Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread; May 4 ~ May 10, 2014

[ReneeT]

Getting this started for the week!

Spent much of yesterday on the mower; started at 9am, stopped around 2:30 when an Uncle and his grandson came down so that I could visit with my Uncle for a bit while his grandson started mowing with a bigger tractor and bush hog. That lasted less than an hour before a hose blew on the tractor! No nearby Kubota dealer and Uncle needed to be home by 5pm anyway, so they took the big tractor down and hitched up the wood splitter and hauled it up to the house. And then - of course - the hydraulic fluid was low in the big tractor, and there was none in the shed! I guess I'm going to have to stop focusing on food, etc.. for the house and take over stocking the machine shed

Daughter showed up with boys about then - with the idea of taking them mushroom (morel) hunting - she spent more time pulling them out of 'sticker' bushes and watching them roll downhill than she did mushroom hunting, and was still back up to the house within a half hour. Hubby & I were busy burning the brush pile by then, so she and the boys played in the yard until we were done.

The rest of the evening was devoted to feeding starving boys, bathing spaghetti sauce covered boys, washing spaghetti sauce infused clothing, and watching silly boys run amok

This morning, I woke up early and was able to drink my coffee and read the 'net for a bit in relative peace and quiet. Boys were up and starving at 6am - banana 'caterpillars' (sliced bananas put back together with a bit of Nutella in between the slices, eyes dotted on with an additional dab of Nutella) held them while I whipped up 4 scrambled eggs - thinking that maybe I'd get the equivelent of one of them. Ha! They disappeared before I could even get a bite!

The boys played in the living room and watched cartoons while I tossed in another load of laundry, folded a couple of loads that were waiting downstairs, did up the dishes, and ran the dust mop over the floor. Then we headed outside where the boys rode their bike and big wheel while I chopped a lawn trailer load of dead raspberry canes out of the patch. Hubby came out about then so I pulled out the coaster wagon and loaded the boys in while Hubby hauled the raspberry canes out to the fire ring. Once the trailer was empty, we loaded some old pine logs that were waterlogged and rotting into it and Hubby drove it down to the waterway while I pulled one grandson in the wagon and the other rode his bike.

The road commissioner replaced the culvert under the road a couple of years ago - and replaced it with one about half the diameter. It drains about a quarter section of mostly farmground and the culvert is too small for the amount of water it is trying to carry. We ended up with a lengthy washout from where the water would come out with such force, so we are dumping the pine logs in the wash in hopes of slowing it down a bit. The poison ivy is coming up; Hubby is terribly allergic so it was up to me to roll the logs down the hill and in to place once we got them out of the trailer. We made 3 trips, but there were a few logs left that we couldn't lift on to the trailer; they will have to wait until we have more help (or at least bigger help lol!)

Then Hubby worked on the weed whacker/mini cultivator and got it running for me while I kept an eye on the boys and emptied out a half dozen more boxes of stuff from the store room - tossing most of it in to the dumpster. Found a few antique items that are of little use to me but that daughter might be able to sell for a bit of cash if she wants to take the time to do so.

Boys were starving once again; little one fell asleep over his lunch - but not until he was half done with the watermelon he had for dessert Oldest one is still going strong - and daughter just pulled in the drive. Time to get back to work!!

 

[Kathy in FL]

I have a full week ahead of me. This morning the girls sang in church then tonight the church is hosting a church league softball awards night. Tomorrow I'm going to be preparing youngest's portfolio for yearly review and 15 yo has her softball practice. Tuesday will be a scramble of trying to get everything done because that night hubby and I are going to sneak off for a night at a hotel to celebrate 26 years of marriage. Don't know what he has planned for Wednesday which is actually our anniversary but we need to be back Wednesday night for church and kidlet activities. Thursday the 15 yo and 10 yo tale the CAT-5 for their yearly homeschool review. Friday ... argh ... never mind, stressed enough as it is. LOL.

And during all of this I have to deal with the flooded out rental unit ... not as bad as it could have been but will definitely require an insurance claim as the water came up over the baseboards in the house. I also want to try and get some housework and prepping done because my parents are coming down for a few days next week.

 

[ReneeT]

Oops! Two May 4-10 threads; could a moderator please merge? Thanks!!

 

[moldy]

Sorry, renee - I didnt even see you'd started one. That's what I get for PBC (posting before caffeine)!! Have checked one hive - the girls have already built two palm-size areas of comb (that I had to scrape off because they built them on top of the frames). I left it close so the bees can recycle it. Now off to check the hive in the north pasture after I start a pork roast for dinner.

I know what you mean about stocking the shop. Seems like every job we did this weekend, we were looking for tools or supplies we couldn't find. Gotta get more organized in my spare (LOL!) time!

