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More and more flowers
Flowers are quickly taking over my kitchen garden. I suppose that is okay. Many of them are spring blooming and will have died back before the summer growing season gets under way. This has now been planted out front for the summer!
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A Shrew!
I found this by the deck steps this afternoon: One of my students identified it as a Least Shrew, and based on the Smithsonian’s list of shrew species, I think it could be either the Least Shrew or the Southern Short-tailed Shrew. It is ironic that I should discover this the day after boasting of my garden’s plethora of earth worms. The shrew’s diet consists heavily of grubs, worms and beetles. Since they are mainly carnivorous, I don’t need to…
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Signs your soil is healthy
Last summer when we dug up a new area for the vegetable garden, I decided to quit using pesticides on my vegetables. I had never used them heavily, but as I read about the potential damage to bees and nematodes, I couldn’t see how hurting the things that pollinate the plants and the things that nourish the soil had any real benefit. I’ve also switched to mainly organic sources of nutrients as opposed to conventional chemical fertilizers. Composted manure and…
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Holding Pattern
In my immediate circle of friends there is a lot going on – joyful, devastating and just plain difficult. And none of it is my story to tell. For once, our life seems fairly stable in a holding pattern of sorts. I dread the potential fallout from even typing such a thing. For someone who believes in Jesus and trusts her life to Him, I fear tempting fate a little too much. For instance, I don’t want to have another…
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Rainwater Cistern Pump Troubleshooting
Several months ago, we were bestowed a 500 gallon rainwater cistern with a submersible pump. The pump turns on when it senses pressure changes such as squeezing the hose nozzle. Several weeks back, it grew less and less responsive taking several minutes to turn on. These were the steps I went through to troubleshoot: Shake the hose Fling the hose on the ground Jump on the hose to squirt the remaining water out Unplug the pump and plug it back…
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Lettuce Germination
Lettuce may be one of the easiest crops to grow so long as it isn’t planted too late in hot conditions that make it bolt. Several years ago I had a great crop of Romaine in a raised bed with ideal soil conditions. There was a rich blend of manure compost, peat moss, vermiculite and the existing soil. I started seeds in the early spring, watered regularly, and added tomato plants in to the bed in April which gave the…
