Planning The 2012 Garden List

Raised Beds in Winter 2011

As the old saying goes, "The days get longer, the cold gets stronger." It is very true. My husband walks around saying that to himself much of the time. We look forward to longer days, but not to the bitter cold of winter. So during this time of the year, what do I do? I ponder what seeds to start in March for my garden! Yes, it is that time of the year when the seed companies are busy sending me catalogs. I love to study them over and over.

These raised beds can grow an awful lot of food!

This year, I have promised myself to not waste an inch of space in my raised beds. That means planting only the vegetables we absolutely love and will eat. Some of our old favorites we will be increasing.

Cucumbers 

Cucumbers - I did really well last year with the Blonde Boothby. Will be planting that as well as the Lemon Cucumber. We really loved these and they were plentiful. Walking out to the garden and picking one to eat as a snack is something we all do. They are always there and there is no shortage.

Green Beans

Green Beans is a food that our whole family loves. My son would open a jar for supper every night if I didn't argue. So we need many jars of them. I never seem to plant as many as I need. Or we just eat more if they are available. I usually plant the bush type bean.

Yellow Squash

Summer Squash is a vegetable that we normally eat fresh all summer. If I can get it started inside and out in the ground pretty quick, we will have plenty and soon. I also can it and it has turned out to be a much better product than when I tried it before. The secret is to can it in cubes. Very good all winter!

Zucchini

Zucchini is a vegetable I always have in my garden. I can make so many dishes with it as well as pickles, relish, in salad, with dips, fried and in casseroles. What isn't there to love about this veggie?

Butternut Squash

Butternut and Acorn Squash is another vegetable that can be used for many dishes. I like to make a pie with it using a pumpkin pie recipe. Nobody ever knows the difference.

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated July 2016

Modern Homesteading Means Being Prepared

Our raised beds in July 2010

Welcome to New Friend Fridays! If you are coming here from the New Friend Fridays for the first time you might want to know something about me and this blog first. I started writing this blog back in 2005 to tell others about the option of the "modern homesteading" life. It is something that I sort of evolved into over the years. My husband, Larry and I were living in St. Petersburg, FL and were working at the Home Shopping Network. It was a very fast paced job. I worked as a telephone rep taking orders over the telephone and computer. He worked upstairs in the telecommunications area running the telephone system. It was like four telephone companies in one. If it went down you had to work very fast to get it back up. Very stressful job!

Then we had our three grown kids, who were in their late teens and early twenties at the time come down there. To say they brought much stress with each of them is to say the least! So we were ready for a change. We started reading Backwoods Home Magazine, Countryside Magazine and Mother Earth News. They changed our ideas of life. We wanted out of the rat race and the stressful way of life we had been leading. Eventually, we found our homestead and that was eleven years ago. Most of the time it has been quiet, peaceful and almost stress free.

You can never get away from your problems and life upsets. That is part of life. God has given us choices in our lives. We make them and pay the consequences. Then we blame God when life is hard or not easy or sad. We cannot blame God for our family and friends' choices. They choose to smoke, eat a bad diet, drive fast, swim in a toxic river, take drugs, etc.. Then when they get a disease from that behavior, we cannot blame God for not answering our prayers to save them. They made that choice themselves. Many times those same people had no part of God in their lives. If you want God in your life, you have to invite him in! He is just waiting for you to do that.

I love growing my own vegetables. My garden is plentiful this year and it makes me feel contented. I am also doing my best to work on our house. I need my kitchen remodeling job finished and our pantry back into service. I am using it but for now it is unorganized. I have everything in plastic containers to protect from another mouse invasion. My husband has torn the walls and ceiling down and is going to insulate and then line it with tin so that nothing can get in. The floor too. Then we will have two pocket doors for each door, one to the kitchen and one to the root cellar. Once we get that completed and put the shelving in, I can restock it and set it up to be easy to manage.

When I am harvesting my garden I am usually canning part of the harvest. Almost daily once the green and yellow beans start coming. I also buy local fruits and vegetables and can them too. Right now though, it has been so unusually hot for us here in NY, that I am not doing any of that till it passes. "Modern Homesteading" is about being prepared no matter what happens in your life. It is depending on yourself as much as possible.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole