Hey everyone, I decided to use a new blogger because the old one just wasn’t working well. Over the next few weeks I will transfer over all my previous blogs previously on blogger. This is going to be a great place to conect and stay in touch with my friends and family.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
I started to collect China cup and saucers quite a few years ago after having tea at Rusty’s grandma’s place. It was insane the variety and amount of beautiful tea cups she had in her dining room cabinet.
Knowing how much I appreciated them I started to get them as gifts from her for birthdays and Christmas. I absolutely was to the moon and back when I got them. I cherished them and I guess it was like a breath of fresh air when and grand daughter-in-law took an interesting and lived what she love.
Fast forward 2023. I have now for a couple years, have been collecting eclectic varieties of fancy scalloped China plates so that I could add them to my tea cups and have tea…..
Well I did it, I wrote up invites and dug out my china cups and my silver tea serve….. I had “tea +sweets” this week, it was amazing.
It was a beautifully small group of ladies and we enjoyed ourselves.
I tried my hand at the little 2 bite sandwiches and desserts. I think it turned out well.
I think what I want to do is try and have tea and sweets 2 times a month… and then a ladies bible study as well.
I really enjoyed preparing and chatting and seeing the beautiful responses on fb when I posted that I was getting ready…
Have a beautiful week everyone, God loves you.
Nessie♡
Hello everyone, Its been a beautiful week. The weather has been good and we seem to have some blue skies.
We have been steadily working on projects, one of them is the new board and batten siding.
Earlier this year we put new windows in the master bedroom and basically finished the master to the point of primed walls, electrical and sleeping in it. We took out the old single paned, old 1878 window and put in two new windows. On the outside it was tyveced and ready for the final finish the board and batten.
When the staging came off after the siding went on Rusty then worked on finishing the roofing on the porch. So all last week, each night when Rusty came home from work we would have a coffee and then go out and do a little roofing before the sun went down.
So Friday and I guess ready Saturday morning that was completed and wow it looks amazing I am so happy, farmboy is happy with how it all looks.
It will be really cool to see how it looks when we get around the front of the house… and neighbors and friends passing by see whatbit will look like♡
I harvested some tomatoes l, peppers and zukes this week and Rusty brought home a box of gleaned potatoes…. uts hard to beleuve we are in October… where does the time go. I will work on putting away some veggies this week and get ready for some other projects.
I hosted my first every “tea & sweets last Thursday it was awesome. It felt so juice to have finally dug out my tea cups and use the mismatch eclectic plates I have been collecting. Checkout the post on the tea party.
Evelyn and Bob dropped by with Danielle and Mark Saturday afternoon. They were foraging mushrooms, chaga, etc. They came by and Evelyn left with peppers and green tomatoes for chow. They were not quite finished foraging, but we all decided to go out for dinner. We decided on Sou-West, out the Stanley Bridge way. It was a really nice dinner out on the back porch over looking the ocean. It was there second last weekend to be open… it was a beautifully warm evening.
After we got home we decided that we were gonna have a fire and camp pies.
I went out back, oh yes I forgot to mention the lawnmower is back…..I cut grass, Friday, Saturday, a bit on Sunday and then yesterday, Monday.
I mentioned that because I had to vut the grass in the fire pit area in the dark with a head flashlight on…. lol.
We had our fire and camp pies, peanut butter + strawberry jam and Nutella, pecans, and maple syrup pies…. my they were good.
I got a little ahead of myself then earlier in the day we started to clean up the area around the porch. We took off the old steps and cut up the grass and prepped the wall for tyvec.
Now, Sunday was such a beautiful day we decided to stay home and work on the porch, it’s been so rainy lately we have to take what comes our way…. so we started inserting the permanent windows and sealed up the walls, it is all weather proof, minus the door.
I can hardly beleive we are getting the outside stuff done. It is very exciting to look at.
Well, I go the rest of the grass, second cut done yesterday and today I am gonna work cleaning up the garden beds and getting them ready for winter and collecting as many tomatoes, potatoes, and what ever else come out of the garden.
