tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12088783607433833632024-03-13T04:36:00.250-07:00Remaking SuburbiaCan an average suburban family turn a 60's era bilevel home and a corner lot into a homestead? Come and share our adventures as we work toward a more sustainable lifestyle. There will be how-to's (and how-not-to's), ideas for making your own homestead more sustainable and self-sufficent, and tips for frugal, simple, green living.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-10742606202699798712022-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:002022-07-23T12:03:04.130-07:00It is so weird to read this...<p> There is so much here I don't even remember doing. </p>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-33633731004510471682022-07-23T08:19:00.003-07:002022-07-23T08:19:24.353-07:00Sage Words<p> This morning's harvest, going into the dehydrator. It is not impressive, but there will be more! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4U76LsRInaIOBfmRHN_vMYccTO4FEf2-SJ6WH4no1bTlZhkARqQZugSXC_lGzwEbaYmZvG7qH_BilbCAEp0MT3vOjR6mFWC6Pd42M5ovktn_a1I_--FupQGvKl0yaj3ltHdJ02AyLqTdXe5etWZSWJ8HBzIhpwiE0PW4Js_Fxj4M5bhk_0k1zhvr5/s4032/F4CF4B90-8FD1-45AF-AA3E-646B32177249.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4U76LsRInaIOBfmRHN_vMYccTO4FEf2-SJ6WH4no1bTlZhkARqQZugSXC_lGzwEbaYmZvG7qH_BilbCAEp0MT3vOjR6mFWC6Pd42M5ovktn_a1I_--FupQGvKl0yaj3ltHdJ02AyLqTdXe5etWZSWJ8HBzIhpwiE0PW4Js_Fxj4M5bhk_0k1zhvr5/s320/F4CF4B90-8FD1-45AF-AA3E-646B32177249.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p> I tried my hand at winter sowing in a couple of milk jugs and a greens container with a lid. The plants started later than expected, but they did take off--I had some summer squash ready by the time I had the garden ready to plant, a couple sage plants, some spearmint, a couple strawberries, and some seeds good for containers--a few cherry tomato plants and a "pot-o-peno" jalapeƱo. I was disappointed by the number of plants that came up; however, I figure a couple of solid strawberry plants will spread (once I figure out where to put them). And, a couple sage plants will produce enough sage for us to use this year. A packet of seeds is cheaper than a bottle of sage at the grocery, eh?</p><p><br /></p><p>I may have to go back and read this blog, lol. So much of what I was doing, I have forgotten, it seems. </p><p><br /></p><p>At one time, I may have envisioned trying to live a sustainable life, but my life, our life, here, has been fairly far from that. My goal, now, is to simplify, utilize, maximize our resources. I don't expect to achieve a fully self-sustainable life, lol, but I hope to do a better job. I don't need to mention that the world is a little scary, and my tendency, always, has been to hunker down and focus on what I can control, or at least try to do so. I have wanted to put a garden in here since we moved, and I am really glad to be getting started growing (hopefully) at least some part of the food we eat. </p><p><br /></p><p>These aren't really "sage words," I know, but, anyway. </p><p><br /></p>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-14350562235583430992022-07-22T06:39:00.001-07:002022-07-22T06:39:47.869-07:00Starting again...<p> There's been a long, long break from blogging and from any semblance of remaking suburbia, lol. Facebook pretty well sucked the blogging right out of me, and when we moved in 2014, we left our garden beds behind for a manicured lawn with sprinkler system. I bought pots and had a few tomatoes in pots, but didn't get much further than that for various reasons. When 2020 hit, I started seeds I bought in 2014, and had good success there. But now, I am ready to begin this journey again. I am starting with a no-dig garden where there used to be a playset and sand. The playset was re-homed a few years ago. This spot is a ways from the house, but gets good sun and is, for the most part, not involved in the sprinkler system. </p><p>We got a late start on this, and I am not sure how much we will get from it. I stressed my tomatoes several times before I got them in, and they started looking blighty really early--and are still a ways from producing. The peppers are looking good. </p><p>That aside, working here to streamline our very maximalist household, lol. We have kids in various stages of working their ways out of our house--a grown son with a great job and his own apartment, our second son working a summer internship and ready to start his senior year of college, a daughter headed to her first year of college, and a daughter starting her sophomore year of high school. This is a real shift in lifestyle for us as they launch, and even when they are still here, are spending less time at home and eating family meals, etc., especially after the shutdown days with everyone home 24/7. It is a balance between figuring out how to run a household for 3 or 4 and holding space for when everyone is home! </p><p>I am about to embark upon pressure canning, which I have not done before, but hoping to can a lot of meat from our freezer, freeing up space for more, lol. The idea of canned meals, especially when we are fewer in number and our kids tend to avoid leftovers, is appealing, so I am working on that, and figured I would chronicle that process. I also hope to have things to put up from the garden. </p><p>So far, my harvest for the year has been a quart of dehydrated chives and some mint simple syrup, lol. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-22031696303434541142011-04-10T13:51:00.000-07:002011-04-10T13:53:38.673-07:00Getting started...We've got seedlings started. I finally got outside last night(by force, when my bareroot rhubarb and horseradish came in the mail...). I have been loathe to step out and get things going. My beds are all overgrown with grass. After getting my hands dirty planting the rhubarb and horseradish, I set to work cleaning out the beds--carcasses of calendula flowers, iris leaves, some leeks left to be frozen. I turned the soil in one bed in order to pull out grass and grass roots. This is not normal lovely lawn grass, but stuff that will force its way up from underneath the beds until it makes its way up two feet to daylight. I don't much like it.<br /><br />Today, temps rose to near 80 degrees, and I turned another raised bed, planted 6 rows of purple haze carrots interplanted with radishes and crimson red bunching onions around the perimeter of the bed. The kids pulled out their swimsuits and played in the water.<br /><br />I started on my biggest bed, not raised. It is quite overgrown with grass, and it is going to take me a good, long time to get it all turned. But it is started, and I feel a little more motivated to keep going than I did when I started, so this is good. <br /><br />Oh, I also planted some French thyme in another bed that won't require turning this year. Thank goodness not all of them do!Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-46939210130679346922011-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:002011-03-25T10:57:08.965-07:00Reflections on 2011 SeasonBefore planning this year's garden, it is critical to review what went well and what did not last year. <br /><br />Disease:<br />We seem to have a lot of disease issues with tomatoes and cukes, so we intend to be quite careful about the tomato and cuke varieties we plant. Right now, I don't have cukes planned, but have chosen a few short season disease resistant tomato varieties. We will also be planting a few sunsugar (yellow cherry) tomato plants, as they are, quite possibly, the best cherry tomato ever.;)<br /><br />We have very limited garden space for the, as I didn't plan very well for rotation last year. It's going to be best not to plant tomatoes, cukes, or melons anywhere where any of these were planted before (which pretty much accounts for all of our garden beds). <br /><br />Pests:<br />Also to be addressed: massive rodent problem (voles? ground squirrels? ground hog? All of the above or some combination thereof?) Two plantings of green beans, half a dozen runner bean plants, numerous cucumbers, most of our melons, every bit of lettuce planted[,] and even a few tomatoes[,] all shared with a well-fed rodent population in our backyard last summer (all without us even catching a glimpse of them for the most part).<br /><br />Failed Attempts/Good stuff:<br />The potatoes in a barrel produced about half a dozen potatoes. The plants did not send out roots as I filled the barrel with soil and compost, just kept growing up. I don't know if I did something wrong.<br /><br />Our tomatoes managed to produce fairly well, despite the blight. The end of the season was dry, so it didn't spread. We ran out of our stash of frozen tomatoes in early March.<br /><br />Our lipstick strawberries appear to be spreading nicely out front. <br /><br />We harvested some Jerusalem Artichokes last weekend and roasted them in olive oil. They were quite good.<br /><br />The peonies I planted last spring never came up. I'm hoping by some miracle they'll show themselves this spring.<br /><br />The astible I planted out front turned to dust by the end of the season, so I'm curious to see whether it will return.<br /><br />The Mexican Gherkins were fun and resistant to whatever took hold of the cukes.<br /><br /><br />Labels:<br />We had some major labeling issues, LOL. Things got shuffled about, and thereby, mislabeled, as seedlings. I thought our brandywine tomatoes were Chinese Lanterns. The brandywines grew nicely, as they were off in areas away from the rest of the tomatoes, but also not in the sunniest areas, so they didn't produce until the very, very end of the season. I also thought the Chinese lanterns were peppers. Peppers were mislabeled, as well, and, as a result, I still am not sure what was what. A couple of varieties did very well, and the rest did not. I didn't even get jalepenos in the ground, as they were the smallest of the seedlings, and what I thought were the strongest of the jalepeno seedlings were actually another variety. We will definitely be sure to avoid repeating this error as we start seeds this weekend.<br /><br />Containers:<br />Not much did very well in containers, except some peppers and basil. I presume this is due to soil quality.<br /><br />Amendment:<br />Planning on another wheelbarrow of composted cow manure from the farm where we own a cow share (I am entitled to it as part of the cow's production) and composted/fresh rabbit manure from the neighbors' rabbits.<br /><br />Beds:<br />Considering another raised bed with fresh soil, probably digging up another small bed along the fence on the top of our hill, and possibly digging up some beds along the fence on the outside.<br /><br />Wants:<br />Add to our herb garden with a few medicinal and cooking herbs (perennials). Split and move some flowers (day lilies, daisies) from back yard to front. Encourage starts from lavender. Get ahold of a hardy rosemary, as my efforts to overwinter plants indoors have had limited success.