 

[ReneeT]

Kathy, if I see that darned Time Fairy, I'm stuffing her in a box and sending her your direction!! I'm so worn out now that if I had more hours in the day, I doubt I'd make it lol!

Moldy, I did brew a pot of coffee when I got up this afternoon, so no PBC here (not that you can tell the difference...)

We got quite a bit done Sunday afternoon after the boys went home - cut down several small trees, cut off branches and broken branches that were causing problems while mowing, and convinced Hubby to burn as we were cutting, rather than making a big brush pile - much easier to keep a small pile under control!! I also convinced him to cut the trees, etc... to the length of the small trailer - no dragging long branches/trees half an acre! He wore out from that pretty fast, so we stopped cutting and he headed up to the shed to change the oil in the vehicles, put the charger on the tiller, and give my little weed whacker/mini tiller a tune up while I did a few more hours of mowing - and sunburned the top of my head

Monday I did a bit of housework/laundry until Hubby got up, then went out and started tilling the garden areas again. Got done with that around 11:30; had lunch, grabbed a shower, then fell into bed for a before work nap. Hubby snuck off the range, getting home just 15 minutes before I had to leave for work; I was lazy and stopped at Wendy's on the way to work for one of their yummy apple pecan chicken salads with pomegranate vinagarette dressing - sounds foo-foo; tastes yum!!

Here in a bit, I'm going to go out and give those garden areas one more going over with the tiller, then it will be time to get ready for work again. I had to sit 1:1 with a patient last night and was bored out of my gourd, so am taking graph paper to work with me tonight to plot out my garden plan (which means I'll most likely be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off lol!)

Have to stop on the way home from work tomorrow to pick up some flowers for MIL for Mother's Day; may sneak in a few herb plants for my bed by the kitchen - lost my rosemary and lavendar this winter, and can't find my sage seed so will snag one of those as well.

Since I didn't sleep much today, I'll have to sleep tomorrow morning when I get home as I would be too tired to be safe around anything sharp, like a hoe I'm scheduled for a 4.4 hour on call shift tomorrow evening 7p-11:30p, so should have the afternoon to get the planters for sweet potatoes and the rows marked out in the gardens. I'm leaving Hubby a note to ask him to find where he put my outdoor extension cords so that if I have time, I can drill the holes for assorted plants - I use an auger on a drill I bought at auction for the purpouse - makes fast work of strawberries, tomatoes, etc... It's supposed to start raining Thursday evening, then rain off and on for two weeks, so I need to get planted what I can tomorrow and Thursday.

So I'll stop lollygagging here and go get some work done outside! Off to the garden!!

 

[anna43]

We're working on our garden too. Dh tilled the potato patch which he shouldn't have done and was laid up for 3 days. Dd and her partner were out Sunday and insisted on helping plant the potatoes so they are done - yippee. The rest of the garden needs tilled before I can plant anything else and no one to do it. Ds usually does but he's in bed with pneumonia. Dd's partner wants to do it but that won't be before the weekend and then depending on weather. Rain is forecast, but since we're still in extreme drought rain tends to go around us.

We had a huge pile of last year's garden trash and a winter's accumulation of downed branches and sticks piled to be burned. It wasn't windy earlier an wasn't supposed to be windy until later in the day so I started the burn pile on fire. Shortly after it started burning the wind came up so we had a huge, hot, somewhat dangerous fire, but it all worked out. Its still smoldering so I'm checking it regularly. If the wind come up as forecast, I'll put the fire out entirely with the hose.

I moved 14 or so wheel barrow loads of finished compost to the garden and helped dh spread it around so the garden is ready to till and plant. Did laundry Monday and Tuesday and hung outside to dry. I love the smell of line dried laundry! We dismantled our old pallet compost bins and started a new pile without a container. Sure looks better, but we will need to figure out some new container before long. I'm voting for steel T posts and fence wire instead of the pallets. I think that would look neater.

Either tomorrow or Friday we need to go to town and do some shopping. Not much in the way of grocery specials this week which seems to be an ongoing theme lately.

 

[patience]

Today I finished cleaning up the woodpile. That involved splitting about 2 ricks of old blocks, stacking that to fill in partial ricks, and then hauling off the rotten stuff and scraps to the compost pile. I'll have a friend bring me a load of horse manure to put on top of all that wood in the compost.

The rebuilt splitter is winner. Now to get to that ditch out front to keep the basement dry. There's a low spot near the front corner of the house that runs rain water toward the basement wall. I'm running a drain away from there, since the alternative would be to dig a LOT of dirt out of the front yard.

 

[moldy]

Worked the last two days, so i haven't gotten much done. I did get about 300 onion sets planted tonight before it got too dark and cold to mess with it. Tomorrow,it's supposed to be rainy and cool - just perfect weather to check the bees again - NOT!

