Indoor veggies have been planted

Today I got my winter garden planted - which will be housed in my office through the winter.  I have: spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, banana peppers, acorn squash, butternut squash, cucumbers, green beans, peas, carrots, leeks and celery.  Some of these will need to be hand pollinated.  I am laying a waterproof mat under my small greenhouse to catch water drips, and plan to let the squash climb my windows and the greenhouse its self.  The carrots and tomatoes will eventually move to a container on the floor near the window when they get big enough.  Now the only thing left to do is fix the zipper on my greenhouse cover as it is broken.  Then we’ll be all set

My latest research here on the homestead is on raising milk goats and my husband has shown interest in raising one or two at a time for meat.  I’m pretty sure they’re probably against city ordinances but it’s fun to learn.  And who knows – if I talk to my neighbors and they’re favorable, a little milk and eggs (from chickens, of course) go a long way to keep them from complaining…  I’ll let you know what I come up with.

Fall happenings

Life has picked up its pace quite a bit!

I have a few more heads of broccoli I’m waiting on in the garden.  Some carrots are ready to pull I’m sure.  My husband already wacked the corn stalks down (we left the roots to rot over the winter and provide nourishment for the soil for next year) and the kids love having a little fenced in area to play.  The corn is drying in my backyard and will be taken to my church to be used as decoration for an outreach project they’re doing on Halloween.  My tomatoes won’t quit producing - I have new blossoms and tons of green tomatoes growing but I think our first frost is going to happen here in the next couple of weeks.  I am going to be growing a garden indoors over the winter and my husband suggested uprooting a couple tomato plants from outside because they’re still producing and see if I can’t transplant them in a container to make use of all those tomatoes I’ll otherwise miss out on.  if I use some of my tomato cages in large pots, I should be able to keep them upright.  Whether they’ll survive the transplant or not is another story.  I’ve never heard of anything like this, but we figured what have we got to loose?

I plucked the heads off my sunflowers and have them drying on my back porch.  I’m not sure if I can keep them there because the birds will find them soon enough.  the heads are  HUGE and there are tons of seeds.  They’ll finish drying in the basement if birds become a problem.  I have a few sunflowers that I let sprout from the birdfeeder, I cut the heads off and am going to dry the seeds and put ‘em back in the birdfeeder.

We’re going to get another probably 2 bushels of apples in October.  My husband loves the apple pie filling I put up (using tapioca instead of corn starch), so those jars are quickly disapearing.  I want to put up more apple pie filling, applesauce and more slices.  We opened a jar of pears that I put up a few weeks ago and they were SO GOOD.  The lady we bought them from told me she has tried to can them season after season but they go mushy on her.  I told her how I can mine, hopefully she’ll have better luck and be able to enjoy the fruit of her orchard over the winter!

I have a couple Morning Glory plants on my back porch.  I thought I’d be cute and train the plants to grow up the rails on my back porch.  Well now they’ve nearly enclosed my back porch for me.  it looks pretty, but those vines are stuck everywhere and it’s going to be a bit of a pain to remove them!  lol.  They have engulfed the watemelon I had growing from a pot on the back rail, and my aloe plant hanging from the support beams of the roof. 

My mind has turned to what I’ll do next year to maximize the harvest and make the best use of my space.  I’ve decided on the ‘three sisters’ method of growing corn, squash and beans/peas.  Somehow or another they all work together - the beans nourish the soil for the corn, the corn provides a natural trellis for the beans or peas to grow up, and the squash provide natural ground cover to keep the weeds down.  I like it!  That will free up a few rows and my squash plot for something else next year.  I’d love to grow some sugar beets and experiment with making our own sugar.  I need to move the carrots away from the tomatoes – I had no idea how bushy and big my tomato plants would get.  They’re huge!  And have shaded my carrots nearly completely.  I’ll move my cucumbers to the side of my house and train them to grow up the side of my house.  I just hope they don’t get too high so the point that I can’t reach them to get the cucumbers.  Maybe i can grow them up my porch where the Morning glories are growing instead.  I will train my squash to also grow up something, somewhere (though preferably not along my fenceline… I don’t want my neighbors thinking I’m rude for overtaking the fenceline) to maximize space.

