I haven't seen the chat lately so I thought I'd jump in and start it this time.

We have been blessed with beautiful weather so the gardening and outdoor work continues. I thinned the carrots today(just hate doing that!!) and saved some of the bigger ones with the greens for eating. Do any of you folks eat the carrot greens?

The smaller carrot greens went to baby goat who liked the green part. She is bottle fed but should be eating some goat chow now --but stubbornly won't. She is loved by all the family and spoiled rotten.

Planted some garlic from the larger bulbs on the outer edge of a clump I bought at the grocery store--we'll see.

Going to make some manure tea today for my garden--how long should it "steep"? I wonder.

I'd like to get some onion sets out there before it's too cold. Sowed some saved perennial seeds to see if they will come up in the spring after being "tempered" by winter temperatures.

Hope you are all well and happy. Did I give you enough to ponder?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), December 05, 2001

Answers

Yes ms. markson isn't the weather just a giggle? being december & all! -------------------------------------------- It has let me get many more fall projects/chores done than usual, so now i'm down to procrastinating & taking long luhches on line!

Hmm, maybe i should divide up those 'multiplier' onions i was given this last spring...hmm, maybe friday...

I let my 'tea' steep until there is a green tint or lumpys on top. the practice being if it is 'cooled' enought to grow algae it's not too hot for my plants.

Wow! you are a healthy one! eating the tops of carrots?! i've only known deer to do that.

Well & happy here, thanks.

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), December 05, 2001.

Isn't the weather a riot? I'm starting to wonder if we are going to get winter this year or not. Mind you-I wouldn't be disapointed if we DID miss winter! The kids would miss the sledding, but I don't miss changing the chickens frozen water dishes AT ALL!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), December 05, 2001.

Hi there, I'll try a bit of chat, always seem to run out of anything to say, (other than answering questions) I was brought up thinking that if someone whated me to know something about them they would tell me, but I am learning that some people like to be asked because that means you care, (it is harder to learn than you might think),

Our weather in OKC is on again, off again, it is suposed to get cold again tonight, and I've got my stove ready to light. My teenage son brought wood in last night, so it will have a day or two to dry out before the rest of the inside pile was used up.

My sister is having a baby today, she called about 1am to tell me her water broke, both of our brothers where at her house to watch her older boy,(They all live in Tulsa) Her oldest is 8 years old and just 2 months younger than my youngest, [My oldest will be 17 in Feb. and is currently planing to enter the military then.]

I haven't had much of a garden this year because of our puppies, they destroyed most of the plants by running through the plot after they climbed and smashed the wire fence, I like to use seaweed and fish emulsion for spraying, and I've been learning about worm tea brewing, it is bubbled with an air stone to grow more good bacteria than just soaking, it sounds like it will be more cost effective than buying the seaweed and fish stuff. I've always mixed my garden teas thin enough that they look like tea to drink.

I've used the tops of carrots for seasoning, but haven't eaten them strait other than just a nibble, well, I better go, I have to get my oldest from work, before we go to Tulsa. Have a good one.....

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), December 05, 2001.

Isn't this the craziest weather??? It was warm enough yesterday to feel humid - seems more like spring than fall. I think the grass around here is even starting to turn green again. Part of me would love it to stay like this, the other part is anxious for that first snow and ice skating on the pond. We only have a couple fall chores left - finish the sidewalk to our 'winter' parking area and chop some more wood. I would finish mulching the garden but we ran out of mulch. No biggie - we'll finish in the spring with grass clippings. Can't wait for deer season to be over so we can take the dog for a romp in the woods again.

Question: are you planting onions and garlic now so they come up right away in the spring? If so, where do you live - I'd like to try that since the weather is cooperating so well.

Have a great day! Stace

-- Stacey (stacey@lakesideinternet.com), December 05, 2001.

