the garden

borage in bloom

After a very successful spring garden, my summer garden is creeping along.  There is nothing ready out there.  I have tons of green tomatoes, lots of baby peppers, and squash and cuke blooms, but nothing ready to eat.  I am so thankful for the recently opened Home Sweet Farm Market where I can get farm fresh goodies until my garden kicks into action (this is also where I am selling all of my goods- cough, cough)!  And don't even get me started on the stink bugs!  I am out every night picking off stink bugs and throwing them into a bucket of water as I go.  Oh, the smell!  As Moonpie tells me "well, they don't call them stink bugs for nothin'!".

This year I have really tried to focus on my herb growing skills.  The growing isn't the hard part, it's the knowing when and what to harvest.  This book always helps in that journey for me, but it's a learning curve none the less.  So far in the healing garden I have borage (as pictured above), lemon balm, comfrey, sage, mint, and st. John's wort.  I attempted to grow some echinacea by seed, but to no avail.  I am determined for next year!

And with all of this that is going on, and not going on (I'm looking at you green beans!), I am talking with a goat farm about adding two doelings to our backyard mini farm!  I am so excited and a bit afraid.  Like I am probably getting in over my head.  I never can leave well enough alone!  I am currently looking into mini La Manchas with their cute little elf ears!  Any advice regarding these girls would be greatly welcomed!

don't wait

my current spring garden

Anyone else out there dreaming about their own little piece of land?  Somewhere out of town with enough room for chickens and goats and pig and bees?  Maybe enough woods to get lost in, but enough sunshine for a garden?  Oh, and a meandering creek to explore!  Cannot forget the creek!

This is my dream.  

But I learned a while back that I don't have to wait to live my dreams.  My just right property may never come.  My life outside of town may just never happen.  I decided in our last home to just jump in.   To dig up the front yard and plant gardens.  To add chickens to the back.

And now we are in a home that we do not own.  I have not let that stop me.  I may not be building on our forever property, but I'm not going to let that keep me from planting.  I have blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes coming in.  Those are things that are supposed to sustain you forever.  For us, it may not be that long.  I didn't want to wait!  

one of our girls getting broody!

We have our chickens.  We have our garden.  We are waiting for fall to add a flock of meat birds, and maybe some dairy goats.  Please let there be dairy goats!

If you are stuck in an apartment with no yard, and wishing for a little extra space...don't wait!

If you are living in the suburbs and dreaming of small town living...don't wait!

If you are in the middle of the city and thinking that you need just a bit more space...don't wait!

the urban community garden begun by my mother in law in downtown Houston

If you are living in small town America where the neighbors will surely talk...don't wait!

By beginning your homesteading journey now you will be living out your dream.  Put the books down and jump in with both feet!  The only regret you will have is not starting sooner!  Trust me- I know this from experience.

Everything doesn't have to be just right.  It doesn't have to be your forever place.  Begin experiencing the life you want right now!

a basking bee on one of our spinach plants

Don't wait!

the garden

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a dad that gardened. In my high school years especially, he had a garden almost as big as our backyard. The first time I saw a striped tomato, or a purple one, was in my own backyard.

We have been in our current home for over a year now, and I feel like the soil is just getting better and better! We have already been harvesting from our spring beds. We are having higher yields at this point in the season than we ever have gotten.

And even though I've had my own garden for the past 12 or so years, the feeling I get when I harvest is the same as the first time. I feel so sufficient and confident. I can produce food for my family! Yep- that never gets old. 

What's in the spring garden: 

kale 

arugula (lots of arugula)

spinach 

mini red romaine lettuce 

mini green romaine lettuce 

onions 

carrots 

snow peas 

radishes 

I am going to put in beets and swiss chard today, because I forgot to plant them initially. It is probably too late, but I never let that stop me!

first day of school

The plan was to learn about the moon.  But we got more excited about our fall garden!  I love teaching on the fly! It's really one of my favorites because we are all caught up in the moment, excited about what we are doing.

