Garden Update 2015 Edition...part 1

I present to you....our garden!

It's taken a while to get things going.

Between working at the farm and the rainy June,

It was really tough to give the garden the time it needed.

Our garlic (given to us by a friend) had a horrible time...but we suspect the chickens got to them.

That was before we added the chicken wire fence to the whole garden.

White fingerling potatoes are loving it!

They are from Uncle Robert's garden last year.

Can't wait to see what comes out of it!

Summer squash bed....green zucchini, yellow zucchini and white paddy pans.

Soooo many tomatoes.....

Black Kris (grown from our seeds from last year's crop)

Anna Russian (oxheart - from the Grandmothers for Africa plant sale)

Bellstars (round sauce tomato - given to me by my boss at the farm)

Romas (grown from our seeds from last year's crop)

Green Globe Artichokes!  8 survived...(from the Homesteading Canada seed exchange)

White and Red (not shown) onions (bulbs purchased from the Foodland grocery store)

Two plantings of romaine lettuce (seeds from the hardware store)

Spinach started further down the bed...not doing very well...

Winter squash bed...

Pumpkin and random squash seeds from a friend...can't wait to see what the are!!!

Butternut squash (grown from our seeds from last year's crop)

Buttercup squash (grown from our seeds from last year's crop)

Green beans (grown from our seeds from last years crop)

Not shown...pencil pod yellow wax beans from my coworker

purple beans from the hardware store.

That's just one side of the garden!

Stay tuned for part two in the garden update series...

coming soon...after we have weeded some more beds...

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I also have some big news!

I was made a member of the Tamworth/Erinsville 

Grassroots Growers Steering committee!

Although I am not a resident of Stone Mills Township,

I was still so happy to be a part of such an enthusiastic 

group of community-minded people.

They also put on GREAT events with excellent guest speakers.

The Kitchen Garden has kept me busy and happy.

Monday to Friday I work my butt off and learn so much.

It's really quite staggering!!!

From pest control to cultivars...

From hand working a field to harvesting the bounty.

Everyday is a blessing.

Living on a Budget: Summertime fun!

Trying to keep kids active and engaged all summer long can be challenging.

Being unemployed makes it that much MORE challenging.

Thankfully, I am up to the challenge!!!

#20 Swim in a Lake

At first, our day went like this:

Breakfast, chores, lunch, beach.

Every day.  In that order.  Each and every day.

I'm not complaining about living in cottage country or 

complaining about living steps from a lake...

But it was time to spice things up a little!!!

We visited family.

True the gas still costs money...but the time spent with family will create memories that will last a lifetime.

Like trying to kid a bike without training wheels!

Thanks for the push Grampa!

#29 - Go to a Musuem

We also sought out free or nearly free things to do.

Like visiting the Railway museum in Brighton!

It was chock full of history about trains, the apple industry and the history of the area.

(I would highly recommend this stop...it was way better than I could have imagined)

#68 Get a Pet Rock turned into a pet rock village!

Then I did something that changed the course of our summer vacation...

I went to Pinterest and found a list of 101 Almost Free Things to do with your Kids this Summer!

Game changer indeed!

#82 Visit a National Park - and go #79 birdwatching while you are there!

We started checking off each activity on the list...with gusto!

#57 Magnify an ant

The magic list became our guide...not that we couldn't have come up with these activities on our own.

It was better to have a ridiculously huge list that we could consult each day

We didn't always follow the list word for word...more to gain inspiration.

#11 Fly a kite

We started to discover piles of lost stuff in our house!

We had 7 kites....just waiting to be used...turns out only 2 worked!

Clean up house AND having fun outside?  WIN WIN!

#31 Blow Bubbles

Even blowing bubbles was still hours of fun for a 7 yr old.

#18 Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Another Pinterest win was the blogger 4tunate.net

Here is a mom of quadruplet boys...so I figured she had this boy entertainment thing down.

I will probably redo the scavenger hunt list with pictures and 

stuff from around our area, but this list was a great start.

#1 Go for a Hike

And because sometimes you just need to get off the road of life and go for a ramble in the woods!

Boys do love their backpacks...

Using up old experiments...making crystals!

Another thing we started up was day of the week activities.

Monday:  Nature day

Tuesday:  Craft day

Wednesday:  Cooking day

Thursday:  Adventure day

Friday:  Experiment day

Experiment day came out of all of those experiments for kids kits just sitting in Owen's closet.

Get those puzzles, board games or science projects out, dust em off and have fun!

(Additional win:  if your child has truly outgrown these things...you can get rid of them guilt free)

BONUS:  Owen learned about stuff and didn't even realize it.

#23 Go on a Picnic

Then there are the simple things in life...like a picnic under a tree.

We didn't even have to go far (you can see our house in behind Owen).

We munched our lunch, listened to birds, then had a tickle fight on the picnic blanket.

Ahhh...these dog days of summer could last forever...

