I can finally say that we are officially done with the spring/summer/and small fall garden. I can't really say we had a fall garden this year. A few squash and pumpkin plants pretty much was all we did. It's time to put the garden to bed and wait for spring. Honestly? By the time the summer garden was over I was seriously worn out. It was a productive season but man I am so glad to get a break.
I don't talk much about my health stuff here and I'm sure most of you are pretty much ok with that. LOL! I'll just say that sometimes it takes me twice as long to get things done. I get tired pretty easily and just have to take my time. It aggravates me but hey... it is what it is. At least I'm on top of the dirt instead of under it!!!
Mars has been working on the composting station the past couple of days. He's totally taken apart the compost bins and moved the area over some and turned it facing the opposite direction. He had to take apart and move all three bins. The grass was growing up from under the pallets and trying to take over the bins so along with moving the compost and the bins he had to fight all that grass too.
After he had moved the compost, bins and grass it was time to move it over to the new spot. He actually didn't move it all that far, just a few feet actually. He had some old tin stacked up from taking down the old stuff off the barn. So he used some of the tin to lay on the ground under the bins, and this time he put some of the tin on the bottom of each of the three bins. That should take care of the grass problem and it looks so much neater than it did before. If you are wondering why there are three bins it kind of goes like this. The first bin is the "raw" stuff we put in the compost. Kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, grass clippings all go in the first bin. As the raw stuff breaks down it is moved into the second bin to "cook" some more. Eventually it is moved to the third bin and ready to use. Black gold to be recycled back into the garden.
I will admit it feels kind of strange not having to head out to the garden every morning. I might actually have time to work on some crochet or even some knitting now. I need some new dishrags and some new wash cloths. Don't laugh! I still can't knit anything that isn't "flat". Knitting things like socks is still wayyyy out of my league. I still have a way to go before I get THAT good. I will say this though. If you want to learn crochet or knitting there are some great YouTube videos that can walk you through some of the "hard" parts.
Well that's about all I have for now. I hope this week is a good one for each and every one of you!
P.S I was wondering if you've noticed this page loading any faster? I've taken down a whole boatload of pictures and "stuff" and even shortened all my fellow bloggers lists. I don't have a clue if it helped or not.
I have some health issues too, so totally understand. I actually keep a lawn chair in the shade by the garden, so that when I need to take breaks, I don't have to go back to the house (which isn't that far away, it just saves time). I really like your compost set up. Will be keeping it in the back of my mind when I get mine set up soon.
ReplyDeletehttp://caffeinatedhomestead.weebly.com/blog.html
Stephanie,
DeleteI totally understand about the lawn chair out by the garden. I'm more of a bucket person. lol A five gallon bucket is my best friend out there. I can't stand or stoop over for any length of time so if I'm picking beans or whatever I can just plop my rear on a bucket and work from there!
I'm with you about not having to go back to the house. Usually, I try to avoid it because I'll see something in there that needs to be done I'll get distracted. The next thing ya know I'm off on to something else.Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!
Sci
The composting station looks great! I didn't know you had health issues. I guess you've been doing a pretty good job keeping it quiet. I found a new crochet dishcloth pattern that makes a dishcloth half as long as usual. It works great. I always found the other patterns too big and awkward. They didn't even fit inside a glass properly! Anyway, I've been crocheting up a storm using up all my cotton except a little bit of my last skein which I've been saving to take to knitting group tomorrow so I didn't show up with nothing to work on. lol.
ReplyDeleteSue,
DeleteI don't mean to NOT talk about my health, it's just a part of life for me. I don't want to draw sympathy when so many others have things a lot worse than me. I just do what I can and try not to fuss to terribly much. Besides, like I told Stephanie, I've got my handy dandy bucket!
I see we think alike on dishcloths. I like the "smaller" ones too. The lady that taught me how to knit shared her basic dishcloth pattern. It was the first thing I knitted as a matter of fact. I like it because you can make it any size you want and it is an attractive dish/bath cloth as well. Oh, did I mention it's easy too? lol
Take care,
Sci
I finally gave up and started mentioning some health issues at my site when my sister started going downhill and I knew I would be following in her footsteps, having a younger version of her situation. You just state it as the fact it is, and you'd be amazed how many people are grateful for the opportunity to add their own problems to your comment section. We all need a place we can take our hats off and be honest.
DeleteI think the way you handled it was very very brave.I just wanted to reach out and hug ya.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteNot wishing to comment on something that I little knowledge on (whichs goes for most things truth be told), but I always thought that compost bins should be open to the earth that they sit upon to all Mother Nature's wee beasties easy access to do their thing?
Enjoy reading your blog, thank you for sharing.
John
Hello John,
DeleteThe main reason for keeping it off the ground is that (here anyway) we need some way to contain it so we can turn it regularly. Mars had thought of making one of those compost tumblers but we had the materials laying around here to set this up.
Thanks for coming by and don't be a stranger. Grab yourself some coffee and pull up a chair. Cookies are in the cookie jar!,
Sci
SCI,
ReplyDeleteGood morning! I love this compost setup you and Mars put together.
It's getting to be that time of year when things in the garden are finally slowing down so you can breath.......LOL
I came across this pepper recipe and thought, geez.....SCI may like this for her extra peppers. It's actually different, it's a cookie recipe found on allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Habanero-Cookies/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=cookies&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page
These 5 gallon buckets come in handy for so many things, my favorite, the instant stool.
I have several we use out in the garden too. It's nice not having to worry about hauling them in because of the weather.
Enjoy your afternoon, be careful severe weather in the picture tonight and into tomorrow.
