Time flies and here we are already at the summer solstice. The sunrise was at 5:30 am and the sun will set at 9:00 pm. It’s going to be 81 degree outside today. Boy, did this just turn into summer overnight? The changing of the seasons is always time for me to take stock of what’s happening on our little slice of homestead. There is
What to Eat
It’s that time in the term. I am sleeping just enough… I am showering just enough… I am battling colds just enough… and I have a lot of drawing to do. That’s about all I can handle. But to temper that, I am eating more than well enough. I cannot compromise on that point. I was explaining to a friend just earlier this evening how
Spring Vegetable Starts
Last weekend, my nephews went with me on a tour of garden and feed stores. Their family is interested in keeping backyard chickens after babysitting ours last summer while we were living in New York. I was also getting impatient with the slow seed germination in our garden and decided to buy a few starts to take the edge off this waiting game. We stopped
Impatient Spring
The seeds I planted a few weeks ago are sprouting all over the raised beds. The seedlings all have their first set of leaves, but the “true” leaves are just barely growing in. At this point, it is hard to tell the weeds from the intentional crops. Hopefully another few days of warm sun will get them going enough to tell me what to pull
2011 Vegetable Varieties
It is always fun to see what fellow urban homesteaders have growing in their backyard. After carefully sorting through my many seed packets, I narrowed down the list of what we are growing. Here is a recap of the varieties I am planting this year: Arugula Beets, Early Blood Turnip-rooted (from Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants) Beets, Gourmet Blend (includes golden, Chioggia, Detroit Dark)
2011 Vegetable Garden Plan
We are working with a small space for our garden this year, which is always a fun challenge. I have plans to plant potatoes, summer and winter squash, onions and more in flower beds next to the house. The garden beds are reserved for everything else and I felt like we needed a plan to make sure we maximized that space. I did an inventory
Swiss Chard for Dinner
We have been having swiss chard for dinner now for about three months. It’s a versatile vegetable packed with great vitamins and minerals – especially great for getting through these last weeks of winter. I thought I would share some simple ways we have been cooking it up. Nothing fancy – just simple cooking with freshly picked greens. Spicy Chard Warm a couple tablespoons of
Planting Season Begins
Well, I didn’t get my peas in by President’s Day… but I was damn close! I woke up to a sliver of sunshine outside, stuffed seed packets in my pockets, and made today the first planting day for our new garden. I decided to let my never-ending to-do list just wait while I got some dirt under my nails. The recent winter rains have really
Winter Garden Chores
Planting season is just around the corner and it’s time to prep the beds that will soon hold spring crops. You can hardly make out the spinach in my beds through all the chickweed right now. As the winter rains let up for a couple weeks, the ground was nice and soft for one of my favorite winter chores: weeding. Weeding is not everyone’s favorite
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