Digging the dirt

Happy May Day!

So its finally, finally warm enough here in ND where almost all of our snow is gone. Only a few piles here and there. So that means its planting time! I'm so stinkin' excited about my plans I've got going on. After 3 years living in my house and dreaming of a real in the ground garden my dreams may be coming true and soon.

Now the past 2 years I've been planting a small garden in pots on my deck. The first year I tried to use a borrowed tiller to make a real garden in the back yard but the dirt was too hard and the super grass had 4 inch root system so it was impossible to dig by hand. I've been slightly disappointed in my green thumb with containers. Now I do have a retaining wall for my daylillies and they grow amazing. So I don't think my issue is growing plants, its my lack of choice in having them in containers.

Now last fall I got to thinking about using tires to grow a few select items in the back yard. So I got a few tires all ready with newspaper and dirt for this spring. Well we had a ton of snow this winter and my backyard has up to, in a few areas, almost a foot of standing water in the low spots so my tires won't be ready until everything dries up.

Well during the winter I made a choice to try start a worm compost pile which would be partly buried. So I took out my shovel and splashed into the backyard where I thought a good spot would be, and tested the ground to see how hard it was going to be to dig a hole. To my surprise it was like a hot knife through butter. So it got me to thinking....hey I could dig my garden plot! So yesterday I marked an area and waited until my boyfriend came home from work and got his opinion on the area. He thought it looked good but there was one hitch, the old clothes line cement anchor will be in the middle of the garden and I marked a big area, maybe too big Lol.

 

This is my backyard soon to be garden plot. Please excuse my messy backyard. The tires are going to be used to grow potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, horseradish, and rhubarb (for now).

 

Now while I decide what to do in the backyard, I started a larger flower bed in front of my deck. Now this deck of mine is old and falling apart (I rent so not much I'm allowed to do with the deck) so I'm going to grow tall flowers to hide my deck. I've picked out hollyhocks, snapdragons, foxgloves, and a few others. I've got the seeds started and once the last frost is past I'll add seeds with the seedlings.

So I've been digging a 5ft x 24ft area where I'll be planting. My boyfriend even surprised me with 10 pallets from his job so I can build a flower box to make it look a tad nicer. I'm also planning on building a compost bin "house" and use what I can to start my rabbit hutch (and any other crazy project I come up with Lol)

 

This is my soon to be flower bed. Once again please excuse my mess. The big brush pile in the front was all the weeds and mystery flowers growing from last year. Like I said my deck is an eyesore so I hope the flowers hide it well.

I just checked our forecast and it'll be dropping back into the 30s til this weekend. All I can say is boo!

So anyone out there planning a garden or growing flowers? I'd love to hear!

Can it be fall yet?

I don't know about you but I'm itching to start canning already. I'm obsessed with canning since I started last year. I love how I take a few whole ingredients and turn them into wonderful, healthy, I know what's in them foods that only cost me pennies.

I love how much I've saved this winter in groceries. I didn't have to buy tomato paste or sauce, tomato ketchup, salsa, jams, apple butter and sauce, apple pie filling, pickles (many different types), stewed tomatoes, and sauerkraut.

Yup, you heard me right. I ferment my own sauerkraut. I'm using my great great grandma's recipe for it. I even shocked my grandma at how good my 1st batch turned out. She told me that doesn't happen to first timers. She said her first batch years ago (my grandma is 85 so she knows her canning) the pigs wouldn't even eat. Lol.

I even started making a list of people who have unused fruit bushes and trees that will let me use this year. Last year I was lucky to have a lady approach me to pick 3 chokecherry trees in her back yard. I spent 4 hours, which I wish I spent 4 days since it made amazing jelly and I'm out already, and I gave her a small jar in return. She was older and just said she didn't want them going to waste. She even picked with me and we chatted during the time. I hope she remembers me this year so I can pick them again.

Another lady gave me 10 gallons of plums from her trees and I ended up buying pears from her later since she had pear trees. Omg is all I can say about those pears, I've never had anything as good and they made amazing jam.

I've washed and checked my jars, lids, bans, water bath canners, and all my canning tools. I've made a list of what I need. I've even got a list of what I want to can and how much I need.

Yup, I'm obsessed. So do any of you can?

First walk of a really late and cold spring.

Well the dogs are all getting antsy to be able to spend more time outside which here in ND hasn't been able to happen yet.

Barely getting over 35° on a good sunny day and weekends of forecasted 1" to 8" of snow, spring hasn't sprung yet. And we still have a bunch of snow around here.

Well I thought I might take Miles (Boston terrier) and Dixie (olde english bulldogge pointer (a mix)) for a short walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did a mile since they both needed to brush up on their leash walking skills.

