The Beds are Ready

We all worked in the garden this Saturday, getting it ready for spring planting. Such fun! Especially since this is the first year that the boys could actually be out there with us :) I've made my list of what I'll actually plant, and I'm ready to start my seedlings! Starting some varieties indoors will definitely be a big benefit, (like, maybe I'll actually have some celery this year?) and should give us some hardier plants.

Seed trays are expensive if you want to do any quantity of seedlings (plus, I'm cheap), so I've come up with some practically free alternatives. I started saving my egg cartons awhile ago because I realized they were a perfect size for starter seeds. The 12-18 size is also a great way to separate varieties. I came across this tutorial for toilet roll seed starters that I was thought was super cute, especially if you need something sturdier. (I'd have to save all year to have enough, but still worth sharing.)

You can spend a fortune on handy gardening tools, but thinking creatively can stretch your dollars far. I'm currently brainstorming ideas for a cheap trellising system for my vining zucchini this year. It was one of my most productive plants (although nothing came close to the okra extravaganza) last year, but it took over the garden. Literally. So, it clearly needs a sprawling home this year outside the garden. It looked rather like the Hulk riding a tricycle on the 'trellis' I had last year. Although, the tomatoes, beans and cukes were quite happy with it.

We're hoping to add some fruit to the garden this year, even if we don't get much harvest yet. I have some melons seeds that should be fun to try, and also some berry bushes are in the plan.

Baby veggie pix coming soon!

A Young Gardener

Seed catalogs have been arriving in droves since before Christmas...and I am elated. I'm not big on cold weather, Georgia winters are about all I can stand. . I mean, I know God created winter too, and I try to see the positive in the season. I love the cozy fires, the hot drinks, the big fluffy sweaters, the occasional snow…but they’re just the good side I try to focus on while I’m freezing my rear end off. I love the fall harvest, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they get me through the first couple cold months because of all the fun hustle and bustle. But then January rolls around, and for years I’ve just muddled through those chilly quiet months looking forward to April. Well, now that I’m vegetable gardening, I have found my ray of hope…seed catalogs and garden planning!

I learned a lot last year, if nothing else, how little I really know. It seems the more I read and learn, the more I realize I have to learn! I love the quote from Thomas Jefferson, “Though an old man, I am but a young gardener.” Such a true statement. There are so many things to learn about all the different types of plants and the relationships between them. I devoured many gardening books and perused countless websites last year, hoping to narrow my margin of error. I’m sure it helped, but experience is a wonderful teacher.

This year I want to plant more of some things, and less of others. (How many cucumbers and okra can one family eat?!) I definitely want more squash and tomatoes. I tried to simplify my crop rotation by having one bed for everything with the intention of just shifting one over every year. But I feel a little more comfortable this year trying to plan successions for all year and using each bed more than once, thereby achieving more yield. I’m putting the grain on hold for now. I really want to try it, but until I have a mill, I don’t see the point. We also barely had enough green beans to eat, let alone put up or dry. I also see how much work drying would have been! Besides, dried beans are that expensive J

I’m also doing some seedlings early indoors this year too. I didn’t have time last year, so I just tried everything from seed outdoors. Generally, the advice I found in The Vegetable Gardener's Bible to be true. (I love this book!) If he recommended starting from seed outdoors, mine did wonderfully. Those he suggested starting indoors and transplanting didn’t do as well. Celery, which he said could be very difficult to grow, didn’t come at all! I planted over 200 seeds…so I guess that’s accurate.

The seed catalogs have so many wonderful varieties, it’s incredibly difficult to narrow down. I thought I was conservative last year, but I believe I still had too many varieties. I didn’t consider the chances of cross-pollination, and I ended up with over half of my ridiculously abundant cucumber crop to be inedible. The peppers were slow to come up, so the harvest was low, plus I don’t know what crossed. The English peas would be a lot of work for little reward. I probably won’t do them again this year.

As I make my selections and arrangements, I’ll be sure to share my plans. Now to drool over my catalogs…

Oh, want some in your mailbox? Check out these sites and request a catalog!

Sow True Seed

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Seed Savers Exchange

Abundant Life Seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Tomato Growers

R.H. Shumway's

Johnny's Selected Seeds

Kitchen Garden Seeds

Until Spring

Well, both our chickens are gone now. One died a few weeks ago and we have no idea why. We watched the other one thinking maybe they were sick, but she seemed to be fine. She stayed in the hen house for two days though. :( She also started molting and stopped laying eggs. Apparently molting is normal for this time of year, although why their feathers thin when it's getting cold, I don't know! So Thelma is no longer with us. We decided to find an adoptive home for Louise because I thought she might be lonely all winter alone. We do want more chickens, but I don't think getting chicks right now is a good idea. So, we're waiting until spring and we'll try again. Louise is now among a medium-sized flock of other Rhode Island Reds and will hopefully find herself at home soon, free-ranging on the large property.

