My blog is turning into a Vlog (video blog)... and I've got another video for you! Seems like the only things I'm doing these days is taking care of John and gardening. I do have something that has slowed the blogging lately, but more on that a little further down.
Right now, I've got a video of our produce. John is featured at the beginning, but that's clearly for grandparent's sake.
I've made tomato sauce (turned out excellent!) with the tomatoes in the video and about half of those green tomatoes turned into fried green tomatoes. Although the tomatoes look a little rough it's been our best tomato year yet. We really wanted them to ripen on the vines, but I think we will have to invest in a net to keep the birds out. A friend's husband built a frame out of pvc and used to irrigate their garden... they also used the pvc to hold up a net. Smart. Really Smart.
Anyway. This will probably be the last gardening update for the spring for us. One because it's getting really hot and everything is starting to burn up. And number two leads into the reason blogging has turned into Vlogging (because making a video is so much faster for me then sitting down and writing a post).
We're moving!
Not blogs (our web address will still be the same), but to a house across town.
We've been looking into it for several reason... nothing bad or terribly wrong with our current place, but God put the idea in our lap and didn't remove it... even when I thought it was gone several times. It's a pretty long story that I will probably only share in person, but I'm telling everyone out in my little blogging world so you will know what happened to the gardens and the main reason I'm going to put blogging on hold for a while.
Losing the gardens is kinda sad consequence of moving, but we're moving to a place closer to Steven's work and that is a huge plus. In addition, the place we are moving has a large backyard as well. It will take some work but MAYBE I'll have some fall tomatoes & squash going. Hopefully I'll have time to do a pumpkin patch... but the pumpkins may come in for Christmas instead of Halloween. Anyways, those are all BIG maybes because I've got a lot of work to do packing up our current place and I may just want to sit down and relax for like a month once we get everything settled. And then the fall garden window may be closed. We'll see.
More to come, I promise... just not any time soon.
Showing posts with label gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardens. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
I can can!
I'm making my Granny so proud right now.
I've been kinda interested in canning mainly as a way to preserve things we grow. We've never had enough tomatoes to warrant the investment, but I'm still interested. Once I found Mary Ostyn's blog I stumbled upon her canning videos. It seemed simple and I had most everything to try it... so.... I decided to try it today!
I thought jelly would be a great thing to start with (especially since our tomatoes are being stubborn about ripening this year). She has a great grape jelly video, but we aren't crazy about grape jelly. However, we do LOVE strawberry... especially the HEB more fruit kind. So I thought it would a be a fun project to compare the cost and see how hard it was.
I used my HUGE stock pot we got as a wedding present... I love that thing. And for the cans I had four 1/2 pint kind left over from Aunt Becky's friend's Thia Peanut Sauce... I miss that stuff... and one 1 pint jar left over from some local honey we bought a while back. For a jar lifter I use our kitchen tongs... but I went slow making sure not drop a slippery hot jar. It will be nice to get an actual can lifter, but I'll have to start producing more veggies so that it warrants the cost ($10 at HEB).
I ran to HEB to get the missing ingredients that I did need to make the jam. I thought about going to Sam's to ensure that I got a great deal on strawberries, but I'm often tempted to buy extra things when I go to Sam's because the prices are so good. So, I went to HEB and got strawberries ($1.5/lbs... not the greatest deal, but a good one nonetheless), fruit pectin and lids. I used the recipe that came with the fruit pectin. It was simple to follow and came with great directions.
Here are my humble jars processing. Canning makes me feel homey... and I like it!
And here is the final product! They were still hot in this picture and the pectin hadn't set up, but everything went like the website/recipe said so I'm sure they will turn out. They are so cute!
Okay. So how does the cost break down. The HEB fruit spread cost $2.50 for just under 1.5 cups. I made a little over 5 cups and the cost for 1.5 cups was $1.50.
So, it's not the hugest of savings, but it did work out cheaper. I think if I would have gotten a better deal on strawberries (like say grew them or picked my own) then I would see more savings. However, that being said it did save me a little over $3.00 and I made it the most expensive way. I know if I make grape jelly the way Mrs. Ostyn makes hers (she buy frozen fruit juice concentrate) I'm sure I'll save on that and I may try that once we run out of strawberry.
I'm planning on keeping it pretty simple. Canning can get scary if you venture too far outside of fruits, tomatoes & pickles. Anything other than that requires a pressure canner and you have to be extra careful not give your family food posioning. I would love to be able to make my own stews (& maybe cream-o-soups) and can them and to be able to can green beans or the purple hulled peas I grow. But for now I'll just make fresh soup and freeze my green beans and dry out my purple hulled peas. We don't have a huge back yard and it's best to start small anyway. I can just focus on growing berries, tomatoes & cucumbers to make jellies, jams, salsas, tomato sauce, barbeque sauce, pickles, relish, etc. Really I think I'll have enough variety to keep me busy. Just be warned family, you may receive can goods from us for Christmas :)
Now I'm super excited about our tomatoes... if they will ever ripen!
I've been kinda interested in canning mainly as a way to preserve things we grow. We've never had enough tomatoes to warrant the investment, but I'm still interested. Once I found Mary Ostyn's blog I stumbled upon her canning videos. It seemed simple and I had most everything to try it... so.... I decided to try it today!
I thought jelly would be a great thing to start with (especially since our tomatoes are being stubborn about ripening this year). She has a great grape jelly video, but we aren't crazy about grape jelly. However, we do LOVE strawberry... especially the HEB more fruit kind. So I thought it would a be a fun project to compare the cost and see how hard it was.
