My Recent Endeavors!

I'm really enjoying our new little home. Here are just a few of the things I've been busy with lately. Canning has been big on my to-do list. I've made a few jars of pickles and plenty of jam, including strawberry, strawberry-peach, and strawberry-rhubarb. I even tried my hand at some plum jam from all the plums off our tree and I must say that it turned out quite tasty! I also made a large jar of cranberry sauce for the holidays, and oh, did the house smell heavenly after that one. In addition to canning, I've processed and frozen several batches of zucchini and rhubarb for breads and pies this winter. Tomorrow I'll be peeling, slicing, and canning the numerous bags of pears that came off our tree. Whee!!

As for the rest of the garden, our cool summer hasn't been the best for production (of course, neither was transplanting). I've gotten a grand total of 4 pumpkins, a handful of cucumbers, and a few tomatoes. There should be a good 8 or so small cantaloupe to harvest here in a bit. But when we moved, I had to leave behind my snap peas, pole beans, corn, and two gigantic tomato plants. I am sure that whoever rented that house is loving them. As for my green peppers and jalapenos? I got two small ones from each plant. Ah, well, there is always next year. Oh, and see that shed back there behind the garden? I've been moving wood from the fence to that shed. I've still got a bit to do, but I'd guess that we have almost enough wood to last us through the season. That should really help us cut down on heating costs... and cooking costs, since I can throw pots of soup/stew on the top of the stove as well.

I've been loving our outdoor clothes-drying rack. But, given our apparent lack of summer and early arrival of fall, I decided to string up some lines in the basement. Here's hoping that they'll dry quickly enough when the weather is cool and damp.

My next project? Building a chicken coop with all the scraps of lumber that were strewn all over the yard. That's right, we'll be getting chickens. Not only will we not have to run to the store for eggs, but we'll save on waste since chickens love table scraps.

Hmmmm, and should we add a puppy to the mix? I don't know, but one of my longest and dearest friends just announced that her dog had 8 puppies. It's tempting....

Gratituesday

Today (and every day) I am so thankful for my kids. With all that we had to go through to get them here safely, they are such a miracle.

I am also grateful for my garden, for Gleaner's, and for David's job, through which God gives us all that we need. Here is yesterday's garden harvest!

And I am always thankful for good food. Yum!

This post has been linked to Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers. What are you thankful for today?

Gardening Update (and a bit on the house)

I'm really enjoying my garden these days, especially as things begin bearing fruit. There is something very satisfying about preparing dinner with veggies from your own back yard. We made some simple boxes with untreated boards and filled them with a trailer load of fill dirt. Too bad we are moving now, because that was a lot of work! I haven't quite decided if/how I am going to transfer all of my plants, but I'll do my best to keep them alive and productive. Meanwhile, I'll be tending the garden as well as I can. I've started using some organic pesticides, such as sluggo and some insect killer, which seems to have helped. Although, some little bugs (aphids?) are still getting at my broccoli and brussel sprouts. The slugs are completely gone now, so that makes me really happy!

Out front is the main garden:

In the pots are two tomato plants and my herbs.

The first box has chard, purple onions, and green onions.

The second box has carrots, beets, and 4 cucumber plants.

To the side of those boxes are 3 pots of lettuce and 3 pots of spinach.

In the second row, I planted two broccoli plants and two cauliflower plants.

Next to that are two jalapenos, two green peppers, chard, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, and cabbage.

On the bottom row is another tomato plant.

And next to that is my corn, some of which has been eaten by critters, but is looking quite a bit healthier now.

And next to the corn, I planted cantaloupe, strawberries, and yet another tomato plant.

The back yard plants are doing really well, too:

Here is my corner area with zucchini, pumpkin, kale, and (more) beets.

Along the fence are my fava beans, which are now taller than the fence with a good crop of beans maturing on them.

Here are my snap peas, which are also quite a bit taller and making nice little peas for us to munch on.

And lastly, the green beans, which are about twice this size now!

As for the house, closing is set to happen on the 15th, barring any complications with the appraisal. Lots of work is getting done on the house this week and next, so things are moving along nicely. We've decided to wait on finishing the basement so we can save our money and avoid paying interest on that project. We will, however, be hiring someone to help us paint the interior, mostly because I am not going to have the time to do it with all the packing, unpacking, and caring for 3 kiddos. As soon as everything is painted and cleaned, I'll be posting more pics. I'm really excited about our first home!

Project Overload!

The past few days have been ultra-busy with all sorts of projects and outings.

Thursday we headed out for a play-date with a good friend. And Charlotte drew on the table with a sharpie... what an artist!


