Honeysuckle

For thirteen years we lived in semi-rural western New Jersey.  I say "semi-rural" because we lived in a town of about 18,000 in a neighborhood of 1950's tract houses on tiny lots.  Not as tiny as the lot I grew up on right outside of NYC, but small nonetheless.

We were surrounded by fields.  Soybean fields and corn fields.  When you drove along those country roads this time of year the air was sweet with the scent of the wild honeysuckle.  It is one of my favorite scent memories.  The honeysuckle just grew wild all along the road sides.  I haven't yet seen it here in Maine, but I live in the woods, not near any fields.

Here is a photo I found online of wild honeysuckle

When we moved to Maine and bought this house, there was a trellis on the front of the house with a honeysuckle planted in front of it.  That first summer it really didn't do much, and it had no scent.  And since I didn't like the idea of a trellis on the front of the house, we took the honeysuckle out and I walked a ways into the woods and just threw it!  

Fast forward thirteen years.  We have done a lot of tree clearing to build a yard, a garage, and a garden.  Just a few years ago we cut down more trees to give the garden more sun.  And bam!!!

This grew

Right where I threw it.  It must have grown a bit each year in the shade, but once the full sun came along it just took off.  This year it is even beginning to cling to the big rock.  I'm not sure if I will at some point regret leaving this here, but it is pretty although it is scentless.

I think I will add REAL honeysuckle to my list of plants to get for my yard.  I wonder if it will grown here?

Seed Starting Success!

Although I've been gardening since 1991 when we bought our first home, gardening in the state of Maine has been quite a challenge for me.  The environment:  short growing season, rocks & boulders, trees & stumps, no soil, cooler temperatures.  I have had more disappointing seasons than successful ones.  Some of the disappointments have been the result of my trying to garden here like I did in New Jersey (the garden state), my lack of consistent enough watering in raised beds, and my lack of commitment to building soil myself.  This year I decided that I was going to try harder and I was going to give it my all to have a successful season.  However I know that some things can and will be out of my hands (weather)

One of my goals for this year was to start seeds indoors so that I could spend less and get more.  That being said, starting seeds and growing seedlings that have a fighting chance of making it does require some initial and ongoing investment.

First up was deciding what kind of set up I wanted to have.  My seed starting nursery had to be in my dining room, and I have a cat.  Those two facts were considered in my design decision.  I know a lot of people buy shelving units for this purpose but it just didn't seem to fit with what I had in mind.
So I asked my husband to build an open sided box with a perforated plywood top that could sit on top of a spare table we already have.  The size was determined by what and how much I planned to start from seed.

This is  a picture of my husband (the builder) and his assistant (angel kitty) with the finished basic structure

The materials that he used were: 1/4 sheet plywood, 1 (8ft) 2x3 for the legs, 4 (8ft) 1x3, and screws

He drilled holes all over the plywood top for air flow and the bottom board is up a little from the bottom so air can flow under.  We purchased clear plastic shower liners and cut them and attached them with velcro circles to the sides.  The reason for this was two -fold:  the kitty and it is still cold here in Maine in March/April.  The liner was easily raised for watering and for additional ventilation.

We hung two 48 inch fluorescent shop lights and we were ready to go!

After a trip to Walmart for organic seed starting mix and those trays with the cell packs, plus a couple of packages of jiffy pots and I was ready to start planting.  My seeds I purchased from Pinetree Garden Seeds here in Maine.

I had learned from watching a ton of youtube channels that you should dump the potting mix in a tote and wet it until it held together, then spread it into your cell packs and pack it down.  Once that was done I got down to the tedious business of planting the seeds.

I used a pencil to make the planting hole and pop sticks to mark them.  I also wrote down lots of info in  my gardening journal.  I planted 24 cells of Roma Tomatoes and I ended up with 22 seedlings!!!

Just in case you are curious this is a list of what I planted:

brocolli, collards, kale, roma tomato, lettuce, arugula, chard, basil, calendula, marigold, zinnia, statice, feverfew, squash, pumpkin, sunflower, zucchini, & cucumber

Everything germinated except for one type of lettuce ( I tried twice so I'm going to e-mail the company).  Everything grew and everything is now outside!!!!  so exciting!!!

I kept the clear dome lids on until they germinated and then lowered the lights and turned them on.  I actually put the lights on a timer to go on at 6 a.m. and off at 10 p.m.  The plants thrived!

The cool weather things (greens)  were able to go outside in 4 weeks, so that is when I repotted the tomatoes and the basil.