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-66987526796076003852011-03-25T09:39:00.000-07:002011-03-25T09:53:47.330-07:00Garden 2011!Prep:<br />spread 32 gallon trash can filled with composted manure from cow share ;) (early March). Intended to do this in the fall, but never did. <br /><br />I'm hoping to get some more of this in the next month (still largely frozen here at the moment). Also plan to get my wheelbarrow over to the neighbor's house. They have pet rabbits and no garden. :)<br /><br />Seed orders:<br />Pine Tree Seeds:<br />Royal Burgundy Beans<br />Cosmic Purple Carrots<br />Redbor Kale<br />Summertime lettuce<br />Red iceburg lettuce<br />super sugar snap pea<br />purple cayenne pepper<br />Dill's Atlantic Giant Pumpkin<br />Watermelon Radish<br />Golden Girl Tomato<br />Sweet Million Tomato<br />Sun Sugar Tomato<br />Peach Blow Sutton Tomato<br />Tip Off Romanesco Cauliflower<br />BasilicoFinnissimo Verde A Pal Basil<br />Italian Pepperoncini<br />Soloist Cabbage<br />Evergreen Bunching onions<br />Bunching Crimson Forest onions<br />Early Jalepeno hot pepper<br />ancho hot pepper<br />Scarlet Runner Bean<br />Ophelia Eggplant<br />Red Skin Pepper<br />Mini-Colored Popcorn<br />Dukat Dill<br />Stevia<br />French Thyme<br />Caribbean Cocktail Nasturtiums<br />Black Velvet Nasturtiums<br />Indian Summer Rudbeckia<br />German chamomile<br />Perser Mix Aster<br />Prime Time Mixture Petunias<br />Dolce Flambe Petunias<br />Purple Wave Petunias<br /><br />Gurneys:<br />Candy onion plants<br />Candy apple (red) onion plants<br />horseradish<br />rhubarbJodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-64586850101423390772010-07-15T16:32:00.000-07:002010-07-15T16:54:07.364-07:00Blight 2010So, the tomatoes are showing blight. I went out right away before we left to visit family for the 4th of July. We were gone from the 30th-5th. My neighbor kindly kept everything watered through an extremely warm spell. <br />tpray for organic gardening. I removed all diseased leaves and sprayed everything. I used the whole container, so I needed something more to treat them again this week. I picked up some copper sulfate from the hardware store, but when I read the label, realized I really didn't want to use it. The copper spray, though it doesn't say it kills bees like the powder, really didn't appear much better with regard to its safety around living things. So, after a little more research, I found <a href="http://www.dirtdoctor.com">The Dirt Doctor</a>. There is a 24.95 a year subscription fee, but I've been searching the site, and it appears lots of good info is available for free!<br /><br />According to his website, horticultural cornmeal is a good soil amendment to fight fungal disease, and it can also be made into a tea and sprayed on the plants. Tonight, feeling the need to get something on them again, I mixed up a baking soda and molasses mix (I had those items on hand) and sprayed the plants with it. I am hopeful. There are other sprays reccomended for --milk (!), compost tea, potassium bicarbonate (I guess this might be preferrable to the baking soda). I'm anxious to do more research and gather ingredients to give these things a try. I'm especially interested in the natural herbicide recipes since some dreaded Roundup has managed to make its way into our household.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-71695417239037741292010-07-15T16:17:00.000-07:002022-07-22T06:45:45.177-07:00What's going on?Er, yeah, not so good this year with the blogging. The garden is growing well. We're beginning to have a cuke or two and a handful of cherry tomatoes every day. The cukes will likely overwhelm us soon. We've got some baby melons and baby pumpkins and some beautiful peppers growing. It appears that due to a labeling snafu, we largely managed only to get some variety hot peppers into the ground. No jalapenos. We have couple of mini-bells, several Thais, a couple of one plant hasn't bloomed yet, so I have no idea what it actually is. I don't think any of the Big Bertha bells actually came up when we started plants. The peppers in the containers are doing well, the ones in the bed don't look very good. The best-looking ones are planted in a bed (of our own amended soil) up on the hill.
A massive rainstorm (about 7 inches in 24 hours) on Memorial Day washed out a bunch of flower seeds I planted, so some of our beds are pretty bare. I'm trying to do some mid-summer plantings in those spots. May as well put the space to use!
We harvested a lovely crop of carrots, around two pounds, which made me wish I had planted more. We were just getting some purple green beans(not their official name), when what was likely a vole came and ate every one of the plants to the ground over a period of about a week. He's now working his way through my runner beans, which really annoys me. The kale I planted up front has gone untouched by any critters.
