Daily "To Do" List

I have these daily goals posted to keep me focused:

Check animals' water
Water flowers/garden
Do 1-2 loads of laundry
Spend at least 10 minutes of "alone" time with Miles and Maggie (talk, play, pray)
Find at least 3 things to be grateful for (different from yesterday!)
Walk for 30 minutes
Drink lots of water
Go to bed by 10:00
PRAY...PRAY...PRAY

1/15 Update...I am struggling with laundry, walking, drinking water and going to bed by 10:00. There are not enough hours in the day!

Herb Garden

Last year I grew several different herbs in my garden because they were the perfect size for small containers and tubs. Unfortunately, I never used them for anything other than a decoration around the garden. This spring I will be planting a larger variety of herbs and using them for cooking or in saches.
The first thing I will need to do is research different herbs and their many uses. This will help me decide what to plant. then I need to learn how to dry them, how to make saches, and how to use the herbs in the kitchen. The last step will be my challenge because I have very little experience cooking.
I have taken the first step and bought a good book on herbs so I am prepared for spring planting.
1/15 Update...I love the book and have found many medicinal uses for herbs. I have also learned the different water/sun requirements so I can plant them accordingly.

Vermicomposting

Of all the garden-related topics I have been researching, this is probably the most interesting for my kids. Vermicomposting, composting with worms, is so cool! I ordered 300 worms on-line and when they arrive we will put them in a bin where they can be used to create nutrient rich compost for our garden. I have a small metal garbage can in my kitchen that we have been using to collect materials for the compost bin, but now we can dump the can into the worm bin for them to work through. We can also give them pieces of old newspapers, dryer lint, and junk mail.

1/15 Update...the worms have arrived and are in their new homes! I put 100 worms in each of our compost bins, and 100 worms in the cool vermicomposting bin we made.

Organic Gardening- lasagne style

I have been researching the "lasagne" method of gardening. It is basically layering different organic materials in the garden beds that work together to create the optimal growing environment for vegetables and flowers. Some ideas are newspapers, coffee grounds (free from Starbuck's), composted material from the compost bin, leaves, grass clippings and straw.
I am going to try it for myself in a few months and I hope that what I have put in my compost bins is ready to use. I don't get down there and turn the bins enough, so we will see!

Animal Count

3 dogs
1 cat
5 hens
5 goats (3 wethers and 2 does)
3 sheep (1 ewe and 2 lambs)
2 rabbits
lots of fish

It should be interesting to see how this lists changes over time!

4H

I have signed Maggie up for 4H. We decided her projects will be fabric arts (knitting and crochet) and Nigerian Dwarf goats. We are not going to do sheep because our lambs are not registered so they could only show as "market", and after showing them they would have to be sold for meat. We met with the group leader who breeds ND goats, so we chose a doe and put down a deposit for her doeling who we have already named "Twinkle". Unfortunately, we can't show any of the kids we are expecting next month because they are not registered, not to mention we are not even sure yet whether or not we will be getting any kids from our 2 does. Hopefully we will get a kid or two because Twinkle will need a friend and I really don't want to pay for one.

Next weekend Maggie and I go to an open house for spinners. She wants to learn how to spin the wool from our lambs. They won't be sheared for a while, but she wants to be ready. We both love the idea of spinning the wool and then using the yarn for knitting.

I really wish Miles would get into 4H, but he is eagerly awaiting frosh football next year. It is too bad because he is so gentle with the animals and I know he would love showing one. I am going to try to get him to go to the meetings with us, and he will get to go with us to watch Maggie and the other participants show their animals at the fair(s).

Welcome 2010

The new year is here, and I am going to do my best to keep to my monthly list. I just planted my fall bulbs (really late) from last year. I had them stored in paper bags in the garage. I should have done this a few months ago....This year I will remember to write the name of the flowers on the bags. I thought I would remember which ones were which, but they all look similar now. I signed Maggie up for Wolf Mountain summer camp, so that is one less thing to do next month. Miles is not sure whether or not he wants to go yet, but he has another month to decide. The roses are pruned and it was so much easier using the awesome rose pruning gloves Lee's mom bought me. I am seriously dragging my feet with the Christmas decorations. They are all out in the garage, but far from organized and still need to be hauled up to the attic. All that is left on my list this month is to make reservations for our summer vacation. Lee thinks I am too early, but he has obviously forgotten how difficult it is to find a good room during the 4th of July week in Bridgeport!