Miscellaneous

 One long post about several completely unrelated topics. 

My hero knew about some wild elderberry trees and snagged me a pile of berries.  The girl child and I sat in front of  a movie and tediously picked them off the stems and I made some syrup for eating or for helping any sickies get better this winter.  Yummy stuff!

 Meet my new soap bazookas.  2" PVC with a cap at 1 end.  Little bit difficult to fill with no extra hands around.  (Correction... no extra hands around that would actually hold it still).  My main concern was how I was going to get the soap out.  I planned to make a plunger of some kind, but I ended up not needing to.  First of all, it takes at least a week for soap to set in these things.  So I poured it and left it in a corner for a good long while (I'm good at that).  Then I stuck them in the freezer for a day.  Then I pulled them out, let them thaw some (because of interruptions not because I know its necessary- it may not be) and they literally just slowly slid out.  It was great!  So now I have nice round bars that look a lot nicer than my lopsided cuts from a casserole dish.

 Here are a couple kids picking wild grapes.  We have a whole mess of nice, big, juicy, cultivated grapes to pick and they opted to pick the wild ones.  The next day the other 2 kids (unpictured) decided to shove said grapes up their noses.  I bulb syringe got them out, but not without some kicking and flailing and one boy being quite certain he was not coming out of that situation alive.  Now you can understand why the addition of 1 more toddler boy has completely wiped out every thought of spare time I ever thought I had.

And just a post to say I love my dog.  Angel has been accompanying me on morning runs while its dark and creepy.  She alerted me to a stray dog up ahead where I would have run straight into it before knowing there was something needing to be avoided.  And she's gotten to where she simply trots beside me instead of crossing back and forth in front of me in her drive to explore.  And the really funny part is when she comes home she's too tired to chase the goats to the milking table in the morning.  She just flops and lets them walk.  She's a great dog.

And something that has no picture as of yet, eggplant.  Last year I had big beautiful plants and no fruit.  So this year I tried a few more varieties... meaning I have about a dozen different plants.  And they are all going gangbusters this year!  I can't give away all my eggplant!  I've made eggplant parmesian, eggplant balls, eggplant lasagna, stirfried eggplant, battered and fried eggplant, every eggplant anything I can think of.  There are worse problems to have, but I wish I had okra to through in there too.  But Dulci has figured out how to easily escape the pasture and ate my garden down to nubs.  She's now clad with a cow bell and housed with Copper and his 7' fence.  Its time for her to be bred anyway, but we'll have to do some major fence overhaul before letting her back with the others.

And I think this catches me up on the main goings-on.  We're starting our homeschool year next week so it may be the last post until that somewhat new endeavor finds its groove again too. 

Fall, Be Kind to Me, Please

Hurricane Irene is off our coast.  Strong coming winds and rain beckoned husbandman out to milk the goats early.  I'm to be doing dishes... but my counter is full of heads of cabbage from our recent co-op order.  And I can't put them into the fridge until I clear some space.  And I can't clear some space until I clean out the fridge, which I might as well do before I do dishes.  And one of the most intrigral parts of cleaning out the fridge is refiling my seeds that I planted yesterday but I don't want to do that until what I planted is recorded.  Its all very logical that I'm here blogging while loads of work is yet undone.

Veggies
Peas- Little marvel.  Growing them in burried pots this year.  I think nematodes are taking them out before they can bear much of a harvest.
Radishes- early scarlet globe.  Growing them in window box only this year.
Bok Choy- Ching Chang.  Tried and true.  Don't fail me now.
Collard Greens- Southern something or other.  From my own saved seed.
Swiss Chard- Rainbow.  Tried and not so great, but maybe this year will be better.
Mustard Greens- Early Mazuna.  Not my favorite green, but it grows well.
Squash- Cushaw White.  First time.  Feeling lucky... not sure why.
Squash- Candy Roaster. Same as Cushaw White.

Fruit
Vietnamese Guava.  Old seeds.  Hoping they still germinate.  They did great last time until I put them in the ground.  I think it was goats that killed them.  Round 2, wiser.
Papaya- Sunrise Hawaiian Solo.  Heard the way to do these is to plant in pots in late summer.  Over winter in pots then set them out in the spring for harvest next summer.  Sounds like a plan.

Herbs
Parsley- giant of Italy.  Good stuff.  Tried and true.
Dill- bouquet.  Tried and true.
Sage- Broad Leaf.  I can never have enough sage.  And it hates the summer.
Chamomile- German.  Saved Helen from edema.  Never did make tea, but good intentions are still nice to have.
Cilantro.  Tried and true.  Will be nice to make falafel with the herbs that are supposed to be in it again.

