MAY IN THE ROCKIES

by Garden

It’s the first part of May here in the Rockies, the weather is warming up, and it seems like time to get out planting! Note the key words, “seems like.” It sure does seem like it should be the right time, but it just isn’t. The weather is so unpredictable here this time of year, that although the forecast currently looks warm enough for the next 10 days, you just never know what may happen. Last year (2022) we received about 28” of snow between May 20-24, other years we’ve had snow in June, and ...

feature-photo-500

REMINISCING

by Uncategorized

We used to have a couple of blogs prior to this website, which were hosted on Blogger. One, "Golden Gaits Garden", was started at our former home in Wellington (2009) when we began growing vegetables & raising ducks. It ended in 2017 when High Country Living went live. The other, "Mountain Gaitway", began in 2014 after we purchased this property in Guffey and began planning our dream home. It primarily chronicled the building of our home & deve ...

Ham Radio Shack

HAMMING IT UP

by Ham RadioUncategorized

To say we've been "hamming it up" doesn't mean we've just been goofy. We've been hamming on the radio, adding to our collection of ham radio equipment, adding to our collection of amateur radio operator friends, adding to our collection of amateur radio knowledge & licenses, and adding to our collection of websites.  All this, along with all of our other projects including increasing our solar power, has kept us busy! HAMMING ON THE RADIO Laurie (KØLTH) has been having fun trying diffe ...

Fioretto Sprouting Cauliflower

2021: WHAT A SUMMER!

by Garden

The GARDEN SUMMER of 2021 was fabulous. Great weather, abundant harvests & no rodents made it a hit in my book. This year the pasture grasses stayed greener longer, the wildflowers flourished, and there were a good deal more ladybugs in the garden (and very few grubs).Maybe next year I'll get to the point of knowing just what to start when, and how much of each thing at a time. There were a few too many of some things and not enough of others. I'm getting much better at that each year, and i ...

LaurieInShack

A COUPLE OF HAMS

by GuffeyProjects

We have recently become Ham Radio Operators, working from our shack here at home. Now that we are off-grid, Tim got to thinking that hams can be very helpful with communications during emergency situations such as wildfires or winter storms. When there is no cell or landline phone capability, no internet and no power, hams can still operate with radio waves as long as they have power. WE'VE GOT POWER when all else fails, and now that we are hams we can communicate with the outside during the ...

Our New Look in 2021

OFF-GRID

by ProjectsRanch-House

THIS IS OUR NEW LOOK IN 2021!Tim was busy this winter putting in our solar power system, which has been a great addition to our home. The system now fully powers our house, so from now on out we are not dependent on the grid.After a few months of hard work the project is complete. Prior to starting the project, Tim estimated that we would need 15 kW of power per day. This system provides more than that, and plenty of power to extend through several cloudy days. We are quite plea ...

GrowVeg Garden Plan for 2021

2021 GARDEN & GREENHOUSE PLANNING

by GardenGreenhouse

It's the end of February, and despite the winter cold, the garden is not far from my mind. The greenhouse has been keeping us supplied with veggies all winter, in addition to what was stored from the 2020 summer garden outdoors. OUTDOOR GARDEN GrowVeg Garden Plan for 2021My GrowVeg Garden Planner is complete for summer 2021. Some changes are likely to be made, but the plans are in motion, the seeds have been ordered and arrived, the calendar reminders have been set. A few seedlings have already ...

ELEVATION

DILEMMA: HIGH ALTITUDE OR HIGH ELEVATION?

by Uncategorized

WHICH IS IT? There are many websites and publications that discuss things like gardening or cooking at high elevation or high altitude. Often it seems like the words “elevation” or “altitude” are used arbitrarily and interchangeably. It is certainly inconsistent, even on websites focused on a scientific approach. Since I want to be grammatically correct, I looked it up to be sure. ALTITUDE is generally used to indicate an OBJECT’s relation to sea level, such as an a ...

August 3, 2020

EVERY YEAR IS DIFFERENT

by Garden

I'm learning that EVERY YEAR IS DIFFERENT, especially at high elevation. Gardens here present more challenges than those at lower elevation: variable and cold weather, short seasons, new pests & old ones, personal health issues, as well as other factors such as COVID-19 in 2020, which affected seed & garden supply shortages. Fortunately, I had ordered all my seeds prior to the shortages, and I generally have all the other supplies I need on hand. August 3, ...

Pack Rats

2020 SUMMER NEMESES

by Garden

In the past we haven't had many problems with pests. We thought our garden was pretty much pest-proof. We were pretty sure no deer, bunnies or squirrels could get in. This year we have experienced two new nemeses that kept us busy trying to get rid of them. First, mice. Then their larger cousin, the pack rat. Yeesh! What a year. MICEEarly in May, we began to see evidence of chewing on some of the freshly transplanted seedlings, particularly things like the broccoli, cabbage & cauliflower pla ...