SPRING CHORES AND SETUP
So much to do…
Welcome back!
It’s Victoria Day Weekend here in Canada, what we affectionately call May 2-4 weekend because it happens around the 24 of May… also, it just sounds cool. As I remember from my time working in the US, it is Memorial Day there.
The snow has been gone for quite a while, but I only swapped out the snowblower for the mower deck a week ago. I don’t know why, but that swap should have taken about 2 hours at the most. It didn’t work out that way; a 2-hour job somehow became 4 1/2 hours.
I also needed to change the oil in my car. I’d never done it on this model, but there were some incredibly well-done videos on YouTube that walked me through every step in great detail, right down to telling me what socket I needed. That could not have gone better… you need to take your wins when they come.
With the mower deck installed, I had to mow the orchard. Before I did that though, I bought 13 ½ Kg (30 lbs.) of bulk red clover seed, which I spread just before we got a rather long stretch of rainy weather. The red clover is excellent at capturing and holding nitrogen. The goal there is to let it grow to roughly 30 cm (1 foot) tall and then mow it down as mulch. That way, the nitrogen could seep back into the soil.
With the grass around the trees carefully mowed, I can finally see the trees when I walk past them.
With that chore done, I could concentrate on refitting the chicken coop. Naturally, I ended up doing this while it was pouring rain. (I do hope that we’re not in for another incredibly wet summer.)
I had to change out the bottom of the coop altogether, as it was in terrible shape after last year. (I made the mistake of having ducks in with my chickens. Ducks weigh more than chickens, so they broke through the bottom.)
The day-old meat chicks arrived this week and will spend the first 3 weeks indoors in a brooder. Day-old chicks are cute, little yellow balls of feathers. If they outgrow the brooder sooner and the weather is warm at night, I’ll move them out a bit sooner. If need be, I can add supplemental heat, but only if necessary.
I also purchased an enclosure that will give the chickens the ability to roam around, safe from aerial predators. That meant that I needed to build the enclosure around the coop. As an extra layer of safety, there will be an electric fence around the enclosure in case a ground predator decides to go after them. It will also help keep the Wonder Twins (the 2 rescue Miniature Pinschers that live with me) from bothering the poor chickens.
All that remains to do on the coop is to put the roof back on. Once that’s done, I can finish building the enclosure.
The next big chore will be to get the garden ready for planting. I built support frames for the tomatoes and cukes (I’ll be showing those in the next video.)
My tomato and pepper seedlings failed, but I started another batch. This is no different from last year when a late frost killed the plants after they were in the ground. I still managed a strong harvest late in the season. My goal is to grow 70 Kg (150 lbs.) of tomatoes and at least 2 bushels of peppers, along with a lot of other veggies which I will can and/or freeze dry for next winter.
Speaking of freeze drying, as of this month, my freeze dryer is officially paid off. One less financial burden. (Now if I could pay off the mortgage, maybe I could farm full-time for half the year.)
The sweet potato slips are growing wonderfully. Those, as well as regular potatoes and onions will be in grow bags this year because they were less than successful last year in the ground.
The garlic has come up beautifully.
The horseradish is already showing signs of leafing out. The horseradish I harvested last year went into the food processor, then the freeze dryer, and back into the food processor. (Interesting trivia for lovers of sushi: most of the wasabi we buy in North America is actually horseradish that has been dyed green. Apparently, real wasabi is so rare and expensive that only very high-end restaurants in Japan are able to source it.)
The asparagus is popping up as well. That will need to be harvested this weekend.
As I mentioned earlier, there is much to do still, but considering that we’ve had 2 nights of frost last week, planting is not one of them.
That’s it for the moment. Back to editing videos and piecing together more for the page. As always, you can drop by the Blue Gypsy Homestead Facebook page (see below for a direct link) for more recent information.
Until next time, keep your shovel in the dirt, the sun at your back, and a smile on your face.
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I’ve launched a YouTube channel for the homestead.
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