Oh yes, we had homemade pork nachos Sunday night. I made them with canned pork, jalapeños, salsa chips, cheese, sour cream. Yum!
I hope that you all have a nice week. Warm and sunny here from what I can see. Hopefully nice where you are….
We will be getting ready for thanks giving this weekend, WOW!
We will chat again soon.
Love you all, and God loves you.
Nessie & Rusty♡
Here’s a little YouTube video I made to compile a bunch of pictures that show the journey of the addition.
Enjoy, Nessie♡
I love working on little things that when they start you aren’t 100% sure how it’s gonna go, but as you follow through it turns out beautifully.
Case in point, a couple antique pieces we picked up for the the house. We didn’t know for sure what room they would go in, what the best colors would be or if I would like them when they are done.
Dresser + 1940’s chifforobe.
I cleaned the outsides with tsp and took off the hardware and then hummed and hawed over the colors for a few weeks. I went onto pinterest, got lost down a couple of “picture rabbit holes” then finally just went to the local paint store to force myself to choose some colors.
I am quite happy with my choices and I can’t wait til both pieces are complete done.
The colors are nice subtle and with some of the fancier details I plan on doing turned out perfect. I kept the original hardware as I feel it sets off the pieces nicely and the home both pieces have found is in the guest bedroom.
I originally thought I might go two toned for the chiffirobe, but after seeing what that looks like, not so much so…..
So in the next couple weeks now that it is getting colder outside, my focus will change to some indoor projects around the house. This one, the chiffirobe will be the first one, I think.
The dresser also turned out fantastic. I have some finishing touches for that as well but for now it looks great with an antique lacy doily I found. I have some blankets in the drawers for now and that makes great storage.
So when I complete these two projects I will make sure to give you all an updates and some good pictures of how it turned out.
Nessie♡
Snail mail….. its been a couple weeks, we have had a few projects and stuff going so I got side tracked and nobody asked where the letter is♡
Well the first distraction was the celebration of our 26th wedding anniversary. So rightfully so we were busy enjoying each other’s company.
We went to the fair in Evangeline, with Bob and Evelyn, it was fun, after the fair we then had an impromptu dinner with them and played a few fun games♡
The gals won…. the guys were sore loosers….lol
Then we had some visitors from BC.. a second cousin to Rusty and his wife. I forgot to take a picture. It was really nice to meet them♡ funny part of our conversation with them…. they were at the same fair we were at…. lol.
That weekend we decided that we would treat ourselves to dinner out. That’s because we really didn’t go out for an anniversary dinner…. so to town we went…..
It was so good.
All you can eat sushi on the island now😯.
Then we had a couple days, we worked on the house and we got ready for an impending hurricane 🌀 Lee.
I did some food prep and we did a bunch of battening down the hatches. It arrived as slow as a turtle and ended up not being very severe for us battered islanders. Thanks God for not allowing that storm to be bad♡.
That then brings us to this last week. Birthday for me and of course a bunch of canning and some garden planning.
So we went out to the island Stone pub for my bday, the old train station in Kensington.
Because of all the rain the last week or so the grass hasn’t been cut….. so on Friday Rusty was trying to get some grass cut while I collected some veggies from the garden…. boom. The lawnmower broke again. It has really and a work out this week…. and this summer.
EWe found a snake in the grass down by the chicken coop in the long grass, just a tiny small brown garden snake, first time in 10 years, so cool. Of course I did not get a picture. But Rusty picked up and put it in a safe place away from the lawn mower.
I finally got some tomatoes from the garden. It has been a great growing year but we are making the most of what we get.
Angel has been stalking a four legged creature and she caught it a couple nights ago a shrew. They played with it and then I tossed it…yuck, but such good kitties.
Some good kitties
Well, we had a great weekend. Rusty got the upper end of the gable section finished. The board and batten is down the second coat of paint is on and it looks fabulous. The staging will come down the next couple days and then we start on the front.
It looks amazing…
Check out my volunteer pumpkins, I have 5 in the house already on the shelf as well hardening off.
Well that’s about it for now. Have a great week everyone, our love to you all.
