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  • May 5, 2020

    in the gardens, early may 2020

in the gardens, early may 2020
May 5, 2020

It has been a long while since I managed any gardening posts. Last summer, we were traveling across Canada aboard our skoolie, Gladys the Bus, so I didn’t garden for the first time in 24 years. I was excited to hop back into it upon our return, but was slowed down by a broken ankle. Needless to say, this year I am eager to get my hands dirty and with a family of helpers due to Covid-19…well, things are looking good!

Big Garden, April 13. 2020
2 weeks later on April 26, 2020
garlic’s up
blueberry buds
chives
fresh greens coming up
nettle patch is beckoning
garlic is growing virtually in front of our eyes
cherry blossoms
pak choi, for my dad….he loves it!
hugel bed getting a makeover

We have had some typical moody spring days with rain, making the pastures green up and the cool weather crops thrive. I have had to spend a lot of time cleaning up the beds right now which is a reminder that I so prefer all that hard work in the autumn, allowing me to simply plant out in the spring. But, I am grateful for our farm sitters last summer and all the good work they did in keeping my flowers alive and the weeds mostly at bay.

Because we still have cool nights (a good frost a few days ago!), I am waiting to plant out some tender crops. But in the ground we have peas, broccoli, cabbage, and potatoes. We don’t eat a lot of carbs here on account of Type 1 Diabetes, but I found a low glycemic potato called Nicola. We will try it out as hashbrowns as eating a heavy carb load is easier to burn off at the beginning of the day rather than at the end with dinner. Crossing our fingers it isn’t a food that will spike Sunshine’s blood sugar. Oh, and I’ve also seeded greens greens greens oudoors, and radishes. Dahlia tubers are in pots in the greenhouse and ranunculus just went in the ground along with sunflowers. Things are happening!

So far, we have just been enjoying fresh spicy chives (they are always packed with a punch this early in the season), and heaps of nettles. We like them steamed slightly, with a dollup of butter and a splash of lemon juice, sometimes with some minced garlic or onions. I could eat a whole salad bowl of that in one sitting…so yummy! We have spied some early morels up at the top of our property, too….so we know we will be feasting soon. Also ready to eat is some fresh rhubarb, but I prefer it paired up with strawberries…we will have to wait a bit longer.

Around the house in vases, we have hyacinths, tulips, and forsythia.

Every morning I head out to do farm chores, letting the lambs and families out of the barn, getting the hay for the sheep, feeding the hens and broiler birds (after a year off we are back to raising 100 birds), and I am so grateful for this work, this life.

Wishing you all a good growing season….I’d love to see what you are up to!

xo Jules

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gardening  / type 1 diabetes


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  • a little crafty nest

    Jules Hello out there, I'm happy you stopped by! My name is Jules and I am grateful to share my family's homegrown adventures here...from homeschooling to homesteading. This space is my own reminder to savour the beauty amidst the chaos and messes of motherhood...to see the extraordinary in the everyday ordinary. Thank you for joining me.
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    Our Shetland ram, Argyle, is fairly busy lately. Our Shetland ram, Argyle, is fairly busy lately.  We finally started breeding the Shetlands and then we added Stella Blue and Little Luna.  We will be lambing a bit later than usual this year, in early June.

Here, Argyle is demonstrating the Flehman response, a behaviour of most mammals.  The curling lip helps transfer the pheromones of the breeding ewes into a scent organ behind the front teeth.

He might make us humans giggle, but the lady sheep are doing the cha-cha-cha in circles around this handsome fella.
    I couldn’t resist the Bern. So good. I couldn’t resist the Bern. 

So good.
    Beginning the year with a requested Danish Tie Wra Beginning the year with a requested Danish Tie Wrap Shawl for my sweet Sunshine.  This is her Cross Canada souvenir from 2019 when we drove our Skoolie @adventures.with.gladys across the country.  We stopped at fibre mills in each province and I collected yarn.  Sunshine chose these colours herself and wants a cozy wrap for snuggling under. ❤️

Sunshine chose Maritime yarn : the pink and purple are from a farm in Nova Scotia called Lismore Farms and we saw their sheep and shopped in their big barn converted into a lovely studio, the black and blue yarn was purchased at Brigg’s and Little mill in New Brunswick which was fun to visit the oldest Canadian wool mill, and the white is from PRince Edward Island’s MacAusland’s Woolen Mill. 

The shawl is now at the point where it is a little slow going getting one row done.  But steady steady, I’ll get ‘er done!
    My crafting mojo hit rock bottom last year. I man My crafting mojo hit rock bottom last year.  I managed to knit one single hat that took me months because I kept setting it down.

But like everything in life, there is a season and I am ready to dive into some projects again.  I thought an inspiration board might keep me going ~ has anyone made these before?

From left to right, top to bottom :
~ Estuary skirt (shown is @katiescarlettmakes) by @sewliberated
~ learn to punch needle like @bookhou 
~ vest like this one by @meditativemasker using my own lambs wool yarn that will be back from the mill in early autumn hopefully
~ a quilted vest inspired by the quilted coats made by @brittney.frey 
~ chamerion poncho by Christina Danae shown here by my dear friend @loritimesfive 
~ finish my quilt for my daughter
~ sew a few skirts like this one from @tworoadsvintage 
~ fade shawl like @lauri_is 
~finally make a pair of socks and I would like to make these from @yarnharlot 

This seems a bit ambitious but even if I can be inspired by one or two things that would be wonderful.  Any projects you want to make?
    A bluebird day is a great day for snacking on the A bluebird day is a great day for snacking on the Christmas tree. 🐑🎄🐑. We had stood the tree outside in the yard for a bit after the holidays, enjoying its evergreen boughs.  But the time came to treat the flock.  Lilac didn’t seem to mind the pokeys.
    Our wee little pond sunk twelve feet because the w Our wee little pond sunk twelve feet because the water table dropped...as it does every winter.  If we had lined it with plastic this wouldn’t happen...but plastic isn’t an option for our family and so we deal with seasonal fluctuations in pond depth.  I say it is part of the charm and aren’t we lucky!  Meanwhile, the kids had one glorious day of ice skating on our wee little rink.  Oh, so very Canadian.  Now we will fill it up again to support the ice layer and hope for more perfectly bluebird rink days. (The kids put the branches across where the ice crackled fiercely...their own protective buffer).
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