Reflections of katlupe: gardens

Showing posts with label gardens. Show all posts

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Gardening In June Is My Favorite Time

Tomato Plants!

I have done a good job this year of getting as much planted as possible. I still have one large bed that has not been plowed up yet. As you can see, I planted my tomatoes in containers. I am hoping this will prevent them from getting the Late Blight. I am moving these around right now, but as they get bigger, I will not be able to do that. They will need to be stable and staked up.

Healthy So Far!

I pruned my tomatoes this morning, by pinching off the suckers. This will make them bear more tomatoes, rather than just leaves. Don't know what I am talking about? Here is a site that explains it, Pruning Your Tomato Plant. This year, I'd really like to have enough tomatoes to can and make my own ketchup. If I don't grow enough, I will purchase some locally.

Chives

Most of the wild plants have been blossoming for some time. Today, I was excited to see the blossom on my squash plant. The first! Many of the squash plants have some ready to blossom, but this was the first. Can't wait to have fresh yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers and green beans. These plants give you food to eat now, when we need it. The tomatoes don't get ready for harvest here till about August or September. I will be canning many jars of these foods, but there will be enough to eat fresh too.

Squash Blossoming Already!

I hope your gardens are doing well. We have noticed more people having gardens this year. Must be the scare of the GMO foods? Or maybe it is just the price of the food in the store. I know for us, it is normal. But I have increased the amount of food I am growing this year. I plan on getting more canned than ever before. I am hoping I can make all my own condiments too. I like to know exactly what is in our food. What about you?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Garden Time For Me

Patches found a cool spot!

I have been having a productive week here working outside in my garden. It is sunny, warm and breezy. So not too hot and the breeze keeps those nasty little black flies (or better known as, "May Bugs" here in NY) away from me. Tell me, why do my cats have to get on my lap if I sit down to take a break? I tell them, "You are outside! Not the time to be sitting on someone's lap!" Every break I take, I have a cat on my lap.

Lemon Balm

The bed with the Lemon Balm is coming in good. This bed used to have chives and oregano in it too, now I don't see any of that. Just lots of lemon balm. It takes over the bed. I love it. Smells so clean and fresh. I add it to salads and make tea with it or add it to lemonade. Drying it for winter use too. I have more than enough for us.

Strawberry and Mint coming in!

Strawberries are already blossoming and that is usually one of our first crops here in NY. I have never had much luck with trying to make my own strawberry bed. This year, I have a plan from a picture I found on Pinterest. I am hoping that will work better for me. I'd really like a regular strawberry patch in my garden.

Apple Tree is in full bloom!

Working outside after our long winter is just so relaxing. I am doing physical work in the garden, which is now much harder for me since my knees became so bad. I think my desire to do it, makes me just do it. Hurting or not. I feel such a satisfaction of looking at my garden and watching my food grow. This is the only way to be able to afford the food we love. Not living on high carbs makes you eat more fresh food, such as produce from the garden. Salad is my favorite food of all! Fruit is next.

Raised beds in the backyard

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy some sunshine in your garden today. It is another benefit of gardening..........fresh air, sunshine, the music of listening to birds sings and the breeze flowing through the tree tops, exercise (if doing any activity like gardening) and soon, food from your own hard work!

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Watching My Seedlings Grow!

Tomato seeds planted in this one.

From a container of dirt, some water and sunshine...........comes our food! Every spring, gardening fills my thoughts. I want to always grow more every year, than I did the year before.

Seedlings in the bathroom.

Many different plants get their start inside the house to give them a head start when the weather warms up. Tomato and pepper plants, especially have to be started early in order to enjoy them as early as possible. My cucumbers and squash plants, I have been starting inside in recent years, but I really don't have to. They still grow fast, and I know we will be eating lots of squash and cucumbers fresh from the garden all summer.

Getting bigger!

The seedlings respond to the warmth of the sunshine every morning! Someday, we hope to have a greenhouse. We had planned on building a sun room on our deck so that we could start seeds there. But now we have plans to move from this house, and will make sure our new house will have a space for starting seeds. And it will not be cold during the night, as it is here. That will make gardening much easier.

