Adventures on Dirt Rich Farm (City goes Country)

Well, I've posted stuff here n' there, but I figure that this is the place where a homestead-in-the-making progress thread probably belongs, ya think?

We named our farm Dirt Rich Farm long before we ever found it. We've not a lot of money, but we wanted a place with lots of good dirt, so it's a play off of 'dirt poor'; we are DIRT RICH :)

The last few weeks since we officially took up residence here (or rather, *I* took up residence here), have been busy with checking things out at the farm, checking out the neighboring towns, checking in with Darius (grin) and basically trying to get a handle on what we have here, and what we should do. The beginning thread can be found here, under Farm Life:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/860827/

We inherited a retired draft horse (owner's pet) and a very old, nearsighted pot-bellied pig. We brought a citified, dyed-in-the-wool prissy Jack Russell whom I have spoiled for years, and acquired two Great Pyrenees pups within two weeks of arrival. When J joins me officially, we will add to the menagerie an old, blind-in-one-eye, bladder-challenged tomcat. We plan to add chickens, goats and a cow/calf pair eventually. First we have to see who we can feed...LOL!

Most weekends to date have been basically mowing and discovery. The land isn't flat enough in most places for a riding mower, so J has tackled that task with a push mower and his mighty weedeater. This work has reduced our 'tick-load' quite well. Although I grew up in the country, we didn't have ticks there. This was a new adventure for me, and I've had my share of tick bites already. I've actually considered that the phrase "honey, will you check me for ticks?" might well be the country version of foreplay...the jury is still out on that one ;)

My first project was a small flower bed that I could actually plant (gasp!) in the dirt. I hauled up plants from my former home in GA and plunked those babies in the ground. After all, a flowerbed is the start of a homestead, right? I've begun a small herb bed as well, which currently includes bee balm, salvias, St. John's Wort , a few thymes, some mint, and lavenders. But all during this time I have been ignoring the monsterous task of ....weeding the existing garden. Now, all who garden have the task of weeding. But this my friends was no ordinary weeding job, oh no. I joked with a few folks that it probably should have been called 'deforestation' rather than weeding. Here is a sample of the stalk of some of the weeds that I spent nine, yes, nine hours tackling today.

As you can see in the attached photo here, this was no ordinary weeding task. These weeds were over five feet tall. I'm barely 5'4", and most of them were above my head. I am no spring chicken. I'm on the fluffy side (ewes not fat, ewes fluffy!), and I've been working a desk job for too many years. I've not chased toddlers nor pups in a long time. I'm getting over this...LOL!

So here is what I started up against today....nearly 1/4 acre of WEEDS. I had my trusty assistants Bonnie & Clyde, and city-boy Anakin to keep me company, along with curious stares from the horse as she visited the lower pasture for grass, and stopped for a bite near the goat barn.

But before I could even GET to the task of weeding, I had other chores and events that kept me busy until a little after nine, even though I was up a nearly daylight (pups gotta eat, right?) Right off the bat, after getting my first cup of java and settling in to check out the forums, I hear yelping and hollering from the pups. Can't find them, they aren't at the house. Probably because they had just been chastised for eating limbs off of my blueberry bushes and snagging the tags from them and getting them mixed up. I followed the yelps to the side path outside the garden gate. Apparently the draft horse had not seen them playing in the undergrowth and stepped on them both. So they came limping and yelping over to the gate, all sad looking. After full body checks, feet, head, hips and tummies, I couldn't find any major damage, and no blood or bones to deal with. Just two scared pups who probably will stay off the path now for oh, about 24 hours until they forget what happened. They are great dogs, they just aren't terribly smart or coordinated currently. They learn really well things TO do, but they ain't got a handle on things I don't want them to do yet, or things they shouldn't do in the first place (like tussle on the horse path!) So after loving and checking on them and some treats and Rescue Remedy to calm their anxiety, I set off on my next task.