It is a beautiful day here..but on the chilly side. It has been getting below 40 at night...which is cold here. We are on hill and get a really cold wind every day at some point. But.....the sun is out and the kids are napping..life is good. My 5 month old hens started laying the last couple days..which was wonderful. I had to actually BUY eggs last week...ugh! I usually have at least a couple hens who keep going all the time. Gave some oldies away though this year...maybe that was it. But..new ones will be done molting and hopefully will start laying again soon. And have the even younger ones who will start laying early spring. We have had alot of rain off and on...none yesterday or today yet though.We have had alot more rain than usual for this season already. I don't know anyone here who plants onions or garlic now to pick in spring..I think they would rot in the fields here. We do have farmers who grow broccoli and that sort of thing all year..in the flatter areas than us. Our family made gingerbread houses on Monday night. What fun. Even the big sons did it. One girlfriend of older son too. They turned out great and everyone had a good time. We listened to corny old Christmas music and all ate too much candy. Could hardly get youngest to sleep afterwards. I use manure tea alot....I agree...when it gets greenish...or brown like real tea...or lumps on top..its usually ready. I use rabbit manure alot just straight and don't bother making the tea, but have used chicken poop alot. We call it hen poop soup...makes a great fertilizer!!!!! The roses love it!! I will be cookie baking tommorrow and Friday. Have cookies to take to a cubscout pack meeting tommorrow night, a church christmas party Friday night, and a live nativity thing on Saturday night. I guess I volunteered a little more than I meant to this time! It will be fun though.The kids can help. Talked to oldest son and his wife in Kentucky this week and they are very excited about the coming baby. I can hardly wait to be a granny!! (in July) I sure wish we could see them for Christmas. This will be the second one since they moved to Kentucky, and we haven't seen them in a year and 3 months now!!!!!! It dosn't get any easier!! Even though the other 3 boys are still at home and no sign of moving out, I wish oldest were closer! Now more than ever!! I hope you all have a great week. And I hope you are all more ready for Christmas than I am. I am still trying to get it all done!!

-- Jenny (auntjenny6@aol.com), December 05, 2001.

Record high yesterday, around 72. I spent the whole day cleaning out the cow barn and lot. It finially dried out after all that rain we had. There was a 3 foot pile in the lot, just full of huge worms. I put a nice warm layer of manure on my rows in the garden to keep it toasty for the winter. My achin back, that stuff is heavy.

I got my goat barn all bedded down for the winter too. And day before yesterday, cleaned out all the rabbit house and cages and spread on the rows. That stuff is allot easier to move than the cow poopie.

Today I have to clean out the summer goat barn, and move the rabbits in there, like a coloney. Gonna try it again. I'm gonna lay chicken wire on the floors, it's 16 x 16. I don't like them in the cages, I would rather they have a big home to live in. I hope they all can get along well. I've allready had a talk with them.

And I need to make a place for some chickens. An enclosed place. No running around anymore.

We traded a 5 month old Jersey calf for a 24 x 16 metal building, we have to take down. The building is going out by the front pasture, for my future sheep, Katadin (found a local breeder), and the agility equipment for the dogs, and my wood cookstove. It's allready full and we haven't even got it yet! Love this weather, hope it stays like this till May.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 06, 2001.

I love the Over the Fence and miss it when it's not here. Can anyone join or is it a particular group of you write? Who starts it? Love it almost as much as I'm loving our unseasonably warm fall.

-- Rosalie (deatline@globalsite. net), December 06, 2001.

bj pepper: I don't eat the carrot greens--was wondering if anyone does.

Thumper: I hope the baby arrive safely and the mother is resting comfortably. You mentioned using carrot greens for seasoning--in what? How?

Stacey:--to tell you the truth I don't know a thing about growing garlic at this time of year. I live in mid south Tenn (I don't usually mention that in my signature because it is part of my email address but perhaps I should start)I've heard that you can plant garlic here at this time and that there are enough accumulated warm days to harvest garlic and onions BEFORE you plant your spring garden. We'll see. I'll let you know the results.

Cindy: doesn't it feel good when you work hard and can see progress? Glad to hear all that manure is being put to good use!

Rosalie: Anyone can participate! The more the merrier!

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001.

