Around the Homestead

   Last night, I finally canned the Acorn/Turks Turban squash mix that I had prepped. I had to be real creative with what pots I had, as I don't have a pot big enough to heat quart jars upright....yet. I will soon though. Pumpkin and squash take a huge amount of time to pressure can, 90 minutes for quart jars. It felt like forever, but I got three golden quart jars of squash mix for my endeavor (I had measured it out as 4 quarts, but didn't keep in mind the shrinkage factor.)

We decided to let loose the other day to shrug off some cabin fever. Sarah's been asking to go "pay in the dirt". So I decided that the weather was just nice enough to humor her. It was kinda wet out, but seeing as I've been itching to do some readying outside for garden weather, I was happy to oblige.                                              

       Our house is on a hill, with a set of stairs leading up into a yard. She "helped" me tackle the remnants of a pair of small bushes on either side of the stairs. One was dead, because the landlord and DH repeatedly mowed it over. The other was a small tangle of a barberry bush and a rose. The bush gave without much fuss, but the rose  retaliated. With minimal leverage it managed to break my new spade. Then I read the label on the shovel-"Made in China." Don't make them like the used too, eh? So I did what I could with the rose anyway, only to find it was growing part way under our side walk. So on the next fine-ish day we have, I'll promptly kill it with a small    handsaw. I plan on putting my purple iris on either side. They are very pretty, and tee hee- don't need pruned.      

    I plan on having a rose planted somewhere around the house, but it will be an antique variety. I had a rose from a house I lived in years ago. It was an ancient tea rose, more like a tree. I loved that rose! But alas when we moved to my in laws years ago, it suffered proximity toxicity. I didn't know until recently that you cannot plant a rose where a rose once stood. Something off keeps them from thriving. I had planned to bring it here, but someone put it out of its misery recently. So I am on the hunt to try and find the same or similar variety!

   Overall our time outside was fun filled. Sarah enjoyed the pill bugs and pink "wormies". I came across a baby dandelion with a HUGE tap root. She thought it was a wormie and wanted to hold it. When I said it was a baby dandelion, she promptly responded, "where's a baby lion?" How precious is that!? I'm going to thoroughly enjoy our time in the garden this year with my best lil' helper!

 

   My baby raspberry is thriving in my greenhouse. There are many more leaves (and more coming!) than when I bought it. Seems like a good sign to me. I'm thinking of getting at least two more this weekend. Eventually I need at least six.

                       What are YOU doing to prepare for spring? Leave a comment and let me know!

                                                           Cheers! - Mama Homesteader