still 365 days in a year, so let time do its thing, it all works out.

No Hurry!

babe and ms. prissy

    Last night I guess should be reason for us to not get into a big hurry about planting right away. When going to Ag school at OSU we were taught that May 10 was the last frost free date for our area. Maybe they will need to revisit that date after last night, and a suspected lower temperature tonight. What does that mean to everyone that is in a hurry to get summer started, don’t worry we will have plenty of summer, and when you are sweltering under the hot summer sun in August and sweat is dripping off your eyelids and you wonder if the heat will ever cease let alone the humidity, be thankful for days like today. Still it is our nature to want to move things on , especially us up here in the northern parts where a long winter and a desire to get outside and enjoy overwhelms us.

     It is hard to be passive and just sit back and wait for the good weather to come along, but remember we only have about 3 perfect days in Ohio when it isn’t too windy, too rainy, too snowy or a multitude of 100 different varying degrees and combinations that make up our particular weather and everything isn’t perfect. And even our idea of perfect isn’t sunny and 72, instead it is something a little less than perfect, as we are not used to a too bright a sun-shiny day, our eyes are sensitive to that much light without sunglasses to shield our time worn sensitive eyes from the glaring sun. A slight cooling breeze and perhaps enough heat to allow us to sit or lay under a shade tree and sip on a favorite drink while reclining in a hammock while doing much of nothing at all,  but watching the grass grow, the birds sing,, and whatever else till the cell phone rings anyhow. We can dream anyhow on those few days of bliss we do have the chance to enjoy, of what perfect is like and enjoy something close to it. 

 

 raspberries in new planting.

     I have and haven’t had the chance to write much in my blog. Not because I didn’t want too, and daily I think about it , but it doesn’t seem like I can avoid deluging myself with an OCD attraction to social media , and let it eat up my morning hours. Waking up to doses of Facebook, and scouring Craigslist for the latest free deal, and this has proved to be a big bonus,  at least the last part has, as I have been able to capture a couple of good deals along the way in the free category. Free wood chips, free manure, a free electric stove (late model glass top, great shape) , and also free logs for my house and along with that , free carving logs. So I guess my time hasn’t been wasted in a true sense. Also I have been having more trouble with my back pain being exacerbated, and although not sure the extra sitting is helping, or hurting, it still takes me a while to get moving sometimes . Noon seems to be the magical hour to get outside and try to accomplish some of my goals. Even then I have trouble, shifting from one job to another to find relief. Not looking for sympathy or using it as an excuse for not getting things done , but still it has had an effect on my mental state , not wanting to hurt myself , and make a bad situation worse I haven’t quite figured out exactly how to deal with it all . 

 

free log and ms. prissy

     All except change my priorities. Priorities are nice as long as you are physically capable of carrying through with them, or if you can afford to pay someone to do what you can’t do. This has been the case, but lately my finances have taken a bit of a hit since I have no real farm income and no carving income to speak of since I haven’t carved much in a while except small carvings, so all I have left is the Social Security income to depend on and that excludes paying for outside help. This has forced me to accept that I won’t be able to do as much as I have done in the past. So no open house this year for the greenhouse, and I have rented the hayfields out so I don’t have to make hay I can’t sell because the bales are too big and uncovered. I have also cut back on my tree planting; instead I am trying to clean out the greenhouse and concentrating on those things that directly benefit the family and me. 

babe just being babe  

      So I have spent time and effort on the raspberry plantings, having just finished planting and mulching a about 250 ft. long row of raspberries of both red and black variety, and also cleaning and pruning of last year’s seed stock patch of red raspberries. I still have to stake and add wire to hold up vines but for most part I am ready for this year’s harvest. Also my composting efforts have still been moving along and feel I may be able to let a few loads of aged compost go for use in a garden. This is premium stuff and will help add a lot of beneficial organics to your tired soil.  Although this is composted soil it by no means prevent weeds from growing and may in fact encourage them, assuring that you know full well the potential for adding extra organics and how it will help you yield bigger produce. It will help you retain moisture and absorb rainfall in drought conditions, provide aeration to the soil as well replenish beneficial microbial bacteria, and help support a stronger root system. The positive effects of compost are many and would strongly advise adding some to your garden yearly as well start your own compost pile. You still have to pull weeds unless you mulch with straw or newspapers.  I use this compost as the base for my raspberries, placed directly on the ground, and in rows parallel to the hillside to retain runoff and then covered with hay mulch and finally topped with 6 inches of wood chips. I have used a similar combination and produced some of the biggest raspberries I have ever produced. 

 i have had whitey several years and she still produces an egg or 2 / year although i officially retired her and really dont expect much from her except spiritual guidance for the other girls.

     Besides raspberries, I have stuck with things that work or have saved me money, and chickens seem to be a great source of amusement as well provide me a somewhat steady source of eggs, I now have 6 chickens again. I had nine but won’t go there since it is irrelevant the other 3 are no longer around. It happens. It takes a while for a young poultry to become wary of the real world and be able to figure out what danger is when it has no experience, or hens to teach it what to do in case of emergency. It was my fault to let them out so early and will leave it at that. 6 chickens should be enough to allow all the eggs I need and provide for mom’s house. I am really not interested in expanding much farther at this time. The ducks also took a hit in their population also dwindling to half their number at 4 , and one of those being shunned because I guess because those is male and I only have one female left. We also have a pair of wild duck that come in and eat food for the ducks and generally start a bunch of crap and when things get tense flies back out allowing things in duck world to settle down till the next time they come back, Gooser is still fine and at time runs herd on the ducks telling when the shunned male shows up and intercepting fights along the way. He seems to be doing well with his bad leg adapting. I noticed we both share the same bad leg and started having problems at the same time. Coincidence? 

 

cost me 16 dollars for new oven heating element but works great . free off craigslist. 

      I have kinda glanced over a lot of things here and trying to sum up what I have been up to and what I have left behind for now. I guess we all have good intentions and intentions are only as good as our ability to get them done. At some point you have to realize realistic levels as to what you can actually accomplish within your means despite your best efforts. It doesn’t mean I won’t go back later and attack some of my goals when conditions change , it just means I need to concentrate on specific goals that are most important, and shove everything else to the back burner till times change. You can do a whole lot of things half ass and get half ass work, or do certain things with best effort and expect best results. Trying to focus my intentions on the latter, instead of the prior.