A Garden Sabbath?

This has been a miserable year in the garden.  We have an average last frost date of February 15.  I usually plant my seeds in January but in pots where they can be protected easily from frost. But by February, its generally safe to plant out.

This year I planted later because the almanac indicated a late frost.  So I waited until February 15.

And it froze February 17.  I had protected with simple covers over my bean plants and lost them all.  My pots were in the shed where the cold drifted in through a vent I neglected to consider.  I lost about half of my zucchini and cucumber plants and a few tomato plants.

By Feb 27 my plants were busting from their pots.  I planted them out only to go through another freeze March 2 and 3.  I dug out the Christmas lights and spent hours setting them out on plants and covering things with pots and buckets.  Again, I lost half of what was in the garden of my watermelons, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and canteloup.

Thankfully, I sustained no loss from what was in the shed.  I had enough plants to replace those I lots and promptly did so wiping me out of all cucurbits.  I also planted all my sweet potato starts, tomatoes, eggplant, basil, and more beans

Then March 15th, I woke up to a frozen hose that I did not in any way expect.  I left for the weekend and have yet to assess the damage.  If the damage was significant I've decided to take a sabbath rest from gardening this year.

Why did I keep planting before the cold was over?  I've never seen a freeze in March.  Each freeze was separated by warm weather.  And bugs roll in by June so most of those crops need to get in and out quickly to ever see a harvest.  I gambled with mother nature and lost.

I look forward to enjoying it again next year.

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Christmas, yes, that's wonderful.  I like it, I really do.  And planning for spring planting is part of that!  This year Mother Earth News did an article on people's favorite seed companies. 

Seed catalogs have this amazing, kid-in-a-candy-store type affect on me.  I requested a few new ones, but Nichols Garden Nursery's got to me first (along with my old stand-by Southern Exposure).  I want to get seeds in the ground ASAP so the rest will have to wait until I'm thinking of my fall garden. 

So I ordered a lot.  I was low on a few types and, of course, I have to try new things.  I'm an absolute sucker for a seed catalog.  And Nichols had such interesting unique stuff- such that I hadn't even seen at Baker Creek!  I made a long list for both Nichols and Southern Exposure and now am waiting anxiously, very anxiously, for them to arrive. 

I salivate just thinking about it.

But for record keeping sake, here's my orders.  I know... I got a lot.  As I said, its totally a weakness, but I don't go clothes shopping.  I don't wear make-up.  I haven't bought new shoes in 5 years.  Indulge me my seeds, ok?

Nichols:

VCC567 Cucumber Lucky Dance
HBA215 Basil Bolloso Napoletano
HRB228 Papaloquelite
FLW316 Calendula Flashback - Organic
GRD115 Luffa Gourd
FLW123 Cosmos Early Summer Mix
FEV245 Strawflower Monstrosum
VSP405 Spinach  Malabar Climbing
VCE185 Celery Afina
VCE181 Celery Golden Bar
VKA557 Kale Redbor 
VLT631 Lettuce Matina
VME525 Melon Hannah's Choice
VWA509 Watermelon Ruby
VSQ621 Salman Zucchini
VSQ659 Squash Sebring Golden Zucchini
VTO438 Tomato Cherokee Purple
VTO549 Tomato Sun Gold
VTO443 Tomato Gold Nugget
MCO808 Sourdough Starter-French Lactic
MHG255 Plastic Plant Markers 5" x 5/8"
SESE:
1 x Carolina Wonder PEPPER, BELL (SWEET) 0.5 g (46123)  = $2.50
1 x Jupiter PEPPER, BELL (SWEET) 0.5 g (46134)  = $2.75
1 x Rosita EGGPLANT 0.25 g (45203)  = $2.80
1 x Purple-Podded Asparagus (Yardlong, Yard Long) Bean 4g (11103)  = $2.95
1 x Cascade Glaze COLLARDS 1 g (24108)  = $2.50
1 x Savoy Perfection CABBAGE 2 g (22107)  = $2.05
1 x Ruby Red (Rhubarb Chard) CHARD, SWISS 4 g (32102)  = $2.05
1 x Lazy Wife Greasy BEAN, SNAP (POLE) 14 g (13603)  = $2.95
1 x Red Cherry TOMATO 0.16 g (49136)  = $2.50
1 x Matt’s Wild Cherry TOMATO, CHERRY 0.08 g (49804)  = $2.75
1 x Blacktail Mountain WATERMELON 1 g (55113)  = $2.50
1 x Jericho LETTUCE, ROMAINE 0.5 g (62706)  = $2.65
1 x Vates KALE 2 g (25101)  = $2.35
1 x Ashley CUCUMBER 2 g (51101)  = $2.50
1 x Star of David OKRA 5 g (69108)  = $2.50
1 x Roselle, Thai Red - Herb 0.6g (71301)  = $2.35
1 x Thyme, Creeping - Herb 0.2g (71249)  = $2.10
1 x Thyme, Summer - Herb 0.2g (71304)  = $2.25
1 x Della SORGHUM 7 g (72612)  = $2.50
1 x Black Amber Cane SORGHUM 7 g (72606)  = $2.75
1 x Sweet Potato Mix; Orange, White, and Purple, 6 Slips (74151)  = $10.00

