I am totally panicking, am totally depressed! Argggghhhhh! The weather man is threatening me with two horribly cold nights. 28 degrees tonight and 29 degrees tomorrow. What is this going to do to my plants. The whole yard may end up being frosted. Oh Noooooo!
It is going to be a chilly 53 degrees today and I have to clean a house. I am undecided what to do about the greenhouse. I don't want it to get too hot but I certainly don't want it to be too cold either. I think I will open the roof vent just before I leave and hope for the best.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Spring Garden
The weatherman is threatening me with 28 degrees tomorrow night. Let's hope he revises that upward!
Greenhouse currently 74 degrees. Cloudy, sunny,cloudy,sunny. I'll just have to make sure I close it up early.
Windy but I did go get some wild brush and sagebrush early at my friends house for the west fence windbreak. Running that zone to water them in.
Watered fruit tree zone overnight last night. Hope to catch up on all the spring activity soon like looking at the crabapples that are blooming so prettily. The mystery tree is blooming for the first time this year. Maybe some sort of apple. The Siberian crabapples are still small but mightily putting on size.
The pine trees on the wind fence are tiny still but they are trying hard.
Got the goats out with Penny this evening. Rusty just couldn't handle this mission and I am too tired to work with him. It never pays to work with an animal when you are not feeling well yourself. Penny did really well for about half an hour or maybe 40 minutes. Then she got the goats running and they headed for the pen. A little too soon for my taste. The goats were later poking around the pen like they were still hungry so I pulled a bucket of weeds from the front and gave it to them. I am not feeding them alfalfa with this many weeds available!
Have to clean a house tomorrow so I am trying to rest up. Spring is a lot of work. When I am tired I make lists of what I need to do. Like that is accomplishing something.
Royal fever has come upon me. Kate and Wills are getting married tomorrow in the wedding of the century. Or should I say Catherine and William? I have a lot to do tomorrow so good thing I have the DVR recorder so I can watch it all later in the day! I've already warned Hubby that I can't miss a single minute of it so don't mess up the recording schedule, please.
Greenhouse currently 74 degrees. Cloudy, sunny,cloudy,sunny. I'll just have to make sure I close it up early.
Windy but I did go get some wild brush and sagebrush early at my friends house for the west fence windbreak. Running that zone to water them in.
Watered fruit tree zone overnight last night. Hope to catch up on all the spring activity soon like looking at the crabapples that are blooming so prettily. The mystery tree is blooming for the first time this year. Maybe some sort of apple. The Siberian crabapples are still small but mightily putting on size.
The pine trees on the wind fence are tiny still but they are trying hard.
Got the goats out with Penny this evening. Rusty just couldn't handle this mission and I am too tired to work with him. It never pays to work with an animal when you are not feeling well yourself. Penny did really well for about half an hour or maybe 40 minutes. Then she got the goats running and they headed for the pen. A little too soon for my taste. The goats were later poking around the pen like they were still hungry so I pulled a bucket of weeds from the front and gave it to them. I am not feeding them alfalfa with this many weeds available!
Have to clean a house tomorrow so I am trying to rest up. Spring is a lot of work. When I am tired I make lists of what I need to do. Like that is accomplishing something.
Royal fever has come upon me. Kate and Wills are getting married tomorrow in the wedding of the century. Or should I say Catherine and William? I have a lot to do tomorrow so good thing I have the DVR recorder so I can watch it all later in the day! I've already warned Hubby that I can't miss a single minute of it so don't mess up the recording schedule, please.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Spring Garden
Boy, it was cold overnight.
31 degrees on the breezeway early this morning. It looks like nothing got frosted. Got lucky.
41 degrees in the greenhouse at 7:40am. Should have closed it up sooner. The zinnias were fine though.
Sunny and not too warm today. Got to do some burning, finally. It has been too windy to burn so far this spring.
Heard it will be breezy later.
Trying to sell the old Neon for a few hundred dollars. Gotta pay for registration on the new 2008 Honda Fit. Cute car, great gas mileage. The newest car we have owned in years! Has A/C. Loving that.
