Hoping my swiss chard seedlings live, as we dipped below 30 (despite both the farmcast and weather forecasts saying we wouldn't) a couple of days ago and I didn't cover them just days after transplanting them. Bag garden is built and my strawberries came today. I'll try to get them out in the bag after dark so I don't have to have so much wasp company. I forget, over the winter, how many of those dastardly guys I have here. Lettuces are thriving, along with the spinach, but the peas never did come up. I'll wait another week and replant if they don't magically appear. Or we don't get hit by an earthquake. Or radiation poisoning. Or some other disaster-in-the-making. I remember why I quit reading the news headlines...lol!
Watching Japan, my heart goes out to those dignified and hard-working people. The differences between cultural responses to disaster are amazing to watch from afar.
Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely break in the weather :)
~H
Homesteading - "The stormy March has come at last..."
Watching Japan, my heart goes out to those dignified and hard-working people. The differences between cultural responses to disaster are amazing to watch from afar.
Welcome Sapphirestar19 ~ tell us what your hopes and dreams are for your new homestead?
Hanging out clothes here. I hung two loads last night by moonlight, how delightful. They were well dried tonight but I am amazed they didn't end up in Louisiana after the strong winds we had today. Off to hang out another load.
Brief update on MsRobin.
Her DH is en route from Utah, driving as we speak. She was moved to ICU at some point today due to low blood gases, and I *think* I understood her DH to say that they had done a non-invasive tracheotomy -maybe a tube insertion? He's a little sketchy on what is going on as well. Her nearest family member, a brother, is coming from Oklahoma, so I'm going to see if the hospital will allow me in tomorrow in the interim.
Your continued thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
~H
I suspect they probably inserted a 'vent' or ventilator to help with the oxygenation . Hopefully so, as it is not quite as invasive as a trach.
If so she will be immensely unhappy as she won't be able to talk with it. A suggestion ~ pick up a notepad or blackboard that she can write on to communicate.
Please let her (and her family) know that she is in our thoughts and prayers. And please keep us posted. Best wishes for a safe trip for you and her brother and her husband!
This message was edited Mar 17, 2011 9:54 PM
I am so sad to hear about Robin. I will be praying earnestly for her. She is such a nice person and so generous. I pray God will honor her kindness with healing. I will also pray for her DH and DB for traveling grace.
Robin does have her laptop with her, and if she feels better today, she can read dmail notes from y'all. That is, if they allow the laptop in ICU. Her email to me yesterday mid-afternoon said she started out feeling pretty good but lost energy as the day wore on, and they were putting her on a heart monitor. That was long before they transferred her to ICU.
Thanks, Ms. H, for updating us!
Like many, I am impressed with the Japanese people for their demeanor in the wake of these tragedies.
"Face" is a sense of worth that comes from knowing one's status and reflects concern with the congruency between one's performance or appearance and one's real worth.
"Face" means 'sociodynamic valuation', a lexical hyponym of words meaning 'prestige; dignity; honor; respect; status'. (Wiki)
Sure makes some of our American hordes faced with deprivation seem like Barbarians.
You never know a person's true self until trouble strikes.
I have been praying for Robin early this morning. I so hope she is doing better. It's hard enough to be sick when you are surrounded by family, but to be alone it must really be scarey.
Thinking about MsRobin! Praying for wisdom for her doctors and a speedy recovery.
Podster~I am going to set up a big enough garden to feed my family, a friend already provided me the chickens that we need for eggs, so we will be raising them and probably selling yard eggs, and ultimately, I'd like to take the homestead off the grid, but that will be time and $$$$. We are refencing part of the lot for the horses and will be feeding them off of hay rather than forage. One of our neighbors has goats, so I am hoping to be able to trade some of the eggs for milk. A lot of our new neighborhood has livestock of some sort or another. Plus, one of the neighbors actually has a smokehouse and makes sausages. I wanted goats originally, but got outvoted.
I am rototilling the top of the slope today and planting mangels. I transplanted the blackberries I had up there, and tilled a strip 100 feet long and about 6 six feet wide. After I finish my lunch I am going to till it again and rake it out then get the mangels going. I don't think I have enough mangel seed for 4 rows, but I plan to finish the area with potatoes. The rest of the old garden is going to be a 3 sisters plot. So, I have to pull up the cucumber trellis (hog panel bowed into an upside down U) and the t-posts holding it, and move it to the new garden. I love this time of year!!
Welcome, Sapphire! How exciting to be starting fresh!
