Digging in Dirt

One of my goals is to plant more fruit trees for fresh produce.  Honey flow is another important consideration - my bees need to eat!  Getting the honey flow started in the springtime requires flowering  trees.  The first trees in our area to flower are the oaks around the end of January, early February and then the elms, maples and finally the dogwood and fruit trees.  I need flowering trees for the bees to last throughout the springtime and early summer until there are sufficient grasses and other plants to provide nectar.  Finally blocking the ugly metal building that my neighbor put in their side yard that faces my bee yard is another reason for my new pear trees.  I'm digging in dirt this weekend.  Care to join me?

Glorious Beautiful Day after Storms

Today is a beautiful day; the bad weather from yesterday is gone.  Our house and animals are fine and the cluck club are safe in their chicken yard.  Other homeowners and farmers in the area are not so fortunate.  There were several tornadoes around us yesterday.  My work dismissed about 10:00 a.m. but I was unable to get on the road because the roads to my house were blocked due to emergency vehicles trying to assess damage.  It was scary; it is always scary when bad weather happens.

On the sunny side today.  I put together the galvanized steel raised vegetable beds and secured both with stakes into the ground before the storms hit.  These are really, really big vegetable beds, 3 ft x 6 ft by 10 in, and I know I do not have enough compost yet to fill both.  This is where ingenuity will help.  I do have an electric mulching lawnmower and I purposely did not rake/burn leaves this fall.  So I will be gathering more organic matter this month along with the overwintered chicken house pine mulch that should be hot and ready for the beds.   The beds will empty my compost pile as well.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have just enough to fill both beds before I need to plant.

Shiitake Mushroom Plugs Planted

I was able to drill holes into the oak limbs and plant the shiitake mushroom plugs finally.  I have great hope that we have a harvest that lasts many years as the mushroom plugs spread into the rotting oak limbs.  Wikkipedia Shiitake Mushroom

Langstroth Hive has Arrived

The Langstroth hive that I ordered from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms because it was a complete beginner's hive, fully assembled with two large supers (for the hive), one small super (for me), 30 frames ready to hang with wax inset and painted with a top has arrived here at 2-Dog Farm.  All for a little over $200.  I have scrubbed my top bar hive with bleach, killed a few overwintering japanese beetles in it and have it ready to go as well.  I will move both the Langstroth hive and the top bar hive into a permanent bee yard and set up a solar water fountain for them close by.

Yesterday I was up on top of our roof cleaning gutters.  We have sprung a leak in our kitchen ceiling.  This is the same place that the roof debris from winter storms gathers and sits.  Our gutters were completely clogged with leaves and sticks.  I am not a great heights person:  I have a fear of falling but it was a warm sunny day and you could see the creek below the bluff and it was such a gorgeous view.

Still waiting to get out to plant vegetables.  My clover is doing great.  Hope the nitrogen it adds to the soil really makes the garden take off once planted.

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.

How Green Are You?

Some questions to help determine how green you are:
1)  You are cooking and must peel and chop onions and then flat leaf parsley to add to your dish.  Do you:

1.    Throw into your garbage the onion peels and parsley stems?
2.    Throw into your sink garbage disposal the onion peels and parsley stems?
3.    Throw into your compost bin the onion peels and parsley stems?
4.    Throw the onion peels into a freezer bag for later  use as a natural egg dye and add the parsley stems to a freezer container for a later stew/soup pot.

If you answered # 3, then you are green; if you answered # 4, you are greenest.

2)  You are cleaning kitchen counter surfaces and for your cleaner, you are using:

1. Bleach?
2. A commercial, off the shelf cleaner?
3. White vinegar and water with a dab of lemon juice?

If you answered # 3, then you are green.

3)  Newspaper can be:

1. Disposed of with the daily garbage?
2. Separated into the paper bin for recyclables?
3. Saved in bulk and donated to the local animal shelter for their use?
4. Mulched into your garden, used for craft paper, used for lining your chicken nesting boxes?

If you answered # 2, you are green; if you answered # 3, you are greener; if you answered # 4, you are greenest!  

4)  When updating your wardrobe, do you:

1. Go buy new off the shelf clothes in the latest fashion?
2. Go to the local thrift stores and find good clothes even though it may be a previous year's fashion?
3. Find something great at a thrift store and modify it to look unique for you?
4. Swap clothes with a like-minded, like-sized friend?

