First Salad of Spring

Free Organic Baby Salad Greens grown in the cold frame. Seeds were a gift from a fellow urban homesteader. Not sure where she obtained them from no doubt a barter deal. This is a mix of non-iceberg lettuce the majority I can't i.d. without a seed catalog except for Red Oak. Wanna say the seed packet read salad mix from Johnny's seeds.

I sowed the lettuce much too close in the beginning of April half thinking it wouldn't be a problem since the seeds are 4 years old, more than likely not to grow. So now for the most part we'll just come out and kneel down next to the frame and attempt to pluck out every other lettuce plant. Make that pluck 3 leave 1.

Frugal aspect: from an earlier blog post about the cold frame http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/08/happenings-on-back-40-feet.html

Materials were free wood scraps, about $2 worth of black paint, and guess of $5 worth of upholstery plastic. Still need to do that upgrade to enable the original goal to be met - growing greens in Winter.

Current pricing on organic salad greens is $4.99 for 8 oz. Frame paid for itself last season so I'm curious how much of a savings it will generate this season.

Last night we ate about $6 worth for dinner.

~~ pelenaka ~~

1. P.S. Chore list 5/5/08 - future rain barrels didn't get painted due to a difference between my engineer (DH) & myself. He has an idea for a new design ...
2. New Patio design is 1/3 completed, waiting on the take down of my greenhouse which is waiting on the final threat of frost. Extreme difficulty foraging for cinder blocks, (must be the recession).
3. New Raised bed is started but also waiting on the removal of the greenhouse. Soil was relocated from a bed located in the driveway along with found compost material (lazy neighbor who doesn't rake). Wasn't able to collect pond scum or wood chips yet. Placed rabbit cages over this bed & another to direct collect poop. Bun's are enjoying the change of scenery. I'm enjoying NOT cleaning cage pans.
4. Rabbit tractor has been put on hold until I can find a suitable pasture. First attempt @ a local park attracted a dog & owner with way too many questions. The tractor design was my smallest cage placed on the open lawn.
5. Planted a very small bed of wild garlic from a plant trade with a coworker. Garlic should be planted in the Fall when possible. Hope to trade a lilac for a Hosta next week.

Chore list

Monday, Monday, time to get organized after my 3 12-hour shifts @ work. Quick check of the long range weather claims highs around mid 60's & more importantly lows around 40's. Chance of rain <>
So here's my list of outside homesteading chores to complete in the next 4 days.

• Paint 2, 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels black so DH can make me more rain barrels. We both have a feeling that this will be a drought Summer.
• Rework the patio - rearrange the pavers & put up a privacy trellis that will double as vertical growing space for green beans. Involves relocating pea gravel & using found materials.
• Install a new raised bed - HD is having a sale on landscape timbers @ $1.89 each. Our need for more growing space outweighs our usual lax time schedule of curb shopping for found materials to use in construction of raised beds such as cinder blocks & huge rocks. This will also free up old cinders to recreate a better hearth for my canning stove or make a new stove.
• Visit a local city park that has a fresh water filled quarry (licensed fishing only) to collect pond scum for composting. Forage for plants.
• Snag countless trash cans full of free wood chips for mulch (city dump) for the back 40'.
• Plant all those darn seeds we keep buying, collecting, trading, received as gifts.
• Make a rabbit tractor so buns can be free ranged to save on feed & give them some space.
• Survey my oldest DD's backyard to finalize plans for a satellite garden . She's rented a house in the same neighborhood so maintaining it will be convenient (yea, famous last words). Oh duh, add @ least two more rain barrels for that garden. Figure out a fencing system to deter her neighbor & their pets.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Urban Orchard Part 3

Our stretch of Summer like weather has come to a close with temps. expected to drop down to frost conditions on the night of 28Th, and wet snow on the night of the 29Th. My poor little Apple tree.

There are tiny little leaves sprouting up all over the branches. Good reinforcement as we I have never planted bare rot stock before.

Transplanted Strawberries from over the side yard that were growing under the Purple Cone flowers. Can never have enough Strawberries.

3 found galvanized plumbing pipe and some jute twine to contain the branches then a heavy duty large trash bag placed over worked very well for the first night of frost temperatures.




30 degrees tonight with rain (wet snow), then another night of below 38 degrees. After that low 40's for the rest of the week. Will have to set my alarm clock & walk out to brush the wet snow off the bag. DH says it will be a lost cause.