Neon is sold.
The dogs did so well at staying while I was getting the goats out. Then poor Rusty got excited and went the wrong way to herd the goats and frightened them back into the pen. I locked him in the house though not out of meaness. I just needed to get those goats fed and it was starting to take a long time. Tomorrow we will try it again. I am very proud of Rusty. He's a very good boy.
31 degrees on the breezeway early this morning. It looks like nothing got frosted. Got lucky.
41 degrees in the greenhouse at 7:40am. Should have closed it up sooner. The zinnias were fine though.
Sunny and not too warm today. Got to do some burning, finally. It has been too windy to burn so far this spring.
Heard it will be breezy later.
Trying to sell the old Neon for a few hundred dollars. Gotta pay for registration on the new 2008 Honda Fit. Cute car, great gas mileage. The newest car we have owned in years! Has A/C. Loving that.
Neon is sold.
The dogs did so well at staying while I was getting the goats out. Then poor Rusty got excited and went the wrong way to herd the goats and frightened them back into the pen. I locked him in the house though not out of meaness. I just needed to get those goats fed and it was starting to take a long time. Tomorrow we will try it again. I am very proud of Rusty. He's a very good boy.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Goats
Kevmac asks do I eat the goats or are they here to eat weeds or what?
The goats are my ode to farming:) Actually, we live on five acres in one of the barrenest desert area in the USA. Rain averages 6" per year. We live on a big patch of sand.
So, to answer the question: No, we do not eat the goats. We probably would if it was cost effective but I always laugh because I think goat would be valued at $50 a pound. I have one large Nubian/Boer cross and two Nigerian dwarfs. They eat 2 bales of hay a month between them and that costs me between $16 and $25 a month for hay. Plus, although the large goat was a gift, the two small goats cost me $50 apiece.
I do keep the costs down by throwing all the left over vines from the veggie garden into the pen. Excluding tomato plants and pepper plants and potato, of course. It saves me a lot of time and effort in composting as well few dollars in hay. There simply is no way to raise animals cost effectively out here in the desert.
The goats are pets and I enjoy watching them from my dining room window. They get up well after dawn. I thought they would get up early but they take their time. Usually they peek around the corner, get a good look around and then they saunter out one at a time. They are really cute.
I was raised in a large city and living out here has been my chance to have "farm animals". But I like to keep the whole thing within reason. It costs a fair amount of money to have chickens and cows and goats and horses. It takes a lot of time and effort. I have seen many people get bogged down with too many pets.
When you have seven dogs, goats, guinea hens, peacocks and chickens it starts being a bit much. Horses cost a lot of money to keep. Well worth it if you enjoy riding but seems like a bit much if you don't. One gal I know is trying to sell her horses. They are costing her about $10,000 a year. Think about this, she could own her house and property in only 10 years if she used that money to pay off the house. Or she could stop squeezing pennies and live a little more.
Around here we have a two dog limit and 3 goats have served us well. One barn cat. He really is a "shed/garage cat" as we don't own a barn:) I have threatened to get a cart pony but I keep thinking that we don't own the house yet so it would be foolish.
Time to get busy. Spring comes only once a year and I have a lot to do. Yesterday was incredibly windy and I hear tomorrow will be too. So today is the day to get some work done. I am hoping that Hubby will be up to working on the cross fencing.
It doesn't pay to be lazy although I have slowed down a bit:)
More about my adventures in goats weeding the north half of the property tomorrow.
Thanks for asking, Kevmac.
Greenhouse - 7:40am 48 degrees
Outside temp - close to 32degrees overnight - slush on the goat water
The goats are my ode to farming:) Actually, we live on five acres in one of the barrenest desert area in the USA. Rain averages 6" per year. We live on a big patch of sand.