The Life and Times of a Zucchini

Zucchini plants are kind of a flash in the pan, at least for us.  I planted them by seed in late January or early February, got them in the ground a few weeks later and started harvest maybe in mid April.  And I'll probably give them another week before I rip them out.  Powdery mildew got pretty bad a couple weeks ago.  I didn't even try to do anything for it because I knew the pickleworm would be moving in and devouring all my squash.  In other years I've held them back a bit with bagging and Sevin, but this year... well, I don't think I have it in me to bag and Sevin will kill my bees.  So I'm resigned to losing my squash a bit sooner than usual.  But here's what I've done with it all:

1)  I pick the nice sized ones for a meal the day they will be eaten.

2) If they get a little bigger, I pick them for pickles and store them in the fridge for a week  or so.

3) If I miss them until they're monstrous, I shred them through the food processor and freeze them in 2 cups quantities for breads and muffins.

So I've got about 6 bags frozen, about 2 gallons of pickles canned, but the okra and beans aren't quite ready to take over daily veggie requirements just yet.  Pickleworms haven't found my cucumbers yet so maybe they'll float us for a bit longer.

If you're interested in pickling those excess zucchinis, this is my grandmother's recipe:

 I slice the zucchini somewhat thinly, but not so much that it folds easily.  And lest you think I actually have the patience and ability to do such a feat with a knife, view the handy dandy device I inherited from my grandma.

 This baby is adjustable to any thickness and makes it quite easy to slice away beautifully.  After everything is sliced, soak the zucchini in very salty water for 3-6 hours.  I use about a quarter cup of salt to a gallon of water.

 Then mix 2 cups white vinegar, 2 cups sugar, 1 Tbsp pickling spice and 1 tsp tumeric in a pot and bring to boil.  Take an empty, hot, sterilized jar and pack it tightly with zucchini slices.  Pour hot vinegar mixture over the top.  Poke the zucchini around with a butterknife or chopstick to get air bubbles out.  Leave a half inch headspace.  Cover and return to the canner for 5 minutes.  I'll use several batches of the vinegar mix to get through the amount of zucchini pictured, but you can't really know exactly how much you'll need so just make it one batch at a time.

These were my favorite pickles that my grandma would make.  She would bring down several jars just for me when she'd come visit us from Minnesota.  Except she cut her zucchini with a french fry cutter and died the brine dark green.  So the pickles were perfectly square and emerald green.  I've adapted it for both health and consumption purposes.  No one needs dies in their diet and the flat slices make them quite nice on sandwiches.

