June 4

Today Ginger left early to head back to town and drop Jeanie off, who decided that Mystic Mountain was not for her. Before she left I learned how to mix the chicken feed which consisted of chicken feed pellets, deer lard, old biscuits, sprouted wheat, barely, and corn, and some leftover fruit. The chickens were ravenous and ate the meal within 15 minutes! 

Following Ginger’s departure, I cleaned up some brush from spruce branches that were cut a couple days ago. The bushy parts of the spruce I trimmed to help cover up a muck spot on site that gives the truck trouble. The other parts I wheeled up to the burn pit. 

In the afternoon I cut some comfrey and laid it out to dry. The dried leaves make a great fertilizer. 

Fresh chopped comfrey leaves.

Comfrey hanging to dry.

Fresh comfrey leaves in water to make a fertilizer.

The rest of the day consisted of turning the compost pile. By the time Jordan and I finished, all the outdoor beds were completed. It felt good to have the project out of the way so tomorrow we can focus on other tasks around camp. 

De-weeded outdoor beds.

The highlight of my day was finding a mouse nest in one of the compost piles. My pitch fork went straight through the nest and lifted the top without hurting any of the babies. I was very lucky and happy that I didn’t kill anything. After constructing a new top to their home, the momma mouse came back to check on her babies, so that was good to see. 

Reconstructed mouse home in one of the outdoor beds.

More projects await tomorrow!