Where does the time go?

Well, well, well.  I've started and stopped this post at least 4 times this month and here it is mid May already.


April really has been a great month but very busy.  I went to my conference last week and the first night in the hotel I unpacked a little then put on my comfies, stretched out on the bed and put on the TV.  Pure bliss.  I had honestly felt like I had not stopped moving to actually relax (I do stop moving to sit at a computer for hours and I stop moving to sit on a crowded train and I stop moving when I sleep - but I'm pretty sure that's it) in WEEKS.  I came back relaxed and recharged.  I'm often asked how I do it all and it's pretty much that I never stop doing.  When do I relax?  When the kids are in bed and often times not even until I put my head on my pillow and pick up a book.  I know I'm not unique, many people work hard but it just surprises me when people ask because I just do what has to get done! 




I started this post in April and I'm finishing it in May as that's just the way it goes.  I hope I can manage to come back here from time to time but with my own evening classes and soccer and swimming starting up - it's going to get a whole lot busier around here.  Today I'm starting dinner at 3, picking up the girls at 3:30, working out, going to town at 5:30, soccer at 6:30, home by a little before 8, showers for the girls, bed and then I will sit for a bit and probably fold and put away clothes. 




I'm happy to report that I planted the small garden ...kale, hot peppers, green peppers, peas, green onions, rainbow chard, carrots, purple cabbage, basil, oregano, parsnips, lettuce and pole beans.  The bottom garden will have beets, cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon, eggplant, squash, cabbage, corn, onions and carrots.  See?  I'm totally over doing it this year with the hopes that it all turns out.  Last year I was hesitant and not attentive enough and I had a pretty good garden but this year I want to have a GREAT garden.  I'll save my next post as a garden update.  Happy spring everyone!

Seeds and gardening

We've had a few warm days here which have been spent mostly outside cleaning up the mess the winter leaves.  The husband and I walked around the property talking about what needed doing and in what order.  We decided our first project would be to take down a tree which was hanging over the garden.  It took all of 5 mins for DH to saw through the tree and another 10 to saw it up into manageable pieces.  Then the real work came, moving all the pieces of a 30 foot tree off the garden so it could be tilled.  I took that job while DH started tilling.  Once I piled the logs and moved most of the branches off the garden I decided to take a look at all of the seeds I had picked up from the co-op. 




Funny story - last year I bought seeds from a catalog and had to pay shipping.  This year DH mentioned that the co-op had seeds and why didn't I buy them there?  So I went to the co-op and I bought seeds...and then spend $20 on other stuff that we didn't exactly need.  We'll see next year if he complains about the shipping.  ;')






After I got the garden cleaned out I looked over my co-op seeds and discovered I could plant some of them in April.  The forecast called for sun, rain, sun, rain and I though that despite it being a little early I was going to plant!  I ended up planting carrots, rainbow chard, onions and beets.  If you read this blog last year you would know that I under planted and under weeded and under planned.  This year I'm being ambitious.  I'm going to plant ALL the veggies and see what happens.  I still have my basil, tomato, hot pepper, green pepper and kale seedlings to plant and I will be starting cabbage, eggplant, watermelon, cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, pumpkins and green beans this week.


Other than that I need a new clothes line - mine bit the dust and we keep forgetting to pick up a new one.  We adopted a barn cat who was supposed to be social but is pretty unsocial but we keep trying!  And we thought long and hard about getting turkeys this year...and decided against it. 


Sorry no pics again - same issue with the upload freezing up.  I'll try again another day. 

March

Isn't March wonderful?  All sunshine and light - love it.  Good riddance February.  I don't mind that we are still in winter boots, coats, hats, snow pants and my driveway is covered in ice.  We are consistently getting 13 hours a day of light and that makes me happy.

It has been a busy month!  Seeds have been started, March break has come and gone, the chicken coop has been freshened up and the doors into the barn have thawed and shrunken just enough that we can close them again.  Next on the list is to clean up the breezeway, power wash all the cobwebs out of the barn, thoroughly clean the horse stalls and pick up all the dog poop.  I lead a glamorous life ya'll. 

This year has started off as a busy one at work and at the farm.  I'm doing some travelling this year for my job which I'm pretty excited about.  And my husband is now working 2 other jobs besides the farm work so some of the farm work has shifted to me.  This leads to long and exhausting days.  Thankfully the days are lighter longer which bouy's me along when I'm leaving the gym at 7:30, coming home for 8, putting on warmer clothes and going out to the barn to the horses and chickens, and then getting the kids and myself ready for the next day.  It will all be that much easier when the horses go back to their owner and summer is here. 

So I've been planning and dreaming of the gardening I hopefully will have more time for this year.  The weeds completely took over my large garden last year so my plan is to put straw between the rows this year.  I've started kale, beets, jalapeno's, tomatoes, green peppers and basil.  I am going to add some perennial flowers to the gardens around the house and plant zinnia's in my patio garden again. 

