Cultivate Simple 33: Stew 2.0
An honest and unrehearsed discussion about trying to live a more simple life. This is episode 33 and today we are talking about everything that’s going on Around the Run.
The main garden when we put the pigs in and the main garden yesterday after moving the pigs and putting in a few days of work ourselves. The first two were taken on April 27th when we put the pigs in that area. The other two were taken last night. And this is with moving the pigs off of this area for a week or ten days.
What’s mistakes have you learned from recently?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:43 — 47.9MB)
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Quote of the Day: Rainy Days
“God made rainy days so gardeners could get housework done.” – author unkown
So very true, yesterday morning I swept and cleaned and polished and mopped but that wasn’t enough.
I also baked eight sourdough boules and make a few pounds of butter. But then the sun came out again and back out into the garden I went and the dishes remained unwashed…
Do you ever put off inside chores until a rainy day so you can spend all the nice days in the garden?
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SWARM
Yesterday morning Mr Chiots went out to catch a swarm of bees with our next door neighbor. Here are some photos Mr Chiots took during the adventure.
Now we have a hive of bees sitting up on our hill. Should be interesting to see how these guys do this summer.
Have you ever seen a swarm of bees?
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Friday Favorite: These Piggies
I must say, we’ve only had these piggies for a month and they’ve quickly become our favorite livestock. They’re very personable and happen to be wonderful garden companions. Since they’re fenced in back by the main garden, they come out and root and oink while I’m back there working. They even come running when they see me (probably because I often have a treat in hand).
The most beneficial part of these little porkers is that they’re fabulous garbage disposals. We had a heat wave at the end of may, temperature were up around 90 for a few days. As a result, my pak choi bolted.
What used to be a sad thing in the garden is now almost a cause for celebration as I know the pigs will happily munch it down and turn it into delicious bacon and ham. Early next week all the early spring spinach will be ripped out and fed to the pigs to make way for peppers and tomatoes.
We’ll definitely have pigs at Chiot’s Run from here on out. I’m already researching the kinds we want to try next. We want Guinea hogs for sure and I’d love to try Tamworth pigs as well. Next week we’ll be moving them into a wooded area to see how they do in that type of setting, should be interesting for sure!
Have you lost any vegetables because of the weather?
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Planning for Thanksgiving
The day before yesterday, I planted my sweet potatoes. 250 plants went into the ground in three LONG rows in the back garden. I’ll give you a tip that makes for lush sweet potato slips for planting. When your slips arrive in the mail, put them in a jar or tub filled with a water and dash of liquid kelp.
Your slips will start putting out the smaller feeder roots and will green up nicely after the shock of shipping. Mine looked better than ever when I finally got them in the ground. I usually just put them in plain water, but they have a tendency to get a little slimy. This is the definitely the best my sweet potato slips have ever looked at planting.
After planting them I mulched them well with compost. Later this week, I’ll put hoops up over them and some greenhouse plastic. This will give them the warm and toasty conditions they love so much. I would have had them covered already, but I’m out of greenhouse plastic (off to Johnny’s to order some).
Do you grow sweet potatoes?
