Garden Update

I'm so excited to finally show some pictures of my garden. As I mentioned here, we are doing a different method this year. Instead of your typical rows, we are doing beds directly into the ground. My plants are big enough now, that you can see everything a little better.

Right now on the walkways we have carpet that we got for free and some black sheeting. This has done very well in killing the weeds and it makes it tons easier to navigate the paths. Currently we do not have enough to cover all of the walk ways, but a friend is getting ready to give us some more carpet. I don't know exactly how I feel about how it looks, so we are looking into maybe mulching it or using pebbles--although that will all have to wait until next year.

I knew going in that the first year of gardening this way was going to be a lot of work--especially since we are doing it all organically with no pesticides and herbicides. I had most of the weeds and walkways under control before we left last weekend, but the rain really fueled them while we were gone! I've spent countless hours over the last few days finally mulching everything with grass clippings, shredded paper and straw. So, beware--there are still tons of weeds! Hopefully this weekend I can finish up and get things looking better.

These are my cabbages. I got them in a bit late, so we will see if I can get anything from them.

You may have to click on this one to see it better. This is Kohlrabi, Chinese Kale, Dwarf Pak Choy, Spinach (that has grown too tall and we are eating for dinner in salad), Cimmaron (also eating tonight in a salad), Arugula (those are the white flowers. DH doesn't like this at all, so I've let it flower. It's pretty!), and on the other side of it is Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce (I dont' think you can see it in the top picture, but you can in the bottom one.) Also, on the right side is where we are putting the fence. We have it, we just haven't had a chance to install it yet.

These are our beans (and the corner of our lettuce patch). Along the back are Purple Podded Pole and Kentucky Wonder Pole. Along the front are Contender Bush Beans in addition to Blue Lake Beans. You can definitely tell where I've stopped weeding..the "row" goes all the way to the way to the end of the top picture. :)

Zuchinni (planted from plants) and 3 pie pumpkin plants that have just sprouted. I have another pumpkin bed that has more pumpkins, Sweet Dumpling Sqaush and Banana Melons Squash.

Onions, Onions and more onions. From left to right: yellow, white, and red.

Here are our Irish Red Potatoes--in bloom!

16 Golden Cal Wonder Peppers. There were originally 20 of them, but a down pour of rain killed some of my little seedlings.

4 Tomatillos that are also blooming, but have a bug that absolutely will not leave them alone! Their poor leaves are full of holes.

Some of my tomato plants. These are my seedlings--remember how small they once were? They are ready to start staking them up..just haven't gotten quite that far yet. There are 4 varieties (Black Krim, Rev. Morrow LongKeeper, Amish Paste, and Roma) with 41 total plants in the ground, and I am giving my sister in law 4 others.

These are Waltham Brocolli. Only 3 out of 9 made it. In the bed next to this one there is Cauliflower, which looks almost identical to these.

And the last picture is of an area that has quickly become one of my favorite spots in our yard, especially early in the morning and later in the evening. It is so pretty with the green from the woods, and the wonderful aroma of my peonies.

But, you see the bare spot in the middle there--that is where my herbs are suppossed to be planted. We planted dill last week, directly in the ground, only to find that it had disappeared. Ugh. Back to square one.

How is your garden doing?

This post is linked to : Food On Fridays

April Showers Bring May Flowers

In this case I hoping for those blooms to be on my veggie plants. But, I'll take some blooms on the flowers, too please.



The last few weeks of April have been nothing but rain. Overnight our yard has turned into a jungle of sorts, but the sun hasn't came out long enough to dry things up. Good thing I need those grass clippings to use as mulch in my garden!



I've busily been trying to get the garden all in shape. Our last average frost date was April 18th--so I've been trying to get things all planted outside now. I think I only had a handful of days in there, though that I could plant. Last week I originally planned to be my planting week (where I emptied my greenhouse and got most seeds into the ground), but I had company 3 out of the 5 days, and was baking a replica wedding cake for a surprise anniversary party the rest of those days. I managed to plant some on Wednesday night with my Mother-In-Law...but really that was it.



