Author: denisemor

It’s that time of year that I should be planting carrots.

Usually that would mean sowing them directly into the sandiest of our raised garden beds.

But in recent years, burrowing critters and seed-eating birds have made it impossible to get carrots going.

Last year I resorted to sowing some in pots fairly late (after 2 failed attempts outside) and while they did germinate and grow, I think they were too crowded and the soil mix wasn’t ideal. Didn’t get much carrot production out of those pots.

So I’d been shopping around for a new approach. Yesterday YouTube offered up this gentleman’s solution:

He’s germinating the carrot seed on moist papertowels, and then carefully transplanting them into pots with pre-made holes spaced evenly with templates. Says that he can get them going in 5 days this way! I’ve decided to give it a go.

I’ve got my carrot seeds nestled in moist paper towels in the seedling tray on heat

And since they should be spouting before I know it, I thought I should get the pots ready to go .

This time I want to give these little guys the best possible shot at growing to their potential, so I made up a special soil mix that hopefully they will like. Sand, compost and screened hoophouse soil.

Looks pretty carrot-friendly to me. I might just eyeball the placement instead of making copies of his planting templates, tho.

And while I was working in the hoophouse, trying to ignore the blustery weather outside, I noticed that I’ve got quite a few little volunteers popping up

chamomile

borage

and oregano

And in wool news, I think I’m finally close to finishing off that little locker hooking sample that I started so long ago.

Just going around the edge now with a chain stitch to stabilize and frame it, then I think I’m going to turn it into a pillow, probably with some of this fabric as the back

Will be really nice to have it done. I love the soft nubbly texture and that it features Chone and Edgar wools, along with Esther. Miss those sweet boys.

Ok, that’s all I’ve got.

Have a good week folks 🙂

She was one of the unnamed “orange girls”. A red sexlink from the 2021 cohort.

And she’d been looking kind of “hunchy” for a couple days, but I already had another girl in my “sick bay”, so I was just keeping an eye on her.

But yesterday morning I went out to do morning critter duties and as I approached the gate, a big bald eagle came into view, having breakfast amidst a carpet of orange feathers. I gave a yell, and he took off, carrying what little remained of the poor chicken.

Once I’d fed everyone else, I went over to clean up the crime scene, and came across an interesting, if gross, artifact which speaks to what had been ailing this chicken.

I have since discovered that this what is called a “lash egg“. First time I’d seen this sort of thing.

Clearly the eagle knew he didn’t want any part of that, and left it for me to clean up. But it means that she’d been suffering from a bacterial infection of the oviduct for some time.

So she was clearly compromised and probably an easy target for a hungry eagle. Poor girl.

It does wonder how she picked up the infection, and think that I should probably do a deep cleaning of the nesting boxes.

The other girl I have in sick bay is eating well and seems to be improving, so fingers crossed that she’ll be back up to speed and able to re-joing the genpop soon.

On a brighter note, tomato babies are looking strong and perky

as are the various dye plants

Many of the little peppers I’d started in late February were lost to the recent cold spell, so I’ve sown a few more of each type to see if I can get another batch started. I’ve still got the overwintered guys (jalepeno, blot, sheepnose pimento) that I’m counting on for a strong performance this year, but was really hoping to do a side-by side comparison of productivity between first year and second year plants.

Alrighty that’s all I’ve got. I’ll sign off this week with a few words from Yellow Chig

Yesterday I potted up the rest of the little seedlings that I’d started in the big plug tray- the second wave (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and dye plants- marigold, scabiosa, madder and dyer’s chamomile). Starting the seeds that way worked out ok, since the sections were small it meant I could start quite a lot of seed in one tray, and it was nice to have a built in dome to keep them moist.

But what I hadn’t thought of was that all the various things I planted in the one tray would germinate on different schedules. The marigolds and madder got way out ahead and I had to pot them up before any tomatoes, peppers or eggplant were ready to go. And since it’s all one tray, then you’ve got empty space on the seedling heat mat that you can’t really fill with anything else on the fly.

Oh well. Live and learn. In any case, now everyone is out of the plug tray and into 3 inch pots so they can get busy growing.

Tomatoes are looking pretty perky. Peppers are not as far along, but hopefully will start to catch up soon.

And of the things I just planted last weekend, some little cukes have already popped!

Also very excited about having sunflowers this year- “Mammoth Grey Stripe”

Also got some of that Fiona wool spun up- decided to go with a bulky weight chain ply. It’s a lovely oatmeal color, nice and lofty and squishy, but with a little bit of hairy toothiness. Lots of character, just like the girl herself. 🙂

And it is pictured with the Brioche of the week, a green multi paired with creamy white Esther. Here’s a closer look at the Brioche, and from the side to show off it’s architecture-

And speaking of cool structure, I found this amazing artifact from last summers poppies this morning while doing some garden cleanup.

I think it looks like a royal scepter. Such beauty in the tiny details.

Been a nice few days here, with spring-y temps and lots of opportunities for working in the garden.

Seedlings continue to make progress, and I just started another wave today -squashes, melons, cukes, sunflowers.

You might remember that back in October, I took cuttings from a few tomatoes to root and overwinter. I’ve managed to keep those guys going, and they’d become a bit unwieldy of late- so I decided to take a chance and put them in the ground (in the hoophouse)

I’ve got Sunrise Bumblebee, Pink German and Blush trellised, and Purple Cherokee in a cage. Here’s hoping we don’t get a hard freeze going forward!

Also put snap peas in the ground, and strung up a trellis for them made of apple whips.

Little red fence around them is to keep Yellow Chig from mowing them down. 🙂

And scallions and broccoli are getting settled in the first two stages of the Greenstalk planter

Won’t be long now ’til I’m shearing the sheeps! Most fleeces look pretty promising, tho I’m not sure what is going on with Fiona. Her wool is kind of short and seems to be somewhat felted, like a spongy mat across her back. Guess I’ll see once I get into it.

I hadn’t yet done anything with her fall fleece (which was quite nice), and so made a start on that the other day- once batch washed, dried and carded-

That’s her taupe-y fluff in the front. Not quite sure how I’m going to spin it yet. Will have to do a bit of sampling.

And on the knitting front I’ve been continuing to Brioche- enjoying the interplay of the colors and the cushiness of the fabric. Brioche has a nice easy rhythm to it, and is very satisfying at this gauge.

Alrighty folks, That’s all I’ve got. Have a good week 🙂