January 2015 -

My Very First Podcast Interview

Author: Walking Softly Upon the Earth January 15, 2015

I was so crazy excited to be asked by Jendi of Mom Prepares to be interviewed about growing fruit trees. Then I really thought about it and got crazy nervous. My very first interview of this sort. Eek! Jendi is really sweet and I have loved going through her podcasts and listening to them. If you’d like to listen to mine, you can follow this link or download it from iTunes, Stitcher or Beyond Pod: http://momprepares.com/grow-fruit-trees/

I will apologize in advance. I had no idea that I say “um” a lot when I’m nervous. I asked the Super Awesome Husband why he had never told me that I do that, and his response was that I’m not nervous talking to him, so he didn’t know, but that I do say “whatnot” way too much. (insert eye roll) So from now on I’m going to be super self-conscience when speaking in front of groups or to people I don’t know so that I avoid “um” and “whatnot.” Hahaha! 😀

So, what do I have coming up around here??? We have some snow on the ground right now, but when things thaw out I’m going to do a short video tour of our little orchard, and take some before pictures as well. I have sooooo much to do out there once spring hits, so I thought it would be a lot of fun for everyone to be able to watch how much it is going to change over the next six months or so.

I am working on my garden plan for this year and taking inventory of my seeds before putting together my seed orders. I’m definitely bringing you guys along and sharing all of my plans. Surprisingly enough, it is also nearly time to start some seeds indoors. 🙂 So much fun! I hope you’ll, um, really enjoy it and whatnot. 😉

Gardening

fruit trees, how to plant an orchard, orchard, planting fruit trees, podcast

This is for the birds! Seriously!

Author: Walking Softly Upon the Earth January 9, 2015

I’m sorry!! This post is coming way later than I meant it to, so I hope you can at least pin it or pack it away for next year. The moment we got started with this project the rainy weather rolled in and there was not one kid volunteering to play in the rain at these temps. Smart kids. Brrrrr.

I don’t know how things go in your house, if you celebrate Christmas, but at mine we had a few years where I had to deal with seriously upset children the day the Christmas tree came down. I can’t say I blame them. I miss it when it’s gone too, but the sad faces made me look for a way to turn the whole event into something a little less traumatic. For all of us. 🙂

Something you should know about my little gang of short people? They LOVE feeding and watching the birds. As we were making peanut butter and birdseed pine cones for the birds it occurred to me that we could hang them on the Christmas tree that was sitting at the edge of the woods waiting to get dragged away. Then the hamster on the wheel in my head got it really spinning and I asked myself why couldn’t we decorate the whole thing with all kinds of fun, yummy treats for the birds and make a little event out of it. The kids L.O.V.E. this every year. It’s become a really fun tradition that we all look forward to. The tree gets taken down in the house and put up in the yard near our other bird feeders and we go to town making all kinds of “ornaments.”

You can do this with whatever you have around the house. The birds (and squirrels) love fruits like oranges and apples. Plus they make the tree so pretty. We also cover pine cones with peanut butter and birdseed, which we’ve always made every year.

With a little string or thread you can make some pretty garland out of popcorn and cranberries.

We usually do some strands with just cranberries, but with the weather not cooperating we didn’t get to it all this time. Maybe in a week or two, after the birds and squirrels have eaten everything, will give it another go.

Be warned, “some” people are only in it for the popcorn. 😉

Making the ornaments might not have been his thing, but he’s all in when it’s time to decorate. 🙂

Cuz that’s the best part, right?!

The pine cones are always the biggest hit.

I love the garland. 🙂

We’ve had years when it has been decorated more, but it’s still beautiful this year and the birds certainly do love it. This guy couldn’t wait for a bite.