I transplanted all of the greens to a bed with a cover for a few weeks.  I planted them close together and now I am in the process of transplanting them around the garden.

I really feel that my first experience with seed starting was a success.  I will be able to use the set up we came up with for years.  I even have plans to build up onto it and plant more next year!

Here are a few basic things I did (that I learned from others on the internet) that I believe made my endeavor a success:

1.  prewater the potting mix--it holds the water better
2.  I didn't have heat pads (expensive!)  so for the first week I ran my space heater nearby.  I think it worked because all of the seeds germinated in under 5 days.
3.  once the seeds germinate take the plastic dome off.
4.  water seeds with a water bottle on mist and keep moist
5.  once sprouted water from the bottom--add water to the tray
6.  some algae growth on the soil is normal--increase ventilation and keep the surface of the soil "scratched"  I used a plastic fork, so that it doesn't repel water.

**It was easy for me to keep a constant eye on my plants because they were right in my dining room.  I recommend that you put your set up where you can pay attention to the seedlings and catch any issues immediately.

**I think my expenses to start these seeds was about $250 including the seeds (I have leftovers to plant directly outside also).  Obviously the seeds and the cell packs and potting soil are consumable so will be an expense each year.

**I hope some of this information is helpful to other newbies like me!

Home/Garden/Personal Goals for 2017

I joined a group on facebook that focuses on learning new skills each month.  Assignment number one is to make a Goals list of 3 or 5 or 10 goals for the year 2017.  I already had a few goals lists written down here and there, so I pulled them all together into one place.  Turns out I have 20!

here they are in no particular order:

1.  Buy a book on sugaring (already on my amazon wish list) and begin to create a plan and assemble what is needed to start tapping some trees and getting me some maple syrup!

2.  Expand my garden into an area we have cut the trees down a couple of times.  I'm going to try sheet composting right on the rooty rocky ground.

3.  Build a hugelkulture (sp?) bed on the upper front lawn.  This seems like a wonderful possibility for our rocky, thin soil.

4.  Start some annual flowers from seed this year.  I need to plant tons in order to encourage more bee activity here in the deep woods.

5.  Grow more herbs--learn more aboutusing herbs and tinctures.

6.  Plan a greenhouse to be built over two of the raised beds in my garden.

7.  Learning to draw!  continue to work on this.  I have written a bunch of kids stories and i really want to get them illustrated and printed out.  then I can learn to bind my own books! 

8.  Buy a dehydrator.  I had one 20 years ago and sold it at a yard sale when I lost interest.  Stupid move.  I could really use one now.

9.  Complete more sewing projects.  nothing specific.

10.  Organize all of our photos into  photo boxes (already purchased & already set up in the dining room)  --i've begun this project.

11.  Lose weight.  This has been on my goal list for 30 years.  Well, no, longer than that.  I am 56 and have always said I was happy being fat and fit.  But the fit part is getting harder the older I get.  I'm happy with the fact that I learned to not get fatter!  I recently bought the Trim Healthy Mama book and reactivated MyfitnessPal.  I have a fitbit on my amazon wishlist.

12.  Hike more!  The last few years my sciatica has been awful (it's lots better! it seems driving makes it worse and since I stopped working in Sept. I don't hardly drive!)  I also injured my achilles tendon last spring so we didn't do one hike in 2016.  That also is better now.

13.  Build up my pantry again!  I need to get a better list going and spend more time weekly searching out the best prices on items for my pantry.  In conjunction with this I also want to work on a meal list again.

14.  Seek out more local foods.  Do more shopping at the various farmers markets.

15.  Spend less money!  I really don't want to go back to work, so I must get back to my frugal roots.  I need to work on a list of things that can be done to cut back, post them and keep at it.

16.  Build an arbor and plant grapes.

17.  Be very hands-on with the homeschooling of grandsons.

18.  work on plans for a new workshop/storage out back.

19.  Make decisions and have a firm plan in place for next winter to partially renovate the kitchen.  New bottom cabinets on one wall, new sink, all new countertops, paint, new flooring, and potentially build a movable island I can use for baking.  

20.  Paint the master bedroom and lay a wood laminate floor.  (the paint has been purchased and we are going to check out the laminate tomorrow)

ok, I lied, I have....

21.  Put a new roof on the house.

I know this looks like a lot, but I think it's all very doable since many of them are just "plan" things. 

Whats going on?

Here is what is going on around these parts these days.....

