Brain Dead...

Dinner brain dead that is. Last week's menu was Pizza, Tacos, Spaghetti, Meatloaf. May as well have been Dull, Mundane, Boring, and Not Again!

Truly, I have been so out of ideas. I had been "Ad Shopping", as in, when the weekly ad came out, I made a menu around what was on sale. That got me by for a little while.

So I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan...we used his plan to get out of debt. E-Mealz is advertised on his show and I had thought about signing up. But what spurred me on was talking to a co-worker and hearing she is signed up for a similar menu service and loving it. So I signed up for E-Mealz and we are loving it! For a buck and a quarter a week, the menu is planned and the grocery list made. It is two pages...page 1 is the weekly menu with the recipes right there, and page 2 is the grocery list. All the meals have been good and the amount of prep and time to make pretty easy. Maybe eventually I'll get my dinner mojo back, but for now this has been a life saver!

In other news, the Guineas have started a nest! It is not in the coop...it is between the duck house and creek in a bramble of fallen tree branch. Our plan is to keep an eye on it and when she has a full clutch and starts sitting...move her and the nest to a confined area. Last count she had 13 eggs. And she is not sitting on it yet, so it is not time. Hopefully this will go according to plan and we'll have Guinea Keets someday!

Oh, and we have a pregnant cat. She's not a very friendly cat so all kinds of questions come to mind...like will she be a good mom? Will her babies be friendly? WILL SHE LET ME PLAY WITH HER NEWBORNS?!?!?! I hope so! :) We are getting her spayed after this litter, which is her first litter.

Garden is well under way. Onions are growing, Potatoes should be sprouting any time now, and the first succession of Carrots, Spinach, Chard, and Lettuce seeds are in. My Tomato, Pepper, Ground Cherry, and Broccoli plants are in the process of hardening off. It is a pain in the rear to drag them in at night and out of the house in the morning, but I keep telling myself it won't be long now! We have had an amazingly mild and warm spring. I am getting ready to start Melons, Pumpkins, and Squash seeds. I will start them outdoors in flats - they'll stay outside during the day and come in at night. A lot of people around here are planting warmer season stuff already....I am still leery so I am sticking with my original timing schedule.

That is about it for now! How's it going in your neck of the woods?

Garden Seed Starting & Planting Schedule & Some Seed Starting Tips....

I have had several requests to share my garden schedule....so here is a condensed version! Keep in mind...I am in MO where we have nutty weather and I am zone 5.

End of December/Early January: Start Onion seeds indoors.

Late January through February: Start a few Romaine and Butterhead lettuces and Spinach every 2 - 3 weeks. I am starting a few at a time for succession. I recently ordered Swiss Chard seeds, so I will be starting those too when they get here.

Week of March 19th - Start Tomatoes, Peppers, Ground Cherry, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Radicchio, Herbs, Stevia, and Flowers indoors.

Between March 26 - mid April: As soon as the ground can be worked in this period, I will harden off and plant outside the Onions, Lettuces, and plant Potatoes, Carrot seeds (which will also be succession planted every 2 weeks or so thereafter), and more successions outdoors of Romaine & Butterhead lettuce seeds and leaf lettuce seeds.

Week of April 16th: Start Pumpkin, Squash, Melons, and Cucumbers indoors.

After May 15th: If the weather is looking good, I'll have everything started the weeks of March 19th and April 16th hardened off and ready to plant around May 15th, or more toward the end of May if things aren't looking so good. I'll also direct seed Green Beans, Dill, and Cilantro. It is definitely worth it to wait until things are warm enough, or to take measures to protect from the cold.

Right now we just got about 8 inches of snow. February has been cooler than average. It makes me wonder about Spring! I keep thinking of the March saying...In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb. I hope that is true! At this point, I just hope the temps are average and that things dry out so we can get the garden ready by the end of March.

Seed Starting Tips:

Here are a few of the things I do to start seeds.

• I use a sterile seed staring mix. I mix it in a bowl with water until well moistened. Then I put it in whatever container I am starting in, add seeds, cover with soil to desired depth, and cover with a dome or plastic wrap. As soon as they sprout, the cover comes off and it goes under grow lights. Sterile seed starter has no nutrients so transplanting into a larger container with soil when the seedling starts to get true leaves is a must.

• I use both store bought flats and food containers to start seeds. Seeds can be started in just about anything!

• Some things are picky about having their roots messed with and don't care to be transplanted. For them I have had great success by filling a 4 inch pot 3/4 of the way with regular soil and the rest of the way with sterile mix and starting as stated above. This way they get the benefit of the sterile mix while germinating and then they grow down into the regular soil and get the nutrients. I never start anything in straight potting soil though. Too risky. I have also used this method this time of year when I have extra space under the lights.

