Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Update and such

Hey, well, it's been awhile. Since I last wrote, I've rendered lard and built and began using a clothesline.

The lard rendering went well. Though I'm afraid I got some 'soy fat'. It doesn't set up firmly like I imagined. It also has a funny taste and smell. Is that supposed to happen?

The clothesline is doing great. I've probably already saved a good bit of pocket change by not using the dryer for the 16 to twenty loads I've hung out. And I kinda enjoy it. The only problem is figuring out how to keep the line from loosening and sagging so badly. I keep tightening it up, but the weight of wet clothes tends to pull it down a bit more. It's not the posts, those are in cement. It's the wires slipping through the U-bolts. I'll figure something out.

I planted my garden. I know I'll regret what I've done later on, but I always think bigger than I should. I planted 9 sweet pepper plants. About 10# of Kennebec potatoes, probably 50 to 60 Texas 1015 onion sets, some mesclun lettuces, (and here's the insane part) 4 cherry tomato plants, 4 Golden Jubilee tomatoes, 4 Fantastic tomatoes, and 8 Romas. I plan to use the Romas for sauce. The Fantastics will be eaten and used along with Goldens for juice and maybe some salsa. I've made a lot of work for myself. I'll also be getting tomatoes from our Crop Share which begins next month. I hope to be able to acquire a dehydrator and dry out some of the cherry tomatoes, besides using them in salads, etc.

I also put some herbs in pots: Spearmint, Lemon Balm, Sage, Rosemary, Basil, and Oregano. Hope that goes well.

That's about all going on here. Spring has been beautiful this year. Last year we had a very late, hard freeze which killed a lot of the flower buds on the trees, etc. The Bradford Pear in my yard had very few if ANY flowers on it. But this year it was covered. Up until this past weekend, we've had unusually warm weather, like upper 70's to low 80's. But last weekend, yesterday and today, the weather has been a bit more seasonal. Only in the 50's today. But they say the temps are to be in the 60's tomorrow and 70's on Thursday. Oh well, I still love Spring. Thank Heaven winter is OVER!!!

We know a lady that homeschools her kids. I hesitate to call her a 'friend', she's more of an acquaintance. She had somewhere around 50 chickens and two Guineas. She says her family doesn't go through a dozen eggs in a month (which may explain the appearance of their health to some degree). They raise the birds for their girls to show at the fair. They have some nice birds. But she hates to see food go to waste, sooo........ They may not be organic or free-range, but they're free and fresh. She said I could have eggs whenever I wanted them. She gave me two dozen last weekend and wouldn't take a penny for them. I dunno. I'm not complaining though. I was able to give one dozen to a neighbor that had mentioned she wanted some fresh eggs. I'll find a use for them somewhere, somehow.

Have a good week!