No, I haven't died or moved or been imprisoned or anything else that dramatic. For a couple of reasons I've just not really been too into blogging lately.
My health took a downturn this past Fall and I still haven't fully recovered from it. Also, with the current political environment we feel that it's best to just stay off the radar as much as possible.
Our Family
I'm pleased to announce that we are expecting our fifth child this summer. The baby is expected to arrive sometime the end of June or beginning of July. We're really excited. Lord willing, we'll be able to have another successful homebirth.
Sam and the GAPS Diet
We are currently trying to transition off of the GAPS Diet. Some has done remarkably well on it. January 2013 marked the 2-year point for us. He is currently able to consume non-GAPS foods like potatoes, brown rice, oats, millet, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and raw cow's milk. We're REALLY enjoying having a wider variety of food again. I'm currently trying to see if his body is healthy enough to handle a gluten bread made from spelt. Of course, we're still preparing our foods using the methods found in the Nourishing Traditions book so we grind the spelt into flour ourselves and then soak it overnight in an acidic medium.
Sam still has some "quirks" that most children his age do not have. He still struggles sometimes to control his body. However, he is healed enough now that he can acknowledge when he's "doing" autism and he attempts to stop his body from the behavior. He doesn't seem to struggle at all with maintaining eye contact, he is constantly asking questions, and continues to play games with his siblings. I am so very grateful for the GAPS Diet and the healing that it has brought Sam.
Our Farm
We're still expanding our farm and, little by little, trying to become more self-sufficient. We're currently getting 2 dozen eggs a day from our hens. A lot of the garden is put in already. This year we plan on growing turnips, beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, corn, jalapeno and green peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, summer and winter squash, sweet potatoes, and brussels sprouts. The peach trees are currently blossomed out in beautiful pink flowers. Our honey bees seem very happy that Spring is here as there's a constant hum coming from the bees visiting the flowers. All of the other fruit trees have buds swelling but none have blossomed yet like the peach trees have. This time last year we were already harvesting asparagus but the weather this year has pushed everything back a bit. That's ok though. My body is dragging more this year than it did last year, so I'm thankful for the extra time this delayed Spring has given me to accomplish tasks.
Our Freedom
Those familiar with our past blog posts know that we've always been concerned with the direction our country has taken and the threats that were being made against our freedom. Some time has passed and we're even more concerned now that those threats are turning into actions meant to take away our liberty and force us into dependency. I urge all of you to make sure that you are informed about what is going on in our country. Please don't bury your head in the sand or believe that "the experts" must know better than you. You may not be all that concerned about it, but your children are going to reap what is currently being sown. If you are unfamiliar with them, I would recommend that you take the time to read the books 1984, A Brave New World, and Atlas Shrugged.
If anyone out there is still visiting this nearly-abandoned blog...thank you. Thank you for taking an interest in our family and caring about what happens to us. I do miss sharing our lives with you. It was always nice to find others that took an interest in this lifestyle that we love living. Lord willing, I'll be able to share more of our lives here in the future.
Take care,
Janice
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Sunday, June 3, 2012
We Have Produced Food!!!! Woo Hoo!
This is the first year that Shawn and I have put forth serious effort to gardening. The past few years have involved us starting off with some excited attempts only to give up when the weeds overwhelm us. This year we heavily mulched the garden using the Back To Eden method. We've added mass quantities of wood chips and grass clippings and now weed maintenance is actually do-able!
I'm excited to say that we're actually harvesting and using food that we're producing in our garden. Today our lunch-time soup includes peas, carrots, and turnips from our own garden. After supper tonight we're having a fruit salad that contains our own blueberries and blackberries. Tomorrow night's supper will include beets and cauliflower that we've raised. It's an awesome feeling to serve food to my family that was produced on our own land. It really does make all the sweat, sunburn, and bug bites worth it!
Here's a view from the back corner of the garden. Since we're still on the GAPS diet, none of that corn is for our family to eat. All of that corn has been planted as winter chicken food.
