I planted some seeds in February but most of them perished. Even in a nice warm room by a super sunny window under a little fan, they were all stretching and growing leggy and falling over. I put a light over them, but just a little CFL and it only helped the few right under the light. I ended up tossing the majority of them and starting over. We went to the Restore and got some fluorescent lights and bought a wire shelf from Costco.

So now I have tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and echinacea sprouting. I’m waiting on strawberries and peppers (both of which can have long germinations), as well as fennel and onions (which I planted a bit later than the rest). I put peas, spinach, chives, radish, and some greens out in the garden (it snowed the next day, hooray). A little later in the season I’ll start corn, beans, squashes, etc.

So in the back bed in the picture above I planted garlic and onion in the fall. The garlic is doing great, the onion doesn’t seem to be doing much. Depending on if I see any growth from the onions, I may plant my new onions there instead. The closer bed is where I have greens. I planted the peas on the ground around three sides, against the fence (which I figure can act as a trellis). The right side of the picture is south, so I planted around the east, north, and west sides. I’m hoping the west peas will be enough to shade the greens a bit, without shading the far bed much. I’m almost considering planting more along the south side just in front of that bed, but that might be overkill.

We just bought a few new trees (a combo cherry and a combo apple, which seems totally unnatural, but it sounds like it’s hard to get any kind of fruit tree not grafted at all now, so might as well go with a combo one), a plum, and a Spartan apple. We have peach, nectarine, apples, plum, cherry, and pear trees already, but the deer ravaged them last year so we’ll see if any made it through the winter. The plum and peach both look okay, and one of the apples. Crossing fingers about the rest. We also planted more raspberry canes, a boysenberry, and a grape, to go with the raspberries and grapes we already have, plus a tayberry (I think, it’s a cross between blackberries and raspberries), and a blueberry and going to get more blueberries soon too. We have lots of strawberries growing in various places, but I’m hoping the seeds I started will germinate too. One is a mignonette strawberry, and the other a wild/alpine type. The bed above is going to be my first real permaculture-ish bed. We built it using lasagna gardening techniques last year and it’s got leaf mulch on it right now. It has amazing tilth and tons and tons of earthworms. Going to be reading a ton about fruit tree guilds and companion planting and try and get some edible perennials growing in there along with the bushes and trees. Also have a Pieris which is supposed to be good for mason bees.

This is the back of that bed, where there’s a huge dip. We filled it in with brush and branches, and will be covering it with compost/sand. I am dabbling in hugulkultur in a few of our beds this year. They apparently don’t always do great the first year, but more than make up for it in subsequent years. Apparently blueberries love hugulkultur beds so I’m definitely going to try some blueberries over this spot.

This is where we planted potatoes last year. You can see we’ve now outlined the beds and filled it in quite a bit. Over the next couple of years we’re hoping to actually raise it somehow, either with some sort of timber roll, more rocks, or just lumber. I think most of the veggies I’ve started will probably end up in here. To the right at the back I think we will put a herb spiral, and then next to that we’ll dig out a big bed for corn, squash, and beans. Then perpendicular to all of that we’ll run a long bed for potatoes. If we need more space than that, there is lots more room, I just don’t want to overwhelm ourselves. Behind where the corn bed will be going, I think I’d like to eventually put a greenhouse, but I’m going to be watching carefully this year what gets the best sun and when.

It’s hard to really tell, but our fenced in area there is about 5000 sq ft. I’d like to eventually turn the entire thing into a food forest along permaculture principles. (The bed with the trees that I pictured above is just to the right of the path in this picture.) We’ll keep one or two beds for annual veggies, but have lots of perennial edibles and bushes and such too. That’s a very long-term plan obviously. And the beds on the other side of the house (that the garlic is in now) will remain as annual beds for now too.

Phew, I think that’s it so far. I need to find a good cover crop seed mix (or put together my own) and do that in our prepared beds asap so I can get them tilled under in time to be ready when the seedlings are ready to transplant.

So that’s what I did tonight instead of making an advent calendar. I kind of followed this pattern, but also used some of the directions from some larger mei tai tutorials and the dimensions are different. I also had some charm squares and wanted to experiment with making a bit of a patchwork design.

