a random collection

Homeschool has begun for this year. Isaiah is in 1st grade and Lydia is in Kindergarten. One day down, 174 to go. This is a marshmallow igloo. Because it starts with the letter "i".

Check out this haul from our garden yesterday! Tomatoes, 2 baby bell peppers, 4 aji crystal peppers (hot peppers), a small watermelon and a bitty pumpkin. This was so exciting! The most I have brought in at one time yet! Oh! and Nathan brought in 16 eggs from the past 2 days!

I made a bunting! I have been wanting to make one forever, and finally just did it. I made a freehand cardboard triangle template, cut around that about 10 times on 5 different fabrics with my pinking shears. I pinned those inside double fold bias tape and then sewed on. I did not measure or iron anything! Myfavorite kind of sewing project, no measure, no iron, quick, straight line sewing that turned out super cute!

Hope you enjoyed this random collection from the past week!

garden update: 90% off

First, our local dollar store had some garden stuff 90% off! I got 9 (small) bags of this soil for 15 cents a bag.
Some seed starter trays for 40 cents each, the little trays on top for 30 cents each. Those on top include seeds and dirt.

Some herb garden kits for 60 cents each! One of them is planted and just sprouted by my window in the kitchen.

Some of my favorite flowers growing on my front porch.

Our two raised beds are doing just okay. The tomatoes are doing pretty well, and cucumbers, but the beans produced nothing. We are getting ready to pull everything out of the garden on the right to plant for the fall. We are planning to plant lettuces, spinach, carrots, and maybe cabbage.

Our corn grew really tall, but we got no edible corn. The chickens got a few ears and all the buckwheat that I harvested and raccoons got the rest. The buckwheat was so pretty we will definitely plant that again. We ate our first bell pepper last week and I canned 11 (almost 12) pints of crushed tomatoes last week. I don't know how much more I will get to can, but I hope to get at least that much more. I would love to do spaghetti sauce too, but the tomatoes are coming in sporadically, so we'll just see.

Our chickens started laying eggs about a a week and a half ago!!! I absolutely love having our own eggs again. They are still small, but hopefully we'll be getting them by the dozens soon enough. If each chicken lays one egg a day, we'll be getting a dozen a day!

If there was one thing we learned this year with our garden it was : PREPARE THE SOIL!! Even the raised beds could have used more compost or manure. Next year we'll know better. That is something I love about gardening, the learning and changing--how the mistakes are made okay with the knowledge gained from them.

Hope you guys have a happy Friday!

Garden Update

Reportedly, my laptop has been fixed and is being shipped back to me currently. I am so excited! Maybe I'll blog more regularly then. That laptop sure makes it easier. Plus it allows me to be entertained while doing dishes or cleaning the kitchen (or while Nathan is watching a show I abhor). Although come July, I'll probably be permanently hovered over a water bath canner for months and wonder what blogging is.

Our garden has become several gardens and there is much planted. I think something like 40 tomato plants, 50 potato starts, beans beans beans, corn and some peas. There's watermelon and pumpkins and acorn squash. There are also buckwheat, several herbs and flowers given to me by my grandmother and mother-in-law. Our lettuces are being attacked by some kind of flea, but our spinach is growing. And strange inedible mushrooms are popping up everywhere here! Along with crazy amounts of giant weeds.

How does your garden grow?


PS When the laptop returns, so shall the pictures!

garden update again

The marigolds have sprouted! Lydia and I planted these and they have actually come up in spite of the bout of cold weather the other night.

Irises have actually bloomed!

I'm hoping there will be so much to update soon that I won't be able to keep up!

yard treasure

makeshift clothesline across the deck


freshly mown yard

the first buds on our fruit trees

the last "flower in our yard after Lydia has picked them all

I'm so glad spring is here!

garden update numero uno

Our raised beds are lined with landscape fabric and filled with Mel's mix, and ready to be planted in! It has been finished since last Saturday. It is a little more expensive than using a hoe to dig up the earth, but starting with mel's mix really cuts down on the amount of weeding we will have to do (practically none) and it never has to be replaced, only add compost when you replant. We totally think it is worth it. We will be working on making our own compost this year.



Now we're only waiting on the weather. Although it was 70 and perfect here yesterday, I'm sure there will be some freezing temps to come.

Here's proof that I actually helped.

We still have a lot of tilling to do in the huge garden box on the front of the house, and in two other places in the yard. If the weather stays this beautiful there should be no problem getting it done before the last frost date. We are also planning on starting our vineyard with a couple of grapevines this year. We will be following the vineyard instructions in The Backyard Homestead. I'm still trying to talk Nathan into berries this year, but I have a feeling it will be next year before we start those. The garden excitement is still building, as I'm trying to figure out exactly how much I need to preserve for the next year. All I know is that we need a boatload of tomatoes.

Enjoy your Saturday!

garden beginnings

This fence area is where we will attempt to grow pumpkins and watermelons this year.

This rocked off area will hopefully become a flower garden. I want to be able to cut flowers and bring them in all summer. We will have zinnias, gladiolas were here when we moved in, and about 20 other varieties that I can't remember right now. (the littlest pet shops and my little ponies will probably be removed prior to planting.)

This used to have huge ugly bushes in it, but it will become a square foot garden for most of our lettuces and broccoli, and other veggies that might need some shade.

And these will also be square foot gardens which will have tomatoes and peppers, beans, herbs, and others. The flower pots on the end will have marigolds and nasturtiums to keep the bad bugs away. Nathan hopes to turn the entire front yard into square foot gardens with flagstone walkways in between. One day he might not have to mow at all.

Nathan also planted 5 fruit trees that he moved here from the farm. I hope they transplant well and produce fruit in a timely fashion! We are also planning a bigger plowed up area for corn, potatoes, and possibly wheat or buckwheat. I'm so excited to get these gardens going. It has been a few years since we have been settled enough to get a garden planted and I'm itching to see things sprouting!

It is quiet in my house right now. shhhh.... enjoy this silent moment with me.

Nathan and I planned our garden this weekend (we even have a binder now) and built two garden boxes. The warmer weather has gotten us all excited for spring! We are planning on getting chickens in may, probably between 50 and 100 meat birds, plus some egg layers, and probably a lamb and a couple of pigs. I am so ready!! We are planning a little comapnion planting this year, including a few flowers known to help ward off the bad buggies or make your food taste better. Hopefully there will be lots of pictures of the garden and any good tips we learn this year. I just need to talk Nathan into a better camera (i.e one that works properly!).

Do you garden? Do you know how to grow your own food? We feel like this was a part of our education that was sorely lacking. It would be nice not to wonder which plants to plant together or to know how many times to replant. There are so many garden kinks we could have worked out in the 27 years up to now.... ah, well, it's never too late to learn!

The quiet is no more... which means I have kiddos to take care of!