April seemed to fly by, didn’t it? I’m really pleased with my spring garden so far. There are a few things that didn’t come up as well as I had hoped (my beets had a lot of skips to replant, had some dud onions), but all in all, I managed to get everything in on time AND I’m on track for May. A first!
If you’ve been following along with the Independence posts, you’ll know I keep a running total on my right sidebar over there. → →
Here is my summary for April.
Plant: onions, spinach, Boston lettuce, red romaine, Tom Thumb lettuce, Little Gem lettuce, lilac pom pom poppies, winter thyme, basil, oregano, radishes, sage, chives. Not everything came up though. I think some of my lettuce seeds were old and they didn’t germinate well. Same story with some of the herbs.
Harvest:
Eggs: 125 in April. It’s been fun keeping track of this everyday. And I’m also surprised that we’re eating this much – it’s between two to two-and-a-half dozen eggs per week!
Spinach: 1.5 pounds plus whatever Emmett’s eaten next to the spinach patch.
Mint
Preserve: added 3 pints of peach-ginger preserves to the pantry from peaches that we froze last summer.
Waste Not: Scraps given to chickens and/or compost pile, gave the old chain link fencing to the neighbor’s friend who will use it for a baseball field. Also, been hanging nearly all the laundry on the clothesline. Donated old stuff to the Goodwill. Used the push-reel mower to mow.
Want Not: bought a picnic table on CL (my Mother’s Day 2011 present), bought some books at a garage sale, added the 3 gallons of olive oil that we ordered in March to the pantry.
Eat the Food: mainly we’ve been emptying things out… from the pantry: peach preserves, peanut butter, pasta, nuts, pickles, etc.. The freezer: tomatoes, corn, bell peppers, peaches (many), elk meat (lots), chicken, berries (I still have berries?!?!), peas, green chiles.
Build Community: The April potluck was a huge success. We had more people there than ever. It kind of spurred us on to hurry up on that picnic table so we could have enough seating for everyone. We built a raised bed in the neighbor’s yard and helped him plant it with lettuces, carrots and onions so far, and we introduced a friend to our CSA farm (they should pay me).
Skill Up: We replaced a chain-link fence with a cedar one, built our first lasagna bed, and divided and transplanted some day lilies that we along the old fence line. Also learned that “nearly done” compost, is not “good enough.” I hadn’t gotten the pile hot enough to kill weed seeds and now I’ve spread it in a lasagna bed and in my neighbors bed. And grown lots of weeds. 😦
Also, I’ve been having a hard time remembering everything for the once a month updates, so I’m thinking I might do twice a month for a while to see how it goes. I have things I want to talk about for May, and I’m afraid I’ll forget by the end of the month!
Have you been participating in the Independence Days Challenge?
The Lazy Homesteader 
Great job…I love keeping track of the eggs, but haven’t done it recently due to a forgetful brain.
Great job! It’s so helpful for me to read these.