Here is what I've got in the ground:

• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
• Cimmaron Lettuce
• Arugula
• Spinach (not an heirloom)
• Dwarf Pak Choy (seeds--but haven't sprouted, yet. Hope this rain isn't their death)
• Chinese Kale (seeds. Crossing my fingers for these, too)
• St. Vallery Carrots (Ditto.)
• 5 lbs of Potaotes. We've covered them 5 times now!
• 4 Waltham Broccoli
• 1 measly Cauliflower (out of TONS. I have no idea what happened to the rest of the seeds. This is also not an heirloom)
• Reverend Morrow Longkeeper Tomato (Not sure exactly how many we planted and how many are still living. For one reason or another I know at least 2 have perished since planting outside.)
• Amish Paste Tomato.
• Roma Tomato
• Black Krim Tomato.
• 8 Golden Cal Wonder Peppers
• 40 Strawberry (Neither of the 2 varieties are heirloom)
• Oh yeah--and roughly 150-200 onions (white, yellow, and red)

I have many, many more plants that are dying to be planted, but I don't foresee this happening until mid to late next week because of all of this rain.

I have a few of our permanent gardening beds that still need to be laid out. Unfortunately we wated so long since working up the soil that we have weeds galore. I've weeded alot in between rain showers and let me tell you--that is hard work! I'm really trying to do an organic garden this year, but I admit that Roundup is calling my name right now! Anyone have any organic herbicide and pesticide recipes for me? Alyssa from Keeping The Kingdom First recommended spraying straight vinegar. Anyone have any other suggestions for me?

Quick Gardening Tip: Weed after you've watered your garden or after some rain. The moist soil makes the weeds (root and all) come out so much easier.

How is your garden and seedlings coming?

This post is linked to Garden Club Friday.

Springtime?

I think that Spring has decided to taunt me. It's warm, and then it's cold, or so windy that when you step outside you just about float away. This has been making it somewhat difficult for me to accomplish anything worthy in the garden.



For my area, my last average frost date is April 18th (which is tomorrow), but I'm almost reluctant to do much until around May 1st. I'm saying that waiting will get me, though and I'll be planting up a storm come next week!



My seedlings are all coming along nicely, except for the fact that about 20 of them were eaten by a crazy critter in my greenhouse! Oh man was I livid! My edible chrysanthemums, that were getting really big--they are no more. I seriously wanted to cry, but I didn't. In addition to those 6 plants, Mr. Mean Mouse got a couple of my Golden Cal Peppers, some Giant Cockscomb, Aster, Nasturtium, and he ate some seeds.



This is going to sound ridiculous, but we moved everything inside and set up a trap to catch him. I've been terrified to go out there for about a week now--and I miss it! Thankfully we caught him, but now I have to figure out where he was coming in so that I can avoid this.



In the garden my onions are thriving, as well as my lettuces (Arugula, Black Seeded Simpson, and Cimmaron), strawberries and potatoes! My spinach has barely started to come up, and I've started to worry about my cauliflower and broccoli. I've not seen anything!



We also finally got around to planting our fruit trees and one of our blueberry bushes. We should actually get a small harvest off of our blueberries this year, and I'm anxious. Even a small harvest will save me off of my grocery bill.



In the next few weeks, I will be finishing up the garden beds and get ready to be busy as ever planting away. The carrots must go in (I'm late, but the wind has just been atrocious!), then the tomatoes, green beans, cabbage...and many others!



I can't help but wonder everytime I'm messing around with my garden, just how much this work will end up saving me in the long run. It never fails to amaze me how one seed can produce food for my family to eat--at a very minimal cost. I look forward to our savings!

How are your garden plans coming along?

This post is linked to

• Garden Club Friday.
• Frugal Friday

Garden Update

I apologize that with all the talk of gardening, I haven't produced a photo to show off my own seedlings. I've been experiencing technical difficulties with my computer. For one reason or another it will not recognize the USB cord that goes to my camera dock. Finally, I gave up and just took my memory card in, and made a CD. Yippee!!

So, here is an update. Complete with pictures! {Which, I just so happen to be the worst photographer on the planet!}

First off--let's take a walk to the garden and the greenhouse.

