Odds and Ends

It feels ages since I last posted.  Sometimes I get really busy with work and projects and sitting down to write gets pushed to the back burner.  So here's a recap of recent stuff:

I discovered a kindred spirit at work last week.  She isn't about to run out and get any chickens, but she has dramatically changed the way she eats thanks in part to Food, Inc. and other like-minded publications.  I knew she was a reader of my blog, but I thought it was just out of curiosity.  We saw each other at a work function, and she mentioned wanting to grow some vegetables this summer and even do some canning.  She just baked no knead bread for the first time this weekend too.  I really congratulate her on making a change against the tide.  When more people jump on this bandwagon, perhaps we can get the food industry to sit up and take notice.  B:  Whatever I can do to help, just let me know!

Up until last week, I had a blender I really hated.  It's apparently a pretty nice blender.  It has a glass jar, which I love, but the level of control over the speeds really frustrated me.  Whenever I would try to add the oil to salad dressing, I would spray the ingredients everywhere because I had no control over the speed!  I tried holding a towel over the hole, but I would end up pouring oil on the towel and making an even bigger mess.  Eventually I just stopped using it and started using just oil and vinegar.  Well, last week, I really wanted to make honey mustard dressing, so I pulled out the blender and decided to accept the consequences of my actions.  Then, it dawned on me!  You may know this already, but I'm slow on the uptake sometimes.  I pulled out a funnel, and stuck it on the hole.  It is so perfect!  It covers the hole and allows me to add the oil slowly and evenly without splatter.  Necessity is the mother of invention, right? 

Sundays seem to be the busiest day for me.  Because it gets dark so early, it's the only day I can get Nate to help with some projects that are just out of my league.  Yesterday, he made some self-watering containers for me.  I've never used them, but I'm excited to see how they do.  I'm hoping I can put them at the back end of my neighbor's yard that gets good sun, but for now, they are on the back end of my yard.  They will get some sun there, but not like they would in his yard.  I just need to discuss it with him before I plop them on his property.  In them, I've planted shelling peas, snap peas, lettuce seeds and transplants, and broccoli transplants.  Things are coming along nicely with my first set of dwarf pak choy and lettuce seedlings.  I'm hoping to harvest some really soon!  With the new ones I planted yesterday, I'm working on my succession planting.  I also transplanted some brussels sprouts in large regular pots, and along the border of one of my front yard beds, I planted onion sets.  One of my raised beds received radish and carrot seeds.  Each day, as I have time, I've tried to get some seeds going in the greenhouse as well.  This is the first year I've really tried to extend my harvest and I'm learning as I go.  The greenhouse has been wonderful in that regard.

I'm experimenting alot with different areas of my yard, timing, and growing techniques.  Sun exposure is a large stumbling block for me.  So, as I gain more experience about when to plant things and what I can successfully grow, I know I will work on producing more food.  I've started small and am growing from there. 

What are some of your gardening successes and failures?  What have you learned recently that will make you a better gardener?

Happy homesteading,

Candace     

   

A Glimpse into "Old School" Homesteading

Since I was a small girl, I have loved the Little House on the Prairie books, but being written for children, the stories are simple and romanticized. In reality, homesteading was a hard life 24/7, but it's a life that fascinates me. If you wanted beef, you raised a cow, slaughtered it, and preserved it one of several ways. There was no convenience and easy way. Self sufficiency was the name of the game, and convenience had no place. Today if we want beef, we go to the store and buy it. Today convenience is the name of the game and self-sufficiency has no place in most lives. We take for granted so many things that are just expected and most of the time without thought as to how it was produced or where it came from. I'm trying to retrain myself to think about my purchasing decisions, my food choices and the way I live. My journey is not a perfect one, but hopefully it's a step in the right direction. For a glimpse into "old school" homesteading, here's a great article I found. I would love to find out what in this article was most interesting to you.

"Homesteading in Appalachia" by Karyn Sweet page one

Happy "modern" homesteading,

Candace

I've Been Bitten

I have been asking myself lately when the homesteading bug bit me. Was it years ago when I ripped a garden article out of a magazine because I thought the best part was that the homeowner owned chickens? I still have the article. Back then, the thought never occurred to me I could be that person. Was it last year when I realized I get the most sun in my front yard, and I could grow vegetables there, rather than my backyard, which is very shady? This concept opened a whole new world to me of preserving a harvest and most importantly knowing how my food was grown and keeping it close to home. It could have been tasting local honey for the first time at Nate's aunt's house and finding out one of her co-workers was a beekeeper. The truth of the matter is these and many other moments culminated and brought me to where I am today, starting a blog about my progress, successes, and failures. I hope you will follow along and learn with me.