Homestead projects for 2011

[daylily]

Spirit Deer, glad you found us

About ground cherries, they grow wild here. When I find one in the garden, I save it because I really like them. With one of our seed orders this spring, I got a free pack of seed that I need to get started.

Good to know about chives overwintering in pots there. They should here then too. I would like to get more perennial herbs started too. I have lovage, chives and oregano. i had tarragon but it disappeared. I have struggled to grow thyme and sage. For some reason, I can't keep them alive. I keep trying.

[Spirit Deer]

I think we have wild sage here, but I haven't dragged out the edible plant book yet to be sure. I could be mistaken.

My grandma had ground cherries every year too, and I don't think she ever planted any. But that was in zone 4 and we're in zone 3, so it could be harder to grow them here, or even impossible. We'll see. I'm going to put them on the south side of the house so I hope that helps a little. They'll go in the perennial bed I plan to build before the end of the month. The ground cherry plants are already growing in my little indoor greenhouse.

[daylily]

I got too busy to remember this thread!

Spirit Deer, how did your ground cherries do?

Update on the berries...The blackberries are doing very well. a few even bloomed but there won't be many this time. Next year should be lots.

We had a few strawberries from the 9 plants from last year. The new plants are doing pretty well.

We got our big order and planted 90 blueberry bushes. It took us "forever" to decide which variety went where and get the spots all lined up in straight rows. DH and DS are very picky about things being straight. They do look nice now though with their nice little circles mulched around them!

We planted some new gooseberries: 4 Black Velvet and 2 Hinnomaki Red. We also have planted 19 Achilles Red 3 year old rooted cuttings that we had in pots.

We planted two small pawpaw trees too. We still have 4 kiwis and 4 hardy figs to plant.

[Spirit Deer]

We only added one apple tree this year. We live on seven acres but we don't have many options for places to put trees. We had been thinking about planting a cherry tree, but then we noticed several trees with loads of white blossoms around our yard. I dug out the edible plant field guide, and we think they're either pin cherry or choke cherry trees, so we're holding off on planting a cherry tree while we see what develops. They have berries on them now, and one has a few per branch while another has big clusters, so we're thinking now we might have more than one kind. It's going to be interesting when they all start to ripen! There are others, too, so I'm hoping we get some goodies to make syrup, jelly, and maybe some juice out of this year.

Still waiting to see how the currants taste. I tasted a green one and it was pretty yucky! So I'm impatiently waiting now and hoping the ripe ones are better.

We weren't planning to plant strawberries but ended up buying thirty plants. They're doing great, even after being repeatedly tromped on by a bear.

I started at least three kinds of ground cherries but only two survived. One, the pineapple ones, have really taken off and are overrunning the nearby plants. I didn't have any idea how much room they needed, as I got the plants on eBay a few years ago and there were no instructions and I couldn't find a good answer online. There might be another one in the mix there somewhere, too. Nothing has fruit on it yet so I'm not sure how well they'll bear. I also don't know if they'll over-winter here.

We haven't started our deck yet. Shortly after I posted about wanting to get that done this summer, my husband was warned he may be laid off July 1 due to our state government types not being able to agree on a budget. Fast forward to now and there's still no budget agreement, and we're fully expecting he'll be laid off on Friday. For how long, we don't know but we didn't want to spend the money on the deck with this shut-down looming. We're hoping it's over soon so we still have time to do some construction yet this year, even if we don't get it all done before winter.

[l8eebugg]

Question...read in one of the forums about putting coffee grounds in garden. I put coffee grounds on my hollies a few years ago and it killed 3 of them. Can anyone tell me where they are putting the and how to do so properly.
so proud of me..weeded all of my raised beds today. Laid 40 red pavers that I have been saving (bought a couple of years ago at less than 1.00 each) off my new gazebo. Local lumber store out of 1x3x8 pressure treated so I could finish screening it. Only have 3 panels to go...rrrrrrrrrr. Want to get it done so I can finally start enjoying it. Would love to post a picture of it but don't know how...so second question. How do you post pictures? thanks

[Debbie-cat]

18eebugg - go to advanced reply, scroll down to manage attachments, upload from computer then hit the reply button and your done. Can't wait to see pics.

SD - will keep fingers crossed for your Dh. This is really going to suck.

[Spirit Deer]

It already sucks. Everyone says they want government out of their lives, till it actually happens! All the services we all take for granted every day will suddenly be unavailable. Some already are.

I heard the lift bridge in Rochester will be left in the up position if there's a shut-down. Fun for the commuters there, I'm sure.

There will be no logging in state forests, either, so that means the loggers who should be working there will be laid off along with state workers. It's amazing the impact this is all going to have, if it happens.

