Putting The Garden To Bed

I've been so preoccupied with preparing to weave, that I've totally neglected my garden. I should've put things away and planted my cold frames and garlic weeks ago.  If I put it off much longer I may not have a chance. It could freeze or snow at any time. Yesterday I got my chance. It wasn't raining, the husbeast was working and I didn't have anything else scheduled. This is the mess that awaited me. An overgrown lawn, apple tree branches down to my knees, lawn furniture to put away and a garden filled with "past their prime" tomatoes and green beans.

First on the agenda? Mow the lawn. I use a push mower and a rake so this is a bit of a workout. Who needs a gym membership when you have a yard to care for? But before I could mow I had to give the apple tree a trim. It had many scraggly branches hanging quite low, making it very difficult to mow under it. Once the branches were cut from the tree, then cut into smaller pieces to fit in the yard waste container, I could proceed with the mowing. Next up? Clear the garden. I pulled up the tomatoes and beans, put them in the yard waste bin, and stored the cages and poles in the garage. The tomatoes didn't go easily. I had to cut each of them from their cages. I then raked up all the tomato stragglers. I don't want a bunch of volunteers next spring. I used a hoe to dislodge and weeds and then started moving my cinder blocks over to this area so I can build a little cold frame. Better late then never. Last, but not least, I got the raspberry canes under control by cutting out the spent canes, digging up canes that were in spots I didn't want them, and then tying up the remaining new canes to stakes and wire supports. Here is what the backyard looked like at the end of the day.

I still have a couple of days worth of work to do out there. I am forcing myself to complete my yard tasks before settling in to play with my looms. I need to hurry. My weaving videos will arrive on Tuesday.

Free Food ~or~ Eat Those Weeds

OK, I admit it. I've heard of folks eating weeds. And I thought they were crazy-out-of-their-minds. Why would you eat a weed? But with the rising cost of produce and the realization that weeds are just plants, I am starting to become a convert. I've already taken to harvesting dandelions. Not for my own consumption, but for my chickens. And they are ever so thankful for the treats. I had noticed another weed that seems to be prolific in my backyard, and I have identified it as Hairy Bittercress. These little blighters were lurking under the water barrels.


This is a rather problematic weed, also known as Jumping Jesus. Probably so named because that may be one of the many expletives uttered when you try to pull it. Once the seed pods have been allowed to mature, the slightest touch and the pods explode, sending seeds scattering in all directions. Not wanting to waste food, I attempted to feed these to my chickens. And, although chickens CAN eat this weed, mine preferred not to. After researching and finding that it is similar to watercress, which is tasty on sandwiches, I figured I'd give it a shot. First order of business was to hard boil some of the chickens' contributions. Don't those look nice?


This meal is mostly a self sufficient one. We brewed the pale ale, I baked the bread, grew the chives, gathered the eggs and pulled the weeds.



The weeds were rinsed well and then the delicate leaves were separated from the tap roots. My verdict? Hairy Bittercress is incredibly tasty on an egg salad sandwich! So good! Gonna have another for lunch, tomorrow.

Getting Ready For Fall & Winter

I've spent this weekend readying the backyard for the fall and winter. First I had to clean out the garage to make space to put things. I had fleeces in there from back when I had sheep. That's been over 5 years. Something tells me I'm not getting to them any time soon. I started pulling them out, to give away on Freecycle, and I couldn't believe what I had. Boxes, and boxes full. I kept a third of it. Things that I couldn't part with, and still managed to fill up 2 spinners' cars with the rest. Bet they were happy. Now I have room on the garage shelves to put my canning jars, and all my gardening pots. And there is room in the garage for the barbecue, table and chairs, etc...that need to be stored away. I've also begun buying up some galvanized garbage cans to store chicken feed, diatomaceous earth, etc....in. Those cans are pricey, so I'll get one per week until I have enough. Got to keep rodents out of things. The husband spent this weekend building a nice platform to hold my rain barrels.

