Over the fence chat for week of 2-17-02

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Well, been a while since I have seen anyone start one of these. Guess it says a little something about where we are lately. I figured with so many old-timer type members showing up, this would be a nice thing to start. Used to be we would chat about what we were doing and our plans for the week and just say hello. Got to thinking when I was choring this morning, and wondering when it stopped. Hope you all, as you drop by, will tell us a little about your homestead and what you are up to these days.

We are milking less and enjoying it more here. Got my grow lights all set up and started a box of greens that are just peeking up through today. We had a lot of sunshine yesterday here in Michigan and the old chickens were happy and laid the most eggs they have laid in months. I am having a very hard time restraining myself from starting a whole bunch of seeds cause I have really got the urge bad!! I know if I start them this early it will be a disaster and I will have great big leggy plants that will be ready to plant outside long before the frost free date. hugs and blessings to all......hope you have a great week.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 18, 2002

Answers

Hello Diane, I am new to this forum, any forum! Yours is a wonderful concept and I can see why you would miss it. Just seeing the idea that the forum and all it's information would disappear was very distressing. I'm glad it will continue. We are in the middle of Texas and have been enjoying very mild weather. Like one reader mentioned, we won't have enough freezing to kill out the grasshoppers. My tomato seeds are all sprouted and the baby plants are all in my kitchen window. We have a small greenhouse for early spring before they go out into the garden. I like to sort out the seeds and at least try to get ready to plant when it is time. One of our homestead goals is to raise goats for brush control and milk goats to give us milk and cheese. Our cleared space is limited and most area folks use goats to clear and keep the place cleared. Hope you also have a blessed week. Michigan, huh? Guess it is quite a while until Spring for you. Nita

-- Nita Holstine (nita@phancypages.com), February 18, 2002.

Diane, what a welcome site to see the chat again. I guess we've all been a bit lax on keeping it going, should have put in more effort I guess. It kind of lost its charm when Cindy in Ky. had to give it up. Maybe we'll all try harder.

I've been busy getting my seed starting operation up and going in my living room. Got some eggplant, peppers and parsley going. The peppers are slowly growing. Seems they're unusually getting off to a slow start this year. Glad I planted them earlier than usual. I started some lavendar a few days ago and am hoping for the best. Read somewhere where they are hard to germinate, but am keeping my fingers crossed. If all the seeds I planted germinate, I'll have tons of them! :) This Saturday I'll be starting the tomatoes. Can't hardly wait, they're my favorites!

A few weeks ago when the weather was warm, I got alot done outside in the yard. It's suppose to be near 60 degrees today, so I'm sitting here waiting for it to warm up so I can get to work out there. Got alot of refiguring the garden and new beds to make and will be running out of time if the weather doesn't cooperate. Spring will be upon us and I'm hoping I'll have the garden ready for the plants!

Thanks Diane for something familiar. Hope you have a great week, too.

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), February 18, 2002.


Hi Diane! Good plan starting this thread again.

I'm having the same spring fever bug that you are. 2 more weeks before I can start transplants indoors. I finished my paper starter pots last night so now it's on to the seed tapes. I have the carrots half done, then I'm going to do radsihes, beets, turnips and onions. Thank goodness there's plenty of time before I have to lay them out!

Hubby worked on the chicken coop this weekend for me. One or two more weekends and we'll be ready for the new chickies. I can hardly wait til April when they come!! I'm a little nervous about our first chickens - I so want to be a good mom to them so they lay lots of big brown eggs and fry up really nice for us!

The snow is almost all gone and one end of the pond is looking a little wet so it won't be long til the ice is gone. We've had such a wonderfully productive winter without a bunch of snow to limit us.

Happy President's Day and have a wonderful week!

Stace

-- Stacey (stacey@lakesideinternet.com), February 18, 2002.


Well, with everything that's going on, I am glad to see this!!Thanks Diane! Since, the last chat--I have three new healthy calves. Two delivered w/out any help and one we 'pulled'(boy, was that a job!).

I have started 40 tomato seed. Ten different varieties! Will start ten more plants (same varieties) in two weeks.

I have feritlized my orchard and will treat my beehives as soon as the weather gets less windy and warms a few degrees! Bees for two new hives will arrive in a few weeks so I'll need to put the wooden ware together--I painted it last week!

Happy planting to all!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), February 18, 2002.


What a good idea, Diane!

We are in NW Oregon and have had a good, cold winter- that's more than a dozen hard frosts and around a foot of snow...really wintery for us. Expecting a lot less bug trouble this summer because of it.

We have started broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and 20 tomatoes (eating type) and will start the Romas for canning this week. Re- pooped the big garden and finished the new raised bed last week. Can't wait until time to 'til.

The chicken tractors should be done next weekend so we can find a few eggs:) And the Christmas chicks are out and about and getting really big....should be laying about May.

The does are 4 and 6 weeks from kidding and we are so excited for our first babies. The llama is a such a mess that I doubt we get any fiber off him this year but needs sheared as soon as possible. (We just got him and he hasn't been groomed right.)