Love Rusty + Nessie
My mom was the youngest of 5, she had 3 sisters and one brother, Else, Annie, Ellie and Ernst. She grew up in Germany and was around the age of 7 during World War 2, which was a very scary time for those who did not agree with the government at the time. She and her family struggled, and it was not an easy life.
When mom was older and she was able to save up enough money, she took a chance….. a chance for a better life, she left Germany, and her family behind for a better life in Canada.
So l, when it comes to aunties and uncles, we grew up not knowing any of them. That’s not to say we didn’t known of them. Cause we did♡
We did meet my auntie Else and uncle Heinz back when I was around 9 years old… they came to Canada for a visit when she had completed her cancer treatments and was feeling better.
Because Germany was across the ocean and international phone calls were expensive, we of course did not speak with aunties, uncles and cousins on the phone like many do when they are close or in the same town or country.
But what does stand out in my mind is my auntie Annie. I think mom might have been closest to her. They wrote back and forth all the time, that I can remember as a kid.
My auntie Annie was a creative and talented lady and this is why I miss her♡
Every year auntie Annie and mom would like I said write back and forth, and she would always ask about us kids favorite colors.
Every year in September, I would look forward to getting a thick envelope in the mail♡ and every I was excited and tried to anticipate what beautiful item would be in my mail.
She never disappointed, mom would give me a thick envelope addressed to me and I was excited to read what she would say and see what she had made especially for me. Of course I couldn’t read German so mom always translated for us.
She crafted and crocheted these delicate beautiful colorful hankies.
These are just a small sampling of the beautiful timeless gifts she made for me. I appreciated them then, when I was a kid, but I appreciate them even more now as an older adult.
Imagine the patience, talent and ability as an older women, doing that fine intricate work, each stitch, each row…. I wonder what her thoughts were as she sat in her home and created these designs, I wonder did she think “I hope she likes the colour”, or maybe I wish I could see the look on her face when she opens the envelope, or maybe, does she wish she could meet me some day.
I never had a chance to meet her and I so wish I had the chance. To give here a hug, to say I love you, and thank you for what you made me♡. Instead those things had to be put down in words and sent in the snail mail♡. I wonder what her smile would have been like and if we had been closer would I have been at her house every day, would she ha e thought me her beautiful skills…. sipped tea with her or share a home baked sweet 😋.
I might not have met her in person and I sure wish I could have, but I do know she knew we loved her and appreciated her greatly.
So each year, after I had a chance to admire her beautiful work I would store away for cold and flu season my beautiful hankies in my sock drawer.
Another early memory I have of the hankies, is using them wrapped around my plastic barbie doll, knock offs. Using elastics and ribbons and yarn as belts and making pretty dresses for my dollies to wear… lol
One of my fondest memories is that she even made a pretty one that I used on my wedding day♡. I used it walking down the aisle with my mom as she gave me away, and you can also see it in the second picture as we exchange rings….
Although it is outdated and only seen in old movies, I presume. I carry hankies in my purse just in case I need to wipe nose, or just for nostalgia, and possible practical use.
It’s funny, I haven’t met my nephew’s wife in person yet….. But when they were getting married I sent one of the beautiful cherished hankies my auntie made me to her for her wedding day. I have no idea if she used it or if she is nostalgic about these sort of things. But to be able to pass along a little bit of me, to a niece in law because I will never have a daughter, was a little part of me and my family memories.
So it’s always this week in September when I feel a little sentimental and I wish my auntie was still around, I miss her because she would have thought of me and sent me a beautiful hanky that would get used for years to come. My question would be what pretty color did she do this year♡.
I don’t get cards in the mail, maybe one or two per year.. I miss that. Such a “lost art”.
I guess that is why, as an auntie, I always send a card, as it gives the niece or nephew hopefully something to look forward to.
So if you are an auntie, mail a card, send your love, give lots of hugs and love. If you are a niece or a nephew send your love back with a card or a note, or a hug and love, appreciate them, for they love you more than you know. As well you never know how long you will have them♡ don’t miss the opportunity.
