Creating my 2015 homesteading goals

I am hard at work the past two days creating my homesteading goals for 2015. I had a good portion of them written down, but many more I needed to add.

I also decided I needed to organize the list a little more so it had categories, as well as for each “goal” it would detail the cost, effort, desired season, and if it was at the top of the list of importance or if it was just something I would desire to do this year, and OK if it ended up being put off till next year.

I have 10 pages written so far, and I fear much more will be added to the list… There are so many things I wish to put on the list but KNOW will not happen this year, so there is no point in even writing it on the list for 2015.
I know the first year is the hardest one to organize, plan out, reach those goals, but I am looking forward to it.

I also really like making lists…

I should also keep in mind this is 10 pages of goals relating to urban homesteading, so I have a lot of other “to do” or “goals” lists that are not related, or possibly related.

This homesteading goals list will also have sub-lists, especially for the medicine making portions, as I do not feel like putting in tons of lines. I will just make a separate list for the ones I know I want to make, so I can mark what I got to, and then add to it the ones I made but did not plan to make.

Right now my categories are as follows:
The ground
The garden
The seeds
Projects
Blogging, writing, and paper projects
Community immersion
Inside the home
Skills to learn

Once I feel content with it (hopefully here soon) I will post it up so you can see what I have on my list and how I laid it out.

Anything I do not accomplish this year from the list will either be scrapped altogether or moved to next years list.

Making plans for a food forest

There are so many design ideas, growing methods, and outdoor/indoor homesteading projects I wish to implement on my little urban homestead.

Food forests, permaculture, guild planting, espalier, intercropping, succession planting, hugelkultur, raised beds, wicking beds, vertical gardening, container gardens, lasagna method,  forest gardening, and the list keeps growing…. Learning how to implement many design and gardening methods together is one that constantly has my gears spinning in my head.

These get broken down even further when you go into what materials to use for a raised bed, etc.

Add to all of that the various seed starting, transplanting, grafting, rooting methods and it gets more interesting.

There are just so many wonderful, inspired ideas out there; I want to use them all haha.

I have some older folded sod near the plum tree in my yard. I am considering using it to try my hand at hugelkultur. That one is a newer study subject for me. I think this method and the lasagna method are similar in the sense that you can do this on top of your lawn if you wanted *from what I have seen thus far at least* though the raised hugelkultur bed might be a better option depending on the materials at hand.

Recently we picked up a 100ft tape measure for $15 that is a bit more flexible and durable than others we have found.
Soon we will be getting the dimensions of yard and actually drawing it out on graphing paper.

I also picked up a Utilitech grow light at Lowes for about $15. I am sure it is not fantastic, but it was more affordable for the time being. I am going to test out this one, and if it does well, I will probably need 1-2 more before Spring.
We decided I would use the metal shelving unit I have outside in the garden for my grow station this year to save on buying a less than desirable one this year.

Today I have also been focused on organizing a list for a food forest. I have listed out things I want and have under different categories for the food forest; The categories are: Canopy, understory, vines, shrubs, herbs, groundcover, root crops, edge plants.

By putting the different plants under each category *some in more than one* it allows me to get a better mental layout by thinking in layers. From that I will then break it down further into seasons *for starting seeds indoors/outdoors/transplanting*, areas of the garden, growing methods, succession plantings, what is permanent and what needs replanting, etc.

I want to get a map out of what I would like my urban homestead to look like in the end, and then alter the plans for what I can do with it now, with what I have currently.

I know a food forest is not much of a “forest” on .18 of an acre, but I still think of it that way.

There is a lot I need to consider with my design. It is both fun and daunting. I am sure things will start moving more once the areas are measured and accounted for. This is probably a lot harder for me right now as this is my first time mapping out a food forest landscape without any experienced help aside from online blogs, videos, articles.. Once I get it down the first time it will be much easier, or so I hope.

Garden planning, soil, and compost

I am fearing the garden planning and layout process. In the past I was the typical gardener that would plant wherever it felt right, and sometimes come home with more plants than I could find space for.