Robin, you have no idea how bummed I am to hear that your last post was from the hospital :0( You have have my thoughts and prayers. Hoping your family has a speedy safe trip. Good you'll have the company.
Hineni, thank you for keeping us posted.
I got all but 25 of 80 field tomatoes planted. I started right after milking and had nice cloud cover till about an hour ago. 81 degrees and sunny, If I don't plant the rest today, I'll get to them in the morning.
NikB, whatcha feeding the mangles to?
I raise them every year and feed them to the chickens and turkeys. The years when I have hogs they love to eat them. Chopped with cracked corn and whatever slop you give them and they will put weight on pigs fast, without making them too chuffy. Mangels were a staple on the farm before grain farming got so inexpensive. Now a days, many a homesteader has rediscovered mangelbeets. The giant ecklandorfs can get up to 25 lbs. I put them on a stake made of rebar and let the chickens peck at them. They will usually have it gone in about 3-4 days along with their layer pellets. I got about 250 feet of them planted today. That will translate to about enough mangels for my chickens for the winter.
Well, MsRobin is still incarcerated in the hospital while they work on getting her oxygen regulated.
She's worn herself pretty thin with all her CSA garden prep, plus the gardening classes she organized and led... and all by herself while her DH has been working in Utah to pay for it all. Unfortunately, a hospital bed doesn't usually give any of us any "real" rest...
Keep her in your best thoughts, please.
Absolutely, my heart goes out to her.
That's wonderful, NikB. They don't do much here, I wish they did. I've panted some again this year (red mammoth) because I still had seed and didn't have regular beets. Our soil is acidic and all beets are iffy. But we can grow sweet potatoes like weeds, so it's a trade off :0)
Love the the term chuffy, that's exactly why I couldn't spend the entire day outside ...I'm too pale and chuffy, from winter.lol
Chuffy was a grade of pig carcass at one time. It meant that yon porker has at least 1 inch of subcutanious fat before you got to the meat. When more folks used lard and it was a common ingredient in soap it was no big deal. Now a days it's usually considered undesirable.
I usually name my pigs bratwurst or porkchop. My chickens are all named Dumpling, or Colonel except my rooster. His name is always Cogburn. I usually have 3 turkeys and their names are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Casserole. A sense of humour goes a long way when you're homesteading, hehehe.
Robin's family is now in town, both her brother and her hubby, so she feels more comforted. Pods, thank you SO much for the recommendation of notepads! So much time is spent on a machine that keeps her from talking that they were a wonderful suggestion. Robin surely appreciates your thoughts and prayers.
@Nik - one mangel is 25 lbs?? I have read of mangels as excellent homegrown homestead feed, but I had no idea they grew that large. I look forward to maybe a few photos from your harvest later this year.
@Cocoa - I had to laugh at your response to the term chuffy...because I thought the same way you did...haha! I am, thankfully, now a lot less 'chuffy' and back to my pre-childbearing weight.'Bout time, since my 'baby' has her own baby...! Funny though, it looks different on me now...chuckle. Between the sudden death of my husband, and the ensuing depression, plus over a year on night shift although I may be unemployed now, I feel far healthier than I've felt in the last two years quite frankly. And I got over my 'OMG what happens if I am alone forever at this young age' short spastic period and decided to gracefully (okay, I'm a klutz so the term may not totally fit but...) accept exactly where I am and plan on that reality. Contentment does marvelous things for the soul and the mind :) And I still love the term 'chuffy' (thanks Nik!)
My peas finally have peeked through, so I am excited now. I thought perhaps my seeds were all duds. And a few of the chard seedlings seem to be poised to make it even though they shivered unintentionally. I am losing about one out of four red sails lettuces though. Not sure what the issue is, as one day they are fine and the next just...poof, wilted to nothing. It's happened in two different planting sites, and the remaining lettuces are just fine. Kinda weird. The romaine is far more sturdy I think. Can't wait to get my red romaine going as I really enjoyed eating it in 2009. I had to re-adjust my schedule, so strawberries and raspberry will go out tomorrow - still haven't figured out what to do with the danged asparagus though....sigh. Here's a reminiscent photo from when I last had a 'real' garden.
Sunshine and warmth to you all!
~H
I had never heard the term chuffy. I pictured it as so fat they had problems breathing. LOL We recently had our 2 pigs, Pork Chop and Sparerib, butchered. They were Blue Listed hogs. They were long and lean. The 2 of them together dressed out at 548#. We had 2 hams that weighed 130# and we had 99# of bacon. We had those smoked. The other 2 hams we had cut into steaks. We are really enjoying the pork.