Sadly, our tomatoes are showing blight. I am going to try to treat it organically, and will post about that separately.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-30821652953700957842010-05-25T17:37:00.000-07:002010-05-25T17:42:14.679-07:00First Harvest!Tonight, I harvested 6 Easter Egg Radishes! Yum! I have picked another two, each at different times, but this was the first "big" bunch. <br /><br />We received a UPS shipment from Raintree Nursery today. 1 Munstead Lavender, 1 Rosemary, 1 highbush cranberry, 1 rugosa rose, 2 hardy bamboo plants. Unfortunately, the horseradish we ordered was not available because of a mold problem. I guess even the professionals are faced with unfortunate mishaps along the way.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-77074291600929169502010-05-24T05:39:00.000-07:002010-05-24T05:42:36.167-07:00UpdateMost of the plants appear to be recovering. It will set them back, sadly, but they are doing OK. There are a few that will need to be replaced, and I have some extras I potted, so we won't have to buy plants to replace them. <div><br /></div><div>I want to dig a new bed to plant popping sorghum this week. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also planting the last of our flower seeds and will plant some more carrots and radishes and another flat of container salad greens</div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-75795925616360588082010-05-21T08:23:00.001-07:002010-05-21T08:33:02.152-07:00Stupid Garden Mistakes You Don't Want to MakeSeriously. It was cold and rainy and yucky the week after Mother's Day. Finally, on Friday, the sun came out. I put the seedlings out for a few (very mild) days (and nights), and didn't even think about the fact that that might not be enough to harden them off. Saturday, I spent the entire day outside, mowing the lawn in addition to getting all the plants in the ground. My focus, actually, was getting them into the ground because they were starting to look iffy in their cups and such, and I was concerned that after all the time babying them that they were going to die just because we hadn't put them in the ground in time. <div><br /></div><div>This was our first time raising seedlings. Well, actually our second, but the first time, Killian was born right when they needed to go in the ground (on May 10, Mother's Day, actually). Recovering from his birth and caring for our first baby was an undertaking that enveloped us fully that spring, LOL. So, the seedlings didn't fare so well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, the current seedlings aren't faring so well, either, despite going into the ground. They are all looking pretty sad. Some worse than others. I am hopeful that today's rain will give them a boost. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-10171547364834486952010-05-17T16:09:00.000-07:002010-05-17T16:18:13.932-07:00Planting!Lots and lots of planting! Most of our plants are in, and I've potted our leftovers hoping to give them a bit longer so that hopefully we can share them with someone who will use them. <div><br /></div><div>I also have seeds that still need planting, and I am slowly getting those done (after the long haul planting on Saturday). </div><div><br /></div><div>We have about 15 self-watering containers now, 6 or 7 of which we put together on Sunday. We did about 3 1 gallon containers, which are good for smaller pepper (Thai peppers and/or jalepenos) plants and basil (they would also be good for other things too, but we are using them for these). </div><div><br /></div><div>Our other containers are in the 5 gallon range, some a bit smaller (they are made from bakery/icing buckets, and not all of them are a full five gallons). Many of them are labeled by weight, and so I haven't figured out exactly what they hold volume-wise. ;)</div><div><br /></div><div>In our bigger containers:</div><div>cherry tomatoes</div><div>Minnesota Midget melons</div><div>Alibi cukes</div><div>Muncher cukes</div><div>Mexican Gherkins </div><div>peppers</div><div>Basil (regular and purple ruffle)</div><div><br /></div><div>There was a labeling snafu with the peppers, and I have no clue what's what, so we're in for a surprise later....</div><div><br /></div><div>Last year, we did strawberries, tomatoes, and basil in the containers, so we are trying some new things this year. Because the cukes are space-hogs, I am curious to see how these work.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-24961593630209683682010-05-12T13:13:00.001-07:002010-05-12T13:22:59.663-07:00Reclaimed craft project!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S-sNoqBnrTI/AAAAAAAAAoI/mtaI6dbJOoI/s1600/DSC00967.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S-sNoqBnrTI/AAAAAAAAAoI/mtaI6dbJOoI/s320/DSC00967.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481164498611506" /></a><br />It is cold and gray here today. I have plants ready to go into the ground, but we're holding off a little longer for fear of frost. Today, I found a cute idea online for a <a href="http://burlapandblueblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/wooden-welcome-sign-tutorial.html#comments">welcome sign</a>. I went out to my garage and came across a ratty piece of wood that was perfect for this purpose. It really is not something usable as lumber anymore, and it is a wonder that in the nearly eight years we've lived here that we did not just toss it out or burn it, but now I am glad we did not!<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S-sNpSNIPpI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/tz-I07S0rPc/s1600/DSC00968.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S-sNpSNIPpI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/tz-I07S0rPc/s320/DSC00968.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470481175284301458" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-28535880374156657922010-04-17T15:03:00.000-07:002010-04-17T15:06:44.393-07:00Do I need to justify hostas and bleeding hearts?No, they're not food. But I do love them. They make me smile.