Here Moonpie is making our seed tray with toilet paper tubes.  We cut the base in fours and folded it in, then placed it in an egg crate to help hold it all together.  This is an upgrade over my usual egg carton seedling plan.  The thought is that I can plant these tubes straight in the ground without disturbing the seedling's delicate root system.  I'm not sure that it matters, but these tubes came from 7th Generation toilet paper.  Their tubes are not as thick as standard tp tubes are.  But again, I don't think it really matters.  They will all eventually break down.

We dug some soil up out of the newly turned garden plot.  Buddy filled up our tubes.  This is before we decided that a spoon would do a better job!

Buddy and I planted seeds while Gingersnap helped by bumping our arms with his head continually and scattering seeds all over the deck.

Moonpie worked on labels.

And kitty duty.

After all of the seeds were tucked in, we went inside to start a garden journal.  I quickly made sheets on the computer with lines and space to draw.  While we were journaling the discussion came up about cilantro seeds being coriander.  I pulled out the mortar and pestle so we could make our own coriander. We then compared our dried cilantro and ground coriander from the pantry.

Here is a peek at Moonpie's journaling page.  I have to say that I am super impressed by her writing!  When I asked her how she knew how to use a colon and commas when listing (a skill that we haven't covered yet) she said "I read a LOT mom!".  What a good reminder!  I used to tell my students the more you read, the better you'll write.  Learning is all so holistic!  She pointed this out so clearly to me.

This morning we are going to go out and plant some zinnia seeds in the new garden.  We will journal about it when we get back in.  I keep a garden journal to help me remember what I planted when, how it did, what kind of care I gave it, etc.  Allowing the children to have their very own gardening journals allows them to practice their writing skills in a very real world situation.  It is a twaddle free (to quote Charlotte Mason) approach to writing that they find fulfilling and exciting.

when to call in the big guns

This week I have found some unwanted visitors in the garden.  We found not one, but two black widow spiders on a tomato plant.  What the what???  I have never seen a black widow out in the open air, sunning on a leaf.  They are usually in places like the corners of sheds, under a stack of logs, not climbing up a tomato plant.  She was very pretty, but she ended up under my boot.  Now we are extra cautious when picking tomatoes, always looking for signs of webs.

And then there was this guy that I found this morning.  If you're thinking "wow, that looks really big, but it must be the close up zoom of Mandi's awesome new camera", you'd be wrong my friend (about the size, not about the camera- it really is awesome!).  This tomato hornworm is over 3 inches long!  And it is the perfect green of a tomato plant.  Can you believe I nearly missed seeing something this monstrous?

I have not used one conventional spray on my plants ever.  I usually smash stink bugs after picking each one off.  I feed caterpillars and grubs to the chickens.  But when I saw this guy I realized that I may have a real problem on my hands.  If left alone, horn worms can knock out the whole crop very fast.  So I turned to the big guns- Bt Worm Killer.  Bt is technically safe to use in organic gardens, but it was still unsettling to me.  Anything near the "poison" category makes me nervous!

You may have seen hornworms in your garden too.  They actually start out very small, like a normal caterpillar.  If undetected they can get between 3-4 inches long.  They typically munch on leaves, but this guy had eaten half of one of my mortgage lifter tomatoes.  Mortgage lifters weigh about a pound each.  Each!  He had eaten a half a pound of tomato over night!


Have you found any monsters in the garden lately?  Do tell!


Please come back on Monday.  I have an exciting project that I need your crafty selves to help me with!

garden tour

I have been so busy in the garden this season that I haven't really had the time to blog about it!  This is my first year planting by rows - I usually plant in raised beds.  This is also the largest garden I have ever planted.  We have so much room here in our new home that I am able to have melons and pumpkins and corn!  Here are some Glamour Shots of my garden (minus the upturned collars and sailor hats) :

The corn is coming in nicely.  It is already taller than Buddy (a fact that he is very excited about!).