I will have to google mangles.
I am glad Robin's DH and DB are with her now. I am sure that puts her more at ease. I am praying for a quick recovery for her.
Sorry to hear of your lettuce woes. Hope you can figure it out. I planted 2 kinds of lettuce a couple days ago. Buttercrunch and Black Seeded Simpson. I planted them on top of 2 old rotted bales of hay. I plan to use the bales to plant my eggplant in but I won't need them for that until much later. I also planted Broccoli Raab in my tomato squares and I am hoping they will be finished in time. My peas are starting to break the ground. Hard necked garlic is up and growing fast. Elephant garlic may be duds. Onions are slow. So are the carrots.
This message was edited Mar 19, 2011 11:44 PM
Does anyone on this forum know of any uses for violet flowers?
It seems I remember something about the flowers being used to infuse vinegar or oil maybe? They are starting to bloom and I'd like to try it.
Still thinking of you Robin! Come on home.
Hineni, did you see that post on asparagus in the veggie forum. It was a link about how to plant... opposite of how I've always heard to grow them. A lot less time consuming then slowly filling in a trench. Also recommends a light picking the first few years. It's too late to plant here, but I'm going to try this method next year. Its popping up so quick and thick this year. I'm getting about a handful a day...but there will never be enough.lol Love your garden pic!
I'm hoping to have salad in a few days, but the lettuce isn't growing as thick as I would like it...@##@$ acidic soil. Kale is lush and turnip greens are looking good, need to catch a catfish :0)
Hopeful for some rain this week, we are so hot, dry and dusty. All the paste tomatoes are planted. I had planned on getting corn and beans out this week. However, I think it would be safer if I hold off another week and see how the weather plays out. I picked up 1/2 pound of silver queen and blue lake.
A bit bummed, don't think I can swing enough space for a field corn. I was hoping not to buy scratch grains this year, and plant a dent style corn and millet. My co-op didn't have a dent corn and I got the wrong kind of millet. doh! Anyone need some german fox-tail millet? I have plenty!
Cajun, I envious of all that fresh pork! Yum!
Let me know if you'd like to try the mangle beets. I still have plenty seed left.
Caj, I know you can candy the violet flowers because I did some once, and it seems like I've read you can infuse vinegar with violets but you have to boil them (just briefly) in the vinegar to prevent bacterial growth. I'm not positive about doing that with violets, but I know you can with lavender flowers.
Mangels have been on my seed list since last summer when I researched and wrote about homemade sugar from beets (JL Hudson carries non-GMO sugar beet seed). My intention was mangels for feed (for the farm animals I don't have yet) and sugar beets just to try and make sugar.
'Course I haven't bought any seeds for this year yet except last fall I bought a french winter squash seed I really wanted ... spent all my money on equipment and ingredients to cure meats and make cheese. :)
Cocoa, I'd love to try them. I could feed them to my chickens. Would the goats and horses eat them too?
Darius, thanks for the info about the vinegar. I knew about the candying. It's in my Darina Allen book but nothing about the vinegar. I'll have to google it.
I have never had asparagus.
Darius you can make jelly from violets. Pick as many as you can find and boil them slowly for a couple hours. Strain the tea and allow to cool overnight. Then make jelly as you would with any kind of juice. Or, Make 5 gallons of the tea, add 10 lbs of sugar and some vintner's yeast and make violet wine. Although I think I would leave the flowers in it while it fermented. What will you use the vinegar for? Always a question to ask before you start on a project like that. I make awesome garlic pickles, but I can't go through 20-30 pints in a year. Not just me. But 2 years ago I had 3 5 gallon buckets full of cukes given to me. I pickled 38 pints fo pickles. It's a good thing my sister's husband and son liked them so much or I would STILL have a cabinet full of pickles. I'd've been better off to feed a bunch of those cukes to the oinks. Then I could have used the jars for soup. I can alot of soup in the fall.
I got my Mangel seed from Shumway's. To get the huge mangels you have to raise them in a mix of mulch and manure. They will get absoltivly huge. Horses and cattle, sheep and chickens and turkeys and porkers will eat them. Goats will if there is nothing else.
Great, I feel good they won't go to waste! I'll split the remaining seed and send them to you and Darius. They're from Baker's, non-gmo. I'm not headed to the post office till later in the week, will let you know when I get them mailed. I don't see why you couldn't feed them to the goats and horses. They will need to be chopped small enough not to pose a choking hazard.