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-33023995794978272722010-04-17T13:33:00.000-07:002010-04-17T14:55:59.034-07:00Suprise!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8okhtfqdCI/AAAAAAAAAmw/M4fuBGk0i5A/s1600/DSC00887.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8okhtfqdCI/AAAAAAAAAmw/M4fuBGk0i5A/s320/DSC00887.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461217659706831906" /></a><br />Ben and I headed out today to clean up the beds in front of our house. They are fairly overgrown and have been well-neglected. Ben started with the raspberry bushes that have overtaken our flowers in the north bed. It seems like a shame to be pulling up raspberry bushes, but last year the berries they produced appeared to be diseased. In addition, they are simply not in an ideal location. We may later add raspberries here, but I would like them to be in a place where they can be well-trained. Next on the list was to remove the last of the myrtle planted in the bed in front of my kitchen. <div><br /></div><div>As I was getting ready to go outside, Molly brought in the mail. In it was a box of perennials from Jung! I had initially planned on putting these plants in the the bed on the other side, but since this one was ready, and it is likely the shadiest of the two, I decided to put the plants there. So, in place of the myrtle and in addition to a bleeding heart plant and the few lipstick strawberry plants that survived the winter, we have two more bleeding hearts, two hostas, and some Astible Spinell. I also sprinkled some kale and rainbow chard to fill in some spaces. We'll see if they survive up front. They might just end up rabbit food. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Also in the box were Jerusalem Artichoke tubers. I planted some in the north bed and a couple in the back yard in the bed along the house.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before:</div><div>We dumped some new soil here a week or so ago, so it probably looks better than it did originally. The big patch there is myrtle. And there's a big green fuzzy thing growing on the corner of the porch that looks like it belongs there, but it does not! </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8osSlPXNHI/AAAAAAAAAn4/NfGPqgv0JDI/s1600/DSC00839.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8osSlPXNHI/AAAAAAAAAn4/NfGPqgv0JDI/s320/DSC00839.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461226195885962354" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8oqqOC5PxI/AAAAAAAAAng/GMcuAVKw5EY/s1600/DSC00840.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8oqqOC5PxI/AAAAAAAAAng/GMcuAVKw5EY/s320/DSC00840.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461224402953256722" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><div><br /></div><div>After: </div><div>There are tulips and and some other flower that I have not yet identified that has basically naturalized here. After they are done blooming, I will move them and dig up the last of that sneaky myrtle. See the plant growing out of the bricks? Mint. Another very sneaky plant. I need to contend with it in the bed on the other side, but that will be another day...</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8oqqomER6I/AAAAAAAAAno/LE2RdsVj9zo/s1600/DSC00889.jpeg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8oqqomER6I/AAAAAAAAAno/LE2RdsVj9zo/s320/DSC00889.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461224410080102306" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a>OK, so it's not a spectacular "after." Give it a few months. The straw is where I planted half a dozen lipstick strawberries last fall. I think about three survived. Hopefully they'll be prolific. ;) <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8oqq8gp7rI/AAAAAAAAAnw/d3PJIzyeOxM/s1600/DSC00888.jpeg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S8oqq8gp7rI/AAAAAAAAAnw/d3PJIzyeOxM/s320/DSC00888.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461224415426113202" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-48768975359458944852010-04-17T08:36:00.001-07:002010-04-17T08:44:53.918-07:00New seedlings startedIt's about time for the next round of seedlings. Ben has become the resident seed-starter this year (at least indoors). This time, because we were starting some things that are harder to transplant, we started with some handy peat pots. He found a flat of them for $5 at (shhh) Walmart. <div><br /></div><div>So, more seeds started. He also smartly reminded me that I want to record where the seed was from in addition to the variety name for later reference, so I added company names to my garden journal. Yeah, I didn't put it down because I could remember it right now, but, of course, that's rather silly, because I may forget by lunch.