And here she is! Nothing fancy, and nothing huge. Just my best friend. :)

The black barrel in the back is full of water. When it gets super hot in there during the day (yesterday I accidentally let it get up 120°) the water absorbs that heat and releases it at night when the temperatures are cooler. Comes in handy for sure! There are a couple flats that didn't make in the picture--but I'm sure that you get the jist!

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage that desperately needs to go outside. The weather has went nuts on me, so I'm hesitant to plant these outside quite yet. {Total of 6}

These are Golden Cal Wonder peppers. {Total of 22}

Below, are Edible Chrysanthemums. I don't know that we will actually eat them, but it is part of our edible landscaping. These have shot up since being re-potted. Their 4th set of leaves are sprouting now. {Total of 6--wish I'd done more. Maybe later.}

These are Reverend Morrow Longkeeper Tomatoes. He is actually my tallest one, but I have another one that has more leaves. {This was on accident, total of 29. I think I miscounted, because originally there were 38 that germinated. I know some I've gotten rid of, or some have gotten rid of themselves *ahem*, but I don't think it was that many.}

In addition to these tomatoes, I also have 8 Amish Paste, 12 Roma, and 10 Black Krim (which are a purple-ish color tomato). There is no way on Earth that I am keeping that many tomatoes, so I hope to give some to friends, or as Willie suggested, sell them at the Farmer's Market. I'm just not sure about that.

The other things I've got coming up, which just aren't interesting enough for a picture are:

• 10 Cilantro


• 8 Tomatillo


• 4 Yellow Habanero (which have taken forever to germinate!)


• 5 Yellow Wonder Strawberries


• 7 Aster (flower)


• 3 Giant Cockscomb (another flower)


• 2 Parisian Pickling Cucumbers (which I thought I planted forever ago, but apparently didn't!)


• Yellow/Red/White Onions in the ground {Around 200!}


• 40 Strawberries (20 Quinalt, and 20 AllStar) This sounds like a ton--but I came across an article that said for a family of 4, you needed 30 Strawberry plants to produce enough for a year. So, I figured that 40 wasn't too far off for our family of 5.


• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce


• Cimmaron Lettuce


• And another one that I just drew a blank on the name.

I do believe that everything in this list, other than the Asters, Quinalt and AllStar Strawberries and the onions, is an heirloom. Fingers crossed that I can save seeds from most of these so that I can produce a crop next year.

Which brings me to the Seed to Seed Challenge. I'm so happy to be taking part in this challenge. I found it not too long ago, off of OneMother'sLove blog. Since this was our whole mission with this garden this year anyway, I decided to join in. If you haven't heard of 1GreenGeneration, you really should go check it out. Loads of great information!

And, be sure to stop by Garden Club Friday to see updates from others.

Determining Seedling Problems

So, you've started your seedlings and they are growing like nobody's business. They already have their second set of leaves, and are ready to repotted.


The repotting process was a complete success, and your plants are growing even more. They are beginning to look more and more like the real thing. And then, you notice that your leaves are not the same shade green as when they started. Upon further investigation you notice that the leaves are actually somewhat purple, and maybe just a smidge yellow.


Or maybe they were growing fantastically, and all of a sudden they stopped.

What on Earth does this all mean?


It means that the plant is talking to you, and it's got a lot to say!

• First of all, make sure that you are not over watering your plants. Doing so could easily result in root-rot. You can check your dirt/roots by very carefully pushing up on the bottom of your pot, and pushing the dirt clod up enough that you can see the roots. Make sure that everything looks good, and that there isn't a large amount of water. Or too little. (But really, too little is almost better than too much.)
  
  
• Make sure that you have good drainage holes in your pots so the excess water has somewhere else to go.
  
  
• Make sure that they are getting ample sunlight. I want to say that ideally your new seedling should be exposed to atleast 14 hours of sunlight. Someone correct me here if I am wrong.
  
  
• Your seedling leaves are going to eventually turn yellow and fall off anyway, but there is proper time for that. Don't worry too much if it is just your seedling leaves changing colors.
  
