Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[flowerbug]

one thing for sure, if everyone goes out and gets sick all at once then more will die than what otherwise will happen. we're about to see what happens in a few countries that didn't do much at all to slow the progression so ... i guess some people want to learn the hard way. at the price of many people needlessly dying.

in the past few months they are starting to learn a lot more about this virus and possible treatments, so hang in there people and try to keep with common sense.

 

[Britesea]

Well the other thing for sure is that if people stay in their houses and don't go back to work, millions will soon be homeless and hungry, and STILL get the virus; only because they are exposed to the elements and starving, they probably won't survive. If they catch it while they still have a house and food, they have a much better chance of recovering.

If you're thinking of Sweden, their numbers are starting to level off. Of course, the Swedes were told to use common sense; something apparently Americans don't have.
***

 

[Britesea]

I've started planting my garden finally. Got the peas done yesterday and today I replanted some scallions I bought last fall from the market. We started the roots in water, then moved them into pots where they spent the winter in the greenhouse. A few of them died, but most of them made it. I planted a bed of onions earlier- some as sets, and some seedlings. Tomorrow I need to add manure and trace minerals to another bed and plant some radishes, spinach, and maybe some carrots. DH worked on digging the raspberries that were invading one of the raised beds. It's too early for most veggies; we have another 4 to 6 weeks before we're down to only a 30% chance of frost. There is no such thing as frost free in the mountains. I have a pole that goes across each bed that has the frost cloth pinned up out of the way, but ready to drop over the crops at any time. It's the only way I've been able to have a successful garden. I use a product that I haven't found anywhere but Australia, called Insul-Net. It's a knitted frost cover, rather than non-woven, like Reemay. Unlike Reemay and such, this is much tougher, and lasts for years. It doesn't give quite as much frost protection as some of the others- only about 5 or 6 degrees. But that's usually all you need for a cold snap.

 

[Britesea]

I found 2 peas had sprouted, so I imagine there will be a lot more today. We had to cover the planted beds because some birds (I think) had scratched up the radish patch; I found a bunch of seeds exposed on top of the ground. I poked them back in, but so much for nice neat rows. Most of the onions are looking good. Nothing from the carrots yet, but that's as expected.

I discovered that I'm going to have to redo the flower bed in front of the house. Something is coming up from underneath and has destroyed several of the tulips I planted last fall. I'm going to have to dig everything up, lay down some hardware cloth, and then fill it back in and replant. I've been wanting to make the side walls of the beds a bit taller, but before we do that I need to put some vapor barrier or something on the front of the house to protect it from the moisture in the soil.

The chickens got into my iris border also, and scratched up and bit at all the plants that were coming up. Sometimes I hate chickens.

 

[Britesea]

We spent some time tightening up the back supports for the shelves in the greenhouse; they tended to slide down when we had heavy pots on the shelves. Today I plan to move a lot of the plants out of the house and into the greenhouse. Even though it's unheated, it typically stays about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temps, and the frosts that are coming in now don't seem to be cold enough to kill the plants inside. I'll be glad to get some more room again! Several plants need transplanting into bigger pots now, so I need to do that too.

The chicks I ordered from Murray McMurray should be coming any day now. I haven't gotten a call yet from the post office, but I'm sticking close to the phone this morning. We moved the first batch out to Fort Clucksup earlier this week and they have been enjoying more room to move around. During the day we raise the door up and put in a screendoor so they can look out and get some fresh air, and the older flock comes by regularly and looks them over. They are about a month old now, so I figure another month in the Fort and then they can join the main flock, and then the new ones will move into the Fort. We're probably going to have to expand the main coop (The Waldorf-Eggstoria) with all these new chickens coming in. I'm not certain we have enough roosting space for everyone, especially as the Brahmas are bigger.

I need to spend some time in the kitchen too. I am out of my turmeric capsules, so it's time to fill some more. I'm also out of my mouthwash, and the elderberry tincture is ready to bottle and then start some more.

Not exactly sure what to fix for dinner tonight. Last night I made Irish Tacos (aka Corned Beef Tacos) and they were delicious! I'll probably just pull out a package of ribs tonight and do them in the Instant Pot- that's always a favorite.

 

[Britesea]

ALL the tulips are gone now Nothing can be done until fall, so I will just grit my teeth.

I emptied the greenhouse of all the accumulated junk from the last 3 years. We needed to re-level some of the shelves and put in screws to keep them from sliding down again from the weight of the pots. Thank goodness we are dry until next Tuesday! I got some of it sorted and put back in, but a lot of it we need to do something else with so I actually have room in the greenhouse for plants! It was turning into a junk/storage shed.
DH also worked on yanking out some of the raspberries that have been encroaching on the garden proper. He pulled out an inch-thick root that was going under one of the beds!