Pretty Patch
Love-in-a-mist: free gift.  no idea how they'll do here.
Larkspur- Shades of Blue.  Did great in the spring.  Fall is winging it.
Strawflower- Mixed colors.  Same as larkspur.
Snapdragon- Tall Maximum Blend.  Plants from spring are still kickin' but no blossoms for months.  Not sure if the old oneswill revive with cooler temps, but we'll try some fresh ones just in case.
Calendula- Pacific Beauty Mix.  I LOVE these flowers.  I vow this time to actually use them for medicinal or culinary purposes.
Evening Scented Primrose- Tina James.  Tried twice on these with no go.  Few seeds left.  Give it a whirl.
Dwarf Coffee Plant.  Again, a third attempt with nary a single seed to germinate.  Supposedly a nice house plant.

To quickly summarize the summer, it stunk.  Nothing did well save the watermelon.  I think okra of all things were attacked by nematodes... showed the same signs as peas have for the last 2 years- They get so big then dry up and die.  Beans suffered but mostly because I planted them with very large amaranth plants and the got drowned.  What the deal was with eggplant is still a mystery.  Not a single blossom.  I have a single Jelly Melon completely taking over a bed with lush healthy vine everywhere and again, not a single blossom.  I'm ready for fall.  But please, Fall, be kind to me.

Kits, Chicks and Heat! Oh My!

 We've had some interesting adventures this week.  Thursday morning, I noticed Mona had pulled some fur and was looking crazed.  That evening Husbandman went to check on her and agreed, lots of fur, crazed look, but no babies.  Moments later Farm girl runs in screaming that there are baby bunnies on the ground.  Sure enough, 1 was outside and squirming around in the dirt.  Angel helped to find the others that had fallen out toward the back of the pen.  Mona had decided that even this nest box was not suitable evidently.  And delivering them outside the box meant they all fell out of the pen.  I called a friend and she said not to put them back in right away.  So we created a little home for them... in our bathroom.

This set-up is a 5 quart ice cream container (curtousy of my step-dad who's an ice cream junky... I totally dig the buckets).  The 5 babies are under the pile of fur that Mona had pulled out.  We set up our heat lamp that we use for chicks.  Over the top I laid an extremely well-used (but clean) cloth diaper that would block out some light, but have enough holes in it to allow some air circulation.  Later that same friend sent me a webpage giving me better details on how to care for baby rabbits... like keep the house between 68 and 72 degrees and IF its cooler than that add some heat.  Needless to say the light got shut off immediately.  Our house is kept at 80 and since outside night time temps may not even dip down to 72, I figured that would be just fine for them.

And so I fed them goat milk via dropper that first night and hoped for the best.  In the morning, they were all still alive and wiggling.  I fed them goat milk again (rabbits only nurse once per day and if fed by hand, should only get it twice at most).  My friend came by with a homeopathic concoction to help calm Mona.  I put that into her water a waited a few hours.  Then I put 2 babies back in, wrapping them well in some fur.  By feeding time that evening, there was still wiggling under all that fur so I knew at least 1 had survived and I put the remaining 3 back in.  As of yesterday, there was some wiggling, not much, but enough to know at least 1 is still alive.  We really can't find out anything more certain with out potentially causing more harm by freaking Mona out so we'll just wait and see.

Yesterday morning, while preparing breakfast, we noticed chicks scurring loose about the front yard.  We ran out and collected them and discovered a hole where something had dug under the pen.  4 chicks disappeared with only a few feathers left behind.  This is our first predator loss since getting Angel.  But we pulled an enormous tick from Angel on Friday AND she always sleeps in the back yard.  I think the reason we only lost 4 and not all 20 was because of Angel, but I think a lot must have gone on before it woke her up.  Either because of distance, the fact that the chicks are still very quiet or she was feeling lethargic due to that tick that had been feeding off her for quite some time.  At any rate, we moved the chicks to the back yard (where I was gradually working them toward anyway) where she could better protect. 

The garden is doing miserably.  By now okra and beans should be pumping.  I have nothing but amaranth, watermelons and cherry tomatoes feeding us.  I tried new varieties of okra and beans: eagle's pass for okra and Chinese red noodle bean.  With both they get just so big, produce maybe 1 fruit and then curl up and die.  Since ripping out my cucurbits (except watermelon), I've had room to add my standbys (Burmese okra, rattlesnake beans and red-seeded asparagus beans) so I'm hopeful to still get a decent harvest.  But I'm also concerned killer compost has found its way to Florida.  Monsanto has been selling this herbacide for hay fields.  Only it doesn't break down after the animal eats it.  Instead, it gets pooped out, composted and tossed in the garden where it continues to kill everything.  Since learning the problem, have they taken this junk off the market?  Goodness no!  They wouldn't make any MONEY if they did that!!!  Given that some beds are fine and others are not, I think it could be other issues.  But, for example, my eggplant should also be big a producing by now... I've had to reseed 4 times!  They either wouldn't germinate, stunt out before transplanting or stunt and die shortly after transplanting.  I just got all new seed, got my first good germination and transplanted healthy looking plants.  Hoping for something good.

The heat has been rough this past week.  I transplanted some new collard green starts (from my own seed!) and they just couldn't handle the heat.  I watered every 2 hours the first day and they still just laid down flat.  All but 2 transplants are now dead 3 days later.  I've got an idea for shade frames for transplanting in the summer heat... just add building them to the to-do list. 

