Author Archives: Sandy

Dangmoles, greenhouse greens, and alpine strawberries

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Sandy

I’ve complained about moles so much that my four-year-old son thinks the official name for a mole is “dangmole.” “Look, it’s a dangmole hole!” We’ve had problems with moles in this yard forever, so I’m not sure why it didn’t occur … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Early spring gardening and delayed gratification

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Sandy

One nice thing about keeping a gardening blog is that you can go back to previous posts and remember what you did and enjoyed about the year before. This is especially nice when the garden requires lots of work but … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Arrested development: Tomato seedling diagnostic help needed

Posted on March 6, 2010 by Sandy

Hmm.  This isn’t looking good.  I planted these tomato seedlings a little over two weeks ago. The seeds germinated pretty quickly for tomato seeds and started to grow. I kept the grow lights low so the plants wouldn’t get too … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Muck and other yucky stuff

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Sandy

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a teenage nephew in want of money will be willing to muck out a goat barn. Thankfully, this was the case today. Following of the “deep bedding” methodology, we don’t clean out the goat barn often.  We layer … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Livestock | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Birds and bees and kiwi

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Sandy

After a brief winter hiatus, the chickens are now laying at normal levels again.  From our eight chickens, we’re getting 5 – 6 eggs a day, which translates into over three dozen eggs a week.  For a family of four, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Livestock | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Photo album: Greenhouse in February, 2010

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Sandy

I love my greenhouse.  This will be the second full year we’ve had the structure and I continue to be thankful that we have it. Although we don’t use it exactly as originally planned (we were never able to get the heat … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Homesteading | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Seed starting chaos

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Sandy

 I buy too many seeds. There are two reasons for this: 1. I can’t resist the plant descriptions and always buy more varieties than I really need, and 2. My seed storage is such a mess I can never stay on … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Follow the sun: Organic fruit tree care

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Sandy

When a gardener gets a beautiful sunny day in February, it cannot be wasted. By noon on Saturday, our temperatures were hitting the sixties, the sun was out in full force, and wind was minimal. It was the absolutely perfect … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Seed starting: It’s not even February and I’m aready behind schedule

Posted on January 31, 2010 by Sandy

Laura over at The Modern Victory Garden has a wonderful seed starting schedule for Pacific Northwest gardeners to follow. I am woefully behind already. This is OK because Laura is in the thick of planting cabbages and other Brassica plants and I am not planning … Continue reading →

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Everything is better with butter

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Sandy

 Sometimes I’m both flabbergasted and humbled by all the things I don’t know how to do.  Today, I made butter for the first time.  I had never even thought about making butter before.  In our convenience world of ready-made everything, we’ve really lost … Continue reading →

Posted in Homesteading | Tagged | 2 Comments