My Dad's Garlic

The family and I met out at my Dad's and Mom's house yesterday to begin the process of culling and cleaning up their personal property.  The sibling rule was that we could have one item not specified in the will if the other two agreed.  My sister wanted just about everything she saw.  She walked away with the jelly safe and all the Christmas decorations as well as a queen/full size head board and bed frame, Dad's rubber boots and waders, some linens for the bed and Dad's rubber floater.  She also got most of her personal property that was intermingled with the estate's personal property.  All told, she had four pickup truck loads.

I dug up some of my Dad's elephant garlic that had naturalized throughout his old gardens, took an old hickory stick that he had carved into a walking cane and a stone that he had smoothed into a fake Indian artifact to sell to stupid tourists, a Christmas wreath I had made for the family when I was thirteen and four cement blocks.  Now you can see the difference between my sister and I.  She has the hoarding instincts of both parents.  I can't even imagine where she will put the stuff she took.  Most of it was Mom's very old Christmas decorations.  When I got home last night, the cement blocks were set up to hold the Langstroth hive, the garlic was pulled apart and planted, the wreath went into storage until Christmas, the fake Indian artifact was put on a shelf and the cane awaits me in the carport should I ever have need of it; it will be my snake poker, rat whacker stick.

We filled up a 3300 pound trash container which amounted to half their carport yesterday.  They saved frozen dinner trays, all empty containers like coffee tins, vegetable cans, wine bottles, plastic cups, you name it and they had it.  It was covered in rat poop.  A rat leaped out of the lumber that Cody and Trent, my nephews, were moving and dived in Cody's truck engine.  My Uncle Doug came over to work on the old truck that I signed over to him; it was the first new truck my Dad had ever owned.  For a bit, it was wonderfully crazy again - just like when Steve and Arthur, my brothers and their family, lived nearby.  I didn't realize how much I missed that kind of family interaction.

We had a trash fire going for all the cardboard boxes that they saved and roasted hot dogs over the open flames.  Shannon, my brother's wife, made delicious homemade cookies.  Yum!   It was a good start toward the cleanup of their personal property.  It was such a fun and successful day that we talked a bit about having Easter at the old place - one last time before it sells, if it hasn't sold by then.

Rain today and cold but gloriously nothing to "Have" to get done.  A day to worship and then enjoy with my hubby.  Praise be and Glory to God!

The red clover seed has sprouted, my To-Do list and Pesticides

I' m always excited to see any seed that I broadcast sprout.  The red clover is up and creating a blanket of green in my future garden.  I'm amazed to see the little bright green seedlings in the otherwise dull brown field.  The red clover will fix nitrogen back into the soil and is a bee food source.


Winter in North Alabama has been extremely mild.  We've had boat loads of rain and temperatures above freezing for most days. Purely from a farmer's point of view, I'm disappointed.  Freezing temperatures over several weeks would help control pests this coming spring and summer.


My to-do list for the rest of January and February:
Prune my fig, my red ornamental maple, and my ornamental floral bushes
Spray with a dormant oil to kill over-wintering insects and diseases
Spray with lime sulphur to backup the dormant oil
Sharpen and clean my trimmers, lawnmower and garden tools
Do a soil test.
Resist the urge to till my garden while the ground is so wet (resist, resist, resist!)
Keep my electric lawnmower charged even though I'm not using it (yet)
The urge to use my electric lawnmower to mulch is strong (I may not be able to resist this one!)
Set up my new gardens, which do not require tilling, using my compost and chicken-doo.


My Dad was a child of the 30's.  He was born January 21st, 1926, but he was educated in the 30's and 40's.  I point this out because he was a strong believer in pesticides and during this time period chemical manufacturers were turning out numerous patents for their chemicals and spending cash on the products' marketing for public use.  He used so many different pesticides when he farmed that I cannot believe he did not have any cancers.  I sometimes wonder if  Mother's cancer was caused by the environmental heavy uses of pesticides in the U.S. during this time.  


Dad eventually became a believer in organic farming: picking off bugs from the garden, turning up soil on a mild day prior to a freeze to let the winter cold kill the pests.  But I remember white dusted gardens covered in 1-naphthyl methylcarbamate, Carbayl for short, that killed any bad or good insect it touched.  The popular name for this chemical is "Sevin Dust" and it is quickly eliminated by vertebrates causing no harm, or so the literature reads.  I don't believe it.  


I try very hard to limit my use of any chemical in the garden or yard.  In 1984, the largest industrial accident in the world occurred.  It  killed 11,000 people and injured 500,000 people (yes, those zeros are correct), in Bhophal India during the production of this insecticide.  Scary.


Lime sulphur found its way on my shelf because it is used by bonsai enthusiasts to age trees by creating white deadwood.  It is painted on with a brush.  It is a pesticide that when applied carefully kills insects that overwinter on trees and in the soil surrounding the tree.  It is also an effective treatment, when carefully diluted, for mange on dogs and ringworm.   And it stinks.  All pesticides should smell like this one - rotten eggs.  The odor alone warns one to leave it alone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In the light of Christ, I wish you everything good to eat and wonderful family news in the coming year!  May your gardens grow tall and give you much produce to enjoy, may you learn more about self-sufficiency and making do or reusing.  May you have less trash going to the land fills and give more money and goods to those who don't have.  Many blessings to each of you this holiday.  Peace in Christ!

North Alabama Farm Girl has made her cranberry relish and is looking forward to sweet potato casserole, fresh green beans, a turkey tenderloin and rice for her Christmas Eve dinner.

Hello World

My Mother, Polly, passed away October 26th.  In one year I have lost my Father, my Mother, three Aunts, an Uncle and my neighbor of 25 years.  It has been a very long and very sad year.  I am seeing a counselor to deal with the sadness, anger and hurt I am experiencing at the loss of so many this year.  I think if I could dig and work in the dirt and tend to my animals that I'd heal much quicker.   Rest in Peace, Mom and Dad.  You loved and were loved in return.  Thank you for everything - I will love you forever!

My bee colony did well up until the Alabama summer sizzled.  In early August, as I was spending more time helping care for my Mother in all my spare time, my bees were invaded by a yet to be determined predator.  Their honeycombs were blackened by the fecal material of the worm invader.  Had I been home and available maybe it would not have happened and I could have saved the colony.  It is disheartening to report the loss of  a one-time flourishing colony.

I will be very glad to see the end of 2011.  I want to sit and make plans for a bigger and better garden in 2012, to establish a couple of new bee colonies and to continue my plans for more self sufficiency.  God's Blessing to all for a safe and wonderful Holiday Season!