Teresa This spring at the cabin it has been so wet and our summer hasn’t started out much better. We really do need the moisture though after the forest fires from the last two years but the mosquito population is now at an all time high.
Wow! I have all these seeds started and went out to my garden shed to find I have run out of peat pots
I have spent the better part of this morning calling every store I can think of in our area to see if anyone has pots…..no luck absolutely everyone is sold out! I guess with this Covid-19 the time as come that more people are realizing they can grow there own food. I think this is fabulous, but holy moly do I need pots.
One of the stores would said they would order them for me if I can’t find any, when I called back and placed the order all was good until I got a call back saying the order would not be in until mid May early June. I can’t wait that long It’s April 24th today! Now what?
From protective row covers
AHZZY Protective Row Cover with Greenhouse Support Hoops, 6Pack Adjustable 4ft Long Garden Grow Tunnel with 0.9oz Non-woven Row Cover for Greenhouse UV Frost Protection
Extending the growing season where I live is something that has to be done without it some crops would never get to harvest.
Some ways to extend your growing season are by using row covers, cold frames and greenhouses are a few ways to go, but your can also use permanent protection like trees.
If your garden is in an open area that is not protected from wind the soil will dry out fast and it has no natural protection from the cold.
A hedge of spruce trees 4’ or so away from the garden can be enough to increase the air temperature by a couple degrees Celsius.
Two rows of snow fencing about 60 feet apart will do the same thing.
Yesterday I went to the grocery store only to find out due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) the shelves in the super market where not only sold our of toilet paper and flour among other things, but there was not a container of yeast to be found.
We have a little cabin off grid and for the most part we don’t really need to use a fridge, but we have installed a small solar system for things like this.
I’ve been thinking it might be nice to have a fridge in the summer, especially since we will be spending more time there; so I started doing some research and found some that should work nicely.
This mini fridge is 15 litres and runs on 45 Watts so will be able to run on a 200 watt inverter with no problems.
Some great advantages to this one are:
Off Grid Solar System
This has been great! We put up a 200 watt solar panel and attached that to a 200 watt inverter with two plug ins. Now we have power!
Solar panel kits have come down in price and many great ones can now be purchased on Amazon. Here is an example of one from Amazon
This year has been a really bad year for mice and rats, we have mice where they have never been before and it appears most of the neighborhood is experiencing the same problem.
Why do we have such an increase in rodent activity? I suspect it has something to do with the weather, we have had an unusually cool summer with much more rain than usual. Here is an article I found that talks about how weather can affect rodents. Home owners over run by mice
I don’t like to use poison as we are out in the country and who know what is going to eat that poisoned rat or mouse, so we are careful with how we get rid of these critters.
This year I found these new traps and I just love them! They are way better than the old Victors (that’s the old wooden ones grandma used) The Catchmaster traps I think are the best, they are so easy to set and to take the mouse or rat out of. They come in three sizes. I have them all!
Catchmaster 2-Pack Snapper Easy Set Mouse Trap
In the past we have tried all kinds of makes and models of mouse and rat traps, some works OK and others not at all. These are by far the best, and very easy to set and very easy to remove the mice as well. The trap is built well, not flimsy at all.
Rodents eat mostly nuts and seeds – I think the majority of people use peanut butter to bait the traps.
I have used peanut butter before, but I found if I put two or three pumpkin seeds in the well of these new traps works very well.
Chaga from the Birch Trees Chaga Tea is a great way to get all the wonderful nutrients from the Birch Tree Tao Chaga Wild Harvest Canadian Chaga Mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) Chunk – 1 lb (454 g) Read about all the many benefits and healing properties of Chaga here
Last May the Dandelions were out and with so man we figured we would try our hand at making Dandelion Wine. This was a first, but I had come across an old recipe in my Grandmothers book, so thought I’d give it a try.
Dandelions are the first flowers to be seen in the spring, we often add the tender young greens to our salads because of the healthy benefits this plant has. Making wine with the dandelion flower gave us a wonderful tonic, we would occasionally have a glass for its medicinal benefits.
We have a nice grove of Birch Trees not far from the property so this spring we decided to try our hand at tapping the birch trees to drink the water and make Birch Syrup.