While I will not be planting every type of seed I have this year, I will need to actually go through and make a list of what I will plant, when, what to plant after that, and make sure not to plant the wrong combination of plants at one time that would cross pollinate to plan for proper seed saving.

My brother and husband have offered to help me measure the yard space, and then help sketch out the layout. Numbers and I have a love hate relationship… I am sure it is something I could not do so easily on my own and I am happy for the help.

This will be the first time I have designed a garden layout as well. I will most likely map out the full yard, and then start planting on just the slope area to start.

Worst case scenario, I have to stick to just the slope, and plan out as best I can as I go.

My biggest concern is making some kind of stair steps for the slope in certain areas where the ground is quite steep. I have slid down the slope many times due to poor footing or loose dirt.

Another thing I am trying to do is make a list of all the garden projects I am considering. That way if I end up with the right materials at random, I can reference my list, and know what project it should go to.

I will have to narrow down the list of projects, such as if I want a fire pit, solar oven/dehydrator, rocket stove, pizza oven, outdoor canning stove, etc.. Because having all of those is unneeded and would take up a lot of space. I could also combine some ideas into one unique one.

One project I am working out is my seed starting shelves. Part of my urban homesteading quest is to try and find ways to do things for little to no cost. I feel a garden should not cost an arm and a leg. Even if I had a lot of money, which I do not, but if I did, I would still go about it this way.

Right now I am trying to see if building the shelves would be more cost efficient or if I could find low cost or free shelving that would work for that purpose. I am also looking into where to find good lights that don’t cost an arm and a leg. So far Aquarium lights seem to be the best option with the lowest price. I am still researching though.

This is the first time I have lived in a home with all electric heat. Our heating bill last month was $81, and this month was just shy of $200… I am used to a much lower bill due to having gas heat. This unexpected rise in our electric bill does mean the budget for the garden will be tighter unless something changes.

We are looking into what it would take to get gas ran up to the house and convert to gas heating. We have a wood burning stove out in the shop that used to be in our house, but we aren’t sure what it would take to hook it back up, costs involved, and if our insurance would be ok with it. Previously our insurance company had made a remark about the stove. I don’t think we could have gone through them had it been hooked up, but I do plan to ask them. Downside of course is if we did go with a wood stove, we would have to store a large amount of wood… Using up garden space, and I do hear there are some pretty poor suppliers for wood here locally. Still, we are looking into various options, since even with level budget pay becoming an option around April, the bill will still be quite high due to Winter usage.  Next month they expect the bill to be $225. I only mention this all because this is apart of starting a urban homestead. You have to account for unexpected rising bills and change plans accordingly.

I think we will also be trying the bubble wrap trick with the windows to help with the escaping heat in the house. I hear it works quite well.

Other things I will need to tackle are the bug and soil issue. Pill bugs, earwigs, box elder bugs, and ants are a big problem I hope to naturally get rid of before it becomes as big of an issue. I was not able to harvest one ear of corn this year due to infestation.

The soil needs a lot of nutrients added. I am sure the soil and bug combination made for slow growing plants. I am not sure if my compost will be ready in time but I will at least have mulch, coffee grounds, egg shells, and I will most likely pick up some compost tea. If I can get my hands on some manure from friends who have cows, horses, or chickens, I will add that to the compost pile to age. I really do hope to turn my soil into something people tend to call black gold.

I am very new to composting and I find I am not always able to turn the pile by hand every day. If I had a tumbler (Which I am considering making at some point) It might be easier to do before work. I like the idea of layering it and leaving it, but I don’t always have enough of one thing to make each layer. I am still trying to understand how that would work. Maybe I will get lucky and having neglected my compost pile will be fine.. One can hope.

Thankfully with the big silver maple tree I have, leaf mulch will not be a problem. I didn’t rake the yard this year either.

Being that the snow hit us randomly with over 7inches, I also didn’t get a chance to cover my grape vines in time, so I am hoping they will be ok. I do plan to plant those in the ground in the coming year.

Yearly groceries and planning

I have been reading a lot of homesteading blogs today. I enjoy passing the time reading others adventures.