I used my HUGE stock pot we got as a wedding present... I love that thing. And for the cans I had four 1/2 pint kind left over from Aunt Becky's friend's Thia Peanut Sauce... I miss that stuff... and one 1 pint jar left over from some local honey we bought a while back. For a jar lifter I use our kitchen tongs... but I went slow making sure not drop a slippery hot jar. It will be nice to get an actual can lifter, but I'll have to start producing more veggies so that it warrants the cost ($10 at HEB).
I ran to HEB to get the missing ingredients that I did need to make the jam. I thought about going to Sam's to ensure that I got a great deal on strawberries, but I'm often tempted to buy extra things when I go to Sam's because the prices are so good. So, I went to HEB and got strawberries ($1.5/lbs... not the greatest deal, but a good one nonetheless), fruit pectin and lids. I used the recipe that came with the fruit pectin. It was simple to follow and came with great directions.
Here are my humble jars processing. Canning makes me feel homey... and I like it!
And here is the final product! They were still hot in this picture and the pectin hadn't set up, but everything went like the website/recipe said so I'm sure they will turn out. They are so cute!
Okay. So how does the cost break down. The HEB fruit spread cost $2.50 for just under 1.5 cups. I made a little over 5 cups and the cost for 1.5 cups was $1.50.
So, it's not the hugest of savings, but it did work out cheaper. I think if I would have gotten a better deal on strawberries (like say grew them or picked my own) then I would see more savings. However, that being said it did save me a little over $3.00 and I made it the most expensive way. I know if I make grape jelly the way Mrs. Ostyn makes hers (she buy frozen fruit juice concentrate) I'm sure I'll save on that and I may try that once we run out of strawberry.
I'm planning on keeping it pretty simple. Canning can get scary if you venture too far outside of fruits, tomatoes & pickles. Anything other than that requires a pressure canner and you have to be extra careful not give your family food posioning. I would love to be able to make my own stews (& maybe cream-o-soups) and can them and to be able to can green beans or the purple hulled peas I grow. But for now I'll just make fresh soup and freeze my green beans and dry out my purple hulled peas. We don't have a huge back yard and it's best to start small anyway. I can just focus on growing berries, tomatoes & cucumbers to make jellies, jams, salsas, tomato sauce, barbeque sauce, pickles, relish, etc. Really I think I'll have enough variety to keep me busy. Just be warned family, you may receive can goods from us for Christmas :)
Now I'm super excited about our tomatoes... if they will ever ripen!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Garden Update
I've realized that a quicker way (at least for me) to do a gardening update is with my handy dandy video camera! I love that thing.
Below is about a 10 minute video of what's going on in our backyard. And also included for Grandparents, and other John watchers, is a short segment of John playing in water. Just be warned... he's naked.
From last year (the year that I was pregnant/had a newborn) we've got a lot more going on. I don't think I took a single picture of the gardens last year... sad. I'm particularly thrilled about our tomatoes this year. I've never grown such good looking ones... even with the lack of rain I think our tomatoes are doing quite well. The Zinnias also make me happy... but then again, just being in our back yard makes me happy :)
We've been thinking about expanding our boxed garden. Maybe doing something with stone or brick we receive free (maybe from free-cycle... or a lovely blog follower who has extras :) ). We need to do something because the wood around the garden is starting to rot a bit... we didn't use weather proof wood due to the chemicals and we didn't want to invest in cedar. But, I also want to have a space big enough to do tomatoes and squash and peppers and pumpkin and beans and watermelon and... well... just more plants in our garden. However, it's not going to be the size of of our back yard... just maybe twice what the garden is now. Anywho... that is a project that is scheduled to start as soon as God blesses us with said free stone/brick.
Here's where the back yard is at as of the 15th!
Below is about a 10 minute video of what's going on in our backyard. And also included for Grandparents, and other John watchers, is a short segment of John playing in water. Just be warned... he's naked.
From last year (the year that I was pregnant/had a newborn) we've got a lot more going on. I don't think I took a single picture of the gardens last year... sad. I'm particularly thrilled about our tomatoes this year. I've never grown such good looking ones... even with the lack of rain I think our tomatoes are doing quite well. The Zinnias also make me happy... but then again, just being in our back yard makes me happy :)
We've been thinking about expanding our boxed garden. Maybe doing something with stone or brick we receive free (maybe from free-cycle... or a lovely blog follower who has extras :) ). We need to do something because the wood around the garden is starting to rot a bit... we didn't use weather proof wood due to the chemicals and we didn't want to invest in cedar. But, I also want to have a space big enough to do tomatoes and squash and peppers and pumpkin and beans and watermelon and... well... just more plants in our garden. However, it's not going to be the size of of our back yard... just maybe twice what the garden is now. Anywho... that is a project that is scheduled to start as soon as God blesses us with said free stone/brick.
Here's where the back yard is at as of the 15th!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Spring Harvesting
I like harvesting things from our backyard. It makes me happy.
Our faithful spinach was showing signs of the end of it's life so I pulled it up last week. Now remember I planted something like nine spinach plants... and my advice to anyone harvesting large amounts of spinach is, "only harvest and deal with one plant at a time!" I love growing greens, but it is work getting them from grown to plate. I was up late at night dealing with this pile of spinach...
