Memorial Weekend Busy

Happy Memorial Day to all of you!

This past weekend we've been very busy in the yard. Let me show you.

New Plants

 Here are some new plants that I bought last weekend at the Cypress Gardens plant sale. Foreground, left - there are 4 small clusters of Coreopsis. It is different from the other stuff I have. Foreground, middle - relocated yarrow from another part of my yard. There are 5 clusters of those in a row. Back row, left and right of the tall plant - two purple daylilies. Back row, middle - the tall plant is rose mallow. The neighbor lady gave one to me and this is one of the babies. She calls it a cottonbush because of the seed pods looking like the cotton plant pods. This one sports red and pink flowers.

Cottonbush - Last Year

50' French Drain

 We did this, and...

30' French Drain

 this, and...

New Dead Flower Garden

 this. We did this all on Memorial Day. Maybe I should call it Labor Day.

Willow Tree Garden

We've cleared out the willow tree garden. We took down the chain link fencing we had behind it. When/if grass grows under there, we'll be able to mow it. Joe Pye weed to the left. Bird bath to the right. There is a little piece of pottery in the foreground. That is where a really cool salamander lives.  I don't know what it is called, but it's pink and black and really cute. I'll be marking the area so we don't run over it with the lawn mower.

Take care. I hope you had a great weekend!

Worms!

Yay! We went out this morning and got my worms! Ain't cheap to buy them from a bait shop. The guy waiting on me probably thought I was goofy examining them. I pulled off the top and poked at them. They weren't too lively. They were on a shelf and not in the fridge so they should be more lively. I asked him if he'd get me another pack and another until I got some wiggly ones. Hubby gets so annoyed with me when I shop. He said "They're probably mad at you for poking at them." I know what I want and I'll get it. I'm not paying for dead worms when my whole deal is to get live ones for composting. Right? At $3.55 for a couple dozen each pack, they better dance a jig when I say so. I bought two packs.

What's even worse, is I decided to get some meal worms for my chickens. They didn't look too lively, either. So I figured "What the heck! They're going to get eaten in a little while, anyways." The young kid behind the counter said "$14.14, please." What the heck! I looked at a little sign on the register that said "Wax Worms...$5.99" I paid $6 for a treat for my chickens!!! OK. Who's loco here?!!! (pointing at self) At least Hubby didn't ask why it was so expensive. I think he figured that everything else in the shop that he was browsing through was expensive, so it wasn't a surprise to him. Whew!

I brought the babies home and wet down the shredded paper and wrung it dry. We added some of our compost that I just sifted last week to the paper. Layer by layer for a couple of layers. Then I gave it a turn and put some veggie scraps in there. I let the babies loose and they made their way into the mulched paper. I guess they liked it. Anything would be better than a small container with a bunch of your buddies wiggling around you. Well...not so much wiggling was going on at the time I bought them. I checked on them and they are still under the mulch. I'll check to see if they've started eating tomorrow. It will be a while until we get enough worms bred for composting.

My Worm Farm

What My Worm Farm with Food Looks Like to Start

 Ah! The life of a homesteader...sort of. LOL!

Take care.

Stuff Around The House

Today was an eclectic day for us on our little homestead. First thing, we went to Tractor Supply for chicken feed and such. Next, we went to WalMart for some plastic containers. Then, we went to Lowe's for a valve. Then, we went to the flea market to buy veggies and fruits. Then, we stopped for a lottery ticket (can't hurt once in a while). Then, we went home.Woo Hoo! Home!

After lunch, we went outside to feed the chickens. They were pretty hungry by now. And we built a worm farm. Yes! I did it! A worm farm. That's what the plastic containers were for. We put a valve on the bottom one for the wee wee to come out of. We drilled holes in the bottom of another which fits inside the bottom one. Then we drilled some holes in the top for ventilation. Then, we built a stand and put it out of the way in a cool dry place. Now, we have to go worm shopping! They say Red Wigglers are a good variety to buy. The ones from the ground are not. Otherwise, we could use the ones in the compost heap. That should be fun to explain to people. Mr. Store Owner: Why do you need so many worms? Are you going to throw them in the lake and wait for the fish to come up so you can scoop them out? Har! Har!  Me: Well. If you must know...(pregnant pause)...I'm going to farm worms for compost and fertilizer. This way I won't have to come back to your fine establishment for fertilizer and fishing worms. Ha! Ha! (ka-ching!...saving money)

I fixed some soup with potatoes, ham, cabbage and dumplings for dinner tonight. It turned out pretty good considering I've never had anything like it before. Yes. I like to make up dinners. I also baked a pound cake from scratch. It goes well with the next item.

We went outside and picked about a pint of strawberries. I had some left over from last night's picking. We pick them just as they've turned red and they ripen over night. I sliced last night's up and put some sweetener to them. It's just about time for STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!

Then, we went outside to pick off some rats. Missed them tonight. I guess I'm not that good today.

I hope you had a great day.

Take care.