Fall Garden 2012

Here is our Gardens for this fall/winter.
We planted this last September... I forgot to post it.
There was a nest of bunnies in the third bed so we did not plant anything in it since we did not want to disturb it... But it got out and Remy pounced. It was probably old enough to be on its own  but I was afraid the dogs were going to eat it so I took it to the front yard to let it go.

Very Exciting News!!

I have a "little" project that I have been working on! It is also one of the reasons while I have been so busy and have not had a lot of time to spend here. My two daughters and I are members of one of the largest Methodist Church's in our area. 20,000 large. Today I met with the facilities and Construction director at my church to talk about my "little" project.


I want to start a Congregational garden, where 100% of the produce grown will go to local food pantries to feed the homeless.  They asked me "how much land I would want?", I asked them "How much would you give me?" Right now we are talking about 2 acres! That's to start off with. That is one of the gardens that we talked about today. Another is a Children's garden and another garden to grow produce for the cafe inside the church. Iam going to list the rest because manly its late and I have been going since 7am and my brain is not working the best right now.. Some other ideas that I want to do are


* A Children's garden where we have "Farmers Markets" that the kids put on and sell their produce they grow and use the money to donate towards a Children's cause that is local so the kids understand where the money went.
*A pumpkin patch where we grow our own pumpkins and have a Fall festival where the families can go pumpkin picking, sip cider, roast smores, play in hay, face painting, crafts.. etc and again all the money will get donated or go towards a new wing of the church.
* Fruit trees, there is a grant that you -short version- have to donate the fruit to a pantry but they give you 25 fruit trees. So an orchard.
* Sweet potato project, where they give you the slips and they come dig them up all you have to do is supple the land.
* Potato seed project where they also give you the "seed" and you plant them you dig them up but the potatoes go to feed people in the Appalachian mountains.
* A Gleaning team. I am part of a local Gleaning team and I want to start one for our church. What Gleaners do is go to the farmers and pick produce that is left over or Seconds and then take it to the food pantry for those in need.
* During next summer I want to start classes on Canning , fruit leathers. People pay a small fee which is donated and they learn how to preserve and make the most of the fresh food.
There is more but for now that is all I can think of ... it is exciting and the feeling it gives me is Ah-mazing.. its like a boyfriend in a since.. It makes me excited and happy and I can not stop daydreaming about it..

Here is view on the life in the Appalachian Mountains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocqTQBk_aco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63np8bbF9Aw&feature=related

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/23/11355138-appalachia-struggles-to-overcome-poverty?lite

What a changed place this world could be if everyone used their strengths and gifts that God gave them to make it better. This is the beginning of my piece and what I want to show my daughters.

Garden Update!

Amethyst Basil

Lemon Basil

Sweet Basil

Rosemary and Sage

Juliett Tomatos 

Costoluto Genovese Tomato

Russian Herliom

Rouge Vif' D Etampes

Jack Be Little Pumpkins

Russian, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple Tomatos, Lots of Rouge Vif' D Etampes Pumpkins, Jack Be Little Pumpkin, Black Beauty & Oriental Eggplant, Nasturtium.

Costoluto Genovese Tomato, Juliet Tomatos, Sweet/Amethyst/Lemon Basil, Sage, Rosemary, Jelly gourd, Mini Sweet Peppers, there was Thai Basil but I ripped it out.. It smelled like Black Licorice. Yack! 

Luffa Gourd, yes the sponge and no Luffa does not grow on the bottom of the ocean.

Mr. Hamilton. ( He has gotten alot bigger since I took these pictures... I miss him this little!!)

Morning Glory Tunnel

Strawberries ( They do not do much the first year and it is best to pick the berries off so you have a better harvest the following year, so I left it open and let the birds have there way with it)

Sweet Potatoes I planted 5 slips( Mr. Nye gave me a old Whiskey Barrel to grow them in!! I think it is so cool!)

Dragonfly

If I mentioned a plant but did not show a picture of it, it is because their is not much to mention besides its more then likely a large green leafy plant! I will post more pics when it actually does something!

Also I do not have my Sunflower fort Iam growing for the girls in this... You can see a little bit of it in the picture above when they are running at me with Hamilton its in the top left of the pic.

These are the beds I made last year, they are still as perfect as the previous year except now they have the pretty aged look cedar gets!