I’m mostly really happy with how it turned out. I will give it to her for Christmas so I don’t know how it will fit (I think it will be really big, but oh well). The straps are much wider than on Meredith’s. I also put the shoulder straps at way too big of an angle sideways, but didn’t really realize it until most of it was sewn together. Next time, I would put the straps much more upwards. I have more material, maybe I’ll have to make another.

It’s reversible. On the other side is another fabric that goes with the blue. It doesn’t match the charm pack at all but I figured since only one side would be showing at a time that wouldn’t matter.

I had the date the chicks should hatch marked on the calendar but wasn’t expecting much. The day came and went with no chicks, and we were trying to decide the best way to get her off her nest full of eggs. Then the next day I walked in the coop and heard cheeping. Despite the eggs having gone cold more than once, she managed to hatch out four chicks over the course of three days, though one was born with a weird bump and she ended up dying unfortunately. The other three are doing fantastic though. It is really amazing to watch a mama hen raising her babies. She keeps them warm, protects them from the other hens, leads them around to food. It has been so much easier doing it this way than inside the house, though we haven’t done a full integration yet. If she’s out with the other hens I make sure I’m right there with them. The other ones mostly leave the chicks alone, though our Barred Rock did peck pretty hard at one and a few of them have gone at the mama.

They’ve mostly been sticking to the coop, but it’s been nice out and they’re getting a bit bored locked in a dog kennel all day, even if it is a big one, so I brought them outside to run around for a bit.

Mama ventured out first to look around, but then the babies followed soon after. They’re around two weeks old now.

Meredith wanted to name them water names, because she decided they like water. So we’ve called them Calypso, Neptune, and Doris. In the above two pictures the other hens were around, and mostly leaving them alone, but then I wanted to go inside and didn’t want to leave them out unprotected yet so I put them in our fenced off garden area.

I threw a pumpkin in with them, and it was pretty fun to watch them go at it.

I went inside for a little bit and came out to check on them (though we can also see that area from our window), and discovered all the other hens standing watching them as if they were watching a movie.

Though a little later we watched a crow swoop down at them, which freaked mama out and she went running. I had a scary moment when I ran out there when I couldn’t find one of the babies, but she was hiding near a log. I ended up locking them back up in the kennel again for a day, which is too bad because they really enjoy running around. The area is way too big to put any kind of cover over though, so I’m going to have to think of something else or just risk it. The cubes we used for the chicks last time have been repurposed as book shelves so won’t work, but we have some scrap wire I could probably bang together into some sort of makeshift tractor for them. Then I can even put them with the other hens and let them mingle but they’d have a safe place to escape to too.

This chicken thing is turning out to be a lot of fun and a good learning experience for us all. We’ve learned so much about chicken reproduction and how they raise their babies through books and, of course, watching it first hand.

The first is a birthday dress for Meredith. She wanted something with purple, and she loved the mushroom fabric. She knew I was making it, but I wrapped it up and it was the first present she opened in the morning on her birthday. She was super thrilled when she opened it, and put it on immediately over top of the clothes she had been wearing (and wore it like that the rest of the day).

I realized later that I didn’t actually get a good picture of it. In most of the pictures it is either partially blocked, or really washed out for some reason.

It was a good experience for me I think. The pattern had a few new things I’d never done, including sewing on a zipper. I actually did the zipper all right, but the finishing around and on top of the zipper is a bit messy. But she doesn’t care so that’s all that matters. I learned some things for next time.

I also made a pair of cargo pants for Fiona using this pattern for the pockets and the pattern I had drafted for the pants themselves. I used a bigger seam allowance on the pockets since the pants would end up so small, and I didn’t end up making them convertible as there just wasn’t a lot of extra length below the pocket.

I’m thrilled with how they turned out. They were relatively easy and quick, and super cheap. The fabric was in the bargain bin for $1.50/metre (and one metre was way more than enough), I already had thread and elastic, and the buttons were about $3. I could have cut the costs even more if I hadn’t gone for the fancy buttons.