And my favorite zucchini baked goods recipes are:

Zucchini Brownies (no really, they're good):
1/2 cup coconut oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla until well blended.  Combine flour, cocoa baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture.  Fold in zucchini and walnuts.  Spread evenly into a greased and floured 9x13" pan.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Frosting: Melt together 6 Tbsp cocoa and 1/4 cup butter and allow to cool.  Blend together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Stir in cocoa mixture.  Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

For Zucchini bread:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tso baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup oil

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg.  In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.  Stir into the dry mixture.  Pour into greased bread pan and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.

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.

Spring Sprang

I always seem to find myself here when I have multiple other things that are more pressing, but alas, I'm here so I'll make it quick.  :-)

 Yesterday I had a positively glorious time playing in the dirt, with at least 1 little helper most of the time.  We ripped out most of the arugula and some older lettuce, kale, collards, and mustard greens.  The goats were happy to take the cast offs from my sweet helpers' hands.  We filled multiple wheelbarrow loads with compost and refreshed the beds.  One particular bed ends up quite shaded in the winter.  I've had it covered with a billboard tarp since November.  I peeled back the tarp to find grey beach sand.  Nothing more.  I've been planting and ammending that bed for 3+ years now, and its still basically beach sand.  Its also no surprise to see roots like these on the mustard greens.   

The little blobs in the roots indicate nematodes, a horrible menace to the Florida gardener... and very little to realistically to about them.

So after ripping out the old plants, adding fresh compost and mixing it in some, we transplanted- something the farmer girl has really come to enjoy.  I love having her little hands working with me.  Farmer Boy 1 enjoys it too, but the temptation to pitch dirt in the air is sometimes too much for him to handle.  FB2 likes to just wander around the garden carrying off any tools someone else is using. 

We transplanted an entire bed of cayenne peppers (hoping to trade the fruit for a drink concotion that is helping several friends and family members), a good number of bell peppers, the last of the big tomatoes and lettuce, Black Valentine pole beans, huckleberries, wonderberries, cucumbers and eggplant. 

What remains in the garden now for today's eating are collard greens and lettuce.  What remains for seed production purposes are a few old lettuce plants, arugula and bok choy.  Aside from what's noted about as recently transplanted, we also have yellow squash, zucchini, bok choy, swiss chard and peas in the still-growing phase.  There are still a good number of things not quite ready to transplant, but more about those next week.

Next we planted seeds:

For the pretty patch: cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, morning glory and sunflowers.

For the eating: Sugarlee watermelon, Chinese Red noodle beans, cherry tomatoes (lollipop, sungold, and chocolate cherry), and basil (genovese, cinnamon, and lettuce leaf).

On the animal front, we sold Rocie and Poncho.  After not being able to sell Willy after weeks of having him posted on Craigs List, I started early this round... they were gone the first evening.  Truth be told, I wasn't quite ready.  When I got the call that the buyers were on their way, I quickly rounded up the kids for a photo shoot.   How many beautiful mornings had the kids been in there playing with them and though I'd stop to admire the abundance of cute, I never grabbed the camera.  These pics aren't too great as the light was fading and the goats were hungry (hence eating farmer girl's hair), but its something. 

Esperanza is still big but not looking particularly "due".  Helen is bagging up more so my guess is she's the next birth.  We'll be spending all day on Saturday on the "Bachelor Pad" despite the huge amount of gardening work to do.  A place to put Copper after Helen kids is essential.  She's had way too many babies too close together.  If we don't get the new section fenced we will simply have to find another home for Copper fast.  She got pregnant 4 weeks post-pardum last time.

Back to work now.  Thanks for the break in cleaning.  :-)

Seeding Spring

I just had the best day all week.  I walked out of the house, ignoring the mess within, and puttered in the garden all day long.  I took a break only to feed the little dust balls, find the skin beneath and put the smaller 2 down for naps.  Then farmer girl and I continued to prep beds, rejuvenate them with compost, transplant and plant seeds.