This was bringing up water from the spring for watering the plants in case the rain thing didn't pan out. I had the brilliant ( or so it seemed at the time....) idea of loading up the wheel barrow with empty water jugs and 5 gallon buckets. Should go well, yes? Um, yeah, getting DOWN to the spring went fabulous. Everyone was jaunty and it was cool outside and the horse incident was already forgotten. She had headed back up to the meadow and wasn't endangering anyone's feet or paws with her 1800 lb. self at the moment. Checked the stock tank, no water snakes in there today, we're cool, we're good to go. The puppies kept the stock tank algae at bay by the mouthfuls while I cheerfully filled up......nearly 30 gallons of water jugs. Now, I'm the smart one in the family tree, so the story goes. And I can pull my weight at chores. But let me tell you....water is heavy. Water in a wheel barrow going UP a hill that also contains small rocks, happy dogs who have no sense of danger of lots of water jugs falling out on their heads, fresh horse poop and me...well, it was not a pleasant combination. I do believe that the path from the garden gate to the spring grew, you know, like Rod Serling's Night Gallery pictures of that growing hallway. Honestly. After nearly running over the dogs several times, side-stepping the fresh fertilzer, and nearly tearing my jeans right off when I veered into a large blackberry patch, I DID make it back to the garden. This procedure needs a severe revision for the future. But we did it.

So there was no more putting off 'weeding' the garden. Here is what it looked like when I began....

Luckily for me, I am an optimist. I'm also a skeerdy-cat. So I brought all the dogs along to you know, scare any slithering wildlife away that might be lurking in the for...errr garden. They were very helpful...not. They love my feet, especially in boots. They think that feet are the GREATEST things, and that they must lay on them, to keep them cool. Have you ever tried to move in a huge garden that you can't see anything with two 40lb foot warmers? It ain't happenin'. Luckily for me, my Jack Russell came to the rescue by dashing about the weeds and getting the puppies attention. They proceeded to go lie in the grass bed under the weeds and keep an eye on the inside of their eyelids for a while. Good deal.

The task began. Apparently the birds eat the blackberries and fly over to the garden for a little R&R, because there are blackberry plants EVERYWHERE. At first I was like "Oh, it's so cute, I'll dig it up and replant it somewhere." That novelty wore off as I met their parents and teen friends via thorns in my butt, on my arms and tearing at my pants. By the end of the day, sacred berry bushes had become part of the weed mulch layer I left in my path. I think we have plenty (over 200 scattered on the property). This is what it looked like close up as I began. I was a little overwhelmed, but cheerily talked myself into the adventure.

I realized I might be a little 'under-tooled' for my task, so I went back and got the hoe and the shovel. HA! Useless accoutrements in this place. These weeds all had to be...pulled out, by physical force. I made a little progress, as the lamb's quarters (at least I think that's what they are, correct me if I am wrong), and the poke weed, well, they just need a little encouragement to come out. Then I met....amaranth. It's innocent enough looking, little tiny seed heads in a reddish-pink, not even as tall as the other monster weeds surrounding it. It's a disguise, a ploy, to take you off guard! I grabbed a few stalks and pulled, didn't move. Hmmm. Must be the wrong angle (backed into the largest blackberry bush that I left and hopped around grabbing pantslegs for a few moments). Approached from another angle. This was very successful...for the plant, not me. As I put all my weight into pulling it, it broke off at the root and I fell completely backwards, head over heels, into a patch of poison ivy. You have never seen a mid-40's woman jump so high, and so fast as this chick, let me tell you. And then I literally busted out laughing. If anyone was watching, well, they shoulda served popcorn on that one. I do believe I saw the Pyr pups chuckling over that one...

But wait, I spied a VEGETABLE in the midst of the for...errr garden! A squash I presumed. Although at home in GA, squash I planted must have been the dwarf variety. These squash, well, let me tell you, they are SQUASH (maybe sasQUASH?) So I now had an objective...get to the squash!

Well, I got to it. I don't know what it is!! Does zucchini get orange when it gets...oversized? It is a gourd? Is my garden over a superfund site? What is this thing? Is this what squash do when no one is looking? They are ALL like this. Heck, why weed your garden? Apparently weeds make enormous, healthy, exotic squash plant support systems!

Then, I spied...ORANGE in the midst of green. I gleefully thought...WE HAVE PUMPKINS! Ermm, I don't know a lot about pumpkins, but I don't think that they are bumpy like this. But it got me fired up enough to throw down a couple of glasses of tea, make a phone call to J to let him know the garden had not won yet, and to head back out into the forr...errr garden to get to the PUMPKIN! I was elated. I was fired up. I do not think it is a pumpkin. What is it?

Now, we had an 80% chance of rain forecast today, and about 2 PM I was seriously praying for rain to get me out of this chore that I had so cheerfully put on my 'to-do' list for today. My caveat was that I work until it rained. (as an aside, it rained finally at 8:30 p.m. tonight...so...I keep rain away by working!) I had a target. There is a wonderful peach tree about 2/3's of the way up the garden, nearly a dividing point of the garden. I could SEE the peach tree. I was discovering gigantamous mutant curcurbits of assorted shapes, sizes and colors. But I was hot. The dogs were back awake and doing their best to keep my feet cool again. The Jack was growling ominously at assassin bugs and bettles and basically everything that moved in the garden. I finally ignored him, and hoped he didn't see something that was actually threatening. The pups discovered earthworms and millipedes MOVE, and so I had to tell them no about a thousand times before they gave up and laid down on the mutant squash plant, breaking it :( Time for chocolate. Always lifts the spirits (and some water was good too).

And then I saw them...Tomato plants...yay! More edibles in the forr...errr garden. However, when tomato plants have grown up with strong, sturdy (see first pic) living stakes, when you pull all of those living stakes away...they fall over. Especially if they are heavy with....baby maters....yeah! Okay, solution - tomato stakes or cages, right? Guess who did NOT plan to bring those. Yes, moi, me. Surely there is something salvagable that I can use for mater stakes. I pulled rebar out of the 'garden art' pile. Soft, luscious soil, rebar should go right in, right? No. I couldn't get enough leverage on the rebar to sink it into the ground. Hike down to the barn to get the maul. I'm not sure that's what the hammer looking end should actually be used for, but eh, it worked. Before I started on this task though, I caged the pups and put the jack inside. If I lost control of the maul (hey, it's happened before) - I didn't want to smash a dog. They probably appreciate that gesture too, although only subconciously - if it doesn't involve feet or food, I'm not sure they are aware of it. I actually revealed 9 tomato plants in various stages of growth and of various types. Here are three staked with rebar. I promise I will get them real supports, don't report me to the mater police!

And can you see it...the target, the peach tree, in the background? Yippeee, I'm almost there.

Just to keep me going all day, I saved the front near the sunflower haven for last. I discovered multiple kinds of sunflowers growing in the weeds! I think these are teddy bear type.

I also nearly uncovered (please forgive me, it was almost five o'clock) this unique plant. All you curcurbit fans, lend me your expertise. What is this?

So, with the forr...errr garden approximately 1/3 'weeded', I decided to go to the spring to get just a little more water. Just carried them this time, too tired to maneuver the wheelbarrow down Rod Serling's path again. And I spied.....ripe blackberries! So I took off my bandana and went up and down the hillside gathering fresh blackberries. A wonderful, sweet and happy ending of the day...right? Well yes, if it was in someone else's life :)

While I was happily picking blackberries with my pupslippers on, my jack was exploring. He loves to do that, leaping about the weeds like a jackrabbit. He disappeared. He didn't come when I called him. I was too tired to panic and figured he would show up when we headed towards the house. He did, following along behind us, which should have clued me in but hey, I'm exhausted, okay? Carrying water, fresh blackberries I'm trying not to squish, wearing great pyrenees pupslippers, down Rod Serling's path. I make it to the house with everything intact, no accidents, no losses. Gate closed and locked. Whew.

I go into the house with the jack and the berries and I stop dead in my tracks. What IS that smell. Check both boots (three dogs, lotsa poop). Boots are clean. Hmmm. The jack is shaking and....this aroma, this...smell is permeating the living room. I look at him. He is green and brown (not normal jack colors if you don't know). HE'S COVERED IN HORSE POOP, FRESH HORSE POOP AND HE'S IN MY HOUSE....AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Down go the berries on the book case and out the door he goes.

Now, I normally wash the dog in the tub, when we lived in the city. Sorry, horsepoop pup is not sharing my tub. So I'm thinking, and thinking. And he's getting riper by the moment, because now it is raining and he's damp and covered in horse poop. I spy....a bucket full of spring water. I remember I have dog shampoo on my desk. So the jack gets an outdoor, springwater bath and now smells like...lavendar. Much better. Except. Me. Holding a wet dog covered in horse poop who does NOT want a cold springwater bath outside in front of G-d and everybody, tends to transfer the aroma to oneself. Sigh. Well, I was dirty anyway, I just didn't stink before. Grab the berries, wash and place in fridge while trying not to breathe, and get my own bath.

So here are the berries that started this adventure. They don't smell. I will eat them for breakfast :)

This message was edited Jul 13, 2008 11:41 PM

And before I pass out unconscious...here is the sunflower that sits on my desk, to remind me of....weeding the garden for the first time at Dirt Rich Farm.

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!! Welcome to life on the farm! You go girl!

In my experience, zucchinis just get bigger and bigger staying mostly green except the underside might turn yellow. Yellow squash also continues to grow in size, but turn a darker yellow-orange, get hard and bumpy. Neither is really tasty (actually awful) at this stage and are full of seeds. Save some for future planting. If you pick off all the old ones off, they should start flowering and producing again.

The one you thought might be a pumpkin...no clue here, so I'd leave it and see what it does.

I'm thinking that if you've cleared enough area around the tomatoes, that it might be better to lay the long stems along the ground and cover with soil, with the leafy part standing up and staked. They should still grow putting out some more new roots along the stem and produce, but won't be so top heavy.

I want some blackberry plants.... ;)

PS: you've got an Email, if you haven't checked yet..

Hineni, I've so enjoyed reading about your "adventures".........more please. How long before you moved in had the garden been planted?

Robin, I saved two of them :) They are tiny, but they are yours. I can save more as I work through the rest of the for...errr garden area as the week progresses if you like.
I'll have to re-check those maters; seems to me it was at the bottoms that they were all fruiting so much. If not, I might try that suggestion. I was considering those giant fruits to be a good source of seed - and thank you for letting me know that yellow squash actually turn orange as they...mature (grow wings and fly?)

bugme - Oh I'm sure as the work progresses there will be more fun :) Actually, I do not think that this garden area was technically 'planted'. From what I know, nothing was 'officially' planted as the former caretakers left before sowing. I believe this growth is from the amendments from the horse, chicken, pig, goat and compost areas. with a little help from my birdy friends. Quite frankly, I can't figure out how so many of one particular plant showed up in the area, as it is not that prevalent over the remaining property (the lambs quarters). If anyone knows, input would be appreciated. I believe them to all be volunteers. Some of my hardiest plants have been transplants from my compost pile in the past.

And in my haste to finish last night, I failed to post the 'progress' measurement photo (I was delirious from the adventures, I'm sorry). I can't really get far back enough to give a good scope of the size, but at least you can see that I did, in fact, make progress :) Granted, because I am letting the weeds rot in the field as a mulch as to retain moisture, it doesn't look very tidy; but it isn't over my head!!!

I hope someone will come along and ID the other orange one and the dangling yellow one.

You need to have some one come in with a Brush Hog And Do Some Of That Also You need to Were Boots And Gloves And Watch out for snakes Copper Heads if you have any open fields where hays growing you may be able to work out a deal hay for bush hoging id check it out i have some family over where daruis is saltville use to spend time there as a boy and young man . what river is close to you? That Yellow fruited veg looks like a cross straight neck Squash Your feed store can tell you who to get in touch with Paul

This message was edited Jul 14, 2008 7:40 PM

I took a closer look at the tomatoe picture, then zoomed in on it....I didn't see the growth at the bottom when I first looked at it. Does it have any blooms yet?

I'm so proud of you! You got so much done! J will be surprised.

Paul - I do wear boots, and gloves, and long pants and a hat :) That's why I also take the dogs with me, especially my Jack Russell. He and I have discovered snakes before, and his alarm bark is very distinctive. I don't think that you could get a bush hog into where the garden is, but I could be mistaken. I'm pretty new to a garden this size; wouldn't that compress the soil pretty badly? I actually got my Pyrenees pups over in Saltville, so I've been there. Beautiful place! What a lovely area to grow up in.

Robin - all of the tomato plants except one have fruit, and all have blossoms :) There are two different types of full-size, and several cherry. The cherry seem to all be the same, but I have no idea what *kind* of cherry they might be. They do look similar to the yellow pear that I've grown before, and really like, so I'm hopeful.

I made my first jams and preserves last night...and they are edible! Peach and strawberry-blackberry. And the right thickness...YAY!! But I have no tater masher, so I had to make my potatoes and carrots and onions in the blender - I kinda have soup, but it is very tasty soup :) Now to figure out what to do with all the zucchini and yellow squash that I have. I think I will dehydrate some for winter soups, make some zucchini bread, and maybe freeze some in slices for quick heat up this winter. I'm fast running out of freezer room though! And I hate to waste stuff. Yesterday I froze some beans for later as well - and tried my hand at steam blanching for the first time. I don't think I have ever been so overrun with produce...LOL! I will have to plan next year's garden with a lot of thought. Hopefully we will have a chest freezer by then. My neighbor's garden plot is about half the size of mine (he's not organic) and they have so much food that she is canning nearly every other day and he brings me bags and bags each week. He has tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, collards, onions and a couple of kinds of beans. I can also see that I will need to choose my tomato seed differently as well next year. I'll need some that ripen all at once in order to can sauce and stuff, and then some that ripen throughout the season for eating and juicing and the like. One things for sure, unless I have total crop failure, we'll never go hungry!

Gotta go do the bathtub laundry thing and get the clothes up on the line before work starts. Here is a beautiful little flower that I found in the garden area, that I did not weed out :)

Still waiting on an ID on those saSquash up there :) I know there are 'bug files' but are there 'ID this plant' files? LOL!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Hineni,
What fun it is to sit here in my chair and read about your experiences. You have really done alot by hand and I know you are proud.
You have a lovely place. I'm sure it'll only get better and better as the years pass by.
All those 'treasures' you are finding are fantastic.
Thanks for sharing.

Squash Pickles

HIneni - congratulations on your move. Your write up is hilarious. I see a book in your future.......move over Baraba Kingsolver! :D

I agree with Paul on the squash pickles. Those are great. Do you have a Harsch crock yet for making live culture sauerkraut and other lactic acid pickles? Put one on your wish list. You'll find many uses for it.

I'd look into building a solar or outdoor dehydrator too. Dried vegetables are more compact to store and are great additions to soups and stews in the winter. They also make great gifts to your friends still in the city.

If your ground is too uneven for a bush hog, perhaps you can borrow some goats?

Forgot to mention - Guinea Fowl are great tick removers. They'll eat them up very quickly.

Thank ya'll for the encouragement and ideas :) It's nice to have someone to relate my daily experiences to. Thankfully, not every day is so adventure filled or I'd have to learn that neat fainting move the ladies of the silver screen used to do back in the good' ol days, with the hand to the forehead and the slow buckle to the ground. In my case though, I might fall on a dog or a gourd, but most probably a very thorny blackberry bush :) This week I was actually thankful when Monday came around - I got a little bit of rest since I have to work at the desk....LOL!

Last night's post-work garden clearing continuation was much more mundane. I guess in an hour and a half there is less chance for adventure :) About the only funny thing was my Jack got an asthma attack from snorfling some kind of bug, which caused the pups to fall to the ground in confusion as I went to get him some water. When I got back with the water, they crowded him out and they weren't in need!! I did uncover two more really large tomato plants back under the peach tree, and three more squash/gourd plants, all fruiting. I was lazier this time and just used a rock I found in the garden and sticks for my tomato stakes rather than hike down to the barn to get the 9-lb maul again. I'd already done two water lugs from the spring, hand laundered and dried another laundry load, fed the pig and done my dehydrating of squashes in addition to my regular day job. This hand laundering thing has got to find a process improvement along the way somewhere though. I need to get washboards I think, because my clothes aren't coming so clean, and we won't EVEN mention the socks :( Of course, nine hours of garden dirt vs 10 minutes of stomping and two rinses might not be enough to really get those pounds of dirt out of the clothes...lol!

I think I will try a big tub and washboards outside - should give my neighbors something more to shake their heads about. The elderly couple think I'm crazy for doing things 'the old-fashioned' way, and I haven't seen the other neighbor since I returned his furry-critter-containing trap and closed the fence up to the barn. I didn't recognize the animal, but it slept the hardest of anything I've seen! J thought it was dead because when he picked up and shook the cage it didn't move. But I showed him where it was breathing (mom thing left over from checking on babies when they are little). The neighbor called it a groundhog and said it was tearing up his garden. I looked up pictures and it does seem possible - but man it sure was cute. Apparently, even though it was 10 feet from my for...errr garden, his was far more appealing since it is all neat and tidy. Maybe it couldn't ID the gigantic mutant squash things as food either because heck, they are bigger than he was! I can't find any evidence that it ever entered my garden. Although quite frankly, I'm not sure what evidence I would be looking for.

Squash pickles? I'll have to look up a recipe for those. I'm the only one who really likes pickles, and I never thought of squash and pickles in the same sentence.

I don't have a Hersch crock - but Darius had already mentioned that one needed to go on my 'want' list for making sauerkraut and such. They are kinda pricey for right now.

We wanted some goats, but our housing for them is not secure, nor is it even cleared to where I would or could walk in it! I'm not sure if we put them in there, they would clear it, or if they would rather ravage my new baby trees on the outside of the fence. But for now, it's just not safe enough to try to handle some goats - for them or me! Probably when J gets up here full time, we'll tackle clearing the goat and chicken area and then get some occupants for those spaces. I think I'd be pressing my novice farm-wife status if I tried to manage all of that right now...LOL! Weeds don't move, so those I can tackle :)

On today's agenda is lugging the 50 lb bag of woods dirt that my neighbor dropped of for me down to my 'potting bench' (in some circles it's called an a/c unit). This is the place where I protect plants from the pups, as they love them to death with their teeth, especially the ones in the compostable pots. Many mornings I found homeless little plants clinging fiercely to some scant potting soil, with no container to be found. They were always the ones in those types of pots. So I moved everything up off the ground and the plant ravaging stopped some - until they discovered that one of my blueberry bushes was planted in an UBER sized one of those. It now sits on the potting bench too, sans many branches and all berries :( I have some seedlings to transplant and that woods dirt is so dark and rich, and all the babies I've put in it seem to just love it.

Here's a photo of my potting bench :) It's one of the few places I could actually work without pupslippers, because they like to get UNDER the potting bench. Now they are getting too big to fit under there and they just fight all around my feet. I feel like my two most common phrases are "NO PUT THAT DOWN" and "GET OFF THAT" LOL! As you can see, Darius was kind enough to give me...more squash :) And I have some watermelon to plant. There are also two winter squash (we think) that were formerly homeless babies that have been plunked into a handy container until I could transplant them. You'll also notice my pup-marked kneeling pad. Yes, they love that foamy, giving rubbery surface and I had to chase it down a few mornings before I realized it too, must be defended. The potting bench is a little more croweded right now, as it's holding two baby blackberry plants, some stinging nettle transplants and some other stuff I can't recall. I have to get my seedlings out of the wheelbarrow so that I can push it down to the sack of woods dirt (how in the world did that 77 year old man lift that thing???) in order to not pinch a nerve in my back again. I foolishly hefted it over a four foot fence yesterday (and yes, it took several tries...lol!) , and this morning woke up with several numb fingers as a result. A little typing got them back functioning though :)

Just to keep a proper perspective and not be overwhelmed with the work each day on my to-do list (which keeps getting longer, and longer...thanks Robin!!! LOL), I try to take some photos of the beauty and wonder all around me that I see every day. I'll post a few of my favorites here. This is one of my double-bloom hibiscus.

This is a bug I need to pop over to the Bug Files and see if I can ID it. He was on my lavendar seedlings, and he made the weirdest noises as I was trying to photograph him. I guess he's like me, and a little camera shy.

And.....as I leave you guys for today, here are my Mr. Stripey goodies, I can't wait! This poor tomato plant lived through a tornado at our house in Georgia, traveling in a U-haul trailer with scads of other stuff, and being nearly loved to death by the pups, and yet is budding and fruiting just fine. I guess it just goes to show that they are tougher than we think...sometimes just like us!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

OMG - I am beyond impressed!!! However do you do it all? I have to tend 3/4 of an acre (which INCLUDES the house, shed, driveway and gardens), and water/weed about an hour and a hlaf a day, and it darn near kills me! I keep telling my boss that I need an extra day off a week off, but he remains unsympathetic!!! Well, hrmph! Guess the housework can just wait until Fall!

i so wish I lived closer some I could come visit. What a wonderful place it seems!!!

One question, though. Why in the name of all that's holy would ANYONE want to TRANSPLANT stinging nettle???

Hineni

It all sound so exciting. I love looking at a garden full of weeds and seeing the potential. I know it's hard work, but hang in there. I wish I were in your pupwarmers.

As far as the squash goes, one year we had pumpkins and zucchini planted fairly close together. We had very strange things come out of that. Cross pollination creates not only new good things, but new useless things also.

One of the biggest "zumpkins" was handed to my daughter, 7 yrs at the time, to practice her axe skills. Instead she carved a face on it, dressed it in a bonnet and little blanket and carried it around for a week.

I just couldn't bring myself to try eating the mutations. I suppose we weren't hungry enough.

Looking forward to more updates Hineni! Keep up the great work. :D
Are you doing laundry by hand because you don't have a washer at your new place or don't want to use electricity for it? Did I miss the post on that topic?

Sequee, stinging nettle is a delicious vegetable and very useful medicinal herb, not to mention a good dye & brew plant. It will loose the sting when dried or blanched.
Stinging nettle is also used to make plant elixers to protect the crop. If you google "uses of stinging nettle", you will hopefully be impressed with all the wonderful things this plant can do. It's under appreciated by many in the US.

How are you going to heat the House?

