Repurposing

If you are like us, and you live on acreage, there's not much that you ever get rid of .  Just because, it's guaranteed that somewhere down the road you'll find a use for it.  Way back when we first had sheep, we had one length of the electronet type fencing.  When we moved here, we didn't need it, as we had the fields set up differently.  That's 26 years ago.   We had gained a few more rolls when the place my dad worked got out of the sheep business.  We've never used it for it's original purpose since we've been here.  I do find it quite useful for putting around the garden though.  So we put a length around some of the dahlias that are in the backyard.  It's not electrified, it's just a barrier of sorts.

A barrier to keep those crazy soccer playing border collies from breaking off all the stems.  

These dahlias are doing amazingly well, thank you very much, despite the mass of slugs on other parts of the property.

Until Luna came along that is.

Yes, a few of the plants have taken a beating, but the since the fence is up now, they should be okay.

And the peas, which were growing up a piece of that same sturdy wire that we put up to keep the coyotes out, are now all wrapped in electronet.   The pea shoots were reaching well above the 4 ft wire, we ran the electronet down one side of the shoots, and then the other side, above the existing wire, and then around both sides at the bottom.  The pea plants have never been so much under control.  No more stems flopping over this year!

And in another week or so we will be eating peas, and we have broccoli too:) 

 I was feeling pretty discouraged about the vegetable garden, but I feel that things are finally looking up.

Or maybe not.  I dug up potatoes tonight and came across a whole bunch that have been gnawed on by voles

I Just Wanted to Cry

When I got home yesterday suppertime, after a long day at the market and the shopping and other things that needed to be done afterwards (gone from home 10 1/2 hours), the first thing I noticed as I pulled up the driveway was a chicken or two, or three, or ten, or forty, in the vegetable garden.  

Larry and David were gone for the day.  Meredith would have passed by there a couple of times, but.....well obviously she didn't notice.  There are a row of hedging cedars between the driveway and the garden, and not many places to see into it from the driveway other than where the gate is.

I rushed over there and realized the whole flock was in the vegetable garden, and I could tell they were out of food.  They 'talk' differently when they are out of food.  So they found what food they could in the vegetable garden.

The broccoli which was looking nice and healthy and well on it's way to producing heads now looks like this.  The cabbage next to it looks the same.  Some of the smaller plants were yanked right out of the ground.

The row of bok choi which was a bit leggy, but would have produced a few bags for today's market, is decimated.

Kale, which was coming along gangbusters, now looks like this.  Some of it was yanked out too.

I honestly felt like crying.  

I charged into the garden like a mad woman, screamed and yelled and herded them as fast as I could back through the gate.  The gate which I had gone through in the morning to let them out.  The gate it seems I neglected to fasten.  It must have blown open a bit later.  There was a bit of scratching done in a newly seeded bed.  

The spinach had some damage, but 75% of it is still OK.  The arugula is mostly unscathed.

On the bright side, it could have been worse, but on the dark side, it really shouldn't have happened at all.  Now I'm heading out there to see what I can salvage for today's market.

Rambling Randomly

I am fed up to here (holds hand at neck height) with rain.  It's been raining just about every morning for what seems like weeks.  I know it's not, but it seems like it.  Actually, I do remember seeing some blue sky one morning not too long ago when I got up, but by the time I got outside it had disappeared, and guess what, it was raining again.

Here's two pictures taken taken late Thursday afternoon, within a minute of each other.  To the west it has cleared up, and the sun actually shone for a bit, and to the east is the storm that has just passed over, with it's rain, hail and thunder.  Apparently Jake glued himself to Meredith's leg in the kitchen while the thunder rumbled.  I was off to the west, enjoying that sunshine, sort of, and looking at the black clouds to the east and wondering if they were dumping on our place.  

  The blue sky didn't last long, and a couple of hours later, as the sun was setting, we got this rainbow.  It disappeared into the clouds in the middle, and the right side was not as bright at the left, but it was the full thing.

