usedteabag - or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the Journal

[usedteabag]

Hmmm, that's a lovely idea, all you who suggested baking soda and apple cider vinegar for my hair! I have quite long hair so I might have to add the oil like someone suggested, but not a bad idea. Thank you! I might give it a go tonight.

Convenient thing is, I can get my apple cider vinegar locally. Hurray!

Lately, all I have been doing is itching for spring. According to the Farmer's Almanac, we'll be having warmer weather soon. This year, I'd like to prep the soil early. I compost, so I thought maybe I could break up some soil as soon as the ground unfreezes enough, sprinkle a layer of compost in it and leave it for a few months before I can really get down and dirty in it.

In the meantime, I've just tried to be as creative as possible with the local produce. I've got baked beans in the oven right now and instead of tomatoes--I've run completely out of my canned and frozen ones from last season--I'm using apples. Lacking a source for fresh greens in the winter, I've been using cabbage sliced thinly to make up the bulk. I make a fantastic cabbage salad featuring apples (yet again), carrot, and cranberries. It's truly lovely.

I've been considering joining a CSA program but then again, I'm wondering how much I could do on my own this year. The prospect is really thrilling but it's money...a commodity I'm increasingly short of. And yet, I want my community to thrive. What to do?

But, all is well on the whole. The robins are out, I need to burn wood less and less, and I never get tired of squash.

 

[hwillm1977]

It's supposed to be 12 degrees above zero for us tomorrow! I can't wait, if the snow all melts off the top of the garden I'm putting out the black plastic to start heating everything up so I can plant as early as possible. I heard we're supposed to have an early spring too so I think it will be a great year for the gardens

 

[Denim Deb]

Robins are here year round, so I can't look for them as a sign of spring. Instead, I look for the osprey. And, it shouldn't be too long B4 I see them! I did hear peepers last night. I don't have a fire going, and it feels like spring outside!

 

[usedteabag]

Hwillm, it's 20 degrees here in the Valley and lovely! If it weren't for the snow covering the ground, I might be prepping my beds today!

I also was fully jealous of everyone who planted crocuses and they get to see the first flowers pop up every year. So I bought some bulbs last year and planted them all along the house entrance. I'll probably end up posting photos of them since I'll be so darn excited about it!

 

[hqueen13]

Robins are here year round, so I can't look for them as a sign of spring. Instead, I look for the osprey. And, it shouldn't be too long B4 I see them! I did hear peepers last night. I don't have a fire going, and it feels like spring outside!

You have robins year round Deb?? They migrate here, and you're not that far from me! Interesting!!

I suppose you'll be jealous, Tea, if I tell you that it is about 70 with a stiff breeze here today and really warm sunshine!

Glad the Baking Soda and ACV is working for you! I have had to use coconut oil on my hair this winter to keep it softer and tangle free, I just rub some in my hands and then run my hands through my hair, especially the ends, and it works great.

 

[usedteabag]

I suppose you'll be jealous, Tea, if I tell you that it is about 70 with a stiff breeze here today and really warm sunshine!

Right, sorry...I'm on celcius here, and 20 C is actually quite close to 70 F. Hurray!

And I'm actually going to try the coconut oil, baking soda, and ACV tonight! Will report. I'm still taking advice for other suggestions, too.

 

[Denim Deb]

Robins are here year round, so I can't look for them as a sign of spring. Instead, I look for the osprey. And, it shouldn't be too long B4 I see them! I did hear peepers last night. I don't have a fire going, and it feels like spring outside!

You have robins year round Deb?? They migrate here, and you're not that far from me! Interesting!!

I suppose you'll be jealous, Tea, if I tell you that it is about 70 with a stiff breeze here today and really warm sunshine!

Glad the Baking Soda and ACV is working for you! I have had to use coconut oil on my hair this winter to keep it softer and tangle free, I just rub some in my hands and then run my hands through my hair, especially the ends, and it works great.

They're year round where you live too, you just might not notice them. Actually, in most parts of the States they're year round residents. But, when it gets colder, they desert the lawns and head for the woods and orchards. Plus, their diet changes. So, people think they're not around. Then, when the weather starts to warm up, they come back to the yards and people think they're migrating. I see large flocks of them almost every day.

 

[usedteabag]

Been a long time! But I haven't been inactive outside the internet world...

(First of all, got a new computer recently which is much easier to type on and thus motivates me a bit more to update.)

The garden has been the primary focus this year. I can't lie, in the years past, while I've done a lot of the planning and researching, it's been my partner who has done most of the actual work, i.e., the manual labour. He correctly pointed out how this wasn't quite fair. So this year I've taken a very active role!