Another interesting event earlier this week was Zuma came down with laryngitis.  She spent most of her 5 years in a concrete pen being fed from a hay rack and drinking from a pig waterer.  Her previous owners warned us that she probably wouldn't drink for a while since her only option was to drink from a bucket.  And we also discovered she didn't know how to graze.  I'd tether her out and she'd do precious little eating and absolutely no drinking.  One day this week, I did the same... only it had been very hot and a bit smokey the days prior.  That night and strange noise was coming from the barn.  Husbandman told me about it and said he thought it was Zuma.  Angel was going nuts.  I ran in and found her looking just fine... just sounding like a pubescent boy whispering.  We grabbed a bucket of grain which she ate happily.  I did research about sheep laryngitis and the results were miserable... like immenant death!  But she was eating fine, standing fine so I figured she just pulled on her tether a bit too hard, got dehydrated by refusing to drink from that bucket all day, and the smoke further irritated it.  I left her in the pasture for a couple days and she was back to her normal loud, deep demands at first light from the house.

Summer's Coming

Some say summer's already arrived.  And yes, the temps have crested 90 here already, but I'd still have to say its been a pleasant spring and continues to be such. 

But we did bust out the kiddie pool.  Actually bought a new one.  A small little plastic one that I feel safer with farmer boy 2 playing around.  He's not likely to venture in the water himself, but the big deep one (that has to be filled almost full to keep its form) is just not ok by me, even if I am just 100 feet away in the garden.

Given some unfortunate circumstances that have kept me inside and on the phone or flitting to various offices, the gardens have been looking quite rough.  The last of my spring seedlings were bursting from their pots.  Weeds were overtaking my canteloups.  I finally took a couple days this week to spend outside.  It was as refreshing for my emotions as it was for the plants.

A couple weeks ago, Farmer Girl and I ventured to the ag extension's Master Gardener Plant Sale.  I was in search of a loquat tree from a grower who is known for the monstrous fruit... and came away with much more. 

• a bunching muscadine grape vine
• a pair of kiwi vines (a male and female)
• another pomegranate tree
• a smattering of herbs

and of course the loquat.  Aside from the kiwi (who needs a properly built trellis), they are all in the ground and doing well.

I also managed to overhaul all the herb beds in a single day, thanks to that wonderful kiddie pool that kept all 3 gloriously entertained for 5 straight hours!  I saved some dill seed, and ripped out the rest.  Added oregano, cosmos, morning glory, creeping rosemary, basil, watercrest and peppermint in the full sun beds.  In the new shade bed I put thyme, spearmint, peppermint, oregano, watercrest, and horehound.  Obviously, some are experiments as to where they'll do best.  I'm also trying to add some color and "pretties" to fill in the bare spots in the beds near the house.  The "pretty patch" is where I grow smiles so I must confess to losing some of my utilitarian edge.  Ornamentals are certainly proving their worth 'round here.

On the food front, I got the sweet potato bed pretty well filled already.  Had way too much basil for the herb garden alone so filled a bed in the big garden too.  Got genovese, lettuce leaf and cinnamon basil varieties.  Should yield some good pesto this year.  Also got the cherry tomatoes, some okra and a few more beans in.

Then I refilled my seed planters with:

• watermelon (blacktail mountain)- not pleased with germination before and really hoping for good fruits this year so going for a last round with seeds.
• lima beans (christmas)
• okra (eagle pass)*
• eggplant (pandora striped rose)*- only 3 eggplants germinated and survived transplanting.  I'm not sure what variety I have left.  This is a new one that looks really good.
• cantaloup (EPS)*- some seeds I got in a seed swap.  Again, I'm pretty late, but the last round of seeds wasn't impressive.  May not get anything before the pickle worm comes in, but I have the space to try.
• amaranth (joseph's coat)*- I actually can't remember if this variety was cultivated for its looks or its greens.  I want the greens mostly, but I'm not opposed to the pretties.
• peanuts (Virginia jumbo)*
• zinnia (giant violet queen)
• morning glory (kikyozaki)
• dwarf coffee plant- 3rd time's a charm... something will HAVE to germinate at some point.
• marigold (harlequin)
• sunflower (teddy bear)

More "firsts" this week were picking the first wonderberries, tiny little dark barries that are tastey, but not spectacular.  Will be fun for the kids; once I point them out I won't get to harvest another.  Also cooked out first zucchini and yellow squash of the year a few days ago.  Added zucchini to tonight's pizza (topped with homemade goat cheese!)  Guessing another week or so out on our first tomatoes.

Sweet Potato Harvest

Cold weather came early and yesterday I went out with FarmBoy1 to dig in the dirt and bring in the sweet potatoes.  I was impressed.  They aren't as plentiful as last year but they are way bigger.  Next time I will plant the starts more densely but fertilize just the same.  Many people say sweet potatoes like sandy soil, no water and zero nutrients.  We've not seen that to be true for us.  We get bigger potatoes by fertilizing and adding compost.  But maybe most people aren't thinking of starting them in beach sand. 

