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
Winter Harvesting
My outdoor garden beds have been providing me with a steady supply of the usual winter suspects: kale, swiss chard, spinach, collard greens, leeks, and tasty brussel sprouts. Oregon, especially the Willamette Valley, is fortunate to have relatively mild winters and we pretty much live on brassicas from November through February. This is the first winter I have had the pleasure of gardening with a
Stop the Starts
It is time for me to stop visiting plant stores and stop buying starts! My backyard garden is finally looking delicious enough to eat from, yet a magnetic pull continues to lure me into plant stores. I have more vegetable starts than I have room from. All this and I am moving in a week! Bah! On my recent trip to Portland, I drooled over
Grassroots Garden Visit
Last week our Plants class visited Grassroots Garden, a local non-profit here in Eugene that grows food for the needy. We did some volunteer work that morning planting carrots in the morning sunshine and learning some interesting things about soil amendments. The garden itself is humming right now, making my own backyard look a little sleepy. They are situated on a couple acres of land
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