it's a grey and foggy day here at the Manor...but no worries - there is always something bright and beautiful to enjoy! i love the way that the goldfinches in the tree and bird feeder are exactly the same shade of yellow as the daffodils - so pretty! sorry for the bad picture quality but the pic was taken through the kitchen window.
here's a few of the little yellow guys down on the ground.
why is jambaloney digging up the ground, you ask? why that would be because of my friend Sue's great plan for her garden this year - HUGELKULTUR! what is hugelkultur, you ask? you can learn about it here. My friend Wendy is also trying it out.
hugelkultur is basically a no-till method of farming using old, rotten logs - something we have a plenty of at the Manor. jambaloney is digging up a deep layer of dirt for use in the hugelkultur. we will stack rotting logs and moss and stuff in the hole that he digs, top that up with some beach sand and seaweed, and top that up with the layer of dirt that he is digging up and then top that up with some more dirt and some compost. if this method works as good as many people claim - we will be ditching the tires and raised beds and building more hugelkulturs next year.
no worries - i'll keep you all updated! ok - time to go and get that hardworking man some lunch! on special today at the Manor - poutine - yummeh!
kymber, hard as he works he'll live to be a hundred and twenty.
ReplyDeletedear sweet one...i think that you are absolutely correct! and he's got some awesome genes to boot!
Deletebahahahahaha! writing that just made me think that he's got some awesome dirty jeans and dirty boots - oh i am killing myself here - bahahahahah!
Glad that you are okay with the gray weather - it was getting to me. We finaly got a little sun yesterday, and today is sunny:) I'm a much happier mountaintop mama with sunshine. I hope your grayness doesn't last too long, and enjoy your lunch!
ReplyDeletexo~ michele
Michele - i find that if i have too many grey days in a row...i start to feel it. you sound like you are the same way. i am so glad that you are getting some sun now....grey days have their place, as do foggy and rainy days - but too many in a row can really have an affect! we are expecting a week of above average temps and tons of sun for the next week - woohoo! i might even try getting in the river! i am glad that the mountaintop mama is happy right now! xoxo
DeleteNo till, but you (or J at least) are doing all this diggging? Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteYou can always do sheet composting and add wood to the bottoms layer.
Russell - this hugelkultur method is no till for about 20-25 yrs (depending on the age of your logs) after you originally set it up. look it up buddy...i even gave you the links!!!
Deletewe dug because we need the topsoil to add to the lasagna-style layers that will go on top of the hugelkultur. if this works out, next year we plan to just dump seaweed and soil in the previously-cleared areas of our land. and then we will be till-free - woohoo!
Lasagna gardening is sheet composting more or less. At least as I understand the processes. I am presuming you are alternating the greens and browns.
DeleteThe dirt is not completely necessary (I have done it with and without) but it will speed up the process. Since a lot of my greens were cut grass, it helped prevent thatching. To speed up my aquistion of composting materials, I would ride around and pick up peoples lawn clippings. You also picked up all sorts of interesting and random bulbs that way.
It is not a weed free process, but for at least a few years the weeds are very easy to pull, and even my square foot gardens that in theory have no wees at their start, manage to get weeds (often little trees) fairly quickly. It's that whole windborne thing.
Kymber,
ReplyDeleteGray weather is okay if it's for a short while. The goldfinches are so bright and beautiful. You must keep us up to date on your experiment with Hugelkultur. There are plenty of rotting logs around here, with a potential possibility to do the same thing here. It looks like you have great dirt and not that red clay stuff that is miserable to work with. Send my regards to Jambaloney. You two take care and don't work to hard.
Sandy - yep - i agree...i don't mind the occasional few grey or foggy or rainy days. the goldfinches are actually even brighter than they look in the pic! i will keep you updated on the hugelkultur experiment - i have been doing a lot of research and apparently this is the preferred method of farming in central and east Europe. our dirt is good but our prob is that it is really hard-packed! jambaloney says thanks for always asking about him/saying hi to him - he appreciates it! you take care, too, ok? xox
DeleteYW to Jambaloney! I will take care, need to go have my tea. Catch you later. Sandy
DeleteLove the colour of the birds! Amazing! I've never seen such brightly coloured birds before.
ReplyDeleteBtw Here in the UK we've had about 2 months of grey, wet, foggy days!
Joey - the goldfinches are even brighter than they look in the pics! i can't pics very well but i do try...i need to get a pic of them on a sunny day and not through the window! you would just love to see this for real! we also have purple finches and they are almost as red as a cardinal (not sure why they are called purple when they are red but ????)!!! so sorry that you have been having such grey, wet, foggy days...it's like that in our province of BC and i absolutely detest that kind of weather!
DeleteI love days like that. I actually love all the weather days. Sun, rain, snow, fog...
ReplyDeleteagirl - you and me both! grey, foggy days are days for lounging around and doing nothing except eating, napping and reading. grey, rainy days are for resting and relaxing. cuz the sunny days are for working your butt off - bahahahah! i love all kinds of weather, too - and i love having 4 completely distinct seasons in which to enjoy them in here at the Manor.
DeleteHey Kymber - Looks magical with the fog - oh my how those little yellow birds do brighten up everything ! Darn - we don't have them here ! Jambaloney is working hard - but he looks to be enjoying it. Hot- tub later for sure.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day hon ... xoxoxo
Helga, hon - the fog is always magical here...i love it! sometimes there are 20 finches in the tree and it looks like the tree is covered in daffodils. when there are a bunch of purple finches it looks like the trees are covered in roses - it's soooo pretty to look at! you would love it! jam is always working hard and always loving it as you know! and yes - i made him get in the hottub when we got up, then had breakfast, then back to the hottub before he goes off to do such hard work. hottub again after lunch, now we are taking an internet break, then back to the hottub before starting supper. and of course, several trips to the tub before bed. its the reason he can work so hard every day. enjoy your day too, sweetie! always xoxoxoxox to you!
Deletelooks like pirate jambaloney is burring his treasure chest, arrr.
ReplyDeleteWe had rain on and off for two days. last night was heavy. more this afternoon.
take care kids.
bahahahahahah - oh Rob, buddy - you killed us both with that! waaay too funny, buddy!
DeleteGirl, all my photographs of the mile long piles of dirt when I dug in waterlines would given even Jambe pause. Unfortunately they are old film and paper pics and I have no way to put them online to send you. Never will I trade backhoe for a stupid spoon.
ReplyDeleteGood thing after the water lines were all in place I could start up the Yellow Mountain to bury them again. Your hugelkultur would be easy as pie and Jambe would have the basement drainage line completed if he had a 'hoe. Too bad I can't just mail him JD.
Winston
bahahahahah Winston - i wondered if you would chime in! i was joking as we have seen all the work that you did and it was A LOT!!! i wish that you could send those older pics....do you have a scanner? you could scan them in. we would love to see them! and my dear friend, we appreciate the sentiment. we really, really do!
DeleteAnd just where is my tortiere recipe...speaking of lunch.
ReplyDeleteWinston
I love those finches. I don't think we have those down here, at least not that I've seen. I can imagine a tree full would be awesome. They do look like little flowers. How cool! We have some cardinals down here that I see all the time and the bright red is so pretty in a green tree (that reminds me of Christmas, ha!).
ReplyDeleteTell Jambaloney not to work too hard!
1st Man - they are just so pretty - i love them too! and they really do look like flowers! we don't have any cardinals here...we had some back in the city that lived in our yard and it didn't matter how high the tree was that they were in, you could always see the tiny dots of red! very much like Christmas trees - bahahahah! i never let jambaloney work too hard but i do employ the first unwritten rule of gardening with him often - bahahahhaahha!
DeleteI had to Google poutine to find out what it was. It sounds like the perfect lunch for your hard-working man!
ReplyDeleteMaxine - we didn't end up having poutine at all because i forgot to make the curds - gonna whip some up tomorrow and then we'll have poutine. we love poutine. it's a french canadian dish that has now become canada's national dish. we love it - yummeh!
Delete