Sunday, March 15, 2009

From Where I Am

I've started this post over several times, not sure how to get going. I've been very busy with things but not a lot going on with the house. It has been raining here fairly often so that has put a damper on several exterior projects that I want to work on. So, I thought I'd just post about a few miscellaneous things. I finally finished my raised strawberry bed that I started back in the fall. It is about 3' by 16' and about 1' deep. These are mostly two year old plants with a few of their babies thrown in, so I hope to have a fair crop this summer. I believe these are ever-bearing strawberries. I used all topsoil from my valley and added an organic fertilizer formulated for strawberries that I purchased from Gardens Alive. I have details showing how I built the raised bed if anyone is interested. I may post that anyway! even if you're not interested. Ha! My brussel sprouts continue to produce a small crop. They are great! I'm not sure how long the plants will last but I'm just going to keep tending them until they seem to play out. I cooked some of the sprouts for the Man From 12 Years and he seemed to enjoy them or said he did anyway. He scarfed them all down. I showed him the blog this weekend and told him what I write about. I wanted him to know he had been mentioned and make sure it was OK. He seemed to enjoy it and said it was fine but is a little hesitant to have his photo put up. He is still as handsome as he was back years ago but has become self-conscious over his hair and beard. See, they have both gone completely white and he thinks it makes us look very far apart in our ages. Now, he is a little older than me (but still younger than Allen) and most people associate white hair with much older people. I don't care myself. He had completely gray hair way back in his 30's and I've never known him with dark hair. I think he is beautiful, even if his hair were purple. I said I wanted a photo of him on his motorcycle and he seemed to like that idea so when it warms up a little more to start riding I'll get some pics.

The garlic is way up. I need to plant a lot more as I use quiet a bit in cooking. I roasted a head, that I had stored, the other night to use in some mashed potatoes and they were so good. That adds such flavor to potatoes. This is an old, unknown variety that a friend gave me last year. Most of my herbs are starting to spring up with new growth also. The lavender cuttings are still doing well. I need to fertilize my fruit trees before it gets much further into spring.
I have a chest cold this weekend and feel fairly crappy today so I've just been kinda taking it easy. The sun has finally come out today and it is very nice. Grendal and Lika are napping together on the deck. They may start to get along better after all.
Hope you all are having a great weekend and things are warming up where you are. Except for those of you in Aussie, where I guess things may be cooling down a little for you! But maybe that's welcome after the heat that you all have endured.
*Enya

9 comments:

Anna said...

i am jealous of the pictures of your gardens....mine are still under 2 or 3 feet of snow. At least another month before I will see them........

Anonymous said...

Love that strawbwerry patch ER, you could produce tons of fresh fruits & jams from there in time to come!
So glad Mr 12 is working out :)

Anonymous said...

My brother's hair started going white in high school. And my son started losing his hair in college. My hair is like roof thatch, and I don't think anything can affect it.

Didja see that Ron is posting again at Homesteading Hickory Hills?

MamaHen said...

Hey AD! 2 or 3 FEET! Ugh! I feel for you. Wishing warm weather your way!!


Hey Molly! thanks!! I hope to get a lot of strawberries this year. I love 'em!
things certainly seem to be going well with the man.


Hey Pablo! I don't mind gray hair at all. Most men worry too much about that sort of thing.
Yeah, I did see that Ron is back! Dropped a comment over there today.

countrypeapie said...

Wow -- look at that garlic! What kind of fruit trees do you have?

Nothing wrong with gray hair (I say, as I twirl a bit of my own salt and pepper strands...).

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

Your garden efforts are looking good.
I harvest my Sprouts all at once in the Fall when they are two feet tall. Yours looks like they could grown and produce a while longer. While plants in the cabbage family can withstand frost, i don't think they would survive the Winter here.

I have never gown strawberries. We have a wonderful pick your own strawberry farm nearby I go there. We have lots of wild blueberries. They are so good for you I put a lot of effort harvesting this free wild gift. Likewise, the wild cranberries which are also now recognized as being so good for you.

MamaHen said...

Hey Pea! I have one apple tree (need 2 more), a self-pollinating plum and 2 fig trees so far. Would like a cherry tree and maybe a couple of peach.
Nothing wrong at all with gray hair or white in his case!


Hey Philip! Yeah, I think the sprouts will go a while longer but I think I need to fertilize them.
the strawberries are really easy to grow here and we do have several u-pick strawberry and blueberry farms right here that I patronize. I love to cook with blueberries but don't care for them raw.

The Country Experience said...

The plants look good.

Yep, I don't mind gray or white hair in other people--just in my own, lol.

MamaHen said...

Hey CE! thanks!
well, I've gotten to the point I don't even mind the gray in my own!