Back Pains Gardens and Jealousy

BACK PAINS

Well it's been a little too long since my last post.  I've been in a rather large amount of pain ... and of course its my own stupid fault.  A couple weeks ago we to a little weekend trip up to the Herkimer diamond mines.  Nope not really diamond ya have to go to Arkansas if you want to mine those.  These "diamonds" are double-terminated quartz crystals that you can go looking for.  I of course convinced myself that I was in better shape then I was went about breaking open the small boulders looking inside for the diamonds with a 10 lbs sledgehammer.  Of course I'm in no shape to go throwing around such a tool but there I was pounding away like a happy fool. 



 Fool being the operative word, as I have spent the last two weeks with a sore back.  It's finally working its was back to normal, and it was fun but next time I'll stick to the little hammers.  

If you decide to visit there are some things you should know. Ignore the hyped up video on the web site cause unless they are seeding the ground it is very hard to find them just lying around.  There are rocks everywhere and finding those little pieces of quartz among them is going to take some moving and shaking to find them.  

 

Other wise if hammering away at rocks.  Forget about finding them in the rock face those have been picked clean by the pro's who spend weeks on end there finding the pockets.  Lastly of the two we visited the The Ace Of Diamonds will give you a better chance of finding them then the KOA Campground.  The Ace of Diamonds takes part of the hill side and leaves the multi-sized boulders in big patches for the regular person to go to town on.  The cliff face is still left to the pros who have tons of time on their hands but the piles are stripped off the same place leaving you with plenty of places to find small pockets.  Make sure you look for the ones with lots of little holes on the surface.  They are the most likely to have bigger pockets.

GARDENING

I've finally gotten around to cleaning out the containers, mixing the soil and replanting them.  I've pulled my first batch of fresh compost out of the bin and used the compost tea in the bottom to add some nutrients to the plants that are a part of the permanent landscape here.

 

Fresh Compost

 

Mixing the compost with the old soil from the containers

We took all the old potting soil out of the containers and mixed them with the new compost to add back precious nutrients that last years vegetables took from the soil.  Then fill the containers again.

First Plant popping through

 I started some seedlings a few weeks prior and this is the first one we planted.  It's  pumpkin plant.  I haven't had much luck with them but my son loves them so I keep trying.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

 FLAMING HOT JEALOUSY

One of the the blogs I read on a regular basis is called Cold Antler Farm.  I was introduced to this blog by a book called Made from Scratch.  I picked up this book from the local library as I was looking for a good book on making more food from scratch.  Well it wasn't really what I expect but I found it to be a wonderful informative book about the author,  Jenna Woginrich, and the beginning of her journey into farming.  After reading her book I found the link to her blog and have been hooked every since.  She tells of her own personal joys and trials as she figures out how to do what she truly wants to do.  

So you might ask where does the Flaming Hot Jealousy come from?  Well on the 17 of May Jenna announced  her next step in self sufficiency.  She is leaving her office job and working her farm full time.  That is where the Jealousy comes from.  I would love to have a little farm of my own but can only do my little container garden until the time my hubby finally retires from the Air Force.  You can't have a farm and animals that depend on you if you have to move every two years.  So I will have to sit here reading about it and tending my little containers until the time comes to settle down.