• I have tried both grow lights and starting in a window. A southern facing window is great, but I only have one, so I have two separate grow light set-ups. One is a book shelf with a 24 inch grow light mounted to the underside of each shelf, for a total of 3 lights on it. The other is a wooden frame Hubby built and holds a long fluorescent shop light, suspended by chains so it can be moved higher or lower depending on plant height. I keep it close to the plants without touching. I keep my lights on the seedlings about 16 hours per day.

• I don't use heat mats. We use wood stoves so it is plenty warm in the rooms with a wood stove to get things to germinate. I do move the cooler things, like onions and lettuce, to a room with out a heat source one sprouted. I will keep the warmer things, like Tomatoes, in the heated room.

• I do have a whole different set up to start Stevia! It gets special attention because it is a picky one to start from seed! :) The way I started it last year worked beautifully and I am going to do it again.

• Hardening off is a must! At least a week, 10 days is better, gradually expose seedlings to the outdoors. You can also start this indoors by letting a fan blow on the seedlings some; it will help to toughen them up.

• I am starting several things indoors that could be started outdoors. Like Melons, Squash, Cukes, Pumpkin. I am doing this for several reasons. It gives them a nice head start. When I direct seed, the weeds also start to germinate about the time the seeds do and this makes it easier to differentiate. It also gives the plants a good head start on the weeds and makes it easier to hoe around and weed.

Well, that is it for now! Keep in mind, I am not a gardening expert! :) I learn as I go, I read all I can get my hands on, I ask A LOT of questions, I try and try again, I modify when something doesn't work, and I have fun doing it! :) With that in mind...if you have any questions...please ask away! If you'd like me to start rambling about growing each specific thing, let me know! :)

What are you up to in, or in preparation for, your gardens? Are you more than ready for Spring to get here already, as I am? I called Mother Nature a bad name under my breath this morning when I woke up and saw all this darn SNOW! ;) LOL

The Seed Catalogs Have Started to Arrive!

Yes, I know...we haven't even made it through Christmas OR New Year's yet! Seed catalogs make me smile! Such a wonderful reminder that the cold gloomy Winter won't be here forever. I LOVE LOVE LOVE garden planning! And I so love starting seeds indoors. Weeding? Not so much so.

We have decided to move the garden up to the yard this coming year instead of having it down in the field. Last year we were in way over our heads. WAY OVER. Like we were drowning in weeds, squash bugs, sweat, AND zucchini. Lesson learned. We are going to have a much much smaller garden. This year I would like the focus to be on properly maintaining what we plant and eating fresh through the Summer months. Storage will not be a focus. And I am NOT planting any zucchini! None! Not a one! I know, I'm such a rebel! :) LOL But I am planting Butter Nut squash again! That is some yummy stuff all slathered with butter and brown sugar and baked! ;)

And I am hoping that some things that didn't make it last year...like the green onions, lettuces, broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts...will make it this year. I think they will have a fighting chance if we go for smaller and more manageable. Some things I am not going to even try again...like pop corn or peas or watermelon. Or zucchini. Snicker...snort...bwaaahaaahaaa! :)

And I am half way thinking about quitting blogging. I really either need to give it up or get it in gear. On the bright side I am good at rambling and I do so many interesting things! Yet I never manage to get pictures or update. I have a bit of a follow through problem. Let's just say I am a big thinker and I have the best of intentions, yet I seem to lack the focus and follow through. In other words, Half-Arsed describes my madness quite well. I truly think I try to do too many things and put a little effort into a lot of things, instead of putting a lot of effort into a few things and doing them well. I have too many "hobbies". And part of the problem is trying to manage our double life style in general - one aspect being our typical life (kids, school, work, extra curricular, etc) and the other, the wanna-be lifestyle (homesteading-ish). So one of my goals for the new year is to work on doing what I love best and on follow through. Focus my attention. At this point I am not sure if blogging will be a part of that - is it something I am going to set goals and work on? or is it something I am going to let go to focus on something else? Time will tell! :)

So in the meantime, has your ever so wonderful mail person been bringing you Springtime catalog goodies? Are you loving them or are you not quite ready to "GO THERE" just yet?

And the Harvest Continues...

Next year I will be sure to plant some pumpkins later too...these will be good for eating - I plan to bake, scrape, puree and freeze - but I am not sure if we'll have any around Halloween time for Jack-O- Lanterns! After hubby got home he brought 4 more up to the house. I'll salt and bake seeds too. And keep some seeds too. Especially from that perfect gorgeous one!