So, to answer the question: No, we do not eat the goats. We probably would if it was cost effective but I always laugh because I think goat would be valued at $50 a pound. I have one large Nubian/Boer cross and two Nigerian dwarfs. They eat 2 bales of hay a month between them and that costs me between $16 and $25 a month for hay. Plus, although the large goat was a gift, the two small goats cost me $50 apiece.
I do keep the costs down by throwing all the left over vines from the veggie garden into the pen. Excluding tomato plants and pepper plants and potato, of course. It saves me a lot of time and effort in composting as well few dollars in hay. There simply is no way to raise animals cost effectively out here in the desert.
The goats are pets and I enjoy watching them from my dining room window. They get up well after dawn. I thought they would get up early but they take their time. Usually they peek around the corner, get a good look around and then they saunter out one at a time. They are really cute.
I was raised in a large city and living out here has been my chance to have "farm animals". But I like to keep the whole thing within reason. It costs a fair amount of money to have chickens and cows and goats and horses. It takes a lot of time and effort. I have seen many people get bogged down with too many pets.
When you have seven dogs, goats, guinea hens, peacocks and chickens it starts being a bit much. Horses cost a lot of money to keep. Well worth it if you enjoy riding but seems like a bit much if you don't. One gal I know is trying to sell her horses. They are costing her about $10,000 a year. Think about this, she could own her house and property in only 10 years if she used that money to pay off the house. Or she could stop squeezing pennies and live a little more.
Around here we have a two dog limit and 3 goats have served us well. One barn cat. He really is a "shed/garage cat" as we don't own a barn:) I have threatened to get a cart pony but I keep thinking that we don't own the house yet so it would be foolish.
Time to get busy. Spring comes only once a year and I have a lot to do. Yesterday was incredibly windy and I hear tomorrow will be too. So today is the day to get some work done. I am hoping that Hubby will be up to working on the cross fencing.
It doesn't pay to be lazy although I have slowed down a bit:)
More about my adventures in goats weeding the north half of the property tomorrow.
Thanks for asking, Kevmac.
Greenhouse - 7:40am 48 degrees
Outside temp - close to 32degrees overnight - slush on the goat water
Monday, April 25, 2011
Spring Garden
Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! My seed flats are already coming to life.
Cosmos is popping up.
Zinnias are working it.
Basil just starting to show.
Marigolds looking good.
I love spring.
I got a new gadget for the irrigation system. It is a tank you hook up. You put fertilizer in it and it dispenses it over the next one or two hours to all the plants on the line. I tried it and it works! Now we have to see if the plants are growing better over the next week or two.
Looks like the transplanted plants in the newly redone front window garden are all happy. I don't know if all the lavender lived...yet. Have to give it some more time.
Today I need to work on the "spring garden" I am planning for the dog kennel area. I think there are a number of plants that can be consolidated over there and they will do better than in the south facing "under the front window garden". Snow stars, daffodils, Japanese iris, a couple of Shasta daisies are going to planted around the Medlar fruit tree [yes, it is some sort of weird European fruit], 2 forsythia I am moving out of the dog kennel area to the front of the dog kennel area, along with one currant. It is lovely, cool and less windy so the spring plants will like it, I think.
Hoping to clean out the goat pen. They have been a bit neglected in that I have pulled the straw out of the shed and just left it lying in the pen. The winds have been atrocious and when it hasn't been windy I have had to get the transplanting done that I need to accomplish SOON. Before I know long it will be warming up considerably and I need these transplants to have time to settle in.
Cool, cloudy and probably windy again later. Gotta get busy.
Cosmos is popping up.
Zinnias are working it.
Basil just starting to show.
Marigolds looking good.
I love spring.
I got a new gadget for the irrigation system. It is a tank you hook up. You put fertilizer in it and it dispenses it over the next one or two hours to all the plants on the line. I tried it and it works! Now we have to see if the plants are growing better over the next week or two.
Looks like the transplanted plants in the newly redone front window garden are all happy. I don't know if all the lavender lived...yet. Have to give it some more time.
