These days my time is consumed with garden cleanup when we get the occasional warmer day, quilting when the weather does not permit gardening and canning. We have so much wood and prunings to burn from all the fruit tree pruning and cleanup we have been doing. We struggle to get it all burned since we still have to get state burn permits until April and with winds they have not been issuing them.
My sweet potatoes in water are sprouting all over the place and soon I will be starting to root them. Dug out seeds for green peas, spinach, carrots, mustard, spring onions, beets, cabbage and lettuce. Peas and spinach can be planted when soil reaches 40 degrees. March potato crops and bulb onions will go in. The beds are weeded from a few winter weeds that managed to sprout in my beds. The peaches, blueberries, plums, black currants, Nanking cherries and blueberries are all pruned while still dormant. I still need to dig and separate the rhubarb crowns as they are getting too thick. A good 2 inches of compost has been spread on both large asparagus beds. The compost piles that remain from last fall have been turned. I also stuck out a dozen black currants cuttings to root and planted a small patch of potatoes that had sprouted in the pantry. So with a week of rainy weather approaching and 5 inches of rain in the forecast I will wait till the impending storms go through and plant some peas and cool weather crops. About 8 weeks out from average last frost date.
My time has also been used wisely canning bone broth and I also canned 2 cookings of dried cranberry beans. As I find produce on sale I continue to can in small batches as the opportunity arises. I have about a third of my quilt left to quilt and then bind it and I will be done. I am aiming for the end of the month. As soon as that one is done I have another top ready to go on the frame. Early spring here is usually very rainy and I am hoping to get a second quilt out before summer gardening and canning goes into full swing.
In the near future as well I hope to spray with dormant oil spray the peaches and plums to help prevent pests. I will also spray under the tree with Neem.
O Wise One and I remain healthy and Covid free at the moment. We concentrate on each other, the crops, gardens and animals. We continue to eat clean and exercise as often as possible as weather permits. O Wise One in his seventies now and me not far behind yet we remain active, productive and blessed.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
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Delightful post as always! I have been itching to plant something...finally started some seeds in milk jugs early this week.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy hearing about your days. After reading your last paragraph, the first thing to pop into my mind was, "Amen"! You do keep productive and you are blessed. I feel exactly the same way. I try to be productive each day, some days are better than others. But I am always aware of how blessed I am and how much I have to be grateful for! Life is good!
ReplyDeleteDarlene