I’m working on a pink pair with some fabric Meredith picked out. I also have some more mushroom fabric only in blue and I think I will make a dress for Fiona with that. Then next on my list I’m going to try my hand at a backpack I think. Meredith has been asking for one for a while.

I’m happy with how it turned out, even if it may end up sitting in the closet until it fits her better next summer.

I’ve got lots more fabric and have a couple more dresses planned out with a different pattern.

I had also noticed that a lot of their pants are getting short, so I thought I would make them some pants too. I drafted up a pattern myself and decided to use some fabric I had sitting around to make the first pairs just to make sure the pattern would work. I made Fiona’s first out of some yellow knit I had sitting around. I didn’t get a picture but they turned out really well. I thought I had added tons of length to the legs for both girls, but in both cases it ended up being just enough to add a 1/4” hem and no more. I will make the pattern a bit longer when I use cotton, since it tends to fray and I’ll want to do more of a hem than that. When Meredith saw Fiona’s, she asked for her own pair. I realized there wasn’t enough yellow knit left, and the only other knit was a blue one that also didn’t have enough for a full pair of pants. So we combined them!

Meredith loves them. She keeps telling me how comfortable they are and how happy she is with them. They fit her perfectly. Maybe a tad long but not so much that she’s constantly stepping on them.

My next plan for pants are some pairs with lots of pockets, since Meredith at least loves pockets. She picked out the fabric herself and is pretty excited for the final product. I hope she finds them comfortable, as she definitely prefers knits for pants (but knits wouldn’t work for the pattern I’m hoping to use).

The majority of those boxes above were full of books, with some random toys and odds and ends throw in here and there. The biggest problem is that we don’t really have enough bookshelves. But I decided it was time to improvise and that I wanted those books accessible one way or the other. I organized our shelf we already had set up and rotated some books around in it.

For some of the books I just used the boxes they had been packed in on their sides and taped together to stabilize them. I think they look surprisingly good considering what they are! (You can click on the picture to see it bigger.)

Then I used the Neat Ideas cubes to create a couple of shelving units. These things are great. We originally bought them years ago to make a hedgehog cage. They’ve been used as shelves, chicken brooders, chicken tractors, and more since then. Now they’re book shelves.

It took a few days of off and on unpacking and sorting, but we have most of the books out and shelved finally. They are in no particular order whatsoever though, but at least it will be possible now to find one if we need to! The girls have been loving having the books so accessible and especially the “new” books we have been pulling out. This area here I think might be nice to eventually put shelves like these ones to make it really easy for them to find books.

We do still eventually want to get real shelves put in and actually organize the books. That room still needs to be painted and there are still some things in another corner that need to be put away. We also still have a few boxes of textbooks to go through and either decide to keep, donate, or try and sell, but it is so nice to finally have our books out. We also discovered some books we had forgotten we own or that we want to read again.

The irony is that I never did find the book that started it all! I now have a feeling I had already lent it out, but I have some ideas of who might have it so hopefully I can track it down.

They are itty bitty, which we expected. They will get bigger as the hens mature.

I assumed one of the Orpingtons must have laid them, since those ones are the oldest (almost 25 weeks now), but there is a way to tell by checking the distance between the bones right above their vents. Both Orpingtons’ were still pretty close together. For some reason, the only other chicken I checked was Clyde, who we were still on the fence about whether he was a rooster or a hen, so I’m not sure why I suspected him. Maybe because his comb and wattle have gone quite red recently (another sign of a hen about to lay). Anyway, his bones did feel further apart, but I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. We got another egg in the same spot yesterday, then today I was peeking in at them all morning hoping to catch the hen at it and found Clyde crouched down under the nest boxes! Guess my intuition was right on. I picked her up and put her in one of the nest boxes (which have golf balls in them to try and encourage them to use them), and she stayed there and ended up laying there.

So we’ve renamed her Chloe. I’m a tad disappointed because she is one of the Easter Eggers and we were hoping she would lay green eggs, but at least she’s not a rooster! Anyway, today Kris was in the coop in the morning and happened to look behind the stump their water sits on and found five more eggs. Obviously one of the other hens has been laying for almost a week.