  

Sure, Spring is coming, the grass is growing, the crocuses are blooming, and the daffodils are almost there.  But the temperatures are well below seasonal normal, we had snow on Wednesday, and we have had so much rain that the ground is sodden and still cold.   I started a some kale seedlings in the house.  They are in a south facing window, but are already getting leggy, so I want to move them out to the greenhouse.  Before getting the benches set up in the greenhouse, I wanted to power wash it, inside and out.  This afternoon I dragged the powerwasher out, filled it with gas, gave it a couple of pulls to make sure it was going to start.  Yay for Honda engines.  Then I hooked up the hoses, got the ladder in position, got my rain gear on, and started it up.  I couldn't get any water out, grrrr.  In the end I took the whole nozzle assembly apart, flushed it, and got the water moving through, but then there was no pressure.  It seemed like the pump wasn't working.  I'll have to see if I can get David to have a look at it.  I spent an hour and a half fiddling around with it, accomplishing nothing, so was feeling  just a leeetle pissed off. 

 Normally I would have potatoes planted by now.  The fruit trees aren't all pruned yet.  None of the garden has been rototilled.

I started writing this Friday night.  It's now Saturday morning.  Despite seeing stars out of the window as I was going to bed, guess what, it's raining again.

Hope it dries up by 10am.  That's when Meredith are going out for our training run.  We've done a few runs in the rain just lately. Light misty rain is fine, it's a natural coolant.  Heavy rain not so much.  Today we do our 5 minute warm up and cool down, and 40 minutes of running, split into 10 minute segments with one minute of walking in between.  On Monday we did 55 minutes of running, in 10, 15, 20 and 10 minute segments.  I survived.  My legs were dead at the end of the last 10 minutes, but after doing the 5 minute walk at the end, they felt 'normal' again.  I walk away from those Monday night runs feeling so proud of myself.
On Thursday night we watched an interesting program.  It was called The Perfect Runner.  How as a biped, man evolved into the perfect endurance runner.  How early man used to run his prey down, using endurance, not speed.  If you've got 45 minutes to watch it, it's really quite interesting.  It makes me want to run more, and I feel excited about this morning's run.  We are going to the dyke along the Fraser River, which is not the one where we usually walk the dogs.  It is flat of course, but the footing will be a bit uneven, which brings it's own challenges.  Quite often, for whatever reason, Meredith or I seem to struggle with the Saturday run.  We ran hills on Monday and Wednesday, so flat will be a nice change today.  The Sun Run is four weeks tomorrow.  I'm starting to feel excited.  The organization that is putting on the running clinic has rented a bus.  It costs us of course, but it's easier than trying to get into downtown Vancouver with 50,000 other people early Sunday morning.  I'm hoping that morning dawns cloudy with a nice cool breeze. It'll be here before I know it.

Summer is Here!

Well, for a couple of days.  Tomorrow we are back to clouds and showers, and the forecast continuing on for a few days isn't any better.  Hopefully we'll see the sun in there a little bit at least.

It's been such a cold miserable Spring that the garden is way behind last year.  Finally though, things have really got growing.  Of course the weeds have had no problem with our weather, and have taken over.

Finally the worst of the weeding is done in the vegetable garden at least.  

Larry goes for quality over quantity.  He worked along the edge of this bed, and I'll promise you there's not a weed root left in there, and the soil is all fine and well worked over.

Jake is always waiting close by, just in case Larry would like to take a break, and throw that frisbee for him.

Here's what the bed looks like with all the weeds out.  You know that quality/quantity bit, well I weeded out the middle and between all the veggies.  Larry hasn't got to the edge on the left yet.  Actually he never got to it.  He took Luna to agility on Monday night, probably the first time he's ever gone without me, and I did a 'quantity' job on that left edge so I could put the fence back up.  David walked by and commented 'wow, that garden has sure come up'.  I said you couldn't see anything before because it was all a mass of weeds.