Transplants:
-a new bed of lettuce (slow-bolt and little gem)
-peas (little marvel)
-mustard greens (curled southern)
-chinese cabbage (michihili)
-bok choy (ching chang)

Herb Seeds:
-spearmint
-peppermint
-water cress
-white horehound
-oregano (wild zaatar)
-summer savory

Fruit Seeds:
-wonderberry
-huckleberry (chichiquelite)
-melocoton cassabanana
-asian melon (golden sweet)
-canteloup (edisto 47)
-jelly melon kiwano
-watermelon (blacktail mountain)

Vegetable Seeds:
-zucchini (dark green)
-summer squash (cocozelle Italian)
-yellow squash (early prolific straight)
-tomato (southern night, uncle mark bagby)
-cayenne peppers (long thin, African)
-eggplant (rosita)
-bell peppers (roumanian rainbow, emerald giant)
-Cucumber (Edmonson, poinsett 76)
-bok choy (ching chang)
-celery (tendercrisp)
-hot peppers (tam jalapeno)
-lettuce (sweet valentine)
-swiss chard (rainbow chard)

Random:
-dwarf coffee plant (a pretty houseplant that supposedly produces a good berry for a coffee substitute... I'm a sucker for a seed catalog.)

So... this is the absolute most seeds I have ever planted at one time.  And given that most from my last round aren't quite ready for transplanting yet, I have a LOT of seedlings around!  I didn't have enough window boxes but I put a good number of puts to use too.  Particularly for zucchini and melons where the starts will be huge, the pots will prove better, I'm sure.  If frost threatens, I'll have my work cut out for me, but oh well.  Spring planting is here!

Starting seeds

I have a greenhouse!  Hooray!  It just arrived moments ago, purchased new off ebay on New Year's Eve.  In anticipation of its arrival (and some very good weather forecasted for the next week), I planted a whole host of spring seeds.  But before I get into my own personal record keeping, let me tell you about my greenhouse.  We'd been planning to get one since May and just didn't.  I started to dither about the size of the original one we planned to get: 18"x30" foot print with 4 shelves.  Yes, I could do seeds, but little else.  So, in hunting some more I found several options that were much bigger for the same price or slightly more.  What I eventually settled on was a 10'x6.6' footprint, 6' tall in the center with movable shelves included.  I can plop this baby over a garden bed of something cold sensitive and put my shelves of pots or seedlings in the walkway or around the planted items.  I'm a bit dubious how well it will hold up to wind, but we decided to give this a try and if it needs replacing in a couple years, we'll know that much better what we need before buying a super good quality one.  Merry Christmas to me!!!

I had a BLAST this morning outside pretending its spring.  With the current weather, the imagination doesn't have to work very hard.  The older 2 kids helped me clear some room in the seed boxes by planting the remaining stuff in the pretty patch.  Then they "helped" me plant the seeds.  I use window boxes for seeds, splitting each into 2-4 sections for each type of seed.  When we're working on one particular seed, for example bok choy, I'll show them the section in the box those seeds will go in to.  I'll put a few seeds into farmer girl's hand (4.5 yrs) and have her lay them, one at a time, on top of the dirt.  I'll put a 1 or 2 seeds onto farmer boy's flat palm (almost 3yrs) and he just dumps them onto the dirt.  Then, depending on the size of the seed, I'll allow them to push it down and cover or I'll push it down and let them sprinkle dirt on top.  Between anticipating all these new foods I'm planting so early and doing it all with 2 of my very favorite people, I was in heaven all morning! 

