Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Garden Time

I've been spending more time in the garden and with outdoor chores.  The garlic is weeded, the asparagus is weeded, and the sticks are getting picked up.

I loaded up a cart of firewood and stocked the hearth. Barns are getting a good spring cleaning, debris picked up that blew in over winter, and so forth.  The temperatures are typical too.  High's in the 60's in the middle of the week and down to lows of 27 over the weekend.  

I got all the fruit trees pruned (apple, pear, plum, peach and elderberry).  I am tickled pink to see the plum tree made it.  Yay!  I just have to buy and replant the red raspberry and blackberry.
  



And look at this!  My heirloom kale is growing back.  I left the plants in over winter, since it produced up to November, and it's already providing.  I am so, so happy to see this.  Are we folks weird to giggle over such a thing?  Ha!   I hope this means our pear trees will provide this year.

I think we'll be enjoying boiled eggs more often.  I could not find a home for the other 3 chicks, so we will now have 18 plus Sparta (rooster).  They have been inside for 2 weeks now, so I'm considering putting them out after this cold spell.

I have also been writing.  I've got two articles going at the same time.  I went in search of an old one I wrote, and began digging though files.  

What do you know?  I found this file.  He he ha ha ha ho ho!  


It's full of recipes!!!  E-gads!  I skimmed through it, and there are recipes we have already tried, but never made again.  I'll do a quick look-see, but I'm tempted to pitch it.  Oye.

I have to tell you about Jesse (oldest dog).  I had to make his homemade food early in the day, and he knew I was making it.  He huffed and puffed all day long, whining at me.  I kept telling him, "It's not time for dinner Jesse" and he did not want to listen.  Just kind of funny he always knows when I'm making his food.

It's raining and pretty windy today.  Not like we need more rain right now either.  When I walked out to prune trees yesterday, the ground was pretty slushy My muscles ache already in places I didn't know I had.  That's a good thing.
 

10 comments:

Kim said...

I knew that kale would make a second appearance for you. And I always seem to enjoy it so much in the springtime, I know you will too! So funny about Jesse!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Kim, I was so happy to see it again. I hope my collards make an appearance too. We need those greens. Jesse can be a funny dog sometimes.

Mama Pea said...

Those first greens of the year -- kale, spinach, dandelion greens, lettuce, etc. -- are so, so good! The only green things that overwinters up here are the chives, but I'm grateful for those!

I do believe you have a bigger stash of recipes saved to try than I do. My gosh! I like to think that's a sign of a good cook . . . since we like to cook and are always looking for fantastic food to feed our family. Sometimes I actually wish I didn't like to cook. I'd sure have more time. (But I don't think we would be as healthy then either!)

Come on, Mom, you could have given Jesse a little snack of his good food! ;o]

Sam I Am...... said...

That's so exciting about the kale! I didn't know it did that. Will it do that every year? Did you plant plants or seeds? I get excited about stuff like that too! LOL!

GrannyAnnie said...

Ha, ha, ha, about Jesse. That is funny, partly because I can relate to it so well. I had made homemade dog food for awhile, but we got so busy with the move and trying to straighten back out, that we are back to dry for now. Just too time consuming for that many dogs at the moment. Some of them are really missing it, though!
That is really nice about the kale. David got excited like that when he found out that his Swiss chard had some back up. That stuff is yummy!
I am going to try growing red raspberries this year for the first time. Hoping it goes well. Blackberries (really good ones) grow wild all over this place and many new ones are coming up, some in places I have to sadly cut down. Let me know if you would like for me to send you a few starts.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Mama Pea, I think the kids are starting to see how much work goes into a meal here. They don't like to do the dishes, ha ha! Poor Jesse. Ha! He cried and whined and huffed. So funny.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Sam I am, I planted them from seeds. We had a seed exchange years ago, and last year I found them in my seed stash. I wasn't even sure they'd grow. Thankfully they are in areas that are not the worst for flooding.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Anna, we have wild black raspberries that grow around our homestead. I had planted red myself, but last year we flooded due to the abundance of rain. It's impossible to grow blueberries on our property. Too much limestone.

RB said...

Just about when I was thinking all of our flowers came back this year (last year we lost all our mums for some reason we can't understand), I noticed none of our four-o-clocks are coming up. Luckily seeds for them are cheap, so we'll replant. It's going to get in the 30s tonight though, so not yet. We usually wait until after April 15th to plant because that's what the oldest weatherman recommends.
It was a glorious day today, so we cooked out tonight. Nothing fancy, just hot dogs, Italian sweet sausages and corn on the cob. It was nice, and yummy too.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
God bless.
RB
<><

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

RB, dinner sounds wonderful. We typically plant after Mother's Day. However, one year we had a late May frost.