So that's kohlrabi at the far end, then some beets, carrots, and more beets close up.  The beets didn't do very well, well they should have been thicker than that, so I've put more seeds in to fill in the bare spots.

Just behind me at the corner of the barn, is a lovely little clump .

The foxgloves really are beautiful.  Who knew they were so hairy though.  You just have to see them from the right angle and in the right light.

Kind of like my chin, when the light is coming through the bathroom window a certain way.

It's an OMG moment.

How long has that hair been sticking out like that?

Isn't your family supposed to tell you about those sort of things?

Down in the main vegetable garden it's sort of the same kind of thing.  Some things were seeded a couple of times, and still the beds aren't nice and full like they are supposed to be.

 Radishes at the bottom.  They have mostly bolted now, and even before that, quite a few of them were pithy inside.  Don't know why I bother with radishes, they are never that successful.  Next is spinach, which didn't germinate well.  The mixed lettuce isn't too bad, the chard after that has been seeded for the third time.  The arugula is pretty thin too, and then there are onions and broad beans at the very top.

The peas are to the left, they are flowering well and will probably flop over any day, as they've grown a couple of feet higher than the wire.

The second bed of potatoes I put in look great, and I did find one potato under there.

The broccoli is slowly getting there.  I can finally see tiny heads forming in the center

The cabbage is looking fantastic, and I stole a couple of leaves to chop up in a stir fry last night.  No heads forming yet, but they look so healthy.

The kale too has finally put on a growth spurt.

Further over there is more arugula (foreground) planted, and that will be ready to pick for this weekend. 

There's also more lettuce mix planted the next bed down.

Pride is on the other side of the fence.

There are no vegetables within his reach.

In the greenhouse I've got half of the tomato plants in, and have to find somewhere to put the 'junk' on the other side of the greenhouse, so I can get the rest in.

Okay, it's not all junk, there are some plants there too.

The mouse traps have been retired for the season.  I did catch two mice up on the bench with them.  After that there was no more damage to the zucchinis.

Up at the other garden, where I've been trying to plant the dahlias, well it's been a battle with the slugs, and so far they are winning.  On Sunday before we went to the market, I picked off 33 slugs on or next to the dahlias, and another 10 within two feet.  Add that to the  60 or more I picked off on Saturday when it was raining....

I'm thinking that the tide is turning in my favour now though, or maybe that's just wishful thinking?

Slugs and Other Random Stuff

Slugs on drugs?! 

This is what I saw when I stepped outside this morning.  That slug is on the top of the window on the side of the garage, which is under the deck,  seven feet above the ground, and which is many many feet away from any damp ground/dark hiding spot where you'd usually find a slug. 

I guess it just got lost.

                                                               

And then a bit later when I was out in the greenhouse I saw this. A bird's egg stuck on the wire that is over the back window.  Well sort of over the back window.  It was loose in quite a few places and was curling in.  I wondered where the heck the egg had come from, and why it ended up like that. 

But then I figured it out.  

Amazing how that happens sometimes!

Outside the greenhouse, in the peak, one side of the fiberglass has pulled away from the wood.

I know the swallows nest up in the peak, but the swallows aren't here yet.  I figure there are probably some sparrows using it until the swallows, who have a reservation, show up to claim their honeymoon suite.  And then I'm guessing that somehow the egg rolled out, down behind the left piece of fiberglass, and then hit the window wire that was curled into the green house, and got stuck there.

 And now that I've stapled the wire in place again, the egg is just hanging on there, glued by the bit of yolk that leaked out and then hardened.  

My very own Easter egg, well until it rots and I bump it and maybe it explodes and smells absolutely gross, and then I'll be kicking myself for not getting rid of it sooner.

I also stapled the wire back on the top half of the door where it was hanging off, because on Sunday I walked in and found a mess.

