Late post

So here it is the winter solstice again.
In our part of the world it seems to come too late to mark the beginning of the winter and too early to mark it’s middle. One thing it does do is mark the end of another solar cycle and the beginning of a new one. Or at least it would if cycles had endpoints and beginnings. For me it is always a happy event to know that the sun will start to come back soon. Living this far north the days tend to get too short for my liking. I don’t really tolerate the absence of my dear sun to well. During the waning of the sun I tend to get all bearish. All I want to do is eat sleep and growl at people. I put on a layer of fat and very much wish to be left alone. I am always aware of it and try to rise above it but it is a deep drive, a chemical certainty that is only really effectively countered with significant amounts of will, which is sadly in short supply. But the return of the sun always gives me hope.


Here is hoping you all had a good holiday and are warm and safe this winter.

Winter is for baking

We had the chance to bake a loaf of no knead bread today. Wish we had time to bake a loaf everyday.

Sometimes I think I should move!

Seriously, Why do I continue to live here!

Jess and I spent several hours and what might have been my last nerve shoveling and clearing the 3 foot drifts. All this with high winds and temps near zero. And to top it all off the plow took out my mailbox again!! I end up repairing my mailbox a few times each year. I tried to move it further away from the road but the letter carrier started sending me nasty grams, first it was too tall then it was too far from the road. I think I am going to have to talk to the local post master or something before I reinstall the damned thing!

Bah!!

More TED talk

Garlic planted.

I finally got the garlic planted back on November 21 st. It was an awfuly late time to be planting but the outside temp was near 50F. So first the soil was forked over to remove weed roots and loosen the dirt. Then I added a quick dusting of agricultural lime as this was one of my oldest beds. I didn't check the pH first but it may have been a bit sour as I have added aged chicken litter and compost over the years. I then worked over the clumps with the tiller attachment for my weeder until it was a fine tilth. I then leveled the bed by raking until it looked like this.

I then set out the garlic cloves to get my spacing. I used the bottom of a one gallon bucket to space my cloves out by around 8 inch centers. And pushed them in to a depth of approximately two inches.



As you see below a 4 x 9 bed can allow you to plant quite a lot of garlic.



After planting the soil was firmed up around the cloves of garlic. I didn't water them in as rain was predicted for the next afternoon. I finished it all up by bedding the new planting in with a covering of some of the straw that was left over from our fall festival.




Now all I have to do is wait till I can enjoy the delicious garlic scapes late next spring.