Here are the arbors at the back of our garden. Starting from the left there is an arbor of pickling cucumbers, a second arbor of pickling cucumbers that was planted a couple weeks later, and then the last three arbors include two different varieties of pole green beans. We have watermelon plants growing in the middle of all the arbors so that "empty" space is utilized.
There's also more watermelon planted just to the right of the arbors in the back corner of the garden. We're growing two different varieties of watermelon this year..a traditional red watermelon, but also one that's yellow inside.
We ended up with more tomato plants than we had planned for so Shawn put up this spur-of-the-moment fence for tomatoes to grow on next to the corn. You can't see it because it's still too small, but on the other side of the tomato fence we actually have a row of cotton growing. That's one of our experiments this year.
The front of the garden is where most of our tomatoes are growing. The rows in front of the tomatoes that look empty actually have some small sunflowers growing in them. We're planning on using the sunflowers as winter feed for our chickens and rabbits. However, we're really having a battle with birds trying to eat our sunflowers. We've already planted twice and each time only a fraction have reached a decent size because of the birds getting to them. Behind the tomatoes you can see Shawn's tire potatoes still growing well. So far, we're really pleased with the experiment of growing potatoes in tires.
Here you can see more of the near-empty rows of sunflowers. To the left of that is our garlic that's starting to brown and then our onions that are growing along nicely. Between the garlic/onion boxes and the arbors are where our pepper seedlings are planted.
Here is the other back-corner of the garden where we have cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, and turnips growing. You can see a little glimpse of our blueberry bushes in the corner of the picture. The raised beds in the back that look empty actually have brussels sprouts seeds planted in them. The little raised bed in the very back corner has three eggplants growing in it. You can also see our three compost piles in the back of the photo. We have a big volunteer squash plant that has popped up there. I'm anxious to see what exactly it's going to produce.
Here's the front of the garden. Here we're growing four arbors of peas. Under each of the arbors we have planted cantaloupe. The two raised beds contain carrots with space left over for me to continually plant more every few weeks. You can also see our blueberries better in this photo.
Here's our small patch of beets located at the back of the garden behind the rabbit shed.
Finally, here are our two arbors of squash at the front of the garden. The first arbor with the larger squash is made up of volunteer plants that came up in our carrot raised bed. We transplanted them here so I'm not really certain what they're going to produce. The arbor with smaller plants contain yellow crookneck squash and some scallop squash. We've placed the boards on the ground near the squash to make it easier to kill squash bugs that come around.
So, at this point in our 2012 garden, I am very pleased with the Back To Eden method. It has taken a lot of time this year to get everything mulched, but that time investment is already paying off with fewer weeds. Lord willing, next year ought to be even easier.
If you'd like to watch the Back To Eden film, you can view it for free here:
http://backtoedenfilm.com/#movie
I'm excited to say that we're actually harvesting and using food that we're producing in our garden. Today our lunch-time soup includes peas, carrots, and turnips from our own garden. After supper tonight we're having a fruit salad that contains our own blueberries and blackberries. Tomorrow night's supper will include beets and cauliflower that we've raised. It's an awesome feeling to serve food to my family that was produced on our own land. It really does make all the sweat, sunburn, and bug bites worth it!
Here's a view from the back corner of the garden. Since we're still on the GAPS diet, none of that corn is for our family to eat. All of that corn has been planted as winter chicken food.
Here are the arbors at the back of our garden. Starting from the left there is an arbor of pickling cucumbers, a second arbor of pickling cucumbers that was planted a couple weeks later, and then the last three arbors include two different varieties of pole green beans. We have watermelon plants growing in the middle of all the arbors so that "empty" space is utilized.
There's also more watermelon planted just to the right of the arbors in the back corner of the garden. We're growing two different varieties of watermelon this year..a traditional red watermelon, but also one that's yellow inside.
We ended up with more tomato plants than we had planned for so Shawn put up this spur-of-the-moment fence for tomatoes to grow on next to the corn. You can't see it because it's still too small, but on the other side of the tomato fence we actually have a row of cotton growing. That's one of our experiments this year.