  
• But, if your other leaves are also showing sign of yellowing, they are needing more nitrogen. The purpling effect is letting you know that your plant isn't getting adequate amounts of phosphorus. How do you solve this problem? It's simple: fertililzer.
  
  
• We went with an organic fish emulsion. I had never heard of this before, until Hannah mentioned it. I just so happened to find some at Wal-Mart, so I picked some up over the weekend. Fair Warning: It is STINKY!
  
  
• At first you will need to use about at 25% solution, since your seedlings are still young.
  
  
• Give your plants a little bit of water first, and then apply the fertilizer to the dirt.
  
  
• Fertilize about once a week, or once every 2.
  
  
• Also, make sure that your seedlings are getting enough heat. The purpling color can also come from them being exposed to cooler temperatures. You really don't want the temperatures to get below 60° and a maximum of about 90°. With that being said--I've violated that rule! The greenhouse has been known to get as high as 120° and with a low of about 40°. The cooler season plants thrive in the cold (cabbage, brocolli, cauliflower, onions, lettuce), but the warmer season plants (tomatoes) like it to be a bit warmer, but not too hot as that will slow the growth.
• Be sure to keep exercising your plants. You can do so by placing a small fan by your seedlings, or by gently running your hands over the tops of your plants 2-3 times a day.
• All of these effect your root growth. And your root growth plays a very important role in the upper plant growth..and later on, it's production.
• The good news is, though, that as long as it isn't root rot--you can pretty much guarantee that they will make it. Just make sure that you do not over water, over fertilize, or freeze them. :)

I just fertilized my plants this week and I've already noticed a bit of a change. My Longkeeper tomato leaves are the only ones that shows lots of purple, but I really think that has a lot to do with the temperature more than anything else.

How's your garden growing?

This post is linked to: Thursday Thirteen

Starting Seeds: A How-To

With all the talk about gardening the last few days, I have received a lot of questions on how I do things. For more about why we chose seeds, see this post.

Here is my basic list of things to keep in mind when trying to grow plants from all those precious little seeds.

• The back of your seed packet, most of the time, will tell you how far in advance of your last frost you should start your seeds. As a general rule, most of them are 4-6 weeks before last frost. You can find out your last average frost date by going to this website.
  
  
• Then you will need something to start your seeds in. I got my flats from a local greenhouse that was going out of business., or you can find them online. You know the six pack of plants that you buy from Wal-Mart in the little black containers? That is what these are, except, there are 48 to a sheet. I love these, and I will definitely be buying more in the future. If you cannot get your hands on these, you can buy Jiffy pots almost anywhere that sells gardening goods. I, personally do not have much luck with the things, but I know a lot of people do.
  
  
• Then you are going to need "dirt" of some form. Seeds need a lot of nutrients and such to get started. I used Miracle Grow Seed Starting Potting Mix to get mine started. So far so good! I did look for one that had very little, if any peat moss. I did this for a couple of reasons, the main one being that there is speculation that the peat moss slows germination, especially in peppers. Not sure if that is fully true or not, but I wanted to get as quick of germination as I could.
  
  
• Keep your seeds moist, do not let them dry out! But, you also do not want them swimming in water, either. Once they have sprouted, make sure that you water the dirt, and not the leaves of the new seedlings. Watering the leaves encourages mold, which could eventually kill your new seedlings. I don't think you want that!
  
  
• I used Saran wrap to cover my flats, or you could use a plastic dome. This held the moisture and the humidity in so that the seeds can germinate. Once the seeds have germinated and are up, you should remove your cover.
  
  
• I know a lot of people use grow lights. I do not, so I do not have experience in this area. I do know, though, that you want to keep them relatively close to the new seedlings, but leaving a couple inches between the seedlings and the light. Also, your light (or your seedlings) need to be able to be moved up or down, as to allow room for your new seedlings to grow. I keep my seeds in my greenhouse so that they receive plenty of light, plus the temperature is alot warmer in there. If you do not have either one of those, you can just place your new seedlings in a sunny window.
  
  
• Using a fan next to your growing plants will help to strengthen your plants before being planted outside. You can also exercise your plants by gently running your hands back and forth over their tops.
  
