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Just the Bits

April 9th - rain and snow mix, morning temperature was 21°F!
April 10th - 38°, high of 44°F, rain
April 11th - 30°, low chance of rain, partly sunny

We should be picking asparagus, wild violets and wild dead nettle right now, but the weather is delaying it.  I surely hope we still get them all.  Time will tell.


Despite freezing cold weather that is freezing my chickens water at night, my potted comfrey is already coming to life again.  The weather is to warm up again thankfully.


I need help with deterring rabbits.

Does anyone have any tried and true (non toxic) ways to deter rabbits from your flower beds and herb garden?  I read coffee grounds deter them, but they are not good for my herb garden.  I had motion sensor noise gadgets, but they did not work for the rabbits last year.


A tree of some sort is growing in the edging (between the landscaping stone and chives of all places) of the herb garden, and it has thorns.  It needs to be dug out thanks to the birds.

I have wild growing wineberry starts (again thanks to the birds) to yank from the asparagus patch, and have already put straw in the newer asparagus patch (to keep those weeds down for harvest).  I will need to add more straw before Spring harvest.


(oatstaw in a jar)

I've been brewing nettle tea for us here lately.  It's a powerhouse, but it's great for allergies too. I'm no doctor, but you can do your own research on stinging nettle.


Homesteading/Self Sufficiency goes hand in hand with being physically fit.  If anyone is interested, I can write up a post on this.


Garden or no garden is the question.  We purchased not-so-inexpensive fencing to fence one garden area last year.  We need fencing to protect the other (larger) garden area, and it's now in limbo.  The cost to buy fencing is not low, by all means, but we can install it ourselves.  

A lot has affected the purchase of the fencing.  Our electric cost doubled, and we are not even heating the upstairs (as we did when the kids lived here).  We are not even using heat in two downstairs rooms either, yet our cost doubled.

Groceries more than doubled.  Home repair supplies are up.  I mean it's just a rough time for everyone right now.


Home Repairs/Updates:

-purchased one window blind and installed it (was thankfully under $30)

-one last blind is needed for another room, but the window itself will need replaced at some point soon.  I'm on a list to be notified when they are in stock (has to be custom cut to fit).   I already got one email stating they were in stock, but when I went to order it, it said "out of stock" (again).  I called, and yes in fact, they are out of stock (again).

-lined more wire closet shelving. I have a few more to line.

-started stairway project by scraping tape and adhesive off the walls (kids!!) This job will take a while to get done.

Just the Bits ©  April 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Comments

R's Rue said…
Yes everything is going up. I love asparagus.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com
R's Rue, we love asparagus too. Home grown (or locally grown) tastes so much better too.
Our electric costs have remained about the same for a long time, we belong to a Rural Electric Cooperative. I am noticing that groceries have gone up some in the past year ...about 10 to 15 dollars a week and I usually buy staples when they are on sale. We have rabbits here and they like the dandys and other weeds in our yard! We have an LP furnace and our heatings costs are about $1,200 for the year...not bad for Minnesota.
Far Side of Fifty, moving is not out of the question for us. We've thought about it more than once. We live where the electric is the highest in the area (sadly).

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