Seeds ordered and the competence project

I sent in my seed and potato order on December 31. Now I'm just waiting for everything to arrive.

I've been knitting. Sharon (link to her blog over on the left) put out a competence project. She thought that people do not do things that they can't be good at immediately so they don't learn skills that could be really useful after the apocolypse. My project was to learn how to knit socks. Well I did it. I knitted a sock. For practice I first knitted a Christmas stocking for the boy. Then I knitted the sock using an easy pattern that my friend Susanne gave me. Now I'm working on a pair of baby booties and hat for a family I know. Then I'll make the second sock. After that, who knows. I may knit a rug.

Pictures later.

First one of the season

The first of the seed catalogs has arrived. Just like Christmas music and decorations, they come earlier every year.

The election

What is a liberal with a serious interest in keeping her Second Amendment rights supposed to do? I voted 3rd party.

Let me explain.

I have never been so conflicted by an election before. Obama stands for most of my core beliefs. Education, choice, taking care of people that need help, ending the war in Iraq, all those warm fuzzy things. He even has hinted at the need for lots of us to make sacrifices in order to pull the economy out of it's freefall. John McCain I found to be erratic and really dangerous, except where my 2nd Amendment rights are concerned. And his choice for VP really made me question his judgement. I thought back in 2000 that he was all that and a bag of chips.

I'm still angry that the country had to suffer through 8 years of GWB. I thought it was apparent in 2000 that GWB was an idiot. In 2004 I thought everyone would see through him and get him the hell out. But no. So now, we have huge deficits and a costly war that is sucking the life out of our economy. Because of the lamest.president.ever I get to sound like a nut.

I don't want to sound like a nut. If I can't defend myself, all my other rights are useless.

I'm a really bad blogger.

So it's October and I haven't blogged since July. August and September have just blown by.

Up on "the hill" where we live, we had our first frost on September 19th. We've had a few more since then.

I started the garden clean-out. I still have brassicas left. We may actually get some brussel sprouts soon. Pumpkins and raspberries were my best crops. Winter squash was also good, but the voles ate my best looking squash. I fed the remains to the chickens, who had a field day.

I was really lazy getting things put up. I did not process any tomatoes. I froze a few beans and about 3 packages of broccoli.

Until I am at home full-time I don't think I can do a lot of food preservation.

Maybe next fall.

Oh yeah, I bought 50 pounds of potatoes over the weekend (at the Carrot Barn).

JULY!

Where did May and June go?

We have peas, beets, lettuce, dill, kale and mache to eat already. Local corn has begun.

I have tomatoes on vines. Also a mysterious lack of pests.

This is a pea plant in May. We have eaten lots of peas (pods not actual peas) and the plants seem to have expired. I miss one day of picking and they stop producing. Next I'll rip them up and plant broccoli.

April has been warm and dry

The first week of April was not so warm, but the last 2 weeks have been warm and dry. So dry that we have a open fire ban.

Last weekend we moved the compost pile and filled up the garden beds. The week before, I had planted peas, beets, chard, spinach, lettuce, mesculen and mache.

Pictures to follow soon.

It's cold, even for March.

On Easter Sunday I started peppers, tomatoes and eggplant indoors. Also snapdragons, but they like it cool so they are in the basement.

As soon as the compost pile defrosts I have to start making more beds. I need space for my winter squash and pumpkins. I also have to work on my bean trellises.