Planning 2012 Garden Part Two

Backyard Raised Beds!

Since I was writing about our plans for this year's garden, I found I could not do it all in one post. So to continue from where I left off, I had to write more. You see our garden is one very important part of our homestead. In fact, if we moved to a piece of land to build a house, the very first thing we would do is to put our garden in or prepare our garden area for the future garden. I always say "water, food, a roof over our heads and heat in that order."

Pumpkins In 2010!

Pumpkins is something we love and eat all year, if I have enough to can. My pumpkin plants didn't start last year. I make a lot of pumpkin pies or pumpkin bread as those are my husband's favorites. I really need to increase the amount of pumpkins that come up. So far, I only get one or two on each plant.

Hot Peppers!

Hot peppers are another of our favorites here. This year though I am looking to reproduce the ones I like for the store, so will be buying new seeds for those. They seem to produce a lot on each plant and I like that.

Green Bell Peppers!

Green bell peppers is one of my favorites also. These are really good. But some years I have grown them and had beautiful plants, but no peppers. I don't know why that happens, but I will be increasing the number of plants I grow of these also.

Our First Time Broccoli Plants Grew Good Last Year!

Last year we tested an area to see if I could get broccoli to come up. I read where someone said anyone could grow it. So I thought I'd try. Broccoli without doubt, is a favorite here too. Never could grow enough to preserve some. I'd like to try dehydrating some though.

Cherry Tomato Plants Growing Wild!

Our cherry tomatoes have been coming up on their own in our back raised bed. Don't have to plant them, they just come up. So I will leave them be. They do not get the Late Blight, so for some reason it doesn't affect them. This is an heirloom plant that I planted when I first moved here.

Potato Plants

Potatoes is a plant that I can grow! If I have room for it, it will come up with no problem. One year, I had almost all our beds full of them. My parents have always grown their own and stored them in their root cellar. So I know the value of the potato. I'd like to try growing them in straw. Potatoes is a food that you can eat in so many ways. It is worth growing and can be grown in little spaces too.

Kale grew good too!

Kale is a plant I like. It even grew under the snow and we ate it as a salad green in the winter. Liked that about it. I still have some that I canned. It is a good addition to soups and casseroles. It is very healthy so you should at least try it.

One of our lettuce and salad greens bed!

Lettuce grows good for us. I pick it daily for our salad and the next day it has grown back. I plan on adding two more beds of lettuce this year. We eat tons of salads all year. It is something I have always done.

Pale Gray Hopi Squash

Pale Gray Hopi Squash is a winter squash I almost forgot to put on this list! I will be growing it and hopefully will get more this time. We liked it and it can be stored fresh or canned. This is an heirloom plant. I was so fortunate enough to have a Homesteading Today member send me some free seeds! I have treasured them ever since.

The Jurassic Bed.......giant plants grow here!

This list is still not complete. I will be adding the foods I did not grow and show you what my final list will be before I order any seeds I do not have. I will also do a list of the fruits too. Need to add more of them as we do not grow enough. If it wasn't for the wild ones, we'd be fruitless! What are your gardening plans for this year? Please share!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Harvest Time Is Ending Soon At Peaceful Forest

 Sisters

Every day now, I have picking up apples that fell from the tree in the backyard and giving them to our horses. They like them for a treat. I had to throw them out to them, since the mud is so deep I can't walk out there. And they won't walk to the fence for them for the same reason. They hate to get their feet in the mud, especially Georgie Girl. When it is dry out there, they play a game to see who gets the most. Georgie always wins since all she has to do is put her ears back. Since she is the "Boss Mare," Dark Shadow and Tawny will let her have the apple. That is the way of the horse hierarchy. 

 Potatoes and Cucumbers Harvested This Morning!

Today I harvested some more cucumbers from our garden. I don't know how what is left will hold up. The plant itself, looks dead. There are still cucumbers on it though, so I left the plant to see if they will ripen. If not, and we have a frost, I will have to take the plant out. For now though, we have quite a few cucumbers in the house to eat. When my son was here, he was going out every day picking cucumbers for supper. He prepared supper for us a lot during the summer. Now he has gone back to the city life again. I wonder if he misses picking the cucumbers and squash for supper?

 One Of My Potato Plants Started From "Eyes!"

I had planted some potatoes in various beds. They weren't anything I bought to plant. They were from the "eyes" of potatoes I had bought from the store. It looks like they grew fine. Not a lot, but enough for us to get a couple meals out of. We aren't eating a lot of potatoes anymore anyway, due to them being a high carb vegetable. Once or twice a week is enough.

 Fresh Mint Harvested This Morning!

Mint grows all over the place here. Today, I also cut a bit of that figuring that soon it will be hit by the frost that I am sure is on the way. I like to dry it and use in tea. Mint is a good thing to have on hand, a good medicinal plant. It is good for indigestion, fever, colds, headaches, diarrhea, colic and gas. Good for all that ails you, I'd say!

 Cherry Tomatoes Picked This Morning For Supper!

Every day I have picking some cherry tomatoes. They grew on their own and that means they are squashed together in one of the raised beds. Doesn't seem to matter much to them. They are red, shiny and taste like candy. So we can eat some every night in our salad. That is about the amount you get in one of those little containers in the store. So what is that, about $2.99 or so?

Cookstove Wood!

Then because it was so cold this morning, my husband brought in some wood for the wood cookstove. It is warming the house up some. Our office/living room is still kind of chilly, but the kitchen is pretty comfortable. I was able to use it for heating water and cooking. Now that I will be replenishing my supply of wood and kindling, I expect to be using it more than I was.

 One of our many squash plants!

I pulled up some of the squash plants that are done for the season. The stems on these plants are huge. Some of the biggest I have ever seen. One plant was very heavy to carry to the pile I put them in. I guess that is why they were so productive this year. Healthy thick stems! I am very pleased with the amount of squash I canned this year, 73 quarts. Looking forward to eating it in the winter months!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole  
All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole