EVEN MY FINGER MUSCLES HURT

Ok lets see what I did not accomplish:

9. Mount my new hose holders
11. Cross fingers when starting the tractor
12. With tractor and trailer move the rest of the fire wood and stack by the chicken house
13. with tractor pick up all the winter debris that needs to go on the burn pile
14. Mow?
17. clean off front porch and make it pretty
18. mount my western tool thingys out front

But here is what it looks like right now. Still a major work in progress. I know if you do plastic it should be black but this is what I have so I am using it to help control weeds initially. I know it will deteriorate and I will continue to use mulch.

The tomatos are planted with rock phosphate that is sprayed with molassas to promote root and blossum growth. Everything is watered with compost tea.

See the little cedar planter? I found that today at a great little nursery for half off! So I bought 2 and might go tomorrow at lunch and by the rest. I can always use these. This one is planted with a Sweet Bay...the tree/bush that gives you bay leaves! I am very excited about this as I use many bay leaves to keep weevils out of flour and rice.

I still have 10 bags of mulch to unload from the truck as well as 3 bags of compost mix. But I just don't have anything left. I can't wait though to get the rest of the mulch down.

WEEKEND TO DO LIST: WITH MORE UPDATES

Well last night I spent 2 hours at Wally World stocking up the pantry shelves. I don't know why the concept of "store what you eat and eat what you store" is so abrasive to me. Maybe because I hate to cook?








Ok the sky is beginning to turn pink and I have eaten toast(made with my new toaster) and am drinking coffee planning my day. So much to do an so little time.

WITH UPDATES************
1. Lightly pick up the house (mom might come over...yikes)KIND OF DONE
2. Put the bunnies outside as soon as it is warm enough and clean their cages DONE
3. Put up the chicken yard gate and wire
4. Fill the chicken water and food DONE
5. Put in the kitchen garden posts DONE
6. Fill the garden beds with soil and plant all my bedding plants FILLING DONE
7. Put up the kitchen garden wire 3/4 DONE

OUT OF TIME...TAKING A SHOWER AND HEADING TO THE ORGANIC GARDENING CLASS







8. Add bags of mulch to my "to buy" list for today DONE AND PURCHASED..STILL IN THE TRUCK THOUGH
9. Mount my new hose holders
10. Inflate the tractor tire DONE
11. Cross fingers when starting the tractor
12. With tractor and trailer move the rest of the fire wood and stack by the chicken house
13. with tractor pick up all the winter debris that needs to go on the burn pile
14. Mow?
15. Organic Gardening class at 2pm
16. feed horses and while at the barn get my antique dresser and put it in the truck (TOO MANY SPIDERS AND FORGOT MY GLOVES)
17. clean off front porch and make it pretty
18. mount my western tool thingys out front
19. drink a glass of red wine on my swing and watch the sun go down (DR PEPPER WILL HAVE TO DO BECAUSE I AM NOT MOVING)






THE WIND GOT ME BEFORE TIRED AND PAIN DID. 35MPH WINDS THAT FEEL LIKE 70. AFTER BEING OUT ALL DAY I JUST COULD NOT TAKE ANY MORE. THE REST OF THE BEDDING PLANTS WILL HAVE TO GO IN TOMORROW.

Ok I have to build this

It came from Coldantler Farm

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A GROWN WOMAN THROW A TEMPER TANTRUM?

37 DEGREES AND DROPPING

Spring is such a tease. Here it was 60-70 degrees F for two weeks and now it is blowing hard outside and the radar shows a strip of ice and snow moving like a freight train into the DFW metroplex. It has been such a winter. Maybe this will be the last blow?

I don't have to be to work altogether early tomorrow so everyone got fed as soon as I got home, I am not snuggled up with a kitty smelling the most amazing coffee brewing in the kitchen.

A wonderful co-worker brought me a jar of honey from hives that his father has on his land. Look at how rich and dark this honey is. The taste is amazing...nothing like around here. The local honey is good but ....."weak"?



The left is local...the right is the new honey..This honey is rich and very robust. I need to find out what he grows so that I can make sure I have it here when I decide to invest in a hive.

Stay warm to all...and dream of warm dirt and growing things

NEW GARDEN GATES

Dad came over today and built 2 new garden gates. Only had enough hinges to put up one though. I will pick up two more tomorrow.




I got home just before dark after a 12 hour day plus the two hour commute. But I got to see them in the light. They are made of cedar. I love them.

I think I might make the kitchen garden yard out of cedar pickets also. We will see.


PS!! I signed up for a free oranic gardening class on Saturday at 2 and guess what? They have a huge "vat" of compost tea "steeping" and told us to bring a jug as they are going to be giving us a gallon free!

PSS! Dinner was vermicelli alfredo, left over collards and beets

PSSS! Guess what I bought at a nursery by my work? Do you like cooking with bay leaves? I use them all the time plus they keep weevils out of your flour. I bought a Sweet Bay tree!!! And two yellow banana pepper plants and a pablano pepper plant.

3 COOL THINGS-BACK YARD PROJECT-FIRE ANT EXPERIMENT-FIRST GREENS

Dad came over with the help of John and set my new posts in concrete. These are the corners of the new fencing and new gates and this is making me very excited.

If you look at these photos you can see the tiny white star shaped flowers growing
in the grass. So springy

New chicken yard gate posts:










Here I am standing at the back left corner of the new chicken yard.




Here I am standing at the corner post of the new chicken yard looking at the chicken house. The two posts by the pink flag are the posts for the new gate that dad is building tomorrow.




Here are my new garden raised beds. I have them place near my back door.





I feel that being right by the back door, I will be able to work it even after dark as I will replace the flood light here, and it is convenient.

Here is a side view. The post on the right is the corner. The two posts behind the trash can are the posts for the new garden gate that dad is building tomorrow. The hot tub is the corner of the kitchen garden. So beds will be run the whole rear of the house down. The cedar tree is going away.




I will be looking for people who have torn down old fences and will be using the old pickets to make the kitchen garden fence. I will be planting some kind of vining flowering plant on these posts. It will attract beneficial insects.

While I was out surveying my multiple projects, I decided to go check out the rear garden. I have been so busy I hadn't looked at it all weekend and wow. Remember these were planted right before out 12 inches of snow so they as new plants were covered. This is what they loved I guess. Because they are thriving. I picked a whole grocery sack full of fresh collard greens.





I brought them in and washed them:




I chopped them and added them to my wok with a little hot oil and fresh garlic and at the end added a little soy sauce. Oh my goodness this is wonderful and I enough for two more meals.




Before all of this I finally started my fire ant experiment. I had steeped vermi comost tea for a couple of weeks and then mixed in molassas and home made orange oil. I flagged a large ant hill and drenched the ants with this.

The theory is that the orange oil damages their exoskeleton, the compost tea brings in bacteria that will attack the ants through this damage and the molassas feeds the beneficial bacteria.

I will keep you up to date as I check and see if this works.