One particular subject I have been meaning to get on a little more is grocery shopping, the larder, food pantry, freezer, etc plans.

This subject is a bit of a chore for me because it means I have to do a lot of tracking, and find a way to do it where the other two in my family don’t throw me off my numbers. I am still thinking of a good method for this… The best I have so far is keeping a list, and then adding a tally (with an amount) for each time I buy a product during the year. At the end I look through the house to see what I have left and subtract that amount if it is anything substantial (as I like to over estimate rather than underestimate what I will need)

Out of that very long list of items I will also list what I can grow of those, how much of it I will need to grow, and how many cans/bags I would need to produce from said crop per person.

Each year I will put down what I have growing and if it is under, over, or right at what it needs to be for preserving.

Of course this list will change each year as our tastes do. I am sure what we eat in fruits and veggies now will greatly grow once we can have it fresh on the table during the harvest seasons.

We may eat more of something in the future because I can grow it, than we would if we were to buy it in a fruit stand or store. Artichoke is a good example of one veggie we all love but never really buy due to increasing prices.
I absolutely love steamed artichoke with Italian dressing to dip the leaves and heart in. I also hate the canned stuff because it is not usually cooked quite to my liking and doesn’t come out right.
Growing my own will solve that.

Everyone is going to use different things and different amounts. When someone thinks of a larder, or prepping for a year of food, one usually thinks of beans, rice, etc… And while we eat those things, we normally do not base our whole diet off of those. You need to base your pantry goods off of what you actually use, not just that but also how much you actually use. No need to buy 50lbs of beans if your family only uses 10lbs or less a year… That is just a random number for an example. I see people that buy a LOT of rice, when they only need maybe a small few bags a year.

The idea for me is that I will need to go through a multi-step process that may take a few years to get down. One at the very least.
First step is to go through my pantry and write down everything I have just to start the “what do we use” list
   Each time we go shopping I mark down new items with amounts, or add amounts to items already on the list.
   I would also like to add how much those items were so I can get a yearly grocery expense ballpark.
   I will then have my “currently growing” and “To grow” list. Based on the grocery list I can at least have a guess on how much of something I will need to grow and adjust accordingly.

Also I would like to make a “Thinks we would like to use, but don’t use much of, or do not presently use” list to see how I can incorporate new food items in the mix.

I may not go this particular route as I do not go shopping once a week, but something like what this blogger has posted about is a brilliant idea.  Click the link below to see how another blogger created their food pantry.
Food storage for people who don't hate food

There are some great charts on that site that give you a good idea on how to create your own list.

I keep seeing these “Eat from the larder challenge” Where basically for a month you are not allowed to eat anything except from what is already in your pantry/fridge/freezer.
People tend to eat out or shop so often that they end up with things in their pantry that they do not even remember when they bought it at times. I think the reason is that they end up with random cans of pumpkin, or boxes of noodles they don’t know what to do with. Random ingredients that are missing others to make something.
I think by building up your food storage, you have a well rounded pantry, freezer, fridge, and will be better able to cook more meals, and get creative with ingredients without it being an awkward mix.

What I mean is it is fun to experiment with random recipes whenever your heart fancies. It is not always fun when you have to try and throw random things together that are only passible by the taste buds as being ok for a one time meal.

I also think that if one was to do something like this they might bake more, eat healthier *depending on items they stocked up on of course* and can have more food groups to their diet.

I remember as a kid we literally had all the food groups at every meal like a good old fashioned home cooked meal would be imagined. You had your potatoes, your roll, your peaches, meat, veggie… It was much too large of a serving size back then, but people didn’t really know as much about portioning as they do now.

Nowadays I notice people are lucky if they have more than two food groups a day even, let alone a meal. That is not to say I think all food groups need to be there in every meal, but you should be getting enough servings of each food group for your bodies needs.