Today I need to work on the "spring garden" I am planning for the dog kennel area. I think there are a number of plants that can be consolidated over there and they will do better than in the south facing "under the front window garden". Snow stars, daffodils, Japanese iris, a couple of Shasta daisies are going to planted around the Medlar fruit tree [yes, it is some sort of weird European fruit], 2 forsythia I am moving out of the dog kennel area to the front of the dog kennel area, along with one currant. It is lovely, cool and less windy so the spring plants will like it, I think.
Hoping to clean out the goat pen. They have been a bit neglected in that I have pulled the straw out of the shed and just left it lying in the pen. The winds have been atrocious and when it hasn't been windy I have had to get the transplanting done that I need to accomplish SOON. Before I know long it will be warming up considerably and I need these transplants to have time to settle in.
Cool, cloudy and probably windy again later. Gotta get busy.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friends and Gardens
The neighbors came over and we had venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon and cooked on the grill. Delicious. We had those sweet potato French fries with it. And smoothies with frozen melons from last year and fresh strawberries.
I had invited some new people over but then at the last minute they said they couldn't come. I was very disappointed but having the neighbors over was probably even better than having new people we don't know over.
Early this morning I finished up the new irrigation for the new windbreak by the veggie garden. Had one more tree to split up and make two trees from. Got them planted and irrigated just as the wind started howling. Done. It is going to look good. High hopes anyway.
I had invited some new people over but then at the last minute they said they couldn't come. I was very disappointed but having the neighbors over was probably even better than having new people we don't know over.
Early this morning I finished up the new irrigation for the new windbreak by the veggie garden. Had one more tree to split up and make two trees from. Got them planted and irrigated just as the wind started howling. Done. It is going to look good. High hopes anyway.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friends and Gardens
I laid out the new drip line around the veggie garden and sheds this morning. Then I did some reconfiguring to get the different lines working more efficiently. The street side now waters the 6 elms in the back and a few poplars. The middle line now waters the new section of windbreak that snuggles up to the improved larger veggie garden that is being envisioned for next year. The northeast corner is now devoid of any plantings but the new windbreak will give me the privacy I wanted and is much closer to the house. The same amount of plants has been put into a shorter area and will fill in beautifully over the next couple of years.
Little Penny Poo Poo searched for rodents and dug holes and came back adorable dirty and sandy.
I went to the north side and pulled out tubing an plugged holes. And loosened up the plants getting moved later in the day. It rained the whole time but only lightly. Finally, about 11:30 I said enough and came in for lunch and a nap.
My neighbor friend came over about 3:30pm. She has an ATV and a cute little ATV trailer. She helped load up the plants from the back fence and brought them up to the line I have closer to the house. There must have been 50 little shrubs and trees. Then she helped me plant them. Sometimes, as the song says, I get by with a little help from my friends. I couldn't have done it without her. She stayed for almost 2 hours.
It rained most of the day. A warm and gentle rain. I mention it again since it so unusual here to have a perfect and warm light rain. It was the perfect day to be transplanting. I worked on the drip system for the new plants from 6pm until dark at 8pm. Long day but this is definitely what I needed to accomplish! Another week or two and it will be hard on the plants. I sort of wanted to do this while they were still dormant but between the wind and car shopping I just didn't have the time.
Time to rest up and start again tomorrow. Spring will soon be over and planting season will be done. Then it will be on to finishing up other projects. Aspirin anyone?
Little Penny Poo Poo searched for rodents and dug holes and came back adorable dirty and sandy.
I went to the north side and pulled out tubing an plugged holes. And loosened up the plants getting moved later in the day. It rained the whole time but only lightly. Finally, about 11:30 I said enough and came in for lunch and a nap.
My neighbor friend came over about 3:30pm. She has an ATV and a cute little ATV trailer. She helped load up the plants from the back fence and brought them up to the line I have closer to the house. There must have been 50 little shrubs and trees. Then she helped me plant them. Sometimes, as the song says, I get by with a little help from my friends. I couldn't have done it without her. She stayed for almost 2 hours.
