Category Archives: Garden Stories

Seed Starting: A Lesson

Posted on February 13, 2017 | 2 comments

It’s that time again.

The time we flip through catalogs filled with seeds.

The time we inventory our seeds.

The time we start our seeds.

This year, I decided to turn the process into a lesson for the boys.

They were eager to help.

First, we created our mix. I added some vermiculite to a commercial seed starter to make sure the soil was extra loose.

At this point, I will not put fertilizer in with the seeds. The potting mix is already balanced with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium so I will wait until we transplant to the garden to add the extra boost to the soil.

Then we talked about the three main requirements for growing healthy plants.

“What do seeds need boys?”

“Water!” said Jake.

“Sunlight!” said Joe.

“And air!” I added.

Next, we filled our containers with the mix.

When it came time to put the seeds in, the boys had almost lost interest. It took them quite a bit of time to fill the seed containers with soil, so I really couldn’t blame them. They each plopped a few seeds in and then went to play.

I finished sowing the seeds, watered them and covered the whole container with plastic wrap to keep the moisture and warmth in and encourage germination.

We put the tray in the schoolroom so we can watch them and water them. The windows are south facing and we get a lot of sunlight pouring through so it really is the perfect place.

Finally, while the boys sat down to watch an episode of Wild Kratts, I grabbed my coffee and started looking through my catalogs once again.

Now that I’ve inventoried what we have, I’ll be ordering what is missing…and what looks good too.

Starting seeds with kids
Exciting, joyous and fun
Learning for us all

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Posted in Education, For the Kids, Garden Stories, Homeschool

Helping Hands

Posted on February 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

Although gray, the temperature is pretty mild so the boys and I went outside today to do some chores we’ve, er I’ve, been putting off.

We moved some straw from the chicken coop to the herb spiral and started to cover the whole with wood chips.

This will keep the soil nice and moist so that, come planting time, it will be loose and easy to work with.

The cats were a big help.

The chicken coop was in dire need of a cleaning, so we shut the chickens in their run and got to work.

While I scraped and pulled all of the dirty bedding out, the boys helped spread it in the spot the chickens had just vacated.

Once all the hay was spread and the coop cleaned out, I started to lay more cardboard paths.

The cats, always ready to lend a paw, got involved.

They paced back and forth, inspecting my work and occasionally correcting the placement of the straw or attacking a villainous piece of cardboard that had the audacity to move.

The boys, after spreading the straw bedding so vigorously, wandered off to dig a hole in the yard.

“We are planting an apple tree, Jake,” said Joe.

I watched as Joe directed the dig. They each took turns scooping a shovelful out and Joe encouraged Jake when he did a good job. I heard him explaining that roots would grow down in the ground from the seed they were going to plant.

“Mom! There are worms hibernating!”

He ran over and showed me his find.

Once they were satisfied with the depth of the hole, Joe marched inside to get the seeds. He planted two, “in case one didn’t grow”, and put the worm back in the ground “to help the tree grow”.

He then patted the dirt over it, watered it and marked it with a flag.

I had not planned on turning our chore day into a lesson.

Joe took the initiative and started the project. He worked with the tools he had, taught Jake a few things about roots and praised him when he did a good job.

He was very proud of his work.

I was too.

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Posted in Chickens!, Garden Stories

Joe the Bug Hunter: The Roly Poly

Posted on January 27, 2017 | Leave a comment

Joe sat in the driveway peering into an old and broken ceramic frog.

“What are you doing buddy?” asked his mom, throwing a bag in the garbage can.

Joe looked up at his mom, a sparkle in his eye and a smile on his face.

“I found a new bug.”

His mom wandered over and crouched down next to him.

“Ah,” she said. “Roly polys.”

“Roly polys?” Joe asked, raising his eyebrows. “What are roly polys? Why are they rolling into a ball? What do they do?”

His mom smiled. “You should do some research and find out.”