If I could have a conversation with her now, I’d say, thank you so much for the memories I hold in my heart, thanks auntie Annie ❤️
What mail is in your box? And…. What mail have you sent?
It’s been a nice steady week. Not too busy and definitely not lazy. I worked out in the raised bed garden area for several days this past week.
Sometimes your garden can get the best of you and with all the rain, those terribly fast growing prolific weeds just don’t stop growing and multiplying. So I got the mower out and cut back the weeds in the walkways that I could mow and got out my well used leather garden gloves and started to pull out what I could not cut.
I found several volunteer squash looking plants so I left them to grow and I cleaned out the onion beds, leek beds, herb beds, pea beds, tomato beds, tomatilla beds, carrot beds etc….
It looks really nice again when I look out the upper back windows.
I could not have planned how the gardens went this year. Many interruptions and best laid plans….. and distractions, but it is still a wonderfully awesome garden. We had fresh corn on the cob 2 nights ago, oh my word, they were big juicy and sweet 😋 one of the best years growing it here on the homestead.
The weather was warm and sunny, the first part of the week, and then it got rainy Friday night and rained heavy all day on Saturday. The grass is so green, so thick and lush and that’s just gonna be crazy to cut on Monday. Hard to believe we are in the last week of August, doesn’t look like it or feel like it. With all the green everywhere you look, it is very deceiving.
The new chicklets are growing really well. Their “big bird” feathers are coming in, and they look funny with the fuzzy feather pieces just barely attached to the tips of the thr new feathers. They are skidish but very curious. Their blue footsies are really showing and it is gonna be soon that I can tell the difference in the boys and the girls.
I picked up my two boxes of peach seconds on Saturday, from my Mennonite friend, wow they look really good. They are nice and firm so I have a few days to figure out all the ways to use them. The firsts will be coming in the next week or so:) I think.
On Friday I knew it would be a wet weekend so I got my basket and I picked a few things from the garden to preserve and eat. I decided to pick some green tomatoes to add to my pineapple and make the green tomato pineapple chutney. The aroma cooking it today was incredible. It turned our pretty good. I canned it in my small half pint jars and the sauce jars with pop lids. So nice when you can recycle the commercial sauce jars for personal canning, I got 15 small jars and it one of Rusty’s favorites. It funny the first time I made the chutney it was out if necessity because we got got late blight on the tomatoes and the only way to use what would not rippen was green tomatoes recipes. We found the recipe in the 2014 canning magazine put out by better homes and garden… they have some really cool tried and proven recipes♡
The double batch, gave us another nice addition to the pantry.
Because it was a sleepy, wet, weekend it was a chance to work on our inside projects. So Rusty was able to get down to his shop, tidy things up so that he can start to finish the canning cabinet in the addition. He got the cleats on and the cut the shelves to size and put them in place. The fronts just need one last coat of varnish, I think he said, and then they are ready to be filled with my labor of love, the food I grow and preserve♡
It looks so different, and the progress on stuff the addition just blows me away.
I did fill the counters with garden produce, soaked microgreen seeds jars, and it feels really good to have this new space. The last part of the cabinets will be the doors, but I do have a plan in place until Rusty gets a chance to build them. They will have a heavy muslin fabric curtain to protect the jars from the sun.
I have been wanting to get a new hot water kettle but putting it off. Earlier in the week, I kind of boiled the old kettle dry, and so it is now time for a new one. I dragged Rusty out on Saturday after we went to get the peaches to charlottetown so I could shop for a new one. We went to home sense and browsed and shopped a few items. I ended up with a few kitchen gadgets, a new anti-fatigue mat, and a nifty fine chopper for garlic. It was kinda fun being out with farm boy and shopping around a little. I’m glad I didn’t have to drive in the rain as he did the driving. Those water filled ruts in the roads are crazy this year.
Well, I guess thats about all for those week stay tuned for new adventures and updates next week
All our love, Rusty & Nessie
It’s Sunday, and it is letter writing time.
So how is everyone, I hope that you are all good. Just a little update on what’s going on this past week.
