Homestead Happenings

I've finally gotten around to planting some seeds. I feel like I'm already late in the game with seeds.  I need to get outside and actually sow some spinach and other winter, early spring seeds.  Here's what little I've started so far.

Last year I bought one dill plant from the local nursery, and I harvested the seeds from the flowers once it dried out. This is the first time I've tried this with dill, and I'm pleased to see sprouts this week.  Yay for free herbs, right?

I always try to save plastic seed starter cups whenever I buy plants from the nurseries.  I had to buy quite a bit last year since I moved to Maryland mid-May.  I couldn't start any seeds last year.  These are spaghetti squashes.  Funny, usually I start tomatoes first.  I'm always stressed to get enough tomato plants so I can preserve them.  Right now we're on a spaghetti squash kick though.  I grew one plant last year. I got one squash from it.  Ate it around January.  My goal is to get 20 squashes.  Not plants, but harvest at least 20 squashes.  So far, these are 5 plants.  I'd like to plant the entire packet I bought to reach this goal.

I got some free plywood this week from the local small engine shop.  They put their pallets and extra plywood out back for people to pick up.  So far our new chicken coop has cost us around $30 in supplies.  Hopefully I can pick up some more wood this week and keep it as cheap as possible.

And now for some sad news.  This is our spare rooster.  We're going to have to butcher him at the end of the week.  He appears to have some kind of tumor and has always been a runt and somewhat sickly.  I've raised this fella from the time he was 2 days old.  It will be our first butcher for us, and I'm testing the waters with how I feel about this.  We've talked about raising meat birds, and if I seem to be ok with this process then we may end up getting meat birds later on. 

The good and bad, right?

Humble Beginnings

Finally, I've decided I can start planning my vegetable garden this year and get started. This year's garden will be different than years before. I rent now, so any additions I put in the ground this year have to be cheap, and temporary. I don't know if I'll be here next season, so it doesn't make sense for me to invest money in garden space. Up until about a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I'd be here this season. And while I think I will be, it's still not settled in it's entirety. I hate living this way.

Anyway, my preferred method of gardening is raised bed gardening. It's where I've had the best success, but this year I don't have raised beds, and it doesn't make sense for me to build them.
So here's where I started. It's been rainy here in Maryland for, oh..ever. This bed was difficult to maintain last year. We moved in May, and everything had already started growing, weeds, and whatever else was in this bed. Now was the perfect time to pull out everything while the ground is wet, and things haven't popped back to life.

This bed at one point I've been told was a Koi pond. I think the plastic base of the pond has been removed, and this area was just filled in with dirt. I'm not sure why anyone would do that, I guess from a landlord's point of view it makes sense. I guess. There are small trees growing in the bushes, and last year I tried to pull stuff out but ended up with a rash from the hemlock that was growing in there.  It was awesome.

I haven't fully decided how to best use this space.  The sunlight here isn't great because it's so close to the house.  It will get a few hours of direct sunlight in the summer, it gets almost none right now in the winter.

This is the pile of weeds I pulled out of the koi pond bed.  It's next to another bed that needs help, but it's not as bad as the koi pond was.  Hey look, there's a tree there.

So, for now, I will hoe out the rest of the stuff, transplant the flowering bulbs and probably put them in the front yard.  Fertilize the soil, and very possibly cover it with a weed block.  I'm starting some of my cold weather crop seeds this week.  Give them a few extra weeks to grow before putting them in the ground.  Things I'm going to start include, Kale, Cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage.  I also will be starting carrots, but those go directly in the ground.

Anyone else really feeling the need to get out and play in the dirt?