Let's Talk Gardening

I am pretty excited. I signed up for the Master Gardener Course and my first class is tonight. We are jumping right into it with the first class all about botany. Hopefully I will glean enough from this course to have a more productive garden here at Prairie Cairn Cottage.

I am also pleased to announce the completion of the hat I made for my Ever So Handy Husband. I didn't quite get it complete by Christmas but it was done before he had to make a trip to frigid North Dakota. He said it came in handy and was really happy with it! Yeah!

Finally Summer Fun

As busy as June was, July proved to be a bit more relaxed.  We hosted a few overnight guests for Cheyenne Frontier's Day.  These were friends of our friends so I got to "play" B&B proprietress.  I've often thought that would be a pleasant occupation so this gave me a chance to host strangers in my home.  I must say it was a lot of work but I enjoyed it.  Who knows, we may just put Prairie Cairn Cottage out there as a B&B or perhaps an event location.

You know you live in the West when this is the site that greats you as you open the front door.

 In the garden there has been a lot of green bean planting, endless weeding and frequent watering.  The garden shed is coming along with the roof finally being put on and the door and window installed.  The new wind break is growing like gangbusters.

I have also managed to find some time in the sewing room.  Two years ago on my birthday my husband bought me a serger.  I had wanted on for a long long time.  We went to the store and looked at all the models and decided on an Elna mid range machine.  I brought it home and set it up right away.  And there it sat.  For months it sat.  Seems it intimidated me.  This was not like sewing on my sewing machine, this was faster, more efficient.  And a lot more threads!  I gave myself a swift kick in the rear and decided I needed to learn to use this wonderful gift.  So I got the book out and decided I would make an example of all of the stitches it would do.  Figured out how to thread this intricate contraption and stitched out my samples.  And then it sat there.  For months it sat.  I was still intimated!  What could I use this wonderful gift for?  How could I ever learn to actually use it?  Did anyone teach a beginning serger project?  Sadly, I couldn't find any class like that.  And there it sat.  For even more months it sat.  Until last week!  I realized I had some extra flannel that I would probably never use again.  I needed some rags that I could dust with, mop up spills with, all the things you use rags for.  Hmmm...why don't I take this flannel, cut out some rags and use the serger to stitch them up?  Brilliant!  I found a tutorial on the internet on how to serge square corners and I've been happily making myself a useful rag and learning to use my serger.  My serging is still pretty wonky but these are rags for goodness sake!  Who cares what they really look like?  Who besides me is likely to see them?  And so my newest Elna is beginning to bend to my will not I to hers!

Life is good sometimes.  And when life is good, people need to eat.  I got to spend the entire day yesterday in the kitchen baking and cooking up a storm.  When you don't have to get a meal on the table for ravenous appetites but can cook and bake at your leisure it becomes a pleasurable experience for a lot of us.  And so it was at the Cottage yesterday.  I first made bread, my favorite loaf I shared here.  After that I decided I wanted to make Oatmeal Whoopie Pies.  I had never made them before but after reading someone else's blog about making them, I have wanted to try my hand at this treat for ages.  I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe here.  These are wonderful!  I now want to try chocolate whoopie pies!

Sorry, I didn't remember to take a photo of the finished treat, but trust me.  They won't last long!

Life at a less hectic pace at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  Won't you come join us for a spot of tea and a Whoopie Pie?

Audrey

Summer is in full swing

Have you found yourself busy as the bees that visits your flowers?  We certainly have.  Lots of new happenings here at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  Lets see if I can catch you up.

A bit of a garden got planted.  Peas planted back in April gave us some delicious snap to our salads.  Lettuces and radish planted didn't sprout even one leaf but we are having some moderate success with tomatoes.  All of the plants here are very short and we've decided it's due to the ever present winds.  Plans are in the works for some hoop houses and we also may put a wood 6 foot fence up to block the wind.  We got some pumpkins planted late so now it is a race against the frost.

The chicken coop My Ever So Handy Husband was building has been moved and will become a garden shed.  Some progress is being made but he has been working on so many other projects this one keeps getting put back on the back burner.  A much larger shed was purchased off of Craig's list and we have plans to make that into the coop.  It will hold many more birds than the original.  One major problem with this project is when the shed was delivered, it got dropped about 3 feet and damage was done.  Side walls needed to be taken down and the framing needed to be repaired.  It too has taken a back burner as of late.