Last year we got 2 baskets full.  Husbandman thinks there are more lurking deeper than I was digging.  I hope so as this wouldn't last us the winter.

Now they need to cure.  We leave them in the basket on the porch for 2 weeks before we start eating them.  Then we just eat from there, never transferring to the fridge and never cleaning them until just before we cook them.  They'll begin sprouting on their own.  When that happens, I save some for next years bed and plant the rest in the pasture to be animal fodder.

July Garden Update

What a strange year. Last year we were swimming in okra. This year not even enough for a meal a week. Eggplant are finally setting fruit but they're very small. The collards, dispite 3x weekly spraying with soapy water, are limping along, still covered in aphids. The lima beans vine is big and glorious... with a whole 5 pods. The asparagus beans are keeping us fed now, barely. They're producing well, I just put in more rattlesnake, contender and mcCaslan beans that the asparagus beans. Learned that lesson. Pumpkin vine wilts in the heat, but is holding its own though with only 2 pumpkins, I wonder if its worth it. The watermelons, oddly enough, are doing well too with no sign of disease. Except the biggest one split yesterday... without having rain for weeks. I don't understand that one. I have several things ready for transplant but I don't dare until rains are coming somewhat frequently. We got a good rain this morning and more expected tomorrow, but I've lost so many transplants to things just being too dry to risk it now. I'm praying for the sweet potatoes I set out in the pasture beyond access to water. They could be a very good source of forage if they can get established.

I'm planting some more butternut and pumpkin seeds later this month. Am also hoping for more collards to germinate. Those were already planted but did precious little germinating. It's been a tough season. Most of that is probably due to me being so busy and out of routine. We used to spend every morning, all morning outside puttering, planting, trellising, mowing, etc. Now I'm lucky to get a day a week without having to run in, clean up and head somewhere else. The end is in sight though. Life will soon be back to normal.

Whatever normal is.

Sweet Potatoes Galore!

Seriously, folks, sweet potatoes have to be the easiest thing on the planet to grow... at least in Florida. After fighting with my fingerlings to actually sprout while the weather was still cold, I gave up. I have since filled my sweet potato bed, mostly from ones that keep sprouting up through my weed barrier next to a green pepper plant. It was last summer's sweet potato bed and evidently something got left behind during harvest. I still started some slips from fingerlings and just cut about 4 of the biggest slips from them to completely fill the bed. I also looked in our remaining basket.

The humidity in the air (which has been THICK) was enough to sprout slips on their own! Here they are as proof. I'm now swimming in slips with no one wanting them.

So this is where I convince you that you should come take my slips. Sweet potatoes need basically nothing. Nothing's going to dig them up but you so no fence is required. They like sandy soil though you'll get bigger ones with a touch of fertilizer. They are extremely drought tolerant so there's no need for watering once they get established (you know they're established when they show new growth). No need to harvest until after the first frost. Dig them up and leave them in a cool, shady place (we used our porch) and eat all winter. Don't wash them until just before you cook them as the dirt helps preserve them.

So, Volusia County-ers, drop me an e-mail and I'd be happy to pass these on to you... maybe with some lemongrass!

Upgrading

Way back, almost 5 years ago though I can't remember exactly when, my father-in-law gave us a large basket. It was such a nice basket and I wasn't quite sure what I'd use it for but I knew we could enjoy it. I jokingly said it would one day be our harvest basket though we had neither garden nor land at the time.

Well, that day has arrived! The small bronze bucket beside it was our old harvest basket. It too was given to us shortly after our marriage... it contained cloth placemats of chickens at the giving! We still use this bucket to gather our eggs, but, in this season of squash galore, it is much too small for our daily veggie harvests. The farmer girl was getting rather tired of emptying it on the table multiple times before the picking was complete!

We've picked our first set of cowpeas from all "volunteer" plants. This is one of farmer girl's favorite tasks- here she is shelling away! She does it so well and I'm happy to let her!

In other news, it looks as though our waltham butternut squash is not a great variety for here. It has died back significantly in the last week. There's a good amount of squash on it and we haven't had the rains and such for bad anthracnose, but something has it yellowing and dying. We'll try something else next time.

As for the Seminole Pumpkins, it looks as though we have ANOTHER case of cross pollinization. We have 2 fruit forming and they are rather long and thin for a pumpkin! Very disappointing because seminoles are a great pumpkin here and we were really looking forward to yummy pumpkin soup this summer!

Have picked a couple okra, lots of leaves off the amaranth, a single cucumber and a few beans. The watermelons are finally flowering and the peppers and tomatoes are setting small amounts of fruit. Pickleworm is staying in check with Sevin applied every 10-12 days. Can't wait for the canteloup to ripen- it's loaded with fruit now but nothing ripening any too fast!

what to plant now

I just heard someone this morning bemoaning that he'd missed his chance at a garden and maybe he'd try for fall. That's the beauty of Florida... you can always start something!

