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Irrigation System in place

Well, since we finished scrubbing all the paint off the floors, we had to wait for delivery of the new products from thestampstore.com. We ordered:

Walnut Acid Stain 2500 Floor Sealer 3000 Floor Sealer Cherry Wax Cherry Wax Applicator – Wooster 12″ Lambswool.

They all finally arrived on Wednesday or so… We were already in the midst of the next project, though, so we continued on with the irrigation system.

Since last May we’ve had a temporary watering system set up for the four pecan, one peach and one nectarine tree that are all planted northeast of the workshop. The […]

Irrigation System in Place

We spent a good half day putting in the irrigation system for the garden and orchard. Since we are not in the house, so cannot really use the automatic feature of the system until all the finish plumbing is completed, we will have to manually turn water on to each zone in the meantime. However, it will be nice to have the biggest part of it done early and it does give us a more efficient way of watering trees and garden raised beds until then.

We planned the lines so that each zone covers a particular part of either […]

Fruit Trees are on the Way

I got email notice earlier this week that our fruit trees will be here on Saturday! So… preparation of the orchard, including irrigation system, hole-drilling, etc. had to be done. We mapped out where we want the garden beds to be and planned the irrigation system for them and the grape arbor all at the same time. Together, Oz and I measured out where everything would be and tried to design an efficient system of valves and lines. First, we had planned the tree location (photos earlier); now we planned the layout of the raised beds, marking them with stakes. […]

Water Bath Canning – Pickles and Pears

Saturday was canning day for dill pickles and pears. Altogether my Mom, our friend Priscilla and I canned up 14 quarts of pickles and 4 quarts of pears in light syrup. The pears were from the tree in my parents’ back yard. It has taken awhile for them to begin to get really ripe and delicious. You’ll notice the lovely pink color… we added 3 drops of red food coloring to each quart. My Grandma Pickett used to do that, so we carried on the tradition.

As for the pickles, they are from a recipe of my Grandma’s also… she […]

Kiwi Vines

Annanasnaja arguta kiwi

Did you know that kiwis have 10 times the amount of Vitamin C in lemons? There are several different types of hardy kiwis that can grow in many different zones — some as far north as zone 3. The female kiwis, with their beautiful vines can produce up to 25 lbs of fruit each year when mature. Since the kiwis need a male for pollination, and the male can pollinate up to 8 different female vines, I’m thinking we might as well purchase several different varieties to see which produce best for our area and […]

Book Review – Gaia’s Garden

Gaia’s Garden, by Toby Hemenway

This book is a sort of gateway book into the world of permaculture. With a brief description of the core principles of permaculture, you can get an idea of how to begin thinking the way a permaculturist would in the design of your garden/food forest. Hemenway lays out the basic ideas of permaculture without going into great detail… enough information to be useful, but not so much that you become bogged down in minutiae. Once he lays out the general ideas of the underlying theory, he proceeds to give real-life examples of how the […]

Greenhouse Kits

Interior

One goal for the homestead will be to establish a greenhouse on the property. By establishing a greenhouse, we’ll be able to take advantage of the space we have available and get a head start on gardening each winter. I have tried starting plants from seed inside during the wintertime and have had mixed results. Since we didn’t have a grow light for the plants, they tended to be very ‘leggy’ due to the lack of proper sunlight. Many of the plants did fine once we transplanted them into the garden, but it wasn’t really ideal. Since […]

Book Review: Kitchen Garden: What to Grow and How to Grow It

Kitchen Garden, by Lucy Peel

Kitchen Garden: What to Grow and How to Grow It, by Lucy Peel.

This little gardening book is one that I have found to be very helpful. One of the first books I purchased upon my decision to may a foray into the gardening world, I continue to return to it for ideas on crop rotation, tips on tree pruning, etc.

I particularly like the way the book is laid out, giving the […]