Whiteley Creek Homestead

Four days ago, I started planting my early season crops of peas, spinach, beets, radishes, carrots, Swiss chard, and leaf lettuce. I set out to grow a veggie rainbow, so my seed choices consist of organic heirloom varieties not found in the normal grocery store produce aisle. My "Easter Egg Blend" Radishes are purple, pink, and red. My "Gourmet Blend" Beets are yellow, red, purple, and orange. My "Bright Lights" Swiss Chard stem colors are yellow, orange, pink, and red. My "Purple Queen" Bush Bean is… well, purple.      

Yesterday, my sister Rita and I voluteered at the Friends School Plant Sale held annually at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. The event is so well organized, so our assigned task was really very simple. After locating plants on a pricing list, we attached a hang tag or inserted a wooden marker with the price already written on it. We were rewarded with a presale "golden ticket" which allowed us to shop the evening before the sale is open to the public, therefore we weren’t disappointed with sold out plants as has happened in our pre-volunteering days. For plants, just like my seed choices,  I looked for color. I purchased plants that will bear red, yellow, black cherry, purple, black, and orange tomatoes. My sweet peppers are "Valencia Orange’ and I bought two standard purple eggplants because their deep color is so striking. Are you beginning to imagine the color burst when these veggies are plated up in mid-summer? I placed the plants in my small greenhouse to await warmer springtime temperatures.  (See photo above.)

From the plant sale I also selected two varieties of coleus. One has large reddish copper-colored leaves and the other variety has lime green and red wine-colored oak leaf shaped foliage. Besides the unique color combos, the reason I like coleus is that it brings back memories of Professor David Kramer’s Life Science Class I attended at St. Cloud State University twenty-two years ago. He used coleus for many of his lessons and labs so it, along with every plant and animal that was meaningful to his lessons, was all around us. My friend Pat shared a quote with me that best describes my emotion when I entered Dr. Kramer’s classroom. "In the forest, there is an incomprehensible order that to the mind looks like chaos. It is beyond the mental categories of good and bad. You cannot understand it through thought, but you can sense it when you let go of thought, become still and alert, and don’t try to understand or explain. Only then can you be aware of the sacredness of the forest. As soon as you sense that hidden harmony, that sacredness, you realize you are not separate from it, and when you realize that, you become a conscious participant in it. In a way, nature can help you become realigned with the wholeness of life." A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle   

The former category titled "gardening, chickens, and birds" has a new addition… BEES! Dick and I picked them up this morning at Mann Lake Ltd. in Hackensack, Minnesota. It is too chilly today to set them free in their boxes, so they will hunker down in our basement in this screened box until Monday. The weather forecast looks promising for tomorrow, however we will be leaving before the crack of dawn for St. Paul to attend the Living Green Expo and won’t return until after dark. Therefore, a thick sugar-water syrup sprayed onto the screen will sustain them until then. I am feeling like when I was 22 years old and brought my first baby home from the hospital and was expected to know what to do to care for such a helpless little being. So far so good. The bees are happily slurping their sweet treat.

I can’t pass up a thrift shop, especially the dig-through-the-piles kind. A ramshackle shop on Main St. in Hackensack held these treasures. I loved the ice cube trays’ pretty blue color… maybe to sort or store beads or buttons? …and the cake dome. No gushing needed. I did all that and more when I first set eyes on it.      

After the harsh winter, our eight bluebird houses were in dire need of attention before the arrival of their house guests. Dick removed them from their pole mounts and replaced the board roof on four of them. Next it was my job to scrape and sand peeling paint, apply primer, then a final coat of paint. You can put linseed oil on the bare wood or you can paint the houses as long as you choose a light color. I found what I think is a perfect color. It is paint brand Valspar in color "gray pine" J100-6A. We mounted them 6 ft. above the ground by pounding an 8 ft length of rebar two feet into the ground. Next we slipped a 6 ft. length of 1/2" diameter electrical conduit over the rebar. Then we secured the house to the pole with two 1/2" electrical conduit clamps.

This particular design is the "Peterson Bluebird House". It was developed by Dick and Vi Peterson of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota after experimenting with over 5,000 bluebird houses. The front opens easily for cleaning by pulling out the nail that you see on the side. The sloping roof discourages predation by cats. The Peterson’s also built in features for insulation, ventilation, drainage, and ant control. For complete instructions on building these bluebird houses, contact the Minnesota Nongame Wildlife Program.

The houses are set up in pairs 25 ft. apart to minimize competition between bluebirds and tree swallows. Tree swallows are actually a good thing since they consume thousands, maybe millions, of flying insects. Pairs of houses are placed 100 yards apart. They should be in place by mid-March to early April, but if life has tossed you in a few too many directions, don’t despair. Bluebirds will have as many as three broods during a season, although two is the norm, so just get them up as early as you can. You will be rewarded for your efforts when the first bluebirds arrive to take up residence and start their own little family.

I started the morning by hanging out my first load of laundry this spring season. There are still patches of snow but, with temps in the 50s today, it is melting rapidly. The green grass is a welcome contrast to the landscape’s shades of winter grey.

The table at the corner of the inn’s screened porch is a favorite for bed and breakfast guests to sip an early morning cup of coffee or tea and read the newspaper. Dick and I meet there each day for lunch while our guests are out and about in the Brainerd area. Judd Brink, owner of MN Backyard Birds, will retrieve my feeders from winter storage next week and set them up in various locations on our property. Soon birds will be flocking to feeders outside each cabin, in the yard behind Whiteley Creek Inn where birds can be viewed from several seating areas on the backporch, and from the porch at the end of the 1890 RR passenger car which houses the "Queen of the Meadow Blooms Tearoom" where breakfast is served each morning. Judd keeps my feeders and birdbaths clean and filled all season long with seed, nectar, fresh fruit, and water to entice a varied population of birds to our corner of the world.

Judd has built his business considerably having also added bird guiding to his feeder maintenance service. I am proud to hold the honor of being his very first customer when he opened his new business in the spring of 2007 to offer a service we didn’t have in Brainerd. Judd’s expertise and assistance has helped me build my business by attracting not only birds but guests who are either casual birdwatchers or serious birders. Judd purchases his seed from Brainerd’s Little Farm Market, a business that has been around since I was a little girl. Do you see the circle of support among three businesses in this one isolated example? By supporting our local businesses, the economy in the town where we live goes round and round and benefits everyone. This is so important especially in these challenging financial times.

April 26th and the snow continues to fall… It has halted my garden preplanting preparation, but it is so very pretty! This is only a brief backslide into winter.