The front of the garden is where most of our tomatoes are growing. The rows in front of the tomatoes that look empty actually have some small sunflowers growing in them. We're planning on using the sunflowers as winter feed for our chickens and rabbits. However, we're really having a battle with birds trying to eat our sunflowers. We've already planted twice and each time only a fraction have reached a decent size because of the birds getting to them. Behind the tomatoes you can see Shawn's tire potatoes still growing well. So far, we're really pleased with the experiment of growing potatoes in tires.
Here you can see more of the near-empty rows of sunflowers. To the left of that is our garlic that's starting to brown and then our onions that are growing along nicely. Between the garlic/onion boxes and the arbors are where our pepper seedlings are planted.
Here is the other back-corner of the garden where we have cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, and turnips growing. You can see a little glimpse of our blueberry bushes in the corner of the picture. The raised beds in the back that look empty actually have brussels sprouts seeds planted in them. The little raised bed in the very back corner has three eggplants growing in it. You can also see our three compost piles in the back of the photo. We have a big volunteer squash plant that has popped up there. I'm anxious to see what exactly it's going to produce.
Here's the front of the garden. Here we're growing four arbors of peas. Under each of the arbors we have planted cantaloupe. The two raised beds contain carrots with space left over for me to continually plant more every few weeks. You can also see our blueberries better in this photo.
Here's our small patch of beets located at the back of the garden behind the rabbit shed.
Finally, here are our two arbors of squash at the front of the garden. The first arbor with the larger squash is made up of volunteer plants that came up in our carrot raised bed. We transplanted them here so I'm not really certain what they're going to produce. The arbor with smaller plants contain yellow crookneck squash and some scallop squash. We've placed the boards on the ground near the squash to make it easier to kill squash bugs that come around.
So, at this point in our 2012 garden, I am very pleased with the Back To Eden method. It has taken a lot of time this year to get everything mulched, but that time investment is already paying off with fewer weeds. Lord willing, next year ought to be even easier.
If you'd like to watch the Back To Eden film, you can view it for free here:
http://backtoedenfilm.com/#movie
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
2012 Garden Update
Yes, we're still here. We've just been very busy and computer-time hasn't been a priority.
I wanted to take some time to talk about changes on our homestead this year. We've been adding things, improving things, organizing things, experimenting with things...we've been busy! We've changed things in several areas, but I want this post to focus on the garden.
Since we had big plans for the garden this year I knew that I'd have to be organized if there was any way we'd succeed at keeping everything alive. So, I took some time this winter and planned out our garden.
I also made up a binder with each month's homestead duties listed. This way I won't go to do something (like prune fruit trees or start seeds inside) and realize that I should've already done it last month.
Based on the past couple years, Shawn and I knew that the two of us are no match for the number of weeds that this property can produce. So, we took drastic measures this year and decided to mulch our entire garden with wood chips. We got the idea for this by watching "Back To Eden." It's a free movie available online. So, we are currently covering our garden with wood chips as we plant an area. Then Shawn is also collecting grass clippings every time he mows. We're adding the grass clippings to the top of the wood chips in the garden.
Everything was going great until a couple nights ago when we got a last-minute frost. Now everything is a little burned in the garden. I think it'll all survive, but it doesn't look nice and pretty like it did before the frost.
Carrots
Peas are being grown on cattle-panel arbors
Cauliflower and cabbage
Blueberries
Turnips
Beets (background has arbors where green beans and cucumbers will be planted)
Garlic and onions
Potatoes being grown in tires (one of our experiments this year.) As the plants get taller we'll add another tire to the stack and fill it with dirt. The theory is that the potatoes will grow vertically and fill up the tires.
So, that's where we currently are in the garden. Lord willing, I'll add separate posts here detailing what we're doing in the orchard, vineyard, and with the animals on the homestead.
I wanted to take some time to talk about changes on our homestead this year. We've been adding things, improving things, organizing things, experimenting with things...we've been busy! We've changed things in several areas, but I want this post to focus on the garden.
Since we had big plans for the garden this year I knew that I'd have to be organized if there was any way we'd succeed at keeping everything alive. So, I took some time this winter and planned out our garden.
