Category: garden

budgeting / fall / garden / money / pumpkins

Fake Mums? Realistic Looking Fall Flowers

In keeping with my farm girl lifestyle, I grow food. I’m a decent gardener… but I only grow things I can eat! I’m pretty clueless about flowers. My mama tried, but I just haven’t had much free time in my adult life (can’t imagine why!?) and growing pretty things hasn’t been a priority. I have enough other living things that count on me to keep them alive, lol. However, this year I splurged on hanging baskets for the front porch. I asked for the ones that were hardest to kill and required the least amount of watering. Whatever I ended up with did fairly well – and they REALLY brightened up the look of our front porch. So much so, in fact, that I started to wonder about mums. They look festive, but I really did fail at watering my summer baskets and mums are kind of expensive to buy if I’m just going to kill them right away. That led me to google “fake mums”. *This post may contain affiliate links that help support my content here.* I found some very realistic looking ones, but oh the price! In addition to not being able to kill my fall flowers,

Continue reading
apples / asparagus / baby / blueberry bushes / cherries / fence / fruit trees / garden / large family life / peaches / pears / planting / potatoes / pregnancy / spring

VLOG – Large Family Gardening (28 Weeks Pregnant)

This was the first “vlog” I ever shared! It starts with me really short of breath (who else gets like that when you’re pregnant!?) and then I go on to reminisce about life with one or two kids, and finally show you the garden and plant some cherry bushes…

Continue reading
garden / harvest / onions / planting

Onion Confusion

I planted onions in the spring… So apparently I’ve been having a blond moment for the last several weeks now. I’ve been excited to collect seed from whatever garden plants I can. My onions sent up nice big flowers that now have thousands of seeds in them. I thought great, yippee, I get to save some onion seed. Ummm, no. Well, yes, I get some onion seeds. But no freakin’ onions!! I pulled them up today and the aren’t much bigger than the sets I planted.Duh, I guess I should have thought about that. Apparently onions are not supposed to flower in their first year and if they do the bulbs will be very small. The bulbs also won’t store well since they have been pierced where the flower stalk pushed up. The only explanation I can find for this is extreme temperature fluctuations during the growing seasons. Yep, we’ve got that going on here in Michigan. So what do you think? Has this happened to you? Am I missing something? Is this more likely to happen when you grow from onion sets? I’m so bummed.

Continue reading
baking / bread / canning / farming / garden / green beans / knitting / Menu Plan Monday / money / peaches / pressure canning

Today’s To-Do List

Monday is my day off and I’m staying super busy! This is more for my purposes but in case you’re interested, here’s what is on my agenda: -Can more green beans (they’re on the stove now)-Bake bread-Call the builder-Call the plumber-Call on prices for an automatic cattle waterer-Balance the checkbook/pay bills-Find the title for a trailer we’re selling-Call the orchard to order peaches (Mmmm!)-Scope out vacation destinations online (this is coming up fast!)-Make the weekly menu plan-Make granola bars if time allows-Finish knitted baby shower gift and make progress on wedding gift The bathroom needs to be painted and the landscape worked on but it is incredibly hot and humid/sticky so I won’t be doing either of those things today. I’m hoping to bust through the rest of the list so I can just knit and work on the bread. I’d love to hear what you’re doing today! 🙂

Continue reading
canning / food storage / garden / green beans / pressure canning

Pressure Canning Green Beans

I spent the day with my Mom yesterday and she taught me how to pressure can for the first time ever. I went in to this completely blind and was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was. Now I have a new skill to add to my list! Yay! Thanks Mom! While this is in no way meant to be a guide to pressure canning I’ll share a few pics and the basic process. That way if you find someone to teach you it won’t be so mystifying. The black pot has a strainer in it and boiling water. The silver one is the pressure canner with a few inches of water in the bottom. We snapped the beans in 2-3 inch pieces and removed the ends. Next, we rinsed them under cool water and put them in the black pot of boiling water. Once the water comes back to a boil they stay in for 5 minutes. At that point we pulled out the strainer, allowed the water to drain back in to the pot, and poured the beans in to the plastic strainer in the sink. Then it is time to put the beans in the jars. I

Continue reading
garden / Git 'Er Done 2009 / herbs / planting

Herbs and Our Front Porch

I picked up some herbs from two different places lately and finally planted them today. The planter boxes are something that my Dad was getting rid of. I think he made them from old deck lumber. I painted over the brown paint so they now match our porch. There were already drain holes drilled in the bottoms. I added some hay and then a mix of peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite. From left to right we have Peppermint, Thyme, and Lavender. If the plants do well I expect the Peppermint and Lavender to fill in the box. Here from left to right is Curly Parsley, Rosemary, Basil, and more Curly Parsley. We were just talking about how much we enjoy our porch so I thought I’d share a few more pictures. A passerby during early evening might find us sipping iced tea in our Adirondack chairs. We found this table in the garage when we moved in so I painted it to match. Of course the dogs are never far away. I’m really surprised that Maci hasn’t chewed up or otherwise damaged those citronella pots yet. I picked them up on clearance years ago for 10 cents each and just

Continue reading
asparagus / berries / corn / eggplant / fruit trees / garden / garlic / growing challenge / planting / potatoes / rhubarb / squash / sunflower seeds / tomatoes / updates / watermelon / zucchini

Growing Challenge Check-In: Planting

My garden isn’t small but I didn’t have any room to plant corn. Our neighbor Jeff was kind enough to come by with his tractor and rototiller and make the above long strip of garden for me. It is between the pasture fence and the road. We had to put the fence far off the road to make room for snow in the winter but can still use the space all summer. I planted 5 different kinds of corn the first day. I still had some room so in went 2 packets of sunflowers, hopefully to use in granola bars this fall. Well, there was still a ton of room left so I just kept planting. All the peas and beans went in. Then watermelon, zucchini, and squash. There is still room so I added eggplant seeds and may stick in some eggplant seedlings to fill it up. I’m trying to plant less valuable crops there since I wouldn’t put it past some idiot to drive through it or pick from it. The tomatoes and other crops will stay in the main garden. Plus, now there is room in the main garden for pumpkins!! Here’s the complete running list, new

Continue reading
family / garden / Git 'Er Done 2009 / sewing

Sewing with Mom

My Mom was nice enough to drive out for a visit on Sunday. We spent the day sewing a new scrub top for me. I bought the pattern and the fabric a while ago but wasn’t sure how to cut out the pieces. I have made curtains and even pajamas but this top was by far the hardest thing yet. My Mom is an excellent seamstress. She even made my bridesmaids’ dresses for the wedding so I knew this top would be a breeze for her. It turned out pretty good. Thanks Mom! Today is the start of my new work schedule. I only have to work Tuesday – Friday this summer. Yay! That means more free time for all the projects around here. I wanted to spend this first day off out in the garden finishing the planting (expect an update soon). However, Mother Nature decided rain/storms sounded good today. I actually planned ahead and went to Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday to stock up on supplies for today. On the agenda: cut out a second scrub top and work on curtains for the living room. Those who follow the Git ‘Er Done posts will appreciate that once curtains are done

Continue reading