We planted an heirloom sweet corn. I can't wait for it to be ready!

Bell peppers.  Lots and lots of bell peppers.

3 varieties of basil

12 varieties of tomatoes!  I'm a little crazy about tomatoes!

Pickling cucumbers

Patty pan squash

This is my first year to ever be successful in growing acorn squash.  Can I get a what what?!?

Rogue tomato plant growing out of my compost.  Look how healthy and lush it is.  There is nary a stink bug on it, unlike my tomatoes I planted on purpose.  Argh.  What's the opposite of getting a what what?  Insert that here...

Esperanza and lantana- just being lovely and inviting pollinators in.

An unwelcomed visitor

Morning harvest

The Ladies waiting for yucky tomatoes to be tossed over the fence

I'm linking up to the garden tour with Jennifer Rizzo

setting in

this rose bush was the only living thing on the lot
when we moved into our old house

Our recent move has started feeling not so recent any more.  We are feeling at home and very comfortable in our new town, our new church, our new home.  We love that we are close enough to our old town to still see friends, run into people we know at the store, and make it to story time at the library every now and then!

my calendula was doing so well!  I was very pleased!

Our house has been on the market since December, but has seen very little foot traffic.  We get tons of internet hits, but only one couple has taken the bite and actually scheduled a showing.  They went out yesterday to see the house, and we are still waiting for some feedback from that visit.  I found myself speaking blessings over their visit all day- "They are going to love the way the light dances across the hardwood floors", "they are going to love the giant closet in the kid's old room", "they will love the butler's pantry" etc.  This was better than my original thinking of "Oh!  I hope they don't mind paneling popping off of the walls!", or "Dang- our backyard looks rough!".  Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

the rosemary was out of control!  I wanted to pack all that
goodness up in my pocket and bring it back home with me!

We went to the house this week to prep it for the showing.  It is empty, but we wanted to work on the yard a bit and dust the place.  While sweeping the rooms, my mind was playing tricks on me.  I could see my couch, our baskets of books (everywhere!  Oh the baskets lining the base boards in that tiny house!), and children running in and out of the door.  When I walked into the kid's old room to give it a good sweep, I was overcome with feelings.  We bought that house when Buddy was six weeks old!  I could see his little crib in the corner, hear his little knees swooshing on the floor as he crawled across the room to me.  I could see Moonpie in tutus and wings dancing around their room.  I could see their bigger selves jumping on beds and snuggling up together at bed time.  It finally settled into my heart that we were really done.  Not just with the house, but with that season of our life.  And as wistful as I can get about my two bitties not being so bitty anymore, I'm also comforted to know that this home we are now in is the perfect one for this season of our life.

possible garden plans (still in revision)

And we are making plans!  We spent some time the other night mapping out what we wanted to see happen in the garden.  Moonpie has an up and coming egg business, and Buddy is going to help with market garden we have planned.

Buddy's market stand

Market garden!  I am beside myself!  The goats and the bees are on the back burner for now as we focus on the work of the garden, expanding the bunny yard and setting up for the chickens.

Moonpie's proposed bunny area

I know that this isn't our forever home (we do not own it), but for this season of our life it is just right.

planting

We have recently moved away from our original, tiny town homestead onto a larger lot in a smaller town!  Whew- that was a mouthful!  Let's hear it for the run-on sentence!

Our yard here is H-U-G-E!  We actually have space to divide the yard into a garden/ chicken/ bee yard and a living/ playing space.  I can't even believe that!  This is an excited girl!

There are going to be some new challenges for me in this space.  I am used to gardening in clay soil and my new yard looks like the beach.  The soil here is so sandy.  Most of my gardening dollars this year are going to be spent on building up the nutrient poor soil.  Soil health is the single most important thing in the health of the garden.  About 10 years ago my dad gave me Howard Garrett's (the Dirt Doctor) book and it has been the single most important gardening book I have ever read.  Only because at that time, I hadn't put much thought into the soil.