Home:  I love it here!  I could stay here and never leave...unless I was going to get a grand boy or girl!
I worked on reorganizing the really big bookshelf in my craft room.  Jeff just built me an even bigger one this week!  It's going in the dining room.  I need more space to store books and toys I don't want the kids to have free reign with.  So I will be off loading my old bookshelf and organizing the new one as soon as he gets it in and anchored to the wall.

Cooking:  I'm trying to get back into making a menu, then shopping, then actually sticking with the plan!

So far in the last couple of weeks i have made a pumpkin pie and a dutch apple pie.  Both are totally gone!  The next pies I make will go into the freezer that is for sure.  I also made pumpkin butter in the crock pot and it came out really good.  I used pumpkin flesh that I had cooked last year, scooped out and stuck in the freezer.  I just took it out and let it drain really well and then pureed it in the food processor.

Garden:  I've slowly been pulling up spent plants and feeding them to the chickens.  This way the beds will gradually get cleaned out over the next few weeks.  The sun is moving much lower across the sky and my garden is half in the shade now.  I am going to build some new beds next year in other areas around the yard to take advantage of sunnier spots and the plan is to concentrate on a couple beds being veggies that can grow in the shade!  I cut all of my basil yesterday and its all ready for me to make pesto later on today.
I am now getting 2 eggs daily.  I'm hoping the other 7 start laying soon and continue through the winter months.  I'm already keeping a light on in the coop to make sure they get about 14 hours of light.

Work:  Well!  I gave my notice at my job and my last day will be the 14th of October.  I will only be working 1 day a week for the next couple of weeks, so essentially, I'm done.  It is sad, but also a big relief.  Things went downhill in the last few months and got to the point that they couldn't be fixed.  So the plan is for me to take off the next six months and then look for something else.  All I'm going to want is 1 day a week.  I'm thinking a craft store???

Family:  Everyone was over yesterday for lunch and haircuts.  Jeff is the barber of the family.  He did 7 haircuts yesterday.  He had a couple whiners and one all out crier.  But he got the job done!

Health:  I'm trying to walk again.  I have Achilles tendinitis and it is a nuisance!  I'm remembering to stretch before walking and to ice after.  I'm sticking to 30 minutes or less and it's mostly on the treadmill.  I've put notes up on the fridge to remind me to take my supplements:
I started taking cod liver oil + vitamin d in addition to a B-complex, and turmeric (golden paste)
The B-complex gives me more energy and the turmeric helps with my aches and pains (and mood too, I think)  The cod liver oil is supposed to help with lots of things, primarily immune.  We shall see.

Until next time!

What's going on?

Here is what's going on!

Home:  Just when you think you have a plan for how your home should be......it will change!  I have been planning on making my dining room into just a dining room.  What was I thinking?!   I was thinking of getting a few pieces of furniture (jelly cupboards) to store my serving pieces in (which are in totes in a closet at the moment)  I've decided to get a piece of fitness equipment instead.  That is what is going in the dining room because the room we use for fitness equipment (previously a bedroom) is full and we can't place it well in there.  Health trumps fancy storage plain and simple.  So I am going through stuff and what has no meaning is going to Goodwill.  Hubby is building a really large bookshelf for me because the one I have is too small so I will utilize the very top shelves of that for some of the platters and serving pieces I use a lot.  For now.

Crafting:  I'm adding this category because I am a crafter!  I dabble in a lot of different things.  This week I went to Joann Fabrics and spent 2 hours walking around and deciding on a pattern (for baby granddaughter stuff) and fabrics for a few different sewing projects.  This week we crafted these pumpkins from scrap wood.  Hubby cut and sanded and I painted.  We are a team on the wink!

Garden:  Still picking green beans and some cucumbers.  There are a few little pumpkins still growing and my dwarf sunflowers bloomed.  Late, but then again I planted them late.  I pruned my raspberries, transplanted some back into line and mulched heavily with straw.  The blueberries got a heavy mulch of pine needles.  I worked on my compost pile  which is growing crazy since I got chickens because of the straw from the pen.  I keep the pen nice and dry so I change out the straw weekly.  Otherwise I've been doing some fall weeding in different flower beds.  The leaves are changing and some are falling here in northern New England.  I've been pulling up random plants that are done producing and feeding them to the chickens.  They loved the squash plants!  This way I will get the garden all cleaned up in bits and pieces.

