Sprouts!! Lookee lookee!

 It's official! My 2025 garden is growing. Seeds have sprouted! 

It's not much at the moment. Two green cabbage varieties and one red, plus one of the basil seed packets. It's a lot more cabbage than I'll need, but I can give some away when the time comes. My cousin next door likes cabbage and Cole slaw so there we go. 

As for the basil, this is just a start. I love pesto so the plan is to make a BUNCH of it this year and freeze it. I used the last of what I made in 2024 months ago, so I need to be on it this season. 

I'm ready to begin work in my garden but the weather is not helping. It's chilly and windy outside - not the weather I want to work in outside. But it has not stopped me from planning my garden and making a "plan of attack" to ready the raised beds, refresh the grow buckets, and set the second Greenstalk in its 2025 location. I also have a new greenhouse to set up and I need to move the old greenhouse frame to a location where I can zip tie shade cloth to in later in the year when the plants need a break from the solar maximum. 

Today is the day we set our clocks ahead before we go to bed, and I'm looking forward to longer daylight in the evenings. That will help me get things done. There's more on that over a Between the Keys. 

Things to do, things to do, but I think the only thing I'll really accomplish on this windy afternoon is some writing. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, rural living, cabbage, basil, greenhouse, country lifestyle, garden planning, organization, a writer's life, KC Kendricks

Making soup and waiting for snow

A couple of days ago, as we waited to see what Winter Storm Blair would bring us, I was at loose ends. I'd done everything outside to prepare what I could, and I keep my inner spaces tidy, so that left cooking. I made the best batch of potato soup EVER!

The Lord of the Manor didn't care much for potato soup and so it wasn't part of our regular menu rotation. When I did make it, it was a bit bland to suit his taste. That man would take leftover potato soup, drain off the broth, and mash the potatoes. The gospel according to Ron said potatoes should be mashed or fried. Well....... I like soup! 

Anyway, I made the soup with onions, celery, rosemary, turmeric, parsley, milk, and butter.  It was delish! I ate a serving while seated on the sofa watching it snow. 

Ah, the snow. Winter Storm Blair. 

The Weather Channel predicted a snowmageddon for us with up to 18 inches of snow with at least a half an inch of ice. It was no surprise it didn't happen, but the exercise in preparedness wasn't wasted. 

The generator was started and my cousin noted I should replace the pull cord as it's getting worn. He also suggested a new spark plug. This will happen in the spring when the mowers are serviced. I also added a notation on my calendar to start the generator every five weeks to keep the motor lubed. 

The snow makes my woods lovely, and I've enjoyed observing the birds, but I'm ready for it to melt. One good snow a year is all I need. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, Winter Storm Blair, potato soup, rural living, a writer's life, generators, organization, snow birds, country lifestyle, cooking, preparedness

January weather in December

Baby, it's cold outside! 

It was 35F at 6:00 AM, and the temp has dropped to 30F at 9:30 AM. It's windy as hell outside which means I'm going to burn a lot of firewood today. Burning more wood isn't a complaint. That's why me and the cousin split a lot each year - just in case. 

Living rural as I do, I watch and track our microclimate. Our recent temperatures are much colder than our usual Decembers. In fact, the temps are more in line with January. I know this is fact because I track the weather on my desk calendar, and carry that info forward each year. It's especially valuable as gardening season approaches. Yes, it's time to think about the 2025 garden and what it will look like for a single me.

Things outside are at a standstill here at the manor. Weather this cold means me and Deuce are limiting our time outdoors. Yes, he has a thick coat, but his paws can get very cold. He's just weeks short of nine years old and the last thing I want is for the cold to seep into his joints. I'll give him an aspirin if necessary, but why purposefully cause him a problem? I've noticed he likes sleeping on the soft bed more than on the floor beside my desk these days. 

Ron has been gone for eight months now, and some days I wonder why and how it is I can get up each morning and look forward to the day. How is it I'm suddenly wanting to map out and plan future activities? The days are shorter and give us less sunshine, and cold weather should have me hibernating but I'm not. I'm staying home, but I'm active inside (as much as possible) and ideas that will prevent me from becoming one with my recliner fill my head. 

I think this is a good thing. Living in the past isn't healthy. That doesn't mean I'll forget the past - oh, no. I hope I never forget the thirty years I spent with Ron at my side. But I've been taking baby steps forward lately. 

I think this is a good thing.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, country lifestyle, homestead, weather watcher, single living, widows, organization, planning, map for the future, a writer's life

Will this be a Herculean task?

Our shed was the domain of the Lord of the Manor. I stored gardening "stuff" in the space he allotted me, but the shed was his Man Cave. I paid just enough attention to be able to find any items I needed and I kept my mouth shut. Now it's my shed alone and I say it needs to be organized. 

So many things are clustered down low so he could reach them. I understand that. He did rather well in finding work-arounds to his mobility issues. Now it's up to me to sort through and organize it all. 

This will be a Herculean task. There are over thirty years of accumulation of tools, implements, and equipment in the shed. He kept a lot of things because he knew how to repair them - but he never did. I need to test everything to make sure it works. New shelving is needed, and it seems I need to obtain a good assortment of pegboard hooks. The space between the studs can be better utilized, too, as shelves for smaller items I may want to keep handy. Heck, I may even scrounge up some white paint for a few areas. 