Friday we went to OMSI (our local science museum) with my dad. We had a picnic on the grass and then the girls enjoyed playing in the children's area. They have a big sand box with lots of toys, a woodland animal dress-up area with logs, trees, tunnels, and costumes, a wooden block play area, buckets with pulleys that are filled with beanbags... and more. They had a blast.

Saturday we did some work around the house, some grocery shopping, and in the evening we fired up our new charcoal grill and made burgers for ourselves, my parents, and David's brother.

Sunday we had church, then Dorothy went to a Mary Kay party and then to Home Depot to scope out some wood for our planter boxes. We had a nice mommy-daughter date :).

Yesterday I made some cookies and took them over to my friend who is about to have a baby. We've been friends for as long as I can remember, and she'll be my first client as a Doula-in-training! My doula bag is all packed and ready to go.

We also made some puppets yesterday morning! Are you ever frustrated with all the kids' stuffed animals and how much space they take up? Well, simply cut a hole in the behind of the animal and pull out the stuffing (the kids LOVE helping with that part).

The animal will look rather flat...

But it will be perfect for little imaginations and some really fun puppet shows. We made about 8 puppets yesterday and the kids were thrilled.

When we got home yesterday, David ran over to Home Depot to get our raised garden bed supplies. We're in a rental, so we didn't drop the money for the cedar, which would have been about 3 times the cost. We just got some untreated 2 x 8's cut up... enough to make 6 beds that are about 3 ft. by 5 ft. Along with the screws, it was maybe $60 tops, which I think is pretty good for 6 large beds! We put them together last night after the kids were asleep. Today I'll be digging out the area where they'll be resting as well as transplanting most of the veggies that are currently in pots. I'll get pics as soon as it's all set up! We're also going to be planting pumpkin, corn, strawberries, basil, and mint in addition to what we've got already.

As for this morning, I'm working on cleaning the house and getting our roast in the crockpot for tonight.

If I'm lucky, I'll sneak in a 5-minute shower. Happy Tuesday!

My Garden is Growing!

As promised, I spent part of the afternoon taking pictures of my garden yesterday. So, here's the scoop on how things are growing.

In the garage I still have one tomato plant, two green peppers, and three jalapenos.

Out front is the bulk of the garden. I've lined everything up along the side of the driveway in various pots, buckets, and boxes.

First I have two tomato plants. Although I am sad to say that shortly after I took this picture, the poor tomatoes wilted! I don't know what happened, as the transplant was so gentle, but I think I may have to re-plant these outside if they don't perk up. A lot of my other veggies took second tries outside, too.

Next is the herb box, which currently has parsley and rosemary (purchased at church). I'm also planning on planting some basil and cilantro in there. Beside that is a green pepper, which was also a starter I bought at church.

After that I have 4 broccoli plants (from church)...

and 4 cauliflower plants (from church).

In pots next to that are spinach and cabbage...

lettuce and kohlrabi...

brussel sprouts and green onions...

and torpedo onions and chard.

I also planted some carrots and cucumbers at the end, but those still need to germinate.

In the back yard I planted pole beans along one portion of the fence...

snap peas in two smaller sections...

and the fava beans are sprouting quite nicely along the fence, too!

Finally, I have planted some things in the corner of the yard where the grass isn't growing. Here are the beets...

and the kale.

To the left of the kale will be my zucchini and winter squash. And here is my little helper!

First Harvest of 2011

Yesterday afternoon was bright and sunny, so I decided to check on my garden and work on some things. I transplanted my tomatoes and pepper plants, as well as planting some carrots and cucumbers in pots. The gardening is going well so far for my first time.

I was also able to harvest my first bunch of spinach!

Which we used in our green smoothies (to go with our buttermilk whole wheat pancakes-yeah, we like breakfast for dinner).

How Does My Garden Grow?

(Photo Credit)
Well, it's hit and miss so far. Some of the plants I started indoors aren't doing so well outside in their pots. As those break or wither, I am planting new seeds in hopes that they'll do better being outside from the start. A few of them are still alive, but many of them aren't/ My onions still look good, though. Also, my tomatoes, green peppers, and jalepenos are transferred to bigger containers, but are still indoors. They'll probably go outside in about a month or so depending on the weather. They're still doing good.

Over the weekend I got down to business outside. I filled and planted several pots with spinach, lettuce, green onions, and one other thing I am blanking on at the moment. I'll blame that on mommy brain. I also tended to the plants that aren't doing as well, which are my kohlrabi, cabbage, and brussel sprouts. In the back yard, I tilled some ground up and planted fava beans, beets, and kale. Now I'll just be watering and waiting for them to grow!