My problem with people today is laziness. People would rather pop a hot pocket in the microwave than cook something.
My brother and I have this argument all the time actually. He argues that he loves to cook, but all I ever see him do is use the microwave, yet he cooks at his friends houses all the time. I have been trying to get him to eat healthier meals and cook more here for ages. Heck, I have made healthier food accessible that is not even time intensive, or pre-prepared for him. Usually he only eats it if I make dinner for everyone.
  He finally told me it was because some of his friends families had a LOT of really random fresh ingredients which provided a better variety. He doesn’t really like to cook normal foods… He likes to play master chef and create new yummy food concoctions, some of which I love, others you couldn’t pay me to try haha.

While I admire his ambition and love for experiments, I doubt that he will do much more than basic cooking here. This is another reason why my freezer meal idea will be awesome once I can implement it further *As in fix the chest freezer* When I froze big batches of my home made chicken veggie soup he absolutely loved that. I will have to do that again soon as the weather cools.

What he said made sense to me, though I still frowned at him due to having things to cook, just not quite the variety that a Mex-Asian family who is traditional on both sides would have. Food is a very big part of both of those cultures.  I have been amazed at some of the meals he has told me he has had over there. I don’t usually shop for some of the more exotic ingredients they use.

I do think getting a rice cooker and a bread maker will entice my brother a bit though. He has mentioned those being handy on more than a few occasions.

At least I don’t have to force him to eat veggies.

My husband on the other hand is really picky about what veggies need to be cooked to what texture… He will not eat anything but raw when it comes to carrots. If they are cooked he won’t eat them. A few other veggies are like that for him. These things I have to take into consideration when cooking.

Considering what you eat raw, cooked, dried, fresh, frozen, the meals you like, how you like them prepared *baked, fried, etc* and doing a little meal planning in addition to just knowing how much of something you use might be useful when building up your larder. 

For me having options is both good and bad. Like loving ice cream but then going into baskin-robins and not knowing which of the 31 flavors you want so you sit on the floor for hours not sure what to pick. Well, for me it is the floor of the kitchen with my fridge door open every couple of minutes in hopes of deciding. I can be very indecisive.

Another great thing about doing this is you aren’t just doing it for quick meals, but also for cooking. For instance, I could put down that we can eat up to 4 granola bars during working days *20 days a month* for the year, equaling out to 80 bars a month or 960 a year (Yes that sounds like a hell of a lot of bars, but we really love them, and they make great work snacks) OR I could put down how much oats I need, honey, and all the other random ingredients I would need to make my own batches of granola bars.
  Not only would they be fun to make, it would save money, and be another way I could utilize the list.
    I don’t think we really eat quite that many, but for me I usually eat 1-2 a day. I only assume the same goes for the hubby for my estimation.
   Now if I make my own bars I have to take into account what kinds I will be making. I also think there is a great benefit in knowing what goes into making your food, as well as there are so many bars I go “You know I wish they would have added X to this bar… or why can’t I find a bar that tastes like X when I am craving it” So cooking has many benefits to it really.

I won’t go into the whole long rant about how most of our newer generation doesn’t know or care to know how to cook. That is an overgeneralization based on my own experiences and the ones I hear from others. I feel cooking is an essential skill everyone should know and I will leave it at that.

For now I am making a list (Not close enough to Christmas to make that joke)
It may take awhile to get the hang of it but I think it will be worth the effort later, especially since making a list on the fly or during breaks at work is not exactly easy.

I think the next challenge will be to add shelving for more canned and dried food storage.

Garden plants to get list

While my seed bank is growing, there are many seeds I want to plant and want to experiment with.

I figured it might not be a bad idea to make a list of those seeds or plants so I can share some of my plans with you all.

This blog will basically just be a list of those seeds/plants that are on my list of “to gets” for my garden.


*Warning the list is long and ever growing* I do plan to rotate crops that will not fit all at once of course.