Just yesterday I planted seeds:
1) okra- gotta keep this stuff coming. Learned last year that around here, they really will poop out before the first frost.
2) eggplant- only have 4 solid plants and no blossoms yet. Not sure how prolific they'll be and given that I get really tired of okra through the summer decided to go for more eggplant.
3) basil- a naughty dog destroyed my tender transplants. I have 4 still standing. And yes, that should be plenty for copious amounts of pesto, but its not quite enough to hide a rain barrel. And besides, I'm very curious to try this cinnamon basil as well.
4) amaranth- very yummy green that's thriving in the heat. Looking forward to summer salads with this stuff around!
5) sweet potatoes- I pulled a few more volunteer shoots from the compost pile. Finally have some shoots coming in my intended starts... now that my bed is full with volunteers!
6) beans- now I actually DIDN"T plant beans but I could have. I have a good number of beans going now and will probably plant round 2 in mid to late June to fill in holes the squash will leave.
7)collard greens- again, I didn't plant these, but only because I still have plenty. Mine are growing like mad and were planted back in November (I think).

Then I had ordered some fruit seeds from tradewinds so those got planted as well:
1) star fruit- why not... lets give it a whirl
2) pigeon pea- mostly for animal forage
3) papaya- we read the way to do this is to start it in the summer (technically late summer, but oh well), keep it in pots to cold protect it thru the winter then set out as soon as its safe and treat it like an annual.
4) feijoa- some kind of a guava that is supposed to be more cold tolerant.
5) black mulberry- an enormous tree we don't know where we'll put yet, but the fruit is like blackberries and bears all summer so we'll just have to find a place!
6) maypop- a type of passion flower but is cold tolerant
7) jujube- an interesting sounding fruit... again, why not.

So if you're thinking that you've missed it, jump in anyway. Get digging. Do something. It may take you till fall to get your beds set up anyway! But if not, there's still lots of things that will survive the heat and bugs that you can plant and enjoy this season. So go to it!

greenhouse

I've been salivating over others' tomatoes. The winter lasted so long that it was ages before I got seeds germinating. I had always kinda mocked the idea of a greenhouse in Florida, but...well... I now see there's a use for one.

So we decided that we would build one this fall. We contemplated making it a 4th use on our pumphouse/chicken coop/pole barn structure we're constructing (ok... so we're not constructing yet but we have it designed and some materials purchased), but decided it would be too risky to have goats so close to tender (and yummy!) young plants.

Then we decided to look at http://www.farmtek.com/ for some greenhouse ideas. They have a product that we just can't beat with a DIY.

This baby comes with 2 covers, one for winter (clear PVC for maximum light transmission) and one for summer (60% shade cloth). It has 4 shelves giving 14.25 square feet of grow space. All for less than $60 (shipping to here is about $15)

With stacked shelves, we'd be very dependent on morning and afternoon sun as only the top shelf would get any sun at noon, but I still think it would be worth the money. And were we to DIY it, I'd probably spend $60 on fabric or visqueen and a bunch of time ending up with a product with lots of air leaks.

So we have not yet ordered this next homestead upgrade, but if anyone local (Volusia County) is interested in the same or similar farmtek item, there's a bit of a price break with larger orders as well as some savings on shipping. So if you're interested in something, let me know. Or if you know a way to do something similar for less, especially if using recycled materials, please share the wealth.

Don't get used to this

2 posts in 2 days! I'm on a roll. More like I want this eat-from-your-own-land-bug that I've got to be really contagious. So, what's on the menu tonight???

Meatloaf!

1 lb of grassfed Samsula ground beef (which we traded some chickens for)

1/2 lb of ground mutton (Bella, to be exact)

1 store bought onion (because I used all my green onions in recent meals)

1 can diced tomatoes (one day they'll be homegrown)

1 bunch parsley (their last hoorah)

several sprigs of homegrown rosemary and thyme

3 fresh eggs

And this shall be served with roasted homegrown sweet potatoes and store bought cabbage (again, one day... maybe)

Pictured is the meatloaf and the sweet potato/cabbage (in a loaf pan) in our nifty convection oven. Since its not too hot, I'm cooking this inside because the convection oven is small and looses less heat. When its hot out and the AC is cranking, I roast things on the porch in a separate roasting pan. I rarely use the big oven anymore.

The second picture is what's left over of our sweet potatoes. The laundry basket was FULL in December from about 20 square feet.

Weeds- its what's for dinner!