It's going to be a big job, but in the end, I'll have a space I can work in. I may even be able to store the X370 inside year-round instead of under the carport in the summer. We'll have to see if that works. 

I'd like to say I can complete this job in an organized manner, but I know better. It will be accomplished quite haphazardly, a little here, a little there, and back again. In the end, it'll get done and I hope he would approve. Actually, I know he would. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, organization, garden sheds, life after loss, rural living, country lifestyle. a writer's life, women alone, shelving, tools, equipment, John Deere x370

The impulse purchase - it's not a bad thing!

I confess. I do shop at Walmart from time to time. They have quite a few pantry items at much lower prices than the local grocery. For example, our favorite Ragu spaghetti/pasta sauce is $.71 cheaper per jar. If I'm re-stocking the pantry with ten jars, that's quite a savings. 

So I was at Walmart, and I took the opportunity to wander around in the garden department to see what was already set out for the season. The seed packets called me over. It was a summons I couldn't ignore. Seriously! It was not my fault!!

Joking aside, I've been thinking I should include more flowers for the bees in my garden. The Lord of the Manor has, in one of his rare absolute authoritarian edicts, forbidden me a beehive. Okay, so he's scared of bees. He can't stop me from feeding the wild ones, ergo, flowers in the garden patch. Last year, the bees "worked" the begonias and marigolds, so expansion is called for in 2024.

I've got a seed starting area set up in the den using grow lights. This will be the first year for it and I hope it works out. In past years I've set seed trays in the sunroom, but that is also my office. With everything else going on this spring, I don't need that chaos in my workspace. Add to that I plan to reinstall the shade cloth over the sunroom porch around the first of April. That cloth blocks a lot of sunlight and keeps my office space cooler in the summer, but it would also block sunlight the sprouts need. 

The first of March is my target date for seed starting. A little before or a few days late matters not. Some time between the middle and end of April, the seedlings will migrate to the greenhouse to harden-off, and then be planted in the appropriate container around the first of May. And then we can sit in the garden and watch everything grow until it's time to harvest. 

I really think having lots of flowers mixed in with the veggies will be pretty to see and help create a relaxing area. I hope so, anyway.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, seed starting, gardening, rural living, country lifestyle, shade cloth, greenhouse, container planting, beehive, seed packets, seasonal living, organization, planning

Finished - clean and tidy, ready for next season

Yesterday was the day I'd been waiting for! I picked the very last three tomatoes and four peppers of the year! Then I set about tidying the garden coral for next year. 

It was a beautiful morning, too, with temps around the 65F mark. I was outside early so I could work in mostly shade. I put the bucket on the John Deere 1023 and moved the remaining five-gallon grow buckets and grow bags to their storage area. Then I scrubbed the little table, swept the tarp, and then dumped a bucket of hot soapy water on it, and swished the broom around before rinsing.  

You may wonder why I'd want to give the area the hot water and soap treatment, but it's important to keep a garden area clean so as to cut down on pests, mold, and mildew. Besides, it looks a lot better if it's clean and tidy. 

Looking forward to the 2023 growing season, the plan is to do a few things differently. I'm not going to transplant every little seed that sprouts. I had too many tomatoes crammed into too small a space. I was able to make sauces, etc., which I wanted to do, but we have a lot of top-notch local growers in my area. It may be more time effective to purchase a bushel of tomatoes from one of them to do the canning next year. A high tunnel would also allow me to use the garden coral area for what it was installed for - a small pool. 

I also want to grow a few different things that I didn't have room for. I have acreage, but I also have a large deer population. The deer would decimate any unprotected area so I'm keeping my garden small. My ultimate goal is to get a high tunnel that should thwart the deer. It's that or obtain a hunting license, sit on the front porch, and wait for them - not my first choice.

Growing in the garden is not quite complete for 2022. I have red beets growing nicely in a raised bed under a screened frame. That's another first. I had one or two beets grow in a bucket last year, but I may actually get enough to freeze-dry a batch this year. 

It's time for me to go through my seeds and see what I have left to use next year and what I want to order. It's never really too early to stay organized. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, seeds, deer, rural lifestyle, country living, organization, a writer's life, simple country pleasures, home food preservation, hunting, tomatoes, peppers

Scary things - a blank June calendar

The spousal unit and I share a Google calendar entitled, "What's For Dinner." Supposedly, it's to be used by both of us but he never seems to add anything. I use it to loosely plan meals so I can grocery shop more efficiently. Now that I'm retired, it's even more important to 1) have a plan and 2) stick to the plan. I'm far from destitute, but wasting money and food isn't something anyone should embrace. 

So here we are at June 1, 2022, and there is nothing on the WFD calendar. No hints. No suggestions. No clues as to what the man will eat or wants to eat. 

Damn it.

I'm going to take this as a carte blanche to start to eat the way I want to eat for the next month. 

Oh, yeah. It's going to get scary - for HIM. 

For me  - it's a chance to dive deep into the pantry and rotate some stock. I'm going to start with the oldest items in the freezer and go from there. This may actually be fun! What better way to kick off my retirement than spending time assessing the items in my pantry? 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, meal planning, simple country pleasures, What's For Dinner, calendars, organization, pantry prep, rural lifestyle, marriage, retirement, panty planning, organization