Greetings, All. Much to do here in the Spring.
I hope all of you are well. We are experiencing Spring here in SE Minnesota, a little later this year than last. We are zone 4 and cannot plant anything yet because last freeze is around Mother’s Day. But, we can get out into the garden and do maintenance. Days in the 60s with nights around freezing make great working weather.
I covered the new strawberry bed with compost, dug it in slightly, then transplanted 38 plants into the wood-framed bed we created last fall. I then covered the bed with netting to make sure no critter can get in. The little mice and voles will though. I don’t think the freezes that will come will be hard enough to kill the transplants. I took them from the walkway around the bed we have had for the last few years. We were chased in by a rain squall today, so perhaps I can de-grass that original strawberry bed tomorrow since it has been dry here lately. Then, on to taking out the old raspberry canes from the patches in the woods to make getting to this year’s crop easier. Need to get a lot more compost for the vegetable beds that were not prepared last fall. We are getting slower on working the gardens because we do not have the muscle strength and stamina we did when we moved here ten years ago. Shorter work days.
The currants came back! We though we had lost them to the neighbors herbicide spray. I was concerned about them turning black last fall and losing all of their leaves but they have good leaf buds. So I will do some trimming on them to open them up.
No asparagus yet. Nor any flowering fruit trees. The trees will bloom next month.
Hubby has been installing new fence posts. Some were rotting, and others had the fencing falling down. We need to keep the larger critter out – deer. I don’t know how to get rid of the pocket gopher that is in one of the gardens. We were not successful with trapping last year and it is still here this spring. We’ll try again. I do not know if that is what ate the cabbage or not.
The 2-ft long garden planter box that I put the lettuce in is doing well in a west window with an additional lamp. We have enjoyed a few leaves from it. In the south window, in the new “seedling shelving”, I just do not have enough lights. The light order I made is still out of stock. The seedlings for the cole crops are not getting enough light and are really straggly. On the other hand, the tomatoes in the same spot are doing ok. At least the stems of the tomatoes can be planted deeper and create more roots. I don’t think that broccoli or cabbage like to be planted so deeply. They are going outside every day to take advantage of the sunlight and warmth.
We are enjoying slices of warm homemade bread with butter and homemade jelly. Hubby has made our bread for the last several years. However, it does not do well as a “bun” because it will not hold together. There is more work to do on his recipe.
Beef shanks are simmering in the pot to can beef and barley soup later today. I had been trying to empty the freezer of odds and ends. I found some chicken wings that were five years old; they had been cooked and kept in a vacuum-sealed package. Tasted just fine with barbecue sauce. A couple other things, such as some pork, had not fared as well. Little by little I am emptying the freezer, through meals and canning, so I can put more in after the garden is harvested.
I had to get my prescription meds the other day so we took the opportunity to do some shopping. Got some fresh vegetables and fruits, then went to the fabric store. Our Joann Fabric, and Walmart, are 20 miles away so we think twice or three times before running to that town. The staff of both stores were all wearing masks; Walmart was spraying its carts and put plexiglass up at the pharmacy. The fabric store was limiting customers.
I told my daughter and her family that I wanted to make masks for each of them. Each person have their own special fabric color/pattern so they knew who was wearing what. She ordered over $300 dollars worth of fabric to be sent to me, in two-yard minimum cuts. I have no idea how many pieces she ordered. Choosing the appropriate fabric and getting it ordered was a chore in itself. It will arrive in the next few days. We should have gotten it two months ago when there was snow on the ground and I had the time to sew and not worry about preparing garden beds. $300+ means dozens of yards of fabric = how many masks? She said she wanted to contribute somehow to help others and decided that SHE could purchase the fabric and I could do the sewing and then WE can donate the masks. Nice of her to volunteer me; but, I offered. Sorta.
It is getting more difficult to handle my husband. I need to be more patient. Besides needing hearing aids, he is just not paying attention. He wanted to change something on his email and I told him where to go to do it, the upper right corner of his email inbox screen. He confused his desktop with the internet page then complained that I was wrong. I tell him about A, and B, and C, and he thinks I have said AC and cannot hear the differences. This is a man with a PhD who has been very sharp and insight-full. His recent lack of understanding has to do with short-term memory skills and listening, thinking instead of hearing to understand, and I think a couple TIAs. The problem is, when I tell him he has not heard me correctly, and ask him to stop talking so he can understand, he tells ME to stop that he understands just fine. I know “better and worse.” Patience is something I need to work on. I have never suffered fools lightly and unfortunately my husband is not able to input new materials. His old memories are fine – too fine; I am getting stories more frequently now. And he talks to the television when we are watching a news program that we need to be LISTENING to. I am very grateful for TIVO instant replay. He is also verbalizing all of the steps he is taking for whatever project he is undertaking. As if I need to know what to enter where, or know where he just placed his screwdriver. Ah, yes. 81 years old. He has threatened to live for another 30 years. I won’t be able to handle it. I just won’t get my hearing aids then I won’t hear his mistakes. As long as he is not misinterpreting things that could be dangerous, things are fine.
I am trying to talk my daughter into purchasing a freezer. With four teenage boys in the house they need more than their refrigerator. The convincing is not going well. Plus, the supply of freezers is – nearly non-existent. All from China I suppose. She would need to create a place for it, too, in a small house or in her garage. If she orders one now, she would get it when they can pay for it and when they should be stocking up for the fall surge of Covid cases. Still, I just cannot reason with her. She thinks that I am “prepper-scared” because I “see” more than is actually there. She should know by now that I am not “scared” because I do “see” ahead, am able to plan, and am usually correct.
Seeing clearly ahead is a benefit of the hive-mind of this club. For that, thanks to all of you and to Daisy for starting the Prep Club.
Best wishes and stay safe.