Additional things that didn't get photos:

#12 have a slumber party - Owen's friend got homesick and had to go home at 9pm

#14 make cookies - eaten too fast to get photos...

#8 water gun fight - because water and cellphones/cameras don't mix

#25 have a pillow fight - because pillow projectiles and cellphones/cameras also don't mix

#53 start a garden - not included here - see all previous posts...

What are some of your crafty ideas for having fun with kids on the cheap???

Grape Vine Reveal...

When we first moved in to our home 3 years ago,

we inherited an old garden.

It was on the west side of the house with loads of trees shading it.

It also covered the septic access lid...not ideal.

Right away we began the task of moving the garden to the center of the yard.

You see the red tangle in the middle?

It was rumored to be a concord grape vine...

That was 3 years ago!

Now we have a humongous garden in the center of our backyard.

The old garden on the west side of the house?

We found all sorts of goodies buried there...stuff we dug up and reused all over the property.

Stuff like patio stones of varying sizes, cinder blocks and red bricks.

We even found a tree growing under the grape vines! 

A few weeks ago a friend named Steve and his wife Joanne gave us some 

metal T bars they had laying around their house.

Let me show you what I did with them....

I finally cut back enough of the grape vines to find a few viable ones.

I had read in the Backyard Homestead book the proper way to string and hang your grape vines.

Finally!  A grape vine I could actually see and help grow...

With the help of Handsome Husband, we pounded the t bars into the ground.

Luckily we had some stuff left over for the wiring.

I used a bit of old clothesline wire but it was a little frustrating.

Then we remembered a whole role's worth of wire!

An owner from the not so distant past installed invisible fencing around the whole property perimeter.

It had long since worked...so we dug it all up!

It had a copper core...so it stays were you bend it!

Genius!!!

During the uncovering process...I found a mound of grasses.

The grasses had these pod like thingies...so I decided to leave them and see what became of them.

Above shows the result of my indifference!

These beauties look a little like tiger lilies...but probably just orange lilies.

I have no idea....I grow food...not flowers...unless they are edible!

I used some of those aforementioned "found" bricks to show off this tree.

I have no idea what it is either...but it was literally holding up the grapevines!!!

Once we got the vines off of the ground and onto the repurposed clothesline wire...

...I found bunches already growing!

Look at the darlings!!!

I was so smitten with the spot...I decided to make it a cozy seating area...

Just sit and watch the chicken entertainment!

(See the chicken run in the background?)

Even before I had the t bars in hand, I had purchased a small rosebush.  

I have no idea what kind I bought...only that the blooms are peachy coloured.

I just can't get that excited about flowers...sorry.

There was one thing I learned while living in Australia and touring wineries with friends.

Wineries plant roses as fences to attract the aphids.

Better they eat the roses than the grapes!

What a great spot!

I enjoyed it right away.

Do you have any favorite spots on your property?
A place of reflection?

A corner of solitude?

Or just a spot with a really, really great view?

Share photos of your favorite places on my Facebook page!

Changes....

Well, I'm unemployed.

Again.

Its the strangest thing, though.

I'm not panicking.

I'm not stressed or upset at all.

That's a first for me.

I think it has a lot to do with all of the prep work we do as a family.

If we lived as though the money was never ending...we'd be in trouble.

It was years ago that we learned that anything can and will happen.

We changed the way we looked at life...and have never looked back.

Let me explain further...

If we didn't have the garden...

I would be worried that we don't have enough money to buy food at the grocery store.

Thankfully...we have a huge garden and the years of experience in growing and storing our own food.

We are not dependent on anyone's food delivery system.

And now we have eggs!

Protein was always a source of pain for me.

It was the only thing we didn't already do ourselves...plus there were always random safety recalls.

Now we have 8 laying hens and they pay for themselves at this point.

Whew!

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If we didn't live in such a beautiful, natural place...

I might be upset that Owen wouldn't enjoy his summer vacation.

He might have been stuck inside...for 2 months...with his mother who was worrying about stretching every dollar.  That's no fun for anyone!

In our neighbourhood, we are still able to do many amazing adventures...thanks to the Canadian shield, Frontenac Provincial Park (only $14 for any trail!) and our beloved Desert Lake.

We're learning about rocks this year.

Living in the Canadian Shield is like living inside the ROM.

We're tumbling rocks and learning about their properties.

We're exploring the land around us and discovering its logging, trapping and hunting roots.

We're learning about the animals, birds and insects that live in our region.

It's been amazing so far...and hasn't cost us much money at all.

****************

If we didn't have each other...

I would probably be wallowing about this loss.

I probably wouldn't be able to remind myself that my job does not define me.

My family keeps me focused on what's really important in life.

We do not live to work...

we work to live...and I can do that anywhere.

Plus, since not working shift work anymore...

I actually get to see my family more than ever!

Here's to more changes!!!

DIY Bench

Sometimes life give you lemons...
so, as the saying goes, you make lemonade!

Sometimes you just need extra seating...