But I'm not complaining. I am grateful for the spinach God gave us... pretty much for free. But I need to document the ridiculousness that is this pile of spinach so that I can remember next year to pull up one plant at a time. I started washing the spinach in the sink, but it ended up in the bath tub because I had so much... it was a mess. I wanted to just go to bed, but I also wanted to get it put up in the freezer before it wilted. Lesson learned! And now we have spinach for pizzas & casseroles for the next two or three months.
We also harvested the carrots and some radishes this weekend. The radishes are pretty straight forward for me. I've grown them before, they don't take long to grow, and they are very satisfying... just not to eat. I did try one after I harvested it and, yes, I still don't like radishes. I gave them to friend at church. We have a few more that aren't big enough to pull up yet and Steven wants those, so I'll leave them for him.
The carrots were a first for me. And while I don't think it's necessarily cost effective to grow your own carrots, they were fun and I think I will continue to do a few each year for fun and practice. It was kinda interesting because the carrot tops I thought were for sure done produced crazy looking carrots. The tops I thought weren't even close were some of the best looking carrots. I need to do some more reading on it, but I think getting right there in the dirt is really the best way to learn.
Here's our harvest. I cooked the carrots for John and he's eating them today. There was only about 1/2 a sandwich bag full of carrots after I got them cleaned, but that's just the perfect amount for a growing toddler.
Our faithful spinach was showing signs of the end of it's life so I pulled it up last week. Now remember I planted something like nine spinach plants... and my advice to anyone harvesting large amounts of spinach is, "only harvest and deal with one plant at a time!" I love growing greens, but it is work getting them from grown to plate. I was up late at night dealing with this pile of spinach...
But I'm not complaining. I am grateful for the spinach God gave us... pretty much for free. But I need to document the ridiculousness that is this pile of spinach so that I can remember next year to pull up one plant at a time. I started washing the spinach in the sink, but it ended up in the bath tub because I had so much... it was a mess. I wanted to just go to bed, but I also wanted to get it put up in the freezer before it wilted. Lesson learned! And now we have spinach for pizzas & casseroles for the next two or three months.
We also harvested the carrots and some radishes this weekend. The radishes are pretty straight forward for me. I've grown them before, they don't take long to grow, and they are very satisfying... just not to eat. I did try one after I harvested it and, yes, I still don't like radishes. I gave them to friend at church. We have a few more that aren't big enough to pull up yet and Steven wants those, so I'll leave them for him.
The carrots were a first for me. And while I don't think it's necessarily cost effective to grow your own carrots, they were fun and I think I will continue to do a few each year for fun and practice. It was kinda interesting because the carrot tops I thought were for sure done produced crazy looking carrots. The tops I thought weren't even close were some of the best looking carrots. I need to do some more reading on it, but I think getting right there in the dirt is really the best way to learn.
Here's our harvest. I cooked the carrots for John and he's eating them today. There was only about 1/2 a sandwich bag full of carrots after I got them cleaned, but that's just the perfect amount for a growing toddler.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Getting The Gardens Going
I'm so excited about our yard/gardens this year. I think I'm most excited because I'm not going to be pregnant or have a newborn this year so I will be able to do more in it. And of course we have big plans!
I use our Producers Co-op schedule for planting, and just browsing it you can pretty much be growing something year round down here. March is pretty active on the schedule so we jumped into gear and grabbed a few plants from the Co-op. Then with a little 'trading/exchanging' with some friends we ended up we a good garden this year.
Here is a video I took the weekend we planted everything. I've decided that videos are a great way to document our yard... I'll have another update later on this summer with the progress.
Since the video I've done a bit more planting. AND this weekend we were blessed with FREE t-post to stake our tomatoes. I prefer cages, but since I'm at home more I'll have the time to tie up our tomatoes. I've read that if you keep the sucker shoots trimmed on your tomatoes the plant will grow bigger tomatoes... I will test that theory this year.
Here's a picture (that I drew in five minutes) of our yard and a list of what we've got (or hope to get) growing this year.
Front of House
-pansies (soon to be done)
-day lilies (just emerging)
-perennial grass
-dwarf dahlias?
The Pansies and Perennial grass was purchased with fun money (gift card from Christmas). However the Day Lilies were planted last year. They didn't establish as well as I would like so I might fill in with Dwarf Dahlias.
Deck Area
-obedient plant (invasive)
-gerber daisies
-dwarf dahlias?
-honey suckle
The goal for the deck is shade & pretty color. Steven found honey suckle on sale last year and we have been training them to grow up to cover the deck. They are native to this area so they are doing great. Along the path from the gate to the back yard are some transplants I planted last year. I planted just a few (6-7) and watered semi-regularly and they TOOK off. If you are looking for a good tall invasive plant, Obedient Plant is the one for you! And finally I have some very faithful Gerber Daisies that I think I got three years ago. They continue to come back and I continue to welcome them. I've had trouble with other plants in this area so I'll probably throw in some dwarf dahlias to fill in around the Gerber Daisies.
'Pepper Garden'
-peppers
-easter lilies
-zinnias
We call this area our pepper garden because it's where our peppers have lived the last few years. I need to rotate something else there, but was lazy this year. The Easter Lilies are established next to the AC... courtesy of Steven's family and their church! Like I said in the video it's a deep bed so it's hard to weed in the back. I planted zinnias this weekend to fill in. Zinnias are annuals (have to be planted every year) but like the Gerber Daisies if you crush the spent flowers and leave them in the bed they will come back year after year. I hope to get Zinnias going really well in the Pepper Garden.