[l8eebugg]

Debbie-Cat Thanks for the help..too late now for pictures..maybe tomorrow. I am so excited to almost be able to use gazebo. Lumber still not in at store. Today hung 4 plant hooks and put in furniture. I got a small glass top table and 4 wrought iron chairs last year at garage sale for 15.00 and last weekend scored on a wooden frame futon with fold out ends. Really great condition for 35.00, now we can sleep in it if we want. Also drilled hole in corner to attach an extension cord so I can sew in it or in case we want a light at some time. BTW the gazebo was build by students at a local trade school...I just bought the lumber. It was something to see a bus pull in my yard and about 30 young men pile out. They build it on a trailer and then had to lift it off and attach the second roof. It has two roofs. I had a barbeque for them as my way of saying thanks. They were very friendly and were surprised about the barbeque. It was well worth it. I LOVE my gazebo.

[gottadance]

Well, coming late to this topic since it's already mid July. I'd hoped to get a chicken coop built in spring; but then had a flooring project going on and they went out of business - had to take them to small claims court. Then it was rainy in spring and hot in June, now boiling this month - still trying to get my flooring done. You know, for everyone saying how much they need work, I've had some flooring guys just blow me off on giving me estimates - so things can't be all that bad. ARGH

The court found in my favor, so I'm trying to recoup that money; I am going to contact the flooring guy tomorrow to see when he can get started; pushed back the chicken coop to the fall.

Other things I'd like to do include learning to make homemade bread - I've tried twice and it was awful. But it's too hot to try it right now. I bought an antique book case and machinists toolbox to use for organizing my jewelry - want to add a couple more shelves to the bookcase.

I planted peach and plum trees last year - the plum hasn't bloomed yet and the peach is prematurely dropping all of its peaches. Need to figure that out. I did plant two grape vines last year and they seem to be doing well. Would also like to plant a paw paw or two, maybe a cherry tree (I have the wild cherries, but they are so small). Want to try to make elderberry jam again - tried last year and it turned out runny (used it as a baste for chicken instead). But one thing at a time for me. This hot weather is sapping all of the energy out of me. Can't wait for fall.

[Debbie-cat]

I can't wait for falll either gottadance! I don't accomplish much in heat.

[Judi Dial]

I mulched my tarragon and sage really well under straw last fall, and lo and behold they survived! I was really pleased and surprised. Glad to not have to buy more plants this spring. I'm going to try this with rosemary and thyme also this year. Cross your fingers!

But do try the thick mulching. I had 6" or more of straw around them.

IHTH!

Judi

[Spirit Deer]

The ground cherries have gone nuts! They're at least three feet tall and have plenty of fruit on them. So far, the critters that have eaten the currants and strawberries haven't discovered them, so I hope we get to at least taste the ground cherries to see if we want to grow them again. I can see they're too big for the bed in front of the house, so we're going to have to find somewhere else to grow them. Not knowing if we'll like them, I didn't plant many, just enough for a taste. So if we like them, we'll want a lot more of them next year and they'll take a ton of space. I couldn't find good info about them before I planted them, so wasn't sure what to expect. I thought they were low-growing, but that's not the case. The cucumbers are fighting for survival behind them!

Several years ago, we salvaged screen panels from the metal recycle pile at the dump. There are enough for two of those metal-framed gazebo things, eighteen panels altogether plus some frames we can re-assemble. In one of my garden books, I ran across the idea of an enclosed area for berry bushes and other plants birds like to eat. It's like a cube made of chicken wire, big enough to walk inside. I'm thinking the gazebo panels would work out just dandy for an area like that. I just need to figure out where to put it! So much for the theory that, if you haven't used something in a year, you should just get rid of it. Making this outdoor room is going to be fairly quick, easy, and cheap thanks to not having to build frames for it. Some of the screening on it is okay for now, some will need to be replaced with chicken wire or something, but we can use what's usable and replace it all over time to defray the start-up costs. I'm hoping we can make it so it keeps out everything but bugs and bears.

It looks like one of the mystery berry trees we noticed last spring is a pin cherry tree, so if the birds don't get them all, maybe I'll be able to make some cherry jelly this year. That would be nice! I'm still hoping we have at least one choke cherry tree somewhere, too.

Courtesy of the hissy fit our stupid politicians decided to throw, we no longer have the funds to build our new deck this year, so we're most likely going to do something about additional garden space for next year. We have most of the materials, so if we wait till spring to buy the dirt, the costs would be minimal. I'm hoping the rest of the summer is fairly cool so we can get a good start. That would be very homesteady!

[Debbie-cat]

I saw that same enclosure you are talking about in a magazine the other day SD! It was wonderful. How nice it will cost you nothing to make and I hope the animals don't get your shrubs!

[Judi Dial]

if we wait till spring to buy the dirt, the costs would be minimal. I'm hoping the rest of the summer is fairly cool so we can get a good start. That would be very homesteady!

You might want to check midwinter or late fall too. Late fall and winter very few people buy potting soil/dirt, so the prices might go down? I'd ask at your local garden center when/if the stuff goes on sale.

My I hope it helps! I am truly impressed with your gazebo project/salavage.

Judi

[Spirit Deer]

Thanks, Judi. Don't be impressed yet! At this point it's just a loosely-formed plan and as we all know, the devil is in the details!

We live in a very small town, and everywhere is already sold out of the dirt we'd want to use. Good idea though, thanks.