The veggie gardens are slow going and about 3 weeks behind. But everything looks good. I got a few zucchinis and patty pans from the garden along with a couple of beets and some tomatoes. The corn looks good, the potatoes look good, and the main bednout back with my big tomato beds looks stellar.
The off and on rain all week has been a recipe for frequently cut grass. I could hardly believe on Friday that it is already ankle high again. It took Rusty 5 hours to cut all the grass on Saturday… wow.
I attended a conservative party axe the tax rally with Pierre Poilievre. The rally was exciting, I anticipate that we could have some really good leadership in this country with him in power we just need to get the current party our of power. It was refreshing to hear what his mandate is for Canada I hope we can get him in sooner then later♡.
We cut and stacked wood last week on Sunday, and it’s kind of cool 😎 to see it stack up for the cold season. We still have quite a bit of wood down in the basement ready for this year, so we might only have to use half of what we got this year. I guess time will tell.
I had a big project this weekend. I had a big tote filled with butternut squash we grew last year. When I was rearranging tiddy up the kitchen, the tote ended up out in the side porch. I forgot about it until I was.kovong around so stuff …. yikes, that’s a lot of squash still. So I cut one up and cooked a little bit to see what it tasted like…. awesome, it tasted awesome. Well, I now how to spend the next day or two, cutting, peeling, chunking, and pressure canning it. I ended up with 36 pint jars, and we had a nice big serving with dinner yesterday. It was so good, I can hardly believe it’s 9-10 months old and it still tastes amazing.
My squash didn’t grow as well as last year, so it is really nice to have this bonus squash all canned and some frozen for this upcoming year.
Rusty started on adding yellow to the house. On Friday, he put the stain on some if the boards for the new siding. The pices of wood were really wet, so it took a long time to dry, but wow, the coliur is awesome. It’s gonna look so nice. The area he is working on is where we installed the new windows for the master bedroom. Getting that all battened in looks so good. It’s gonna be one of our fall projects, going section by section to replace the old drafty siding with new tyvec and the new siding. Small steps to our old house reno project. The upgrade in the look of the house is pretty optimal, too.
I am working on recovering a bench for the main entrance in the addition. I got the top repaired and covered in the new fabric. It is gonna be nice having the bench with storage at that door.. little touches that make things look pretty good. I have a few little things in place now that have a home, some antiques, etc. Things are finally starting to take shape♡
The next thing I think we will be doing is getting the shelving into my canning unit. I can then start moving my jars up and getting organized with all the stuff I am putting up for winter. I can do a jar count and finger out what needs to be made and stored♡
I have to say the biggest and most amazing part of the addition is my canning and prep area. The stink and dishwasher and additional counter space is so great to use. The best part is the view, I get to look out the big set of 3 windows while I am working. Looking out to the valley, watching the animals, and just seeing everything out there is so much nicer than staring at a wall♡
It’s been quiet since Rusty’s mom went back home, and I am missing my mom lots, we talk online, but if course, it’s not the same. I wish she could be here seeing this life we have. Hard when you get older, things are different. Your prospective on life is very different.
When mom and I are online, I try to take her on a little tour of the new improvements around the inside of the house and the outside as well. It’s not the same as being here, but I guess it’s the next best thing.
Well, I guess that is all for this week. Yak with you all again next week.
Our love to you all,
Nessie & Rusty
This past year has had ups and down and I would say more ups then downs.
We have made quite a few changes, life and reality has a way of making you look at things in a different light.
Rusty hit a milestone birthday this year, 50, and it was a birthday that was on his mind and heart for quite a while leading up to it. Personal battles to fight and win, and if you know us and our family, you will understand♡.
So leading up to Christmas and during break last year, we had quite a few conversations about making some changes in our lives. If you know Rusty, them you know if he is gonna do something monumental, he gives it lots of research, reads, chews, and cycles through that regime several times before jumping in with both feet.
It was decided that we were gonna make a lifestyle change. The change was to see if, indeed, by making these changes, certain physical issues would clear up. So initially, the changes were to eliminate aches, pain, and some other health issues. The ultimate benefits of weight loss were not primary. It was secondary and not the goal.