Free Rangin' Yard Plants
-sunflowers
-purple hauled peas
-bush beans
-squash
-watermelon/pumpkin
Some things I can grow right in the grass; sunflowers, squash & pumpkins for sure. And some things I'm not sure if I can grow in the grass, but I have seed (which are inexpensive) and I don't mind experimenting. I think the real key with "free rangin' yard plants" is lots of water... and no needy plants (like say corn that needs lots of nitrogen & tomatoes which can be high maintenance). I haven't done watermelon in the grass and have a feeling it won't do well, but I'm still going to try because I simply don't have room to do it any where else. Hopefully my water theory will come through for me on this. The Peas & Beans are legumes (take nitrogen from the air) so it should work out well... provided I keep up with watering. Watering is HUGE for Texas.
Box Garden
-spinach (almost done)
-tomatoes
-carrots
-radishes
-eggplant
-cucumber
And my beloved box garden. If you don't have at least one raised bed you should... unless you have enough land to till up the soil in mounds... I can't wait till we can do that! I love to grow spinach. I think I counted like 9 plants for this year and we still can eat it as fast as it grows! Sadly I had to pull out two plants this past weekend due to flowers forming... sad sad day... but September will be here soon and we can plant more spinach! The tomatoes & eggplant are doing well. Last year I had the eggplant over with the pepper and kinda forgot about it till the fall... we had a great fall eggplant harvest, though. The tomatoes are slightly rotated... but only slightly because we just don't have that much room. The carrots are just for fun, so I'm not really upset that Miss M & Zuzu went through them while in the back yard. :) The radishes are also for fun. I don't like radishes, but they grow quickly and are fun... they are like the instant gratification of gardening. And cucumbers are kinda an experiment. I think two years ago I tired cucumbers and failed. I got close, but failed in the end. I'm growing them from seed so the failure won't hurt as much.
I love gardening! Can you tell? But seriously, as soon as you get used to fresh home grown tomatoes it is too hard to eat over priced bad tomatoes from the grocery store. I also love gardening because it just helps me feel closer to God. We have such great bonding moments in the yard. It's quite and a great time for me to think/meditate. And of all the times I've heard God speak directly to me it happens most while I'm working in the gardens. And with all the agricultural references in the Bible I have a lot to think & meditate on.
Happy Gardening!
I use our Producers Co-op schedule for planting, and just browsing it you can pretty much be growing something year round down here. March is pretty active on the schedule so we jumped into gear and grabbed a few plants from the Co-op. Then with a little 'trading/exchanging' with some friends we ended up we a good garden this year.
Here is a video I took the weekend we planted everything. I've decided that videos are a great way to document our yard... I'll have another update later on this summer with the progress.
Since the video I've done a bit more planting. AND this weekend we were blessed with FREE t-post to stake our tomatoes. I prefer cages, but since I'm at home more I'll have the time to tie up our tomatoes. I've read that if you keep the sucker shoots trimmed on your tomatoes the plant will grow bigger tomatoes... I will test that theory this year.
Here's a picture (that I drew in five minutes) of our yard and a list of what we've got (or hope to get) growing this year.
Front of House
-pansies (soon to be done)
-day lilies (just emerging)
-perennial grass
-dwarf dahlias?
The Pansies and Perennial grass was purchased with fun money (gift card from Christmas). However the Day Lilies were planted last year. They didn't establish as well as I would like so I might fill in with Dwarf Dahlias.
Deck Area
-obedient plant (invasive)
-gerber daisies
-dwarf dahlias?
-honey suckle
The goal for the deck is shade & pretty color. Steven found honey suckle on sale last year and we have been training them to grow up to cover the deck. They are native to this area so they are doing great. Along the path from the gate to the back yard are some transplants I planted last year. I planted just a few (6-7) and watered semi-regularly and they TOOK off. If you are looking for a good tall invasive plant, Obedient Plant is the one for you! And finally I have some very faithful Gerber Daisies that I think I got three years ago. They continue to come back and I continue to welcome them. I've had trouble with other plants in this area so I'll probably throw in some dwarf dahlias to fill in around the Gerber Daisies.
'Pepper Garden'
-peppers
-easter lilies
-zinnias
We call this area our pepper garden because it's where our peppers have lived the last few years. I need to rotate something else there, but was lazy this year. The Easter Lilies are established next to the AC... courtesy of Steven's family and their church! Like I said in the video it's a deep bed so it's hard to weed in the back. I planted zinnias this weekend to fill in. Zinnias are annuals (have to be planted every year) but like the Gerber Daisies if you crush the spent flowers and leave them in the bed they will come back year after year. I hope to get Zinnias going really well in the Pepper Garden.
Free Rangin' Yard Plants
-sunflowers
-purple hauled peas
-bush beans
-squash
-watermelon/pumpkin
Some things I can grow right in the grass; sunflowers, squash & pumpkins for sure. And some things I'm not sure if I can grow in the grass, but I have seed (which are inexpensive) and I don't mind experimenting. I think the real key with "free rangin' yard plants" is lots of water... and no needy plants (like say corn that needs lots of nitrogen & tomatoes which can be high maintenance). I haven't done watermelon in the grass and have a feeling it won't do well, but I'm still going to try because I simply don't have room to do it any where else. Hopefully my water theory will come through for me on this. The Peas & Beans are legumes (take nitrogen from the air) so it should work out well... provided I keep up with watering. Watering is HUGE for Texas.