Gathered together in front of the window every morning!

I swear if I sat in front of them all day, I would see them move through the dirt! No, I have watched, and you never see their heads pop up. A few minutes later, you come back and there they are......popping up through the dirt!

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

First Time Gardeners

Producing Our Own Food!

If you are thinking of planting a garden for the first time this year, I say, "Congratulations to you!" This is the best step anyone can make toward self-sufficiency, self-reliance, independence, frugal living and most important, surviving. My father has always had a garden, and as a child I always remember those special salads he made with fresh lettuce and a homemade bacon dressing. Mmmm! It was so good! Make memories with your children!

Digging in the dirt is part of it!

I hope you are not one of those people who say they are scared to dig in the dirt because of bugs or worms. Not all bugs are bad and worms are never bad. In fact, I love to see the worms in my garden. Unfortunately, so do the birds! Next month my robins will return and will be digging in my garden for their special treat of worms. I don't begrudge them their meal as I have plenty of worms, and they do a good job at keeping most insects off my plants.

Heirloom Seeds

If this is your first year of planning a garden, here are some quick things to keep in mind:

Do not make your garden too big, if it is your first one.
Plant what your family likes to eat.
If you must try something new, limit it to one or two types of plants each year.
Buy seeds meant to grow in your climate.
If you have children, include them in the whole gardening process.
Do not panic or get overwhelmed by the garden. Enjoy it!
If you have limited area for your garden, use containers instead.
Do not get jealous of other gardens. Do your best with a small one at first.
To make watering easy, put some containers around the garden, so they fill up when it rains.
If you need compost, contact a local horse stable or farm and ask for it.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Self-reliance means to rely on yourself as much as possible. If you are buying most of your food and supplies from the store right now, that is fine. Implementing some changes in the way you do things now, is the way you can get on the road to true self-reliance or self-sufficiency. I have decided to make some changes that will really pull my homestead together.

For me, preparedness is essential. I have been doing research this morning on some of the ideas I am working on. Our garden is the center of that self-reliance preparations. My recent posts have been about planning our garden for this year. I am making a change by planting more green beans in any extra spot I can find. This will be my "extra crop" for this year. Next year, it will be something else. Eventually I may add some beds that will for these crops every year.

New crops that I plan to add this year will be:

Asparagus
Cabbage
Carrots
Beets
Blueberries
Concord Grapes
Raspberries

There will probably be more as I work it out. Do a little bit at a time, so it is not so over whelming. Be sure to do something though. Don't put it on the back burner for too long or it may be too late.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Choose Your Own Path

I lived a whole other life at one time. A life of spending time at the mall shopping for relaxation (oh my, I can't believe that was really me back then!). Spending several hours every morning at the local racquet ball court and exercise club for my exercise! A private club? Really! I am not kidding. Maids coming to my house once a week to clean. Yes, that was true too (I can admit with embarrassment now. But that is not all). Going to my hair salon once a month for my hair color and cut. Having a standing appointment every other week to have my artificial nails done. Eating dinner out a few times a week........not fast food..........nice places. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Well, I can say right now and mean it........I was not happy. The trade off for that lifestyle was that I was married to a very domineering man. A man who controlled all the money because he made it and I did not work. I stayed at home to raise my son. I can't say I minded that arrangement but still, the one who controls the money is the one in charge.

I had a house that backed up to the woods. So even though we were in a housing development, we had nobody behind us. Just ten miles of heavy woods. Deer would come in our yard. I remember trying so hard to find a way to get someone to bring a rototiller to my house to plow a garden plot for me. Never found anyone. A friend of ours who owned a restaurant used to buy the damaged fruits and vegetables from the produce sellers. He'd bring them to me, all full of rotten spots and bruises. After he left I'd toss them out (Who would want them???).

Now after 22 years have gone by and my life has changed so much and so has my way of thinking. I'd never turn my nose up at that produce now! Nope. I know how to cut around those bruises and spots now. You'd never catch me wasting food now!