Family:  We had a family get together yesterday for our son's 30th birthday.  This is my second child to hit this milestone age!  His party was planned and executed by his wife.  I didn't bake the cake, but I did get to frost the cupcakes.  Ask me if I liked not being in charge of my son's birthday cake.  I dare you! haha!  We have six grandchildren, 5 of them being boys 2 1/2 to 5 years of age.  I was ready to go home at the end of the party.  I don't always hold my tongue when it comes to behaviors I see, I really was trying yesterday and I didn't always succeed.  I have to remember that they are not my children and my input is not always welcome.

Home school:  We had a picnic on Wednesday for our grandson's first official day of homeschooling.  As I previously mentioned, I purchased the Horizons preschool curriculum from Alpha and Omega.  I take their lesson plan and rewrite it into an outline for my daughter in law and son to follow.  Then I assemble everything they will need to complete the lessons, crafts, activities, etc.  I love doing this! It is a start and a learning process as we go along.


Work:  This past week I only worked 10 hours!  I loved it.  This is what I want and I can't seem to get right now.  The company I work for knows what I want, but we are always so short staffed.  I usually work 20 hours a week, but this week I have 35 scheduled hours.  I am going to try to whittle that down a bit to 30 and I am going to take lots of deep breaths.

Until next time!

What's going on?

Here's what's going on in my world this week!

We are headed toward fall.  The season of green leaves is so short in northern new england.  There are already touches of yellow and red here and there in the woods on the wink.  We will still have warm weather (well, warm for us) and some humid days, but the wild sprint through summer is almost over.
When the crickets start to sing, you know it.  The stores are full of autumn and I even bought a few things myself yesterday at the Christmas Tree Shop.

Home:  I have been plugging along on some organizational things.  Mostly still getting paperwork under control and streamlined.  With the cooler weather coming I am planning on painting the master bedroom, already bought the paint.  Then this winter we will think about replacing the 18 year old carpet with new carpet.  As I have gotten older allergies have gone away and Jeff says he prefers the carpet over wood.  So this decision will be his!  We are having house guests for the next week, so I am putting off starting my big photo organization project until after Labor Day.

Work:  Things have been much better with my client.  So many things have gotten under control and it is more like it used to be.  It was a wild ride for a few months there--I almost gave up and quit--I'm glad I didn't.  I'm getting used to working the four days (20 hr)  and I won't mind picking up a little more until winter comes.

Garden:  All I am picking so far is flowers (glads and zinnias)  and green beans.  There are a few summer squash growing, but I know next year I have to hand pollinate.  cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers had a late start, and then not enough rain, but I will still get some through the next month or so.  The cucs actually look really good right now.   Picking wild black raspberries by the handful up along the driveway.  This year there is a ton of them, but there is also a wasp nest near them so it's a bit sketchy to pick!

Family:  The littles are all growing up.....sniff, sniff.....and running around like crazy.  Their favorite thing right now is to race each other across the back lawn (and I was thinking of turning it into gardens)  oh well.  They also love to go on "bear hunts"  up the trail out back.  One of our favorite books is "Going on a Bear Hunt"  Little baby girl is so cute and so snuggly, and is becoming more independent.  Looking forward to the next grandchild coming in February.

Misc:  I just purchased Horizons Preschool curriculum (alpha & omega) for Ethan to work through this year.  I will continue to put together book packets (books and activities that go along) and his parents will make sure he touches all the bases he should.  I like the Charlotte Mason method of learning using good books.  This will be a good introduction to homeschooling for his mom and dad.  I didn't home school the very early grades with my kids, but I did use the Lifepacs from A&O and I really liked them.

well, there you go!  Have a great weekend!

what's going on?

I thought it was time to just do a daily life kind of blog post and not an opinion piece.  Although I love to voice my opinion!

So I'm going to try to break it down into categories if I can.

Home:  I've been trying to stay home as much as I can.  Home is my sanctuary.  The last few months my job has been very stressful and very overwhelming.  This may seen  funny to some people,  considering I only work part time (20 hours), but it's the type of work I do.
So we haven't been running around on the off days and we've mostly been staying put in the evenings.

Work:  Where do I start?  For the longest time I worked my 20 hours in 2 days.  In April it changed to 20 hours in 4 days.   Then circumstances arose that have made the last few months with my client very hard to deal with.  I'm hoping that we have peaked at the worst of it and that we are going to get calm again.  This week has been the first good week in months.  I would love to cut back to 10 hours a week, but I just don't see that happening right now because staffing needs are so great.