Actually, its way more than weeds, but I couldn't resist steeling this little phrase from the market beef industry. This is my homegrown quiche. Yes, I know, its only spring and the true test of a gardener is in the summer, but I'm very pleased with our production thus far. I'm down to grocery shopping every other week where I only buy cabbage, carrots, fruit and sometimes yogurt (store bought yogurt as a culture has a better tasting end product). So this is our dinner tonight:

10 freshly laid eggs

1 cup homemade ricotta cheese

2 small homegrown zucchini

1 bunch of homegrown Okinawa spinach

a few dried tomatoes from last fall's harvest

1 bunch homegrown green onions

1 small bowl of dollarweed (harvesting was WAY fun with the kids!)

several sprigs of homegrown thyme

store-bought salt

1 (this is CRIMINAL!) store-bought pie crust

I can't believe I confessed this... even more surprised that I did it. I normally make quiche in a cheesecake pan with no crust. I don't like that. It has no form. We eat it out of bowls. This time I was sorta planning on maybe making a crust from scratch as I would a Christmas pie... then I looked in the freezer which was recently stocked with a few luxuries from my dad's freezer... like a store bought pie crust. I caved in the name of cleaning out a freezer. I poured this homegrown wonderfulness into a store bought, bleached-enriched-white-death pie crust.

But... I know this will not be the last quiche so I'll have another shot.

Back on topic now, the homesteading hubby and I are really excited. At one time we felt that being food self-sufficient was a real stretch. Now it feels at our fingertips. I purchase very few veggies. We're still learning about fruits to grow but loquats and mulberries from other people's trees are satisfying us for now. (Except the boys... they get grumpy without their bananas). Its funny to hear first time gardeners talk. They're so optimistic. And I have to guard my tongue to not rain on their optimism. But they talk about the size. Their eyes light up with these mammoth dimensions or the HUGE number of plants. I read one blog where a Florida guy bought 3 packets of corn seed and a few other veggies. Why??? Do you really think you're going to grow that much corn??? In Florida??? His blog stopped there for obvious reasons. Your 50 tomato plants aren't any good if you can't get any fruit to set or get to eat it before the bugs. Well, God bless them. I've been there. I remember my crazy seed orders, trying everything under the sun. Its when I finally said that I want real production that I focused on getting these gardens to yield. I had to change my pallet from wanting broccoli to wanting okra every night for 10 days in a row. And we seem to now have certain veggies narrowed down. We don't have a terribly varied diet right now, but darn it, its homegrown. Yes, we're eating dollarweed, but hey, its growing well and always will and is most certainly edible and nutritious so why not?

So what are our present staples?

1) Lettuce- some is still coming in good (most has bolted). I planted some on the east side of the house hoping the afternoon shade will prolong it some into summer.

2) Collard Greens- learn to love them if you're a FL gardener.

3) Zucchini- don't know how long I'll have it, but its great right now

4) Yellow Squash- same as zucchini

5) Sweet Potatoes- still eating the ones we harvested in December.

For herbs, the thyme and chives are thriving. My basil is still very small. Parsley has gone to seed. Rosemary and sage holding their own. Will take off I'm sure when I overhaul the beds which I won't do until the basil is ready for transplant. Green onions are the regrowth from the bulbs of store bought ones I bought over a year ago. I thought I killed the Okinawa spinach by not covering it this winter, but its come back strong. Will take cuttings and get a good stand of it going this summer.

What's planted for summer eating? Okra, beans and collards are the staples. Giving eggplant and amaranth another shot this year. Got some peppers in but I think they do better in the fall. Lima beans are a first for us. Lots of cowpeas coming up as weeds and more will be planted when the squash and melons come out. Sweet potatoes will get planted sometime soon but not harvested until winter... still working on some slips. My last 2 attempts at slips have molded instead. I think it was too cold where I was keeping them.

I also have lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin and butternut squash in and growing well. Hoping for good returns but won't scrap my collards expecting a pantry full of pickles. Oh... and swiss chard. We LOVE swiss chard. Tried planting it this winter and it just didn't grow until the sun started shining good. Its growing now... so I planted a bunch more. May not do anything before the heat is too much for it but as long as I've got my collards and okra to fall back on, I'm fine using space in experimentation. Also experimenting with kale.

The next thought is how to become more independent of the feed store. Yes, we're raising (or trading for) all the meat and dairy we consume, but those chickens and goats can chow down the hay and grain. Challenges for another day.

catch up

its a busy busy monday. i'm giving the wee one his last bit of breakfast before a long nap. lots to report and little time to report it.

sweet potatoes we've harvested most of our sweet pots now. at first i was rather discouraged with lots of very small ones. people have said to not water or fertilize, but i think some of both is in order. the ones inter-planted with cowpeas were significantly bigger and more numerous. we ended up pulling a full laundry basket full. they're now sitting on the porch curing.

square foot sprouts- we have sprouts in all but one square... a brussels sprout square. i'll snip down the extras and replant the missing ones hopefully today.

veggies- finally got some lettuce taking off in the big garden. looking good so far. pulled our first turnips yesterday. gotta do some major planting, but i'm so far behind being ready for christmas i'm not sure when that will happen!

ornamentals- i framed out an area with landscape timbers and covered the space enclosed with a plastic drop cloth to kill the grass underneath. i hope it works. w/out strong sunshine this time of year, it may do nothing. farmer girl and i are putting in this ornamental/butterfly garden in early january... i think.

space planning- with only an acre, we must plan our use of space wisely. the grandparents are blessing the little farmers with a swingset this christmas (they are going to be THRILLED!), but we've had to do some major thinking about where to put it. not close to snake habitat, where it can get some afternoon shade, where its not in a place frequented by pooping animals, where it won't look like a sore thumb, where its not inhibiting nap times of kids sleeping on the other side of a nearby window, and where its far enough from the road that i have time to respond should one make a break for it. so much to consider because once its there its not getting moved!

time to keep moving. don't expect another post until post-christmas!

