My Winter Garden in January

Cabbage-collards (front) & turnips (back)

My garden hasn't changed much since the last time I showed it to you. I've mulched a few more beds and some things have grown a little, but even that has been slow. We've been eating more out of it than we did at this time last year, because the weather has been milder, much more so than our first two winters here. Not that I'm complaining about this, it's actually been more typical for this part of the country. Last year by January, we'd already had several snows, and the garden was pretty dormant. This year, plenty of rain but nary a flake in the sky and the temperatures have only dipped below 20 F a couple of times. Most daytime recoveries are in the 40s at least.

Front to back: Scarlet Nantes carrots, Detroit Red beets (reddish in
color, hard to see), both from saved seed, and Siberian Dwarf kale

That's means we're still enjoying various greens such as lettuce, beet, collard, cabbage-collard, and kale.

Dwarf Siberian Kale

The kale is Dwarf Siberian, last year's freebie thank you seed packet, from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. A number of years ago I grew a curled Scotch kale, but no one in the family was very impressed. Dan and I really like this variety however. It's great raw in salads, as a steamed green, or ingredient for soup or stew. The goats like it too.

My radishes have grown huge.

Probably China Rose & Pink Beauty Radishes

Surprisingly, they are not pithy nor too hot. They make a very tasty salad with that fresh kale.

We're also enjoying beet roots and plenty of turnips...

Purple top white globe Turnips

We share the turnip greens and trimmings with the goats. We like turnips a variety of ways: roasted, steamed, boiled and mashed (with or without potatoes), and mostly as sauerruben.

Lacto-fermented turnips, a.k.a. sauerruben

Some things are slower to grow, so I'm still waiting to harvest, like carrots and my parsnips.

 All American Parsnip
Last year I planted Harris Model, but nothing grew

Other slow growers include broccoli ...

Waltham 29 broccoli from saved seed

Waltham 29 is supposed to be ready in 85 to 90 days, but I planted these the third week of September and the largest head was only about the size of a quarter. I harvested them all just the other day, when we were forecast to dip into the teens with a high of only 30. Frost kissed is one thing, frozen is another. I got enough for us to have in a broccoli, kale, dried cranberry salad.

This cabbage too, was slow....

I don't remember the variety

This is one of the nine purchased plants I planted last April. I harvested it along with the broccoli. It will make a tasty sauerkraut.

Lastly, the winter wheat is growing well,

Winter wheat

and the seed catalogues are arriving in droves. I reckon it's time to start thinking ahead toward spring. :)

My Winter Garden in January © January 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Kitchen Remodel: Dining Alcove Ceiling

One of the things we liked about our original kitchen, was the tongue & groove walls and ceiling. Unfortunately we had to take some of the walls down for structural repair and insulation. These were mostly exterior walls which we finished with drywall. The remaining walls we left in tongue & groove. When it came to the ceiling, we had two ideas: leave the T&G and add decorative ceiling beams, or install a tin ceiling.

I admit I wasn't real keen on a tin ceiling, but Dan loves them. This was what actually led to our decision to give the dining alcove a different look from the rest of the kitchen. We could use tin panels on the alcove ceiling, and still have our beams in the main part of the kitchen. Plus, because the alcove area is small, 5.5 by 7.5 feet, a tin ceiling would be affordable there; in fact, it cost us less than $275.

The tin ceiling would also solve a couple of problems we had there as well. One was the holes left by two previous light fixtures, which you can see in the photo below.

A hall light used to be on the left, pantry light on the right,
but that was long before we bought the place. 

The second problem, was a couple of buckled ceiling boards....

Problem: buckled ceiling boards between the old light fixtures.

Dan fixed this by cutting between the two boards with his skilsaw and then screwing them tightly to the ceiling joist.....

Solution: screw the buckled boards to the ceiling joist

This flattened the ceiling out nicely, which we needed for nailing the tin panels to. Because we have a wood ceiling, we didn't need to first install a substrate. We could nail the panels directly to the ceiling. All we had to do was run chalk lines, and Dan used a brad nailer to attach the panels.

The panels are 24 inches square, with a 6 inch pattern. Pattern repeat is 12 inches. I figured a small pattern would be better for a small space. Plus it made it easy to know where to cut and fit partial panels.

Next came the crown moulding. This was trickier and we did mess up a little. However, I doubt anyone will notice from a galloping horse.

I had a hard time photographing the whole thing, but here's a fair shot....

And here it is in perspective with the rest of the kitchen....

One end

And the other

I think that about does it for the ceiling, except for the lights. 

Kitchen Remodel: Dining Alcove Ceiling © January 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

2012: Goals For The Homestead

Here it is January 1st, and we still haven't finalized our goal list for 2012! In some ways it seems that we ought to be getting a handle on everything, and have a shorter list. In other ways, having a few major projects now behind us, seems to open the door for all sorts of other possibilities. One big item that is not on the list, is a new barn, though we definitely need one. Not including that, here's what we've got our sights set on so far.....

House

• finish kitchen (this first)
• stiffen bedroom floors (next, both sagging badly)
• Then start on front of house. We're the neighborhood eyesore! That project includes:
• porch (a big job, needs structural repair)
• siding
• front door
• continue with new siding on the rest of the house. We need to do this before we install rainwater catchment. We don't want to move tanks and disconnect things to get to the sides of the house!

Garden

• worm bed for composting (and feeding to chickens)
• continue bordering my terrace beds
• Expand front yard herb & flower garden by at least one bed. I'm planning this should be a new comfrey bed. I lost most of my comfrey last summer due to heat and dryness. Best option is where the trench was dug to bury the power lines. The soil's already turned there so why not. I'll order more comfrey plants as well because this is a valuable protein source for the goats. 
• find another (3rd) new home for the strawberries & 
• plant the old strawberry and comfrey beds in annual rye or something that might help choke the wire grass out 
• need an edger / weed whacker for the beds in the front yard. I can't believe I'm saying that but this is a problem.
• incorporate more permaculture techniques

Animals

• Fence in blueberry bush to protect from the goats (a must)
• Prepare for pigs (at least we'd like to)
• Think about getting turkeys (I'm only committing myself to thinking about it because it's not just ordering poults, it's having a place for them to live)
• Continue pasture improvement

Other

• The woods - a lot more pines are down; might be a resource for that new (log?) barn. Consider what would be the best thing to do with that part of the property: fence for browse? plant? with what?
• Need to consider how & where to store and process our grain crops as we expand on that. Right now everything is on the front porch; probably not the best place for storage, and nowhere to thresh and winnow. Another reason we need a proper barn.
• Try another grain crop? Oats?

Well, that's the goal list as it stands today. After finishing the kitchen, it's the first year we don't have a specific indoor house project as the front porch will be all outside work. That will likely change when we get a long rainy or cold spell and can't work outside. If you hadn't noticed, Dan is a project person and can't stand to sit around without something to do.

The hall bathroom is probably the next indoor project; it has plumbing problems and water damage to the floor. We're still looking toward turning it, part of the hall, and the second bedroom into a master suite, though have nothing more than a sketch toward it so far. The original house floor plan here, plan with master suite here. It's nice having both indoor and outdoor projects to adjust to the weather!

Some things on this year's list are more urgent than others and will take priority. Some things are still in the research and preparation phase, and may or may not see beginning materialization. I do find that putting things on the goal list prompts us to do at least something toward doing the things that need to be done.

How about you? What are your plans for the new year?

2012: Goals For The Homestead © January 2012 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/