Fruits:
Thornless raspberry
Wineberry
Salmonberry
Plum
Rainier Cherry
Golden Delicious Apple
Another apple type (Something like fuji or gala that would do well in zone 6)
Muskmelon (Like cantaloupe)
Honeydew
*Other melons I have yet to discover
More grape varieties. I have 3 now, I want a few more types possibly.
Orange
Service berries
Dew berry
Salal
Porcelain gem vine *Edibility still questionable*
Peach
Nectarine
Asian Pear
Huckleberry
Blueberry (3 varieties)
Elderberry
Honeyberry
Wonderberry aka sunberry
Jostaberry
Mouse melons aka Mexican Gherkins



Veggies:
Artichoke
Miners lettuce
Snap Peas
Brussels
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Spinach
Potatoes- Brown, red, gold, yams/sweet potatoes
Garlic (Has to come from a certified nursery here or it could cause white mold soil rot)
Cabbage
Kale
Sorrel
Celery
Banana peppers
Jalapeno
More winter squash varieties
Rhubarb
Horseradish
Sweet onions
Glass gem corn


Herbs/Plants/Flowers:
Cleavers
Pineapple weed
Lemongrass
Bee balm aka bergamot
Red clover
Aloe Vera
Burdock
Ginseng
Comfrey
Wood Betony
Goldenrod
Vervain
Tea, Camellia sinensis
Passionflower
Damiana
Gardenia
Goldenseal
Jasmine
Day lily
Watercress



That is the list so far.  I am always looking for new things to add to the list of things to try in my garden.
Now keep in mind some of these are experiments to see if they will grow in my zone and elevation. Just because they normally don’t grow here, does not mean they won’t… At least that is how I see it. Lots of people grow tropical plants in green houses. If I can get certain plants to do well enough, I can save seeds and replant. When I replant them they should be a little stronger with each season. Basically acclimating the plant to the land as much as you can. Kind of like domesticating a wolf… If you want to think of it that way.

Late season seed haul

So I did not get all the seeds I need for next year but I managed to get in a end of season seed haul. Let me tell you how I got 24 seed packets for $9.34

I started my quest for seeds a little late. I would be kicking myself if I did not find what I had.

So originally I was out to find seeds that you see in the dollar store, winco, walmart, etc… by American Seed, which is actually Plantation Seed, but moving on.. Everyone knows these little plain packets that are around .20-.30ea. Since I do not have a whole lot of money for seeds at the moment I thought this would be great for adding a few varieties, heirloom or not, to the garden.

Now one thing that is a downside about the seeds is they have a limited variety, but it works for creating a small edible garden.

After calling about 8 different stores I found Walgreens still had some seed packets left. When I got there I expected to find the normal american seed company packets but instead I found Burpee seeds on sale for .29-.34 cents! Yes, I pay a few cents more, but I know they are a reputable company.

I could have spent $37 for all of the seeds I got… It is amazing the deals you can find when you are in the right place at the right time. I am happy I can buy seeds out of season for next years planting.

So I snagged up 22 packets of seeds, and then 2 packets of lettuce tape that was normally $6.59ea for $0.98 each.



I have not used seed tape before but it seems really nifty. There is 22ft per pack.


This is my little seed storage chest. I moved my seeds to this when they were getting too big for their old container. Now having something that is air tight would be best, but this will work for me for now. Not all my seeds are in this chest; mainly the ones I printed out myself and saved.

I did not buy all the seeds they had left though I was very tempted to… And may even go back another time to see if there are any left.

They also had bell peppers, sunflowers, 2 other kinds of flowers, and anything else they were out of by that time.

Here is what I ended up with:

3pks of Peas “Cascadia”
2pks of Carrots “Scarlet Nantes”
2pks of Carrots “Little finger”
1pk of Radish “Crimson Giant”
1pk of Beets “Detroit Dark Red”
1pk of Garden Beans “Green Crop”
3pk of Cucumber “Space Master”
2pk of Watermelon “Sugar Baby”
2pk of Summer Squash “Early golden crookneck”
1pk of Summer Squash “Black Beauty”
1pk of Tomato “Super Beefsteak”
1pk of Tomato ‘'Super Sweet 100 Hybrid”
1pk of Marigold “Sunset Giant Mix”
1pk of Basil “Mammoth”
2pk of Lettuce (Tape) “Black Seeded Simpson”

The great thing about the seeds I got is that I believe all but one or two are open pollinated varieties and I can save seed from them. I am not certain, but at lest I believe they are mostly all able to be used to save seed if I wanted to.