The humans are trying frantically to stay on task with homeschool so that we can have at least a month off this summer!

Wow, sounds busier than it has really seemed:) Can't wait to hear what everyone else is doing!

-- Cara Dailey (daileyd@agalis.net), February 18, 2002.



Ditto. Good Idea Diane. And thanks Annie, miss you too. After I did the chat for a long time, we all were going to do a sort of round robin with it. I started my own website hosting, and boy, does that keep me busy. I am constantly sending up new pages, but I do love it.

Our big news is that we got our first tractor! It's an early 50's Allis Chamler, runs good, and was very reasonable. This is very exciting for us. Now we need a pull behind bush hog and a plow to grade our 1/2 mile rutty, bumpy, rocks stickin' out road.

I am also excited about it being MARCH in two weeks! Yeah, garden here I come, I just love my garden, being in the garden, thinkin' about the garden, all of the above. Everyone just stares in awe at my big garden and says I'm nuts, but I allready knew that. What does one do with 10 gallons of tomatoes every other day? he he he

I have 2 tiny pigmy goat babies, both girls, so this puts it up to 6 so far this year, but these are the first pigmys. Man they are little. I'm getting a gallon of milk a day just milking 2 does in the morning, and I leave the kids with them the rest of the day. NOT the pigmy! My good Saanens.

Let's see who is going to be the first one to eat a ripe strawberry this year. Hope I win!

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), February 18, 2002.


Hello Diane, we're all done milking, dried the last doe off two or three weeks ago. The first to kid is due on the 24th. Not much of a break, but I am looking forward to the new kids!

It has been very sunny here with startling blue skies. Still lots of snow, but so warm that you can go out in shirt sleeves. My little boy actually ran around shirtless yesterday!

Winter is our slow time. I haven't started any plants yet or even made a seed order. Been working on several quilts with hand piecing and applique. The days just seem to drag by when does are due to kid soon! There is a quilt meeting tomorrow and square dance lessons on Sunday nights so that helps pass the time.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 18, 2002.


OH my I'm not done with my hibernation yet. I only get my fiber work done in the winter and don't have all that done yet and the bulbs are up and the geese are movin' Hopin' for a good garden so gonnea go plant some peas today and see what happens.Then back to the quilt I'm in the middle of and the spinning and the lockerhooking I have started and tryin' to catch up on magazines. Got a banana bread in the oven. Got the goat milked and the sheep and chickens fed. They are startin' to lay With chicks comin' in March I hope to get the brooder area ready. Lamburgers for supper so that will keep the guys happy. Now for the housecleaning. God bless Cindy

-- Cindy (hollo@bitwisesystems.com), February 18, 2002.

I had a pleasant morning pruning blackberries: I had such a time with it last year with all of the wind and rain I forgot it is USUALLY a fun job. All I could hear was the birds singing and the wind roaring through the trees. It was warm, windy, and slightly overcast; no traffic sounds. Who could ask for a better winters day in Kansas? The children and my husband were inside, and I felt a hundred miles from civilization!

Pruning the berries is easy because I use my own pruning method: any vines I want to remove I just nip into foot-long pieces, starting with whatever is in front of me and in my way, and let them drop. That means I don't need to remove and bundle those long, thorny canes. I didn't bother with gloves, either! I didn't need them. (though I WILL need them when I reach into the bushes to remove the dead canes) I cut 4-5 foot wide walkways into the thickets, then I will use the two-handed loppers to cut away anything over my head. I can remove the bits in the walkway with a rake, but I just leave the short pieces to decompose where they fall around the bases of the bushes. I try to limit the width of the rows of berries to about 4 feet. I like the bushes to be tall and not at all dense, so that I get lots of fruit while still having the bushes loose enough to allow air in, to discourage disease and pests. It's easier to pick a loose bush, also, as my blackberries have rather more than their share of thorns!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 18, 2002.


Diane, although I'm fairly new to both the forum and magazine, I'm feeling very comfortable wit you all, so I'll jump in on the chat. You all are making me very jealuos taking about planting! With a frost-free date of June 15th, all I've done is check the saved seeds to see what needs to be ordered. The temps have been so cold here in northern New Mexico this year that I've done as little as possible outside. We are working inside to finish our home. We bought it unfinished. We're putting in 2 new windows in the living room this week and doing the drywall tape/mud/sand bit. I'm going to hate it when we reach the kitchen! After reading what you all have been up to, I think I'm going to try my hand at seed tapes this Thurs. I've never done this before, so should be interesting! Maybe I'll get the grow lights out, find a little open area and start something growing, besides sprouts! Nice chatting with you all, and glad to hear there will be many more weeks of this to come! Sure have been lreaning a lot from everyone. Blessings all!

-- Michelle in NM (naychurs_way@hotmail.com), February 18, 2002.


Thanks for sharing everyone.......cheered me up considerably.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 18, 2002.

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