Grass seed, grass seed, and more grass seed

     This week's goal...get grass seed sown before some anticipated spring showers over the weekend.  Even though our front yard has numerous uneven spots due to a problem with moles under the trees, I'm waiting to sow seed there until we get the moles under control.  Otherwise our dogs will continue to dig holes to get to them and the chickens will scratch at the ground to get bugs.  With that said, you can see we have lots of other spots that need attention.    

     First up, sow down the front yard garden.  Last year my father-in-law thought he needed even more space for his garden, so he tilled up the front yard.  Along the fence he planted pole beans and then a row of green beans in front of it.  In the other bigger spot he planted broccoli, turnips, cucumbers, and probably a few others I don't remember.  We decided just to use the backyard garden, so grass seed it was.

    Around our house needed something until we reside the house, work on gutters, and put on a tin roof.  We tore out the over-grown bushes to make it easier to reach the windows that we replaced last fall.  This way with grass seed it hopefully won't be as muddy when we get to that project in the next couple years.  I already have plans for what landscaping I want to do.  Now I just have to wait patiently until that day comes.

     Last, but not least was to sow down all the old stump spots.  Here I believe was a birch tree.  It probably was really pretty in its day, but all I have ever seen was the stump it left behind.  There was also a crab apple tree along the driveway that his grandfather planted.   My husband cut it down so he could get in and out with equipment easier.  Also, in the backyard there were five spots that needed attention.  I think they were from old trees that blew down in storms, a clothes line, and a hanging basket stand.   All of them were gone before I knew my husband. 

     Now I have my fingers crossed that we get rain this weekend and warm temperatures next week so it sprouts.  Some spots might be a little thick, but it was a little windy this week everyday after school when I was working on it.   

Orchard, a New Beginning!

     Here you can see how large my father-in-law had the vegetable garden.  I believe my husband said he planted 30 plus tomato plants last year among many other things.  Since my husband and I won't need such a vast area, we are going to change the east corner into an orchard. 

     We plan on using the area east of the chicken house for our cherry, apple, and peach trees.  Then extending a little north for the black raspberries and strawberries.  In the future we might add some blueberries, rhubarb, and possibly another variety of apples or cherries. 

      I know it is hard to see the starter plants in the freshly tilled dirt, but the 25 wet spots each hold a strawberry plant. 

     Along the twine I stretched to mark a straight line, there are three black raspberry plants.  Maybe next year we can buy another pack to make the raspberry bed a little thicker.

     Here you see three larger dark spots which each house a fruit tree.  To the right is a sour cherry tree, in the middle is a peach tree, and on the left is a Jonathan apple tree.  One more tree would complete the square, but that's another project for next year. 
     Now we just have to nurture them for a few years before they start producing fruit.  I can't wait until we have fresh fruit all through the summer.  Strawberries will ripen in early June followed by black raspberries and sour cherries.  Then there will be a little break before the peach tree in August and apple tree in September. 
     Next big project?? Mulch the new plantings to help hold in moisture and keep away weeds before sowing some grass seed around them.

Pushing away the winter blues

      Growing up we always butchered our own beef and pork.  It was always a weekend project spent in the basement with the family cutting pieces, trimming off the fat, and packaging them for the freezer.  Now we gather as a neighborhood in a neighbor's heated garage to catch up and work together.  This weekend we butchered four hogs and earlier in February we butchered a beef. 

        We have quite the arrangement.  Here is our huge cutting board. The ladies in red are at a counter top wrapping our choice cuts and behind the lady in purple my dad is cutting pork chops, ribs, etc. at the meat saw.  The white cylinder machine underneath the table will be pulled out later to grind all the pork into sausage. 

      My oldest nephew was soaking up all the that there was to see.  Needless to say the toy tractors we brought along to entertain him stayed in the corner most of the time.  He wanted to be right there with everyone else.  Here he is finishing his cookie while watching Cale tenderize the tougher cuts.

        After we ground and seasoned the sausage, it was time to decide how to package it.  Some neighbors put theirs in links, others left it loose, and one family wanted to make patties.  The green machine is a sausage stuffer.  It has an attachment that allows you to make patties too.  It shoots out the white cylinder at the bottom to fill the round pattie template.  Then we put wax paper between them before freezing it to make them stiff enough to wrap in paper.  I just love Kade's face of amazement. 