HEy, I'm gonna get on here too. Our weather here in Ill. had been great but it is coolin' down a bit now. May flurry tomorrow but the weatherman isn't always right!! I have most of my outside work done and am itchin' to get my spinning wheel going. I rug in the interim in the evenings but there is still stuff to do outside. I picked a cauliflower yesterday the was as big as my largest dinner plate and it was SO yummy my teens finished it off before I could cook it. I homeschool 3 highschoolers so I stay busy. The sheep, goats and llama are still on pasture and the chickens are still layin' so you could say it has been a GREAT fall. The garden is sittin' under at least 6 inches of leaves and hay/manurejust waitin' for spring. I planted spinach and radishes just in case it stays nice. At 9 cents a pack I won't lose much. The barn is full, the pantry is overflowing and the freezers (plural) are so full I have to weigh them down to keep them closed. YEP, its a great year and a great life. Cindy

-- Cindy (hollo@bitwisesystems.com), December 07, 2001.

We plant garlic in the fall (in northern Mn) and mulch it. It comes up in the spring, though during one particularly warm fall, it started coming up till it got real cold. We plant it as close to the ground freeze-up as we can estimate. I'm amazed it didn't poke through the soil this year..we had a very warm, snowless November till the end.

I'm really enjoying our new chickens (8 hens, one rooster). This is the first farm-type animal I've ever had! (My husband had ducks and chickens when he was a kid, but I grew up in the city). I love these chickens! Just listening to them talk is so relaxing. One of them lays green eggs. Does anyone know if an easter egger (one hen) can ever lay different colors, or will she always stick with green? Our rooster does crow, but it's at 4 AM (way before sunrise), in a pretty tight coop, so we don't hear him unless we happen to be outside.

Plans for the future..fruit trees and bushes..we have none. Maybe goats. Maybe ducks.

Have a good week.

-- Cat (catcrazy@somewhere.com), December 07, 2001.

Hi all, so nice to read of all the activities still going on. It is STILL warm enough here in Western MT, to go out and do yard work,,in just a sweat shirt or 2,,The weather is so unusual. But will take it,,and get some added chores done ,,,Mostly 40s daytime temps and colder at night,,varies. Guess winter will set in here eventually,,I wouldn't mind a "mild" winter.

Lots of snow north of us,,ski resorts are opening,,,although a couple weeks behind schedule..... :-) Take good care,,,

-- Patsy, MT (cozyhollow-gal@care2.com), December 08, 2001.

Cat, the way you tell what color egg your araucana hen will lay is to check behind her ear. What ever color is there is what she lays. Yes, chickens have ears! Look for the fluffy patch behind her eyes. Separate that and the color will show.

My hens lay different shades of the same color depending on the time of year, their condition, what they eat, etc.

Aren't they fun?

-- Mick (CackleberryAcres@aol.com), December 08, 2001.

Have not had time to check this out or have missed it. Anyway glad to see it again! Have been busy making apple sauce and apple everything I can think of that will can. My apple trees and Italian prune plum trees were loaded this year. I have frozen plums bulging my freezer to make chutney with. Make two batches a week and can. Have enough made for Christmas presents. Have dozens of different recipes for chutney if anyone would like one for your excess fruit. Am so glad gardening is over for a few months, and I can concentrate on some decorative painting. Had a strong wind that blew one side of my pallet compost pile in center of garden down, that I must get out and fix before the next wind. Am planning on going to square foot gardening next year. Here on Olympic Peninsula in WA, we've had lots of rain this fall, no snow as yet, get some about every 4 years and this is the year we are due. The chickens and Pekin ducks are finally over their molt and am getting eggs again. I only eat the duck eggs, love them, they are great soft boiled.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), December 08, 2001.

G'day folks, and now I'm hankering for my new garden even more... My Mom and Dad have written off about a 1/2 acre of their property as unmanageable - they say it's mine to do with as I please... Hellooooo homestead garden. I'm starting small, a veggie, herb garden with a couple of fruit trees... I found out Starks went out of business the other day and like to have cried. I know you folks have big gardens planned for next year, don't you?

-- Connie L (MykellSilver@aol.com), December 12, 2001.