I have not saved seeds from carrots or other root veggies before. I may still have to buy those until I get the hang of it, but the rest I should not have to buy again.

My husband is not sure I can fit everything I want into my garden. I will be using polyculture and intercropping techniques along with permaculture to use every inch of space I can in a way they does not hurt the plants. People waist so much useable gardening space by only growing one crop type in one area. You can improve the plant growth and harvest when you plant the right plants next to each other.

I am so excited to see my little seed bank growing!

Morning routine

I enjoy my morning routine. I actually look forward to waking up and starting it all over again.

For me right now my routine is to get up, drink a protein shake.
I shake up any extracts I have brewing. Currently the only one I have going is ginkgo biloba.
Go out and water my garden. I water twice a day usually but I do not water deeply, so this is fine.
I get ready for work.
I harvest a handful of strawberries if there are any that are ripe and ready to be picked.
Today I also harvested a handful of mallow flowers and a bit of spruce resin for later use in my herbal preparations.
I then make some coffee and read some blogs, newsletters, do research, work on my garden gate book, read, do art, etc… Whatever I feel like doing. Sometimes it is sitting and watching a tv show but lately my tv has been mostly during the hotter part of the day or late at night on my days off.
I make my lunch, eat a little more of a breakfast at this point.
I throw any dishes into the dishwasher if needed, and get ready to leave for work usually after that.
What I get done depends on how long I have.

Basically my routine allows me to do some of what I love every day. It is sort of my meditation. While at some point I would love my garden to have a system set up where I will not need to water it by hand, I enjoy doing it with the size of garden I have right now.
It also forces me to keep an eye on progress and head off anything harmful sooner rather than later.

Of course all of this will change as often as my projects do, when the season does, or as my muse pleases. I like working on many things at once.

My seed bank progress

I am in the process of drying out a bunch of seeds to add to my growing seed bank.



I have a bunch of seed packets left over from my container garden I plan to utilize next year. Mostly herb seeds with a few exceptions.


A few pages I have printed out for my garden book. Both pages are double sided. My seed bank page is filled halfway on the other side. I am quite happy with how my little seed bank is growing with both garden variety and wild seeds.


I decided to get a new binder for my Garden Gate book. (The art is not my own, though certainly my style. I thought it fit the theme of the book quite nicely.)


I took some time outside in my garden.
The tree is a spruce as I learned today. I had not looked at it very closely until now. I shall be harvesting the sap, spruce tips, pollen, and needles for various things.



I decided to harvest some more lambs quarters. The last small batch I picked I dried for soups later. This batch I decided to rinse and blanch for freezing.

I only selected the good leaves from each plant and left any that had been chewed on by bugs.


I left the blanched leaves to cool before freezing. It is not much, and it takes a lot of leaves, but they are more abundant than spinach, and more nutrient dense.



This is the left over water from blanching bok choy and lambs quarters. I am allowing it to cool and then I will use the nutrient dense broth to water my garden.




My strawberries seem to ripen in fives. I of course find this really amusing. I have been picking them and adding them to a Tupperware container to freeze for later use in smoothies, pies, muffins, and more. Yes, I am not picking more than 5 or so at a time, but since I am freezing them, they will not rot while waiting for the rest to ripen. Did I mention how amazing these are? So very flavorful.

Other than the strawberries I also got a few more tomatoes. We got to try the sweet 100, which were delicious. So far all the tomatoes in the garden have been a win.

On my last foraging adventure where I got a lot of the wild seeds I am drying out, I also got a bunch of wild golden plums. Both perfectly sweet with a bit of tart to them.

I am loving connecting with the land, with my land. It is very nice to be able to call a piece of land your own. I enjoy exploring my land, all .18 of an acre of it. Size doesn’t matter when you can find so many different groups of life growing all around. Seeing how the connect with each other, where they grow best. I like learning about my land. It helps me understand the best ways to aid in its care.

That of course is not to say I do not exploring my friends yards as well. I love teaching and learning as I explore. I usually end up coming home with some tasty finds as well which is always exciting.