Now on to boring record keeping:
1. Chinese Cabbage: Michihli (fall plantings didn't head likely due to heat late in fall.  leaves still good to cook and eat)
2. Bok Choy: Ching Chang
3. Asian Greens: Large Leaf Tong Ho (fall plantings slightly bitter)
4. Hot peppers: Tam Jalapeno*
5. Bell Peppers: Sweet Chocolate, Emerald Giant
6. Chichiquelite Huckleberry*
7. Jelly Melon Kiwano*
8. Melocoton Cassabanana*
9. Wonderberry*
10. Eggplant: Pandora Striped Rose*, and Ping Tung*
11. Parsley: Giant of Italy
12: Mustard Greens: Southern Giant Curled
13: Celery: Tendercrisp (fall planting grew very pretty flowers similar to zinnias- either my mistake or Baker Creeks?)
14: Tomatoes: Beefsteak, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, and Green Zebra

*Denotes first time planting

Without a greenhouse, most of these I'd have to wait another 6 weeks to plant.  This way I can get a jump on the bugs and heat.  I'll get 6 weeks more fruit out of my tomatoes before the bugs, fungus, heat and disease wipe them out.  I'll start my squash, melons and cucumbers in about 3 weeks so I can get that much more out of them before the pickleworm eats them all.  I'd love to start them now, but I can't imagine containing a 6 week old squash vine to a pot inside a greenhouse!

Beating the worm to pickles

So we definitely have pickleworms in force. I harvested everything of decent size on Tuesday then sprayed with Sevin. I hate the non-organic aspect but given that its been on the market for DECADES, I think its safer than other non-organic methods and definitely more effective than organics with this particular problem. With my piles of squash on Tuesday, I called up a neighbor who took some yellow sqash. I froze the rest (that we wouldn't have time to eat fresh) and made my grandmother's zucchini pickles with the zuccs.

The yellow squash (early prolific straight) is supposed to be more resistant to pickleworm. I have it right next to the canteloup so I was a bit nervous. I bagged any fruit that was big enough to bag and sprayed the squash, canteloup, zucchini and the cucumbers which have their first few blossoms. Fat chance they'll get pollenated now, but oh well. I left the pumpkin and butternut alone.

I didn't pick anything Wednesday so I'll probably really have a big harvest today. Hopefully I find evidence that I'm at least giving the pickleworm some breeding difficulties.

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.

A day's harvest

Copper has worn sores on Dulcinea's hip bones. I think its safe to say she's adequately bred. Her milk production dropped and is coming back up now. Helen will get dried off in July and Dulci in August. That will be a shock to the system. I picked a whole mess of squash today, as you can see. Been picking enough for a meal or 2 everyday and still got this many today. May be seeing the first signs of pickleworm in the dark green zucchini, but I'll have to cut it open to be sure. Finally have a moderate amount of fruit forming on the canteloup though we've had blossoms for weeks. Almost ready to pick our first butternut. Pumpkin has yet to blossom but the vine is plenty strong. Watermelons are seriously struggling. Not sure why. Blossoms have started on the cucumbers. Couple blossoms on the peppers and beans and 2 amaranth plants are getting big enough to pick from. A bug has been munching on the collards but there's still plenty for us so I'm letting it be. Doesn't seem to be anything too detrimental. New layers have popped out 3 eggs this morning. None from the leghorns as they lay white eggs. Forgive the lack of our morning daylillies in the picture- the kids already ate them.

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.

Button's Baby Blessing

We have a thing for alliteration here if you haven't noticed.

Actually, since last week, we have lots to report. Mostly good.

Starting with the bad... Homesteading Hubby got laid off last week. Its not terribly surprising given the financial state of many municipalities. Working in engineering where your work is based on cities have tax revenue to spend on improvements can be a sketchy thing. Since then he's been pounding the pavement. He's worked longer hours this whole last week than he ever did at is 8-5 job. I'm really proud of him for not sitting in a stupor from the sting of it all. We don't expect him to be out of work long. We have a very Might God who is his ultimate Employer. We expect a promotion... and that's what is looking very likely. More about that in the weeks to come.