I also made up a binder with each month's homestead duties listed. This way I won't go to do something (like prune fruit trees or start seeds inside) and realize that I should've already done it last month.
Based on the past couple years, Shawn and I knew that the two of us are no match for the number of weeds that this property can produce. So, we took drastic measures this year and decided to mulch our entire garden with wood chips. We got the idea for this by watching "Back To Eden." It's a free movie available online. So, we are currently covering our garden with wood chips as we plant an area. Then Shawn is also collecting grass clippings every time he mows. We're adding the grass clippings to the top of the wood chips in the garden.
Everything was going great until a couple nights ago when we got a last-minute frost. Now everything is a little burned in the garden. I think it'll all survive, but it doesn't look nice and pretty like it did before the frost.
Carrots
Peas are being grown on cattle-panel arbors
Cauliflower and cabbage
Blueberries
Turnips
Beets (background has arbors where green beans and cucumbers will be planted)
Garlic and onions
Potatoes being grown in tires (one of our experiments this year.) As the plants get taller we'll add another tire to the stack and fill it with dirt. The theory is that the potatoes will grow vertically and fill up the tires.
So, that's where we currently are in the garden. Lord willing, I'll add separate posts here detailing what we're doing in the orchard, vineyard, and with the animals on the homestead.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Changes Around Here
Hi all! Spring seems like it might really, truly be here finally. It's 75 degrees and windy today...wonderful! The daffodils are blooming, the Bradford pear trees are trying to bud out, and the roses are showing the first signs of life. Shawn has been busy around the property lately. He's been doing what projects he can with the weather being dreary and cool. Here's what he's been up to:
Shawn has been busy building rabbit cages. Earlier this week he was able to finally go get our rabbits. We now have two does and a buck. They're New Zealand rabbits that are supposed to be especially good for meat production. One of the does may already be expecting, so we may have our first litter in early April. The kids are excited to have huge rabbits and I'm excited to have a supplemental meat source!
Shawn's also been busy expanding our garden. He took advantage of the soft ground this week to put in new posts for the expanded garden. We now have a garden that is 70 feet by 80 feet. Today it was finally dry enough that he was able to till it up a bit. I told Shawn that the garden looks great, but now all we have to do is plant it, water it, weed it, harvest it, and preserve it!
In other news, we're getting about 14 eggs a day out of our 18 hens. I'm researching what to do with grape vines that have been nearly abandoned for years. I don't have a clue how to go about pruning vines that are out of control. I'm in my third trimester of pregnancy now. The baby moves around all the time. According to my pregnancy books, the baby should be around 3 pounds at this point. We're branching into uncharted territory in the garden this year. I've ordered seeds for peanuts and a variety of herbs to put in a culinary and medicinal herb garden. We're also going to attempt to grow corn and sunflowers to supplement our animal feed.
Big plans...now let's just see if we can keep up with them!
Shawn has been busy building rabbit cages. Earlier this week he was able to finally go get our rabbits. We now have two does and a buck. They're New Zealand rabbits that are supposed to be especially good for meat production. One of the does may already be expecting, so we may have our first litter in early April. The kids are excited to have huge rabbits and I'm excited to have a supplemental meat source!
Shawn's also been busy expanding our garden. He took advantage of the soft ground this week to put in new posts for the expanded garden. We now have a garden that is 70 feet by 80 feet. Today it was finally dry enough that he was able to till it up a bit. I told Shawn that the garden looks great, but now all we have to do is plant it, water it, weed it, harvest it, and preserve it!
In other news, we're getting about 14 eggs a day out of our 18 hens. I'm researching what to do with grape vines that have been nearly abandoned for years. I don't have a clue how to go about pruning vines that are out of control. I'm in my third trimester of pregnancy now. The baby moves around all the time. According to my pregnancy books, the baby should be around 3 pounds at this point. We're branching into uncharted territory in the garden this year. I've ordered seeds for peanuts and a variety of herbs to put in a culinary and medicinal herb garden. We're also going to attempt to grow corn and sunflowers to supplement our animal feed.
Big plans...now let's just see if we can keep up with them!
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