05.11.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 9:39 am by Lynette
I know, I know, I’ve been terrible updating the blog lately. I promise to be better. Here are some family pictures from this past weekend.
The grandbaby is 1 in a couple of weeks so we celebrated while having dinner.
Since it was a nice day, we went outside and played in the dirt. She go dirty and learned that sticks don’t taste good.
Finally I got pictures of the baby holders I made to sell when I vend. This is the oldest and baby standing outside the almost finished chicken coupe’.
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05.02.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 5:53 am by Lynette
Living in a new house on land that has never been gardened before brings it’s own challanges. When I look back I see just how much we’ve accomplished in this past year. Unfortunately there are still things that were on the list way back then that are not done. Like painting the garage!
The vegetable garden is growing and the greenhouse is packed with vegetable starts waiting. I pushed the envelope this year in regard to setting out plants. Who knew we would have a biting cold wind along with show fluries in late April. My best guess for the last frost date was April 15, I’ve now moved it out to April 30th.
Neighbors and friends have donated wood shavings for mulch and carpet for the walkways. The white stuff in the distance is plastic attached to the deer fence. It worked fairly good to stop the wind from blowing everything over. But when is blows 35 MPH and is 37 degrees….well you get the idea.
Though I’m not a particularly tidy gardener, my garden doesn’t need to be weed free or organized to perfection, I do like things in rows with the goal of appealing to my eye.
Another friend donated the white PVC irrigation pipe which I hung inside the greenhouse. My water system is gravity fed and there is enough umph in the water pressure to use this system. It works pretty good but everything gets totally wet. I still prefer to hand water once a week.
Finally we’re comming along nicely on the Stockade for the Chicken Moat. I got the idea for the chicken moat from this link. All the materials except the nails and roof supplies have been scrounged. I figure this chicken house needs to hold 50 birds, half of which will be butchered 60 days after I get them from the hatchery.
Here is a great link that talks about building with recycled wood pallets. I’ve found that most are free and that there are many kinds of pallets out there for the taking.
All in all, we are busy and I am finally beginning to get the feeling that I live here. Up until recently it has felt like we were vising the as time goes by and we make progress, I feel more settled.
Remember, since it is the first of May it is time to plant some lettuce. Happy gardening!
A final note, it is the kittie’s birthday. 
They got a new set of ping pong balls to play with and each had their own can of ‘wet’ cat food. They didn’t like it!
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04.26.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 11:47 am by Lynette
Yes, my youngest son has been sick all week with flu symptoms. We finally went to the Dr. on friday and got meds for his swollen tonsils. I asked the Dr. if he had the flu he said who knows, probably but we’ll treat the tonsillitis.
So we’re on day 7 and now he is up chucking but the fever is gone and the cough seems to be easing up.
All this talk about Swine Flu has me concerned.
I ‘ll definitely be using those cart disinfectors at the grocery store from now on.
Flu update 5/1
A return trip to the Dr. involved a big shot in DJ’s rump and pills to stop the nausea. After 20 minutes he looked at me and said I’m hungry. He hasn’t stopped eating yet.
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04.08.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 11:56 am by Lynette
Starting a garden from scratch is a daunting task. I’ve reclaimed lawn in the past for a garden but this is different. What we have here is virgin land. All it has ever been is coastal forest. This is a good and bad thing.
The good is the soil is fantastic. Full of organic matter light and fluffy because the garden is located at the bottom of a draw. The bad is getting all the tree roots and branches cleaned out from the logging that took place over a year ago.
I did a PH test last weekend and the nitrogen, as expected, was low. Because this is a spruce/alder forest I expected a fairly high acid reading. Actually it came out 6.5 which is workable. The potassium, potash and phosphorus were all low so as I’ve been building beds I’ve been adding the amendments and tilling with my mantis.
I’m going for the raised bed garden as raised beds will help heat up the soil faster and I like a geometric garden layout.
Yesterday while watering I saw one of the two small helpers who live in the greenhouse. There must be plenty to eat otherwise I don’t think they would be there.
I have two frogs living in the greenhouse. This one seems to like to crook neck squash starts, the other likes the tomatoes. As I said, every little helper helps.
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03.30.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 10:00 am by Lynette
I’ve been laying low recovering from surgeries, trying not to aggravate my recuperation. One thing I have been able to do is get seedlings going for this year’s garden. My plan is the help feel our adult children’s families so that means I am growing for 8. Plus I want to offset the outlay for seeds, soil and labor so I need to grow enough for the Farmer’s Market.
The name of my market garden ‘business’ is Rill Gardens. I’ve secured www.rillgardens.com and will post weekly through the summer what I will have at the farmer’s market. Hopefully I can get pre-orders for vegetable starts and get a good email data base of local customers.
