Spicy Raven Home and Garden

07/17/2024

Got weird and made black bean and barley sourdough bread.

06/05/2024

GARDEN: The crazy mix I put in each hole for zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. Fish parts and pieces (idk, the plants love it), azomite (minerals), gypsum (calcium), slow release veggie fertilizer (all kinds of good stuff, bone and blood meal (phosphorus and nitrogen), epsom salt (magnesium) and Matanuska Glacier Dust (minerals).

06/05/2024

GARDEN: Building the 8th Hugel Kulture style raised bed. Starting with layers of #1 old logs (the more rotten, the better) and dead grass turf, #2 dead leaves from the spring cleanup, #3 macerated trees from the borough easement cleanup (ooh, we grabbed that good stuff!) and #4 mostly 50% completed compost mixed with a little dirt. Topped off with #5 a mixed layer of 100% compost, composted horse manure and dirt. The top layer was sifted because this bed will be for carrots. Each layer is watered well, and stomped on by a 100lb grand daughter. This is critical, all garden beds should be infused with good laughter and fun times.

05/30/2024

05/24/2024

40 Kale? Ick. And totally not enough garlic. But this is actually a good chart to follow.

A nice reminder if you are planning to grow your own food this year!

05/02/2024

Finally got lighting in the greenhouse so I can plant seeds in the dark lol! But at 5:45 when I took pics, it was getting light out. Yay Alaska early mornings! 575 seeds planted, hundreds more to go.

04/24/2024

Absolutely successful early spring compost!! I rigged up this blower fan last fall and got some air under the huge compost pile. This keeps me from having to turn the pile every week. Took the blower fan out last October for the winter and left the rest. After removing a foot of snow and ice off the pile this spring, got it started up again. Within 4 days the whole pile was thawed where the little compost bin is still frozen. But the amazing discovery was all the composting worms that made it over the very cold winter. I’ve bought 100 composting worms a year for the last 2 years. That’s really not that many. Kept them all summer in a tote then added them to this pile at the end of last summer. The intent was to start my own little worm farm and hopefully not have to buy them again. They’ll go back in the tote for the summer as I find them. More on the worm bin later. When it comes to compost, go big! This pile won’t be ready until later this summer. It looks like a lot but will be half the size when it’s done.

04/10/2024

(1) Cut old T-shirts into 2” strips. That may seem wide but T-shirt material gets wet, stretches and curls. It will be 1/4” cord in no time. It lasts for years before it gets crumbly. It stretches and doesn’t choke off the stem. It’s also very gentle on your plants. (2) I ran out of dowels and these peppers (over wintered) were drooping from the weight of the fruit. I almost threw these coat hangers away(the ones no one likes to use) and had an “ah ha!” moment. (3) Use clothes pins to keep your cording from slipping down the stake.