Box Garden
-spinach (almost done)
-tomatoes
-carrots
-radishes
-eggplant
-cucumber
And my beloved box garden. If you don't have at least one raised bed you should... unless you have enough land to till up the soil in mounds... I can't wait till we can do that! I love to grow spinach. I think I counted like 9 plants for this year and we still can eat it as fast as it grows! Sadly I had to pull out two plants this past weekend due to flowers forming... sad sad day... but September will be here soon and we can plant more spinach! The tomatoes & eggplant are doing well. Last year I had the eggplant over with the pepper and kinda forgot about it till the fall... we had a great fall eggplant harvest, though. The tomatoes are slightly rotated... but only slightly because we just don't have that much room. The carrots are just for fun, so I'm not really upset that Miss M & Zuzu went through them while in the back yard. :) The radishes are also for fun. I don't like radishes, but they grow quickly and are fun... they are like the instant gratification of gardening. And cucumbers are kinda an experiment. I think two years ago I tired cucumbers and failed. I got close, but failed in the end. I'm growing them from seed so the failure won't hurt as much.
I love gardening! Can you tell? But seriously, as soon as you get used to fresh home grown tomatoes it is too hard to eat over priced bad tomatoes from the grocery store. I also love gardening because it just helps me feel closer to God. We have such great bonding moments in the yard. It's quite and a great time for me to think/meditate. And of all the times I've heard God speak directly to me it happens most while I'm working in the gardens. And with all the agricultural references in the Bible I have a lot to think & meditate on.
Happy Gardening!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Playset
So this is really fun and, honestly, I think I'm more excited than John is.... haha.
We got a playset for the backyard this weekend! It's not new, but it is new to us!!!
Some friends originally bought it at a garage sale a few years ago. They gave it to some friends when their kids outgrew it. And those friends gave it to other friends when they move. And we got it when the last group of friends moved this weekend. So, if you followed that correctly, we are the 4th owners of a set bought at a garage sale. I think we definitely get points for re-use in this situation.
The reason this excites me so much is that John now has a 'positive' place to play in the back yard... something to distract him from my gardens. Did I share this photo?
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So after we went to pick it up we worked on assembling it. The first photo is of Steven working on the lawn mower... which could be an entire post on it's own, but we are going to go there.
Ah! Done! Next we needed a baby who thinks he's a toddler.
Found one!
Like every child in the world, he must try to go UP the slide...
I'm sorry I'm camera happy and I'm not ashamed. John is only going to be 10 months old once, right!?!
I took a video as well. Warning: I say 'John' and 'Cutie' about 100 times in this video. I love my kid. Enjoy!
And yes, you are welcome to come over and drink tea with me while our kiddos play in the backyard.
We got a playset for the backyard this weekend! It's not new, but it is new to us!!!
Some friends originally bought it at a garage sale a few years ago. They gave it to some friends when their kids outgrew it. And those friends gave it to other friends when they move. And we got it when the last group of friends moved this weekend. So, if you followed that correctly, we are the 4th owners of a set bought at a garage sale. I think we definitely get points for re-use in this situation.
The reason this excites me so much is that John now has a 'positive' place to play in the back yard... something to distract him from my gardens. Did I share this photo?
So after we went to pick it up we worked on assembling it. The first photo is of Steven working on the lawn mower... which could be an entire post on it's own, but we are going to go there.
Ah! Done! Next we needed a baby who thinks he's a toddler.
Found one!
Like every child in the world, he must try to go UP the slide...
I'm sorry I'm camera happy and I'm not ashamed. John is only going to be 10 months old once, right!?!
I took a video as well. Warning: I say 'John' and 'Cutie' about 100 times in this video. I love my kid. Enjoy!
And yes, you are welcome to come over and drink tea with me while our kiddos play in the backyard.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Creepy Crawlies
If you're wondering why I haven't talked about gardening in a while it is because we have been doing less gardening. I know, it is sad... but there are a couple of factors to blame.
The most obvious one is that we just had a baby. This spring I was very pregnant and didn't really want to go pull weeds in my spare time. We did have a parsley plant that produced like crazy (and I did eat a lot of it in tabouli form, chalking it up to "leafy greens"... which I think contributed to my low milk supply, but I won’t get into that right now).
We only planted a few things for the summer because we knew we would be dealing with a newborn and that trumped any vegetables. We have collected a good amount of small tomatoes and bell peppers and a few eggplants and I'm very thankful! But, we (or I) could be producing more... like cucumbers, basil, carrots, onions, watermelon, pumpkins, various squashes, lettuces, spinach, peas, beans, and many other things. We have the space... and I can't blame the baby any longer because we have such a good routine that I could easily garden for an hour in evening a couple of times each week... not to mention two hours every morning when it's cool outside.
However, something still holds me up. The second reason for not gardening as much I'm kinda embarrassed to admit...
Garden snakes and mice!
I know, I'm being a total girl right now... but I can't stand garden snakes! Steven will even pick them up and show me that they aren't harmful... even making me touch them in hopes to get rid of my fear. But, nothing helps. I know in my mind that they are totally harmless and will gladly slither away... but that's just it, "slither!" Every time I see a snake (even a harmless garden snake) I jump up and have to shake off the creepy crawlies.
And mice! Double eww!!! This is kinda a problem we created. We have a compost pile and several plants with ripening fruit. The first year we were in our duplex we planted pumpkins and the mice would get to pumpkins before we could and this year the tomatoes and pepper have familiar little bit marks. And there is a shed in the back and a deck attached to the house... so there is food and shelter for any happy little mouse family.
A couple of weeks ago I had mustered up the courage to do some gardening again. I just kept repeating to myself that snakes are not going to harm me. I was watching Steven mow an area where I was about to sit and pull some weeds, then we both saw a GIANT mouse/rat (I couldn't tell). I screamed and told Steven to put out the poison and that I would be inside.