Morning Glory's Tunnel and Sunflowers

 Top pic is the Morning Glory Tunnel it is about 3ft tall. It looks alot smaller in the pic but its a really good size!
The bottom pic is where my sunflowers are planted, I ran out of fences and used the girls outside chairs to cover over the sunflowers so they would not get run over by children and dogs. My first round of sunflowers I set out and came back out in the morning and the rabbits ate every.single.one. So I had to start over and re-grow them.
                             

Chalk Board Wall

We made a Chalk Board wall!! I bought a sheet of plywood. It was 4X8, then I used my circular saw and cut it to 3x7. Then I put two coats of "Bulls Eye 123 Primer" on front and back and the four sides. I was hoping it would help keep the water out. I Bought Martha Stewart Chalkboard paint in grey *It is not so "grey", but it matched the fence* I put two coats of the chalkboard paint on pretty thick, It used about a bottle in a half by the time I was done. My plan was to hang it over the two horizontal post across the back of the fence but when I got it up there it was so heavy I was worried about support so I sat it on the bottom horizontal bar to help hold it up. Then I drilled two holes on each side so they were above and below the horizontal bar on the backside and looped the rope threw two times and I was done! Lilly helped me with it all except the cutting with circular saw... For obvious reasons I hope... This board has been threw several big rain storms and held up great!! So I am pleased! We did this during our Garden unit week. It sits right behind the girls swing set and they have had the best time with all there friends playing school. Last week we were doing Fairy week and all the girls played "Fairy School" and made wands and got the fairy wings out, their was 8 or "Fairies" in my backyard! Cute!

Spoons!

My sister and I are making Spoooons! She has been gathering spoons at Estate Sales we go too and we have been banging away! They will be for sale at the farmers market we are doing! Two things I have learned doing these, Sterling Silver are the best because the they are softer and this automatic hammer makes it go by soooo much faster (That's the thing laying to the left of the spoon in the top pic)
Ps, I have so much to share about Easter it is just taking awhile to edit pics yada yada

Gardening Planning

http://www.smartgardener.com/

Good news and Bad news... Good news, I found this great site to help planning my garden.. Bad news I got hit with this "Vertigo Virus" and am laying in bed. My mom was doing yoga at the gym last week and could not get up and had to go to the ER and they told her it was a Vertigo virus, the virus you get messes with your vertigo,anyways She got hit really bad from it and had to lay flat on her back for 5days.. now I have it but not as bad. Good news, this site even uses the company where I buy all my heirloom seeds so I can put the exact seed in the "garden" online.. Bad news I have 6 beds that are 6'x6' and one 6x3 ( Last year I only had 2, 6x6 beds) annnnd I am already out of room in my garden and I still have not put all my Plants in my "garden"!! Holy Sheet, what's a girl to dooo!?

Check it out if you need planning and you can start planing your fall garden too. I know that is crazy to think about a fall garden already but the early bird gets the worm.. or time is money.. or.. I think I need sleep..

Have fun Friends!

Planting Seeds Part 1

We started our some of our seeds! By now most of them are started.. I still have some to start today and some I have to wait to start for a few more weeks like the "Watermelon Jubilee" and the "Banana American Melon" because they grow so large so fast and do not like cramped spaces! I seem to have a problem.. more of a sickness you could call if you will. I. Can't. Stop. Buying. Seeds. Today I bought a pack of seeds while at Whole Foods "Radish Easter Egg" seeds and a Sweet Potato to start. My sister has these same Radish seeds and already started hers but I think they will all get sold at the Farmers Market that we are doing this summer! So I got some to keep for my greedy little self! Yesterday I bought some more "Sweet Peas" and "Cypress Vine" seeds for the Trellis. The day before that... I told you, I need help..

Anyways in the pictures above, you can see how we are getting ready! I have been saving all sorts of planting containers from take out, Costco boxes, egg cartons, I still bought two garden starter kits with the tops because I was worried I would mess it up. So I started with the kits to keep my confidence up and put my more treasured seeds in those. Both the girls are really into gardening with me they filled the trays with dirt, put the seeds in and watered them. I also showed them the difference in the seeds. They loved that, being able to hold the seeds in there little hands and feeling them. Lilly especially loved the sunflower seeds because they all looked so different. The seeds above are pumpkin, broccoli, morning glory, and nasturtium. Some of the seeds require soaking a few needed to be soaked and filed down on the sides like the pumpkins. Then we covered them lightly if you do not have a dome then saran wrap will do but make sure it is not to tight. You want the humidity but you also want air circulation so loosely cover and make sure the seeds still can get air to breath. We also made our favorite snack, frozen bananas with a little bit of  peanut butter and a tiny bit of coco.