Both of us together have been working on the garden this year. Thus far, in the ground:

--> Beets (Golden Heirloom)
--> Broccoli
--> Beans (Mix of Pole varieties)
--> Peas (Green Arrow)
--> Basil (Lemon)

These are growing either straight into the ground or in boxes, both with a combo of manure, compost, organic soil, and perlite--plus our own ground soil, which is both clay and rocky, but the clay is super, super nutrient rich. We had the smarts to go in early spring and break up the clumps early to get some air circulation this year. Hopefully that will bump the yields a little.

And the tomato transplants are doing wonderfully! We grew 10 Amish Paste plants from seed, but then a friend also dropped off 2 extras, Black Zebra and Snow White, so we will have a couple slicer varieties in with the paste. We primarily grow for sauce and paste, anyway.

I have two cats, whom I will call Good Cat and Bad Cat. Good cat brings us mice, rats, sometimes birds, and even chipmunks, and eats them whole so we don't have to deal with the mess. She paroles the property but stays out of the garden. Bad Cat... well, Bat Cat does the opposite. He loves playing in the garden and pondering crapping in it (until I scare him off with hissing, much to the delight of our nosy neighbours, I'm sure), and is awful at hunting anything but the occasional fly. He gets into everything he shouldn't, basically. Needless to say, I have to watch him all the time to keep him out of the garden. Interestingly, he doesn't really go near it much unless I'm doing work in it. Maybe he thinks my digging is akin to the digging he does in the litter box before... yeah.

But I plan on being extra good this year, paying more attention to weeding, reading up on understanding about pinching plants and pulling suckers from tomatoes, and just generally being a better gardener. I might try the teepee (tipi?) method for staking beans and peas; in previous years, I've just put out one slender pole per plant. Maybe this will be more efficient.

Sadly, the pepper plants aren't growing so well. We're just not good at them, I think. This would be our third year trying, and while we've always had lovely success with the rest of the garden, our pepper plants produce mini sweet peppers which are lovely to taste but are so few and so much work for what we don't end up getting. I know I'm in Canada and all, but we are in a particularly warm part (we grow grapes and figs with fantastic success), so I'd like to think peppers would succeed with enough effort. But it looks like we might either buy transplants or just give up all together.

We have one extra long box we can still plant in. Same combo of nice soil as mentioned before in it, but we're not sure what to put in it. Thing is, it has to be ready to harvest by August, as we'll be moving to the city come September. Any suggestions? Maybe for something sweet or potentially sweet, made into a preserve? Or anything interesting that might be an easy grower?

Besides all the newly growing vegetables, we have pear trees, peach trees, a cherry tree, rhubarb, a gooseberry bush, chives, English thyme, rosemary, and mint. My god, I love spring/summer.

I have friends who have connections to very high quality sugar from where they work (fair trade/organic) and I am already setting up bartering with them for fresh bread and baked goods. I want to prep for the canning season. I have always just done fruits and vegetables that may be done in a boiling water canning system, but we found an old-ish pressure cooker in the basement last year, which we think was picked up at a yard sale, and we want to give it a go. Any tips for that as well, I'd be grateful.

Overall though, I'm quite satisfied with the start of the year. It's been rainy but not too rainy, warm but not too warm... besides Bad Cat, it's hard to complain!

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

Welcome! I just read your journal from the beginning, so I'll just fling a few sentences at you in response.

If the baking soda/vinegar doesn't work, my friend just posted a recipe for homemade conditioner. I haven't tried it yet, but she has. She says it is nearly as good as store bought. I plan on trying it, but I haven't picked up the guar gum (or xanthan gum) for thickening. Let me know and I can dig up the recipe for you.

I have the worst time growing peppers also. We love them, though... So I'll keep trying. My mom lives just down the road from me and has gorgeous peppers. It must be my soil. I keep meaning to get it tested...

What to put in your other garden area... I don't know what you like, but you didn't mention cucumbers, carrots, squashes (winter or summer), garlic, onions, Strawberries, melons, potatoes, chili peppers, or turnips. What about greens? If you want things to preserve, I would skip the summer squashes and melons. They don't freeze well.

I once had a cat that would bring in her hunt, and eat NEARLY the whoLe thing, but leave a single organ (not sure which it was) on the bath mat. I frequently would step on it with bare feet in the middle of the night.

I came *this* close to joining a CSA this year, but I have a husband who doesn't like cooked greens, so that kind of killed that idea. Plus, the expense seemed high. But I never did the math to compare it to what I spend in groceries, but I plan on buying from them at the farmer's market, so I will still be getting local stuff. I grow my own eggs, and I love it. My uncle raises bison. I get pork and beef from a cowrker of mine. I can about 3 cases of applesauce every year. This year I didn't have time, and I am missing it terribly. I will not skip a year again!