</div><div><br /></div><div>New starts (in addition to previous listed under What We're Growing):</div><div>Burpee Organic Cucumber (Lemon)</div><div>Jung Yellow Doll Watermelon</div><div>PineTree Minnesota Midget Melon</div><div>Basil--Sweet (I think that was Bountiful Gardens/have to double check)</div><div>Basil--Purple Ruffles Territorial</div><div>Territorial Mexican Sour Gherkins</div><div>Mixed Evening Sunflower (random grocery store seeds, LOL)</div><div>Jung Belstar Broccoli</div><div>Pinetree Muncher Cukes</div><div>Pinetree Alibi Cukes</div><div>Gourney Miss Pickler Pioneer Cukes</div><div>Gourney Burpless II Cukes</div><div>Territorial Starburst Sunflower</div><div>Territorial Golden Cheer Sunflower</div><div>Gourney Terracotta Sunflower</div><div>Chinese Forget-Me-Nots (seed packet given to Liam by his 2nd grade teacher last year)</div><div>Pinetree Red Cosmos </div><div>Territorial Cosmos Mix</div><div>Select Seeds Sweet William Catchfly (freebee)</div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-797306133636412432010-04-07T14:57:00.000-07:002010-04-14T11:40:04.454-07:00Spring AT LAST!Well, the weather has been great for awhile now, but I've been distracted with dealing with the chaos that ensues when one leaves eggs to boil on the stove for slightly over an hour while she drops off recycling and goes grocery shopping, remembering that she did so while reaching for a carton of eggs. The house was filled with eggy smoke, fortunately no fire, but a cleaning crew came in and cleaned (and moved around) all of our belongings, all of the clothing and other fabric items were removed from the house, cleaned, and delivered back to us in dry cleaning bags on hangers and in boxes, and, ultimately, our kitchen was repainted completely while much of its usual contents sat in boxes on our living room floor. That said, it could have been much, much worse, and our kitchen looks awesome.<br /><br />Anyway, so not much gardening has taken place, even on beautiful sunny days, I did not find (or make) time to venture out. It's rather unfortunate, really, because it probably would have done me good.<br /><br />So, today, on one of the colder, cloudier days in recent memory, we had 4 yards of garden soil mix delivered. With it, we re-filled the raised bed that housed tomatoes last summer, topped off the second raised bed we built late last summer, and expanded our "original" garden bed (in-ground). We also added lots of fresh soil to the small, long beds I put in at the top of our hill along the fence and to our "flower" beds in the front of the house.<br /><br />The expansion portion of the bed was not dug out. I laid out cardboard, and we mounded soil on top of that. We will see how that works out.<br /><br />Little baby seedlings are growing in a flat inside. We have a variety of tomatoes and peppers. Ben took the job of seed-starter, and I took notes on how much of what varieties we started and where they were planted. We will start another bunch of seeds in another week or two (melons and a couple of others that are to be started a little later)We wound up germinating seeds twice because of the crazy that settled on our household. We just did not get the first bunch moved into the flats quickly enough. Hopefully, we didn't lose too much time. We hope to avoid buying tomatoes retail this year the interest of trying to avoid the blight that plagued<br />us (well, our tomatoes, actually) last year.<br /><br />There were a few things that overwintered in the bed along the house, which doesn't get as much sun as the main garden beds. We have several kale plants, rainbow chard, two broccoli plants and one cabbage. The broccoli and cabbage were eaten up by some seemingly invisible pests last summer, so, perhaps we'll actually have more luck with them while the weather is still cool. I assume we had cabbage worms. All I found were holes and little wet green piles of masticated (and, I assume, digested) leaves.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-79690116137752094892010-02-26T07:40:00.000-08:002010-03-02T07:47:59.429-08:00Gardening SuppliesBen picked up 2-2 packs of 50 ft. length soaker hoses for 12.99 at Costco yesterday. Total with tax: 27.54Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-30688097124758222122010-02-25T09:49:00.000-08:002010-02-25T09:58:03.266-08:00Brrr<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S4a5BcXy-FI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/CNx7lv4hAbw/s1600-h/DSC02512.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S4a5BcXy-FI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/CNx7lv4hAbw/s320/DSC02512.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442240634170832978" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>We are still in the throes of winter here. Yesterday, my dad, a few hours south of me, posted this picture, saying this is what he saw out his window.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After I sputtered with jealousy, he emailed again, letting me in on his joke:</div><div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S4a5hj0_OSI/AAAAAAAAAlY/9mkgENiZAJQ/s320/DSC06913.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442241185928132898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div>A ghostly old John Deere. There is some grass peeking through the snow, though. We don't have that here...