Tag Archives: onions

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Almost April

Winter decided to give us one last kick this weekend.
Cold af.
Last night was -24*C.
Brrrrrr!!
So yesterday was a day of adding more straw for the ducks, chickens, and turkeys.
Fat arsed mares got another bale too…they probably could have made Monday, but eating keeps horses warm so we just fed ’em. Mostly because if I blanket the one who needs it most:

Then the other 2 beat the crap out of her because she “doesn’t look right”.
🙄🤦‍♀️
So we feed them.
It’s easier than trying to separate Sable from the other 2.
The joys of a 3 horse herd.
*sigh*

So my next round of peppers are up.
Well, some of them.
I planted some orange and yellow pepper seeds and some alma paprika seeds.
Paprika seeds aren’t showing yet, but the o/y are up.
Those were freebie seeds out of peppers we got in a Loop pickup.
Birds enjoyed demolishing the peppers and I took a few seeds to try.
You never really know what you’ll get with grocery store saved seeds, but I have the space in the garden so it’s worth the try to grow them.

Friday is tomato seeds starting day.
And some medicinals/flowers.
Since I’m not 100% sold on the whole winter sowing thing (I keep getting told to “trust the process” but my brain says it can’t work…) I want to start some of the more important things inside…like mullein, yarrow, calendula, and bee balm…they’re all for drying, tinctures, and teas for the home apothecary.
And of course, we can never grow too many tomatoes. 😉

This past Friday Hubby brought home onion sets for me…

I had complained to him at lunch that I had used my last garden grown red onion for yet another jar of pickled onions 🤤 so clearly I was going to have to grow *more* onions this year. Next thing I knew, he brought me 2 1/2 lbs of onion sets.
As soon as the garden soil is workable, they’ll get planted.
As well as the other cool season crops.

Next week tho…
I’m going to head out front of the house and dig out the raised boxes that have our asparagus and rhubarb in them. In a semi-normal year of snow, they would be poking their heads out right about now. Well, I have 2ish feet of snow sitting on top of them, so I’ll dig them out a bit and let the sun finish the job.
If all grows well, I should have enough rhubarb this year to make a round of wine/shine.
And to share with someone who really likes rhubarb for baking…myself, I’m not a huge fan, but I do like home made alcohol, so…. 😉

Slowly but surely, we’re getting there.
Spring is slow af this year, but with the amount of snow, that’s probably for the best.
Either way, spring is coming and we’re so ready for it!
🙂

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Oh Monday!

Almost all of Saturday’s plans happened.
We didn’t get the landscape fabric down (that’s okay because it’s for the pepper/tomato area and we can’t plant those for a few weeks yet…and The Kid and I can get it done during the week if we have to…), and we didn’t get to the Merry Mares’ hooves.
The mares were fine with that though, because they were busy eating pasture.
Why?
We got a little rain.
In 3 rounds, just about 15 minutes of solid down pour each time.
We literally watched the grass greening up in front of our eyes.
It was beautiful.
And we need so much more…

But!
Check out this forecast:

*IF* that comes to pass, well have a lot of sky water coming down and that makes grass for equines grow.
I only hope it will fall far enough north that our Hay Guy’s hay fields get a good drenching too.
Fingers crossed for a bountiful hay season for us all!
And can I just say, I’m so looking forward to our grass growing long enough to cut for hay?
I have been having dreams of pulling the scythe out to cut the grasses again.
Like, vivid, can smell the fresh morning dew on the newly cut grass capital “D” Dreams.

Today I’m starting getting the seeds I can get in, into the garden.
Yeah, I know, I said that before.
But here’s the thing…

Getting this plastic up took the 3 of us to get done.
And, much of the things I wanted to plant would have been at risk of being stepped/trompled on.
I love my Hubby, but dang!
That Man does “bull moose” not looking where he’s going way to easy and my plants/seeds sometimes suffer for it.
So far this year, he’s stepped on 2 currant bushes.
🤦‍♀️🙄
Years before, he destroyed half a row of pepper plants…
He just doesn’t look, sometimes.
So.
I wanted that plastic up first.
Now, I can start planting.
And it’s okay, because yeah, we have heat for the next day or 3, but then we have rain, so that’ll be just fine for the seeds/onion sets.
And I’m not as behind as I feel, because really, it’s only mid-May.
This ain’t the city where by May long weekend I was yelling “All in!!”.
We just can’t do that out here.
And I’m of the opinion that what I get in, I get in.
As much as I possibly can.
I’m just not going to stress about it too much, because that triggers anxiety, anxiety leads to depression, depression leads to me not doing a fucking thing.
So if I hold the “que sera sera” attitude, I get a fuckuvalot more done.

So today, peas.
I already have them soaking, so that they can go in after my 173rd coffee.
And perhaps the onions too…
I have 3 kinds to plant this year, but I’ll have to cover them with something to keep the dang barn swallows from ripping them out. Barn swallows can be assholes.
No surprise there. It’s a bird thing.
Yeehaw.
Tomorrow I’ll do beets, and carrots.

And now, I must go chase turkeys off my front step.
Because apparently my hens think they should peck at the door.
Maybe they should just go lay some damn eggs for me to put in the incubator.
Stupid asses.
😂😂😂

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So Far, So Good


I told y’all how we moved the turkey poults out of the one brooder, into a new one and how we were still losing them…
Welp, so far, we’ve managed to stop the losses.
From 16, we’re down to 5 Narragansett poults, plus our 10 white poults.
So far, everyone is doing very well.
I am…cautiously optimistic.

So, aside from the brooder change, what did we do?
Hard boiled eggs.
Yup, hard boiled eggs are a miracle food for poultry.
They’re power packed nuggets of nutrition that give baby birbs an excellent boost.
Thankfully, my chicken hens have been laying like mad, so having extras to feed my turkey kids is no problem at all.

I take 3 eggs, hard boil them, peel them, mush them up, add in a little poul-vite (it’s a vitamin mix for birds), a small pinch of brown sugar and water to make a slurry.
Put the bowl down in front of those chicks and watch ’em gobble, gobble, gobble it down!

Plus they have fresh water and gamebird feed (with 28% protein) at all times.
So I am very hopeful that the last 5 of the ones I hatched will survive.
If they don’t now, it’s not because I haven’t tried damn near everything!

In the meantime…

Gardening has begun!
The grape plant has been uncovered from her long winter nap.
The garlic is getting uncovered tomorrow.
And MCFHubby brought this home for me:

Onions, asparagus and rhubarb.
All of which can (and hopefully will) be planted this weekend.
Yes, it’s early before the frost date for us, but this is all stuff that can go in early.
I’m also hoping to prep the area(s) for carrots, beets and peas.
Again, cool weather crops that can get started soon here.

Every year I’m anxious for this time, and now that it’s here, I’m ready to get things going…
So.
Ready!
🙂