Garden:  I've identified another mistake I've been making since we moved here.  It could be contributing to my poor gardening skills:  I've been storing my shredded leaves under a couple of pine trees.  (palm to forehead)  Have I been screwing up the PH?  maybe.
Otherwise, I'm happier with the garden than I've been since I moved here and built it.  It has been a struggle to spend enough time out there.  I still don't, but I've spent more than normal and the results show.
 *We expanded one bed and built another one.  Now all of the available space in that area is used.
 *We have been collecting cardboard and lining the paths and putting down straw, so weeds are less.  * It has been a dry summer here in this part of Maine and I water each day, but I know it's not enough and I have even begun to water less because if the dryness continues I don't want my well to draw down.
 *We did plant a row of high bush blueberries & the raspberry row we planted last year gave us tons of pickings!
 *summer squash seems to be a bust again this year.  There are just not enough bees in the middle of the woods.  I've planted a lot more flowers, but it's not enough.  So I either have to be a bee keeper or pollinate the plants myself.  I don't see either one happening in the near future so I will just buy my squash from the farmer down the road.
 * I've grown some greens to feed the chickens, but I've been shopping the farmers market to feed me!

Family:  Our family is expanding!  Grand baby #7 will be coming along in February! Joe & Luke will be welcoming a new brother or sister.
  AND our daughter and son in law are buying a piece of land 2 miles from my house, on my road, and I am beyond happy about this!  I can walk there & back!!!  I can get skinny?????  hahaha, that won't happen because my daughter will feed me when I get there!

Anyway.....that is a little glimpse into my world.  Have a restful weekend!

week off aftermath

i'm still at it!!!!  week before last i took a week off from micro managing my food and exercise.  i purposefully did not weigh in for a week after that ended and i was still at a 9 lb. loss.  that was last week.  i haven't weighed in this week.  i think i'm going to try to not do it until friday.

i'm still keeping track of everything and exercising.  now that the weather is nicer there are many more opportunities to hike and garden.

i FEEL so much better, even though its just been 9 lbs.  imagine how i will feel when i've lost it all!
wow, i will probably just float away.

we have committed ourselves to do at least 10 hikes in Acadia National Park this season.  #1 is done
on sunday we hike The Great Head Trail

The Great Head Trail is an easy hike around a peninsula that juts out into the ocean.  there is very little elevation gain and the hike was about 2 miles at the most. (we left from sand beach parking lot and returned across the beach).

tomorrow i am going to an Autism walk in Bar Harbor so that should be about 2 miles on flat roads. oh, and its supposed to rain.  ugh.    

as long as i'm being scattered.................

garden

this year i have one less long bed because we took it away to fit the chicken coop and the enclosure (which is not enclosed yet)  so we will be extending the bed all the way on the left and building another smaller one in this area.

i'm getting very close to getting my chicks.  we've gotten this far on the brooder box (thats a light sitting on top of the wire.  i went with a Brinsea ecoglow brooder to simulate the warmth of a mama chicken.  i'm afraid of heat lamps & i love my house.  the plan is to get 6 chicks and they will outgrow this in a few weeks and then we will go to plan b (whatever that is)

exciting times on the wink!

Day #18 wild flower finds

about a week ago i was driving down the road and i noticed some different leaves occasionally along the side of the road.  so i went for a walk and this is what i found

wild irises?!!

yeah.....i went back with a shovel and a bag and scored me quite a few of these.
i'm assuming that when the road was paved a couple of years ago they seeded the shoulders with wildflower mix and its taken that long for these to appear?

so while i was at it i also went to another spot where every year i spy these beauties

wild columbine

there are purple and pink and a bluish color.  i've seen them there in the ditch for quite a while but i always forget about them.

add these to the lupines i snitched off the side of the road a few years ago, plus the chives, and the day lilies and i've got quite the wildflower garden going along the side of the driveway.  

here are a couple more photos taken on a walk on the wink

there are blueberry fields on the top of the road with a lonely little camp in the middle of them.

these are bee hives brought all the way here from Florida to pollinate the blueberry crop.  

Day #6 Chives

i love chives.

i love to eat them.

i love to smell them.

i love to look at them.

you buy one small chive plant and in no time at all they are everywhere!

i just dug up and transplanted my chives along the driveway where i'm trying to get some "natural" color.  i planted them all along a 200 ft. section and i think they will look beautiful each spring when they bloom and will fill in a nice thick green the rest of the summer.

and whenever i make potato salad i can just walk up the driveway and snip to my hearts content!