Tons and tons of peppers...cherry peppers, mild jalapenos, bells. I just put 13 quarts to brine overnight and will can them tomorrow. Then I am going to make stuffed peppers. Lots of stuffed peppers. After hubby got home he also picked a huge amount of hot peppers. I stick to the mild ones. He deals with the hot ones. All the peppers in these pics are mild.

Butternut squash. First year growing it...and excited to eat it! Next year I will plant less zucchini and more Butternut and some acorn too.

A Zucchini about as big as my baby! Those suckers sure do get out of control fast! These biggies are not going to waste...we have been grating them up and feeding them to the ducks! They love them!

More peppers....and a few tomatoes! My hubby got me all excited...he said there really are a lot of tomatoes down there...more than you think. Ummm, one Wal-mart bag full honey? One? From 55 plants? Last year I only had a fraction of the amount of plants and had laundry baskets full of maters! Oh well...we'll make some salsa and life goes on.

And more zucchini...and see that blue dutch oven? That is the cutie I got for my birthday!

And the Guineas....have yet to be ordered. I still have reservations. We have a ton of toads everywhere and apparently they will eat them too. That bugged me a bit, I like the toads everywhere! Hubby didn't think it was any big deal and said "Order them!". :) LOL We did talk about where we'd build them a house and how we would go about raising them. I imagine before too long we'll have some new babies around the house.

The Dirty Divas? Doing awesome! I need to take pics...hubby built them 3 nest boxes. No eggs, yet. I imagine later this month or early next. They fly, which they have been doing for a while now, but they don't fly out of their play yard, which really surprises me because they are right close to the creek, and as much as they love water, one would think they'd just fly down there and fly back up in the evening. They just fly into their pool, or out of their pool, or across their yard. But not out of it. Not so far anyway! And I am a little amazed that we still have all of the original 16. I thought for sure we'd lose a couple to illness or predators or small children...but nope, so far so good!

Now, I Am Far, Far, Far From An Expert Gardener.....

But even I know that this.....

Is NOT Rosemary! But that is what grew in the pot that I planted the Rosemary. What the....?!?!?!

FLASHBOOM!!....Guess What Happened?

No, it wasn't fireworks! It was LIGHTNING! And Sunday it hit the tree in our front yard, while I was standing under the carport a mere 100 feet from it! All at once there was a giant FLASH and BOOM and the house shook and it happened so fast that I didn't realize what had happened until bark flew off the tree! My heart pounded. I was shaking. Wow.

I bought some tree wound stuff to paint on so hopefully the tree won't die. It also blew our modem, so it got replaced today.

And just a friendly little PSA reminder...stay away from trees during a thunderstorm.

I can't see the garden through the weeds. There are just too many and it is too big. I have started a "weed directly around the plants only" protocol to keep up the best we can. I also did resort to Chemical Warfare in The War Against Squash Bugs. Sevin dust.

We pickled a whopping 24 pints of peppers over the weekend.

And I am sure there is a lot more to update but I have have HAVE to get the wood floors waxed!

The Squash Bugs Must Die!

Happy Belated Independence Day! I hope you had a safe and happy one.

We spent the weekend camping at a lake like we do just about every year, with a big group of friends. Despite rain on and off, we had an absolutely wonderful time.

However, when we got home, I did a garden walk through and found that in the two days we were gone, the squash bugs went wild! There are eggs everywhere. Ugh. I picked a lot off and squished them, and found several adults and they met their demise as well. I also found some nymphs, baby squash bugs, which means some eggs have hatched. Those are the first babies I have seen, so I think I had been doing a decent job of keeping up with them up until now. There are some on the pumpkin vines now too.

Tomorrow morning the kids and I are going to do some major garden work. We have got to get things down in the garden caught up. There are peas and peppers to pick, potatoes to dig, weeds to pull, and THE SQUASH BUGS MUST DIE!!!!!!

Oh, one more thing...my mother in law got me a dutch oven for my b-day! It is gorgeous, blue enamel cast iron and she also gave me a matching blue cast iron trivet with it. I fell in love with it. It is gorgeous and I am excited to use it! If I can force myself to...it really is THAT gorgeous! I just want to stare at it and take in its beauty. Silly, I know. :)

Feeling Out of Whack.....

Summer is a double edge sword. I enjoy the lack of routine, yet the lack of routine also drives me insane at times. :)

We had a death in the family, so have been busy and have had a lot of family in town. Rest in peace GG Pop. We will miss you! We have also had some other family members in town who stayed with us. Always fun, yet chaotic!

Garden is growing, most things are doing wonderful, but the tomatoes look terrible. We had a ton of rain and I don't think they liked having their feet wet for so long. Maybe they will snap out of it. I have picked a few yummy cherry tomatoes. And have eaten a few sugar snap peas off the vine. Oh yum! :)

I dug some red potatoes for dinner last night and they were so delicious!

