High 55  Low 37  Rainy, windy, thunder, power blips

My kids keep asking, “When is Spring?” I don’t think anyone around here knows. We’ve had three sunny days so far this year. Two of which only lasted until mid-day and then the sky let loose with torrential rains.

We do have some signs of Spring. The chickens are laying. We are averaging 29 eggs a day out of 31 hens. We have turkey hens sitting on eggs. The bees have shown that they are strong and healthy although they are not able to get our much due to the rain. I will likey have to feed them again. Our rabbit does are bred and hopefully our goats are too. Let’s just pray that the buck got the job done. This is a new buck and although he was sold to us as proven, he doesn’t seem real amorous.

Our girls never look super big until just before they kid so we may not know until right before. Ugh!

As of last week, we still had enough hail to turn the land white and sheets of ice on the ground every morning but the birds are singing and the frogs have joined in the chorus too. They were tentative at first. Singing on one night and then waiting as if to ask, “When is Spring? Is it here yet?”  But just his morning I saw the first seedlings poking their little heads up through the soil. Bok Choy with it’s little rounded cotyledons looking all proud.

Regardless of the weather, I have been making progress on the land. There has been a lot of compost, manure and soil moved. Our tomatoes and peppers are nice and strong in their 4-inch pots. Our 16 year-old dog may have eaten half of what I had going but we still have plenty for our family. We have bulb fennel, collards, broccoli, and cabbages ready to plant in the beds. Raspberry and blueberry beds were just prepared and so was the soil under a cherry tree so a guild planting can be completed there. It’s going to be a good growing season, as soon as Spring arrives!

18 Inches of Snow      29 degrees     Bright but overcast sky

You can support our family business by ordering all natural, handcrafted personal care products from www.songcroftnaturals.com. Thank you!

It has been interesting reading about all the events around the Puget Sound region. People have posted pictures of the weather and told tales of their lives as things slowed or for some, stopped.

There were trees down all over my area. We had well over a foot of snow with two-foot drifts in areas. Our power was out for the better part of six days and we were snowed in.

What did that mean for us? It meant that the first day that we thought the storm was headed our way, we got the headlamps, batteries, lanterns and emergency candles all ready. We filled 5-gallon buckets of water, filled the bathtub, cooking pots and jugs too. We moved patio furniture away from the eaves where snow might later fall and crush them and we made extra provisions for our livestock. We made sure our pantry was full and there were extra snack foods for the kids as comfort and last resorts if all heck broke loose as well as a large stack of library books. We cooked in the woodstove, buried the contents of the freezer in bins in the snow, brought in fire wood and pulled out all of the poly-pro and polar fleece. After that was done, we played in the snow, enjoyed the sleds, had snowball fights, made maple syrup candy and I taught my youngest how to use a knitting nancy. We played games, told stories and when we got tired looked out the windows which framed beautiful pictures of the weather.

On SongCroft, things were a bit more of a challenge but they were not a struggle. After having the power off for as much as 16 days, we have a system and can live life pretty easily but as a friend, pointed out, even without electricity life can be sufficiently sufficient or wonderful. I love our days of being snowed in and will cherish them forever as slow days with my family.

Here are some pictures of the weather for you to enjoy.

Please post some pictures of the weather in your area too!

High 34  Low 26   Clear, cold and crisp!

It’s the end of November 2011 and baby it’s cold outside! I spent the morning breaking ice on the animal’s water feeders and making sure everyone has adequate bedding to keep them warm. I hung white tarps up on the outside of the chicken run to prevent side-rains from soaking the ground but to allow light to still reflect in on our girls. I added some herbal tonic to everyone’s water so that they will have the benefit of extra vitamins, minerals and immune system support before the temperatures drop even lower this evening. We are hitting the mid-twenties so far.

This is the time to be nesting and resting  after a busy spring and summer but I am busy with holiday markets for our value-added product line, SongCroft Naturals. This means there is not rest for this girl until after December 25^th.

At that time, I will curl up in front of the fire with a hot cup of tea and work on the batik quilt crazy quilt because baby it’s cold outside.

WWOOF’ing on SongCroft allows for time to connect with nature and yourself!

To support our family farm, you can purchase products through www.songcroftnaturals.com Thank you!

Summer has been a little different for us this year on SongCroft. The sun has only shown itself enough to make us remember what we’ve all been longing for, the rain barrels were only empty for a day or two, local hay has not been able to be harvested because of the weather and I have experienced the worst seasonal allergies of my life.  Climate change is no friend of mine.

After a lot of discomfort, I am finally able to function at an almost normal level but have spent much of the past month trying not to let my face swell up. I wont go in to the gory details but lets just say that I was so swollen and red that even local folks didn’t recognize me.

On the upside, we have had the most wonderful experience with WWOOF’ers.  Our little farm has been blessed with three young people who have come to share their enthusiasm, energy and talents with us. It has been a blessing have these folks join our family, share our meals and be a part of our life here on SongCroft.

We have room for more until Sept. 15th.

