Garden 2012!

I got a late start on seed orders this year.  I want to expand my garden with two more raised beds and several plants in large pots.  Spring came early this year which makes my delay even worse.  BUT, I'm starting!  I look forward to enjoying more variety in my produce.  One step at a time!

Pickle worms.

Pickle worms.  Yuck!

They got into my squash.  Before I knew quite what they were I ended up uprooting all my zucchini and dumping it in the compost.

Then they went after my cantaloupe.  Now we are at war!
I found out if you raise the fruit off the ground on a coffee can or such (I use old disposable bowls) the pickle worms should leave them alone.  For the most part that works.  I also spray them with soapy water.  Double whammy!

Tossing around a lot of ideas for next year, and realizing I'm going to have to invest in chicken wire if I'm going to have much of a harvest - pesky coons!

Gardening 101

I've been busy.  No, really I have!  Started lots of plants from seeds with very good results.  However, turned out I had too much success resulting in lots of seedlings and not enough places to put them.  So I planted the heartier ones and have enjoyed watching them flourish.

I've had squash, and there are plenty more ripening.  I have two cantaloupe (YAY!) on the vine now.  I've dined on beans, and the cucumbers are taking over!

The strawberries I grew from plants and enjoyed those - what I could get to before the local critters that is.  I've enjoyed my raspberries...as have the coons or chipmunks or squirrel or rabbit.  But I have managed to get a few.  Yummy, LOVE raspberries!

What I've learned for next year - plant WAY more beans and far fewer squash.

The poor spinach - didn't get to them fast enough and they overgrew.  Well, more for the compost pile I guess.

So this is Gardening 101...for me anyway.

New Website Discovery

Wow, where has the time gone?  It's spring (officially!) and time to start gardening! YAY!

Got my order in for some of the summer produce.  I'm so excited!  Learning tricks on dealing with the local pests i.e. raccoons and birds.  They will raid everything - they certainly enjoyed my tomatoes last year.

So on to the website I came across:  http://www.organic-gardening-and-homesteading.com

I have really enjoyed the topics covered on this site, and you can even join the emailing list (I did!).

For the Beauty of the Earth

So our church has a book reading "club" (for lack of a better word) with a reading list.  My husband ordered some of the books, and "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Steven Bouman-Prediger was one of the books.  I saw it the day if arrived and "adopted" the book.  Wow, right up my alley!

A quote from the introduction:  "authentic Christian faith includes care for the earth.  Earthkeeping is integral to Christian discipleship."

I'm only just done chapter two, but that was a hard chapter to read.  It goes into quite a bit of detail on just how dire the situation is.  I was aware of most of the topics, but had no idea just how overwhelming the problems were.

Quote from chapter two:  "Exploding population growth, increasing hunger, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, water scarcity and impurity, land degradation, accumulating waste, expanding energy consumption, acid rain, global climate change - such is the long litany of ecological woe.  The state of our home planet is not good.  The earth is groaning."

Looks like the practical application comes in chapter 8.  Hmm...hope I don't get too discouraged before I make it to that point!

Just an Interesting Aside

I was thinking about the things that are essential to a wholesome lifestyle.  Thinking about the two things I am so strongly drawn to - building  my own home and growing my own food.

Here's the interesting thing - my dad's dad built his own home sometime in the late 1940's or early 1950's.  My mom's dad was a farmer.

So I guess I'm going back to my roots!

New Site

I found a nifty new site: http://naturalhomes.org/  What a goldmine of information!!!

Would love to attend one (or many!) of the courses.  Lord willing!