Joe didn’t need any more encouragement. He hopped up and got his bug house from the garage. After popping a few roly polys into the container, he raced inside to research his new find.

***

“They live under rocks and like dark, moist places,” said Joe. “No wonder I found a bunch in the frog.”

“How many did you find?” his mom asked.

“Oh, ten. Maybe 12. But I only brought 6 inside with me.”

His mom glanced up from scrambling eggs.

“They are in your bug house, right?”

“Of course!” he laughed.

“What else have you learned about them?”

“Let’s see…they live a long time, up to 5 years!”

“Wow, that is a long time for a bug.”

“Not when you think about how long a black garden ant lives,” said Joe as he clicked on a new link. “They can live for 15 years.”

Click, click went the mouse.

“They have a bunch of names,” Joe said. “Pill bug, sow bug, potato bug and doodle bug…wait a minute, it says here that they aren’t bugs at all.”

Joe was getting excited. He eagerly read on.

“Not bugs?” said his mom, puzzled. “Then what are they?”

“Crustaceans!”

“Crustaceans? Like shrimp? On land?”

“Yep! It says here ‘Roly poly bugs might not look like lobsters or crabs, but they are actually land-based crustaceans.'”

Joe’s eyes were wide and gleaming. But…as he read on, the sparkle faded and his smile turned into a scowl.

“What’s wrong?” asked his mom, noticing his expression.

Joe sighed and turned to face his mom.

“They eat dead and decaying plants.”

“Ok, but why so glum? That helps the garden,” she said.

“They also eat live plants–young plants and seedlings. In the garden.”

“Ah.”

“Yes,” Joe said darkly. “But we don’t want to get rid of them completely. They help the worms turn the decaying stuff into soil. They speed up the process.”

“So, what do we do about them?”

Click, click.

“We could use diatomaceous earth, but that will kill all the bugs, even the good ones.”

Click, click.

“Or, we could pull mulch away from the seedlings to keep the moisture away.”

Click, click.

“Or, we could just continue to start all of our seeds inside and transplant them when they’ve grown beyond the seedling stage.”

“Why don’t we do both?” asked his mom.

“Both?”

“Yes, we could start some indoors and direct sow some. Then, you could compare results,” she added.

“An experiment?” Joe asked.

“Yep. I wanted to do that anyway. The volunteer tomatoes we had last year were stronger than the ones we transpla–“.

“An experiment!” Joe jumped up and grabbed a notebook, a pen and his bug house.

“Thanks Mom!”

With that, he ran downstairs to start his seedlings leaving his mom smiling and shaking her head.

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Posted in For the Kids, Garden Stories, Joe the Bug Hunter, Writing

This Year’s Project

Posted on January 23, 2017 | 2 comments

Our neighbors…the ones who built the gorgeous greenhouse…moved to Florida last fall.

We were sad to see them go. They had been wonderful neighbors. We helped each other out with the odd project. We went out to dinner a few times. We used their greenhouse to start seeds.

“Maybe you could advertise that the house comes with a free gardener,” I told them over dinner…only half joking.

Once on the market, the house sold quickly.

“If they don’t want the greenhouse, tell them we’ll take it off their hands,” I said when they told us. I was completely serious, but I didn’t think that it would actually happen.

Then, one day 6 months after they’d moved in, the new neighbors called us.

They wanted to take the greenhouse out and turn it back into a pool. Were we still interested in it?

“How much do you want for it?” Ray asked.

“If you take it out, you can have it.”

We were filled with joy and, at the same time, dread. This was going to be a big project.

Scratch that. Planting 80 trees was a big project. This was going to be a huge project.

The greenhouse, the fan, the pavers, the dirt, the tables….all of it will be ours. All we have to do is figure out how to get it out of there.

Gulp.

We are going to wait until the weather is a bit warmer before we start. In the meantime, we are making plans.

Where are we going to put it?

What are we going to do to heat it in the cold months?