I haven't gone in the back yard since.
I apologize to my environmentally friendly friends, but I can't stand mice! They eat our vegetables and they carry diseases. My mom recently gave us a "humane" mouse trap... but I will not hesitate to put out poison if I see one alive. I know it works and I want them gone! What we really need is an outdoor cat... but we live off of two pretty busy streets so that is out.
It makes me very sad, but I don't quite know how to shake off the fear. I grew up in the country and near a lake so you would think that I would be a little stronger in this department. I don't mind bugs or grubs or even toads or lizards/geckos... but snakes and mice just give me the creepy crawlies. And we had an outdoor cat so I think I never really saw many mice or snakes growing up.
I really hope to get back out in the yard soon and have been trying to muster up the courage again. Hopefully the cooler weather will encourage me… after all mice and snakes are less active in the winter.
The most obvious one is that we just had a baby. This spring I was very pregnant and didn't really want to go pull weeds in my spare time. We did have a parsley plant that produced like crazy (and I did eat a lot of it in tabouli form, chalking it up to "leafy greens"... which I think contributed to my low milk supply, but I won’t get into that right now).
We only planted a few things for the summer because we knew we would be dealing with a newborn and that trumped any vegetables. We have collected a good amount of small tomatoes and bell peppers and a few eggplants and I'm very thankful! But, we (or I) could be producing more... like cucumbers, basil, carrots, onions, watermelon, pumpkins, various squashes, lettuces, spinach, peas, beans, and many other things. We have the space... and I can't blame the baby any longer because we have such a good routine that I could easily garden for an hour in evening a couple of times each week... not to mention two hours every morning when it's cool outside.
However, something still holds me up. The second reason for not gardening as much I'm kinda embarrassed to admit...
Garden snakes and mice!
I know, I'm being a total girl right now... but I can't stand garden snakes! Steven will even pick them up and show me that they aren't harmful... even making me touch them in hopes to get rid of my fear. But, nothing helps. I know in my mind that they are totally harmless and will gladly slither away... but that's just it, "slither!" Every time I see a snake (even a harmless garden snake) I jump up and have to shake off the creepy crawlies.
And mice! Double eww!!! This is kinda a problem we created. We have a compost pile and several plants with ripening fruit. The first year we were in our duplex we planted pumpkins and the mice would get to pumpkins before we could and this year the tomatoes and pepper have familiar little bit marks. And there is a shed in the back and a deck attached to the house... so there is food and shelter for any happy little mouse family.
A couple of weeks ago I had mustered up the courage to do some gardening again. I just kept repeating to myself that snakes are not going to harm me. I was watching Steven mow an area where I was about to sit and pull some weeds, then we both saw a GIANT mouse/rat (I couldn't tell). I screamed and told Steven to put out the poison and that I would be inside.
I haven't gone in the back yard since.
I apologize to my environmentally friendly friends, but I can't stand mice! They eat our vegetables and they carry diseases. My mom recently gave us a "humane" mouse trap... but I will not hesitate to put out poison if I see one alive. I know it works and I want them gone! What we really need is an outdoor cat... but we live off of two pretty busy streets so that is out.
It makes me very sad, but I don't quite know how to shake off the fear. I grew up in the country and near a lake so you would think that I would be a little stronger in this department. I don't mind bugs or grubs or even toads or lizards/geckos... but snakes and mice just give me the creepy crawlies. And we had an outdoor cat so I think I never really saw many mice or snakes growing up.
I really hope to get back out in the yard soon and have been trying to muster up the courage again. Hopefully the cooler weather will encourage me… after all mice and snakes are less active in the winter.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Fall Garden
I am still gardening... I promise! Life just gets busy... you know how that goes.
We’ve had a lot of rain lately… which is a HUGE blessing because we were in a severe drought. As a result our back yard is looking like the Amazon. Steven has to mow more frequently and I’m having a blast starting our fall plants.
Pumpkins
After a slow start because of the heat, the pumpkin patch is off and running. I was recently out in the yard helping Steven while he was mowing. We were performing our “lift the vine while I mow under it” routine. It reminded me of last year and I smiled. I’ve noticed a lot of pumpkins and mums popping up around entrances to groceries stores. I love this season! However, I get a little disappointed because I think I started my pumpkins too late again. I followed instructions from our local coop to plant them before 7/15 for Halloween pumpkins, but I just recently saw some female flowers. On the other hand, if we get them late I can use them for Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. YUM!
btw: I can't wait till next year! Be prepared for a lot of pictures of an adorable 5-6 month old in our pumpkin patch!
Zucchini & Squash
Steven and I eat zucchini a lot. So we just had to have another plant this year. I made sure to plant them away from the pumpkins so that I can find them early enough. I couldn’t find a seed pack and it was getting late in the season and I didn’t want to order online. Our local coop had some started. I grab the smallest pack I could find… which happened to be a 6 pack. I would have only planted two plants, but what can you do. For the squash, I started three seeds and hope to plan them along the zucchini row…
Watermelon
I can’t believe I started watermelons. I love to eat them but have been afraid to grow them because it's hard to know when they are done. Pumpkins are easier because they turn orange. Well, at the coop (that is probably getting redundant… but they have the best prices on seeds… and they have varieties that work well locally) a man talked me into trying them. I bought a dip of seeds and planted 2-4 seeds in the yard. They had a rough start like the pumpkins because of the heat. However, they look good and I’ve even seen some little white flowers.