Thankfully, Angel, the dog, is doing very well. The only thing we were told was to keep her dry. We moved her big kennel into the garage for now. She certainly isnt slowing at all. She runs free most of the day now, but lately has picked up some bad habits which I'll need to spend some time to correct. Until then, she gets locked up when my attention is going to be diverted too much.

I decided to dry off Noel already. Her milk supply plummeted quickly. I think she's pregnant again. I've also noticed that she can't handle grain like the other goats can. She started to scour the other day so I tethered her to a bushy green area and clipped some more branches. She was very happy for the fiber. I can't keep her in milk and growing a baby on the calories supplied through the greenery in our pasture right now. She's not as into hay as other goats are either. She seems to prefer the fresh greens. So... I'd like to wait a couple more months, make sure she really is pregnant, than try to trade her for another lamancha or maybe a mini nubian. We'll have to see what comes.

Yesterday morning, Farmer Hub was milking for me and Farmer girl started her normal babble about Button (the sheep) and her baby. He thought little of it as we didn't know when to expect Button to give birth. But after her being rather adamant and then saying Button's BLACK baby, he turned to look, and sure enough, a little charcoal gray lamb was standing beside Button! No birthing problems at all! We didn't even hear her! The lamb is a ewe to top off the blessing. We're now working to make sure she doesn't get skiddish. I'm trying to feed her a bottle every day. She's got little interest in it now. Hopefully that will change. We also are still thinking of names.

In the garden, I transplanted lots of greens into the square foot bed. I know you're supposed to seed, but I think I still like transplanting better. I took down the ugly orange fencing because I think it was blocking the sun too much. That has given Angel entrance now... which means I've lost a few transplants. I also have most of our cucurbits planted. I have a lot of work to do outside still. Thankfully my hip is holding up well now. I'm plugging away. Its just a very busy time for me right now.

And on that note, please forgive the general updates concerning every topic on the 'stead. It doesn't make for easy searching of specific information. One day I'll get back to normal... I think.

General Update

Ok... maybe not general but at least a lieutenant worthy of salute.

Its been slow going here at the homestead. While spring is marching in fast trying to catch up from a month of lost time, I, on the other hand, am as hindered as I was this fall fresh from childbirth. Last Sunday night I went to bed fine and when I woke up, I couldn't walk. Its been up and down from there- my left hip just being out of whack. Been to see the chiropractor yesterday where she chastised me for coming so late. Live and learn. I'm young... sorta... I expect to just heal. And I don't think that's a bad expectation to have.

Anyway, sprouts are outside and enjoying it. Got 6 zucchini plants transplanted and only 1 looks worse for the wear. I'll need to re-seed some watermelon, cantaloupe and cucumber seeds. I had tried to seed them in egg cartons- and egg hole per seed. Got very poor results. Again, live and learn. I'm going to direct seed once we hit the waxing moon and pray for the best.

Button is doing well. While she's still not letting me close to touching her. She comes just close enough to allow her room to bolt. That's a huge improvement. One huge lesson learned is to not buy any more animals from large herds. In our arrangement we need animals who are at least moderately comfortable with human interaction. Button also has learned that Angel, the dog, just wants to play. Button continues to sit and calmly stare into the distance when Angel comes bounding up wanting to herd.

Angel is right now at the humane society getting spayed. I have no idea how I'm going to keep this hyper BIG puppy calm while she's healing. Poor girl will go out of her gourd kept in the kennel, but I certainly can't run fast enough to give her exercise... even with 2 good hips.