What are we going to do for the floor? Pavers? Concrete? Or will we leave it open so we can plant directly into the ground?

And, perhaps the most important question?

Can we get it out, rebuilt and ready for planting by the fall?

I sure hope so.

Stay tuned! This is the first in a series of posts about this project.

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Posted in Garden Stories, Greenhouse, Permaculture

The Fedge, the Vineyard and the Swale

Posted on January 17, 2017 | Leave a comment

It’s not that we neglected the fedge and the fruit trees we planted.

It’s not that we let them fend for themselves.

It’s not that we intentionally meant to let the weeds and grass all but take over.

We just focused so much of our energy on fighting Japanese beetles.

We were just so excited to harvest all the new fruits that popped up.

We were just so focused on planting new trees.

I know, I know. Excuses, excuses.

Yet, in spite of our neglect…the trees survived. The fedge produced. The vineyard thrived.

This year, we are focusing on maintaining the fedge, pruning the trees and propagating, well, anything we can.

We are also determined to transplant all the seaberry and aronia that ran riot in the fedge. There are at least 8 new seaberry plants and 3 new aronia that raced under the ground and sprang up through a thick layer of mulch as if to say, “Ta-da! Here we are!”

We will also try to throw down seeds, plant nitrogen rich perennials and overtake the grasses that cover the swales. It will be a race. Survival of the fittest with the advantage given to the plants we want to take over.

Mint? Throw it down.

Seaberries? Plant them everywhere.

Raspberries? Absolutely.

I didn’t sketch anything up. Maybe it’s the wrong method, but rather than plan out exactly where everything will go, I plan to just get in there and plant, plant, plant where I see there is room.

I will be strategic of course. We don’t want to overcrowd the trees or any of the raspberries and comfrey we have already planted. As I plant, I’ll have my clipboard with last year’s final sketch so I can mark what we planted where.

That’s the plan. Pruning and transplanting happens early to mid March and we’ll start throwing down seeds in mid to late April.

Let’s get seeds and rooting hormone ordered.

Let’s get the pruning shears sharpened.

Let’s get ready.

Finally we’re moving
Ahead and not behind
Finally we’ll get ‘er done
I’m in that frame of mind

We’ll order seeds and hormones
We’ll sharpen all the tools
I’m ready to get started
Let’s go! Let’s bend some rules!

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Posted in Garden Stories, Permaculture, Poetry, Writing

The Spiral

Posted on January 11, 2017 | Leave a comment

The kitchen garden has been planned and I am busily and happily marking seeds in my catalogs…most of which I will not buy, but still, it’s fun to dream and pretend to have an unlimited budget for seeds.

I sketched out the herb spiral again this year. There were many herbs that did not do well and I will not be planting them again.

The lemongrass was spindly, the cumin non-existent, the lavendar never even made and appearance and the lemon balm sprouted and died.

I probably wouldn’t have used them anyway and that will leave more room for cilantro and basil and rosemary.

Here’s the list:

Sage
Oregano
Basil
Cilantro
Nasturtium
Chives
Lettuce
Bee balm
Thyme
Rosemary
Parsley
Marigolds

Fragrant spiral planned
Herbs, lettuce and flowers too
Attracting the bees

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Posted in Garden Stories, Haiku, Writing

Kitchen Garden 2017

Posted on January 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

It’s only January, but with the seed catalogs beckoning me, I’m itching to get my hands in the soil.

I know, I know. It will be awhile before that can happen.

But in the meantime…

I’ll be dog-earing the pages in my favorite seed catalogs.

I’ll be making lists for the kitchen garden, the vineyard, the fedge and the swales.

I’ll be looking at last year’s lessons learned and drawing up this year’s kitchen garden, fedge, vineyard and swale plans.

I’ll be dreaming of all the herbs, veggies, berries and grapes that are sure to grow on the homestead this year.

Will this be the year the apple trees blossom?

Will it be the year we finally get kiwi?