We take turns with many things including meals, animal care, garden work and cleaning up. We are all committed to living light. This is more of a relief than one might imagine as it can be really hard to find folks who will commit to using a clothes line, looking to the gardens for food before the pantry and who can work together towards goals like getting everything in for a productive Fall and Winter harvest.

The interns sleep in tents that are out on the land and use the cabin for showers and a community space. They are welcome in the house but can use the cabin for their own quiet space as well. This creates a great balance as one intern is currently studying for a class at Evergreen State College. The cabin also provides space for daily yoga, mediation and an occasional movie.

Our family thrives on the presence of community in our lives. We enjoy cooperative living and we love WWOOF’ers!

High 62  Low 34  Clear and slightly warm.

Visit www.songcroftnaturals.com to support our family farm and to get great all natural skin and body products!

Visit the Farmers Market Thursdays 3-7pm

I’m not even going to put the date on this entry since I am embarrassed how long it took me to get around to writing. You see, it’s spring and although it has been the wettest April in Washington’s history, there are still a lot of spring shores to be done!

• Have planted a thicket hedge of prinsepia to help keep the neighbor dogs from coming over.

• Planted a variety of willows in blue, red, green and yellow along the creek.

• Trimmed back the rugosa, raspberries, woody herbs and several other plants

• Mucked the goat shed, cleaned the stall mats in them and sanitized all of the feeders and water buckets.

• Made a new perch for the chickens.

• Bred the rabbits.

• Got help re-doing parts of the goats sacrifice area as well as their browsing areas.

• Brian added on to the chickens poly-carb covered roof on their summer home (okay, they are a bit spoiled).

• Deconstructed some keyhole beds so I can reconfigure parts of the garden and add vertical growing space as well as an outdoor room.

• Fed the bees (It’s been so cold that they rarely go out and things are blooming late)

• Harvested lots of greens.

• The kids and I planted lots of carrots, radishes, lettuce, bok choy, peas, leeks, cilantro, potatoes, onions, and flowers in the garden beds.

• Planted a ton of seeds in trays that are now overcrowding the greenhouse (snow and hail in April!)

• Made compost tea and applied it to a test garden. (Amazing difference!)

• Taught two soils science class and composting class.

• Planted a berm with edible berries and trees with my apprentices.

• Planted a perry pear, cider apple and medlar tree.

• Planted forage plants including Nanking cherries around the summer chicken house.

• Did all the mom things like helping both kids enter project in a science fair and droving kids to and from swim classes.

• Did the homestead stuff like baking bread and making cheese.

• Got our www.SongCroftNaturals.com business ready for the Snohomish Farmers Market.

• And so the list goes on…

Soon I will be at the Snohomish Farmers Market every Thursday.

You might be asking yourself how I find time and energy to do all of these things. It is really more simple than one might think. I don’t have to go to the grocery very often and I don’t watch TV. I eat a healthy diet that includes very little processed foods and I have a positive attitude, even in this rainy season.

Attitude is everything!

See you at the Snohomish Farmers Market!

Fifty mile per hour winds are predicted in our area today. The hens are running for cover. It was sunny and but chilly just an hour ago. The goats were prancing around and the hens were all piled on the cabin porch enjoying the rays.

Looking outside my windows I can see the cedar trees bend to the mercy of the wind. There is a wind storm here. The lights are flickering and a fire is burning warm in the stove. I started a pot of stew to feed us for a couple of days in case we do loose power. Although we can cook easily enough without electricity, it is easier to just be prepared and have something to reheat.

I also have bread rising so that I can bake a couple loaves to hold us over. I will also keep some dough in a bucket in our ‘cold room’ (this is an unheated room we use for food storage much of the year). The extra dough will allow me to make fired bread on the woodstove later. The kids love fried bread.

We have a fully stocked wood box in the house and the cabin, this is good since we only heat with wood (Yes, our stoves are certified) and I have walked the land to make sure that there is nothing that can get blown away in the wind storm.

My headlamp has good batteries in case I need to go out and check on the animals after dark and the car is fully fueled.

Things are in pretty good order. I am ready for the wind storm. I hope the trees are ready too!

High 50 degrees       Low 32 degrees            It was cold, wet and dark by 4:30! Winter is near but I’m not complaining.

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/ (Register for our apprenticeship)

It’s Friday night and I am sitting in front of a warm fire with a glass of homemade wine and my laptop. The rain is coming down outside and I can tell we are in for more than just the light frost that we’ve had the past few days.

Its times like this that I am thankful for planning ahead, seizing the moment and for making hay while the sun shines.”

Yesterday I spent a good deal of time splitting kindling. It was cold but cold isn’t as hard to work in as rain. Don’t get me wrong, rain isn’t bad. I like rain but when I am splitting wood for a fire, getting it wet defeats the purpose. My method for putting wood up is not rocket science but it might be helpful to a few folks so I thought I would share it here.