On our way back, we startled 3 geese that were out in the field. Dixie and Miles weren't sure what to do with themselves since they really haven't ever seen geese. Glad Dixie didn't have an urge to go after them otherwise I'd be soaking wet from the ditch I would of been pulled into Lol.

After we got home they both were ready for bed.

dixie is such a bed hog. poor lola

Miracle of animals

Well my mom informed me her one cat, handie-cat, had her first litter of kittens 2 weeks ago. Now there's a story behind how this cat got her name. (Handie is the one laying on top of the grey cat, her sister princess, the one sitting up is their brother Hoss)

A year ago one of my mom's cat had a litter of 3 kittens, 2 black and one grey. Now one of the black kittens was just a devil. She would claw you, scratch you and bite you if you breathed the wrong way and she had earned the name hell-cat. Now she was just 3 or 4 weeks old when she was like this so it was just a kitten thing.

Well she was a tad too adventitious and tried to climb up a a heavy chunk of wood leaning up on the wall and in turn caused it to fall over and it landed on her head. My mom had found her in a puddle of blood after hearing the crash. Things didn't look good for her. My mom kept an eye on her and the next day noticed her left eye had clouded up and she had blood and snot coming out of her nose, couldn't walk straight and couldn't nurse like the other kittens since she was having issues with her mouth and tongue, like she was using her tongue backwards. (this is handie 2 weeks after the accident. she was telling me she was hungry)

Well fast forward a year, unless you knew her story you'd never know she had this accident unless you saw her left eye in the right light and noticed her mouth is always open a bit. She can't eat hard foods since we think her jaw was broke or her skull grew wrong after the accident. And when she tries to clean herself she ends up looking like she fell into the toilet. I'm glad my mom didn't take her to get put down and nursed her back to health.

(Now my mom was waiting to get the kittens into the vet to get fixed when handie got pregnant. Once she's done nursing she's going to be fixed so please don't comment about adding more pets into the world. They are well loved and well taken care of and her other cats are all fixed now also)

(above are the new babies 2 white, one black, one grey; coco, to the left is stealing my crochet tshirt rug and will not look at me for a picture)

Well the night she started to have her kitten my mom was there to help since handie can't chew or lick right. Well to my mom's surprise, coco (handie's mom) was right there with her and after each kitten was born, chewed the cord and cleaned them up for handie.

Handie tried to clean them up but with her bad eye and her mouth not working great would end up missing. Its just so touching that coco was there to help her.

 

 I wish more people would take pointers from animals.

Why hello there again

Well I'm back from an unexpected month long vacation to visit family in Minnesota, all thanks to the lovely spring weather. While I've been there I've been sewing up a small storm to help pass the time on the days I'm not helping my mom cater parties or hanging out with my family. Rylie was with too and he enjoyed spending time with my grandparents.

While I was in MN, my grandpa had his 91st birthday (he doesn't look nor act a day over 70). Last year I had a huge surprise party for him and had a great turn out. I made all the decorations, invitations, and food with the help of a couple family members. I pulled off a surprise party for 50+ people for under $50. I may post some pics in another post.

My cousin had an early "un-birthday"/easter party while I was home so we all could celebrate my birthday (which has now past) and easter together which I haven't done for a few years due to work. It was a blast and I loved my gifts. It's great being able to have get togethers with my family and just see what's new. We always have fresh bread and other goodies. My aunt made caramel rolls and buns; My cousin made amazing pulled beef that you couldn't stop eating and another one of my aunts my a taco plate which is my weakness and she knows it Lol.

Since getting home winter has still kept its grip on ND. I'm going nuts with spring fever. I really really really want to start planting my garden and start working on a rabbit hutch. In the meantime, I've been cleaning house, reorganizing here and there, made a new home for all of my canning supplies (and finding out I have more supplies then space), and I've been sewing up even more things to maybe try having a booth at craft shows/flea markets this summer. You can completely tell by the items I'm sewing that I'm itching for spring. Clothes pin bags, clothes pin aprons, head bands, produce bags, canning jar grabbers, maxi skirts and dresses, which most of my projects are upcycled vintage bedsheets or clothes. I've also been craving to go asparagus picking, nothing better then fresh wild asparagus, but noo stupid weather won't allow anything green to grow yet Lol

Also in the time I've been home, been trying to help my boyfriend figure out his medical issues that suddenly came up while I was in MN. Its the other reason I was stuck up there. They have a few things in mind but nothing 100% so its worry some. He's had 2 ambulance rides in a month. Fingers crossed that they figure out what's going on with him soon.

While I was visiting one of my cousins, she's more like a sister, I taught her you can make stamps from a potato. We made little deer tracks to jazz up a plain cheap rug. It was a hit and turned out great. Her boyfriend was amazed that you could do that with a potato. He used to make fun of all the little cheap things I do but now he respects it.

Well I think its time to try catch a few zzz's. Night!