Homestead update

There was a storm here about a week ago. I am sad to say that I have not seen the hummingbird or her two babies since the storm. I have also not found any bodies, which is a good sign at least. I am sure they just moved, but it still was concerning to me.

So far in the garden I have harvested that massive yellow squash. I did save seeds from it though they may end up being hybrid. I still don’t mind planting them and seeing what comes of them.

Little green tomatoes are forming for my second round of tomatoes. My corn is throwing up flower stalks. Beets are growing nicely. Beans are starting to branch out. My zucchini plant has 3 to 4 zucchinis that will be ready for harvest soon. My winter squash are growing and flowering.
All in all the garden is doing pretty great.

I think the potato is starting to send up little leaves that I had thrown into the cheat grass pile. New cheat grass shoots are popping up due to the watering. It is ok though.

I have been adding food scraps to the grass pile and making sure to keep it moist.

I was given a lemon cucumber from one of my sisters co-workers to save seeds from. I think it is pretty awesome when people I don’t even know are offering veggies from their garden for seed saving. I saved the seeds and still was able to sample the cucumber. It tastes much like a normal cucumber to me.

I also saved the seeds from the apricot pits I got. We have no idea if it is a heirloom or hybrid apricot as the tree was saved without a tag on it. I may try planting it in a container.

Another experimental seed I have saved is the seeds from an Orange Dewlicious Honeydew melon. It tastes like honeydew but more like cantaloupe. It was my first time trying this breed and I decided seeds must be experimented with.

I have also saved a few romaine lettuce hearts that are now growing in my kitchen. My husband loves that I have to grow things everywhere. The bok choy is also doing wonderful, though I found a caterpillar munching on one and quickly eradicated the situation.

I found a few more nodes on my ginger root that I had sitting in a bag. I find they produce nodes faster when you leave them in the produce bag and sit them on the counter. I planted the two nodes I found in my little ginger pot.
I was delighted to find out that you can eat the whole ginger plant. For common ginger you can at least. I tried a leaf, expecting it to be spicy, and found it tastes much like the skin of a cucumber. That was not something I had expected.
I was trimming some of the dying leaves from the ginger plant and noticed the wonderful cucumber-like smell coming from them. That is how I came to find out you can actually eat the leaves or dry them for tea. Basically I caught a whiff of the sweet smell and went into research mode.
I will be saving the leaves for tea later once I harvest the roots.

There has not been a whole lot else going on in the garden.

I have been spending my time sketching ideas for a new painting I am working on, making herbal remedies, and making lists for Winter projects.

One of the things I hope to accomplish by this Winter is to at least sketch out my garden design on graph paper. If I am not overly distracted when I do this, I hope to design four different designs for my four year garden rotation.
Most things I find say not to plant the same thing in the same location more often than once every four years. Now, this of course excludes permanent shrubs, trees, etc.
That of course will be a big project using many measurements. Keep in mind I have not taken any official permaculture class. I have only studied it and watched college lectures online. I still feel it will not be an easy project as it is still new to me.

I still have to clear the rest of the cheat grass in the back before the frosts come. 

I will try and make a somewhat completed list (As my lists are ever-growing) for my Winter projects list to give you an idea of what I plan to do during the off gardening season. How many of those things I actually get accomplished is yet to be seen, though I will stay active during those months on what I am up to.
I am not just going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs all Winter. I have a lot of other non-garden related projects I wish to work on.