Weekend

After another night of thunderstorms and heavy rain Saturday dawned grey, cold and foggy. That put a damper on my mood and cancelled some of our weekend plans. We did, however, go to the farmer's market for the big yard sale (most of which must have gotten washed away by the rain) and to check out what is available.

We got lucky. There was not much yard sale going on but we found a cat carrier, that was in perfect condition, it just needs a good wash. We later bought the second one at the big W store since the pet store had absolutely nothing (going shopping here can be frustrating at times, we try to spend our money right here in town but they just wont let us, I find myself way too often standing in front of empty shelves).

I bought six herb plants for my new herb garden. When I came home I realized that I could not remember what the sixth herb is and there were no tags in the pots. So, here is the mystery herb, any ideas what it could be? (I thought it might be catnip, but none of the girls was going crazy over it). We are going back to the market next weekend and I hope to find out then. ;-) The other five are lemon balm, lavender, rosemary, golden sage and chamomile.

I also found the calendula seeds I was looking for and bought some more nasturtium seeds to plant between the squash to keep the bugs away.

The main reason for the trip was to collect some price lists from farms who offer pasture raised or grass fed meat. We eat very little meat and we should be able to afford to buy it. I found beef, chicken, pork and bison, there is also one farm that offers ostrich but I will pass on that.

I noticed quite a few women selling baked goods which I find a good thing but since I do all my baking myself I did not sample their wares. Chemical free preserves were also available at a price that is just a tad too much for me at the moment, just like the locally produced goat cheese. Not much local produce yet but lots of plants and seedlings. I will definitely get my tomato and pepper plants there.

We also got all the materials for the new additions to the garden, now we just need some nice weather to build them. A herb garden where the stump used to be and a compost bin (following the example from the square foot gardening book) behind the shed. First we need to get rid of the brush pile with stuff that is too big for the compost (we don't have a shredder). Unfortunately the heavy rains left the big south field in a rather swampy condition. When we walked over it yesterday there was water pooling in our foot steps and the gravel in the driveway feels like it is floating.

I am taking a break from spring cleaning I feel a bit under the weather and I need to work on some other projects. Most of the other rooms in the house just need a good vacuuming and dusting and then the bath room gets a deep clean and I will be done, I'll be getting back to it soon.