Sending hugs to you both.
Sandy
Sandy,
DeleteGood Morning to you too. Mars has had a hair up his... well I mean he's been wanting to move ane re-do the compost bins for awhile. It's just been to hectic around here to do it until now. I think it looks much better and I really like that he put the backside of it facing the driveway.
brb gotta check that cookie link
Oh WOW! I'm betting that would be a good cookie. Sweet and hot. Yum. I saved it to my recipe box. THANKS!! I just LOVE cookies.
That little early frost really hit the garden. The peppers all looked pretty bad so I trimmed them all. We'll see if they can produce again. If not... I'm going to be making these next year!
As for the buckets (I'm still jealous of your score- hehe) I don't know what I would do without my buckets in the garden. I told someone the other day that I'm a bucket gardener. LOL She was clueless.
Hugs to you guys and a treat for Beans!
Sci
Having said things can take you twice as long - wow, because you are amazing. Seems you rarely get to rest during gardening season. Nothing is wasted, either. A little down time is well deserved! Mother Nature is smart enough to make sure we all get a few months off for reflection and enjoying the fruits of our labor.
ReplyDelete2 Tramps,
DeleteNothing amazing here I assure you. I just try to keep the end goal in sight, although sometimes (like in the middle of summer) I loose sight of where the heck the end is. I think And then when I finally look up it seems Fall has started to arrive.
I'm sure glad that Mother Nature is running things! I need a couple of months off!
Thanks for stopping by!
Sci
awesome compost bins...might take your idea and do the same thing up at our Carolina property. If and when the day comes that we can finally be up there, we have an entire acre cleared for a garden... Senior will have to install a sprinkler system though, I refuse to be like my father in law and water it by hose each night...lol
ReplyDeleteAnd I am sure I will have a five gallon bucket handy as well, or two, or three..
Hope you are feeling better....
JUGM,
DeleteOne day, when the time is right you'll be able to stay up there on your beautiful property. An acre garden is wayyyy more than I want to "deal with". That's a lot of garden! But then you have young boys to feed. lol
Honestly, if we didn't have the irrigation set up we do, none of this would be possible. You might want to look into it one day. It cost us around $200 to set it up but it should be good for several years. I've tried watering big gardens by hand and it seems by the time you get finished watering the last row it's time to start all over.
Five gallon buckets are a MUST HAVE~
Hugs to your beautiful Family,
Sci
We did a two bin composting thingy made out of pallets.....and then I have no idea what happened to it. Guess we used the compost and didn't put the pallets back. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteI WISH I knew how to knit....even flat things! I'm still working on flatwork crocheting. Being able to knit socks would be the ULTIMATE cool radical thingy! Or whatever :)
Carolyn,
DeleteAt least you got to use the compost. I'm sure it went into one of your rock gardens. Bwhhahhahahaaa . Maybe you can find those pallets and give it another go.
Girl, I am SO with you on the sock making! It's always been the thing I want to knit most. And the scariest too. I think it's using those FOUR needles that intimidates me! I was lucky to find someone who had the patience to teach me the knitting basics. She keeps telling me it's all just knit and purl. so...
As Small Farm Girl says....
Sci, fture sock knitter
I have crocheted since I was a teenager, and I love making afghans. About 7 years ago, I taught myself to knit using videos on the internet just so I could make my own socks. It took me three weeks to learn how to purl without sitting upside down in my chair. Purling, to me, defied the laws of physics. Once I got that down, I found this site, http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/ and just went at it. For practice, I used size US3 bamboo double-pointed needles and worsted weight yarn—an acrylic/wool mix—such as Wool Ease™, and followed her pattern for casting on 48 stitches. This is still my pattern for what I call ‘round the house socks. Socks may seem difficult, but basics socks aren’t. It’s a process where you do interesting things--ribbing, then boring things—stockinette stitch for the leg, then interesting things—heel flap and turning the heel, then more interesting things—picking up stitches and the gusset, then more boring things—the foot, and finish with interesting things—decreases for the toe and grafting. After about 3 or 4 socks, it becomes a process, and it really is fun. Don’t let it scare you. It is almost like meditation, but you have something wearable when you are finished.
ReplyDelete20 Jeep,
DeleteLOL I can just imagine you all twisted around with those needles in your hand. I think the hardest part for me wasn't doing the knit one purl one, it was being able to look at the piece and know which one was a knit stitch and which was the purl.
Thank you so much for that knitting link! I took a look around and I think that will be my next knitting project. I like knitting a lot but socks always seem so intimidating.
Thanks so much for sharing that link! I guess I will have to go for broke and pick up some double pointed needles.
Sci
Hi Sci,
ReplyDeleteI knit all of our dish cloths, and wouldn't use anything else. They are great. Thanks for moving us into the 'Living Prepared' column. We try to do just that.
Fern
Hi Fern,
DeleteSorry about how long it took for me to reply. I got behind again! You are so right about the dish cloths. I don't like using any other kind anymore. You are quite welcome about "the move" I've been working on re-arranging the blog around. Someone mentioned how long it took to load the page. I hate it when they do that too so I'm doing a bit of housekeeping now that summer's over!
Take care,
Sci
It IS loading faster! The compost thing is good, I got one going at my Dad's place.
ReplyDeleteOff topic but Partner in Grime and I got married last weekend, so I'll be sparse on visits for a week or so while we merge households. :-)
OH WOW!!!! That's awesome!! I'm really happy for you and I know you guys will be happy together. Congratulations to you both. (He got lucky when he found you)
Delete