The one on the right is Chloe’s from today, the lighter one is the mystery hen. Because of the colour, I suspect it is either one of the Dorking crosses or the Wyandotte, but our Wyandotte is only 18.5 weeks old today whereas the Dorkings are the same age as Chloe, almost 21 weeks. I checked their bones and Raven’s do seem to be pretty far apart, so perhaps it is her. Whoever it is seems to be an early layer though, as I started peeking in at them around 10 today and she had either already laid or didn’t lay at all today. So tomorrow I’m going to try and catch them a little earlier. I’m hoping now that Chloe has laid one egg in the nest boxes she will continue to lay there instead of on the ground.

The yolks are a beautiful, dark orange. I am so thrilled to finally be starting to have eggs from my own free-range, well-fed, spoiled and happy hens.

The store-bought egg is on the left, one of ours on the right. Ours are still smaller, but definitely much darker orange and more yolk compared to white.

Let’s start with this one, anyone know what it is? (ETA: Thanks to my friends Mike and Heather for pointing out that it is columbine. The funny thing is, I have tried to grow this several times before without being able to get it to germinate. Here, it’s growing everywhere!)

Here’s the back of it.

This one is a Pieris, which I bought because I read that mason bees love it.

This is our first year with mason bees, but they have been busy. We only started with ten. The filled holes are where the females make little mud homes to lay their eggs. I’ve seen them on the Pieris, but have yet to have my camera available when I do.

I have caught a regular honey bee on a different plant though.

I love daisies of all types. Gerbera daisies were our wedding flower and I’ve planted Osteospermum in every garden I’ve had. I have some pretty yellow and orange ones too but they’re not flowering quite as nicely yet.

And more pictures of the flora around our property. Click any picture to see it bigger.

We’ve had potatoes sitting on a window sill for six weeks now. I was hesitant to plant them before now, because it has been so wet here. It’s late now though, so hopefully they do okay. We decided to plant them in the spot we were originally planning to put some raised, keyhole garden beds. The raised beds aren’t going to happen this year, but we got the spots dug out and potatoes planted and hopefully that will give us a head start next year when it comes time to plant things.

One thing we discovered quickly: our soil here is rocky. These pictures don’t begin to do it justice. You can’t dig into this earth without hitting a rock.

But the end result was a rough outline of the keyhole beds we want for next year (though more square than we’d like them eventually), and about 50 potatoes planted in trenches.

Recently, while pulling out warmer clothes for the summer, I realized that we have very little for Meredith, and the hand-me-downs for Fiona are often stained and worn. I guess it’s a side effect of using natural detergents with no chemical whiteners in them. The sun works well on many stains, but I don’t think any of my kids’ clothes will ever be suitable for consignment or passing along! Also, many of them are torn or worn. I certainly like that they play hard in their clothes, but it doesn’t make them easily reusable.

A friend and I had briefly discussed making kid’s clothes recently, and after looking through a few online patterns I decided to give it a try myself. I started with a piece of scrap fabric from my stash, with the plan of just making up something quick to make sure it would fit, since I had to modify the pattern I found. Partway through, Meredith saw it and decided she was in love with the fabric. Luckily it fits pretty well. There are a few little mistakes, mostly due to me originally just wanting to get it done quickly to see if it would fit (as well as the fact I’ve never sewn a gathered skirt before), but she loves it so that’s most important. Overall, it was pretty easy. Keep in mind I haven’t sewn much in years, besides a few things for Fiona before she was born. Someone with more sewing experience could probably whip some of these up in no time. (It’s not sewn crooked, I just didn’t hang it on the hanger straight.)

The pattern I used was the toddler version of this Itty-Bitty Dress. I made it longer, and slightly wider. If I make another, I will make the bodice longer, but otherwise I think it turned out really well! Except, it’s white. See above about stained clothes. At least white is really easy to sun out! (I asked her to stand still and smile, she chose to pretty much do anything but. Hopefully I can get another picture later.)

I would like to make a similar one with different fabric for Fiona, and there’s another sundress pattern I’d like to try as well. I’m also hoping to make them each a few pairs of pants, skirts, and some t-shirts. I might also buy a pack of t-shirts and try my hand at embroidery too. We’ll see how long my motivation lasts.