I am about to pick our first Zuchinnis. I have also been hand picking and squishing squash bugs and searching the leaves for their eggs and smashing them too. Other than that, no major garden bugs yet.

The ducks are doing wonderfully. We need to get their nest boxes built sometime in the next month.

I have been knitting. I made a trip to a Hobby Lobby and drooled all over the yarn isle. I bought yarn for gifts I am making for Christmas. I got one of the newborn hats done for my sister's twins-to-be and have started on a pair of matching booties. It kind of amazes me that I have acquired the needle and yarn stash that I have already! And I have so many projects going on at once. I am a "bouncer" though...I work best when I have a lot of irons in the fire instead of just doing one thing to completion and starting another.

I have been working on some organizing and cleaning out and getting rid of stuff. Where does all of this stuff come from? I think the Stuff Fairy must sneak in at night. I am filling up the back of the van to make a trip to the Goodwill for a drop off.

We are all healthy and happy and life is good. How are you and yours?

Canning Jar Quandry.....and Garden and Dirty Diva Duckie Updates

Hello everyone! Today my laundry is being dried by the gracious sun and I am cleaning out the pantry. Ugh. It never ceases to amaze me how easily it gets out of hand. In the process I am taking inventory of my canning jars. I currently have amassed....

18 Quart Jars
29 Pint Jars
3 half-pint jars
A million saved glass jars that are for storage and refrigerator pickles, but not canning

So, how many canning jars does one need? I have no idea. How many do you have? Is it enough? Where is the best (best meaning cheapest) place to buy them? How many do I need? Can you tell me? How and where do you store yours when not in use?

I have been working on some "canning goals" and going through that fabulous Ball Canning book and picking out the recipes that I plan to use. I figure that is a start. Is that a start? Is that a good start?

My camera sucks cow butt so I have no pictures right now. But will soon!!

The garden....is overall doing very well. I do need to weed and plan to do that this evening. We used hay (straw?) mulch around everything. One and a half of those GINORMOUS round bales to be exact. So far so good.

Successes include....

Tomato seedlings
Pepper seedlings
Cucumbers
Popcorn
Sweet Corn
Zucchini
Squash
Radishes
Carrots (have just recently made their appearance! I was so excited!)
Beets
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Strawberries
Green Beans
Peas
Melons - I am leery about the seedlings, so I direct planted some as well.
Stevia is still in pots and doing well
Recently planted Dill in the garden and Rosemary in pots. Will wait a bit longer to plant some Cilantro because last year by the time we needed it it was bolted and spent. I do have a volunteer Cilantro coming up. I let it grow. Just in case we need some sooner.

Iffy Things....

Sweet Potatoes - some of the slips are growing so we'll have some
Onions - the dozen or so I got in the ground early and then waited on the rest because I thought the soil was too wet are actually doing very well. However, ones I planted later are so-so and not a lot are making it. Even the green onions are having issues.
Lettuces - Some are coming up, but I think they needed to be planted earlier and will try a fall crop and use the cold frame
Okra - I was inspired to plant a few (thanks Mrs. S!) but so far they aren't doing so well. I am going to try re-seeding to see if we can't get it going.
Watermelon - Looking puny. Remember I tried seedlings? I went ahead and direct seeded to see if those would do better.

Total Failures...I think due to planting late

Cabbage
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts


The Dirty Diva's got a little rearranging. As I have said and anyone with ducks knows....they are THE messiest little things when it comes to water. Their set up had their food feeder and a 5 gallon waterer inside the duck house, with their pool outside, and we'd let them out in the mornings and they'd put themselves up in the evening and lock them in. Well, they were emptying that whole 5 gallons overnight, and a lot of it (most of it!) was ending up on the floor which is essentially dirt covered with straw. The problem is that it was stinking to high freakin' heaven, to the point that I couldn't even clean it out, hubby had to do it, because I was gagging horribly! It was also becoming a breeding ground for those annoying little gnats.

So we (meaning hubby...I watched!) got the inside scooped out and cleaned up and laid down a nice thick fresh layer of straw. It is now their sleeping quarters only. Their their food got moved outside next to their pool in their play yard. When they go to bed at night, we do not shut the coop door in case they need to eat or drink overnight. Do they eat or drink overnight? I have no clue. But I do know this is working out very well and they are doing just fine. We are thinking of ways to improve the inside of the coop so they can have a waterer in there. But this will do for now. I have contemplated cutting our flock in half. My original plan was 6 or 8, but to get this kind (Khaki Campbells) we had to order a minimum of 15. No way could I eat them, they are too sweet, but I could sell some. Hubby thinks we should just keep them all. We'll probably just keep them, we'll see. Sixteen ducks is A LOT of ducks.