 

[Old Gray Mare]

A few days ago I started a rabbitry. So now we have vicious rabbits. Who knew? The furry little buggers stomp their back feet, bounce around their cage when I try to feed them and have made it plain they do not want to be petted. Maybe it is better that they are more than a little antisocial. It may keep them from becoming "pets" and that should make it easier come rabbit stew time.

Took off yesterday and went fishing. Caught a trout. It may have been legal to keep it but there just wasn't enough meat on it to make it right. I hope to catch him again after he has filled out a little.

 

[summerthyme]

OGM- give them a bit to settle down. Some time and "treats" (apple slices, bits of carrot, etc) will help make friends. However, *some* rabbits are just plain nasty, flighty or otherwise not what you're looking for in a domestic animal! And those too often don't make good mothers (flighty ones see *everything* as a threat, and so will eat their babies at the slightest problem, including the owners coming in to feed, lightning storms, dogs barking outside, etc).

If yours just turn out to not having been handled as youngsters, you can make things easier by keeping a couple of their female offspring and handling them from when they first leave the nestbox. I never cared if ours were "pets", but I didn't want to have to constantly have to corner them in their cage to remove them for breeding, preg checking or basic health care.

If there are children (or sentimental adults!) in the household, we found it worked to tell them they could make pets out of the breeders, but the babies (and there is nothing cuter than a 3 week old baby rabbit!) were MEAT.

Summerthyme

 

[prudentwatcher]

Publix had Arm & Hammer laundry detergent on sale as a BOGO and I had coupons for $2 off 2, so I bought 4 more jugs at a very good price. I tend to stay about 3 years stocked on laundry detergent. Leaving on vacation on Sunday, so no prepping for 2 weeks. You guys have the world hold together until I get back!

 

[ReneeT]

Boy, Spring can sure tire a body out!! Got off work Wednesday morning, stopped and picked up MIL's Mother's Day flowers (and a few other things that fell into my cart ) and dropped them off, then came home, fell into bed and was out like a light. Bless my co-worker for his habit of texting me each evening about the time I usually get up because I'd shut off my alarm and gone back to sleep... Maybe he just wanted to be sure I was coming in to work, since I was working with him that night!

And what a night it was! The 4 hour shift turned into nearly 6 as we walked in the door to two admissions and got hit with two more before we'd even gotten through med pass. I was soooo glad to finish up my charting and hit the door at 0045! Of course, as my co-worker was happy to inform me, nothing happened the rest of the night...

Still bleary-eyed when I crawled out of bed 5 minutes before the cleaning lady got here Thursday morning, but managed to figure out how to make coffee and was soon perking (heh) along at at least half speed. Had enough wits about me to ask CL if she'd be interested in picking up a couple of hours in the off weeks through the summer months, just to whip floors and bathrooms into shape - my day was brightened immeasurably when she said 'Yes!' Now all I have to do is remind Hubs to leave a key for her as I won't be home from work yet by the time she gets started cleaning.

Spent the first hour or so she was there doing dishes and communing with the washer and dryer; then headed in town to do a bit of banking; made no other stops and was back home within the half hour. Then it was time to get serious about the garden! Three tape measures and numerous marking flags later, I had the 3 raised bed frames for the sweet potatoes in place - not filled yet, but at least in place!! They even look moderately straight It's impossible to grow sweet potatoes in our clay soil, but since they are so good for you and we like them so much, we started out growing them in piles of composted manure from the sale barn, but now use framed raised beds filled with the composted manure - which is then spread over that area of the garden when the beds are taken down to harvest the sweet potatoes - dual duty lol!! Did y'all know that sweet potato leaves are edible? Cook 'em like greens!

After I got the beds set, I hauled out the Troy-Bilt Horse and gave both gardens another going over, then returned it to the shed and got out the lawn tractor and trailer. Loaded up the strawberry plants I'd dug from another area, jugs of rain water with a bit of Miracle Grow added, shovel, a just dug rhubarb transplant, another handful of marking flags, box of seeds, 9 ~ 5' T posts and driver, 4 ~50' extension cords and the garden drill with auger attachment. Measured and marked, then augered the holes for the strawberries and got them transplanted in between the sweet potato raised beds; then tucked yellow onion sets in between the strawberry plants. Since I was working in that area, I rummaged through the seed box and planted 2 hills of green zucchini squash on the outer side of one of the sweet potato beds, 2 hills of yellow zucchini on the outer side of the other one.