Wow, I'm impressed too!! Picturing you hand-washing in the old washtub brings back memories of my Mama doing that back in the Okla. boonies. No electricity, kerosene lanterns, etc., one woodstove in the kitchen for cooking, heating. Of course, it was a one-room, one-bed house. Those were definitely not the "good old days". The creature comforts enjoyed now almost let you forget where you came from.
Keep up, sounds like you're doing a great job and your attitude is wonderful. Never lose that sense of humor.
Sharon

Sequee: How do I do it...hmmm. Well, I *have* had my 'what-in-the-world-was-I-thinking' days ;) Right now the enthusiasm and excitement of having a dream come true keeps me going. Besides, I sit at my office desk and watch hummers less than five feet from me; I have a song sparrow that hangs upside down at the window daily and sings her little heart out; I have a cardinal pair that frequents the tree by the window; and a pair of thrashers that do worm and bug hunting in the same area, for starters - waking up with the windows open at dawn and smelling hundreds of butterfly weed flowers and just pure clean air each and every day wakes me up with a smile. Then there is the nightly firefly show up on the forest ridge just after sunset while I'm sitting in a swing under the beechnut tree with happy pups wrestling at my feet. Or it could be the river sounds from the rapids about 500 feet from the front porch, and quiet so still that you can actually hear it. So quiet that I know when a hummer is coming in for a feed long before I can see him. I have no television or even radio, so my time is spent out of doors most nights until dark. So much beauty, so much...LIFE...is present everywhere. I do get tired, and I do get sore :) But, it just doesn't seem that important in the whole scheme of things. For the first time in my life I have very tangible evidence of what I do during each day - rather than some blue-tinged computer screen that doesn't really measure progress except in dollars and cents and an electronic time card punch.
I pray that I'll never take it for granted, and that enthusiam and excitement will blossom into pride and love.

I wish you were closer too, as I'd love to have you visit, although right now it's in embarassing stages...lol!

As to the stinging nettles, I actually bought some transplants so that I could grow my own tea and compost components. Now I just have to figure out where to put them to keep everyone safe :)

Joan, love your term 'zumpkin'! Maybe I have squahini, or zumpkins, or my endearing term of sasquash. I think I will take the advice and pick the two hanging ones; I just have to let the pumpkin impersonator continue though.

G_M: we have no washer and dryer here - so currently it's by necessity (as I'm also carless while J is in GA). I like it though. Not so sure if I'll like it in winter, but we will see. I just need a more efficient way to tackle the dirt I'm generating...LOL! I priced a new wringer at Lehmans...yeow! Their double tub w/stand and wringer cost more than a used electric washer and dryer. So I'm hunting for used stuff.

Paul: The house has electric heat. But we plan on purchasing a wood stove, as it's already set up with hearth and chimney. I think this house would be very costly to heat via electric methods, and wood is free :)

I'm going to start a 2nd thread the next time I post anything of worth; as this may be getting ponderous for those on slower connections, especially with the photos!

That Area Has lots of Ice Storms that takes the eltric wires down make sure you have lamps

Hey, now! Don't blame me! I just told you that "I" used a list to keep me on track! *snicker* It's also handy to write down notes for things you think of while working in the field.

Really enjoy hearing about "tales and tails from the dirt rich farm" !

River sounds with rapids 500 feet from the front door? OOoooooooohhh!
Do you have riparian rights? Have you thought of installing a micro-hydro system to help with the power generation?

Paul: I have candles and such, no 'lamps' yet. What kind would you recommend?

G_M: VA is a riparian rights state, but it isn't clear who actually owns the frontage property on the river on any of the drawings that I've seen so far. It's definitely an interest, but one in the far future for right now :)

bugme: We agree - a sense of humor is definitely worth its weight in gold. Heck, if I couldn't laugh at myself how could I stand it when everyone else was laughing at me ;) And if you could *see* my clothes, well, I'm not sure impressed would be the frame of reference ...LOL!!

I loved your stories and your sense of humor. I am waiting for the next installment. I have often thought how I would like to do what you are doing but I am thinking I can enjoy the stories and avoid the disasters from my desk chair!
Bonnie

LOL Bonnie, it *is* much safer in the desk chair - but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Thanks for reading :)