We are thinking about moving the majority of the garden up to the yard next year in the spot where his grandparents always had their garden. Hubby brought home a gigantic roll of thick black felt that they use under bridges. If we do, I think we are going to lay it down to (hopefully) kill off the grass over the summer and then we will remove the felt and till in some leaves to compost over the winter. But then again we may just stick to what we have been doing and keep the garden on the edge of the soybean field. We go back and forth. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

I also did another totally cool re-purpose! The kids have a swimming pool, you know those easy set pools with the blow up top ring and soft sides? 12 X 3 I think. They love it. Anyway, last year the black lab dog chewed up the chlorine floater thing. I looked at them at the store a week or so ago and they were a whopping $10! Saving money tends to get the wheels in my head going. So I decided to make my own. I used an empty 2 liter soda bottle with lid and a small sour cream container with lid. I tied a string tightly around the neck of the soda bottle. Then poked a bunch of holes in the sour cream container and tied the string in holes on each side. I wish my camera worked, I'd show you! I'm really proud of it. :) The chlorine tablets go in the sour cream container, lid goes on, and in the pool it goes. The sour cream container fills up with water and sinks, dissolving the tablets, and the pop bottle stays afloat to keep it floating around. I'm a freakin' genius! :) No, not really.....just a momma motivated to pinch pennies and squeeze George til he screams and who saves way too many empty containers. :) LOL Or maybe that makes me a Redneck? :)

Oh, I have been knitting too. More of those Knitted Babes. I knitted a newborn one for my daughter to go with her big girl, hope to get a picture up soon. And I knitted a big one for my niece's birthday and am going to knit her TWO newborns since her mom is pregnant with twins.

Well, I think I hear the pantry calling so off I go. I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Queen For A Day....

I have to say I am blessed to be a mother and wife and to have the husband and children that I do! They are always good to me, but yesterday they treated me like a queen. It started with breakfast...my oldest daughter made me french toast with sliced strawberries around it in the shape of a heart, and two eggs. While I was eating they each gave me the cards they made and my oldest wrote me they sweetest letter that brought tears to my eyes. They helped a round the house. They entertained each other while I worked in the garden planting the rest of the seeds. Hubby helped me in the garden. They told me Happy Mother's Day at least 100 times through out the day. I got a zillion hugs and kisses. Happy Mother's Day!

I talked to my mom and wished her Happy Mother's Day. We'll get together soon, I have a gift for her. I was reminiscing and remembered the time we went to the gas station and she accidentally pulled away without paying. The attendant ran out hollering and smacked the back of the car and mom stopped and very apologetically, very embarrassed, paid. I can so see myself doing something like that. The older I get and the busier life with three kids gets, everything about my own parents make more sense. :) I love you Mom!

The entire garden is planted! I do have plans to succession plant a few things, so I will make out a schedule for that. I got sunburned doing all that gardening. It is clear that I wore flip flops and my feet look silly now. Seems like we always get a good burn around here before we remember to drag out the sunscreen again. I did put on a bright orange hunting hat after I realized my face had been lobsterfied. Which was funny for two reasons, beside hat hair and looking dorky...one I was planting pumpkin seeds and hubby asked me if I was hunting for pumpkins. I was like 'Uh, no, why?'. Duh. Took me a minute to get that one! Second I was sitting on the deck wearing the hat and the humming birds kept flying up to it to see if it was food. That was hilarious and so neat!

Today is back to normal...kids off to school and housework and laundry to be done. Life is good. :) Happy Monday!

I Guess I Didn't Pay Enough Attention.....

Because we just planted 42 pepper plants and 55 tomato plants. I knew I grew quite a few, but I didn't realize I had that many! We just took a lunch break and now are headed back out to plant the melon seedlings and the rest of the seeds. It is gorgeous out today! I hope you are having a wonderful day too!

Mr. Tough Guy.....

My son is getting ready to turn 12! Officially a pre-teen....where does the time go? But he isn't afraid to sport an Eric Carl 'Hungry Little Caterpillar' tattoo - not as long as he is flexing his muscles anyway. :)

It has been a busy week! With school getting close to letting out for the summer, there is a lot going on. It has also been gorgeous out, with the exception of yesterday when we had a tornado warning. Luckily all is well and the worst of the storm passed to the north of us. Before the storm I did get some potatoes planted, again. I would say about half of what I planted the first go round came up and the rest rotted in the ground. I suspect we may have planted some a bit too deep. We also got the rest of the onion plants in the ground. I was disappointed to find that my white onion plants had all dried out the nothing. Darn it. The red ones were still good, so in they went. My sweet potato slips came yesterday too, so I got them planted. I also learned that I CAN GROW MY OWN SLIPS!!! Did you know you could do that? I had no clue!! Next year I will definitely do that. And my own onion plants. And my own seed potatoes (God willing!)

