Spring Knocking; Ammo Cans; Garden; Feedlot Panels

It finally looks as if our snow is gone until the next winter.  Everything melted, YAY…….spring is knocking at our door.  

This weekend, its spring a head time………for those of you who don’t know this or forget……………set your clock ahead 1 hour on Sunday for Daylight Savings Time. 

Picture from NEWFRUIT.ORG

The recent happenings on the homestead; we received a couple of deliveries of ammunition boxes for our son.  Apparently Tank found himself a good deal off of Amazon he couldn’t pass up.  He had ordered, I believe, about 10, 50 caliber boxes, and 5, 40 mm boxes.  I found this out because they were in the middle of my living room when I came inside the house.  At first, I thought I had walked into an Army Surplus store, lol……. The boy has another package or two coming. He’s waiting on another delivery from UPS/Federal Express.  

Late this morning, after the temperatures warmed up outside, I removed the plastic covering on my onion bed.  I also removed the feedlot panels holding the plastic, along with the bricks, to expose my planted onions to the sun.  Once the onions were exposed, I was happy to see they survived our radical temperature changes, snow, and ice.   As it warmed up outside, I gave the onions a nice long drink of water.  

Our dog, Beans, decided he wanted to stay outside with me while I continue to work in the garden.  He was in the middle of everything, smelling, and playing.  I guess he wanted to plant some lettuce seeds with me.  He grabbed a packet of seeds and ran around the garden box holding them as if to say, “Come on Mom we need to get started planting”.

I planted 4 different types of lettuce….Red Romaine, Paris Island Cos., Great Lakes, and Butter Head, in one of my smaller garden boxes.  Throughout the planting season, I generally will plant several different varieties of lettuce, to get us through until the end of fall when the temperatures start to change.

Initially, I was going to plant my lettuce in with my onions….companion planting.    Companion planting sometimes helps with confusing insects by luring them away from the plants they normally target. With onions you could plant beets, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, and summer savory vegetables.  I realized after uncovering the onions, I had no space to plant my lettuce or beets.  I’ll give the onions a few weeks to get bigger and see if there’s any way I could possibly squeeze some beets or additional lettuce seeds in between each onion.

While piddling out in the garden today, I noticed we have several strawberry plants producing new leaves.  It’s time for me to pull out any old leaves, cut and remove several runners, and place more straw around the base of each plant to prevent snails and slugs from getting at the leaves.

See this picture of feedlot panels? This is just one stash of several panels waiting to be used this weekend (weather permitting).  Bulldog Man and I will need to pull up the old fencing, move old T-posts, install new T-posts, and line the bottom of the feedlot panels with a smaller wire to prevent critters from getting through the squares on the bottom side.

What are your plans this weekend? 

Saved $

Not much to report, just snowing…again! 

Years ago hubby, and I received a camera free through points we used off of his credit card (actually we paid for it in the long run).  This camera is still a nice camera and works wonderfully.  That is, until I took the camera out to take a picture of an eagle, and the release assembly broke off the camera, and rolled out of site in the state park we were visiting.  

I attempted to continue to use the camera by sticking a finger and pen tip in the release assembly; to no avail.  The camera did not work.  

Instead of buying a brand new camera, I did some research on the internet and learned this happens often with this particular camera.  So often, I found a site called Camera Hacker, a forum with several posts by Glenn Gorman explaining in detail how to remove the old parts, and where to order the new part, along with how to install the new part.

I bookmarked this site so when the part arrives, I will have the instructions handy to complete the replacement.  

It pays to do research on the computer and saves you money.

Save the Onions; Inventory

With the strange weather prediction, Bulldog Man and I decided it was best to cover up the onions planted several weeks ago in order to protect them from temperatures below freezing. 

We pulled out clear 3.5 mil plastic you typically find in the painting section of a hardware store, 4 concrete blocks, two feedlot panels, several planters, and bricks for weight.  We placed a concrete block on each corner of the garden box, and then laid a feedlot panel on top of the blocks.  The 3.5 mil plastic was then unfolded and laid across the feedlot panel and down the sides of the garden box.  Another feedlot panel was placed on top of the plastic to keep the plastic in place, and planters, along with bricks, were laid on top of the plastic; hanging on the sides of the planter to prevent the wind and cold air from seeping through the plastic. 

 

If this doesn’t protect the onions, then were just pure out of luck and will have to replant onions after the weather passes.

*****

Every couple of months, I take inventory of items in my pantry, make sure food is rotated and used before the expiration date.  The same thing is done with our 5 gallon containers of long term stored foods, spices, and emergency medical supplies.  

A list is always compiled to help restock items used, and to help with locating coupons on needed merchandise.  Granted it’s hard to find coupons on everything you buy.  Whenever possible, I try to find a coupon through newspapers, or the computer, to save money whenever possible.

So tell me, when was the last time you inventoried and rotated your food products (short and long term) and medical supplies?