|
Post by nhlivefreeordie on Mar 1, 2012 15:28:25 GMT -4
Two days worth of deliveries completed, one more half day and another half of development. This week has been killer.
Seeds from High Mowings have shipped. I have two different Currents (white and red) coming in April from Burnt Ridge Nursery.
My Amish friends have almost all of my (26) 6' X 6' X 8' black locust ties finished, (a month ahead of when I told them I would need them) so I may start work on the new raised and caged Strawberry bed next week. The weather looks to be good so I plan on tilling the garden so as to be ready to rock and roll hopefully right after Mothers Day.
|
|
|
Post by azlonerider on Mar 2, 2012 10:49:24 GMT -4
Busy time Wayne!! I'd like to see pictures of your raised bed strawberries....
We made more soap over the weekend. I made a form to standardize the bars and make it easier to cut. This batch was a bath and body soap for the shower, they came out very nice. I've also started a solar cooker. I'm converting an old dishnetwork dish into the cooker.
We also replaced the chickens that a bobcat ran off with and I'm probably going to go get 6 more.
|
|
|
Post by nhlivefreeordie on Mar 2, 2012 17:45:55 GMT -4
Busy time Wayne!! I'd like to see pictures of your raised bed strawberries.... We made more soap over the weekend. I made a form to standardize the bars and make it easier to cut. This batch was a bath and body soap for the shower, they came out very nice. I've also started a solar cooker. I'm converting an old dishnetwork dish into the cooker. We also replaced the chickens that a bobcat ran off with and I'm probably going to go get 6 more. I think I need to send you a couple of traps to deal with the bobcat problem. I will take pics during the build, it will eventually be a story sometime.
|
|
|
Post by rAcErRicK on Mar 2, 2012 20:31:32 GMT -4
Busy time Wayne!! I'd like to see pictures of your raised bed strawberries.... We made more soap over the weekend. I made a form to standardize the bars and make it easier to cut. This batch was a bath and body soap for the shower, they came out very nice. I've also started a solar cooker. I'm converting an old dishnetwork dish into the cooker. We also replaced the chickens that a bobcat ran off with and I'm probably going to go get 6 more. Me and Maria will come take care of the bobkitty thing for you Andy. ;D
|
|
|
Post by azlonerider on Mar 2, 2012 23:24:39 GMT -4
I'm thinking of setting a couple of snare in the yard. Once I figure out how to keep the dogs away from it but still let them roam the property I'm gonna have 2 snares in a couple of likely places that the bobcats are coming in.
|
|
|
Post by nhlivefreeordie on Mar 2, 2012 23:37:14 GMT -4
Cats choke down real easy, nothing like coyotes.
|
|
|
Post by Martin on Mar 8, 2012 21:22:17 GMT -4
That ethanol in the gas has really got me PO'd. It ate up another primer bulb and the gas cap on one of my chainsaws swelled up so i can barely screw the thing on and off and that's with a wrench. The stuff is garbage!!!! There isn't a gas station in this county that sells ethanol-free gas!! There's a place that has it up in Watkins Glen, but that's 20 miles away!! ~Martin
|
|
|
Post by leatherneckpa on Mar 12, 2012 11:33:11 GMT -4
I just received a HUGE kick-in-the-pants and some motivation to really ramp up homestead progress here on our little quarter acre. In today's crappy economy it appears the Army can afford to be very picky about who they keep and who they let go. It looks like my SIL will not be able to re-enlist. Which means the three of them will most likely be coming to live with us again.
There are SO MANY things I need to do to get ready for that! I think #1 on that list is maximizing the gardening space. And #2 will be to finally get around to building that workshop I have always wanted. With that done I can move my wood shop out of the little bedroom it's been in for the last 20 years and transform that into a new kitchen. Then we move our bedroom into where the old kitchen was. That will give the kids the entire upstairs for their "private area". And Cindy and I won't have to climb stairs for any reason.
|
|
|
Post by azlonerider on Mar 12, 2012 18:15:31 GMT -4
I just received a HUGE kick-in-the-pants and some motivation to really ramp up homestead progress here on our little quarter acre. In today's crappy economy it appears the Army can afford to be very picky about who they keep and who they let go. It looks like my SIL will not be able to re-enlist. Which means the three of them will most likely be coming to live with us again.