</div></div></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-37053598413979231172010-02-24T08:16:00.000-08:002010-02-24T08:39:37.089-08:00First Seed Order of 2010We have committed ourselves to starting tomatoes from seed to help avoid the blight this year. My dad graciously has detailed his seed-starting methods and even shared an empty flat he had stored in his barn for us to use. I think it would hold something like 96 plants. We won't be starting 96 plants right now, but I suppose we have the option! I have to ask him if I can share it here, because perhaps it is privileged information he hopes to copyright or patent and sell someday. We got some suggestions from a longtime gardening friend of Ben's on tomato varieties that he has had good luck with in this area. I added some peppers. We haven't had great luck with peppers, so didn't even try any last year, but I'm hoping for better luck this year. I plan to do at least some of them in self-watering containers. I went ahead and copied and pasted the whole invoice. Last year, I did not keep track of what we spent, but figure it wouldn't be a bad idea this year. As I told someone else who was feeling guilty about spending on her garden because it didn't end up producing much in the way of food, I think the cost can also be expensed as education, entertainment, and exercise. ;)<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "></span>00112aBrandywine TomatoPacket 1$2.1000415aKelloggs Breakfast TomatoPacket 1$2.3500418aKentucky Beefsteak TomatoPacket 1$2.2500711aSunsugar Hybrid TomatoPacket 1$2.2503052aMitla Hybrid PepperPacket 1$2.7503093aThai Hot PepperPacket 1$2.3503129AChablis Hybrid PepperPacket 1$2.2503187aMini Belle Mix PepperPacket 1$1.95Subtotal:$18.25Shipping:$4.95Tax:$0.00Total:$23.20<br /><br /></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-47913559468618605022010-01-22T11:49:00.000-08:002010-01-22T11:52:47.932-08:00Coming this spring!Raintree sent an invoice.<div><br /></div><div>We have the following (some I ordered, some were bonuses) coming in the spring:</div><div>10 crowns of Jersy Knight asparagus</div><div>1 Rosa Rugosa Alba</div><div>1 P. aureosulcata Bamboo</div><div>1. Rosemary-4 inch pot</div><div>1True Grosso Lavender</div><div>1 Horsradish</div><div>1Fred Boutin Lavender</div><div>1 Highbush cranberry</div><div><br /></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-89770764191673754732010-01-15T06:47:00.000-08:002010-01-15T07:13:55.298-08:00Dirty Laundry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S1CFduf9i_I/AAAAAAAAAlA/GZwCp0t0wUg/s1600-h/DSC08551.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IwkV3f-guEk/S1CFduf9i_I/AAAAAAAAAlA/GZwCp0t0wUg/s320/DSC08551.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426984296726236146" /></a><br />Well, clean, actually. I've been intending since Labor Day to sum up my <a href="http://giftofgreen.blogspot.com/2009/03/get-ready-gog-clothesline-challenge.html">Clothesline Challenge</a>. From May 29-Labor Day Weekend, I did 108 loads of laundry. Forty-eight of them were line-dried. I didn't quite make my goal of 50%. It was cold and rainy at the end of this summer, and I thought I'd get out and improve my percentage after Labor Day, but, honestly, I didn't. I may have dried 2 or 3 more loads before the weather got yucky. <div><br /></div><div>Other laundry--</div><div>I did not count, in these totals, 4 outdoor furniture cushions that I washed in the washer and were dried outside, 4 loads of laundry that Ben did, nor 2 loads of laundry I did at my mother-in-law's house while we were on vacation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thoughts--</div><div>I love laundry dried on the line. I love seeing the clothes flapping in the breeze. I love seeing the different sizes of my kids clothes all lined up. I love the smell of clothes dried on the line. Tried doing towels, but, yeah, prefer not to. Usually dried those with underwear, etc. in the dryer. I did hang kitchen towels and beach towels. I made my line bigger(it's not attractive) part way into the summer. I have a large-capacity front loader, so a load included a lot of laundry. I would like to get a better line, but what I have works, although I would need a different system in order to really up my percentages. I can't generally dry more than one load at a time, and with 6 people in my house, being able to dry more than one load would be advantageous. Benefits? Yummy-smelling clothes, fewer wrinkles, cooler house, cheaper electric bill, an excuse to be outside. </div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-57180564308751450062010-01-15T06:27:00.001-08:002010-01-15T06:46:41.842-08:00Pouring through the seed catalogs...Working to make a realistic plan and not overdo the seed purchases...Everything looks lovely.<div><br /></div><div>On the list, but not specifics yet--</div><div><br /></div><div>Early season tomatoes in addition to some later ones--we're hoping to start these from seeds this year because it is our understanding that the blight came from the nursery tomatoes.</div><div><br /></div><div>pickling cukes </div><div><br /></div><div>potatoes</div><div><br /></div><div>>>I need to do some research and we need to take some precautionary measures regarding disease with these due to last year's problems. This will include some new soil. </div><div><br /></div><div>In self-watering containers--</div><div>bush cukes</div><div>mini eggplants </div><div>mini melons</div><div>mini bell peppers</div><div>basil</div><div><br /></div><div>Other-</div><div>pumpkins of some sort (have a couple of different types of seeds already)</div><div>radishes</div><div>onions, particularly scallions</div><div>garlic</div><div>horseradish</div><div>thyme</div><div>broccoli--probably a couple different varieties</div><div>cauliflower</div><div>lettuce</div><div>spinach</div><div>turnips</div><div>carrots</div><div>sunflowers</div><div><br /></div><div>snap peas</div><div>peas</div><div>peppers</div><div>---again need to do research here--we've never had good luck with peas or peppers. I'm hoping a self-watering container will help with the peppers. </div><div><br /></div><div>flowers/herbs (some for companion planting)</div><div>borage</div><div>nasturtiums</div><div>sunflowers</div><div>poppies (a couple varieties--we love these)</div><div>hollyhock</div><div>calendula</div><div>lavender </div><div><br /></div><div>Hoping our perennials come back strong this spring.