And so the DIY firepit bench was conceived!

The year we moved into this home, Hydro One was on a

trimming kick.  They took down a load of trees in the front yard.

The two sides of this bench were just leftover!

The 2 x 6 plank was from the deck we got second hand.

When we reassembled it...we had a few pieces leftover...

I placed the logs and them added the plank.

The plank is wide enough for small butts...

...and freshly popped popcorn.

One of the things I love about country living is you can

eat popcorn in your pjs while watching a camp fire...

A few of my favorite things...SUMMER EDITION

The Things I LOVE about Summer:

Swimming in lakes

The waterfall room (on our lake)

The swimming shoal

green vegetables

ripe berries

thunder and lightning storms

camping and smores

hot starry nights
the first of the snap peas straight out of the pod

fresh herbs from the garden

bike riding

water gun fights
rediscovering shorts and sunglasses
flip flops and pretty toes

Owen is a big fan of seeing the return of all of his summer friends.

Ches loves the return of bikinis.

The Things I do NOT Love about Summer:

Sunburns
deer flies and horseflies

Ches dislikes the humidity.
Owen doesn't like it when it rains in summer.

Critters we have known....

This year has been a very eventful year!

It is our third summer at our place in the woods.

We have seen some wildlife...but not like this year!!!

So far we have had muskrat (when the water levels were so high!)

We had a porcupine hanging out in my son's favorite climbing tree..one afternoon...

Now we have TURTLES!

Wait, what?

Yup...turtles.

Less than a week after planting our vegetable garden,

We noticed some rather largish holes.

The holes were randomly placed around the garden.

Too big to be a chipmunk or a snake (we have those too).

No footprints to speak of.

It was a mystery!

Ches suspected it might be a raccoon or skunk looking for grubs.

One morning, Ches happened to notice something...

A snapping turtle!

She was laying eggs in the dirt right next to our chicken coop.

When we made room for the coop, it was in an area that was previously 

riddled with sumacs.  Ches painstakingly dug up all of the sumacs and their crazy long

roots.  It left a big ankle-breaking/twisting hole right outside the main door for the coop.

As we tilled the garden, I moved excess soil over to the hole.

Apparently the dirt was deep enough to lay turtle eggs!

We watched her cruise around the garden...maybe looking for her previously

dug holes to lay more eggs...

What critters have you encountered in the quest to grow your own food?

(And how you dealt with the issue...curious minds want to know!)

Sound off below!

Arrival of the Chicken Coop!

We are eagerly awaiting our first chickens ever!

We have a time line of picking up the year old hens before the end of May...

The clock is ticking!

So far, we have ordered a load of gravel.

The gravel is being used all over our property...so I wouldn't have

said we ordered it specifically for the coop.

It just happened to come in handy for creating a nice flat

pad for the coop.  After all of that excess water this year,

we made sure not to put the pad anywhere 

where we noticed water building up.

The gravel will provide nice drainage in case we miscalculated...

A few weekends ago, we rounded up some strong arms to load up the coop.

And by coop I mean a friend's old shed.

The shed walls had seen better days...but I'll discuss that further in phase 2...

Strapped to a borrowed flatbed trailer...it drove north on hwy 38...

This past Mother's day weekend, we borrowed some more strong arms...

With a little determination...it slid off the trailer and we shimmied it into place.

Note the spiffy gravel bed?

We also placed a nifty railway tie on the low side

to prevent gravel from running away...

Also to make a nice straight edge when weed whipping.

The view from our master bedroom deck...

(Close but not too close...we'll be needing to 

access the exterior outlet in the winter for light and possibly heat)

The trees right behind the coop provide excellent shade during the afternoon.

We will be buying boards to replace the rotted walls,

as well as making a second doorway into the run.

(Luckily we also have a door, re-purposed from our basement reno)

We also forgot we had a small window stashed in our mudroom.

That will be installed on the east side of the coop to provide 

necessary light and air circulation.

Another item donated to the cause:

Cream coloured oil based paint!

Another friend of ours gave us a can...score!

That will help us to keep the exterior from deteriorating too quickly.

So far this endeavor has cost us the load of gravel...which we were going to get anyway...

(Keep an eye out for the bold lines...I'm keeping track of how little I can spend!!!)

The roof is in excellent condition (on the inside)

so we'll probably re shingle the roof next year.

In the bare spot, you can also see we decimated our grape vines.

Last year we noticed they were attacked by mold.

Too much vines and too little air circulation was probably the cause.

Hopefully we'll place them somewhere else in the yard.

Dead center of the yard was never my favorite.

There's a cement block on the right hand side of this picture...

the puffy green behind it is our green onions.

I have transplanted some to a new location, but in retrospect, it wasn't sunny enough.

After the onions are done and go to seed...I'll probably try to transplant more to 

another (more sunny) locale.

Have you ever kept chickens or other small livestock?

Let's form a community...

Perhaps I'll need to start another blog!