Hi, this is Trudy...on Andy's laptop. When do you think they will be moving in? I had heard that the military is getting rid of thousands of soldiers to lower their budget. I think a lot of people in the military wanting to reenlist in the next couple of years will have a real wake up call when they learn they can't reenlist and there aren't many jobs for them outside of the military. Sounds like you are going to have a busy couple of months ahead of you....not like you would have been bored in the first place. LOL. I had good news today. I learned that Gurney's will replace trees and plants for you as long as you are still gardening. We lost 2 trees, 1 blackberry and 1 grape plant we planted last year. We were going to buy two more trees (we have 3 that are doing well) but now we won't have the money out of pocket. Well I better get back to cleaning. "Oh what fun! LOL.
|
|
|
Post by leatherneckpa on Mar 13, 2012 8:36:20 GMT -4
SIL's enlistment is up in August. Which means I won't get a whole lot of help with the garden this summer. On the plus side, DD should be home by the time harvest starts really kicking in and she can learn to do canning.
Cindy's less than thrilled about this. She wants them living "Close to home, but not AT home". I tried to remind her that not all that long ago multi-generational households were the norm. She'd rather the kids were out on their own. Sure, so would I. But in this economy, you explain to me how two kids with no college and no realistic job skills are going to be able to make it "on their own". He's an infantry soldier, not even an NCO, so he can't claim supervisory experience. And she's a stay-at-home mom. New question: Anybody ever build/use one of those solar dehydrators? I'm specifically thinking of the ones that look kind of like a big box with a ramp on the front to collect the heat. I think I'd like to try to dry some tomatoes and some peppers for storage this year.
|
|
|
Post by rAcErRicK on Mar 13, 2012 12:15:19 GMT -4
WOW ! That's a tall order Mike. Somewhere in this is the recipe for a heart attack, Hope you'll keep that in mind. And all of this military reduction is right in the face of the goobers starting a war with several MORE countries. We've done so well in the past and present we really NEED a few more going on. Makes one wonder how many severely wounded troops there are now, and they are about to send more off to become cannon fodder. This is truly sad.
|
|
|
Post by Martin on Mar 15, 2012 16:38:23 GMT -4
It's like summer here!!
I got fed up with the old weed whacker and it's issues with ethanol in gas so i decided because I'm not able to run a scythe currently I'll upgrade the string trimmer to something with more power and higher quality Soooo...I scanned the reviews of all the top names, Stihl, Echo, Jonsered, and Husqvarna. I settled on the Husqvarna 223l because it gets excellent reviews, it'll stand 10% ethanol and is available locally at Lowe's at a reasonable price. Well....I took it up to the land and fired it up....it ran for almost 10 minutes then the clutch must have burned out of it!!! The head stopped spinnning! It's going back to Lowe's tonight!! GRRRRRrrrrrrrr!!!!! Boy was I mad, I lost most of a day of work because of that thing!!!
About a week ago I ordered a new LEM stainless steel meat grinder, I took that out of the box and washed it up......when I went to put it together it became apparent that the threads on the barrel are screwed up so that the collar won't screw on far enough so that the blade rests tight against the plate ....making the thing useless!!!! So that is on its way back!!! GRRRRRrrrrrrr!!!!
Last night we decided to order NY style pizza delivered (we almost never eat out or order delivery). We called it in at 7:25, we were told that it would take up to 45 minutes....."okay"! Delivery guy showed up an hour and 10 minutes after we ordered with a stone cold pizza!!! GRRRRRrrrr!!!! They got a phone call ;D....I will be getting my money back for that!!!
I'm real down on civilization right now!!!! Way more than normal!! LOL
I'm so tired of people and GARBAGE products!!!!
~Martin
|
|
|
Post by nhlivefreeordie on Mar 15, 2012 16:48:02 GMT -4
Yep, I am right there with you most of the time, can't wait to get to our homestead, I may not leave for several years so as not to have to run into any a-holes.....oh wait a minute, there aren't any there....LOL
|
|
|
Post by Martin on Mar 15, 2012 17:04:48 GMT -4
Where's a good place to buy land in NH? Preferrably a good distance from liberals. ;D
~Martin
|
|
|
Post by leatherneckpa on Mar 15, 2012 18:15:04 GMT -4
I may not leave for several years so as not to have to run into any a-holes.....oh wait a minute, there aren't any there....LOL Oh, they're there. You just have to LOOK harder to find them.
|
|