If you answered #2, you are green; if you answered # 3 you are greener; if you answered # 4, you are greenest.

Today is beautiful in North Alabama with a bright blue sky and plenty of sunshine.  Hope to get out and charge up my electric lawnmower and sweep out my shed and crack some hickory nuts for a hickory nut torte!

Planning Spring Gardens

Today in North Alabama we have a brilliant blue sky with a bone-chilling wind.  It feels barely above freezing today.  Definitely a coat-worthy day.  Temperatures make working outside for very long difficult.  Not to worry though because I am toasty warm inside and planning my spring gardens.  I have just ordered:
Burpee's Boost Collection because it promises "best in class" for taste and nutritional oomph and

3X6 Galvanized Steel Raised Bed because tilling gardens is so in the past.  My spring gardens will all be raised beds with the wonderful compost from the chickens filling up most of the beds.

And finally I ordered two pear trees that will be planted to the side of the chicken pens and after a few years make great pear preserves for us.

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.

Longest Night of the Year Celebration

Last night was the longest night of the year.  This means that the nights will gradually get shorter and the days longer until we in Alabama experience our first spring like days in late February.  Yep, I know it sucks for you Northern folks in February still but our winter is a micro winter and thankfully short and sweet.  Yesterday it was hovering around 60 degrees and I was able to finally get the bonfire (a.k.a. yard trash) ignited and we roasted hotdogs over the hot coals and made s'mores with our flaming marshmallows!  Very nice night indeed.

It was made even better by having the day off even though I ran around like crazy trying to do all my piled up errands at once.  I did finally get my grow light so my bonsai (present from Mike) gets sufficient daily light.  A plus is that my Meyer lemon will also get to use the light and I should have some fruit this year.

My collard greens are chomped to the root by the deer.  With the warm balmy days though they may continue to grow and if I can keep the deer away, I'll have some more greens to enjoy through winter.

I stood outside tending to the bonfire when my neighbor, Don Browning, and his great grandson, Jack, stopped by for a chat.  Don loves bringing his greats over to see the chickens.  They are still talking about the fresh eggs I gave the little girl great last year.  I promised Jack I would grow him some popcorn this year.  He is a first grader and thought popcorn had to come from China and that it couldn't grow in a garden.  Nothing I enjoy more than having kids get to know what a farm can do for them.

Deer invasion

My neighbor who recently died had a passion for all God's creatures (her description) and that included feeding the local deer.   We have experienced a population explosion due to the deer getting fed about 150 pounds of corn each week.   Due to my neighbor's death, the deer are now hungry since I refuse to feed the local wild critters.  However, my poor collard greens have been eaten leaving me little fresh produce for the table.  The two messes of collard greens I did get before my neighbor's death were out of the world good.  I always remain hopeful though.  I might get some fresh deer meat soon and that would be awesome too.

Rest in Peace, Mom, and thank you for everything!

My Step-Mom raised me from the time I was five years old.  Like any Mother-Daughter relationship we had our ups and downs.  She did things wrong as I did.  I had a smart mouth and she was quick to punish any sign of it.  She believed in corporal punishment and I was beaten regularly between the ages of five and thirteen.  I hated her for that.  Then at thirteen I discovered how to keep my mouth shut and she started to teach me to cook.  She was a superb German-style cook while I lean toward Italian-style cooking.  I so appreciate the skills she taught me.  I didn't realize until recently that I was a prep chef long before the popular cooking shows featured it.  Together we cooked for a large and extended family.  We were poor monetarily but my Dad hunted and fished and had a large garden every year.  "Mom" made fresh baked rolls that would melt in your mouth.  We never lacked for food because we grew it ourselves or Dad caught it.  One year she taught me how to can and another year taught me how to make jellies and jams.  Summertime at our house was very active preparing for the next winter.    She never learned to make decent saurkraut; it was her only failing.  Spoiled kraut is bad, very very bad in the house.  She also failed to can the fresh sausage correctly one year and it spoiled.  The smell was horrendous.  Everything else though was so good to eat.  I can not eat mediocre food because of her; she set the food standard in my life very high.  Here is a picture I snapped on my phone of her during one of her last "good" days.  Her mind was clear to the end but her body failed her.

