What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

We are supposed to get 2 inches of snow on Friday. Yesterday and today were a lot colder than the previous 4 or 5 days had been

 

[Elyrian1]

Yes, we shall grow our gardens. Some homesteaders I follow on YT were mentioning that fertilizers were spiking. They just use compost tea, so it doesn't affect them.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Yes, we shall grow our gardens. Some homesteaders I follow on YT were mentioning that fertilizers were spiking. They just use compost tea, so it doesn't affect them.

I have relied on our compost for the past two years so it shouldn't affect us either. We compost manure from horses, goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbit... Along with straw, hay, leaves, grass clippings, sawdust, and kitchen scraps. Oh, and DH dumps wood ash from both fireplaces.

My biggest concern is feeding animals if resources become scarce. I'm going to try to create a feed plot of spring wheat, millet, oats, buckwheat... But I'm not under any illusion that I can or will grow enough to be self-sufficient. Maybe enough to bridge any gaps between what I can get or afford and what is needed....

Also making an effort to learn seed saving this year

 

[Elyrian1]

Yeah, if things get really bad I'd have to take my flock mobile during the day to hunt bugs. And winter? I don't even know. We don't have space right now to grow large crops.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Under a tornado warning. Raining like mad, thunder and lightning rather fierce. Guess we are getting some of the rai we've been shy the last two months. Building inspection today, assuming the driveway can be navigated. It will be washing out about now.

Stay safe all. Headed back to comfort the cat and dogs, be present for my wife - she's glued to the radar.

/edit tornado passed to the South of us, going back to bed.

 

[igorsMistress]

Only slightly. Where I live it’s always pretty warm/humid. Winter you might get a couple of weeks of jumper weather in Winter but that’s it.

That’s a fairly accurate description of where I live. We do have chilly weather, but that’s only because we’re used the warmer temps the rest of the year. Summers can be brutal.

 

[Sally PB]

Also making an effort to learn seed saving this year

I've done a bit of that. I'm looking to have as many self-seeding or perennial crops as possible, and save seeds for as many more as I can. That's a big part of the reason I prefer to grow open pollinated varieties, not hybrids.

edit tornado passed to the South of us, going back to bed.

Thanks for letting us know you're ok!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Bed didn't work, been working on the property since about an hour after posting that first message. Next line of storms is on radar - apparently, this is expected to continue all day - heavy storms, dangerous lightning, possible tornados, then a dry break, then repeat.

Waiting on the building inspector to cancel on me, in view of conditions. Think I'm going to drive my *way too light weight* drag behind the car for a bit, while the driveway is wet, see if I can't knock down some of the worst bumps into the deepest rutts. Without getting my little sedan stuck in the clays and mud.

1 1/2" of rain in the past 24 hours - that leaves us 3 1/2" shy for the year.

Hope Mother Nature is treating everyone else better than she's treating me.

 

[Elyrian1]

Nature keeps throwing us freezing overnight temps. No tornado warnings this year, yet. We'll get them eventually. What we have had are several days of high winds, which is pretty normal around here.

My plants are still doing the daytime/nighttime dance. Out when it gets in the 40s+ and back into my shower when it chills down in the evening. Hubby saved my tailfeathers last night. I had the plants out and had forgotten about them, so he brought them in.

Chicks are getting bigger. Naturally they have introduced a...lovely...smell in my house. *sigh* They need to take their fluffy butts outside, but the temperatures are all over the place and I can't.

 

[igorsMistress]

I have relied on our compost for the past two years so it shouldn't affect us either. We compost manure from horses, goats, chickens, ducks, and rabbit... Along with straw, hay, leaves, grass clippings, sawdust, and kitchen scraps. Oh, and DH dumps wood ash from both fireplaces.

My biggest concern is feeding animals if resources become scarce. I'm going to try to create a feed plot of spring wheat, millet, oats, buckwheat... But I'm not under any illusion that I can or will grow enough to be self-sufficient. Maybe enough to bridge any gaps between what I can get or afford and what is needed....

Also making an effort to learn seed saving this year

I think your approach is realistic and I have the same concerns. I’m not under any illusions that I can grow enough to feed my animals, so birds and bunnies would be our food if it came to that.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I’ve begun adding alternative proteins to our diets and cutting back on meat. Better to get used to it slowly than have a sudden change. I don’t plan to remove meat entirely, just stretch it a little further.