Sigh. I miss them though. Every morning I go open the back door blinds and peek out to check on them only to remember they're not there. I also really miss the eggs! I had to start buying eggs this week again - bummer. But hopefully we'll get our yard re-fenced the way we'd like and our chicks in the spring will have a nice range for hunting bugs and other chicken goodies.

Plus, the sooner the yard is re-fenced and partitioned, the sooner I can let my two little monkeys run around outside without worrying. Right now, I always fear they'll run in two opposite directions! They stare out the back window at the swing set and ask now. It would be nice to let them run off some energy - that's for sure!

Things have been busy, but it seems they always are. When one thing ends, something else replaces it. I've decided it's just my season of life and I'll have to deal with it. On a positive note, it has helped me learn better about prioritizing, and what is really worth the time sacrifice. Some things just aren't worth the energy compared to the money I save - lol!

We never got a chance to plant a fall garden, so I'm disappointed about that. The beds needed to be tilled and there just weren't enough free weekends. I can't really work out in the yard during the week anymore because the boys won't let me! We took the play-yard down, which has been nice, but it's also meant there is nowhere safe for the munchkins to be contained. But, once they were learning to climb out, it was time...

I did take some time over the last 2 months to collect pinecones and sweetgum balls to use as fall/winter decor, which has been fun. The last of our okra dried lovely, so I saved it too for decorating. When we put up the Christmas tree, we're not doing all the glass ornaments this year. We're just doing lights and I'm going to put pinecones and other natural elements on it so the boys don't get in too much trouble. :) I think it will be pretty...I'll try and include some pictures when it's up.

And now it's feeding time at the zoo...

Oh Vinegar, How I Love Thee

I really do. I didn't for a very long time though. When I first started my journey towards a healthier lifestyle, I kept reading about vinegar everywhere. Cleaning, laundry, pest control, weed control, yada yada yada. I tried cleaning with vinegar and thought I'd never get over the smell. But you know what? I did. And now, I absolutely love the stuff. (I mean, not for a perfume or anything) Because, you really can use it for everything! It's great for a fabric softener, general disinfectant, conditioner, and my most recent discovery - a fantastic weed killer.

I kid you not - it's great. I buy vinegar by the gallons, and I used one, undiluted, in a flo master gallon spray jug. My dad got this one for me at Sam's, and I'm pretty sure it was less than the $20 on this site. (Now, I personally think one of these is a must, because unless you only have 1 or 2 weeds to get rid of, your hand will hurt from a regular trigger handle.) I also added a little powdered citric acid (a.k.a. sour salt) because I had some left from my failed dish detergent recipe. There are a multitude of weed killer recipes, but I went for the no-fail method and didn't water mine down. I don't have time for 2-3 applications if the first didn't work, thank you very much. You could also add lemon juice, which is basically citric acid. One gallon will go a looooong way. I spray first thing in the morning on a very sunny, hot day. They basically fry in the sun. I have found that this works best when there's no chance of rain for a couple days. One time it rained within 12 hours, and I think the weeds recovered from their burning :)

So here is a nice before shot of the enemy:

And the after:

Pretty impressive, huh? I thought so. I really love that I can use it around my garden beds without worrying about leaching chemicals into the ground right where I'm trying to grow organic food! So this only deepened my love affair with vinegar. What about you? Do you use it? If so, for what?

Garden Progress

The garden is coming along beautifully - and I couldn't be more proud! Ok, well maybe I could, and I probably will be when I actually begin harvesting. *grin* It should be soon too, because I have cucumber, squash, zucchini, and okra blossoms - woohoo! I'm really looking forward to picking some produce, because, quite honestly, I've only been picking grass and wild violets from the garden. Not too rewarding...

The tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots (pic below) and peas seem to be coming up rather slowly.

As I did everything from seed though, I'm not entirely surprised. I'm consoling myself with the fact that what does come up will be very hardy, and if I save some seeds this year as I plan, next year's plants will be perfectly tuned for my yard. The asparagus is looking rather cute, like a mini pine forest keeping the tomatoes company. They won't be ready for about 4 years. (Talk about a long-term investment!)

I saw a rabbit in the garden *gasp* and I went to chase him out only to watch him squirm right through the fence! Isaac finished putting the tighter gauge section on the bottom rather quickly... I thought we might not have to do that part at all - but I was wrong. Hopefully he'll finish the gate this weekend. We're still planning on putting an electric wire around the top to deter deer, because our fence is just under 5 feet tall, and deer can jump 8 feet.