I will be doing more succession planting, start a spring garden outside earlier (remember I moved here in May, so I didnt’ get my garden in as early as I like to), re-use that space later for fast maturing vegetables once the spring stuff has been harvested.  I’m also going to expand my garden space.

‘Sugar pie’ pumpkins will be going in so I can make use of pumpkin, and some larger pumpkins will be going in for roasting seeds and having out front as a harvest decoration.

Anything that dies will be hacked off at the ground and the roots will be left in to nourish the soil.   My husband is going to try and build me two shelves to hold some of my herb plants in one of my kitchen windows, high enough to keep out of the reach of our kids and to keep out of my way (I use suction cups with hooks on the lower window panes to hold lightweight but frequently used stuff)

Next year I’d like to grow a butterfly garden for my daughter (well, I’ll actually make this her garden, she wanted something of her own so badly this year!).  My chinese lanterns never took off this year (I wonder why?) but I want to try again next year so I can dry the lanterns and add them to our fall/harvest decorations!

I’ll also need to look into space to grow food for rabbits – one more hutch and we’re good to launch our meat rabbit production and start stocking our freezer.  Chickens may come next spring if we have the coop ready.

Garden update and apple tree

I have ears of corn forming!  Green beans are coming into full swing, as are the cucumbers and tomatoes.  THis is another exciting time for me – time to start feeling better by eating veggies fresh off the vine, and time to start saving money from outragious food prices. 

My birthday is coming up next week and my hope is to use birthday money to buy an apple tree.  From the reading I’ve done, a dwarf variety can be kept in a container, and considering we’re renting this house and not sure how long we’ll be here I don’t want to plant a tree that we may not be around to eat from = it can take 3-5 years for some trees to bear edible fruit.  If I get a dwarf variety that has more than one variety of apple, I should only need one tree for pollination purposes.  Or I can get two or more trees.  I have yet to see if any local nurseries carry them other than WalMart and The Andersons, but I’d rather support a locally owned private business before a big box store and I’d probably get better quality and service, also.  Trees look to be around $24-35 each, I don’t know what a container is going to run me I’ll see I guess.  Considering apples are the most expensive fruit we usually buy (aside from grapes!) I’d love to have a way to cut that cost in the fall, also.  Speaking of grapes, next year I want to get a couple grape plants to start, my husban wants some berry bushes and all of them can be kept in containers and move with us whenever we move.

I’m imagining no dependence on the local store for vegetables and fruit, at least in the summer/fall.  I’ll let you know this year how well my indoor garden works out to provide us with fresh veggies through the winter and maybe, just maybe, I can have no dependence on the local store for vegetables year-round.  Fruit, probably (unless I freeze a ton of fresh fruit during harvest season once we get fruit trees/bushes).  But we’re going to see how sustainable our little city dwelling can become because I’m getting fed up with the cost of food and this is one thing I know I can do to help recoop SOME of the cost (if only to put it in our gas tank!).  We have a nice walk-in attic with a lot of space in it for tables and lights if I end up needing to use it.  I’m hoping that with all the windows in this house (18!) I can find enough good sun spots to not need extra lighting but with the amount of veggies I want to grow, I may very well need extra lighting.

As I am forming this homesteading ministry I’ve mentioned before, I came across a thought… The word self sufficiency, to me, brings up an image of someone living life dependent only upon themselves.  I desire a self sufficient lifestyle.  Then I realised I cannot be truley self sufficient without the Lord.  I depend upon Him for so much… Maybe that term doesn’t fit into my lifestyle.  With this being a ministry I want to include the love of our Lord into everything I do.  I’m trying to write down my goals and description of what i’m trying to form, utilizing bible verses to show people how the Lord has designed us for this type of a lifestyle, and how it is pleasing in His eyes.  I’m having a lot of fun finding suitable chapters and verses in the bible that apply for examples.  I’ll share my findings one of these days, and more of my thoughts on a Christian and homesteading lifestyle.  For now though, it’s time to rest my weary eyes.  It’s been a busy past week or two and everything is starting to catch up!