  
• Once your seedlings get their second set of leaves, they should be transplanted into a bigger pot. Doing so gives the roots more room to grow and support the plant on top. This will help prevent them from getting too leggy and eventually dying off.
  
  
• Before your plants are ready to be planted outside they should be hardened off. Your seedling are used to a regulated environment, and we all know that the outside is not! Basically all you need to do, is set your seedlings outside for a few hours at a time, slowly increasing the time, for about a week before they are planted outside. Armed with your last average frost date, this will help you determine when you should plant outside. Also, if you have a local University Extension office, they can help you with plant dates as well, and any other questions that you may have. Plus, it's free!

It's working for me ! Although, my camera cord is not! I had lots of pictures to share--but I cannot for the life of me get my pictures to transfer to my computer. Hopefully I will be able to update later.

This post is also linked to: Frugal Friday over at LifeAsMom.

If you have any questions, just let me know! If I don't personally know the answer, I will do my best to find it for you.

Gardening With Seeds

Last year was our first vegetable garden ever. Why we waited so long, I will never know.

I decided to buy a few packs of seeds, because they are obviously cheaper.

Not if you kill them! Which was exactly what happened to me! I had started green peppers, and tomatoes, and because I had no earthly idea what I was doing--I killed them all.

I had to start all over, but I went with plants.

So, why you ask have I decided to buy all seeds this year?!

A couple of reasons.

I have a strong desire this year to produce as much food as I can for our family. I went more into depth about that here.

If I were to buy all plants this year--there is no way that we could plant as big of a garden as we plan to this year. For example: I currently have 38 tomato plants that germinated (waaayyy too many for just me--I'm sharing with my mom and my mother in law). Those 38 seeds cost me less than $2. If I were to buy those as plants from any store, I would be paying $2 for 4 plants, at the cheapest!

What makes me confident enough to try this route again? Well, I know that last year my heart was just not in it. I didn't monitor my seedlings close enough, or even know the first things about them. This year I have read, read, and read some more on starting seeds. I'm still no expert on the matter, but I know that if someone else can do it--well I can too!

I encourage you to try to start atleast one pack of seeds. If you have any questions at all on the process, I am more than happy to help you. If I don't personally know the answer, I will either find it for you--or find someone who does!

With a little time, and a little extra effort you can save yourself hundreds of dollars. Not only by gardening, but by gardening with seeds!

And now, I leave you with a picture of my Longkeeper tomatoes that I started on February 19th. Aren't they gorgeous?!

These are ones that I repotted this week, because they've had their second set of leaves for quite some time. Once I repotted them--they shot up! You can see a picture of these same tomato plants a week ago in this post.



And these are my Early Jersey Cabbage plants that we planted on March 2nd. They germinated quickly, and have just continued to grow.



So Amazing!



For more frugal tips, be sure to check out Frugal Friday at it's new home over at Life As Mom and check out more gardening inspiration at the Garden Club. To see more Green Projects see The Little Green Project.

The Garden is Progressing!

It is hard to believe that my garden is really starting to take shape. It thrills me to no end! I cannot wait, though, until my little seedlings that I have been babying are able to be planted outside.

So far this is what I've got planted. These are part of the heirloom seeds that I bought awhile back.

1. Rev. Morrow Longkeeper Tomato Planted 48, and 37 have germinated!



2. Golden Cal Wonder Peppers Planted 48, and 12 have germinated. Peppers take a lot longer to get started.



3. Edible Chrysanthemum Out of 8, 6 have popped through. These literally only took 2 days!!



4. Chinese 5 color Hot pepper We planted 4 in an indoor pot, but only 2 have germinated. These were the first things we planted. These are gorgeous/unique plants.



5. Black Krim Tomato I have 8 of these coming up. Their germination was pretty fast as well. Although they are called a black tomato, they are purple in color, and won a blind taste test at the farm we got them from. Worth a try!