The beautiful pink azaleas I planted last year are officially dead. My parents came over earlier this week for a school program and mom brought me some of her extra daylillies, so I will replace them with those. My older two kids were both in the school program playing their instruments and my oldest daughter was in a small production of Grease and did awesome! They did two Grease songs and choreographed dance moves. She had a bit of a solo for the end of Summer Nights and she sang beautifully! She said she wasn't even nervous like she used to be before preforming...good for her!! :)

Youngest D was home from school today after climbing in bed with us at 1:30 in the morning with a slight fever. I couldn't get her to take any fever medicine, so I sponged her with a wash cloth. That drove her out of our bed and back into hers, she did not like being sponged! LOL :) She is doing better today. I hate to see her not feeling well, but it is about the only time she slows down enough to be a complete snuggle bunny.

I planted Zinnia, marigold, and mammoth sun flower seeds yesterday too. My tomato plants have blooms! And are still not in the ground. I was hoping to get them in yesterday but by the time hubby got home from work and disced, the storm came and we were off to the basement. We had 3o minutes notice before the storm hit, so we were able to baton down the hatches. I do look forward to having the raised beds next year - one of the big advantages is that they will be smaller and more manageable that the garden plot. Plus I will be able to cover for moisture control to get early spring stuff in when it needs to be. And less weeding. The list of positives goes on and on.

The Dirty Divas are still doing awesome!

And my camera is throwing a fit and only letting me have 7 pictures on it at a time. I am not sure what the problem is with the memory card. So I haven't been taking many pictures. I wish I was because this is the BEST time of year if you ask me! So much going on and everything is beautiful!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Signs From Above....

Well, first the Weeping Willow got plowed over by the bull. And really, I had been thinking of moving it or something anyway because of our eventual plan to build raised beds in that area of the yard. Then yesterday evening hubby was mowing and FIL had just got done with his mowing and came and helped hubby finish up so he could take the kids fishing sooner. However, FIL did not realize that the foot tall twig sticking up in the yard was a Lilac bush to be that my mom gave me last year from her Lilacs. So he mowed it over. Darn it.

But no, I shall not let it get me down! I will just take it as a sign that we are destined to build raised beds for the vegetables. It would have had to have been moved too.

In other news, it is finally not been raining! Things are drying out and hopefully I will get some stuff planted. I did plant flower seeds in pots yesterday evening. I made a vow that I would not spend any money on flowers, so that means I used seed saved from last year. Zinnias and Marigolds to be specific. Today I plan to seed the rest of my flower beds. I also hope to get my seedlings planted over the next few days if the rain stays away. We have a slight chance each day after today.

The ducks are getting huge and they are definitely in an ugly duckling stage! They are getting feathers all over and are pretty awkward looking, but soon they will be beautiful. Their voices are also changing! No real quacks yet, but I am sure that will happen soon. They remind me of pre-teens. They are so fun to watch. I don't know what it is about them, but they are so relaxing and entertaining.

We hit a few garage sales Saturday morning. Since we are pinching pennies and squeezing George til he screams (I just really love saying that!) I am going to try get as much of the kid's school clothes for this fall as possible from garage sales/consignment shops. So far I have found a few really nice things. I also found some canning jars for cheap.

Oh, and the potatoes have sprouted!!!!!! Since this is my first time planting them, I was completely thrilled! And one of my tomato seedlings, a Sweet Million cherry tomato, is starting to get blooms. They'll be so happy to get in the ground.

The kids did catch a few fish yesterday evening so we had a yummy fish snack. They were so proud of themselves. I am very proud of them too. :)

I'm sure there is more to ramble about, but it is Monday morning and my brain hasn't fully clicked on yet. I'll get pictures of ducks and stuff up soon. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and have a Happy Monday!

*Updated* Introducing Our (Unexpected) Bottle Calf.....

Darn it. I am updating to add that when I went out to check on the little guy just a bit ago, he had passed away. :( Such is life...but it sure sucks.

His momma is old and my FIL didn't even think she had been bred. Surprise! She's not doing so well and she had no milk. My hubby decided we should give it a go with this baby. He's small. He's weak. He's not a very good eater, but he is eating. So send him some prayers, if you are the praying type! If you're not, just wish him luck! We haven't named him yet.

In other news, the ducklings are doing excellent and they are growing so fast! I will post pictures again soon andf all of the things I have learned about ducks so far.

I am now on Ravelry and I am knitting these....