Oh, Cajun you've GOT to try asparagus. It's like the lobster of vegetables.lol It makes your pee stink...Probably too much information, better to know then be alarmed when it happens .lol
Speaking of beets... sorta... I came across this Wolfgang Puck recipe for a napoleon made with beets and fresh goat cheese. I bet it not only tastes good but makes an elegant dish for company.
http://thetastysidetolife.blogspot.com/2010/05/roasted-beet-herbed-goat-cheese.html
The photo has a copyright, but since it goes with the recipe, I don't think anyone will sue me!
Nik, no thanks. No way am I going to pick enough violets for jelly or wine... LOL.
does my tired old heart good to get a laugh this morning .... keep it up!
MsRobin's hubby says she is doing better and may get moved from CCU today or tomorrow - yay!
I am making sweet violet oil for a general pain oil to have on hand - made it last year but it got knocked over by the dogs. I also may try making the syrup, as I have scads of them in my side yard. It does take an awful lot of them to do anything at all :) I picked for a week last year in order to get enough for two small jars of leaves and flowers (about 5 oz jars). You need to leave some intact.
From Hawk Valley Herbals:
The flowers and leaves can be harvested in spring and the roots in fall. The leaves can be added to salads and soups providing nourishment in the form of minerals and vitamins especially Vit C. Use the flowers in salads or press them in books preserving their delicate beauty. They can also be made into syrup to heal sore throats. Sweet Violet leaf tea can be used for treating chest colds, coughs and congestion. It acts as an expectorant in the lungs bringing up hot, yellow mucus while helping to cool dry throats and to shrink swollen glands. The leaves can be munched and made into a “spit poultice” and applied directly onto boils, burns and hot wounds. It has a wonderful cooling effect and alleviates pain. One can use it in the same manner after a dental visit, applying it to the gums to reduce inflammation. Frequent applications of this to canker sores could make them disappear. Sweet Violet leaf tea helps to alleviate headaches as well as reducing premenstrual breast tenderness. It can reduce the soreness of fibrocystic breasts and gently dissolve over time breast cysts and tumors benign and malignant. The tealeaves can be applied directly to the breasts for the same purpose. The flowers and leaves are used in British herbal medicine to treat breast and stomach cancer. Sweet Violet has this wonderful gentle ability to dissolve hardness and to soothe and comfort over time.
Lots more info out on the internet if you really want to make use of them:)
Jelly sounds interesting too. Might try it also.
Well, I had no idea violets were good for all that! Thanks.
Wow! I got to get pickin!
After your post, I got out the edible flowers book and it has quite a few recipes for violets. I always love seeing them. They are a harbinger of springtime. So, let us know how they taste too?
Hineni ~ I know MsRobin has breathing issues but am wondering what the trigger is? Sounds like it may be pollen. If I recall the last time was springtime too. I walked out last night with a flashlite and was amazed. The pollen was falling so thickly it looked like tiny snow flakes in the reflection of the light. Bad time of year for allergies or breathing issues.
woowoo!!!! I just sold my greenhouse!! I had a 28x72 foot greenhouse that the township wouldn't let me put up. I have 2 more loan payments to make on it and it will paid off. But I sold it an hour ago for a little more than I paid for it. So I can put that money into something else here on the farmstead. Like getting enough gravel to redo the driveway. Life is good, God is Great. This is SSOOOOOO cool!!
Congrats~
but why on earth would the township not let you put it up? After all, I'd think it would generate more tax revenue for the revenuers. lol
The township won't let me put it up because the trustee is a cousin to the guy 3 miles furthur down the road. He has an agrotainment veggie farm and greenhouse. I am going to build a smaller one (12x16) to use to start my bedding plants and graft fruit trees and decorative stuff in. My neighbors next door didn't really want it there either as it would cause all kinds of traffic issues (or so they believed). Food plants are not taxed in Ohio, neither are veggie seeds or groceries.
Aha, I see ~ actually on the tax revenue I was thinking property taxes assessed but maybe you don't have that in OH. In TX we do but don't have an income tax.
Congratulations on the sale! I love it when problematic things turn out well.
Hummer report .... First hummer of the year spotted yesterday in the nursery. Put a feeder up and had two working it this afternoon.
They are four days early this year. Wonder what that means??????
Dunno, but I anticipate a much warmer summer than usual... :(
First hummer tonight at a feeder but I've had the feeders out for a couple of these past warm weeks. First spiderwort bloom today and y'all will think this is nuts but I feed the pond turtles. First one came to dine this morning. Amazing how they remember me and come right to me for food.
I will concur on the much warmer and/or perhaps much longer summer.