He just has to hook them back up. They were sitting on cinder blocks, but the ground settled and they were falling over. Now they'll be secure. And look what I found on Craigslist, for FREE! Over 50 medium sized clay pots (these are just some of them). That would be over $150 if bought new. Someone had listed them yesterday, and put them out next to the alley for anyone to take. I just saw the ad, this morning, and couldn't believe they were still there. FREE is the best type of bargain!

I will store them away to use in my greenhouse, once I retire and actually have a greenhouse.

Chicken Run (part three)

It's crunch time. Got to get serious. It was slow at the yarn shop so I left Errol in charge and headed home to put up some fence. First I had to unroll it and get it all ready to hang.


Yes, it was a mess. Whoever took down the pen, instead of rolling the chain link nicely, had piled and tangled it into a heap. Thanks, unknown dude. My husband thought we should just toss it and buy new. Hell no! I paid $25 for this....and I'm gonna use it. All I need to do is remove the edge wire and straighten out the edges a bit. No problemo. Yep. They're a mess.


This is a job for wire cutters and pliers.


I'll cut the wire and remove it from the edge, then I'll straighten and reattach the edges on the fencing. Good thing I like puzzles.


Aw. Look how pretty it is, all straight and tidy. Let's roll it up and get ready to hang it.


See, unknown dude? This is how it SHOULD look.


The tension rod is in place and it's ready to attach to our frame.


Looking good, so far. Let's get it pulled around the corner and get those wire wraps attached to the tops and bottoms. I put a LOT more wraps than the video said. I put them every other diamond, top and bottom. I don't want raccoons getting in....or chickens getting out. I'm not sure if I put the wire wraps on correctly, but the chickens won't care.


I had some speed parts. Here are the wire bits I removed from the top and bottom edges, as well as the chain link I didn't use.


Now all I have to do is hang the gate. Only one problem. I want it to swing to the right. Which means I have to remove it from that last pole, and place it on the first corner pole. Husband would've just left it to swing to the left. Not on my watch.


There. All better. Now to install that last pole.


Husband had bought 2 new bolts to replace the stripped out one, and one that was missing completely. The other bolts holding the clamps were 10mm. So I pulled out the socket wrench, and no dice. The bolts were too large. Great. Now I get to rummage around in the toolbox and try to find the right sized socket. Of course it was the last one I tried. Seems these new bolts are 7/16. We're back in business.



All done. So far, this pen is 100% girl made. And a clueless girl, at that.


Did my husband tell me how to do it? Not one bit, other than showing me how the socket wrench works. Any assembly help I had came from that video on the Petco web site. That's a damn good video, BTW. I gave him the list of parts I needed, and he picked them up for me. But I will need him to install the hardware cloth on that last panel, behind the coop. And his other job is to rig a door for the coop, and predator proof the egg hatch. Another female in the family had a big accomplishment today, too. Joanie laid her first "really big" egg. It looks like a double yoker. Here is today's egg next to the size she usually lays.


Good job, Joanie. Willoughby girls rock!

Chicken Run (part two)

Last night I set about putting the rest of the frame together. I got the first vertical pole and the corner clamps ready. Clamp around bottom frame, at the corner? Check. Vertical pole in the top of clamp? Check. Pick up a socket wrench, for the first time in my life (and I'm old) and start ratcheting. What the...!??!! The damn bolt would not tighten. I reversed the direction of the ratchet, and the bolt came off. That meant I had it going right the first time. Reversed it back and ratcheted some more. Didn't get tight. Gave the hubby, who was at work, a call to see what I was doing wrong. He promises to help me in the morning. Now I'm terribly frustrated and disappointed with myself. What if it was the end of the world, I'm all alone, and I need to build a kennel? It could happen. I need to get this stupid frame together, dammit. I fiddle around with the bolt a bit more before realizing the darn thing is stripped. I swear it was that way before I ever touched it. I get out a different clamp/bolt combo, and success!!! It took me a while to get the hang of how the ratchet works, but eventually I had all 4 poles in place. Now to assemble the top of the frame. The PetSafe video was correct. That part certainly would be easier with a buddy. But Reggie refused to help, so I was on my own. After some bad words and multiple attempts I finally had it together. And I thought it might even be assembled correctly.