Fall Tomatoes
Summer tomatoes were a disaster! Again… that heat and drought. We were watering a lot, but we barely got anything off of our Better Boy and Beef Master Plants. I think we only managed a few Romas… which were delicious! The tomato seed packs I’m working through are from Home Depot and therefore are not necessarily geared towards our area. When I began thinking about fall tomatoes I ran to the coop, but they didn’t have any seeds. So I bought a 6 pack of started plants. I didn’t want to, but I got a determinate variety (tomatoes come all at once). I just need to learn to can and then this won’t be a problem. This summer we also had some nutrition problems in our soil so I planted the fall tomatoes in a new raised bed Steven and I had made. Last year our fall tomatoes did very well… we will see how this year goes.
The Garden Box
To prepare the soil for lots of lettuce, broccoli and spinach to come over the fall/mild winter months to come, I planted a legume. The legume of choice?… purple hauled peas… kinda like black eye peas… or cow peas, if you will. Everything I plant in the garden box does great because the soil is so good… I probably didn’t need to plant the peas… but I wanted them for New Years Day. We’ve been picking like crazy and our little patch is still growing. When we found out I was pregnant I went out to the garden and planted five spinach seeds and two broccoli seeds... however, I think I planted them too close to the pea patch. I thought the peas were almost done… turns out they were just getting started. I’m going to try to encourage them to grow up and thus save room… especially since my spinach and broccoli will need the sun light. The Aggie cotton is still growing tall and strong. I had to stake it because it lodged over in a heavy rain, but it’s still producing the flowers. I’ve having a problem getting the balls to open up. In our recent trip to Dallas I noticed all they fields had little white softness sprinkled about. Since we are further south, our cotton season should be over… I just can’t get mine to open up. Finally, CHECK OUT thoses Cannas! They were already established next to the shed. They are impossible to get rid of... so I just live with them... as long as they don't crawl over into the garden box.
Rain Harvesting
This is more just for fun. I often tell my friends about our crazy rain harvesting system. We hope to one day have barrels or even tanks but right now we are working off of a humble budget. However, that does not stop my husband from darting out in the pouring rain to rearrange our “rain tubs.” We line them up and catch as much as we can. We then use the water in the drier days to come. It works really well when we get rain every week. When it rains the plants get watered… then we supplement with the rain we’ve collected for them. Our city water is very salty and has a horrible ph level. It’s hard to get things to really thrive so providing plants with fresh, pure rain water does wonders for your veggies!
We’ve had a lot of rain lately… which is a HUGE blessing because we were in a severe drought. As a result our back yard is looking like the Amazon. Steven has to mow more frequently and I’m having a blast starting our fall plants.
Pumpkins
After a slow start because of the heat, the pumpkin patch is off and running. I was recently out in the yard helping Steven while he was mowing. We were performing our “lift the vine while I mow under it” routine. It reminded me of last year and I smiled. I’ve noticed a lot of pumpkins and mums popping up around entrances to groceries stores. I love this season! However, I get a little disappointed because I think I started my pumpkins too late again. I followed instructions from our local coop to plant them before 7/15 for Halloween pumpkins, but I just recently saw some female flowers. On the other hand, if we get them late I can use them for Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. YUM!
btw: I can't wait till next year! Be prepared for a lot of pictures of an adorable 5-6 month old in our pumpkin patch!
Zucchini & Squash
Steven and I eat zucchini a lot. So we just had to have another plant this year. I made sure to plant them away from the pumpkins so that I can find them early enough. I couldn’t find a seed pack and it was getting late in the season and I didn’t want to order online. Our local coop had some started. I grab the smallest pack I could find… which happened to be a 6 pack. I would have only planted two plants, but what can you do. For the squash, I started three seeds and hope to plan them along the zucchini row…
Watermelon
I can’t believe I started watermelons. I love to eat them but have been afraid to grow them because it's hard to know when they are done. Pumpkins are easier because they turn orange. Well, at the coop (that is probably getting redundant… but they have the best prices on seeds… and they have varieties that work well locally) a man talked me into trying them. I bought a dip of seeds and planted 2-4 seeds in the yard. They had a rough start like the pumpkins because of the heat. However, they look good and I’ve even seen some little white flowers.
Fall Tomatoes
Summer tomatoes were a disaster! Again… that heat and drought. We were watering a lot, but we barely got anything off of our Better Boy and Beef Master Plants. I think we only managed a few Romas… which were delicious! The tomato seed packs I’m working through are from Home Depot and therefore are not necessarily geared towards our area. When I began thinking about fall tomatoes I ran to the coop, but they didn’t have any seeds. So I bought a 6 pack of started plants. I didn’t want to, but I got a determinate variety (tomatoes come all at once). I just need to learn to can and then this won’t be a problem. This summer we also had some nutrition problems in our soil so I planted the fall tomatoes in a new raised bed Steven and I had made. Last year our fall tomatoes did very well… we will see how this year goes.
