Spring 2014 Firsts!

Spring took a while to come and now it seems to have passed quickly with Summer taking the forefront. Here are some Spring first in our balsam and birch heaven:

Last snowfall (18 inches!)  - April 25th
1st Mosquito spotted - May 18th
1st Hummingbird returned - May 18th
Heat turned off - May 24th
Leaf out began - May 25th
Unplugged the Wood Boiler which heats our home - May 28th

North Woods Garden Update

Soaker hoses were added to the bales along with stakes to string wire for climbing plants and cattle panels on each for the same reason.

The bale continues to be conditioned with an organic fertilizer and then soaked with water.

This fun planter will look nice with our veggies growing in it. Our sled dogs are lounging in the shade in the background - Points Unknown

We noticed that a few snowshoe hare were scoping things out. I would suggest staying far away, my little furry friend.

The final stage of conditioning is to add wood ash and a bone meal blend.

After the wood ash and bone meal blend are added, the bale is soaked again. In 5 days, we can plant!

A Garden for the Bees (and People)

One of our 4Inch pillars looks so nice resting on top of the beginnings of our garden

No soil? Use bales!

We've come to realize that if we want a garden up in our north woods paradise, we have to think out of the box and use a bale! You see, we have no soil to speak of so our research brought us to the use of straw bales for planting vegetables. Not only is this value to us but the blossoms will be valued by the honey bees.

It takes 10+ days to condition the straw bales to make them ready to plant. We've been using organic fertilizer and water in various amounts on specific days. Now if we could only get some nice warm temperatures so that the bales begin to "cook". With a low of 25 degrees expected over night, I think we're a ways off! Stay tuned. And if you'd like to her more regular updates, please "like" and follow us on facebook!

We did it!

Scent from Nature has finally gone off grid! That's right, we've finally made our move to the remote north woods of Minnesota's Arrowhead Region where we're thoughtfully handcrafting our pure beeswax candles using power from the SUN! How cool (hot) is that?!

We've also decided, contrary to our most recent post, that it's important to keep separate blogs for Scent from Nature and our other business Points Unknown; Dog-Based Adventures, rather than combine them into one "lifestyle" blog. What do you think? You can always check out what we're doing with the sled dogs by visiting the Points Unknown blog.

Simplicity.......

To help support our values and direction as we continue on our quest for a more simple lifestyle, we've combined our blogs. We will now post all of our lifestyle updates that include the goings on at Scent from Nature, on our new blog called Irish Creek Homestead. Please visit us there and follow our journey!

Spring Events; Come and Visit Us!

Come and visit us at the following events!

Natural Living Expo 2012
Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Des Moines, Iowa
03/31/2012 10AM-5PM - 04/01/2012 11AM-4PM
www.naturallivingexpo.org

2012 Living Green Expo
May 5-6, 2012
MN State Fair Grounds
Progress Building, 4-H Building, Education Building
1265 Snelling Avenue North
St. Paul, MN 55108
www.livinggreenexpo.mn/the-expo/

Natural Home & Garden Magazine Mention

We've been mentioned as a resource for Beeswax Candles in an article in the November/December 2011 issue of Natural Home & Garden Magazine. Our ad is also in this issue.

Please visit this link to view the article.