Thanks to Mrs. S for loaning me this book! :) My 15 year old daughter wants one of these dolls too. Actually, she wants hers first, before my 5 year old. :) LOL Sibling rivalry or something? I am having an absolutely terrible time trying to figure out how to Increase. Other than that, I am enjoying working on them.

We got our potatoes in the ground Friday. Yippie!

Anyway, it is a busy Monday, so I am outta here. :) I hope you have a Happy Monday!!

The Greenhouse....

I have been hardening off the seedlings from the house to the greenhouse. The Captain added some shelves - he is da bomb you know. ;) The only thing better than this greenhouse would be a BIGGER one! :) LOL Oh dear, we have actually talked about turning the old hog barn into a greenhouse...it would be HUGE!!!! Anyway, I plan to leave them in there until it is time to harden them to outdoors. I keep the door propped open to vent. So far it is working out really well. I would like to eventually add some type of a small light to leave on at night to provide some warmth...it has been cold enough at night that I was afraid to risk it. But it is supposed to be in the 40's for the overnight lows, so I think they'll be just fine now. I also plan to go ahead and start a few more things in the greenhouse. I hope it all works! The trial and error part is exciting to an extent....I really don't want to kill my plants! :) Oh, also, when they are in the house I have been putting a fan on them on oscillate in hopes that it is toughening them up.

And a funny... Hubby had forgot to close the wood stove door all the way (it was vented to get the fire going) and it got really hot in that room. The Moon Flower got hot and started wilting! I moved it to another room and watered it well. I came to check on it and it was all perked up again so I was talking to the plant. I commented to hubby that plants like it when you talk to them. He tells me it is because they like the carbon dioxide in my breath. Why does he have to be so darn technical all the time and burst my love bubble? I thought they liked the sweet nothings and encouragement I whispered into their little leaf ears. Humph. (Honey, since I know you read this, I wouldn't change your technical thinking one bit. I have learned a lot from you! Ok, so maybe they like the carbon dioxide too, but I am convinced that they also like the sound of my voice and the sweet nothings and encouraging words the most! LOL :)

What do you have started and how is it doing? Any greenhouse wisdom to share?

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! STEVIA SPROUTED!!!

Oh my gosh, I am so excited! This morning hubby and I were talking and he asked me how long it takes the Stevia to sprout. I told him I was not really sure and then I went to check on it. THERE ARE TEENY TINY SPROUTS!!! Too small for my crappy camera to capture, but man, are they cuties! That means so far my Stevia set up is a success! Hooray!!! And today is Monday...I just planted them Saturday afternoon....that was fast!

How I did it so far, if you are wanting to try it....

Soaked the seed starting mix really good with water. Laid seeds on top, did not cover them with mix at all. Did not water from top at all after seeds were laid, only from bottom. Sat container on heat pad. Covered container with plastic (actually press n seal because I was out of saran wrap). Used a small lamp with a CFL bulb to provide light non-stop, 24 hours a day.

That is it so far. I am just thrilled it worked! My packet was only 10 seeds and I sprinkled them all in this one container. I will wait and see how many sprout and when they are bigger move to other containers. I think I will also pick up another packet to start. Stevia can be grown as a house plant, so I want some to keep indoors too. For now I plan on leaving the cover and heat on for a couple more days, but I will monitor them and play it by ear. I'll post pictures when they get a little bigger.

Happy Monday! :)

Seedling Update and Stevia Starting....

Seedlingville....has spread to several rooms now because I am running out of window space. We were going to get the greenhouse put where we want it and move things in today, but we are in for a hard freeze over the next few days, so they will be living inside a while longer. And let me ask you this, because hardening off really scares me! I am thinking that they will need to be hardened to even get use to the greenhouse. What do you think? A few hours a day in the greenhouse and build up to fulltime until planting? Or would they be ok to just leave in there fulltime straight from the house and then hardened off from the greenhouse? Do they even have to be hardened from the greenhouse? Help! I have no clue!

Tomatoes and onions...


More Tomatoes and Peppers...

Another of Tomatoes and Peppers....Plus the tall things with sticks are Moon Flowers - they are vining up the sticks already!

The cut off milk jugs each have 4 plants in them.

I started the Stevia seeds today. And this is my set up...

They seem to be a pain to start - packet said keep them warm, moist and watered from the bottom, covered, and under light for 24 hours a day until they sprout! Once they sprout the cover can come off, the heat pad can go bye-bye, and the light can be reduced to 14 hours per day.

What do you think? Will it work? Stay tuned......

My Onion Plan and A Quick Update...