This weekend I had the chance to start some seeds in my fancy leftover egg cartons.  Like I said, my money this year needs to go towards healthy soil, so I determined to use seeds I already had on hand, and "seed trays" that were cheap and easy to come by.

I planted seeds and jotted them down in my gardening journal, along with the date and soil type.

So far I have planted:

tomatillo verde (2 plants)
striped Roma tomato (3)
Mary Robinson's German Bi-color tomato (2)
Purple Russian tomato (2)
Dad's Sunset tomato (1)
Turkish orange eggplant (1)
Thai yellow egg eggplant (1)
Florida Market eggplant (1)
Rotunda Bianca eggplant (1)
purple jalapeno (1)
Tam jalapeno (1)
Pasilla Bajio hot pepper (1)
green bell pepper (2) - seeds I saved from last year
banana pepper (2)
broccoli (5)

I need to procure some early girl tomato seeds and a cherry tomato seed and I think I'll be set in the tomato department.  I'd also love some red and yellow bell peppers.  Those are Moonpie's favorite.  I may even have to pay the dollar to get some.  Sound the trumpets.

And would you look at this?  My new house has window sills to put seeds on!  Oh, that makes my heart happy!

Some gardening links:

USDA hardiness zone  You must start here!  The USDA has released a new hardiness zone map.  I'm 8b now.  Who knew?  (thanks to Root Simple for this information)

Sprout Robot This is a great tool (shared by my buddy Heather)!  You can type in your zip code and they will email you about which seeds to start and when to start them.  They even have additional tips next to each plant if you need it.  This is a great resource!  Thanks Heather!


Square foot gardening  If you live in a small space, or just want to start small, this a great resource.  In our last home, this book was my go to guide.

Baker Creek Seeds

Have you gotten your hands dirty yet?  What have you started?

out with the old

zinnias from our garden.  my absolute favorite flower.

We are in the midst of the worst drought Texas has seen in 100 years.  In our rural town there hasn't been much talk about water conservation, however I cannot help but be moved in that direction.  In that light, we decided that our small garden was not producing enough to warrant the amount of water being used on it.  So yesterday morning, before we hit 107 degrees, I harvested the last little handful of tomatoes and tore out the garden.  Today I hope to spread some rabbit droppings and let things sleep for a while.  In the mean time, we will get seedlings going for the fall, and pray that the season shift will usher in the rain we so desperately need.

When it comes to raised beds and tilling up a big spot in the yard, there are definite pros and cons to both.  The biggest con to raised beds in my experience has been the amount of water they require to keep things hydrated.  I look at what our CSA farm is accomplishing, how they are still cranking out food like nobody's business while only watering a couple of times per week.  I am so proud of the work they have put into their farm. Our farm!  They are a living example to me on the importance of working the soil consistently.  And how organic really is the best way to go.

Today I end our summer garden chapter.  It is always so exciting to look ahead and dream for fall.

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Grain/ sugar fast- day 2

By the end of the day yesterday I felt exhausted.  My head felt cloudy and my body felt achey.  I was in bed by 7 pm!  Not for good, but really useless after that.  I woke up this morning feeling like I wasn't ready to get out of bed, a bit congested, but clear headed.

What we ate:

B- blueberry, cherry and raw milk smoothie

L- lentils cooked in chicken stock, ginger carrots, spinach salad with cucumber and tomato
     shot of green juice (kale, cucumber, green apple)

D- leftover chicken spiced up for tacos, sauteed bell peppers and onion, avocado, tomato, sour yogurt, wrapped in lettuce leaf.  Black beans on the side.