The goal was to see if joint pain, back pain, sleep issues, blood pressure and inflammation, and lack of energy could be resolved. Anyone who is in mid-life will understand those things, accepting that you just get this way when you get older is common place.
We set out on our goal in mid-February 2023. We decided from all the research that Rusty had done the previous 2 years that we would change our eating habits, not go on a diet, but change how we eat. I hate/dislike the word phrase “go on a diet.”
We decided to eliminate several food types and adapt a “carnivore” eating habit. So that means no sugar, no processed foods, no complex carbs, no veggies. Just a good selection of meats from beef, pork, chicken eggs, butter, high fat dairy cream, some cheeses. Herbal teas and some coffee, even avacados, after a few weeks.
The difference we felt the first couple days and week was surprising. I did not expect to have results that soon.
We started to feel more energy, started to sleep better. I was almost reluctant to mention anything cause I didn’t think one could reap such positive results so soon.
I was amazed as the weeks went by with the results we were seeing. Rusty went from snoring and sleep apnea issues to barley a snort and no more sleep apnea issues. I started to sleep better because of the changes and because I was not bothered by snoring and tossing in bed…
One morning, Rusty got up and could hardly believe that he was lying on his right side and had his right arm up over his head…. he hasn’t been able to do that is such a long time… the pain from rolling over on his right shoulder would stir him and cause him to lay on his back or left side all the time because of a shoulder injury.
We had so many positive health changes that were noticeable and note worthy. It was hard to beleive.
There were no cravings, no desire to cheat, and the weight was starting melt off. We weighed in every week and started to log our food just to keep track of the progress. We started to do intermittent fasting. Our first meal would be around noon, and our last would be 8pm. That surprised me… I had absolutely no blood sugar issues, no dizzy, no feeling sick to my stomach when I ate my first meal of the day and weird blood sugar issues during the day. I, we were feeling so much more energy, and the joint pain was starting to disappear.
I think the big change or noticeable difference was in the spring. we worked two weekends in a row, tilling up, raking, shoveling, and moving big logs for 27 raised beds in the garden. On the first Saturday, I was bagged, tired, and couldn’t wait to crawl into bed. All I kept thinking was man, I’m not sure how I’m gonna be able to do anything the next day. We got up the next morning, and it was like I hadn’t done all that hard work the previous day, I was ready to go and work again…. in a normal gardening season, I would have been sore for days…. and we both felt the same way.
So when we set out on this journey, it was initially for one month. After feeling so good, we decided together that we would commit to do it for a combined 3 months and then reassess from there and decide what we would do. We ended up doing it for approximately 21 weeks and then took a little break for a couple of weeks as we had company coming, and we felt the treat of eating some of our regular stuff would be nice.
The funny part was that when we ate certain foods, we felt sluggish, had some blood sugar issues, and well could notice a difference. We eat good while on vacation and are back at it again. This time with a couple of goals in mind, but we have added veggies from the garden because that is what we love, but still keeping certain foods as treats or not back in our lifestyle change.
We clearly have seen how our health has improved exponentially, and we see the benefits of this change in our lifestyle. We see the benefits of not being on daily medications because we changed our eating patterns and chose to make these changes so that we don’t have to rely on big pharma for our health. We eat good, take vitamin supplements, and we get out and get lots of vitamin d from the sun and fresh air. We wake with energy in the morning and have little to no inflammation and body aches and pains the change has been so worth while.
The last benefit that I didn’t share yet was the unexpected weight loss. This was the most surprising for us and I have to reiterate not the purpose of the change. Rusty lost 60lbs and I lost 45lbs, that’s huge. I have never seen Rusty the way he looks now, never… he looks healthy and happy, muscular and fit, and it’s different from what he looked liked when he use to work our at the gym, he is lean and muscular.. HEALTHY ♡
So I said we are now after the holidays going back to our say, stricter eating habits. Our goal is to take off some more pounds and to continue on this health journey. We will be eating some veggies from the garden as I harvest them and have the occasional treat, but the optimal goal is to take charge of our health and not depend on doctors and medications to live.