Our post-molt birds are really producing! This is GREAT! Out of 4 birds we're getting 3-4 eggs each day. One sad bit of news is that I noticed a bird acting strange a couple weeks ago. Others were pecking her so I pulled her from the pen where she continued to sit and not run from me. I could tell she was sick. I jumped online and guessed it may be botulism. I administered Epsom salt water to her and as I was doing so, I noticed a huge bulge near her rectum. Then I remembered egg binding. Again, the internet to the rescue. Sure enough, her symptoms were exactly what they were describing. I did as I was told. I greased up her rectum and tried to massage out the egg. It seemed to have turned sideways but I was able to work out the egg. When it was over I took my hands off her... and she didn't move. I nudged her. Nothing. I set her in the sun and started trying to find out if birds will pass out from pain. No one knew. Evening was coming fast and I didn't want to feed a coon, but I also didn't want to bag a live bird. But by the time we really needed to know, she was stiff as a board. Too bad. I'm 0 for 2 on my midwifery skills.

We got our redneck pallet wood garden fence down and partially replaced it with standard 28" fencing. We're still being cheep though. We're discovering all the uses for electrical conduit. We have standard posts in the corner and we'll use 1 piece of conduit (about $2) to make 3 posts. Should work well and save a bundle even with spacing them closer than we would space normal posts. Wouldn't recommend it for animals but for unruly squash vines and hungry gopher tortoises, I think it will hold up fine.

Looking forward to next week when the moon will be phasing right and the weather should be good. Just praying my back will be back in action as well. If not, farmer girl's going to have a lot of work to do!

Garden Update

What a rocky winter its been for a garden! It seems since summer I've managed to have a single crop keep us in veggies! Right now we're getting lots of lettuce, eating off our sweet potato stores, occasionally pulling some radishes, but the rest is sorely lacking! And then I've discovered this "thing" growing in one garden where we'll be planting next month. I don't know what it is. I saw one loose in the back yard a couple months ago and thought it was a chew toy from the neighbor's dog.

Given the horrible conditions for growing seeds, I've started some inside. This is sitting on our old kitchen table in the family room with absorbant "chucks" and a towel underneath. I've got a 90 watt halogen flood light on it for about 15 hours a day. We'll see how it works! We're going to build a mini green house in the fall so this doesn't happen again.

In other garden news, I'm baffled as to why 100 years ago the local farming community got on the map because of cabbage farming where now I can't get a single plant to head up. I've grown them all winter, fertilized faithfully, and they just won't form a head. And yes, they are heading varieties. None of my brassicas have done anything worth while but bok choy. I'm looking forward to spring, longer days and constant temps... even if the bugs come too.

Spring Seed Order

Here's my finalized seed order. I'll put it in in a couple weeks. Any locals (Volusia county) wanting to jump in on the order, e-mail me at floridahomestead(at)mail(dot)com. If anyone has actually tried any of these here and would like to comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say. Don't make me try something that you know doesn't work! :-> I'm also open to splitting a pack if anyone is interested in that.

Southern Exposure
Cucumber- Poinsett 76
Eggplant- Rosita
Cantaloupe- Edisto 47
Zucchini- Dark Green
Limas- Christmas

*Asters- Powder Puff
*Gomphrena- Mix

Baker Creek
Amaranth- Tiger Eye
Zucchini- Early Prolific Straight
Butternut- Waltham
Okra- Burmese
Cowpeas- Purple Hull Pink Eyes
Greens- Dark Green Gailan

*Calendula- Pacific Mix
*Marigolds- Harlequin
*Alaska Shasta Daisies
*Evening Scented Stock

Johnny Seeds
Lettuce- TRopicana

*Salvia- Marble Arch Mix
*Sunflowers- Pro Cut Series
Chocolate

Tomato Growers Supply
Tomatoes- Tomande
Cherokee Chocolate
Sun Gold
Peppers- Roumanian Rainbow
Sweet Pickle

*Denotes an ornamental for our new addition... the pretty patch.

I bought a few packs of seeds at the purple cow fest... brand is Botanical Interest.
broccoli raab- rapini
bok choy- rosette
carrot- scarlet nantes

I may not order from Johnny's if no one else wants in... depends on how badly I want their gorgeous sunflowers! Those are seeds the girl can handle well, but a pretty yellow is all the same to her. But will I begrudge a simple sunflower for being merely "normal"?