The garden seems to be buzzing with life whenever I'm around, which is a wonderful thing. I have inter planted marigold and nasturtium to encourage some beneficial insects and discourage others, and it seems to be working. I would like to put a few morning glories on the corner posts too. I planted 7 lantana bushes right outside the garden by the driveway too, because lots of bugs like those. The only negative bug problem I seem to have had was a specific little black and green caterpillar munching happily on the okra. I have since seen his variety on pretty much everything else, including the grass. Apparently, he's not too picky. I have been hand-picking and squishing them, and that seems to have taken care of it. While a little holier than I prefer, the okra is once again thriving.

As I survey the garden progress, it seems clear that I will be tweaking the balance next year. The squash, zucchini and pumpkin need much more room! We eat squash frequently, so I want plenty of it. My celery is quite pitiful, I'm not sure how many plants I have, but the 3 in question aren't even in the celery section! (They were a teeny tiny seed I just sprinkled hopefully.) I also wish there were more carrots, but I can't start those early to transplant because they don't like to be moved. The cucumbers are going crazy, so between that and the okra, I plan to do some pickling. Next year I hope to be prepared enough to start some seeds indoors to transplant and get a head start.

I am very pleased with our trellising system! I found it here, and it's also in the book, Square Foot Gardening. I didn't buy into that whole idea, but I loved the trellis plans. We made a variation and didn't buy the netting. I strung twine up and down over the piping, attaching the bottom loops to the ground with landscape pins. I do think the netting would be beneficial for some veggies because my climbing zucchini is very strong and pulled the pins right out of the ground! (Here's a close-up of ours.)

In case anyone's wondering how I manage doing any of this with the twins...here's what I do: I usually spend about an hour 2-3 times a week out in the garden. I do it in the morning, before it gets really hot, but after the boys eat breakfast so they're happy and full, but not nearly tired for nap time yet. They play in their play yard and I put in a DVD of Elmo or something. Then I take the baby monitor outside with me and garden and they are perfectly happy with this arrangement. There are definitely some days where I could never pull this off, and all last week was just that! So, my gardening this morning involved some heavy-duty weeding. Only one time so far did they start fighting so badly that I had to take off my muddy shoes and run inside to break up the craziness.

So that's the update on our gardening project. I got some blueberry and raspberry bushes for a steal, so I'm trying to decide where to plant those. One more step towards self-sufficiency!

You could make that, Lee

*edited 7/21/2010:
After using the following recipe for awhile, I have fiddled around and improved it. I found the ivory left a residue, so I switched to fels naptha laundry soap. I LOVE it! It rinses so clean, I noticed an immediate difference. Here is my new adjusted recipe. All directions are still the same, and I now use this as my pre-spot spray too.

1/2 bar fels naptha
1 C borax
1 C washing soda
HOT water

My Grandmother lived with me until I was 9, which I consider a wonderful privilege. She taught me many things, one of which was that there are many things I can do myself and it's not sensible to always be paying for them. Sometimes my mother and I have found this humorous however, because we draw the line in some areas. (While we very well may be able to do that, it's hard to beat buying something for $5 that would have taken us 5 hours to make and probably wouldn't have looked as nice.) That being said, what her generation knew is that it pays to be frugal, self-sustaining and to live with some just plain common sense. Such as, if I can make laundry soap myself, in 20 minutes, and it costs me less than 1 cent a load, why would I pay over 50 cents a load at the store? That one is definitely on my side of the line. And, quite frankly, I think my homemade baked goods and my mother-in-law's bread are better than anything I can buy in the store. Plus, they're so much cheaper!

I was making a new batch of laundry soap for my dad this morning and I was thinking how grateful I am for this small blessing in my life. Sometimes the daily rhythm of chores is very comforting to me, and this was one of those times. The following is the recipe I use for laundry detergent (courtesy of my wonderful MIL). I really love this stuff and feel it is every bit as good as the store bought, with the exception that it actually has less chemicals and my nose doesn't run because it's not filled with perfumes. Oh, and I use it as a concentrated presoak too and it hasn't met a stain it couldn't best.

1 bar of ivory soap, shaved
1 cup of washing soda (not baking)
1/2 cup of borax

1. Bring a pot of water (2-3 quarts) to boil.
2. Reduce to medium heat. (Boiling makes the soap foam.)
3. Slowly sprinkle shaved ivory soap until completely melted. Take your time. Dumping the whole pile of shavings will actually take you longer.
4. Add about 4 gallons of HOT water to a 5 gallon bucket.
5. Pour pot of soapy water in the 5 gallon bucket too and stir well.
6. Add washing soda and borax to hot water mixture and stir well.
7. Put lid back on bucket and let sit overnight.
8. Stir well the next day.