Fall is in the Air

Everytime I work outside, I work with my Dad.  Images of him bending over his tractor and banging it when he got frustrated with it or cleaning his tools in an oil-soaked bucket of sand or just standing and looking out across his garden to the mountain in front of the house.  His eyes a brilliant surprising blue against a sun darkened face.  I loved my Dad so much and I miss him but I thank God for ending his life at the home he built with his own hands with his son and wife beside him when he breathed his last.  He was a good, good father and a good man.  He loved and was loved.  He gave me so much love of the land and nature.  God's Blessings to Art Oden this Sunday morning.  Love you Pop!


Getting over an ugly virus this weekend so I am staying inside and inactive as much as possible.  But I have my office window open and the breeze is blowing cool air into the house and I hear leaves falling and rustling.  Ah, Fall is in the air!


So, here is my Fall To-Do list:


Clean up the electric push mower and store it in the shed.  
  Make sure it is fully juiced for storing and then check each month until spring.
Clean out and organize the shed so something as large as the electric push mower can be stored in it.
  Make sure there are shelves and hangers aplenty.
Crack last year's black walnuts and hazelnuts to make a holiday nut torte (yum)
  and to provide space for this year's harvest of nuts
Move my farming equipment (including my beekeeping equipment) to my shed from wherever else it is on the property!
Put finished compost into garden
Plant clover for a nitrogen fix into garden soil
Mulch the fig bushes, blackberries and blueberries.  Apply some of the finished compost around these plants. 
Plant some ornamental dogwoods and fruit trees along our property line.  I want some pear trees for pear preserves in a few years.
Clip the chicken's wings.
Cull Prissy the white orphington and Pick the broody speckled sussex hen that is no longer laying from the flock.  We'll be down to two chickens for the winter but we'll have lots of good tasting chicken & dumplings.
Order next year's flock.
Start the mushroom logs
Find the copperhead snake that has taken up home around my shed and eliminate him. 
       Thought long and hard about this one as I hate to kill snakes but a copperhead is bitey critter - no warning, all bite.  It has to go before it gets me or one of my loved ones.
Get the big lawn tractor ready for winter storage.
Winterize the chicken coop for Peck and Penny and the new batch of pullets.
Start the bees on syrup for winter food.  Once started, I'll have to keep it up all winter.
Look for parasites in the beehive and treat.
Sharpen my garden tools
Clean up my flower gardens.
Open up the bluff from the rotten tree debris and put some sitting benches along the scenic overlook.
Find out the cost for livestock fencing around one acre (through the woods, down hill and uphill)
Reconsider building a "true" chicken house - I have the plans - just need to do it.


All these tasks will take me well into Winter.  I'll be lucky to have 1/2 of them done before fall is over.


My summer garden harvest was great.  Good year for cukes and cherry tomatos.  The heritage tomatoes I tried bombed.  I had lettuce almost all summer and it did not get bitter.  Next year we'll have a even better garden.

Welcome to the Northern Alabama Homestead!

Pickled eggs made with 12 of the smallest hen's eggs, hardboiled, shelled and then packed into a wide mouth mason jar with pickling spices and 5% acidic vinegar.  Goes into the refrigerator for 2 weeks.  Then we will use in place of dill pickles for eating out of hand, on sandwiches, and in salads.

 A white orphington hen lays the largest eggs on our homestead.  These eggs are very thin shelled and prone to breakage before collection in the morning.  Wish she laid a slightly smaller egg; I worry about her getting egg bound when I'm away from the homestead.  Her name is Prissy.

Peck, Pick and Penny

Prissy

 The smallest eggs are laid by speckled white sussex.  Their names are Peck, Pick and Penny.  They each lay a unique but consistent size.

The hens live within a electric fence enclosure with a top bar hive full of Italian honeybees.  The fence and their chicken coop is moved every few months but rotate around the hive.  The hive remains in place.  Bees and chickens are compatible.  The chickens eat the mites that are parasites to the bees.

   Our garden is producing a fine batch of leaf lettuce suited to the hot/cool spikes in our spring time.  I will sow a row of black seeded simpson next weekend that will stand up to our hot June and July days.

My hot weather crops, peppers, basil and tomatoes are planted.  The garden is mulched and ready to grow.

 Squash in a container surrounded by rosemary and lavendar.

 I found some $1 containers of azaleas on deep discount at Wal Mart - obviously intended for Mother's Day. I purchased all they had and then planted them along our property line.  Should be gorgeous next year with their flowers.

 

My nemesis alive and well in the North Alabama heat

North Alabama has seen severe weather this year.  Evidence of the last storm remains over our house.