Will we, at long last, be cutting asparagus to eat rather than watching (mournfully) as it grows taller and taller so we can chop it down and shake out the seeds?

How I hope it will!

But before I can harvest all of this wonderful produce, the plans need to be drawn up and the seeds planted…starting with the kitchen garden.

The plans this year are not quite as aggressive as the past few year’s have been.

I’m cutting down from 15 squares, to 8. For the past two years, I’ve let the weeds take over due to time constraints and a little laziness. I’m hopeful that with 8 plots, I’ll be able to better manage the crops as well as have time to do some serious chopping and dropping during the season.

I’m not planting as many tomatoes this year, not because I don’t want them, but because I know we will have a zillion volunteers that will need new homes.

I’ve planned for enough herbs and marigolds to help ward off pests, but the majority of the herbs will be in my herb spiral…last year’s big success.

I’m moving the squash arch closer to the deck. Why you ask?

Well…I did not take the chickens into consideration when I built it smack in the middle of the garden.

I had to sacrifice the garlic I planted under it so that the chickens could continue their work fertilizing the soil, making it ready for the spring planting…I sure hope they enjoy it.

Kitchen garden plans
Sketched and colored in the cold
Drawn up in the cold

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Posted in Chickens!, Food, Garden Stories

So…Now What?

Posted on January 3, 2017 | Leave a comment

From Halloween to Christmas we are in a whirlwind of activity.

There’s food, family and friends.

There’s shopping, cooking, eating.

There’s planning, writing silly stories about elves and–did I mention eating?

We spend quality time with family and friends and we make resolutions for the upcoming year. Habits we will break, books we will read, changes we will make and skills we will acquire.

We are kept so busy by all of the holiday hubbub that when the sun sets on January 1st, we feel a little lost…at least I do.

What do I do now? Now that Christmas is over and I’m determined to start this year off with a bang? I used to make a million resolutions. All the cliches were on my list.

I’ll start eating right and exercising.

I’ll spend less time on the computer.

I’ll follow a cleaning calendar…ha!

Normally, these resolutions run out of steam after a month…maybe two.

This year, I’ve listed our homestead goals, but I’ve also doused them with reality. I know that I will not complete some of them and I’m ok with that.

This year, I’ve made a few, general resolutions so I won’t feel overwhelmed when I look at my list.

Yes eating right and a cleaning calendar are on my list again, but I’ve removed the pressure and given myself permission to fail…one candybar does not mean I have to wait until 2018 to start all over again.

This year, I’ve asked for help and support from my family, my friends…myself.

Goal #1 – Grow my Blog
My husband is going to help me with this one. He’s going to push me and remind me to share, look for ways to reach more people and provide more quality content via YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Goal #2 – Follow a Loose Daily Schedule
I have one for cleaning, I have one for school and I have one for blogging. I’m going to try to follow them. I’m going to believe that I will follow them. I’m going to know that it’s ok if I don’t follow them exactly.

Goal #3 – The Garden
Even though I’ve listed this as the 3rd goal, as in previous years, it is the biggie.

So many lessons we’ve learned and so many new and exciting methods to try, plants to sow, trees to grow and processes to implement.

It. Is. Overwhelming.

Overwhelming, but exciting. My seed catalogs have already started to arrive. I’ve started pre-planning in my head and jotting ideas down in my gardening notebook.

I need to map out the kitchen garden. The squash arch will be moved closer to the deck and the garlic will be planted between rows.

I need to research how to make peppers and cucumbers grow in our soil and order seeds. I will not go overboard this year!

We need to make sure the trees get fertilized and pruned.

We need to continue watching the videos on plant propagation and transplanting so we can implement the methods at the right time.

And the chickens!

We need to butcher a few more to make room for new ladies and fill our freezer.

We are going to try hatching our own chicks this year. It will be a great project and learning experience for the boys (and us). But, since Pecky is a blue cochin and the ladies are pearl white leghorns, we will likely not get great egg producers.

