Gambling with Mother Nature on my little Urban Homestead

Ah, life on the little urban homestead can certainly be a gamble sometimes. One of the biggest gambles is the weather! I have been looking for someone with a direct link to Mother Nature, but so far, they have eluded me. The calendar says it is May 16th but evidently sweet Mother Nature did not get that memo because snow was falling in the Treasure Valley this morning! Now all I got was the 30-something degree chills and rain, thank goodness, (might have slept through the snow here), while the surrounding mountains all received a fresh layer of snow and, yes they look really pretty, but still it's the middle of May! I want to plant a garden! I want to play in the dry, warm dirt!

Okay, so there is the local folklore about watching Shaeffer Butte to know when the cold weather is finished. Well, today proved the old timers right. There is still snow up there and now there is more. Ya see, Shaeffer Butte is the tallest point in the mountain range surrounding the Treasure Valley. This includes the Boise area and the surrounding towns and farmlands heading west toward Oregon. Any old timer who has been gardening around here will tell you to watch that Butte, as long as there is snow up there, we can get frost down here. Thank goodness I didn't put out my tomatoes or cukes yesterday. Hopefully this little tease of winter is passing through quickly though, please.

In the mean time, if anyone knows who is handling Mother Nature's Urban Homesteading weather controls, please let me know. I would really like to talk to them. Here we are just about a month away from summer and we still haven't had spring yet. Just not right….

Urban Homesteading - A Lifestyle

I an an urban homesteader. My little piece of earth is slowly but gradually being converted from a city lot to a productive urban homestead. There are a few fruit trees that are still young but hopefully will provide a few more fruit this year, (and weather cooperating). Last season saw lots of tomatoes, rhubarb, and sunflowers. The late cold weather last year and my school and work schedule made it more challenging to do all I wanted but that is what is really great about this lifestyle. There are no hard and fast rules. An individual can do what they want as they want and still be a part of it. They live everywhere. Some may only have a few potted plants, share space at a community garden, or convert their yard to a garden. To say that one is an urban homesteader only if they do everything on a checkoff list is denying the existence of many who, due to no fault of their own, are limited in what they are doing. I am only one working here, where others may have a larger group working on their little piece of earth, be it family members and/or volunteers. They may also have the advantage of being able to do it fulltime. That is not my current situation. I am a fulltime student at a local university. I also have to work outside the home. But I can do what I can and as I can.

I grew up a farmer's daughter and learned much from my parents and grandparents. I never lost that desire to play in the dirt and have animals around. While my children were young, I continued to do what I could with gardening and raising a variety of farm animals such as chickens, goats, and rabbits. I have learned so much from so many people through various magazines, books, blogs, and visiting with other urban homesteaders. My grandparents could even be considered early urban homesteaders when they moved from the Ozarks to a small rural town in Idaho. They didn't have any animals but they converted the majority of their property to a huge garden and that was in the 1960s! 

I would love to have a small farm outside the city, but it will have to wait. But that doesn't mean my dream has to.So grass has been replaced with garden and hopefully this spring a few chickens will join the cats and dog I currently have. I also have an empty rabbit hutch that might become the new residence for a pair of rabbits.

I am not able to do everything I want to due to physical limitations and zoning regulations, but that does not make me any less an urban homesteader. I do what I can and I know there are many others out there just like me.

I am an urban homesteader living on my little urban homestead and I am proud to be a part of a loving, caring, giving community that shares the same values and goals as mine. May God richly bless all urban homesteaders. 

Spring is getting closer...

Oh boy, next week is spring break! This past weekend I picked up my rhubarb, asparagus, and strawberry plants at D&B. So I am really ready now! I can hardly wait! In the meantime, there is still plenty of homework and tests this week. Thankfully the test on the muscles will be after the break giving me more time to memorize those. Take care everyone!

It's almost spring - yes, please...

It has been a hectic over the past few weeks, studying for a variety of tests and completing the necessary homework, all the time impatiently waiting for spring so I can get into the garden! All my seeds are now here and I have been planting everything in my dreams, planning which corner is going to get what, watching the flowers come up, and getting ready to dig into the many lucious tomatoes I plan on picking off my vines! My list of to-do's for spring break is growing everyday as well as.

The hatchery has their "chicks are in" sign out and I need to get the chicken coop cleaned up and spruced up as well. It's still a little cold though, so that goes on the spring break list. I haven't decided yet which breed I will get. I like the idea of a variety, so I may just get a few of each. I suppose it will largely depend on what they have available when I go in!

Tonight it is raining. It has been a while since we had any moisture, so it is good. Even though it has still been on the cooler side, it seems more and more like spring everyday. I keep watching the fruit trees for budding. It should be happening soon.

It won't be long now, before we are into spring fulltime!

A Lazy Sunday

Today is a typical overcast winter day. Maybe we'll get some snow in the valley, but right now it is just cold and windy. My two cats are sleeping the day away. Romeo has made himself comfy on the bed. The quilt on the bed was a birthday present from my grandma. She made it when she was 92! (This week she will celebrate her 94th birthday!!)



Angel found a hiding place up high in my office.



And I spent the day cleaning, doing homework and making a new neck scarf!



Okay, so I guess I had better get back to homework. I do have a few tests this week!

Everyone have a fabulous week!!

Mother Nature is such a tease!

What a difference a few days make. I woke up to a gentle reminder that it is not spring yet! lol
Oh well, I did get a variety on the morning exercise routine.

It feels like spring!

Well, the calendar may say February 7th but the sun and temperature made it seem more like spring! So much in fact, here is what I did today!


Here is where I found Snowball hanging out:



After all it was just too pretty to be inside the tipi!