We've had some weasel trouble in the chicken coop and it's taken 3 chickens.  We think we've found where it is getting in and sealed the hole.  We'll be adding 5 more chickens this year and we are seriously considering a couple of turkeys.  I've been doing some reading about them and they sound fairly easy to care for but my big concern is the coyote's around here.  We don't want to confine them so they'd be on their own at night.  Any and all tips and advice welcome.

March is almost here!

March is next week!  I'm so happy to be almost done with February.  I need to get outside!!  And for more than just a run to the barn, to the train or to the car.  I need a good, long walk outside in the forest without having to worry about snowmobilers, with the sun shining and with less than 3 layers of clothing on to keep warm.

My month in pictures.

Bannock.  Have you ever made it?  SO delicious.  Lots of home made soup and dates with my favorite people, my girls.  

My homemade pizza

Clean stalls, sleep, repeat

A nice little treat last weekend.  There was an indoor hot tub and pool as well but we came up here at night and there was music playing and video's playing on that big screen...and Toronto at night.  Magic.  

Lots and lots of veggies in my life right now.  This was my attempt at a crock pot veggie curry.  I made way too much.  

February

Well hello February, my least favorite month of the year.  While everyone is waxing poetic about cozy winter activities this is the reality of February in Canada.  Travel was cancelled, dinner plans cancelled, I worried about my husband driving 10 hours in the snow and I handled all the chores myself on Saturday.  My husband usually lets the horses out in the morning and I help him clean the stalls in the evening and put the horses to bed, collect the eggs and close up the barn for the night but Saturday it was just Murph and I.  Then Sunday came and along with it more snow, ice rain and lots of plowing..digging out the plow...calling neighbors to dig the truck out of the snow.. all in -20 degree weather.  It is the shortest month of the winter and also the longest.  We will have gorgeous sunny days with -26 degree temperatures.  We put towels at the bottom of the doors, dress in layers and scarves inside the house, and have space heaters going in every room even with the furnace going.  Did I mention its also very dry?  Warming up the car is a necessity before going anywhere which means running outside 15 mins before you are ready to leave to jump in a frigid car and hope that it starts again.  Returning from work means clearing of and then getting into a frigid, snow (and sometimes ice) covered car and shivering while it warms up.  And don't forget your gloves...that steering wheel will numb your hands in seconds.  I've almost wiped out on snow and slush a number of times already. So don't mind me if I'm not all aglow with February.  Bring on spring!

To brighten a cold, snowy day

We had a snow day Monday last Monday.  Well at least my kids did, I was crazy enough to head to work.  After a three hour commute I arrived safe and sound at the office.  Brownie points people.

I'm taking a page today from one of my favorite farm blog authors.  I had been reading this blog years ago...years before we moved to a farm.  I guess I too have Barn Heart because why else would this corporate girl be reading homesteading blogs?  Here is Jenna's website:  www.coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com.  Although I suspect anyone reading this is familiar with it already.  And here are some pictures of summer on our farm which are intended to brighten up this February funk and help us look forward to all the sunlight and summer ahead.

Updated with pictures!!!

Insert pictures of green grass and flowers here.  I'm having trouble uploading pictures onto my blog.  I've tried several times and it just hangs.  I'm using Google Chrome and I've tried IE as well.  So until I figure this out, no pictures.  Which makes for bland blog posts if you ask me but I'd rather have bland blog posts than none at all.  Have a great day!

Hardiness zones

In my 40 years being on this planet and 10 years of city gardening under my belt, I still don't understand hardiness zones.  This is mainly because I almost always plant seedlings I buy from a garden store.  I had little luck with any of the plants I tried to grow from seed Garden update in June (beets, peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes).  I assume the seeds I'm buying or that are available in Canada are good for this climate?  Do I really need to consider hardiness zones at all or is that just climate lingo for "this is how cold it may get at night so these are the only plants that will survive in your climate."  Shrugs.  Help?

Tomato seedlings and oatmeal muffins from last year.

I have one garden that is south facing and one that is on the west side of the house.  We had tomatoes, lettuce, kale, sunflowers, celery, spinach and green beans in that garden.  My peppers did not like it there.  We've cleared some of the trees so make more sun though and with a little better planning I may do better there this year.  The kale and lettuce flourished there but the tomatoes were just not great.  It wasn't just me, a lot of people in my area were complaining about their poor tomatoes last year.  It was too cold and wet.  I'm going to get a head start this year though on a few seedlings in March - with the help of a greenhouse set up that I'll post more about once I decide how and where I'm going to make this happen.  It's almost February so don't mind me getting excited for spring - only 3 months away!