It rained most of the day. A warm and gentle rain. I mention it again since it so unusual here to have a perfect and warm light rain. It was the perfect day to be transplanting. I worked on the drip system for the new plants from 6pm until dark at 8pm. Long day but this is definitely what I needed to accomplish! Another week or two and it will be hard on the plants. I sort of wanted to do this while they were still dormant but between the wind and car shopping I just didn't have the time.
Time to rest up and start again tomorrow. Spring will soon be over and planting season will be done. Then it will be on to finishing up other projects. Aspirin anyone?
Friday, April 22, 2011
Exhaustion
Pretty tired still but... I had to clean a house today for a friend. The goats grazed while I drank my coffee this morning. Obie, the big goat, is very stubborn sometimes. He decided he would have to eat the baby pine tree and we duked it out for several minutes. I won until I turned around and saw the two little goats finishing it off:) Oh well, I tried.
Grazing the goats twice a day is relaxing and the weeds are a bit thinner.
It is gently raining. It doesn't make much of a difference in the ground moisture but I enjoy the soft rain. I guess it reminds me of Seattle. I wouldn't want to live there but it is nice to have it visit once in awhile.
Nothing much new in the garden but there is a little cottontail sneaking around out there. Along with two quail that were running from bush to bush like I couldn't see them.
Picked up the house and started on the laundry; kept up on the kitchen. But mostly sat around trying to work up the energy for tomorrow. Definitely hope the hip stops hurting. Why today? Maybe its the rain.
Grazing the goats twice a day is relaxing and the weeds are a bit thinner.
It is gently raining. It doesn't make much of a difference in the ground moisture but I enjoy the soft rain. I guess it reminds me of Seattle. I wouldn't want to live there but it is nice to have it visit once in awhile.
Nothing much new in the garden but there is a little cottontail sneaking around out there. Along with two quail that were running from bush to bush like I couldn't see them.
Picked up the house and started on the laundry; kept up on the kitchen. But mostly sat around trying to work up the energy for tomorrow. Definitely hope the hip stops hurting. Why today? Maybe its the rain.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Rain!
It is raining hard as the sun comes up this morning. I didn't think it would rain so I am going through a list of things I might have left out. Fortunately it is a short list but I guess I better run out there and wrestle the rototiller into the shed. It is always hard to be unhappy about moisture.
Guess I will throw the goats some hay this morning and relax until I have to leave at 8am.
Naturally it didn't rain much or for very long. Grazed the goats after all and got them some good clean dry straw in the goat hut.
The irrigation supply company sent me the wrong part so I will have to box it up and send it back!
I think it is the right part so good to go.
Grazed the goats and met some new neighbors that are moving in around here. They seem really nice. Hoping to have them over for some venison on Sunday. Mostly rested up so I can start all over again.
Crossing my fingers that it will stay above freezing tonight.
Guess I will throw the goats some hay this morning and relax until I have to leave at 8am.
Naturally it didn't rain much or for very long. Grazed the goats after all and got them some good clean dry straw in the goat hut.
The irrigation supply company sent me the wrong part so I will have to box it up and send it back!
I think it is the right part so good to go.
Grazed the goats and met some new neighbors that are moving in around here. They seem really nice. Hoping to have them over for some venison on Sunday. Mostly rested up so I can start all over again.
Crossing my fingers that it will stay above freezing tonight.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Exhaustion
Exhaustion has set in. I nodded off on the couch last night only to awaken and drag my sorry butt off to bed. The weather is beautiful this spring, except for the winds. We were spared yesterday but it looks like the winds will be back this after noon.
Watered the street side overnight. Watering in the summer veggie garden area to get the amendments to compost in the soil.
Grazed the goats this morning. So pleasant. Cloudy and the birds were not singing like most mornings. Will it rain? Probably not but even if it does it won't be enough moisture to make a difference this time of year. What to do? Rest up, do only the bare minimum to keep the property happy for a couple of days. Maybe finally start the indoor seed flats. Go see a friend and relax for a couple of hours.
Other stuff to do for a couple of days. The garden will have to wait on me Thursday and Friday. Saturday, I will start all over again.
Pleasantly surprised by how big some of the trees are getting - finally. This will be our fifth spring on our property. Got to do some of the fun stuff finally. Like building an arbor and making a few pathways of rock or wooden planks.
This is when the garden starts to come in to its own. Five years in. The perennial flowers have grown large. The garden soil has improved. The areas are becoming defined. Changes are being made - adjustments, now that we know our property well enough and our climate well enough and we have learned a bit more about what we like and what we want and what will on our property.
Gardening is a metaphor for life. Now that I know more about what will work and what won't work in my own life. And that makes for a better self. It takes time to grow all the shrubbery and trees and install the fountains and nurture the flowers and build the arbors. But, a life without the effort to make a beautiful landscape inside oneself is no more fulfilling than living on a pile of sand without any shade or windbreaks or flowers for the beauty they provide.
Above freezing overnight - yahoo! And it has been above freezing for the whole week but I am worried about tomorrow night. Let's hope the weather report is wrong and it doesn't get down to 31 degrees.
The wind is kicking up already [10am] and is rumored to be hitting 35 mph today. Ah well, I needed the day of rest anyway.
Grazed goats
Watered drip veggie for an hour or so to keep new seeds moist
Started in flats this afternoon
Pumpkins-Howden in peat pots yesterday
Peppers Cayenne Thick
Tomato - Delicious
Tomato - Siberian
Cosmos - Candystripe
California poppies - Jelly Bean
Marigold mix - Boy O Boy
Salvia - Evolution
Snapdragons - Chantilly [open flower style]
Zinnia - State Fair
Zinnia - Cactus flower
Desert Peach
Orange Yucca
Watering back area drip overnight
Watered the street side overnight. Watering in the summer veggie garden area to get the amendments to compost in the soil.
Grazed the goats this morning. So pleasant. Cloudy and the birds were not singing like most mornings. Will it rain? Probably not but even if it does it won't be enough moisture to make a difference this time of year. What to do? Rest up, do only the bare minimum to keep the property happy for a couple of days. Maybe finally start the indoor seed flats. Go see a friend and relax for a couple of hours.
Other stuff to do for a couple of days. The garden will have to wait on me Thursday and Friday. Saturday, I will start all over again.
Pleasantly surprised by how big some of the trees are getting - finally. This will be our fifth spring on our property. Got to do some of the fun stuff finally. Like building an arbor and making a few pathways of rock or wooden planks.
This is when the garden starts to come in to its own. Five years in. The perennial flowers have grown large. The garden soil has improved. The areas are becoming defined. Changes are being made - adjustments, now that we know our property well enough and our climate well enough and we have learned a bit more about what we like and what we want and what will on our property.
Gardening is a metaphor for life. Now that I know more about what will work and what won't work in my own life. And that makes for a better self. It takes time to grow all the shrubbery and trees and install the fountains and nurture the flowers and build the arbors. But, a life without the effort to make a beautiful landscape inside oneself is no more fulfilling than living on a pile of sand without any shade or windbreaks or flowers for the beauty they provide.
Above freezing overnight - yahoo! And it has been above freezing for the whole week but I am worried about tomorrow night. Let's hope the weather report is wrong and it doesn't get down to 31 degrees.
The wind is kicking up already [10am] and is rumored to be hitting 35 mph today. Ah well, I needed the day of rest anyway.
Grazed goats
Watered drip veggie for an hour or so to keep new seeds moist
Started in flats this afternoon
Pumpkins-Howden in peat pots yesterday
Peppers Cayenne Thick
Tomato - Delicious
Tomato - Siberian
Cosmos - Candystripe
California poppies - Jelly Bean
Marigold mix - Boy O Boy
Salvia - Evolution
Snapdragons - Chantilly [open flower style]
Zinnia - State Fair
Zinnia - Cactus flower
Desert Peach
Orange Yucca
Watering back area drip overnight
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