When hubby arrived home he confirmed that it was, indeed, correct. I'm so proud of myself. Now to get some chain link on that puppy.

Chicken Run (part one)

I need to "get 'er done". I have a bantam couple lined up to arrive Sunday afternoon. But the chicken run is not anywhere near finished. The husband has been very busy this week so I really don't want to bug him too much. I decided to see how much of this project I can do, myself. No, I don't know anything about putting together a fence...chain link or otherwise. And what I know about tools you can fit on the head of a....well...actually you wouldn't need to put it anywhere. I am clueless. But that's never stopped me. How hard can it be? Guys do it all the time. When I bought the dog run, all I had to go by was the fellow's word, because the run was dismantled and in a little heap on the side of his house. He did provide this lovely picture of what the run was supposed to look like when assembled.
To get some kind of an idea how these things go together, I located this nifty video. "Hey, that looks easy", I thought. So this morning I proudly announce to my hubby that I'm going to put my pen together. I just need a 1/2" socket wrench and pliers, like the video said. Well, that would be fine and dandy, if I were putting together the same pen as in the video. But I'm not. Husband set me up with the correct smaller sized socket wrench. OK, I'm ready to proceed. This afternoon, after I got home from work, I set about my task. Here is where the run needs to go. In order to accomplish this, I need to remove that scruffy looking rhodie, located directly behind the little red coop.


I also need to relocate the worm bin (lower righthand corner) and put one of the compost bins down in its place.


The rhodie is now stripped bare. I was going to leave the branches intact, for the chickens to climb on, but it seems rhodies are toxic for birds. I'll have to find a saw and chop it all the way down.


The next step was to flatten out the ground where the run will go. The ground was very uneven. The next picture shows the bottom frame of the pen laid out and the coop turned around the right way, with the door leading into the pen. One of the compost bins has been moved to make room for the frame.


Another view showing how I plan for the ramp to lead down from the coop into the chicken yard.


That's as far as I got, today. I need to consult with the husband because I can't see any way that the gate can swing open. There are no hinges. This, after the seller (who was a pastor, BTW) assured me that all the parts were there and the gate opened and shut. Hmmmm...I don't think so. Looks like I'll have to invest in some hinges for it. Good thing I talked him down from $40 to $25. I'll also need to pick up some more c-clamps and a bunch of wire ties. And, who knows, maybe it does open, and I'm just too dumb to figure out how. It could happen.


Stay tuned for my progress (or lack of it).

I Didn't Sign Up For This, Man

One of my expectations of marriage are that there are "wife jobs" and "husband jobs". In our family wife jobs are things like: giving birth, changing diapers, doing laundry, washing dishes...that sort of thing. And husband jobs are: anything to do with cars, plumbing, computers, electricity....and cleaning gutters. Our gutters have needed attention for months. One of my customers teased that I needed to weed them (no, my husband needs to weed them, I replied). That was the last straw. I asked the husband which ladder I should use to climb up there? "Don't do it. I will", he replied. That was over a week ago. Apparently he meant that he would, just as soon as hell froze over. Today I was out weeding the parking lot when I glanced up at those damn gutters and could stand it no longer. I grabbed the closest ladder, a bucket, and a trowel, and climbed the 3 steps up to gutter level. Here I have already cleared out a big swath. It wasn't difficult, in fact it was very easy. There was so much composted debris in there that the roots of the plants had room to grow and spread. It was like pulling out chunks of sod.


And here is a close-up of how tall the weeds were up there. You could chop them for firewood, they were so big.


Next stop, the yarn shop, which is conveniently located across the alley. You guessed it. Those gutters were growing plants, too. Little scrub maples in this case.



It took all of 20 minutes. If you knew how afraid of heights I am you'd be super impressed. I did end up with a bunch of crap in my right eye, and now I'm all itchy.
So sweetie, you no longer have to clean those gutters. But it'll cost ya. And that moss is all yours.