Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

Got the last pieces of furniture into their final spots. The living room especially looks a lot nice- I finally have all my nice antiques on display now. But I need to get new curtains because the dark burgundy ones combined with the dark wood of the antique buffet combine to make a really solid bank of dark... makes the whole room kind of lop-sided. So when DH's disability check comes in, I'm gonna see what I can find in a cream or beige.

I still have several bags and boxes of "stuff" that I took off various surfaces while moving things around that I want to go through and decide if we'll be keeping them or throwing them out. I've already got 3 moving boxes full of stuff for the thrift store, and a smaller box with some odds and ends of depression glass that I'm gonna see if I can sell to an antique dealer.

My cicherias have little tiny pods forming already. This is my first year growing them, so I really don't know what to expect.

 

[baymule]

It’s got to make you feel more “at home” to get home straightened out and more to your liking.

 

[Britesea]

Today I worked in the garden again... been missing that. I got all the grass pulled out from around the raspberries and now I'm all scratched up, lol. I put some plantain ointment on, and the itching is starting to go away. I also managed to weed the asparagus bed, and spot weeded the other beds. DS and DH helped out by lugging cartloads of wood chips for the paths. We have temps in the 30's forecast for the next 10 days, so in the spirit of "belt plus suspenders) I pulled out the frost cloths again and set them up on the more tender veggies. I transplanted my lemon balm and lemon verbena into some 3 gallon pots since it doesn't look like I'll have time to put in a second herb bed anytime soon.

Harvested my first english pea and first strawberry! we all shared the goodies.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Care to share your recipe for plantain ointment? I think we should start a thread for salves and ointments if it's not already done. I make one with plantain, jewel weed and sage as the herbal ingredients. My 94 y.o. dad absolutely loves it. I'm gonna start a thread right now. I'll tag you to it.

 

[Britesea]

More work to do in the garden today. The beds are overdue for feeding and mulching. I also want to work on something to keep the wild birds away from the ripening strawberries. I also need to set up the freeze-dryer so I can start on the pork and chicken my friend is storing for me in her freezer.
My mom's house is ready for a quick clean-and-polish and then I can list it for rent. Hopefully I'll get a good tenant!

I'm going to be leading the Tai Chi classes for a bit again because the teacher is having issues at home; she thinks her husband may be going into dementia. Among other things, she found out from the bank that he hasn't been paying the mortgage- it's 4 months behind. There was no reason NOT to pay it; he says he thought he had. I'm just glad I'm in a position to help in some small way.

We had some more of the leftover tongue last night; I made an asian-inspired dressing and put it on a salad. But now I'm pretty much out of salad for a while until the plants can catch up again. So tonight I've planned on smoked sausage sauteed with cabbage, kale and onions.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I've planned on smoked sausage sauteed with cabbage, kale and onions.

One of my faves!!

 

[baymule]

That sounds good!

 

[Britesea]

We are on a roll, as far as catching up on all the stuff we've wanted to fix/build/clean around the place. We got the strawberries covered, and have picked enough berries for desserts several times. The peas have given generously; they will probably be ready to pull out soon and then I want to get some cauliflower planted in time to get a good fall harvest. We are inundated with kale, chard, and collards. Note to self: Next year plant only a third of a bed each, instead of an entire bed of kale and half a bed each of chard and collards! Everytime the chickens see me coming out of the garden now, they run for the yard-- because they know I will be dumping a bunch of greens there for them. At least it's bringing our feed bill down to almost nothing! I need to harvest my cabbages NOW. I'm planning on making several 1/2 gallon jars of sauerkraut, and cabbage left over will be freeze-dried to go into soup or stew this winter. We have been blessed with a slightly cooler summer so far, but I can set the sauerkraut jars into an ice chest with cool water if necessary to make sure the temps stay cool enough for fermentation. The tomatoes are covered with beautiful green globes, the bell peppers are about to bloom, and we have tiny winter and summer squashes and melons forming. With any luck, this may turn out to be a banner year in the garden... BUT... something is chewing on our leaf lettuce. I haven't caught the culprit yet. DH is blaming the squirrels... so I guess I'll mix up some pepper spray and douse the lettuce with it.

I'm planning spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, with Wild Salad (purslane, mallow, pigweed and lambsquarters) and I think I'll add some finely cut kale to the sauce-- anything to use up some more of it. Ice cream for dessert with hopefully some strawberries. DH also found a couple of ripe strawberries on my two Alpine strawberry plants-- so sweet!

It's time to go around the edges and spray the weeds with my vinegar spray again...

I cleaned out the chicken coop and used the litter to build a second compost pile (the first is almost, but not quite, done). I layered the litter with some flattened cardboard I had been saving. I ran out of litter before I ran out of cardboard, so next I will rake up some of the stuff in the chickens' fenced yard (only used when we are gone, to keep them safer) and use that to finish the pile. I made two compost bins using concrete blocks we had around the place, but I think I want to make several more bins. I've located them along the northern exposure of the garden, and if I run them down the entire length of the garden I will have plenty of room to store chips and leaves, as well as providing a heat sink and windbreak for the garden beds- maybe enough to give my plants a few more days at each end of the growing season?

The freeze dryer is doing great in it's new spot- but I need to remember to set a timer to go check it occasionally; it's so quiet now that I forget it's going.

We have made several trips to the local thrift stores with donations of clothes, furniture, kitchen stuff and knick-knacks... It's amazing how much stuff we had that we didn't need! The house is really starting to feel better, and it's easier to clean with less clutter.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Wow! What a great update! It's great to hear how well things are going.

 

[Mini Horses]

I love kale. You know it's great sauted with garlic and olive oil, then used as the sauce on pasta (or broccoli leaves). Couple slivers of nice Italian sausage, yum. Now I'd like to have some!

Maybe you do want to plant more greens next year if the chickens are enjoying it as much as your wallet.

You seem to be on a roll with things being accomplished. Retirement is grand, right? Can't wait.