This is what I am thinking for my onions. If you have any thoughts or suggestions or experiences, please chime in! I have never grown onions before and I can use all the help I can get! :)

This year I ordered onion plants and onion seed. I hope for the plants to make it to storage size to store for this winter, the seeds to make my own sets or plants (haven't decided yet - maybe both) for next year, and also to let some onions go to seed to collect the seeds for future sets & plants. In my head, this works out well but we'll have to see how it does in real life! I also have seeds for green onions to plant this year - if the rest of the onions go well and I have enough seed, I will probably use regular onion seed for green onion size onions in the future. Worst case scenario, I have to buy more seeds/plants next year. But I really hope to get into seed saving and buy as little as possible.

We have had a lot of rain and it has been crazy windy out! The cold frame is outside and did just fine with the rain and the wind. The green house is still in the shed, which I wish we had set it out and staked it down to see how it would have held up. This would have been a great dry run! (dry run...LOL!)

We haven't caught anymore mice. My youngest has made it her job to check the traps several times a day and she gets irritated if anyone else checks them. She also learned how to blow a bubble with bubble gum yesterday and spent 3 hours straight following me around wanting me to "LOOK MOM!!" at every attempt she made. :) I have pictures of her I will post. We did some celebrating for 3rd quarter grades...all three of my kids are doing excellent in school! They wish we'd pay them $25 per A...but we would be broke if we did that every quarter! My son is 11 and in 6th grade and he scored a 13+ on his reading level...that means he is reading beyond that of an average 12th grader at the end of the school year. Wow! His teacher also told me what they have been telling me since he was in 1st grade....he is the class clown. :) In a good way though...he doesn't get in trouble with his antics. He's funny at home too and always has been. I am very proud of all three of them for their hard work!!

Oh, and I learned how to purl over the weekend. So I can now cast on, knit, purl, and cast/bind off. I think I am getting close to trying a real knitting pattern!

That is it for now. Hope you have a great night!

Are the Cats on Strike or Something?

We have had a first around here...mice in the house! I thought it was just one, because there was very little evidence. But so far we have caught four! Ewwwwwwwwwwww! With as many cats as we have around here, I am very surprised! I do wonder if cleaning out the flower beds around the house had stirred them up. Either that or the cats have gone on strike...napping in the spring sunshine.

Yesterday we planted two apple trees, a Winesap and a Mcintosh. They are fabulous! We also planted two raspberry bushes. The raspberries are three years old, so I think we'll have a few berries this year. Of course, it will be several years before the apple trees produce, but my parents have an apple tree that put out a bumper crop last season so we'll have pleanty in the meantime.

I also planted some Jewel Weed seeds yesterday. I have never dealt with a seed that had to be kept in the fridge before. Jewel Weed grows wild, but I have never found any. It makes a wonderful poison ivy treatment. I bought a bar of Jewel Weed soap that I swear by, and would love to get some growing and make some of our own. I have read that it can easily take over an area. And that it can be hard to get started. It seems it is one of those feast or famine things...either too much or not enough. Hopefully it will be a success.

The cold frame is done. The greenhouse will be done later today. I'll post pictures soon! I am waiting on my onion plants and potato sets to be delivered. Darn it. I think I have already said it, but I am not going to order from catalogues again unless I absolutely cannot get it local. Makes for a bit of frustration when the dirt is ready and your stuff isn't here yet! I know, there is pleanty of time. I just keep thinking back to last spring when we ended up getting a ton of rain and the soil stayed saturated.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Seedlings and Cold Frame and Green House Building Update....

The tomatoes and peppers are doing great! I think I need to transfer them to individual pots soon.

These are experimental...Morning Glory vines and Moon Flower vines. This is the first year I have grown either, so I wanted to try starting some indoors. They are doing really well. I hope they continue to!

Ok, remember this picture of the canopy frame from an old wagon that I found here on the farm and planned to re-purpose as a little green house?

My AWESOME husband has transformed it into this so far....

This weekend he will attach the door and plastic and it will be done!!!! I think it is fantastic! he's a talented man, for sure. :) I have never had or used a greenhouse before, but I am going to learn!

And this is the Captain, my hubby, with the almost finished cold frame, propped open. The lid is hinged. Doesn't it look wonderful? All that is left to do to it is to attach the plastic to the lid. We had wanted to use plexiglass, but he priced it and it is just not in the budget right now. I think the plastic will be fine for now. Rain may be an issue if it pools on the plastic, so we'll have to keep an eye on it. I am just thrilled! :) I will post pictures of them as soon as they are finished.

There is a Farmer's Market meeting tomorrow night that I am going to attend. I have never been a vendor, and I don't have anything specific to sell there (yet) but I think it may be in our future so I am going to go and see what it is all about. I think it will be fun!

Ducklings - I just checked the calander and it is approximately 26 days until their arrival!

Have a great night! :)