The Garden Box
To prepare the soil for lots of lettuce, broccoli and spinach to come over the fall/mild winter months to come, I planted a legume. The legume of choice?… purple hauled peas… kinda like black eye peas… or cow peas, if you will. Everything I plant in the garden box does great because the soil is so good… I probably didn’t need to plant the peas… but I wanted them for New Years Day. We’ve been picking like crazy and our little patch is still growing. When we found out I was pregnant I went out to the garden and planted five spinach seeds and two broccoli seeds... however, I think I planted them too close to the pea patch. I thought the peas were almost done… turns out they were just getting started. I’m going to try to encourage them to grow up and thus save room… especially since my spinach and broccoli will need the sun light. The Aggie cotton is still growing tall and strong. I had to stake it because it lodged over in a heavy rain, but it’s still producing the flowers. I’ve having a problem getting the balls to open up. In our recent trip to Dallas I noticed all they fields had little white softness sprinkled about. Since we are further south, our cotton season should be over… I just can’t get mine to open up. Finally, CHECK OUT thoses Cannas! They were already established next to the shed. They are impossible to get rid of... so I just live with them... as long as they don't crawl over into the garden box.
Rain Harvesting
This is more just for fun. I often tell my friends about our crazy rain harvesting system. We hope to one day have barrels or even tanks but right now we are working off of a humble budget. However, that does not stop my husband from darting out in the pouring rain to rearrange our “rain tubs.” We line them up and catch as much as we can. We then use the water in the drier days to come. It works really well when we get rain every week. When it rains the plants get watered… then we supplement with the rain we’ve collected for them. Our city water is very salty and has a horrible ph level. It’s hard to get things to really thrive so providing plants with fresh, pure rain water does wonders for your veggies!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Lesson Learned!
We harvested our corn on Sunday night. I was actually pretty nervous about it. You see, I have read alot this summer about small homesteads and family kitchen gardening and I read something that made me question the quality of our first corn crop.
When we planted the corn it came up just fine and looked like it was doing wonderfully. We noticed some purple streaks in the stocks... and we simply assumed that it was because we planted Indian corn. Well, then I read in a book that if the leaves are discolored than it means that you don't have enough nitrogen in the soil. And of course, corn is CRAZY about nitrogen. In one of my book it classified it as a "cleaner" plant... as in it strips the soil of almost all nitrogen. That is why you see it planted after legumes (which put nitrogen into soil... "builders"). They also say that if you fertilize for corn, then you don't have to worry about the rest of your vegetables.
I was just growing the corn as decoration so I wasn't too worried. Plus I saved some seeds so that we could try again in case something happened. In our area we can plant corn again starting on Wednesday. So now we are rethinking our fertilization schedule. I wish we could do it all organic, but I think we will work up to it... like when we have our own place and I have more time to plan out our gardens. Nevertheless, we will try again.... so look forward to a better corn harvest.
Corn is interesting. With all of my other vegetables, I can see the progress. It has really been a faith challenging concept for me. So often in life I want to know exactly how things work and what all the plans are. Sometimes God doesn't want us to know what's His plans are until then very end... when you rip back the shucks to reveal His Glory underneath.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
A beautiful process...
On Saturday morning we were playing the normal water and weed game in our back yard. We really enjoy spending quality time with our plants on the weekends. I feel like gardening brings me closer to the Lord and I love retreating to our backyard to learn new things and admire God's glory in my humble garden.
At a local farmer's market I splurged on a plant. I say "splurge" because I try to grow as much as possible from seed. We want our gardens to help with budgeting, not hinder it. Now, you might roll your eyes when I tell you the plant cost one dollar... but that could have been an entire package of seeds!
Anyways. I splurged because it was cotton and you can't eat it, it dies every year and I didn't think it made pretty flowers (just small functional ones)... so I figured I would never buy an entire package of seeds. I also splurged because it was AGGIE COTTON! In the sunlight the leaves turn maroon... the cotton is still white.... but the plant is maroon! Come on, get excited...
Here is a picture of when we first planted it. The leave have darken up since this picture. It was so cute and something different in the garden.
At a local farmer's market I splurged on a plant. I say "splurge" because I try to grow as much as possible from seed. We want our gardens to help with budgeting, not hinder it. Now, you might roll your eyes when I tell you the plant cost one dollar... but that could have been an entire package of seeds!
Anyways. I splurged because it was cotton and you can't eat it, it dies every year and I didn't think it made pretty flowers (just small functional ones)... so I figured I would never buy an entire package of seeds. I also splurged because it was AGGIE COTTON! In the sunlight the leaves turn maroon... the cotton is still white.... but the plant is maroon! Come on, get excited...
Here is a picture of when we first planted it. The leave have darken up since this picture. It was so cute and something different in the garden.
Back to Saturday morning... I don't really enjoy going back behind the shed. We don't weed very well back there and every time I go back there I'm sure a snake is going to jump out and bite me. Steven wonders back there every once an a while. The Aggie cotton is planted in the back corner of the garden near the shed.
Steven called me over to come look at something and to my delight a beautiful flower had opened up. I was so surprised. I'm not sure why... but now I may buy an entire package of seeds.
See why....
Now the picture is the background on our computer. It reminds me that we never know when and where the Lord is going to bless us. If we keep our eyes and hearts open He will have more opportunity. He is waiting to bless us... even through, as silly as it may be, Aggie Cotton!!!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunflowers!!!!
The Sunflowers are in full bloom! They look great. They take a ton of water, especially because we need rain so badly in Texas... but they are a joy to grow. I will of course try them out again and hopefully plant them on a year that has more rain. Can't wait for the blooms that year.
They are so easy to grow and pop up quickly. At first we were trimming back the grass around the plants (we didn't want to ruin the grass by tilling it up because this is a rental house). Then we decided to let it grow and see what it would look like. As you will see they are doing fine. They aren't drought tolerant, but they are aggressive.
Below is just a series of pictures of the sunflower growing season. It's not over yet, next comes those wonderful sunflower seeds. Count how many busy bees you see polinating my flowers. Enjoy!
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