What the heck is this? Hanging tubes. I use 6″ light sewer PVC with drilled out slices. I plant 3 lettuce starts in each opening. This is a wonderful idea my friend told me about. This way I can grow vertically as well as on the ground. The lettuce stays clean and is at a good level to pick.
Here is a couple tables with starts. This year I’m growing so many things I’ve never grown before I have to label everything. Each label says what it is, who I got it from and any specific growing info. I’m also branching out into Heritage seeds so I can collect my own seeds.
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03.01.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 9:36 pm by Lynette
18 days and 2 surgeries later I think I’m on he mend. I still have some residual head pain but every day that is getting better. My surgeon is gone for 10 days so I hope all will continue to heal. I do not want to make another emergency trip to Coos Bay, 2 hours away.
All those who I talked with that said this sinus surgery would be painful, well, were kind-a correct. But Pain meds are a good thing plus I’ve had great Dr. support.
NEXT
Today was chicken butcher day. How many people does it take to process 9 chickens? Well, 6. We got the kinks out by the end of the 1.5 hour process and the next time it will go smoother.
NEXT
Today was also the final try-outs for the next play at the performing arts center. We have about 18 – 20 kids/adults try out for parts in Grease. I can hardly wait to see who got what. I think the results will be emailed tomorrow.
NEXT
Rain, rain and loads more rain sure makes working in the yard difficult. But with the greenhouse up and running I’ve started the spring planting. We also had a friend start cutting a 10 foot border to the formal garden for the chicken moat. I have 28 eggs in the incubator that will be hatching in a few days and I’ll need to make room for the existing chickens to live as the babies will take over their coop.
FINALLY
I can get back to sock production tomorrow. This past 2.5 weeks has made me feel guilty as I’ve been recouperating from the surgery. But tomorrow it’s back to the grind or crank so I can get those orders waiting since January out.
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02.13.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 8:35 am by Lynette
I had my sinus surgery on Wednesday. This isn’t what I would call eye candy Friday but…here is the latest in post sinus surgery garb. The nose diaper
I thank you all for your good thoughts. I’m doing fine and once again can say, pain pills are a good thing.
Enjoy your weekend!
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02.06.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 10:55 am by Lynette
So we’ve moved to virgin land that has only been forest since the beginning of time.
I decided to landscape with only edibles. Things I can eat. This is more difficult than you may think but I’ve discovered an interesting sub culture. There are people out there who only graze through nature. Acutally they are called foragers. Here is one from the UK. He teaches courses.
Here is the guy from the US who is the expert. He’s a bit freaky looking.
I ordered a deck of Wild Cards for all ages. Edible wild foods. You can buy them on his web page. I never new you could eat dock weed. Hmmm. I’m a sucker for anything nature related and informative. It must be the past home school mom in me.
Today to got some Palm Date seeds in the mail. Yes, they will grow here. They are currently soaking in a warm bath for 24 hours. Then, according to the directions on the packet, I have to plant in a sandy loam that is a bit wet. They have to live in a bright space so I guess that means hooking up the plant lights.
Won’t the neighbors think I’m out of my mind when I have date palms growing down the road? Of course, it will likely take 10 years to actually get any height. Who knows if we’ll still be here. Who knows how to harvest them. Who knows how long it takes to acually get dates. And the most important question…do deer eat them.
Onward I go in search of ’stuff to eat and grow’. If you come accross anything, let me know.
Oh, by the way, I came up with a great name for a business today. As I was driving the kids to school there was a bunch of crows feasting on a carcus. How about ‘Crow Recycling’ for a business that, well, recycles? They could have crows on their sign. No carcus’ though.
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02.03.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 9:49 am by Lynette
I first heard these lyrics when I was 17. At that time I was the standard ‘troubled’ teen age girl. Unsure of my future, trapped living in an adult mobile home park with my parents where the next youngest person was 42 years old. Riding the bus to and from school for over an hour a day. Basically no contact with my own kind except school. I could not participate in school activities, I was geeky, I had no boyfriend because I was less than attractive. You get the image.
This morning when the kids and I were driving to school this song came on the radio. I’ve been looking for a song that fits into my voice range and this one is the ticket. I have to sing the song A cappella to try out for our local performing arts group. You see, I’m trying out for an adult part in Grease. This will be the first time I’ve done anything like this and, needless to say, I’m a bit freaked out about it.
Anyway with all the ‘unrest’ and economic woes, this song is relavant. Perhaps you remember it too.
When you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. when times get rough
And friends just cant be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
Ill take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
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01.30.09
Posted in Redwood Living at 3:53 pm by Lynette
I’ve been trying to be consistant and write down how many eggs my 5 hens lay each day. The count for January 2009 is….drum roll please.
105! Wow, to me that is alot for 5 hens in the dead of winter. You go girls!
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