Category: Homestead Projects

Published on Leave a comment on A Lot Has Been Happening On the Homestead

I must first apologize for the long delay is posting.  It has been a very busy spring here at the homestead.  I took the week of Memorial Day off to work at the homestead and fortunately the weather was great.

The first thing accomplished was the painting of the back side of the barn, well at least the really high areas.  I still need to finish the bottom but we had a lift for day so got the hard to reach parts done.  We also used the lift to top the large pear tree to a lower height which will be more manageable for harvesting the fruit.

I also got 3 raised beds put into the garden.  I have been wanting to put raised beds in for many years and now I have them.  I only made them three feet wide instead of the standard four feet.  I am not vey tall and it was a little awkward to reach the two feet to the center of a four foot bed.  I am not going to walk on the beds so I will be able to reach the entire bed from both sides.

There are several other projects in the works and I will give you an update on them in the next little while.

Published on Leave a comment on The Seeds are Started, Finally!

Now that there is a little bit of Spring in the air I have finally planted my seeds that I start early indoors.  I usually plant them six to eight week before I can put them out into the garden.  We have such a short growing season here that without this advanced start I would never be able to harvest a tomato.

Besides tomatoes I have also started onions from seed.  This is the first year I am trying this as I usually use onion sets and plant them directly into the garden.  I have also started some different varieties of melons.  Again these take longer to grow and mature.  They will get planted in the hoop house for some extra heat to get them well on their way.

In addition I planted several different herbs to help my new herb garden get started.  The plan is to add a small herb garden up by the house with some of my favorites to make tea with as well as some medicinal herbs.  I'll keep you posted as that project gets going.

Happy Spring finally and have a Blessed Easter.

 

 

Published on Leave a comment on New Desk from Salvaged Materials

Since Spring still hasn't come our way yet I decided to tackle an inside project today.  My workspace here at the homestead was rather small and didn't have any really good work surface.  We didn't really need to have a door between the shower and the rest of the bathroom so I took it out a few months ago.  Today I turned that door into a desk.  I purchased some really nice legs from Lowes, cleaned the door up nice and attached the legs using brackets for that purpose.  I am now writing this from my new desk.  There are still a few finishing touches that I want to do before I paint the entire thing but it is functional now.  My filing cabinet fits right under the surface and I am going to add a shelf on the opposite end from the computer and chair.  I have more salvaged plywood for the shelf and it will hold a couple of baskets that I have to keep office things in.  There is enough room for my printer too.  The door is 80"x22" so that is a lot of room.  I might have to get a piece of acrylic to put on the surface since it is a raised panel door but we will try it without for awhile and see.  Now I just have to find a place to put my Great Grandpa's desk that I was using.

Published on Leave a comment on Tapping Maple Trees Soon, I Hope

Okay, today is March 1st and it was -9 at the homestead when I got up this morning.  I'm not sure we had a dozen nights above zero during the month of February.  Oh well, planning for Spring must go on.  While it is a bit cold to do much outside, and of course all the snow inhibits outdoor activities as well, the next event will be tapping our maple trees for syrup.  The best sap running weather is below freezing nights and warm days.  We only tap 8-10 trees each year and they are not sugar maples but they still yield enough for our maple syrup needs for the year.

Traditionally we have boiled the sap off on our wood stove in the house.  But now that we are tapping more than the six trees we started with years ago it gets to be a pretty big mess to do inside.  We purchased a two burner propane camp stove and will begin using that this year.  It is necessary to have the two burners since I use a two kettle system to boil the sap.  The first has the new sap in it and the second does the final boil down to the consistency and color that we want.

The system we use to boil our sap is pretty simple, not like the dozens of sugar houses that dot the landscape of Maine.  Soon we will be celebrating Maple Sugar Sunday here in the state and many of these commercial sugar houses open their doors to the public so we can get a "taste" of how maple syrup is made.  This year it will be March 23.  If you are in Maine around that time plan on visiting one of the farms listed on the Maine Maple Sunday website.

Now if the weather would just cooperate!!!

Published on Leave a comment on The Hive Has Arrived

I got home from work this evening to see four large boxes sitting on the front porch.  Our bee hive that we ordered from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm had arrived from North Carolina.  Ironically the boxes were being snowed on.  They will have to spend time in the garage until the four feet of snow that is on the ground at the homestead has melted.

My plan is to put the hive in what is our front yard.  It is on the south side of the house and I am slowly turning the front yard into a edible landscape.  I have already planted raspberries, strawberries, asparagus and blueberries.  There are also fruit trees in the front yard.  The peaches and apricots have been planted up close to the house because we are in a marginal area for those fruits being in low zone 4.

The bees will be introduced to the hive in June.  So we have until then to get their new home ready for their arrival.