Speaking of chickens we are sadly down to 2 .  Poor Miss Pearl was found dead one afternoon.  Again, no known cause.  The remaining two are happy as can be and I suspect there may have been some fowl play in Pearls demise.

The big project that has taken our time and attention has been planting 250+ seedling trees in shelter belts around the Cottage.  Between site preparation, planting, drip irrigation and such, we have been busy as Johnny Appleseed.   In probably more years than we have left, the Cottage should be protected by Ponderosa Pines and Junipers in the winter and Ash trees will provide shade in the summer.

Friends of ours have bought a vacant parcel in our neighborhood and are in the process of building.  Since they had no place to live we offered to let them set their bus turned RV up at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  It's really nice on the inside, she even has an old claw footed tub in there.  They have been great helping out around the cottage.  She owns a tractor and was kind enough to prepare the shelter belt site for us.  Yes, that is her on the tractor.  She is a dear person and a fellow sister in Christ.  We've really enjoyed having them this summer.  They have a Rat Terrier who has become Little Black Brindle's best friend.  They also have 3 cats, one who is very old and has taken a liking to Tabby and being in the house rather than the RV.

 



Another project that has consumed much of our time has been painting our old house in Colorado.  We are down in Colorado often enough that we never sold the house or rented it out and we needed to paint the exterior.  There was some damage to the siding on the kitchen bump out so we tore off the old siding and replaced it.  Next up is to get the roof replaced.  Colorado is known for hail and the former Cottage suffered some damage last year.

Goodness!  That is more than enough business for this gal.  I plan on taking things a bit more relaxed for what is left of the summer.  I hope you find your days with plenty of time built in to enjoy the summer sunshine and gentle cooling breezes.

Thanks for taking a break with us at Prairie Cairn Cottage today.  Come back again and we'll drink some Lavender Lemonade and watch the breezes blow the grasses out on the prairie. 

Audrey

The Dirt Itch

I am anxious to start gardening.  Judging by these pictures it looks like it will be awhile before that can be accomplished.  That is the garden as seen though the top of the garden gate, I don't believe I'll even be getting inside the garden for several months weeks.  The free-cycle patio set is anxiously waiting for snow melt so it can get a good sanding and painting and then finally it can enjoy it's first meal at the Cottage.  The lawn tractor is buried in snow but, alas, it will not be needed any time soon.

So what's a girl to do?  Start her seeds indoors that's what!  Later today I'll be setting up a table with some flats that I can start some cabbages and cauliflower in.  Then in a couple of weeks I'll be starting some broccoli and brussels sprouts.  Before I know it, I'll be able to get into that garden and plant some peas and greens.  Sigh, spring is just around the corner out here on the prairie, I just know it is even if all I see right now is white.

Autumn on the Prairie

Autumn on the Prairie are a few warm, golden days followed by tastes of Winter.  This past Saturday brought us our first snowfall of the season.  Construction on the coop ground to a halt and we had a nice leisurely day inside the cottage.  

We took advantage of the lazy day and got caught up on our sleep

We sipped hot apple cider, ate pumpkin bread and played our favorite games

It's my turn to shred the paper!

All in all it was a very enjoyable day.  Sunday was much warmer.  My Ever So Handy Husband was able to get back to construction and I was able to get out in the garden and harvest one of the only crops that made it through this growing season-potatoes.  It wasn't a big haul but there were edible potatoes nonetheless!  I do believe I would have had bigger spuds if I had watered more diligently.

By the way, don't let anyone tell you that you can't use sprouted grocery store potatoes as starts.  I had a well meaning person insist that it was impossible to get potatoes to grow from grocery store potatoes.  Even though I had been planting them for years this way, she would not believe me.  She believed that they inoculate the potatoes to keep them from sprouting and therefore couldn't be used.  I'd say even though this was a meager harvest, it proves that her theory is wrong.   

If you've never grown potatoes give them a try next year.  Come January or February, leave a few of your store bought potatoes in the dark to sprout .  When you are ready to put them in the garden, cut the potato in sections that contain at least one sprout and plant fairly deep then water.  They are one of my favorite plants in the garden.  All you see all season are the green tops and flowers.  It's not until you deg deep into the soil in the fall that you are rewarded for your care.  It's always a surprise to find these treasures hidden in the dirt.

A typical Fall weekend at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  I do hope your days are filled with Autumn splendor and harvest surprises.

Audrey

 

Bringing the garden indoors

I found some lovely looking herbs at a Sprouts store in Denver this past week.  They were 3 for $10.00 which I didn't think was a bad price for such nice looking plants.  I bought a Sweet Marjoram, a Lemon Thyme and a Dill.  Since my garden was a bust this year about the only things that did well were the herbs I had planted the year before.  I thought I'd try my hand at indoor herbs.

Lovely Lavender in the garden.  Did I mention before the weeds have over run the garden?  Well, don't look too closely at the edges!

Serious Sage.  If you haven't grown herbs, I recommend trying a sage.  They are very easy to grow and give great satisfaction to a new gardener (and tastes great on that Thanksgiving turkey).

I've always been fascinated by herb gardens.  They are my favorite areas to visit at public gardens.  Right now I only have culinary herbs, the sage & lavender from above and a regular thyme, an oregano, a winter savory and lemon balm.  I hope to expand the plants in my herb garden and to also start a medicinal herb garden and a tea garden as well.

Weekend at the Cottage

I spotted this little beauty on Friday night just outside the cottage door.  I had seen her web weeks before but I had never seen who inhabited it.  Apparently she comes out after dark because I had to use a flashlight to illuminate her.  I believe she is a common Garden Orb Spider and she is about an inch long.  Pretty big spider!  I think that is a moth that has been spun into a cocoon, Friday night dinner?

Saturday morning I woke with a craving for muffins.  Lucky for me I had some fresh blueberries.  They made a tasty breakfast treat.

Later in the day I went to check on the chicks and look what they gave me as a thank you for taking care of them

Such cleaver girls!  This is the first and therefore is a special, blessed egg.  There have been duplicate offerings each day since.  I believe one of the Light Brahmas is the thoughtful hen.  Her sisters should be following her lead soon.

Here is the special egg in a carton of store bought I just purchased the day before.  Isn't it cute?  From what I understand they should get progressively larger as both types of chicks are large egg layers.

 The last week in August, can you believe it?  Where has the summer gotten too?  I hope your weekend was filled with special finds.

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a birthday this weekend.  I am a lucky girl in that my ever so handy husband made me a homemade spaghetti dinner just like he did the first birthday I had when we were dating.  Just like then, this was delicious! 

To go with my homemade spaghetti, I decided to make my own birthday cake.  My favorite cake is a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  This was the result, not very pretty, but oh so tasty!

I got to do whatever I wanted the whole weekend.  So we played in the garden both days.  This is my ever so handy husband digging me a trench for more asparagus.  He tried digging one by hand but with our hard prairie soil he soon abandoned that trench when he thought of an easier way to dig!  

Even the chicks got to go outside and enjoy the warmth this weekend.  This is their first time in their outdoor pen.  At first frightened, they soon got the hang of it and had a good time investigating and scratching in the dirt.

All in all, a wonderful birthday! 

Garden Time

The horseradish that friends gave us last year (mistakenly thinking they were rhubarb) are doing quite well it looks like.  I kept thinking last year that this plant was a funny looking rhubarb and I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be horseradish instead.  When it poked it's head up this spring I took some pictures and asked my farmgirl friends here what they thought the mystery plant might be.  Yup!  Horseradish.  A funny but very tasty mistake!

Hopefully, we'll have yummy strawberries in the not too distant future!  There are also raspberries, asparagus, sage, lavender and oregano all coming back from last years plants.  I also have a thyme that I'm not sure survived. 

The new raised beds my every so handy husband made for me this spring.  Our soil is not the best so we put lots of composted manure and some peat moss in these beds and then tilled them all together with the existing soil.  I was able to plant some romaine lettuce, crisp head lettuce, spinach, bush peas and some green onions seeds this past weekend.  Sometime this week I'll be putting in some potatoes, more strawberries, more asparagus and a real rhubarb.

This is one of my favorite times of year.  I love going around and seeing which old friends are coming back in the garden.  I hope you'll be one of those friends that keep coming back to visit Prairie Cairn Cottage.