I want to note that the kids felt the effects yesterday.  They complained all day of not feeling well, and were pretty crabby.  I heard things like "why can't I just have ONE sucker???  They're ORGANIC!!!".  Mmm-hmm.  They are wanting some sugar pretty bad!  There is a lot of fruit being consumed around here by those two!

the frugal garden

I've been busy working on a guest post for a friend, and have been neglecting this space here.  I'm talking about living frugally while living naturally over there (not posted yet), so frugal living has really been on my mind.  It's one of those things that is just so tied into our everyday living that it was hard for me to put words to it.  Does that ever happen to you?  But I must say, it is always a welcome gift to actually think through the why I do what I do.  I started looking through all of the areas of our day to day living, looking for glimpses of frugal living.

In the flurry of harvesting and putting up produce this time of year, sometimes it is easy to overlook one of the most frugal uses of our garden bounty.  Saving the seeds.  I was thinking about this yesterday when I was cutting up some cantaloupes a friend brought over from his garden.  The peel was to go to the chickens, the fruit was to go in our bellies, and the seeds were to be saved for next year's garden.  Not one part of this fruit was going unused!

I do this with most of the veggies and fruit that I get locally (whether through my own garden or the gardens of friends).  Store bought fruits and veggies are often hybrid, so their seeds are not viable options for saving.

To save the seeds, I simply remove all of the fruit or vegetable matter (sometimes this calls for a thorough rinsing) and lay out on a paper towel to dry.  Once the seeds are completely dry I move them to seed saving tubes, or envelopes.  I clearly label each little package with the name, the date, and where the seed came from.  I'm sentimental that way.  I like to be able to say, "those are my daddy's tomatoes".

It is wonderful to be able to plant an entirely free garden patch.  Or, it is a good way to free up some money to buy some wonderfully different variety of vegetable from the seed catalog.  Those are nearly impossible to resist!

lessons from a flower

image credit: here

It was before bed time, the sky was pink and dusky blue, begging us for some time.  The kids and I set out, out walking the day light, reaching the fallen tree by the time the sky was newly dark.  On our way we passed flowers planted along the park perimeter, and were passed by pick-up trucks- one after another.  We filled my pockets with dead flower heads and a couple of live ones too.
We turned back, following street lights and the rhythmic sounds of hip-hop - the sounds that play a back drop to our gardening, our play, our laundry hanging- the sounds that lead us home.  Hip-hop, R&B, rap...
We returned home with Buddy on my back and Moonpie carrying the bouquet we wove together on our journey.
Buddy busied himself with flower arranging, and I began the task of collecting seeds.  The black-eyed Susans handed over their seeds happily, dropping them by the dozens on the kitchen island.  I pulled out my seed saving tubes, wrote out the labels, and tucked the seeds away with a smile.  Easy, satisfying work.
Until I came to the echinacea.
She guarded her seeds fiercely with prickles that kept digging into my fingers.  I marveled out how desperately she held onto her seeds when she was designed to eventually have to let them go.  That is the point of flowers after all (so my botany professor taught me), to spread more seed and guarantee that the species will go on.
And of course, viewing all things through mama eyes I thought of my own seeds.  My two little lovelies.  And I could commiserate with this plant.  Wanting so badly to hold on, to protect, fully knowing that one day they must go on - and I must let go.

summer is for gardens and salad

this is the second post in the summer is for salads series.  if you'd like another great recipe check out this post.

our pumpkin plant.  so far we have one little lovely coming in!

 Our garden has done really well this year.  Better than years past.  I think the deep mulching really has paid off.

I planted pumpkins earlier this year than I usually do.  Which means I'll have pumpkins way before halloween.  But I'm ok with that, as long as I have pumpkins!  I've never had a successful pumpkin patch because I've tried to time it with halloween (planting seeds on the 4th of July).  This year I planted them in May and we already have one little punkin coming in!  I'm thrilled!

glorious basil!  remember to pick those sweet flowering heads off for better yield.