6. Roma Tomato So far no babies yet. Just planted these on 3/2



7. Amish Paste Tomato Also, no babies.



8. Fish Pepper Nothing. These are a hot pepper that was used a lot in cooking fish, has very pretty foliage.



9. Tomatillo To my surprise--I've got one popping through. It germinated in 2 days as well!



10. Yellow Wonder Strawberry Nothing yet.



11. Cilantro Nothing.



12. Yellow Habenero Nothing.



13. 3 varieties of lettuce (Black Seeded Simpson, Arugula, and Cimmaron) I planted these in the ground yesterday, so of course nothing here, either. I can't wait until I can go cut us a fresh salad! Store bought just doesn't compare.

I've been staying pretty busy watching taking care of my little seedlings. Our weather has went crazy again and we are going through another spring spell. I had my plants out in the greenhouse all day yesterday, and since the evening was warmish I left them out there. If the weatherman is accurate, I shouldn't have to bring them back inside until Sunday or Monday evening. Thankfully!! It is a pain to tote all of them from the house to the greenhouse. Although, I do have a really good 3 year old helper!

This post is linked to: Thursday Thirteen, Frugal Friday, Garden Club and The little Green Project.

How is your garden coming along? Do you have any seedlings popping through?

Finding Freedom Friday

When we first started our journey, we were spending an outlandish amount of money on groceries a month. Literally, the size of a house payment.

I'm a analyzer, but somehow never analyzed my grocery budget like I was getting ready to. Amazingly enough, I realized that $650/month for 5 people was way too much. We can easily, and comfortably get by on less than half that.

And, we do not even notice a difference.

If anything else, we have much more than before. And, if I don't have it, I'll almost guarantee you that I can whip it up. Mine will taste better, too.

I really feel that the grocery part of your budget is the easiest place for you to make adjustments. You have full control here, it's just a matter of how far you are willing to step in. I do recommend, though, that you go slowly or you might begin to feel overwhelmed and want to give up. If you take things slowly, it is more of a transition, instead of jump.

Here are some of the posts that I have done previously about cutting your grocery spending:

Top 8 Tips to Cutting Grocery Costs
Heirloom Seeds
Importance Of Menu Planning
Loads of Veggies
Couponing Tips
Walgreens 101

I want to know how you have cut back on your grocery budget. Share your tips and tricks!

And....one lucky person who links up (before 12am Saturday) will win this:

One pair of women's garden gloves as well as a carrot seeds, Roma tomato seeds, and burpless cucumber seeds. Maybe this will give you the incentive to get started on your very own garden! The winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on Mr. Linky.

I really don't want to delete anyone's link, so please follow the Rules to Linking up:

• Link to your post, not your homepage.
• Please be sure to include a link back here so that all your readers can get in on the other tips as well.
• Stay true to the theme of the week so that readers get quality content.
• Tell everyone you know so we can make it a success and can all profit from it.
• Have fun! ;)

Heirloom Seeds

After an hour or so of seed shopping and gathering, this is what I came out with. 63 seed packets of every plant imagineable. Complete with Thai Angled Loofa. (I just bought that one for the fun of it, but I'm hoping it tastes great as well.) <br>

I'm just in awe. I have big plans for our garden this year. Although this means that there is a lot of work ahead of me, I know that it will all be worth it in the end.

We are trying a different gardening method this year. Instead of the typical row garden, we are looking to do a permanent gardening method (this is the exact layout we are going for), or otherwise known as wide gardening. Basically, we have shorter rows, but a wider bunch of plants. This cuts down on weeding, and walking from one end of the garden to the other to harvest.

Also in our plans, is to have edible landscaping in our front lawn. This will include all sorts of herbs as well as edible flowers. I must say that although the flowers are edible, that doesn't mean that I will be eating them! Something about eating a petal just kind of weirds me out a bit.

This will also be the first year that we do heirloom seeds. I love that they are non-hybrids, meaning that I can save my seeds from this years crop, and be able to plant them next year. What a money saver! Buy seed packs one year, and have a producing garden forever! Lets just hope that that is how it turns out!

Now that we have bought all our seeds, I am itching to play in the dirt. We have had some great spring-like weather so we have been trying to do all of the prep work we can to get this garden in the ground.

The month of May cannot come soon enough!!

Do you have any garden plans this year? Have you ever planted heirloom seeds? Ever eaten flowers?

Please share your experiences.