When we first moved on to our land, that’s the first two years, we lived in a little travel trailer. It was a nice trailer with a gas stove and Corian counters (did you know that most of them build post 1990 have Corian and other “fancy-pants” amenities like that). Anyhow, we didn’t have much space so I put together an outside kitchen with shelving and a worktable. We were lucky enough to stop at a garage sale where some folks had just moved across country. They had a whole bunch of  Rubbermaid containers that they used for the move and they sold the to us. We used them for our outdoor kitchen and they were great. Now I use them for kindling.

When I split my kindling, I pack it in to the Rubbermaid containers ( rubbery plastic boxes with tight fitting lid). The lids are the solid kind not the one’s that are split down the middle. Trust me when I say the “split-lid” boxes don’t really seal and when you most need your kindling, it will be full of rainwater if stored outside. (Murphy’s Law)

I store several of these boxes near the backdoor where they are easy to reach. My goal is to have at least 7 of these large containers full at all times as well as firewood stacked nearby. If I use one up and I get a clear day, I split more to keep the supply up. This way I have kindling and firewood handy at all times.

My method has been really helpful more than once. The year my kids both had the chickenpox I had wood handy. When the kids and I were snowed in for 16 days without my husband home, I had wood handy. You get the picture.

A little work done in preparation for busy times, emergencies or just for days when you want to stay in your pj’s is well worth it to me!

I hope this has been helpful to you.

The weather has changed and it feels like Autumn. The air is still warm but the rains are back. These rains are different than our summer rains. The energy is different. The sky is grey yet it is not a depressing landscape.

As I walked along the forest edge this morning, I enjoyed the many different types of moss. I could almost hear their “Ahhh…” as they took in the cool moisture both in the soil and in the air. The birds were twittering loudly so I could tell that something was passing through on the bottom of our land.

Today I will be at the Snohomish Farmers Market doing a presentation on Food Preservation. Folks who are interested in buying their peaches, tomatoes, pears and such will have a chance to ask questions before they go home and can or dry them. My hope is that those who weren’t thinking of preserving some of the local harvest will be inspired and purchase produce from the farmers while the market is still open. There are only two more market days this year!

If you want to find out more about home food preservation, come on by the market demo booth. I’ll be there, just like every other year, giving advice and sowing folks some of the possibilities for eating local!

If you can’t come by the booth, you can subscribe to our newsletter to get lots of information on similar topics.

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-self-sufficiency-newsletter/

Summer has come and the sun is warming the land. The milk is flowing and the hens are laying. We have tomatoes and cukes on the vine, every berry one could imagine and greens a plenty. This is a time of abundance and joy.

As I sit with my morning cup of tea, the calendula flowers are bright and cheerful. The bees are foraging for nectar and there is a slight buzzing all around.

I am thankful for the beauty in my life and these simple moments when a cup of tea is my world.

High 77   Low 49  It is finally clear, blue and sunny!

Our young Buck Harpo and his sister Shug are for sale. If you are looking to increase your herd or want to start one, these two herbally raised Nubians are the way to go! Both have good form and come from very good milking stock. Born March 21, 2010. $100 Harpo/$150 Shug

Summer is here! The newest version of our newsetter is available. If you haven’t subscribed, now is a great time!

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-self-sufficiency-newsletter/

Farm Camp begins August 22nd. Register now to reserve your spot. http://songcroft.com/index.php/farm-camp/

The registration for the 2011 Self Sufficiency Apprenticeship Program is already starting to fill up. If you have been sitting on the fence, now is the time to register. We have filled up for the past two years in a row! http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/

Yesterday we finally broke 75 degrees and it feels like summer is here. It was our seventh day this year without rain. Folks here are happy to see the sun out. It is suppose to be in the mid 90’s by tomorrow.

Although the sun’s arrival is definitely welcomed it will prove to make gardening a bit of a challenge in that a sudden change can be hard on plants. Growth has been slow at best this year. Corn in the valley is only about a foot tall and the farmers are frustrated. Our garden is no exception. The only things that have really enjoyed this long wet season with its deep chills have been the fava beans and weeds. They are about 5 feet tall.

When the weather switches rapidly from a cool damp stage to dry and in the mid 90’s, plants are going to bolt. This means they will think it is their last hoorah before fall and they will go to seed. They will no longer put their energy in to growing lush foliage or fruit but instead focus on sending seed out so that their genetic material will be around the next year.

This week will keep me busy weeding and trying to keep the seed I planted for fall and winter moist enough to germinate.

Also on my radar this week is making sure all of the animals have enough water. Sudden changes in weather can be hard on them too. The goats and rabbits have automatic waterers, which will be very helpful. They chickens will need to be checked on at least twice a day until I get their water system done (There is always something that needs do’in). The bees will also enjoy water set a bit closer to them as our creek will likely dry up this week.

Speaking of bees, I checked the new swarm today. The queen was present but she doesn’t seem to be laying much. It has only been a week so I will give her a bit more time to see if she starts laying better. There has to be enough workers and drones to keep the honey coming in so they set up enough to get them through winter. Otherwise, I will be feeding them in fall.

Okay, it’s time for me to get out there and get some work done. (The earlier in the day the better when it’s real hot.)