I did also want to say, I am 53, and in the midst of menopause, any woman going through menopause has probably experienced the horrible hormone fluctuations, the weight gain the moodiness, the sleepless nights. Well, this lifestyle change has changed me, I lost the menobelly, I sleep at night, and my hormonal imbalance is balanced. I still have hot flashes, but everything is manageable. I don’t feel like it’s the end of the world.♡ food for thought if you are going through the same it will help and you will feel better.
So below is a side by side picture. The one on the left is a picture we had taken July 2022 and the right side picture was taken 2 weeks ago July 2023.
What a difference a year makes♡
Well, that was an awesome but tiring weekend. We got a lot accomplished, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
I started a off a few weeks ago with ordering 4 cord of 8 foot juniper logs. They got delivered on Thursday
Then I ordered a load of compost soil that came in Friday.
I also reserved a big tiller from the local building store for the weekend and the rest was sweat and muscles.
Gathered and burned the stalks from last years garden, gathered up all the used straw that will get used again this year. Then started the task of digging up the asparagus roots, berry bushes and rhubarb plants to put them in their final resting place.
We started over 20 asparagus seeds 9 years ago and put them out in the garden. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think they would have the enormous root balls they had. The original plan was to dig up all the roots and move them to 2 newly made beds, well that didn’t happen after a few hours of digging with a shovel and pitch fork I finally was able to dig up 12 roots.. WOW, that was exhausting. That was only 1/8 of the way through the asparagus beds.. just check out the maze of roots
So 12 roots are now in their final resting place, and there are far more than 20 other roots left in the beds. We have left them where they are for now as that is quite the task of digging, untangling, and removing from the current beds… we will have to find a new permanent area for the rest… what a start to Saturday.
We broke for lunch and then got right back at it. The next task was to get the rest of the beds made in the small garden next to the greenhouse. Man those logs were heavy, but we did it got them all in place, secured the logs and filled them with composted soil all ready for day 2…. I think we are gonna sleep well tonight.
Day 2, first task of the day move the rhubarb, gooseberries, currents and blueberry bushes.
The rhubarb roots were another struggle but not as difficult as the asparagus. It is two years in a row now that we dug up and moved the rhubarb. Hopefully, they will be okay with the disruption. We couldn’t believe in just one year how they rooted. Unbelievable, really, as with all the digging last year and the 3 shovels we broke just to get them out of the front yard, we thought we killed them last year. Hopefully, now that they are in some awesome composted soil and they are in their final place, they will thrive once again and give us amazing rhubarb for desserts
So after the rhubarb, we did the berry bushes. That was so much easier. We replanted 8 blueberry bushes, with 2 honey berry or haskhap berries, the 3 gooseberries, and 2 red currents plus 1 new black current bush. They all look so happy.
So after the berries were planted, Rusty was back at a few rounds of tilling in the big garden and the tilling of the old berry beds. Oh yes, I can’t forget the horse radish got a bucket of them out of the garden and need to plant that somewhere…. I dug up 6 of my strawberry plants left over from the ravenous critters… they are in pots to keep safe until I find a new spot for them…. I then went over to the sunchoke bed as they needed to be dug up and replanted elsewhere….
Wow, were they ever prolific in this bed…. I dug up a half gallon pail last year, not expecting much to come.. boy, that was an understatement… this is not even half of the bed harvested.. WOW.
So after this, I decided that since the soil in this bed was very loose, I wouldn’t harvest much more, but that we would work on the beds for this big garden.
So after laying the foundation for 3 of the north-south beds, we laid out the string for the east-west beds and got the end logs in place. We cut a few logs and brought them over for stacking and decided that was it, no more energy to do more.
We got so much done, and I am very proud of where we are at. All we have to do now is get the rest of the logs down for the 27 beds. Then start planting, and things should be good for this year. Once the back gardens are tilled, then we can work out back there, but for now, this is an amazing start to the 2023 gardening season with permanent raised beds♡
Hope that you enjoyed our journey this past weekend. Please like, comment and share a link to this post♡.
Stay tuned for the next post of the completion and planting♡
Muddy Boots, Old Houses and The Farm 