I had plans to go out and explore another loved location for wild living things, or dead, I like bones too, but for understandable reasons those plans fell through. The hunt for wild maturing seeds and plants goes on!
I am making the most of this year even with the late start. I will have a wonderful garden filled with lots of garden variety and wild plants. Not only that but I will be able to enjoy the fruit of my harvest all winter if I plan things the right way.
I will be adding wild native plants to my meals. You can’t always find these things in fruit stands, even if they are tasty. They are either too time consuming to harvest, or there are just so many varieties, it is easier to keep to the known basics.
With so many amazing foods nature has to offer it is baffling how much we limit ourselves. As an example, look at how many varieties of amazing tomatoes there are… Almost all the tomatoes in my garden I have never had the pleasure of even hearing of yet alone taste. With how amazing they are, you would be surprised they are not also in the stores. It is just too costly to have such a variety for the stores to carry.

Because of this, a lot of varieties are gone. Without people planting them, the seeds eventually go bad, and that particular variety dies off. At some point I plan on putting some vintage variety fruits and veggies into the garden to help preserve some of our history. 

Currants and tomatoes

Today I got 10 cabinets clear glazed. I still have 11 to antique and clear glaze. Still, it is much needed progress. Once those go into the kitchen I can work on the others.

After working on cabinets I decided to pick some of the ripe black and red currants hanging over into my yard. The bush borders three lawns, yet I am sure I am the only one who bothers to pick them.
A lot of people who have currants either do not know they are edible, or if they do, do not bother to pick them as it is time consuming. I however do not mind it at all.

There are some plums on one of the trees in the yard I am hoping will sweeten up soon. The cherries were sadly too high up to pick, however I was still able to get some cherry picking in this year up at my friends parents house.
I also got some orange currants, service berries, sage, yarrow, fresh farm eggs.

So now I have Orange, black, and red currants in the freezer. Small amounts of each but with each harvest I gain more bags. I have a decent amount of service berries. I also have a good sized strawberry box full of cherries. I may pit and freeze some of those as well to use in a pie later. I would can them if there were more than a couple small cans worth.

My garden got a good watering and I got two gardeners delight tomatoes off the vine. I am saving the seeds from them, but ate the rest. They were quite tasty. The plants still look not the best, but the fruits are very good. I got a few gold nugget tomatoes as well soon. Others are soon to ripen as well.
I will save seeds from heirloom varieties and grow them next year. Hopefully by then I will have the bug situation under control.

I know it is the bugs because my zucchini and yellow squash, which are in large containers, are doing great. The three squash I put in the ground are not doing as well.

I am however happy to report the corn is coming up through the ground. Not all have sprouted up yet, but a good 1/3 has so far. I am seeing signs of more to follow soon.

I plan to start lettuce and possibly broccoli inside soon, as well as direct sow carrots and beets in the near future.
The carrots and broccoli will probably end up near the corn, though broccoli will not be next to the carrots directly due to their shallow, easily damaged roots.
I am still deciding on the lettuce placement. The beets will most likely end up near the tomatoes and onions for partial shade.
The last place I was in the beets did a lot better in partial shade than they did in full sun.

I still hope to get out and do more foraging this year. It may not be as often as I would like to get out (Foraging or nature hiking) but it will still be something.

I also hope to get to work on my garden planner/art journal soon. Having information on the computer is nice, though I love books, and feel having it hand written  is much better. I have been given a lovely calligraphy pen that is perfect for this as well.

Birthday Adventures

Today has been awesome. I did not have any special plans for today really. With all that has been going on, I did not want to make plans then have to break them if something went wrong at the house.

Woke up to tickets to How to Train Your Dragon 2, a pearl bracelet, and a pretty glass hummingbird feeder. My hubby knows I get upset I kept missing out on seeing the hummingbirds, so he decided this might be perfect to help with that.

We went out to eat with friends and family at Steve’s Café. Great food and awesome company. Many wonderful conversations to be had. Not to mention very thoughtful gifts that I adore.