Last Days of Summer

Its the last days of summer. I got the okra ripped out and covered that little bed with a tarp for weed control since it will be quite a while before anything else is in there. I let several pods go to seed from the last remaining plant that was producing. I've got plenty of seed for next year, but will probably still buy some just to make sure at least some is pure.

I've looked high and low for more black garden plastic and everyone just says, "That's supposed to be bad to use." Well... it works! Don't know what's bad about it. Sure it heats up the dirt, but that needs to happen to kill the nematodes. It heats up plant roots too so you need to be careful with it, but nothing else is going to remotely control weeds. I had to laugh one day when I was reading in a magazine about people starting a new garden. The "expert" suggested to take a shovel full of sod and simply turn it upside down. The roots dry up in the sun and the grass decomposes and fertilizes the dirt. Right! Our grass would thank us for the respite from the sun and be all the stronger for it! That's like saying boiling water kills weeds and their seeds in sidewalk cracks all season. Doesn't even wilt them! I'd like to see these "experts" and their gardens and see if they know how ridiculous their claims are.

Anyway, I'm done with my tirade. We also picked a few luffa sponges, peeled them, cleaned them and deseeded them. Its a fun little novelty. I don't know if we'll do it again. I guess it depends on the kids and if we have room for it. If I'm doing a second round of planting for okra, cowpeas and yard long beans, I just may not have space for frivolities. But then again, if a pretty little farmer girl asks to plant some luffa, I just may not have the heart to say no.

The cucumbers are being utterly destroyed by an unknown enemy. They lay black eggs in clumps on the leaves. In ripping out a couple decimated plants, I noticed clumps of green eggs and what may have been tiny little mites all over the ground as well. I sprayed some yesterday and did a very thorough job today, also including the watermelons who are still battling aphids and this fungus. I noticed those black eggs on the watermelon leaves this morning. Very frustrating. I need to be watching everything like a hawk just when I'm about to give birth. My husband, while very much a trooper and loves the gardening rewards, is just not as familiar with danger signs. He'll be taking over the "farm" for a few days, but somethings may still my hand... or we just let it go and see what happens.

On the upside, all varieties of everything has sprouted at least some. Pretty low showing for the lettuces, but it has still been a bit warm for them. I'm thankful to see that the turnips haven't taken off and will probably be able to hold out in my tiny cups until I and the littlest one are fully recovered. It seems the broccoli, bok choy, swiss chard and collard greens that I have been babying for the last couple weeks will make it. I haven't lost any more in almost a week. We were able to have a small portion of collards this past week from the first round I planted. They were really tasty! But it may just have been that it wasn't okra that made them so good!

In the wee hours of morning on a sleepless night, I perused our seed catalogues with our spring garden in mind. While I found some good stuff, I think I'm still going to have to employ yet more companies to get all that I want. The majority will come from Baker Creek and Southern Exposure, but I do have some things for Johnny Seeds and it looks like Tomato Growers Supply and Evergreen Seeds will be tacked on too. I'm such a one stop shopper... even when dealing online! It will be nice when we have the bulk of our varieties determined and can save our own seeds and end the experimentation. But then again, I was a science major... experimentation is what I do best. I just want 100% success with each experiment!

I'm also planning on adding a little ornamental garden to the property. I haven't decided where yet, or even how big. I just want something where I can cut pretty flowers and have them spruce up inside the house too. That was probably the most fun part of looking through seed catalogues. I've never looked in the ornamental sections before! I'm hoping to get this in come spring, but that may be a bit ambitious. My to-do list is already growing and that's without a third child to love and care for!

And finally, we're still on a mad rage against something that is starting to really damage our citrus trees. Our trees were finally starting to grow this year, but then we got this "thing". And of course I've found it in no book nor online. It crinkles all the new growth, pales it to yellow and drops it off leaving dried, dead branches. About 2 months ago I started a weekly regimen of picking all affected leaves and spraying with a neem/soap solution. It's keeping them at bay, but at least one of the trees is really looking sad now. Its our tallest (about 5') with about 20 leaves left on it. It seems as soon as they start to grow some, this thing moves in and destroys the new growth and bit of the old as well. I don't know what else to do.