Updates and a $6 chicken plucker

Someone shared this link with me when I inquired about making a chicken plucker for our upcoming chicken adventures.  My husband wants the “Mother Plucker” from Cabela’s, then I found plans (Whiz bang) to make your own plucker, then someone shared with me a link on how to make a plucker for $6 that attaches to your drill… Too Cool!  The $6 Plucker, Photos and Video Included!

So let’s see what’s happened here lately.  My squash is in – I started seed indoors because our walk-in attic is wonderfully warm, humid and has a window to allow sunlight.  I made my corn plot longer because my husband and father finally got the stump out between gardens so I could close up the access path I left him.  My corn hadn’t been sprouting and upon inspection all the holes I planted in had been dug up again and my seeds were gone!  Darn squirrels!  So I started corn seed in containers again, and will plant when I have green shoots…

I made a new garden plot between my vegetables and corn, where the stump was located.  Then I took a trip to Wal-Mart and got 6 packs of tomatoes for 84 cents to fill in there.  I may actually have enough tomatoes this year for canning, freezing, fresh eating AND giving away a decent amount to my community.  I also bought some seeds before they were out of season, so I have some to continue vegetable gardening indoors this fall and winter.

Lettuce, spinach, onions, leeks, broccoli, peas, green beans, beets, and corn are all coming in nicely this year.  The dogs have just about killed all the garlic I had planted earlier this season (they’re closest to the fence, and my dogs used to run right through my garden to bark and play with the dog next door….).  I’m having a LOT of trouble with carrots this year, which is a bummer.  You’re not supposed to start them in containers because that can lead to crooked roots, but I found some deeper containers and started seed anyway to keep an eye on them and see what’s going on.  I’m using two different packs of seeds and two different varieties so I don’t know if it’s the seeds themselves not germinating, my soil, or what!

RIght now I’m researching what chickens need to eat and how I can grow their food myself.  With the rising cost of grains and corn, it makes storebought eggs and meat cheaper, unless I can do it myself.  I also need to consider that our meat will only be an expense once a year instead of year-round which will help lower the cost a bit (buying in bulk and only for a short time each year), however will the feeding cost of hens be worthwhile just for eggs?  Granted they do offer many more benefits – pest control, good pets, fertilizer, etc. but I have to look at my out of pocket expense – I don’t NEED pest control, we have 3 dogs for pets, and we don’t really need fertilizer.  I do want the eggs though – they’re healthier than storebought and I know my hens will be treated right.  But we have to look into the year-round cost, and project it for the next few years and try to guess how high feed will go, and look at what I can do myself and what happens if my crop fails for whatever reason, can I still afford to buy it?

  I still have space in my yard to grow grains and more corn if needed, and next year my garden will be much better planned and space will be maximized.  My problem this year was i was so desperate to get a garden in, I didn’t care what I planted where, it just had to get in the ground. Then I continued adding plots, planting seed, and ended up with a nice sized garden but if I were to do it again I’d have things moved around and be able to plant MORE with the space I have. I’m thinking about trying Square Foot Gardening next year. I have the book, and the idea seems very interesting. 

We tried a new church this past weekend and just loved it!  My husband enjoyed it too, which was a real plus.  I am so excited to go back, and I am getting my oldest daughter involved starting this week in a Christian alternative to Girl Scouts, and once my son turns 3, he’ll be able to join the Christian alternative to Boy Scouts. They still earn badges, do projects, the boys go camping and all of that, but it’s focused on God and Jesus.  I like that.  We’ve been trying to find a church we enjoy in our new area but have been unsuccessful up until now.  We’ll give it a few weeks and pray on it, but I really feel this could be our new home church.  It’s a non-demoninational church that uses the King James bible – which for me, is important.  Most churches we’ve been to will take their sermon out of several different bibles, or use bibles that I have had a lot of problems with (messages and meanings being completely turned around, contradictory, etc.)  So we’ll see how this one goes. I’m excited.

I think I am going to make up a batch of bagels and get a stock of them in the freezer.  We love bagels and I use a whole-wheat recipe that the kids and I enjoy (hubby isn’t much for bagels).  I also need to get some sub loaves made and in the oven, come harvest time we’ll be able to have some phenominal sub sandwiches