 And the basil!  The faithful companion to the tomato.  I love, love basil and cannot get enough of it.  Which is a good thing.  Because we have tons of it!  The taste of summer to me is basil and tomatoes.  We have harvested 4 pounds of grape tomatoes alone this year!  That has been such a yummy treat!  And one of my favorite sights this summer has been Buddy running into the house with his shirt pulled up into a pouch, overflowing with tomatoes.  He exclaims "mama, I have a surprise for you!" every single time.  That boy...

baby japanese eggplant

 Wee japanese eggplant.  We have only harvested four eggplants so far.  For some reason my plants can only produce one at a time.

 Onto the salad.  This salad is the taste of summer.  Oh!   I think I'll call it that so it will sound fancy.  Introducing THE TASTE OF SUMMER SALAD!!!

You will need:

3 cucumbers
3 tablespoons of plain yogurt ( I really like Greek yogurt in this)
handful of grape tomatoes
dill
salt
pepper
and some fresh parsley ( if you want it to be pretty )

Mix it all up and call it done!  Best after it is chilled in the refrigerator for an hour or so.  Or even the next day.  Go nuts.

I am really enjoying having salads already made and ready to go in the fridge.  They are so easy pack up for a picnic, or have at home after a long bike ride or time spent in the garden.

let's talk about mulch

I know.  What can be more exciting than a post about mulch?  The sad thing is, I get kind of excited about mulch!  I feel like now that I understand the purpose of mulching, that I have arrived at some sort of gardening milestone.  So let's discuss it, shall we?

What is mulching?

When I speak of mulch, I am speaking of it more in the verb sense than in the noun sense.  To mulch is to put some sort of top covering over the soil and around the stems of your plants.

Why mulch?

There are several reasons to mulch.  It's actually a crucial step in gardening.  Mulch is good for insulating roots and soil in the colder months and keeping them cool in hotter months.  Mulch keeps moisture in, keeps weeds out, prevents disease, and enriches the soil.  I read an article recently that cited research by Texas A&M University.  According to their findings, well-mulched gardens can yield up to 50% more veggies than an unmulched garden space.  Fifty percent!?!  That is huge!  I put a lot of work into my soil this year before the seeds and starters went in.  I certainly don't want to waste all of that by skipping this step.

It is already very hot here (it got up to 98 degrees today).  I knew that I couldn't put off mulching for many more days, so Monday I got to work.

The girls in their coop.  See Blackberry back there?
She's broody again and gets all puffed up when we go in to get eggs!

In the early spring, after the last frost, we rake up all of our leaves and spread them in the chicken run.  The chickens love having  some new leaves to scratch around in and I love that they break them all down for us, add some fertilizer, and create free mulch!

The chicken run was a mess, so it was good timing.  I got to clean out the pen while mulching.  A win-win situation!

Look at that shovel back there.  The leaves were thick!  The good stuff was underneath...

 I started out by shoveling all of the leaves onto a big tarp.  Why a tarp?  We don't have a wheel barrow!  Let me stop right here and over emphasize how important it is to have the right tools for a job.  My tarp worked great, but lugging that thing from the back into the front nearly killed me.  I seriously had to take a rest after that!

Mama needs a wheel barrow!

While I was shoveling, I had the sprinkler turned on the beds.  I like to mulch after the soil is wet so the mulch can help keep that moisture in and maintain a cooler soil temperature.  

After I turned off the water I fertilized with some fish emulsion.

At this point in the day, it was HOT!  So we all headed inside.  After dinner Buddy and I went back out to finish the job.

Yes- I do yard work in a skirt.  It's the best way to keep cool!

It is recommended in hot climates to add four inches of mulch to your plants.  In cooler climates you want less mulch to help inhibit mold growth.

When I went out Tuesday morning to check on the plants they looked perky and the soil still felt damp.  That is a major difference!  Usually by morning they are a little droopy and ready to be watered again.

This is my first year to properly mulch the garden.  I can't wait to see if the yields are truly higher this time around.

If you want to read more about mulching (and really, who wouldn't?), Mother Earth News has a great article on it this month.

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All you savvy gardeners out there- have you found higher yields with mulching?
Any none mulchers in the crowd?