Thursday, June 30, 2011

Delicate pepper surgery

My little pepper plants are not happy. They have been in the ground just as long as everything else, and yet they are yellowish, short and weak looking.


I think it's a companion issue. The buddies closest to them are cauliflower. Although there doesn't seem to be any antagonistic literature on the charts I refer to between them, the proof is in the paltry growth. Keeping in mind of course that the cauliflower is doing amazingly well.

On a side note, as I wrote that paragraph, I felt a real-life comparison. Doesn't that describe some of our friendships and relationships? Do you have a friend where you are the giver and they are the takers? I think we all do. I think we play both roles along the way too. Just make sure you are 'getting' all you can from God himself. When you are not connected to God and not getting refreshed from his word or time talking to him, you will have less to give. Less to give your needier friends, friends in general and family. Just a sidebar there. :)

Anyway.

I moved the little guys to the home of my now bolted, bitter lettuce. :(


Gently...as transplating anything during the middle of the growing season is risky, I took as much of their home dirt with me to the new space.


Then I packed them in snugly and gave them a BIG DRINK. Hopefully this will help the considerably and I will still get some bell peppers before the season is out.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Harvesting Mint, keeping the bugs off my kids

One thing I have PLENTY of in my garden is mint. The bad part of it's personality is that it is fast spreading and invasive, the good part of mint's personality is that it is reliable, aromatic and can be consumed! In addition, I found a 'recipe' for a natural, homemade bugspray which uses mint and I am eager to try making it to see if it works!


As most websites will tell you, harvest your mint in early morning or late afternoon. This is the time when it will retail most of it's oil and scent.

I did this, cutting about a 2 foot section out of the bush in my garden.


I then innocently lay it on the sandbox top and forgot about it, only to see it 2 days later in a downpour. Oh well. Never say mistakes don't happen on the homestead.

I had the boys bring it in tonight and I gathered it together with rubber bands. I made four bunches. I hung it in my slider window. It has a lot of light, the door is often open and gets plenty of ventilation.




When it is dry I plan to put it in jars and use it to make tea and the all natural BUG SPRAY.

Here is a recipe for mint tea: www.your-cup-of-tea.com/mint-tea-recipe.html

Make your own mint based bug spray: http://www.greenyour.com/body/personal-care/insect-repellent/tips/make-homemade-bug-spray

More general information about mint: http://www.greenyour.com/body/personal-care/insect-repellent/tips/make-homemade-bug-spray

Monday, June 20, 2011

Strawberry Jammin' - like Gramma used to

The boys (daddy too) and I went strawberry pickin' yesterday for Father's Day. We go to the most beautiful place - Scantic Valley Farm in Somers, CT. The views that they have there while you are picking are amazing!


One thing you have to keep in mind is once you go picking fresh fruit it HAS to be processed as soon as possible. Otherwise your hard earned money will go to waste.

So,today I vacuum packed 2 pints and made 9 jars of strawberry jam!

First I washed and cut the strawberries, following the Certo pectin directions.

That totaled 5 cups (you'd be surprised how many strawberries that takes).

Then I MASHED them.

Then I put the strawberries and pectin in a extra large sauce pan to boil while I measured the sugar and my cutie 6 yr old stacked the jars on top of one another.

Once it was boiling I stirred in the sugar and got the jars ready.

Meanwhile, I got my OLD fashioned canner boiling with about 8 inches of hot water. I love this old thing.

A view from high....

Boiling...

Once it has boiled for one minute, take it off the burner and skim off the froth. And ladel it directly into your clean jars and close them up!

Then put the closed jars into the canner for 10 minutes.

A beautiful FINAL PRODUCT!!

Did I mention I have another whole tray to do? LOL.

Friday, June 17, 2011

New(s) to me: Sweet Potatoes/Mandarin oranges...and?

I am always looking for new things to grow. These may not be exotic or alternative fruits and veggies, but rather, items I tend to overlook as homegrown options. We walk through the produce aisle with such abandon, picking up things as we go, and I began to ask myself the question: Could I grow this?

It all started with some coffee beans.

I like drinking coffee. And I thought- is it possible? Well, I did find some beans online and ordered 2 packs. Believe it or not, it takes 2.5 months to germinate, so what you're looking at doesn't look like much, but I will post as they grow. No. I don't expect to be able to supplement ALL of my coffee drinking habit, but maybe a cup or two of Jenny's Homegrown Arabica would be nice.