The thing about self sufficiency for me, is that I am not as productive as others are at growing/raising certain things. So I have no problem with having someone else raise and slaughter the larger livestock. I have my eggs and will have my meat chickens next year, and that's fine for me. We also eat venison. I produce my own electricity (or rather, the sun and panels do) and try to use as little packaging as possible. I have to work, so I can't do it all myself. Nor do I have the garden space.I get what I can locally, and I try to gain certain skills like candle making, boiling sap, canning, etc.

I look forward to reading more of your journal.

I tried to proofread, but autocorrect is not my friend. Any weird word omissions or substitutions are beyond my control.

 

[usedteabag]

Hi luvinlife! And I don't blame you for loving life... it sounds idyllic. I have to go to work in a few minutes but I'll reply to a few of the things in your lovely post.

If the baking soda/vinegar doesn't work, my friend just posted a recipe for homemade conditioner. I haven't tried it yet, but she has. She says it is nearly as good as store bought. I plan on trying it, but I haven't picked up the guar gum (or xanthan gum) for thickening. Let me know and I can dig up the recipe for you.

That would be fantastic! I tried using coconut oil as a conditioner as someone suggested but it left my hair fair too greasy. Until my next shower, I'd kept my hair in a braid the whole time so no one could tell!

I have the worst time growing peppers also. We love them, though... So I'll keep trying. My mom lives just down the road from me and has gorgeous peppers. It must be my soil. I keep meaning to get it tested...

Yeah, at this point I'm going to buy some transplants at the local nursery and hope for the best. I should be grateful the rest of my garden has done well!

What to put in your other garden area... I don't know what you like, but you didn't mention cucumbers, carrots, squashes (winter or summer), garlic, onions, Strawberries, melons, potatoes, chili peppers, or turnips. What about greens? If you want things to preserve, I would skip the summer squashes and melons. They don't freeze well.

I've been avoiding squash since they will mature late and I will sadly be moving come September, and as for summer squash like zukes, as much as I like them, I don't want to grow them since I know I'll have way more than I can deal with! I think I might try cukes though. If I have too many, I can make pickles!

I didn't mention but I also work 1-2 days/week on a local organic farm where I get paid $10/hour in produce, which is fantastic. Even just working 2-4 hours/week gets me more produce than I could ever use! I did this last summer and I still have about $50 of credit left that I never used. It's very useful for getting large quantities of something: for instance, strawberries, and I make a lot of preserves. I made enough last year to give away several jars as gifts as well as for the house. There's still a few left in the cellar!

I once had a cat that would bring in her hunt, and eat NEARLY the whoLe thing, but leave a single organ (not sure which it was) on the bath mat. I frequently would step on it with bare feet in the middle of the night.

I bet you it was the kidneys. That's what I've heard other cats do!

I came *this* close to joining a CSA this year, but I have a husband who doesn't like cooked greens, so that kind of killed that idea. Plus, the expense seemed high. But I never did the math to compare it to what I spend in groceries, but I plan on buying from them at the farmer's market, so I will still be getting local stuff. I grow my own eggs, and I love it. My uncle raises bison. I get pork and beef from a cowrker of mine. I can about 3 cases of applesauce every year. This year I didn't have time, and I am missing it terribly. I will not skip a year again!

The thing about self sufficiency for me, is that I am not as productive as others are at growing/raising certain things. So I have no problem with having someone else raise and slaughter the larger livestock. I have my eggs and will have my meat chickens next year, and that's fine for me. We also eat venison. I produce my own electricity (or rather, the sun and panels do) and try to use as little packaging as possible. I have to work, so I can't do it all myself. Nor do I have the garden space.I get what I can locally, and I try to gain certain skills like candle making, boiling sap, canning, etc.

I love everything you say here! I think there is no shame in getting others to do for you what you cannot. I think the whole point is to do things locally when possible, on your own when possible, and then otherwise when neither is available.

My partner's cousin also brings us venison in season, and we get lots of local fish from relatives who love to do that. My whole family is full of fishermen and women so I have access to all sorts of lovely seafood. I have a friend who just brought in some meat chicken for themselves, and are soon going to get some laying hens as well. If I have nothing else, I want to have hens because we go through so many eggs, it's just not sustainable for us to keep buying local eggs, given their high price.

If you ever read Mother Earth News, by the way, they currently have an article on about how to have a full homestead on just 1 acre. Now maybe you don't even have an acre, which is fine: I think you can take away what you'd like from the article. They show how it's feasible to be completely self sufficient with very little space, and it's inspired me to have the same someday. Baby steps for you and me, luvinlife.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'll be looking on your journal later too!