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also have some other things coming this spring that I ordered back in July from <a href="http://www.raintreenursery.com/">Raintree</a>. I have an email in to them to confirm what's coming, because I can't remember anymore, LOL.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-33896620436163290722009-12-11T14:32:00.000-08:002009-12-11T15:00:13.509-08:00Fall PlantingsSo, obviously, it's been awhile. I guess at some point, I just ran out of steam. The garden continued producing, might actually still give up some treasures if I should venture out and dig them out from under the snow, but, most likely, we are done for the season. Up until just a week ago (December 3), we were still harvesting some lettuces, a few radishes, and turnips from our garden. Turnips are new to me. I've never eaten them before. I like them. I've eaten them raw and roasted with potatoes and carrots. Not everyone here shared my enjoyment of them, but I'm thinking if I prepare them right, more might. They grew heartily this fall when nothing else really managed. It didn't really freeze until late, but was unusually cold. Of my fall plantings, they were the only things that really produced, aside from the second-to-the-last planting of lettuce. The raised beds, which were left untouched by rabbits in the spring, were feasting grounds (apparently, I never actually witnessed them) in the fall. I imagine those bunnies greatly enjoyed those precious radish, lettuce, and carrot seedlings when everything else was dying off or had grown too tough for their liking. <br /><br />Also planted this fall, 3 lingonberry bushes, 3 blueberry bushes, half a dozen lipstick strawberries. The berry bushes are dwarf varieties that we are hoping will eventually spread and serve as groundcover on the hill. The lipstick strawberries are a shade variety with bright pink flowers. They are apparently not especially prolific producers, but I am hoping to fill in an area previously covered in myrtle in the front beds of the house. Hopefully, all of these and numerous new shoots from the strawberry plants we grew last summer will tolerate the winter. <br /><br />Now, our garden beds and new plantings are covered in over a foot of snow. I am already thinking and planning for next year. Unfortunately, I didn't get the garlic and horseradish I had hoped to plant this fall. <br /><br />I got a few seed packets when I ordered the fall plants and also pre-ordered a few things for spring planting. I can't even remember now what I ordered, LOL. I know there was bamboo in there.<br /><br />I hope to post soon on our lessons learned this season.Jodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208878360743383363.post-89271186739981054292009-09-16T12:25:00.000-07:002009-09-16T13:01:30.123-07:00Slowing down...Things have certainly slowed down here. The corn plants (now empty of corn) are turning brown, the sunflowers as well. The cukes are nearly done. The lettuce continues, kale, cabbage and broccoli, though the broc and cabbages have been chewed up (I've never seen the culprit), and I'm not expecting much from them. We have some new sprouts--turnips growing quickly, little baby lettuces and spinach, baby onion sprouts, radishes. I'm not sure that the peas are going to do much. The snap peas are spindly and I am beginning to think that's just how they grow, but I always picture a big, bushy plant. Only a couple of the replanted peas have come up, and one of the original planting died, so there are maybe four plants. <br /><br />The solstice is near. Today is cool. Lows are predicted in the 40s tonight. I don't know how far out we'll get without frost, I am hopeful, but not counting on much from here on out. I harvested all but one of our second planting of carrots, gathered enough scarlet runner beans for tonight's dinner (this took about a week, LOL), and pulled the last few little ears of corn left. So, that's pretty much the end of it. There are still the seedlings, but it will be some time before we see anything from them. The rest of the scarlet runner beans will be allowed to mature, and I'll throw them in soup or something. The beans are pretty and the kids will enjoy that even if they don't eat them. There may still be a few cukes left, definitely some salads, one beautiful rainbow chard plant that I haven't brought myself to harvest anything from yet, plenty of kale. Soon, we will take down the sunflowers and corn. I hope to make a shock with our corn for decoration. I will save some calendula seeds, though I am betting I won't need to plant any since they have been so prolific that they will probably reseed themselves. <br /><br />We also have to prep for blueberries, lingonberries, strawberries, and bamboo coming in October. At least I think I do. I placed an order for some things, and some of them will come in the spring and some this fall. I did not keep track of what was coming when. So, I guess it will be a surprise. :0PJodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01186305185397341599noreply@blogger.com0