PREP THREAD 4/28-5/4

big prep for the week. Dh bought me a new to me rig. It is not new, I didn't want new. It is 4X4 and automatic which as a person gets older is nice. We have a small car that is getting harder to get in and out of. This is a 4 door as well as being a smaller suv with a v6 in it. I will get it tomarrow. I am pretty excited.
I also got 2 new blackberry plants this week marked down at Lowes as they had been nipped by frost.
And I also got a peach tree which I need to plant but for now it is in my kitchen. Well not everyone has one in there garden.
I also got some freeze dried peaches, blackberries and strawberries all in #10 cans.
So with all the running around checking out rigs it has been a busy week.
What have all of you been up to this week?

Kilagal-
Congrats on your new toy!

I always enjoy reading about your exploits.

We are finally getting some warmer and drier weather. Hopefully I'll be able to get out in the garden this week. 4-6 inches of rain over the past few weeks has been
a real blessing, but not good for getting any work done outside.

Have a good week!

We checked the garden today and it will be dry enough to till tomorrow. Rain is forecast off and on the rest of the week so we hope to till and plant potatoes, peas, lettuce, radishes and new asparagus roots tomorrow. That's a lot of work for two old people so we'll have to see how it goes. Tuesday I will be at the office all day and Wednesday dh has doctor's appointment so its tomorrow or ??? We'd planned to start today and divide the work into two days, but had unexpected company who stayed a LONG time.

I transplanted my tomato and cabbage starts a week ago and they are really growing now. I have peppers to transplant sometime this week. If temps stay warm I will start setting trays of plants outside for part of each day.

I've been working on a shopping list of things to watch for at garage sales and thrift stores. Its nice to have a list although half the fun of that sort of shopping are the surprises you find. Next weekend is the whole town garage sale. I've made some terrific buys at these sales including a knife block with top quality knives for $5 a couple years ago. Two or 3 of the churches set up sales plus several civic organizations so easy shopping and good buys. Its always amazes me how you'll find the same item at different places extremely overpriced or underpriced. Got a good toaster last year for 75¢ -- saw the same one at another sale for $3.

Your new toy sounds great! Have fun with it!

We havn't been doing much. Mostly cleaning up the mess from the Locust trees and cottonwoods. Did start harvesting strawberries but not enough to do anything with but eat. Tomatoes are still too small to plant and this looks like it is shaping up to be a tough year in the desert for gardening. Early heat is not going to be good for tomatoes. And for some reason only my yellow bush beans came up. Have to replant the green ones. Have over 500 onions but most of the red ones are bolting.
Giving them away like crazy. The garlic is doing great as are the potatoes. Going to be a confusing year here me thinks.

Restocked 2 dozen cases of water and refilled 6 water barrels and started to drain the 1200 gallon storage tank to replace that water. So I guess I can safely say this weeks preps were mostly about water.

I don't like a lot of what I am seeing in the financial news and think everything is about to get dire. I also think this shortage of ammo and gold and silver is a big wakeup call to put as much food aside as you can afford to.

Terrwyn-
Agree with you about the financial straights that we are in as a country.

All we can do is keep our eyes open and follow the leading of the Lord in what time that we have left.

Blessings on You!

We keep having freezes despite the mesquite trees already leafing out. Light freeze forecast for tomorrow night after a high of 95 yesterday. Crazy weather. We are still in severe drought, but no watering restrictions here yet.

Picking last of lettuce that I overwinter under plastic for an early crop. Hope to get a few pepper and tomato plants in the ground, along with some herbs. Will plant okra, green bean and squash seeds too . Garden just does so much better with rainwater rather than city water, but I am wondering if I will ever see rain here again !!

Even though I really hate thinning, I have been thinning fruit trees all week. As much as I hate it, I know it helps. I also defrosted and cleaned my big freezer, so now there is more room.

I planted more squash, carrots and beans this week but so far, not much is coming up. Maybe I need to hire someone to go out in my gardens and do a rain dance.

27 deg right now with frost but we are hoping to be able to at least get potatoes and other root crops in by mid May this yr.

I replaced some shampoos this last pay day that we hadn't been able to . Next time I am hoping to get more over the counter meds.

Kilagal, how in the devil do you manage to grow blackberries where you live??????? I am south of you and they never bear for me. However, last year I bought one that is sposed to bear in zone 4 so we will see if it works. One blasted plant cost me $10 but I thought that if it bears where I live then I can use it to make more plants without buying anymore. I got it from Jungs and it was called Prime Jan.

connie said:

We keep having freezes despite the mesquite trees already leafing out. Light freeze forecast for tomorrow night after a high of 95 yesterday. Crazy weather. We are still in severe drought, but no watering restrictions here yet.

Picking last of lettuce that I overwinter under plastic for an early crop. Hope to get a few pepper and tomato plants in the ground, along with some herbs. Will plant okra, green bean and squash seeds too . Garden just does so much better with rainwater rather than city water, but I am wondering if I will ever see rain here again !!

Click to expand...

Connie, it has been over a year since we have had any measurable rain. (Ca's high desert) We missed all the monsoonal rains last summer and all of the rain storms this winter. This drought is turning in to be an epic drought it looks like. It is very frightening to think where this could end up. And the other people on TB whose winter will not end. It may not be global warming, but it sure as heck is climate change.

Not getting as much done this week outside as had planned. Windy yesterday, and snow this morning. Seeds are coming along good. Making our monthly grocery shopping trip tomorrow. Now that we have a garage again, I was able to get all the food preps organized and have a list of holes to fill.

Hopefully the wind calms down so we can at least get the new clothesline installed this week.

Got my peas in last Thursday, and the first of three potato beds in on Sunday. Yesterday I got the kale plants from last year transplanted over to where they will go to seed, then weeded and hoed the other potato beds. Rhubarb, perennial veggies, and strawberries fertilized with fish emulsion and water, so now today's rain is making everything grow.

I got six rows of potatoes planted Monday. Tuesday I added lettuce, radishes, peas, snap peas and onions. I also planted the asparagus but do not think the roots are viable. Today the temp is 40º cooler than yesterday and its raining so worked inside transplanting peppers from flats to pots. Cleaned up my potting bench and the sink area in the basement when I finished and put away flats for another year.

It is 38* here this morning. Counties to the north of me recorded the first ever snowfall in Arkansas for the month of May. Most of my plums were already lost to the last frost. The peaches are slim too. But the rain just keeps coming. Maybe we will have a wet cool summer.

My sons goats are doing wonderful. The whole family loves them and there is plenty of milk for the kids. My son even made a little butter the other day.

I still have not put the tomatoes out yet. I am getting asparagus, spinach, lettuce and onions out of the garden. I am freezing the extra asparagus.