Elephant Garlic Harvest
4 years ago we planted 4 cloves of elephant garlic that my parents gave us. We kept replanting most of each years harvest and this year we had an entire raised bed planted out.
12×12 Off-Grid Cabin Started
I started a small cabin in the woods. It will be tiny at 12′ by 12′ with a 12′ by 6′ covered porch. I should get the roof mostly done next week. Then I’ll switch back to building the main house.
Okinawan Sweet Potatoes
We purchased Okinawan sweet potato slips in 2016, and have kept them going every year since. We originally bought Okinawan sweet potato slips from Baker Creek Seeds because Sarah read that they were a common staple food in a ‘blue zone’, which are regions where people routinely live longer than the average life expectancy.
Planting 3 More Hazelnut (American Filbert) Trees
We’ve been looking for hazelnut trees for quite some time now. Two years ago we received one as a gift, and then we ordered a couple more, but they never showed up. Finally, this year we successfully ordered three more from Willis Orchards, and they showed up today via Fed Ex. They were shipped bare
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Signs of Spring
Early morning sights on Maitri Homestead. Wine cap and Lion’s Mane mushrooms, pear blossoms and baby blueberries, pea shoots and greenhouse starts, and mullien… I 💗 spring!
Winter Shiitake Mushrooms
We have a set of logs inoculated with a cold weather strain of sawdust spawn called Snow Caps. They have been fruiting on and off all winter. It’s a bit strange to harvest mushrooms when it’s cold outside.
Honey Bees Cleaning Frames
We had harvested several frames of honey last fall using the crush & strain method as opposed to spinning the frames to get the honey out. Afterwords some honey and comb is still left on the frames. During a nice, warm winter day we set the frames out and let the bees clean them up.
Winter Ice Storm Damage
We had ice collecting on all the pine and cedar needles causing some to snap. We had a close call with the bee hives when a pine tree fell into our little orchard damaging a plum tree.
Wine Cap Mushrooms Naturalized In Garden Beds
Several years ago we inoculated mulch in a few areas of our garden with Wine Cap mushroom sawdust spawn. We harvested a few mushrooms, but it has been a disappointing yield until this year. We’ve harvested several pounds of Wine Cap Mushrooms in the past month with more coming up now. As long as we
Near Miss From Large Poplar Tree Blowdown
We had a large Poplar tree come down during a storm near our little house and workshop. We were all unscathed, but the woodshed will need a new roof. We have lots of cleanup to do and we’re feeling pretty lucky. Luckily it was the top of the tree that landed on the woodshed and