The pleasures of sleeping outside

 With the beautiful weather (rain or shine) that Maine has been getting, everyone is sleeping outside, our new Chantecler chicks (more on them in another post), the cats, us and even the baby.  Especially during the daytime, when I am working in the gardens, he is often enjoying a snooze in the shade of the orchard, lucky kid! At night we have been enjoying the sounds and sights of nature from our tent.  Fireflies flickering their magical lights, shooting stars, rain falling on our forehead through the open netting, and the occasional big and noisy truck. 

 

The gardens are truly bringing to life our vision of self reliance.  Some vegetables, like the tomatoes, the corn and the basil are growing faster and in greater abundance than others, but I am enjoying the learning curve.  I definitely will always buy good potting soil from now on to start my seedlings. Just like human babies, they need their TLC :) 

The three sisters are taking over!

Plenty of zucchini leaves but no zucchinis...

Basil and parsley galore!

fresh seedlings for fall and winter crops

This week I start planting the fall and winter crops that are not yet in the ground. The root cellar will be a first experiment for us, and I already look forward to eating the fresh carrots, kohlrabies, potatoes and squashes in front of the fire.

Alex has been working hard around the property to get us ready for the cold months.  Now that we have the wood stove: we need wood!  Luckily our desire to harvest wood corresponds well with our need for more sunlit areas for the growing garden space. And although it can be sad to see a living being go (chicken or tree), the trees we are cutting are Norway maples; invasives and not very interesting for sugaring.  So whenever Alex has a little bit of time, he'll either be cutting away, splitting away, chipping away or piling away.  I think we'll have enough wood, what do you think? :)

Sleeping outside is quite a treat, but we have also been doing it for health reasons; taking advantage of the warmer weather to continue the Lead abatement on the house.   During our pregnancy we tested the soil and the house for Lead.  We were happy to know that most of the grounds are not (or barely) contaminated, but the same was not true of the house.  The Lead inspector tested all the surfaces and quite a few of them (mostly trims, floors, windows and doors) were painted with Lead paint, as is true for most old houses, and we now need to remedy this before Leo starts crawling and putting everything in his mouth.  Babies are actually drawn to lead painted surfaces because the lead paint tastes sweet, so frightening when you think of the impact it can have on their development.

So we are slowly (as fast as a new baby will let you!) painting over leaded surfaces, replacing windows, changing the old carpets, and finishing the beautiful barn wood floor that Alex put together to connect the kitchen with the family room.  I love the rough character of the grain and the history it adds to the space. 

Léo is teaching us that old houses are beautiful, but they can also be a hazard.  These touch-ups are certainly a necessity and a pleasure, because we are doing most of the work ourselves, gaining much knowledge and learning many skills along the way. Above is a picture of the new staircase runner (100% natural fibers, almost impossible to find these days...) that Alex laid down after encapsulating the lead painted staircase.