And the garden? I would have gone out and started digging that ground up. Or I'd have advertised in the newspaper for someone to come plow it up for me. I could have paid someone back then easily.Shoot all my landscaping was done by a garden center, including planting my roses. I had a beautiful deck and I could have planted containers of vegetables and fruits. I didn't know how to can back then, but my father is the one who taught me some years later. He could have taught me back then too.

I guess my message in this post is, don't let anyone hold you back from things you want to do. Find a way to do it. Even if you are a stay at home Mom, you can plant some pots of food on the deck or put some plants in the yard. Do it with your children. You must find a way to put some money aside so that you are not penniless. I know that is the biggest reason why woman stay with husbands who are abusive, verbal or physical, or controlling. One of my friends back then wanted to leave her husband and I took her to the women's center for abused women. The police had to go with her to get her things out of her house. They had their guns drawn as they went up to the house to help her. What kind of situation is that to be in? I didn't have it that bad. Controlling is one thing, but I was free to go and do as I pleased most of the time. Many women are not.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Hot, Humid Weather Slows Us Down

Sunlight hitting the garden daily!

We are not alone in this sweltering heat. People all over the country are trying to keep cool. Trying keep their gardens and critters watered. Our dog is the one suffering the most. She can hardly take the normal hot weather, this is extreme for her. Even my cats are laying low, sleeping on the bare floors. The horses don't leave the barn much at all. If they do, they go right back in the barn.

The water supply!

Thankfully, our well is holding up. We know it is a shallow well and have never had it go dry in all the years we have been here. But that doesn't mean it couldn't.

The forest surrounds us.

For us, this is a long time without rain. Being surrounded by thick forest is a cause for concern though. A fire could start very easily. Even our lawn this week, has some brown spots on it. Hopefully, we will get one of the long all day rains soon. NY usually has a lot of rain, and if we get it soon, I promise not one word of complaint from me! Hope everyone gets some soon.

Friday, June 24, 2011

My Forest Homestead In Summer

I love the color green!

We have been getting thunderstorms daily for the past week. Our garden will never need watering if this keeps up. I am not complaining! It makes my job easier to not have to carry water to each of the raised beds. I do not have the luxury of using a hose and turning on the water....yet! Within this next year, I hope.

A volunteer plant in the compost pile!

The garden is coming along. The green and wax beans have been attacked by the slugs but I have been picking them off in the morning. So now they aren't so bad. They will turn out okay. They usually do. The winter squash look really good and already have blossoms on.

How lucky! Look what I found! Mullein!

I even found a volunteer cherry tomato coming up. These tomatoes I planted over five years ago here and every year since, they come up in different places. They are heirlooms from Johnny's Seeds called Matt's Cherry Tomato, I think. And they just come up automatically. Last year we had a bumper crop. They are not bothered by the Late Blight, it seems.

Wild Grape Vines

A few days ago, I started seeds for cucumbers and summer squash since none of them have come up. I figure if they don't peek out soon, I will have some back ups. If they do, I will just have more! Even the wild grapes, or fox grapes as they are known around here seem to growing good. But if I get any from it is another question, as the birds and the bees usually get them before I do!

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Projects We Are Working On This Week

Worked out here this morning.

This morning my husband and I spent outside working on our projects. He is rebuilding our stairs from the cellar to the pantry. So he was tearing the old ones out to put the new ones in. He is also changing the direction of the stairs so it will be easier for me.

The old cellar stairs are history now.

I did some laundry outside and then worked on getting some of the raised beds planted. I also started some seeds in containers. Every year I have some on the walls of the various raised beds. This year you can not have too much food growing. We will be canning most of our harvest for the winter.

Raised beds made of rock.

So I worked as much as my knees could take and then the mosquitoes started coming around. So I figured it was time to go in. Tomorrow I will get some more seeds in. Putting in a little more each day. I mix together radish seeds, a couple varieties with carrot seeds and plant them any place I can stick them in. By planting them together you can always tell where the carrot is going to come up by the radishes which come in usually very quickly.

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