Town House Homestead Tuesday

I have been missing for over a month. Well, as far as blogging that is. As far as getting outside and getting work done not so. We are at the beginning of year three in our home and it seems like all we've done is work to upgrade Ms. Beldon. 

The painting of the shed is basically done, but still needs a bit of touch up. For now, however, it is in almost brand new condition and being used for garden supplies and tools. Also some wood to burn. The cement blocks are getting painted and I have planted Pansies in them. I have hanging baskets of Nasturtium on both side of the doors now too. 

Ms. Beldon's bees didn't survive winter, so we are taking the time to create a good pollination garden. Lots of earth to clear and treat along with adding vegetable and flower plants. We were short about four bags of stones to finish the walk, but that will come in the next few days. The stepping stones are of my grand children's feet and hands. It is looking quite nice and more thought out.

My garlic came up well, but needed a lot of TLC as far as weeding. It took my broken body a couple of mornings to get it done and the straw down, but it has grown now to about twenty four inches tall. I am looking forward to scape's and hopefully some good size bulbs. I have just run out of last years harvest and purchases. 

I have container tomatoes growing as well as tomatoes in the ground. Probably too many, but I have people who will help eat them and they can be frozen or canned in many ways.

I have squash varieties that I have been transplanting into buckets. There will be ten total for squash and as they die off I will plant more. Already getting what looks like blossoms. Next will be peppers transplanted into buckets. I have planted some peppers in the ground at the front of the house also. 

I am trying my hand at Glass Gem popcorn. Only three seedlings survived the wind and rain, but they are healthy and I can hope.

The sunflowers are doing almost too well. They need to because Hunter found a way to dig under the fence to get at them. We used some of the old screens from the old windows to deter him, and so far so good. They blow back and forth with any wind, hit the stakes, and then blow back and lean on the fence. It startles him so he's getting the message.

These are two of the varieties of Iris we planted two years ago. They are having a grand time in the sun. This year we were gifted purple ones and they are being planted around the yard, and there will  be many added to this garden. 

We were also gifted several large clumps of Hosta. Most of them we put in the ground as clumps and we will thin them over the years as the gardens grow. We separated one large clump and planted them around the back and sides of the compost bin. Just to beautify it a bit. Until last week they were closed in because guess who thought he should dig them too. Yes, Hunter.

But Hunter isn't the only issue as far as my garden goes. Along with the ground hogs, mama deer has been leaving her baby along the fence during the day which is about ten feet from my garden. So far she has not eaten anything and I am putting pinwheels up and will leave Hunter to bark at it, so maybe mom changes her mind about leaving it there. Gardening sure has it's challenges, and all of this before we even talk about insects. 

It wouldn't be my post if I didn't include a picture of Hunter. I had a lot of choices including a video of him stealing a set of keys and the owner chasing him around the yard for them. He is such a proud thief, but this one is the best. It's the reason we have furniture covers, wear clothes several times before washing and the stack of towels that are in and out of the washer and dryer. He is forty six pounds of pure energy and he is not quite my best friend. I have so much more work to do with him. He forgets all that he is taught and it's start from the beginning every day, but they say it will come. I will keep trying. To think I wanted chickens too. One animal is enough. Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. Have a great week, love one another, and share your bounty. Until next time. 

Town House Homestead Tuesday

I wish this could be a longer post today, but the activity around here preparing for Spring, has kept me doing just the ordinary stuff. My daughter was able to return to work today, but still will need to be slow and careful so her back will continue to mend. We have a lot more work to do to prepare the hive for the soon to be here bees, and we hope that that can start this coming week. One minute at a time.

I was able to afford another light for my germination shelf and it is already up and working. I am so ready to be outside all day, but the weather has been so mixed up lately. 

Seedlings are starting to pop their little heads through the soil and they seem so happy. I love nature and it's wonders. Every morning is a new sight. These are calendula seedlings. I have a good amount of flower seeds working. Along with the calendula I have butterfly milkweed, chamomile, marigolds, and sun flowers. If these grow well they will be in the pollinating garden surrounding the newly installed hive. 

I have some container tomatoes started also. I will be using containers again this summer for some vegetables because the food garden will come as we keep growing. I also have green onions, crimson forest bunch onions (red bunch onions), and shallots also getting their groove on. These can be put in the pollinating garden this year. There's lots to be moved to this new garden from around the yard too. We will continue to be busy I think. I hope to start some peppers and other tomato varieties so that I have at least one of each so we don't get bored with tomatoes. 

To end this short post I am sharing some more green. I hung my holiday kitchen apron and pot holders up this weekend. It's reminding me that I need to get to some more sewing, and get a few more projects done. So, love life and enjoy it. Do some simple gardening and brighten your life and those around you. Be cheery. That's what's been happening at the new Town House Homestead. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week. 

Town House Homestead Tuesday

Well like most people with a good size piece of suburban property we are finding lots of work to do and discovering something new every week. The tree that blossomed we are quite sure is an apple tree. Not sure of it's health and what it will produce, but we have some fruit forming and we can only wait and see. 

We have come to expect this daily phenomenon. For some reason the property across the street from us is the landing zone for ducks. When the weather is wet and the rain just keeps coming and coming there could be sixty to one hundred ducks just sitting on the lawn. If it's not raining every evening at the same time, approximately 7:30 pm, they begin descending on the lawn. We haven't figured out if they just come because the woman puts out buckets of bird seed, or if it's a natural event, but it's just that yard. They only go to that yard. It's actually funny watching people watching the ducks.

This beauty is called "Devil's Paintbrush" and is growing wild in the lawn. It is a pretty daisy type flower of orange and yellow, but is intrusive and banned actually in some states. It hasn't really become a problem here for us so we are just  leaving it alone and mowing as usual. The only way to get rid of the plant is to dig it out so when it is an issue we'll do that. For now we'll just enjoy the flowers.

This is called a "False Dandelion" because it's similar in looks, but not quite a Dandelion. The yard is showing us many new things and we are so in love with living with land. It's only half an acre, but boy what we are discovering. 

So now for the update on the Lilac adventure. The Lilac oil came out good and the extract seems to be a good result also. As far as baking directly with the Lilac blossoms, I don't think I'll be doing that again. I will try using the Lilac extract next. My favorite of all the trials was the lilac sugar. After I let it set and removed the blossoms I had sugared blossoms that were great just for eating. My biggest success was the Lilac jelly. I had put the blossoms to steep in boiling water and was supposed to use them the next day. However, I got busy and it was two days later that I got to it and it is absolutely amazing. It was so good on home made toasted bread and it is such a luxury. It only made three and a half cups so next year I will know what I will concentrate on with the Lilacs. If you ever get the opportunity to make some, let it steep a bit longer and then sit back and treat yourself to something special. This is the recipe I used, but I went gently on the lemon. I didn't have a fresh lemon so I used three teaspoons of real lemon from the bottle. Good luck and thank you for stopping by for a visit. I'll see you again soon.

https://dianesfoodblog.com/2013/05/31/lilac-jelly/?postpost=v2#content

It's time to stop and smell the flowers.

How can anyone not stop to look at the miracle of a flower? They are bright with color and just spread happiness. I could just spend hours looking at flowers and wonder of the life they live, the purposes they serve and the pleasure they bring. Enjoy for a few minutes some of ours.