This is one of 2 Frost Variety Peach Trees that were my Wedding gift to DH a few years ago. Sorta a spontaneous purchase on morning after work when I stopped into a mega mart nursery store looking for onion sets. Apparently I have a weakness in Garden Centers. Very comical dragging these home buckled in my front seat of my subcompact car the tops hanging out the hatch. It's not a dwarf to say the least. Last year we got about a dozen peaches from the two. Very sweet & juicy.
The plan for tonight is to place as many stakes as I can find around the perimeter then drape that blue trap over the tree.
Maybe lite my supply of mason jar candles underneath. Sorta like they do in the citrus orchards during a cold spell with propane heaters.
Yeah, it's no wonder the Code man has his eye on me.






~~ pelenaka ~~

Urban Orchard Part 2

This is one of the 3 apple trees we bought. As per the catalog it's a self pollinating hand grafted semi dwarf, 4 on 1 antique variety. Which means that it can be grown to a height of 6' & has 4 different antique varieties of apples. I was riding the fence on this type of tree until the Nurseryman @ Miller's mentioned that it comes in an antique vs. modern tree.
Golden Russet -med./lg. yellow with russetting, crisp, keeps until April, good cider apple.
Snow or if you wanna impress your MIL Fameuse -med. red great eating, cooking, cider.
Summer Rambo -16th century French, lg. yellow, famous for eating & sauce, vigorous.
Roxbury Russet -16th century Massachusetts, lg. green, great for juice & cider, keeps until April.

4' away in the same bed is planted our 2nd Apple tree a Sops of Wine which date back to medieval England. Everything we have read on this variety says it's a great cooking & cider apple.

All the trees have buds with one or two that have tiny leaves. Unfortunately our recent heat wave of 75 + degree weather is coming to a close tomorrow. Will discuss with DH about throwing plastic over our orchard in the evening to prevent frost damage. Good that there all dwarfs, lol.

~~ pelenaka ~~
Now if I could just get over the fact that if I had planted fruit trees when I first moved in 8 years ago ...

Urban Orchard Part 1

Part 1
A few Sundays ago DH & I sent our daughter's to the movies via a Christmas Gift Card so we could go fruit tree shopping a few hours away in Canandaigua, New York. That in itself was a bit of an expirence becomming lost and slightly distracted with the numerius antique shops in the region. The only thing that stopped us was the fact that if we need the cargo room & $ for plants. So all total we spent about $150 for 3 apple trees, 1 cherry tree, and 2 grape vines and some sorta oil that DH said we needed for an insectiside. Gas was about $10. Bonding time priceless.
The Nurseryman who helped us was extremely knowledgeable & patient with us or rather me. Seems that aprently once in the warehouse I forgot I only farm >1/14 of an acre. I wanted everything. So once DH gave me a reality smack & we explained to him what we wanted to eventually accomplish he was very helpful in a very non salesman way. He even was able to give me his opinion on what different types of fruit tasted like which helped me decide (canning possibilities).
Oh he verified that more than 2 fruit trees is an orchard. We have an orchard!
www.millernurseries.com

~~ pelenaka ~~

Barter-add

Needed : 260 jelly jars non wire bail type with or without rings. Also foraging/gleaning rights for fruit such as apples, peaches, & pears.
Offered : Handyman services, housecleaning, yard work (ready a garden for spring planting), pruning, cider, when in season; organic blackberries, 3 bushels potatoes, 100 lbs. of squash. Possible trade organic commercially butchered beef.

Here's the deal. Just spoke with my children's school in regards to attendance which is 180 days. 180 days of lunches. 180 days of eating a jelly jar of canned fruit per child.
Which is really 360 jars filled for two daughters. 2 lunches per day. 5 Lunches per week.
Fruit needed is about say 500 lbs. if I did the math right.
Lofty goal huh?
So I need about 200 more jars having about 170 jelly jars in inventory. Also need to see about getting deals on a bulk buy of fresh fruit. Apples would be the cheapest but can't see daughters eating applesauce 5 days a week no matter if it were spiced or not.
Can't recall what a bushel of fruit was fetching @ the farmer's market provided that a bushel is X amount of pounds, which it never is. Varies. Besides we are in an inflation so cost is a variable.
Lids bought last year by the case were 6¢ each.
So if I'm able to barter for jars or even if just use my already paid/free jars then the questions is how much $ to fill each jar. Cheaper than store bought individual fruit cups ? Should I factor in the green aspect of no further expended energy to make the plastic containers ? Take into account that I am assured what the contents are - as in semi to completely organic (tainted food supply like peanut butter) ? Also cost factor of sugar, spices, and orther ingredients.
All I wanted to do was have fruit on hand for school lunches that was low in sugar and preservatives, low in cost, and easily stored.


Sometimes I really need to be medicated.

~~ pelenaka ~~