Then came the olive pits.
I don't have a shot of that handy. But, I planted 6 olive to see if I couldn't have a olive tree. We use a lot of olive oil. There will be several more steps to getting it to useful olive oil of course, but a great learning experience for me and the kiddos.

Then the Mandarin Orange tree.
I know, I don't live anywhere tropical. But, they were selling them locally. I will have to bring it inside in the Winter of course, but maybe we will get a couple of oranges next year after it's springtime bloom?

Then the sweet potatoes.
Presently, they also do not look like much, but from what I hear if you cure them correctly, they can last a looooong time. I would love to try home made mashed sweet potatoes, or fries or sweet potatoe pie! Sweet potatoes have been in the news a lot. Many gardeners are saying that although our growing season is shorter, they can be grown up here in New England and that the heat seems to be the most important for the curing process which can be contrived in New England by using a solar box. Try them!

And then, I just wanted to share a couple of more traditional things growing as well.

Purple and white potatoes

Sunflowers

And lavender!

Have happy (rainy here) day!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Preserving our strawberries

We are loving and enjoying our strawberries. About every 2-3 days, the boys and I can go outside and pick a few and eat them right off the vine.

Is there anything better than being able to feed yourself off of homegrown fruits and veggies? Because I don't use any chemicals, my kids and I can eat the stuff right off the plant, dirt and all if we wanted! What a great feeling that is. I am also finding that they are sweeter than any strawberry that is trucked in from out of state.

So, I have picked about 2 pints. I wanted to share some photos of how I am going to preserve them this year. Really making an effort to preserve our harvest is a new thing for me. In years past, I would just put things in the fridge and if they shriveled up or molded, I would throw them away. What a shocking waste. I know, I am shocked at myself even!

This year, I am washing the berries, and sealing them with my new vacuum sealer. I love this vacuum sealer. I have been on a bit of a sealing binge.

Anyway... here are some photos of the process in case you have never seen a vacuum sealer or are considering purchasing one...

Pick the berries!

Wash the berries, plug in your sealer. Mine looks like this...

Place the berries in the bag...

Seal 'er up!

Don't forget to label the bag with the date you sealed it)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Reclaiming our depression era root cellar


Our home was built in 1923. No doubt, very soon after the house was built the root cellar which was built into the back corner of the basement was put to good use, providing the original owners with a place to store canned and preserved food. You see the depression happened very soon after the Wall Street collapse of 1929.
When we moved into our home in 2002 we saw this root cellar downstairs and we thought we would really never have a use for it, although I always dreamed of living a Laura Ingalls style of lifestyle where we canned and preserved our food for consumption later. But, we didn't have the time...energy...inspiration.
Well, times have changed. Since the economy has gone down hill and I have become more educated about preserving food, I have often gone downstairs and stood in the spider-infested root cellar, thinking, "Someday, I want to start using this."
Today is the day.
My husband and I, after talking about it for 2-3 weeks have decided to start cleaning it out and reclaiming it for our long-term food storage goals. In addition, the garden is growing well, and it seems like we will need a place to put all of our consumables! Fun!
I have posted a couple of photos of the cellar in the before stage. Nasty stuff! As we make progress, I will post new shots. We feel very blessed that the original builders of our home decided to put this in...and we can now benefit from it.
God bless!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Growing update




Hello friends! Please view my photos of the growing homestead in no particular order.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Self sufficiency...





Well, friends, I have actually been really sick. I have basically been on the couch for over a week and, of course, it has been absolutely beautiful outside too. The whole time I am thinking about all the things I could be doing outside! I am so glad I planted the garden early, if I hadn't gotten it going the way I did, I would be going crazy right now.

A couple of new challenges I have taken on in my effort to be self sufficient! I bought, via the internet, olive and coffee beans. I am germinating them right now. Wouldn't it be awesome to grow and harvest your own coffee or olive oil when the prices continue to climb? Hopefully, it will work out. The coffee beans take 2.5 months to germinate. Yes, you read that correctly. :) That along with the little mandarin orange tree (pictured) and the 3 apple trees we planted a month ago have really made me feel like I am moving forward.

I am posting shots of the grape arbor (teeny grapes, betcha never saw that before), the plum tree (1-2 inch green plums growing along nicely), the flowers in our yard, the birdfeeder, the coffee beans, and a few other things. Enjoy!