Not that there isn't already a mess in there, because over the winter it's become one of those places were we just put things.

A hen who figured that the greenhouse was a much better place to lay an egg than the actual chicken coop, had got past the falling off wire, and had destroyed two of my cabbage plants.  There were another couple that were pulled out, but I stuck them back in and they survived.  The wire is all fixed now, but since we are in and out of the greenhouse for tools all the time, and sometimes forget to close the door,  I've put a bit of protection over the cabbage and broccoli plants, because you can never be too careful.

At first I wondered if it might have been a mouse, but then this morning when I opened the door to the greenhouse and found a hen already in there, I knew who the culprit really was.

And this is what I got planted today

And this is where I planted them.  This little bed is at the top of the driveway.  When we first moved here there was a little animal shelter right there.  Then I figured that the soil would be really good because of all the animal manure, so decided to make it into a garden.  It's only about 10' x 10'.  I was thinking today that it would be so nice to be able to plant seeds without having to worry about something scratching/running through/ pooping on them.  We have to fence everything off.  That's the garlic there at the back of the bed. It was planted last Fall.

The fence is also to keep mucky soccer players and their balls out.

Luna pushed her ball across it twice while I was raking it smooth.  The second time I said a few unkind words.  The third time the ball rolled into the corner, and she just laid there and waited for me to get it.

Smart girl!

And down in the other garden, the hired hand got the other two perennial beds mulched.  He said he hasn't been paid yet!

Great Gardening Weather and a Goofy Dog

Yesterday we had a perfect day, the kind that we say that we could take for the rest of the year.  Sunny, warm but not hot, a bit of a breeze, perfect!  

It's the kind of weather that is great for working outside.  We've been picking away at the garden.  Today we just about finished weeding out all the perennial beds, and some of them are mulched.  We are almost to the point that the rest of it could be rototilled.

That little tiller that Larry badly wounded last week.... well they phoned us a couple of days ago to tell us that the part had to come from Alberta, and it would be about $100, and then it would be about $175 in labour.  Add taxes to that, and it puts is over $300.  Good grief.  Do I love that rototiller that much?

That's going to make for some freaking expensive vegetables.

David said he was interested in looking at it and maybe he could put the part on (the intake manifold) himself.  Of course it's going to be really embarrassing if he can't do it, and we have to take the rototiller back in and get them to fix it.  Maybe we could find a different place to take it to.  So the plan at the moment is to bring the rototiller home as soon as the part has come in, which will hopefully be tomorrow.

I should have taken this picture yesterday when I first spread the compost on that perennial bed along the fence.  The hens were all lined up along the fence, their heads and necks stuck through the wire, picking at the worms and other stuff in the rotten horse manure.

And then in the afternoon the dogs always expect some kind of walk.  Sometimes we just walk around the block, but today we went down to the dyke.  The first stop is always their favourite swimming hole.

Calli has a rock, and is on the other side of the creek.

See those pilings in the distance, over and to the right of the dog's heads.

There is a gravel bar there, and that is were we met up with Donna and Breeze, some agility buddies.  Donna always has a chuck-it and a couple of balls with her, so Jake and Luna are thrilled to see her.

At the edge of the bar, right by the water, I saw a pair of sunglasses.  I figured they would be broken, but they were still in one piece.  On the inside of one arm they said 0-2years.  

Yep, they were sunglasses for a baby,

or maybe a dog!

They fit Jake perfectly.

He was one cool dude!

He didn't care that they were on his face. Nothing distracts him from the ball.

He ran after the ball and came back without the sunglasses.  Larry and I were back tracking along his route, and then Donna yelled that they were on the back of his neck.  When he ran they had flipped up and over the top of his head and were resting behind his ears.

Whatever, just throw the damn ball!

And today we got two eggs from the new hens.  One was outside on the ground, and one was in a nest box. 

Lay, girls, lay!