Garden Update

Its finished... a week ahead of "schedule" even. The "smother garden" expansion is complete with a lot of sweat from my husband. We went out to our horse-loving friends and got our 4th and final load of compost to finish off the last remaining beds today. We throw a weekly paper route which supplies our source of newspaper for the grass smothering. A woodworking neighbor supplies the sawdust which I've found to greatly improve seed germination (when mixed with compost) as well as post-transplant seedling survival. I'm happy to have it complete as homesteading baby #3 is due in 3 weeks and I'm hoping to have more seedlings in the ground before he comes and I'm moderately incapacitated. So far we have watermelon coming in strong (4 small fruit that I've spotted so far and tons more blossoms), bell peppers growing well, tomatoes doing well, cucumbers struggling, but 2 planted later fairing much better, beans also struggling somewhat from unknown causes, and collard greens, broccoli, and bok choy doing their best with the drier conditions and being very newly transplanted. I lost half my broccoli and all my swiss chard after transplanting (with no sawdust in the beds)... I watered in the morning and expected it to rain in the afternoon. It didn't and I didn't water again. They were dead by morning. Live and learn.
Another neighbor owns a honey store and processing plant. She's begun saving these large tubs that they get bee pollen in for us. The first came just in time for our first round of compost tea (what we hope to use as our weekly fertilizer). So the little farmer girl and I sewed up a bag from some fabric scraps we had on hand, ran bailing twine through for a drawstring and filled the bag with compost. We then set the bag in the tub and filled it with water. A couple days from now we should have wonderful compost tea for all our young plants.

And here's our summer garden that I've begun to almost completely neglect. Its an absolute jungle of sweet potato and loofah vines. The sweet potatoes climb the fence on one side and are shading out my pineapples. The loofah climbs out the other side and keeps curling its grippers on my seedlings, herb cuttings and potted plants. I've left a few okra on the one bearing plant for seed. The others have lost all their leaves and are looking rather sad. If I feel ambitious with nothing to do between now and child birth, I'll rip out the okra and cover that section with plastic to bake out any nematodes. The cowpeas are frustrating me because it seems everything is coming in with worms now and I've only been drying and storing them lately. I don't know what to do with the loofah. I think its supposed to dry on the vine so I'm planning on just letting it go until I can't stand it anymore. The sweet potatoes we'll begin harvesting in October, but not pull up the last until December. Until then its just going to have to be a jungle. The grapes are doing well considering the harsh pruning we had to give them this spring. The harvest has been modest but very tastey. When they start going dormant it will help diminish the jungle effect considerably as well.

Summer Garden Lessons Learned

Every season we learn something we "shoulda" done. This season is no different.

1) Cowpeas apparently poop out after a good flush. I didn't do any successive plantings because I assumed they would just keep on producing till the weather cooled down. Not so. The last I planted are bearing strong now meaning a couple weeks from now I'll have none and yet still be weeks away from any fall harvesting. Gotta plant a final round in mid July looks like.

2) Same for okra. The seed description says it bears well until frost (Burmese okra), but I have 2 plants that seem to have decided to just quit. I'm wondering if in every other place in the world they can make it all the way to winter, but here... well these guys were in the ground in April... most places don't have 7 months of HOT weather to keep okra going with. Again, I think I'll do a second planting in early June next year.

3) Plant less basil... this is insane. I ripped out half of it and still have more than I can process. Gotta make pesto this afternoon and stock the freezer with it. At least the stuff slows down in the cooler weather and we'll get a chance to eat the stores before I'm making it fresh again. Though I bet I get another good bunch before any sign of winter rolls in.

Cowpeas

You don't go into Publix and buy a pound or 2 of fresh cowpeas, but they're a staple in the Florida summer garden. These hearty, heat and humidity-loving, soil improving little gems have a lot going for them. They're essentially black-eyed peas... only coming in vast colors and shapes and not just black-eyed. We have 3 varieties growing this year:

Purple Hull Pink Eyes (from Baker Creek)- very strong and prolific. I really like these because the pod ripens to a deep purple making them easy to find in the bushy jungle I call our summer garden. Not drawing too many bugs and slow the dry out. Only problem is they color your fingernails black when you shell too many.

Mississippi Silvers (from Southern Exposure or Baker Creek)- Again, strong and prolific. Pods ripen to a pale yellow and dry out faster so I've learned to harvest twice a day when I can. What isn't ready one morning can be beyond ready the next. The peas are small and tan. Pods are easy to shell (the 3 year old farmer girl does all our cowpea shelling).

California Black Eyes (from a hardware store's seed rack)- I really don't recommend these. In fact I'm really learning my lesson over snagging whatever is on a store's seed rack. I just don't think they have Florida in mind when Morse Ferry is putting together their display. These draw bugs and worms continuously. They too fade to pale yellow and will immediately rot on the vine with all the worms that will chew on them. Not nearly as prolific either.

We eat a lot of soups (from bone broths of home grown chickens or local grass-fed beef) so I generally throw then into whatever soup I've got cooking. But there are tons of salads and side dishes that can be made from them. I generally collect them for a week and if I haven't used them, I put them in the dehydrator and then into a jar for storage.