I have a compost pile made from a cattle panel (16' long x 54" tall) formed into a ring that I use for things that take longer to break down - corn shucks/cobs from putting up sweet corn, etc... and last year had transplanted 3 rhubarb plants around it, interspersed with double flowering daylilly transplants. The area needed a 4th rhubarb to make it look 'even', so transplanting the one I'd dug up was next on the list - didn't want it sitting in the hot sun ~ and it WAS hot yesterday, at least for here in early May - 84*F! Got that done, then it was back to the main garden to plant a row of zinnias down the entire front of the garden - got to lure the honey bees in!! Not to mention that they look awful pretty I got the start of these seeds many years ago when I gave an older fellow several baskets of black walnuts that I'd picked up out of the side yard (and boy do I miss him when it's time to pick those things up!!) He had a magic touch with gardens and always gave me tips on how to do things; though he's been passed on over 10 years now, it always gives me a great deal of pleasure to see the decendents of his flower seed bloom in my garden

Put in a 40" row of spinach ~> golden beets ~> mixed lettuce ~> Chioggia beets ~> spinach - as the lettuce and spinach bolt, I'll replace them with fall cabbage/broccoli plants. Next was a 40" row of mixed green and yellow wax bush beans - I dump the seeds in together and mix them up, then plant them that way as that is how we like to eat them. Last thing in the garden was to measure and flag for where I plan to put 9 indeterminate tomato plants in reinforcing wire cages - did get the t-posts carried to the garden and laid by the flags as well. Then it was time to load everything in the trailer and take tractor and trailer back to the shed. I did carry the fence post driver out the garden and put it on top of one of the sweet potato beds as I planned to leave Hubby a note to please put the posts in.

Had time to rest for just a bit and rehydrate, then it was time to start getting ready for an employee recognition banquet - I was the designated driver. Got to town just a bit early so stopped and picked up a couple of sale items, then gathered up the co-workers and headed for the banquet. I must be getting old - or maybe I can blame the dinner meal lol!! - I was about ready to doze off by the time it was over with at 9pm. Dropped off co-workers and made it home by 10pm, crawled into bed and read for just a few minutes until I conked out. Hubs woke me about 1 am; he had a cough that he couldn't get stopped; finally got him to try some honey and lemon and that calmed it down a bit, but by that time I was wound and couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Finally got up around 8 this morning, lollygagged around in the house a bit, then got dressed for garden work and headed outside. It had started raining last night when I was about 3 miles from home, so I didn't figure I'd be doing any gardening today, but it was just a light rain so I was able to get the T-posts in for the tomatoes (found the note I'd left Hubs under the kitchen table this morning - it was pretty windy so it must have blown off the table when he opened the door to come in from work - suuuure it did ) Planted the three tomato plants I had on hand (lost my wintersown ones this year when the cover blew off and they dried out before I noticed), then got cates set over them and fastened down; plopped cages over the rest of the posts as well, then planted basil and marigold seeds in between the cages.

Headed to a different garden - 10x60 - and put a double row of zinnas down the length facing the road - I'll be transplanting more gooseberry bushes in that area (good deterrent for anyone wanting to sneak into the garden), so left enough area in between the rows of zinnas to do so. The rest of that garden area will be filled with pole bean trellises and mulched melons.

Back to the first garden then, and measured and marked for 4 rows of Golden Bantam sweet corn - an old, open pollinated variety. Word is that you aren't going to be able to find any hybrid sweet corn seed that isn't GM soon Couldn't find my bag of 12-12-12 so put it on Hubby's list for the farm store this evening - TEXTED it to him lol! - and settled for just opening the rows in case I'm able to get it planted this evening - clouds are moving in pretty fast and we are under a severe thunderstorm watch, so I may be about done in the garden for a bit. Then I got the lawn tractor out and dropped the deck to mow the area in front of the 10x60 garden fairly low - we'll be dragging the pole bean trellises out there and laying them out to figure out placement as we put them in. Last thing I did was to grab a shovel and level out an area to set up the new compost bins; then it was time to put everything away and head to the house to get cleaned up.

Here in a bit, I'm heading to town to collect my Mother's Day gift - a massage from daughter. My shoulder and back muscles will be soooo grateful! I'll hit the grocery store after that for a couple of rotisserie chickens (on sale) for supper and my work meals for the weekend, then pick up the grandsons to keep overnight. We're going to stop by a plant sale on the way home if it isn't storming too bad - it benefits activities and improvements in our little town. We'll drop off the chicken at home, then head to a small, nearby greenhouse to see what they have in the line of garden plants - I need more tomatoes and some peppers for sure; wouldn't mind a few more herb plants if I see something I like.

Well, guess I'd better get going ~ take care all; enjoy your weekend!

 

[moldy]

Went to a couple of auctions today - had my eye on a foodsaver, but it went too high. Did buy a self-basting graniteware roaster. Picked up strawberries for 1.25/lb and five little corned beefs for 99c/lb. Came home and worked on planting - DH and DD did the corn, I put in green beans, onions, arugala, spinach, radishes, parsnips, carrots, and probably some more stuff I forgot.