After breakfast we drove around a bit. Went to an antique store and a garden nursery. At the nursery he bought me 5 squash plants, some onion bulbs, and a packet of sweet corn seeds.  We got a good deal on the squash/pumpkin plants. They were .99 and buy 3 get one free.. so we got the plants for $4 total, then about .50 for the onions, and a 2.50 for the corn. Not bad really when I was seeing the same squash plants at the big box nursery's for like $15 a pot.. We went to the Fivemile Farms Nursery in Meridian Idaho.
Being that it is late in the season they are getting rid of the last of their plants, so that means good deals on plant starts.

I know it is hard work, but I actually enjoy working in my garden, so we got some Hawaiian BBQ, stopped at Vapoligy, and headed to the new house to get to digging. The condition was that I leave the work inside the house alone for my birthday he said.

He worked on some electrical sockets in the house while I tilled up some spots in the yard.

I plants 15 yellow onions and 7 white onions in between my wilting tomato plants. I am not sure if the tomatoes will make it but at least now I have a good spot for them. I planted the onions up to the sticks I put in the middle of the tomatoes.
 

You can see how my tomatoes are doing in this photo

Here is where I planted my squash plants. The space was already mostly cleared out.
The one in the back right of the photo is small sugar pumpkin, then to the left is acorn squash, and the right is butternut squash.

I also got zucchini and crookneck yellow squash that I put in large pots.

The area that previously had tomatoes in it before moving them is where I planted three rows of sweet (gold and yellow mix) corn. I got about 45 kernels planted in the three rows. They needed full sun and I thought they might do better in that site than the tomatoes did given that they are usually a bit more hardy.

Once shoots start popping up I will probably dig little trenches on either sides of the rows for watering. Where the big-ish rocks are is where the row starts. Thankfully I should have them started in time to get a good harvest. Any later and it would have been too late to start them. Since my garden is small this year, I could pretty much put them wherever I wanted to.

I can’t wait to start getting a harvest and get into canning. I will probably have more than enough corn to freeze if not can some. This kind of corn is the only corn I like so much I will eat it raw even.

Corn, squash/pumpkin, and tomato/onion. Slowly cultivating the land. Eventually I will get to the grass, which will be much harder to tear out I am sure :/

The hilariousness of the adventure was not having planned to garden today. This meant I was in wedges while tilling and digging in the garden. I need some proper gardening shoes soon haha. Though being that I am someones hobbit friend, one might say I don’t need shoes to garden lol. Though really I do… Especially with ants, box elder bugs, and earwigs I really need to get under control. Thinking of trying out this all natural bug spray my friend makes soon. Maybe that will do the trick.

It is only the end of Spring and I am already excited for seed starting come this Winter. I plan to actually write out my plan for each plant needed, measure out each section, so I know exactly how much I will need to start. I will then probably start a bit over that depending on the plants. That way if some die, I have backups, and also possibly extras for whatever.
This means I will actually need to set up a grow kit of sorts. I will need the lighting, shelving, etc, for optimal seed starting conditions. I thankfully have space for it now too.

I am overwhelmed with the joy of not only having some really amazing friends to share my dreams with, but actually being able to act on one of the bigger dreams I have. Seeing a dream become a reality takes a while for it to set it. It is very surreal. While I am sure there will be some trial and error in learning the land (i.e tomatoes) I am sure it will be a wonderful journey.

Part of the journey is coming up with a name for my homestead. I have yet to name it and as of late I feel as if the name is on the tip of my tongue, but not quite there yet. I am excited for when that name finally comes to me in a big realization. The name is a big deal to me so I can be patient until the right one comes to me.

The only thing I need to get a jump on as soon as we are moved and unpacked is my garden journal. I sadly packed that, so I am just kind of keeping notes on my garden plants in my tablet, and on my computer for now. My garden journal is going to be filled with garden art. Sort of a garden planner, calendar, and art journal all in one.

Yes I have a lot of plans. Yes I will be making them all happen in due time. I will reach for the stars in my steampunk flying airship, and my journey will be never ending. I encourage everyone to reach farther than they think possible, and see the amazing things you can accomplish if you only try, and not give up.

Now I think it is time for some coffee, good conversation, and possibly some blogtalk radio time.