Busy, Busy, Busy...

What can I say?
I knew I was going to have amazing adventures here.
I dreamed about it, planned it, prepared for it.
I want to share my adventures with you.
Little did I know that these amazing adventures would keep me so busy that I have not found time to write.

My garden is growing great!  However it has taken quite a while before I was able to say that. For two months, it has been growing at a snail's pace.  Not all of the plants have been successful.  This first year is a learning experience for me, mostly by trial and error.  I have learned better how to NOT FREEZE everything in the mini-greenhouse, that weeds grow like weeds- but only when I'm not looking, ALL the outdoor critters like to eat my garden too, and to be really really patient.  The surviving plants that remain in the garden are:  (10) Tomatoes, (3) Patty-Pan Squash, (2) Chard, (1) Zucchini, many Lentils, (+/- 40) Sugar Peas, (6) Cilantro, (2) Beets, (20 +) Carrots, (3) Eggplants, (3 Sq Ft) Romaine Lettuce, (26) Bush Beans, and about 30 Potatoes.  In my herb bed, I have Thyme, Sage, Mint, and Chammomile, all growing very well.


As I said, everything grew at a snail's pace.  Only just a couple weeks ago I was able to start harvesting the snow peas and the lettuce, and a couple leaves of chard.  The first Fall frost is expected by the end of this month, so I may not get much more.  The lettuce, however, is exploding with growth- much more than I can eat or juice.  I have supplemented much of my diet with wild edibles- Nettles, Wild Chammomile, Dandelion leaves, Plantain, and Bedstraw.

Like lemonade?  Try steeping 1 cup of Sweet Clover blossoms in 1/2 gallon hot water.  Then use that Sweet Clover tea as the water for your lemonade!  Wonderful!!!

Saskatoon Berries

Saskatoon berries, Blueberries, Gooseberries (Currants), Cranberries, Strawberries, and Raspberries!
They all grow here in abundance.  There's some other berry here also that I haven't identified yet.

Blueberries

Cranberries

      
This is a very busy month for us.  I just returned from a camping trip with friends, and their friends.  There was about 80 persons total, mostly of off-the-grid families.  A fantastic trip meeting interesting people.  Tom did not get to join us, as he had a lot of work to get caught up on at home.  However, this coming weekend,we will be away together, revisiting a resort we went to when we first met.

Grizz with Summer coat

Grizz???  He's still a most handsome pup, perhaps except when he goes for a swim in our lagoon (Canada's version of a septic system).  Strangely, he has not grown as we expected.  He had reached 70 lbs by 9 months old, then he just stopped growing.  He recently turned 1 year old. He's a crazy nut, but we love him.

The Zombie Apocalypse Day

*Sorry about the highlight -There was an error and I couldn't figure out how to remove it*

It was a terrible event yesterday.  I was caught tragically unprepared.
Several times I had planned to make an emergency preparedness kit to keep outside, but "never got around to it."
Ok, so maybe there weren't really any zombies, but it was still a really tough day.
Just shortly after 10:00 am, while heading out to water the seedlings in my mini-greenhouse, I accidentally locked myself out of the house.  My husband and I had been out of town for the weekend, so Tom had put our spare key inside the house.  My heart sank. My bare feet immediately cried out for comfort.  I had also been wearing thin clothes for lounging around the house and I had only had a small breakfast, not the kind to last all day.
So, it was quickly decided that it was going to be a day to get all my "outside chores" done.   ...but barefoot???
I went to work first braiding some old grass to make shoe soles that I could tie on my feet. Although I often go barefoot around the yard, I did not feel they were tough enough to last all day. Then I remembered some holy socks my husband kept in the generator shed to use as rags.  I decided to use two socks per foot, and wrap them with tape. Later, I found duct tape in the tool shed and replaced the "tuck tape" with "duct tape."  Much much better!  My feet stayed comfy and dry and warm all day.

My "duct tape" shoes

I watered some plants, picked up rocks out of the garden, scraped old chicken poop off the  roosts to get it ready for new chickens, raked rocks off the lawn area, and started forming the garden beds.  (Recently, the garden was prepared by adding 5 truckloads of cattle manure, plowing it, then discing it, then running a cultivator over it to break up more clumps).
It wasn't a day without food.  There are wild edibles that are already growing. Occasionally, I grabbed a handful of dandelion greens or cow parsnip greens to munch.  It was only for 1 day, so that was fine.
By about Noon, I realized that it was getting really cold and was going to rain, so I returned to the tool shed to find 2 tarps. I grabbed the hatchet and set out for the woods where I found a fallen birch tree.  I removed all the limbs and dragged it to our clothes line pole where I propped up one end at a decent height for a tent.  Then I folded one tarp over and stuffed it with grass mulch that had been covering my Rhubarb and Chives bed.  It made a nice comfy place to rest.  Then I tied the second tarp over using twine I had found in the chicken coop.  Really, it was a very nice tent.  Using more rags in a plastic grocery bag, I had a pillow.
Thankfully, I had my garden pitcher, and a faucet for drinkable water.  Throughout the day, I drank 3 1/2 quarts of water.  It was only around 50 to 55 degrees most of the day until evening.  When it got cold, and rained, I simply retreated to the tent and took a nap.
It was a very long day, until Tom returned from work (a long day for him) at 7:15 pm.
In reality, if it had been more of an emergency, I could have broken a window and gone inside, but I decided to tough it out and learn from the experience.  Alternatively, if it were much colder, I could have hung out in the generator shed where it stays warmer, but it is really loud in there.

All this got me thinking. I needed to be better prepared.  I needed to have an emergency kit to keep outside.  I started filling one this morning with items already around the house.

So far, it contains:
1 pair warm gloves, 1 pair work gloves, 1 warm hat, matches, a flint fire starter, 2 washcloths, a notebook and pencil, paracord, Ibuprofen and Excedrin, canned salmon and canned tuna, 1 cup quinoa, a leatherman knife/tool set, cotton balls smeared with petroleum jelly, an emergency blanket, a warm fleece, 100 yds dental floss (can be used for cordage), a roll of duct tape, band-aids, and electrolyte powder (enough for 30 quarts of water).
There's much that can be added, but its a good start. (need to get a can opener soon).

So, ask yourself, ...are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse?

Stinging Nettles, young

Rhubarb

A plentiful supply of wild Nettles

The daylight hours are growing longer.  It seems to be getting light by 5 am, and remains light until about 10:30 pm.  I'm sure this is a great help for the seedlings.  They were doing great in the mini-greenhouse most nights, but there was one early morning that the frost dipped a bit too low.  It killed most of my seedlings, but I think that was also because I had not watered them that day. They had seemed to be doing better with watering only every other day, except when the severe cold came unexpectedly.

The bears have arrived out of hibernation.  We have seen several Black Bears nearby, with one that came into our front yard.  That was the evening that we learned the sound of Grizz's very serious bark.  It was quite alarming.  We have also continued to see many Elk on our back hills on a regular basis.

Grizz, half growed up.  *sniff*

 Have a great week!