 

     At the end of the day everyone's freezer was full, but more importantly we spent time working, eating, and laughing together.   It is also wonderful to hear our parents talk about butchering time when they were growing up.  Listening to their stories you can tell it was a different time then.  They didn't throw any part away.  For example, my great-grandfather who grew up during the depression would eat boiled chickens feet.  Gross!!!

A farmer's version of spring cleaning

      My husband has been dreaming about putting up a new grain bin since we met. For the last week or more there have been brochures spread out across our living room floor with all the current available options. He has been diligently researching and talking to salesmen in order to get a good quality bin that will be here on the farm for years to come at the best price. Even though he has yet to make his final decision, he has started clearing the space for it.

 

 

       Today when I came home from school this is what I saw.  The grain bin you see in the background was upright just a couple hours ago.  You might be wondering why he is taking down a perfectly good bin to build a new one. You can't see it in the picture, but the top ring of this bin is being held together with a cable. A couple years ago while filling it during harvest, he heard a popping noise. So he threw a cable around it to temporarily prevent it from splitting open and spilling all the beans.

       2012 was a very poor harvest with all corn having to be taken to the elevator at harvest due to concerns of mold. The remaining soybean harvest fit into the two grain bins resting next to this one. Instead of trying to push our luck for another year, we decided now was the time to replace it. 

 

      There were two smaller bins next to this one that he took down over the weekend to sell for scrap metal.  They were so small to today's standards they haven't been used for several years.  This larger one a neighbor wanted to use at his farm to store grain in.  This farmer is a small farmer who has a couple cows, sheep, horses, etc.  He plans on taking the bad rings out because he won't need that much storage. 

      You could ask me how many bushels of grain it stores, but I don't know.  Instead here is a picture to give you an idea of it's true size. My husband is putting the last strap around it to help hold it to the trailer. If he were to do it again, he would build a cradle to the trailer to hold it more securely in place.  Now the next challenge is to get it to the neighbor's farm 10 or so miles on the other side of town, which means getting it safely under all the power lines.  As the sun sets, I think that is going to be a challenge for another day. 

 

      Last but not least, here is our dog, Cooter, who is searching for all the rats that have been living in the trapped rotten soybeans at in bottom of the bin.  Hopefully he gets them all because rats are one thing I despise.

 

SPRING is here!!

The calendar might say today if the first day of spring, but mother nature didn't get the message.  Since the wind and temperatures still call for a heavy coat when you go outside. I decided to stay inside and finish this very spring like quilt.

The fabric for this quilt top came from a charm pack called Ticklish by Me & My Sister.

Birthday Surprise!

A good childhood family friend, Katie, had her first baby last week. The lucky duo have the special blessing to share the same birthday.

This hour-glass quilt I made for her baby shower a couple months ago.  Katie's grandma always called her Miss Bird growing up, which is why this fabric was perfect. The coordinating material has a bird theme to it.   

 The hour-glass pieces were made from left over piece I had from a rag-quilt I made last year.  I paired it will white to give it a crisp look.  After using all the coordinating material the quilt was still too small, so I added a border of solid brown and white pieces. 

 I finished it off with a pink heart backing and simple machine quilting.  Welcome to the world Sophie!



Christmas in February?

It might seem a little odd that I'm posting pictures of newly completed Christmas stockings in February, but with all the snow we received lately, it fits.  We had more snow in the last week than all winter long.  6 inches last Friday, 4 inches on Tuesday, and constant flurries the past two days.

I started with these three pieced stockings.  Then my husband said, "Those stockings look girlie, I don't want a stocking like that." So then I made a couple solid ones with extra material from the tree skirt.  Now we have lots of room for our family to grow.  After Christmas I found some stocking hangers that spelled out PEACE, hence the five stockings.  Guess we will just use a couple stockings next year for our dogs, Cooter and Ace.

Here is a backside view of all the stockings.  I really like the square backing.  I wish I had used it on the front side of one.  

I'm calling dibs on this one!  The zig zag of this chevron pattern really pops with the white every other row. Maybe in the future I might start a small quilt using this technique. 

 Here is a 3" double hourglass pattern I used from Cluck, Cluck Sew.  I just LOVE her blog!

Finally I made a 3" pinwheel stocking.  When Christmas rolls around again I will have to post a picture of them hanging from their stocking hangers above the fireplace. I was going to drag them out, but I think they are in the back of the cupboard somewhere. (Hopefully by then our kitchen remodel will be finished and therefore I will have repainted the livingroom getting rid of the flowery border.)