What I'm cooking...
- Corned Beef no. 2 = in the pot for the next 5 days.
- Homesick Texan's Sweet Potato Pie
- Vegetable soup
- Ginger cookies
- Scrambled eggs! The babies haven't started laying yet but the retired girls... they're back in business! I think this is a temporary increase in lay (they've rested all winter) but since the days have been longer we've been getting 5-7 eggs most days, even when it doesn't get above freezing.
- Beans
Garden Notes...
- 7 days of deep freeze in the last two weeks. We've had temperatures in the low 20's and a few consecutive days where the high didn't get above freezing. This is unheard of. Except that it happened last year... but I assure you, it is very unusual.
- Because of the freeze I harvested all my cilantro, mustard, and kale. That was over 1.5 pounds of cilantro!
- Tasted one of my turnips raw after the freeze. It might have had sugar sprinkled on it! Since we don't freeze here regularly I've never had a chance to experience the sweetening effect a freeze has on root vegetables.
- Now that the weather is warm I've been out in the garden every day preparing for the next round of planting. I've turned compost, repaired boards on the raised beds, and re-mulched. I'll be building new beds and trellises, re-mulching more of the old beds, planting, seeding, putting in the irrigation, repairing the retired birds' house and finishing the new chickens' house.
What have you been up to lately?
Oh lucky you! You harvested your cilantro before the freeze. I didn't get home from my mini-road trip until well into the freeze and lost it all. I had some of the beds set up to be covered and my husband did that, so there are a few things out there still growing. I love these days that have warmed up. I worked on the area for the blackberries and ended up tilling up more in that area to plant other veggies. Beware - woman with a tiller! I am eyeballing more parts of the back yard to till up, but I need to find some of the water lines to the spigots back there first before I get carried away. Have transplanted the tomatoes and red bell pepper seedlings into larger containers. things are looking good! I am excited for the the spring garden. Your tomato seedlings look wonderful!
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