*Use 1 cup for regular washers, 1/4 cup for high efficiency front loaders.

Also, you can pour the soap in half gallon jugs if it's easier to measure and handle. However, if you have enough room in your laundry room, I recommend just keeping the bucket right beside your washer. I keep a 1 cup measuring scoop sitting right on top of the lid. Whenever I'm washing I use the scoop to swish the soap around, scoop it out, and rinse it off in the running washer water and set it right back on top of my bucket. This works best for me and I haven't noticed it ever separating badly. If your water is hot enough when you make it, your soap should be pretty even, but kinda goopy. So, if it's goopy, you did it right. Just make sure it's evenly goopy and there's not a lot of water sitting at the bottom or top of your bucket.

I plan in the near future as I run out of my soap stock to try some other money-saving recipes I've researched. Dish washing detergent, dish soap, hand soap, shampoo and body wash reviews will hopefully be appearing soon...

It's Not Easy Being Green

I wouldn't say I've lived a posh lifestyle with complete disregard to the environment, throwing endless things away for convenience, but I definately could do better. Mostly I would attribute it to a lack of knowledge, not lack of caring. However, in the last 6 months or so my eyes have been opened to some things that I hadn't noticed. It started with my homemade laundry soap (courtesy of the Webster clan) and a daily awareness of wastefulness and reliance on manufacturing. Then, I found the book Green Housekeeping. Wow! So wonderful! Now, I will say there's some things in there that are a little over the top for me, but it has educated me greatly.

Now, I need to make a disclaimer: I am in no way saying I live the ultimate green life. But I am trying a little bit at a time to transform my way of thinking and living to better my children's future. Notice I did not say 'save the planet'. To be frank, this statement irks me because I think it's ridiculous. George Carlin may be crass, but he's not so far off to say we are egotistical to think the planet needs our saving - it doesn't. Now, before you get defensive thinking I'm saying eco living is hogwash, I'm not saying that at all. The planet will go on fine for many years until it's swallowed up by the sun. We as a race, however, will be in a mess of trouble. That's my point - live with a conservative mindset to better our futures and make ourselves more self-reliant. That's the mental direction I'm heading, one step at a time.

My mom told me about an article she read (I have no idea where) in which a man saved all his trash for a year. Yowza! He realized a vast majority of it was product packaging and food waste. I would love to compost but at the moment I am too cheap to spend money on a compost bin. Shame on me. Christmas gift anyone? It really made me contemplate how I purchase things and what I do with the packaging. I have begun to change my purchasing choices based on this fact. I have also started saving a lot of packaging and creatively repurposing it throughout my home. I love to organize, so I can't complain about my lovely assortment of boxes, bins, jars and bottles. Something very fun I have begun to do is use these in drawers as custom organizers. I love all the little plastic ones you can buy, (oh, the Container Store...) but they are expensive and I just can't rationalize it when I can do this for free. Plus, there's a greater variety of sizes. It may not look as 'pretty' but I'm much more satisfied reusing these boxes than throwing them away and buying more plastic. It could use some fine tuning, but here's what I did with my kitchen junk drawer:

I don't have a before picture, but I'm very pleased with the results. I mean, what does your junk drawer look like? If it's like something out the Container Store catalogue, I don't want to hear about it. On second thought, go ahead and post a pic, I'll live vicariously through your pretty drawer...

Now, I make a lot of my own baby food, but I don't make all of it. Therefore, I have quite the collection of baby food jars. These are wonderful for so many things! One of my recent repurposes for these were some homemade decorative pumpkins. I have been oogling the ones in stores, especially the ones made out of grapevine. But I don't have any grapevine. I do have lots of kudzu I just might try drying out though... Anyway, I had also seen some cute fabric ones that I like but once again, I'm just too cheap to spend money on something I really don't need. So, the other day when the boys were particularly happy, I rummaged through my stash and came up with these:

They weren't really the fabric I wanted, but I didn't purchase anything to make these. I took 3 baby food jars of different sizes, stuffed a square of fall colored fabric around and in to the center. Then I took a torn piece of cardboard and rolled it up for a stem. The leaves are from a silk fern I had left over from a floral project. The bows are rafia and for a finishing touch I wound some gold wire around a pencil to use as a curly vine. Overall, I was pretty happy with my makeshift pumpkins.

I'm really enjoying this transition in my life and I'm looking forward to new creative ideas for a self-sustaining lifestyle. I only have 1 1/3 acres, so I won't be buying a dairy cow or chickens anytime soon, but I hope to start a garden next year. I'm definately doing an herb garden - I want lots of lavender. What are some of your favorite ways that you try to live green? Thanks for sharing!