Alaskan Homestead Update: 9 September 2018
This is random stuff that has been happening on the homestead since I got back.
A lot has happenened since my trip to Valdez. After we got home and settled from the trip, life just kept going. I was hoping for a mini vacation or at least some rest from the trip. Yeah not so much.
Homeschooling:
One of my kids hatched a duck all on their own, they are taking full responsibility for it.
They set the eggs, I did the timer. They checked the temp and humidity. They had two hatch, but one didn’t make it out of the shell. 😔 It was a peking duckling, so it was a big baby. We think it was to big to get out. Not enough room to unzip the shell. They punched a huge hole too. ☹️
The temp shown is when we set the timer and final eggs, so the temp was low at that time.
The Weather:
The leafs are starting to change, so we have been thinking of winter gear. Kids grow like weeds and so do their feet!
I don’t know how much it cost in the states for snow boots, but this is what we have to pay. I try and buy them at the end of season sales, but as their feet have been getting larger it’s hard to get the sizes we need.
We had a hail storm with ice the size of quarters, I got it on video but can’t download it. 😕
We thought it was going to break the back window of the car! It lasted for about four minutes, it was crazy!
Randomness Around The Homestead:
I don’t remember if I told ya all or not but I had a tree fall in my back yard, at the butt crack of dawn too. It was just before we went to the fair(oops I know not as recent as it should be).
It landed on a old bunny hutch, on the zip line, across the carrots and onto the green house. The male goat has been eating the birch trees bark and killed it. It needed to come down, we were wondering how we would fell it without hurting to much. Well the wind took care of that for us. I used the chain saw to cut it up right away to get it out of the way and to get the tension off of everything it fell on.
We have another one that was killed at the same time, we need to take care of it before it lands on something in the middle of winter, like my roof.
I have been using my van like a truck.
I can fit 25 bags of dirt with room to spare. I got them for $1.50 each. Normally they are $6, we used them to fix a dip in the driveway. When we plow it gets buggered up in this spot, so we hope this helps.
Yes we have looked into a truck load of dirt, but I don’t have a running truck. We also looked into a dump truck load, we live in an area where it would cost way to much then it’s turely worth.
So the bags made more sense and where easy to handle.
I found this beautiful leaf when we went out to shoot targets and sight the guns in. I laminated it so the kids can check the veins in the leafs without it crumbling in their hands. I believe it came from a cottonwood tree, maybe a highbush cranberry.
Berries: 💗
We have found High Bush cranberris(HBC)and Low Bush Cranberries(LBC) 😊
So stoked about the low bush cranberries(LBC), they are my very first!
Top Left: Bunch berries and LBC. Top Right: LBC. Bottom Left: LBC. Bottom Right: HBC.
We went for a walk on the back end of the property and found a lot of low bush cranberries.
Need to clarify, the red leafs are bunch berries, they are very pretty in the fall as you can see.
Checking on the garden:
I checked on my carrots, they are doing great!
We harvested tomatoes...
...and we picked pumpkins too
Well I think that’s about all the random stuff that’s been going on since I got back.
We have been working on our septic and a goat house for mama goats baby who won’t stay in the yard.
But those will be in other posts.😊
Living free is A LOT of work so I'm sure everyone understands you're not on the computer for hours a day. Take care of you once in a while by the way. I know you are mostly focused on everyone and everything else so take some time just for you. 🌞
Wow, the harvest is beginning. Everything looks great! Incredible deal on that top soil too. I enjoyed your update. Much love to the family.
It is a lot of work.
I do need to take more time for myself, I forget to do that. But when I do, it feels strange not to have my family with me. Like I lost them or something is missing. I will continuously check to see where the invisible missing people are.
We still have to dig potatoes, and prune lemon balm. I think I have some green beans too. But it’s hart to tell with my tomato trees(they are 5 feet tall).
I've been loving your posts for a long time @alaskahippie, I'd like to see you become a member of @themesopotamians, a community of Steemit's most excellent users (voting trail to help your account grow) you should message tcpolymath#2171 on Discord
Thanks, but if I message them what am I suppose to say? I keep having people tell me should join this, that and the other. Ive just been doing my own thing, plugging along. 😊🐌
yep and lots of us have noticed what a great user you are =) just say hi - I am not the only one who has recommended you =)
you have been busy! I dont know how I missed the hail storm :)
We had to pull off the highway at kashwitna lake. It was in the news too. We just so happened to be in the damn middle of the storm too. Because after it started to lighten up we started to drive and maybe a quarter mile south it was dry. Crappy luck, but it could have been worse. Last time I drove after a hail storm I ended up in the ditch and had the nice people of Alaska honk at me.
DANG!
Really cool to see all those berries! You have so much to do, but I'm glad nothing got too damaged from that tree yikes!
I love my berries, I wish I could have gotten more this year. But I still have some in the freezer. So it would be a bit greedy.
Yes it could have been so much worse! But I’m am glad it wasn’t super bad. Just sucky.
Great update!! ♥
Love all the things you are up to. Well, I dont love that a tree fell, but you know...
I think the cranberries are fantastic! Tell me, do they HAVE to be in a bog to thrive?
I would love to be able to grow them...
Have a lovely day!
Thanks!
We have three kinds of cranberries, Highbush, Low bush, and bog. The highbush grow almost everywhere(they grow kinda like a willow), the low bush need mossy areas(so they need a bit of water), the bog crans need a lot more water then the lowbush(they grow on a vine and are tiny).
Have a great day your self 😊
Sounds like maybe I could grow the highbush variety. Ill have to study up on cranberry care... I wouldnt be surprised if it were too hot here though.
:D
I have big dreams of my son hatching chicks in the spring and taking responsibility like yours is.
So an extra $15 for an extra 20 degrees. Interesting.
I recognized that toddler roller coaster car. We have that same thing in our yard :)
It’s a good thing to do, better then a flour sack.
Get this even the itty bitty sizes, like for toddlers, cost just as much.🤯 🤬
They have finally lost interest. As they got bigger I would increase the angle 😊
Ooo increased angle. I like that...
They did too, makes it last longer. 😊