Today is December 6, 2014 and I have settled in for the winter. I have found a use for those landscaping bricks that I showed you in one of my first videos. I have made them into a fire pit for my back yard. I have also made a rabbit cover for this winter and it's an all seasonal so it can be used all year round. It opens on all sides but the back and can be opened however I choose at any given time. My chickens are doing well. They are not laying as of right now this is the stage that they "rest" and will be producing eggs again very soon :) We have stored up on them enough so when they rest, we will still have enough eggs to last us. There is a leak some where in the chicken coop and I thought maybe it was coming from the ceiling so I took some of that spray rubber that comes in a can like spray paint to fill in the tiny pin holes and even though it filled them in nicely, it still gets wet in there. I then thought maybe it was their water dish so I replaced that and it still gets wet in there. So that will be this coming springs project as well. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to let me know. This is a learning blog and I'm learning just as much as the next person. I have also learned how to pressure can chicken noodle soup a few different ways. Some with the noodles in all ready cooked, some with the noodles in but not cooked, some without noodles at all, and some where I put all the ingredients in the jars evenly and then put just the juice in last then pressure can. We like all the ways however, having the noodles cooked and then pressure canned, turned into more of a thick gravy that we pour over mashed potatoes and the kids and I just love it!! One of our favorites. Then where the veggies are raw and I put in the juice last and can is another of our favorites as when we just want a can of soup, we head for the pantry of home canned goods and nothing tastes better on a cold day than a homemade canned jar of chicken soup. :) The pressure canner is my new best friend. lol I have found that the two flats of peppers this year is going to be close to what I need for a winter however, I am going to plant three total flats this coming spring and I know then, I'll be right on key. I am also going to plant more corn as we just didn't have enough and it didn't grow evenly so I need to figure out a new placement for that. Our tomatoes did wonderful and I ended up with 78 quarts for the winter. :) I also need to cut a few branches off of the tree that is over top of my carrot raised bed because even with the new late planting, those still didn't take off. No sun I'm guessing. My potatoes did wonders and we have enough for the winter as well. I planted a total of 30 plants in a raised bed but only about 20 actually came on. Not sure why but I'm not going to complain as we were provided with a plentiful pantry for this winter. So I still need to make a few adjustments but as you know, I'm new to gardening on my own and making the most out of the little space that I have. My little land sure is landing big for my family and we couldn't be more blessed. I no longer have the truck that was shown to you for my outings of finding resources, so I'm in the process of figuring something out for that. Maybe when I find resources I can barter something to have them deliver it or make them a great deal they can't refuse. I will continue to blog throughout the winter. Just because it's off season, doesn't mean there isn't things to be done. As my father once told me, next years planting and projects starts the fall and winter before. As always, I'm still growing and thank you again for following me in this process.
Below you'll find projects that I've done throughout the season (not in order) but I don't have any pictures of the fire pit so I'll add those at a later time. Some pictures you can see the start of a project, during a project and the finished project. I have added a couple things I've made out of pallets including a coffee table for myself and one for a friend. His has an old shotgun shell as the handle to the cubby hole underneath ;) A nice country touch. His I personalized with pictures and such but not all that I've made are like his, though I can make them to anyone's specifications. I have also made a few chairs and next spring I'm going to make a swing that hangs from a tree, a swing that sits in an A-Frame and a few other ideas, all out of pallets and a few other choice materials. I'm even in the process of thinking of some ideas for a play house for the grand kids all out of recycled materials.
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