WHEW!!!!! May is Almost GONE!

Wow!

It seems I just posted a few days ago!

With so much activity we have been scurrying around in circles.

The Family Allotment Garden, The Church Community Garden, the Squirrely Acres Balcony Farm....not mention the 101 OTHER projects it seems fill every day this sweet spring month.

Flurry flurry scurry scurry! 

VERY apt words for Squirrely Acres right now!

This poem may just well enough explain to you what our labors have been at for the past fortnight:

Thistle, Thistle!

You make me whistle!

Because you attacked me at the church garden

And there is a security camera that will pick up

My condemnation of your utter existence!

Isaiah 6:5

“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; 

because I am a man of unclean lips…”

Thistle, Thistle!

You make me whistle!

How clever is God

That he planted you right

Where you would do his work where I cannot!

He makes me work feverishly

To rid my life of not you

You, hated of all herbs!

But rid my life of

My unclean lips!

For now I have taken more and more

To Calling out

Thistle! Thistle!

Followed by

Whistle! Whistle!

Instead of the unclean projections

That once blasted from these lips!

So afraid I am of being found out

Of this heinous infraction

That I have finally

Turned to more colorful of botanical names

Instead of naming the pedigrees

Of various livestock animals!

Thistle! Thistle!

Whistle! Whistle!

Now I need a Healing Salve such as He…

I am thinking this may very well be one of my most frequented of websites in the next few weeks.

Sigh...

Stay Squirrely folks!

Tucking in the Young Ones!

Today I ran over to the Family Allotment again.

I put in some red onions (that I purchased Wednesday from Whitetail Acres in Brookville, IN), tucked them and the potatoes in with nice fresh grass clippings, watered everything thoroughly, put all the tools away, and came home ready for a shower and a bout of house keeping before a long read in bed tonight!

I, at the last minute, decided to rearrange my evening to get in a few last hours of the day at my brother's place and I was rewarded!

Well, we both were rewarded.

He likes the fact that there aren't these piles of dead grass laying all over the vast lawn and I love to rake them up and use them.

I like the fact that although he is not ready to use them yet he likes to support what I am doing in my allotment. 

We both like that we are willing to help out, but we understand it is hands off each other's allotment too.  

Already we are learning so much from each other and it is that hard to explain part of gardening to someone that has not experienced it before. 

We both view it as play time too.

It helps that as siblings we were both raised to make work as enjoyable as you can because work must be done in life, there is just no two ways about it.

So we choose to do this and share the experience and have fun. 

In a day or two I want to document my making of compost tea an show it here for you all. 

This little bit of heaven for your garden can be made from kitchen scraps. 

Well, I need to head to the shower and than do that house cleaning I was talking about.

Stay Squirrely!  

REALISM

One of the things you always hear me talk about is: 

TRUTH. REALISM. HARD COLD FACTS.

Well, the hard cold fact is this year I am behind. 

Blame it on the late lasting winter, blame it on lack of time, blame it on Game of Thrones streaming on Megashare for a time......

But mostly, blame it on me just not getting things done for whatever reasons.

This is where I have my most deepest love affair with plants and gardening/farming.

Most things work out by the time you need them to if you know how to work with the circumstances you are in. 

My circumstances are as such: 

I have little time.

I have too many commitments.

I want to grow grow grow more than just about anything.

I have little extra cash.

I have great creativity and a bit of know how.

I am not particularly concerned with how "pretty" things look. 

I know that gardening creates its own world to live in.

I have a clean slate as far as where the Squirrely Acres Balcony Farm is located.

I have many containers...and they need lots of cleaning.

I have many people that welcome all my Squirrely Acres endeavors. 

My downstairs neighbor does not mind a bit of dirt sifting down through the balcony decking boards as long as I come down and clean up the mess.

With all this said, I wanted to post some photos of what things look like here this morning and then get on with the work of ....well, WORK!

Dirty containers waiting for attention.

FINALLY! One decorative element at the Balcony Farm - a pretty little butterfly wind chime from Easter.

Some interesting angles, corners, and high places with which to work.

 Much needed green space for the Lil Squirrel to run and play, have tea parties, and read to stuffed animals and tired Mommies under shady trees.

 Downstairs neighbor wants to see if I can make (and if landlord will allow) a small attractive garden space under their kitchen window.

 Bird feeders, toad houses, and opportunities to place more wildlife attractants (such as moth houses, humming bird feeder or whatever we can dream up that landlord will allow.)

A wonderful year round fun spot in the yard. Watched Fireworks last 4th of July, chased fire flies, rolled down grass all summer and fall to get stains and itches all over, sledding and snow angels during the winter and pitter pattering raindrops to watch among the needles of the trees all spring.

Ever the procrastinator I will be starting my potato slips in just a day or two. 

Here is a good little clip to watch on how to do that:

Go outside today, have fun, and stay Squirrely! 

Scenes From the Past Few Weeks

Signs of spring at a friend's house.

What's been developing at the church community garden. (Photos as of Wednesday April 30th.)

Getting things indoors going.

Letting Mother Nature have her way with the elements...moping around trying to find things to do indoors.

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/f8/d9/19/f8d9194897c4e3823d110d01d9620535.jpg

Every gardener is busy at this time of year.

It is no different for us at Squirrely Acres even though right now we are head quartered at our "balcony farm."

We have started urban gardening at our apartment balcony, along with helping a few others start the same. 

We are helping to direct a church community garden in the area.

Our family has begun The Johnson Family Allotment Garden at my brother's acreage. 

I have a few friends that have called on my services to help get their lawns and gardens up and going this year already. 

The Lil' Squirrel is learning how to start her own agriculture based business that will hopefully grow as she does. 

Lil Squirrel prepared seeds before planting.

Today I finally took the time I should have way back in January to actually inventory the seed stock Squirrely Acres has left after last year's move from a different town and from acreage to an urban apartment gardening experience.

As with any move, one expects to lose a few items. 

I expected to have lost quite a bit of actual seed stock. 

Surprisingly, we lost very few items!

Equipment can be replaced; books, notes, journals, etc can be recreated or started once again, but once heirloom seed stock is lost it is lost forever. 

Even those seeds that were not heirloom were very important to have on hand. 

We feel rich indeed to have such jewels in our treasure trove of a garden box.

I went the other day to Kroger and purchased some seed potatoes.

Boy did that bring out some closet gardeners when I could not find the seed potato listing on the item look up at the self checkout and had to ask for assistance. 

A few cashiers came over and started showing photos on their cell phones of their gardens from last year. 

It was quite funny really. 

But probably not to the other shoppers behind me in line.... 

Prepping seed potatoes (Red Pontiac) for planting in a day or so.

Well, it is time for me to finish up a few small chores before the Lil Squirrel comes home from school.

Stay Squirrely!