Enjoyed sipping some lemonade under the apple trees. Both of them are blooming now, and covered with what looks like several varieties of wild bees, some honeybees, bumblebees, and even wasps, all busily gathering pollen and nectar. The scent is divine under the trees. Hoping/praying we get a good crop this year!

 

[Britesea]

Cut up a couple of heads of cabbage for the freeze dryer this morning. I blanched them, and now I'm trying out an idea that I hope will cut down on processing time: I'm running them through the dehydrator on the lowest setting to maybe dry some of the surface water still clinging to the shreds and THEN I'll move them to the FD.

The asparagus bed is not looking good. We only got one cutting of pencil-spears and that's it. I think the chickens did a number on the roots, because there were some pretty deep holes in the bed when they were done. If I let them into the garden this fall, I need to cover the asparagus and other perennials like the Good King Henry (aka Fat Hen) if I want to keep them.

Supposed to have rain tonight. I haven't finished going through the pile of stuff I pulled out of the greenhouse, so that's my big project today. I know I want to keep the empty pots and trays, and the 30% vinegar for weeds, the fertilizers. But there are some things that don't belong in there, or are empty or too old (the Neem oil I left out there last summer- Neem should be kept a cool temps). Then I need to either move the broccoli out to the garden or move them into bigger pots. Trying to decide If they can stay in their tiny pots long enough to harden off.

The Australorp and Welsummer chicks are looking real good- they're 51/2 weeks old now- looking all gawky and leggy. We have them out in Fort Clucksop with a heat lamp if they feel they need it, but it's 4x6' and there's plenty of room for them to roam around. During the day, we put a 'screen door' up in place of the night door, which allows them to look out and the bigger chickens to look in so everyone gets to know each other.

The Light Brahma chicks came in on Friday and they are looking so much better than the first batch of chicks. This time I went with Murray McMurray, and I am very pleased. They put a chunk of GroGel in with the chicks so they can get some water during shipping (it was gone, but I could see the green stain on the bedding) and they were looking so much more alert and happy. Even the Free Chick is looking good. One thing we noticed was the free chick was obviously several days older- she has wing feathers coming in. I wonder if they used an older chick because the brahmas are so much bigger than most chickens? She was the same size when we got them, but she's already noticeably smaller than the others. No idea what breed she is yet, she doesn't have fuzzy drawers.

eta: we found a bit of pasty butt in 3 of the brahmas and the free chick. Got them cleaned up and dry. One of them took a big dump before she was even completely dried off, lol. Hopefully everyone will be fine now.

The greenhouse is cleaned up and all the junk that didn't belong there is gone now. That's a big weight off my supposed mind.

Dinner last night was Mississippi Pot Roast, with cheesy creamed beet greens and carrots sauteed with basil. YUM!
Today, DH wants to grill something, so I'm making Chipotle Burgers, Mock Potato Salad, and assorted pickles.

 

[Britesea]

Life moves on. Klamath County has finally been approved to reopen in Phase 1- most everything is open, but with social distancing and masks. Our favorite little cafe spent two days measuring and moving stuff. They were able to fit in a grand total of FOUR tables with the social distancing rules. She's thinking about getting some patio tables so people can spread out outside. They don't have a LOT of parking, but they have way more parking space than they will need if they can only seat 16 people max.

Hair salons and barbershops can open, but my favorite hair salon is still closed (not sure why). The guys can get their hair cuts at the barbershop, but nothing for me yet. My hair is almost long enough to gather into a ponytail, but not quite- it's at the Dunlop stage (it dun lopped over into mah eyes)

We have rain forecast for the next 5 days, followed by lows in the 30's. Spring in the Cascade mountains! I have shallots, garlic, yellow onions, walla walla onions, and scallions going strong; overwintered beet greens for a little while longer, until they flower. The peas I sowed are starting to pop up, the first radishes are sprouting, and I found a single green blade in the carrot patch. I moved some broccoli, cabbage, and collards out to harden off and have a lot of seedlings that need to be transplanted into bigger pots. It's so nice to walk into the greenhouse and have room to move around, and be able to separate the seedlings a bit so they are less prone to disease spread!

I'm finishing off the freeze dried cabbage today, Next to go in will be a 25lb bag of carrots I got on sale. I also started a batch of raspberry vinegar to make the raspberry shrub I'm rapidly getting addicted to.
I also need to mix up some of my homemade mouthwash, and then clean everything up so I can get started on dinner. I wanted to make Beef Paprikash, but didn't have anything other than ground beef, so I will experiment by substituting mini meatballs for the cubed beef. I think it will work, if they don't break up too much in the sauce. That plus some "egg noodles" made from egg and cream cheese, baked, then cut into noodles, and some beets, with jello for dessert should round out the meal nicely.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I forgot about those "egg noodles" - thanks for the reminder! I'll be making some tonight.

 

[baymule]

You have been busy! Yay on cleaning out the greenhouse, stuff accumulates like a cat having kittens. Your growing season is challenging but you still get in a good garden.