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| Boys Peaking Down the vent from upstairs |
The kids and I are taking the winter project challenge from
http://www.education.com/. You have to do 5 of the projects from their website before Febuary 28th. The first we did was baking bread. No big deal since we do it often. After that we took a magic Carpet ride. Each kid sat on a little rug and we pretended to fly around. That turned into a recue game trying to save eachother from falling off. Then Lisa and I made paperplate puppets, one for each member of the family. Three projects down 2 more to go.
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| Lisa and her Puppet Family |
I am unsure of what to expect for this summers growing season so I'm planning ahead and starting some seeds really early. Ken put up a large shelf on the handrail that goes around the staircase. The kids and I planted some seeds and hopefully by the time the ground thaws we'll have some desent sized started plants to put in the ground. I also have three indoor hanging sets that I'm going to use for tomatoes, sweet peppers and hot peppers. In the larger of the pots that I had I planted some herbs that can stay inside durring the cold weather and be put out in the summer. There are still alot of other things I would like to plant later but I'll have to get more seeds and soil. The kids had some pupkin and sunflower seeds that they planted. I had a few others that were old leftover seeds and threw a few into different containers not sure if their still good or not. I used a cut up plastic bottle for markers. I'll post periodically about what grows and what doesn't and keep updating as I start to transfer them outside in a few months. My friend Emillie in Arizona is sending me some seeds and we're looking into getting some through the tribal council. Not sure if we can get the ones from the council or not since we're not natives. We might be able to find someone who would be willing to order them for us for a small fee (they get them for free). We also heard that they can get animals up here too such as chickens, goats and pigs so thats something else I need to look into. Again not sure if we could get in on that or not since we're not native.
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| Leftover seeds from AZ |
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| Planting |
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| Shelf over stairwell |
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| Shelf over stairwell and Dozer in his bed |
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| pots on the shelf |
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| pots on the shelf |
Now is a time for research. Research into planting and looking into finding our own piece of land up here. This 50 acre piece is a family piece that my dad bought a long time ago and while it is a warrenty deed with myself and all my siblings and dependants listed on it we are still in search of more independence. We want our own little chunk of Paradise we're we can build a small cabin for us and one for my mom and step dad so that they can move up and be closer to us. They are also raising my niece and nephew who are now 10 and 11 and they have had them since they were 3 and 14 months. My mom and I are very close and it would be the best for all of us to be closer and I think this is such a wonderful place to raise kids away from all the push and shove. The school up here is wonderful and there are several other kids their age. Anyway if any of my readers catch wind of a 20+ acre property up this way please pass the word. There are a few that we're looking into but they arent for sale yet and may or may not go up for sale.
Thank you to all of my Family/ Friends and Readers. Blessings to you all!
Can't you just split up the 50 acre piece so you have your own part of it? Or do you not get it until Trapper dies???
ReplyDeleteI would rather it stay in one piece. Anyway with the Warrenty deed everyone on the deed has to sign off in order to sell, divide or otherwise change the classification of the property. The way it is set up it belongs to all of us, but it's still really my dads. I couldn't build a place for my mom on it that would be too awkward, even if my dad would allow it.
ReplyDeleteThe Winter Project Challenge sounds fun and your doing Great at it!! Love Lisa's puppet family :)
ReplyDeleteGood Luck with all your planting can't wait to hear reports on it.
We will be in Fairbanks next month if you happen to make a run to Fairbanks let Susan S. know about it maybe we can meet for lunch.
We will be there from feb. 9th- feb. 15th
Liz
Once spring comes, and things thaw, have Ken (or both of you) go by the Golden Heart Utilities Wastewater Treatment Plant at 4247 Peger Road (http://www.akwater.com/i/wwt_map.gif) We bought it by the truckload and keep it under a tarp on our property for planting. It is FABULOUS for growing in. Compost is $15 a standard pick-up load or $5 per cubic yard for dump trucks. There is a sample pile behind their administrative office on Cameron Street, and that is free but you have to load it yourself. So much cheaper than buying compost/potting soil by the bag.
ReplyDeleteThe pics of the boys peeking thru the vent and Lisa playing with her paper puppets are precious. As a retired elementary teacher, I praise you for doing projects with your kiddos. Good luck with your headstart indoor plantings!
ReplyDeleteConnie
Hey Susan, thanks for the tip about the compost! Since Ken has the 6 cy dump truck, if Sarah doesn't need the full load for her garden, maybe we can arrange to split it with them since we'll be needing some for our garden "across the street", too.
ReplyDeleteSarah, the pumpkins might not make it to maturity if they're seeds from the grocery store ones you got at halloween... those usually take 120 days to mature and we don't normally get blessed with that many between frosts. But you might luck out :)
If the TCC won't hook us up with seeds and livestock at discount since we're not natives, maybe we can check out some of the deals at Alaska Feed, Denali Seed and UAF Co-op Extension. I know UAF offers some deals on seeds if you agree to write up a growing report for them at the end of the season... worth some investigation at least. Are you going to try some potatoes this year, too? I heard they grow pretty well in old tires, and I know Trapper has a few of them laying around ;)
Not sure on the potatoes yet I don't have any seeds right now. All of the seeds that I have right now are heirloom seeds that we bought a couple years ago. The pupkins are already comming up well their the small sugar pumpkins and do take about 120 days so we'll see. Right now it's just an experament since I don't know how many of the seeds are even still good. I'll get a little more seriouse with the ones we may or may not get from TCC. You should come by some time and see our little make shift growning area.
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