We’ll need to research and order new chicks. I’m not sure we will go with the leghorns again. They are aggressive, peck at hands and they’ve all been really mean to poor Pecky.

Who knew that such cute little chicklets would become such mean little hens.

So, now what? Now, we plan, we plant, we learn and we grow.

Now what do we do?
Since the holidays are through?
We plan and we grow

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Posted in 13 Skills, Chickens!, Education, Garden Stories, Homeschool

13 in 17: No, Really

Posted on December 31, 2016 | 1 comment

When I pulled up last year’s list of skills/resolutions we made for our homestead to prep for this post, I was a little shocked.

Shocked because we hadn’t looked at it since I wrote it in January.

Shocked because we’d failed to move forward on 5 of the 13.

Shocked because we barely made any progress on the majority of them.

I felt like we failed Homesteading 101.

Then, I found a post I’d forgotten I’d written. After I re-read it, I went from feeling like a failure to feeling like a success.

We planted 65+ trees.
We built a new, bigger run for the chickens.
We learned that we are not rooster people.
We expanded the vineyard.
We transplanted seaberries and blackberries.
We built a squash arch.
We built an herb spiral.

I’ve learned that nothing is certain. That even the greatest intentions can be pushed aside for those unexpected opportunities that pop up.

So this year, I’m listing the same goals and resolutions as last year.

I know other things will come up and we may switch gears to follow something else. I’m not going to feel bad or guilty about failing the skills below because I know that no matter what, we will learn and move forward.

1. Writing
I’ve been submitting to magazines and publishers after learning SO much in the workshop I attended in May. I’m going to continue to push forward and accept failures, learn from criticisms and take more risks.

2. Seed Saving
We saved more okra and amaranth seeds than we can use. This year, we are going to start saving tomato and pepper seeds too.

3. Concealed Carry
Another goal we have not tackled. We found a range near us that offers the class, but I want to get some range time in and get comfortable holding, handling and shooting my gun.

4. Essential Oils
I’ve been using and diffusing essential oils on a weekly basis. I will continue to use them and learn more about natural remedies for common ailments.

5. Back to “prepping”
I want to step this up. It’s an easy one and it is silly that, beyond ordering a few kits from Amazon, we’ve not made progress.

Our goal is to get back to food rotation and copy canning so that we have at least 6 months of meals.

6. Curriculum Planning
This is the one goal that I feel REALLY good about. The boys and I have a routine that often gets disrupted…and that’s ok.

8. Stocks and Investing
Ray has learned quite a bit about the stock market and investing. I have not.

This year, I’d like to start an investment club with friends. It will force me to learn and ask questions about the stock market and investing.

9. Fitness
I have let this one slide. This year, I’ll try to have a set routine…especially because the boys can go to a Kids Get Fit class while I work out.

10. Blogging
I had 268 followers at the end of 2015 and I have 362 followers now. Not too shabby! However, I can do better. I’ve started to share my blog posts on more social networks like Twitter and Pinterest. I’ve also created an Instagram account for my blog so I can share pictures of what we are up to.

11. Tree Care
This year we planted more than 70 trees, but have done little to make sure they will thrive. We are taking a “survival of the fittest” stance, but I think that might really be an excuse for not putting the effort in to make sure they survive (ie, laziness).

I’m determined to prune, fertilize and care for all of these trees…even those that seem on the verge of death.

12. Propagation
In an effort to at least start this goal, we’ve watched two videos on propagation.

We’ll continue watching these videos so that we can execute what we’ve learned in the Spring.

13. Brewing
Nothing has changed since last year on this one.

“We know how to brew and we know how to make wine…but I don’t remember the last time we’ve actually done either. We’ll be focusing on getting our kegs full and learning more about making meads and cysers from fresh fruit.”

We have a 8 gallon bags of grapes, blackberries and aronia that we will be making into wine this year. No, really.

No, really we will
No excuses for failure
No, really we will