Time 'March's' On!

      And how it does fly! I'm so happy to be sitting here today, sharing with ya'll! There's a lot of growing and planting going on here at the homestead! I like to call it a homestead because to me, that's what it is. I know we don't have 50 or so acres. We don't have a barn, pigs, or cows. But we do have chickens, goats, and a nice garden. We also have an orchard with apple trees, pear trees, plum, fig, and cherry trees. Oh, and of course the grapes and blackberries! I love canning and preserving things I grow. I love cooking from scratch! I love learning how to utilize what we've got instead of spending money. Of course, I like to buy things that make our jobs here on the homestead easier. Such as the 2 wheeled wheel barrow. It was worth spending extra money for a wheel barrow I don't have to try and balance while moving to the desired location. And the list goes on.

      Recently, while watching a YouTube video, I was connected to a new friend. It all started because I've been trying to find Vardaman sweet potatoes. Gurney's doesn't ship them to Alabama, so I was on a mission to find some. Long story short, I was connected to a lady who lives in Mississippi, not too far from Vardaman. She graciously offered to send me some Vardaman sweet potatoes. So I sent her some day lilies. Ya'll know I've got a few of those! The sweet potatoes came in yesterday, and I'm planting them today. One, I'm leaving in water to see how it does. Danny, from Deep South Homestead, saves his smaller sweet potatoes from the harvest, and plants the whole potato in the ground. From there, he lets the slips grow 6-8 inches. Then, he takes the slips and plants them in the field. That's what I want to do. Except I don't have a field. Just a garden. But that's O.K.

      I just came inside from planting those sweet potatoes and it has gotten hot out there! I heard a loud truck close by after I had about 4 holes dug and looked up to see what it was. There was a fire truck, a rescue truck, and a tractor sitting in the road! It was down the hill from my house, but not too far. A tree decided to fall this very windy day and take the power line with it. My friend and I had just passed that way walking about 30 minutes before it happened. I had noticed the tree only yesterday when we walked passed, that it looked dead and I thought one day it would fall. But today? Yes, and I'm glad it's down. Now I can walk by safely without wondering. Thank goodness we are not on the same line! Our power is still on but that side won't be on for some time.

      I always think I will write a post sooner than I do. I'm just glad to get one written once a month! I will try to do better. Thanks for reading and commenting! Blessings from Bama!

I still enjoy drinking the green juice made in my Vitamix!

My 2 wheel, wheel barrow sure is handy in moving this mulch!

What I do with extra eggs? Pickle them!

Plants grown from seeds under grow lights. I am in the process of re-potting them.

These just need to grow more before going into the garden. Plan on getting them in the garden no later than April 15.

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We had a pair of guineas. This is all that's left of him. Ms. guinea is still here, thank goodness!

I planted asparagus in this bed. A leftover kale plant also.

Red Norland potatoes coming up.

Kale and onions.

Ms. guinea always stays close to the chicks. But she like to peck at them.

These are Welsummers and Aracaunas.

I think this is a female. Here's hoping!

The green leaves are rutabagas. Further down by the fence and blue cover I planted kale, onions, and the sweet potatoes.

Just had to throw in a pic of Gavyn being silly!

May on the Homestead

      Or I may not! Sorry, I just had to say that! How's everybody doing? We are all fine! I almost let May get by without writing! I would have been sad if I had done that. I at least want to write a post a month; a week would be better. We've been really busy around here this month! The garden is coming in nicely! Except for the plants I over fertilized. Yes, I got happy with 13-13-13! I know not to do that again! Funny; some tomato plants survived and are thriving! Others, no. I am determined to grow tomatoes here on the homestead and have enough to can! I wonder if that will happen this year? I believe I need to plant more tomato plants! I am experimenting with grow bags. I simply cut landscape fabric to the size I want and sewed the pieces on the sewing machine. They look just like the ones you can order online! I hope they withstand the summer! And all the watering! They dry out daily so they need lots of water. I have them in a plastic bin to hold some water. I drilled holes so the water can run out instead of bogging down the plants. That could be a problem if the container held too much water. I also made two very large grow bins. One has strawberry plants in hopes of detering rabbits. The other has sweet potatoes. I wished I had found out about these grow bins before I planted my regular potatoes in the ground! We will see how this works out. I found out about grow bins from Old Alabama Gardener and Executive Gardener on Youtube. Of course I still enjoy watching John Kohler's Growing Your Greens! Have you experienced growing in grow bags? I think it's a relatively new thing.

      The apple sticks all have apples on them! I guess I can call them trees now! We also have grapes! I am so happy! The nectarine, peach, and plum trees are loaded! And man, at the blackberries! I shouldn't have to go off my property to get blackberries this year! What to do with all that jam and jelly? Overall, I am very happy with the growing season! I can hardly wait for harvest! How is your garden growing?


      The weather has gotten hot the past couple of days! Got up to 92 today! Yikes! I've been doing the bulk of my gardening later in the evening after 5. Getting my flower beds cleaned out and looking so much better! Laying cardboard and whatever I can find to keep out weeds in the garden. It's just too hot to be out there between 11 and 5! Needless to say, I've been cleaning my very neglected house! It's beginng to look nice again! I'm not keen on dusting so I dusted the other day. I actually have furniture under there!

      It's hard to believe Memorial Day is coming up! Ya'll have a blessed and safe holiday! Thanks for reading! Blessings from Bama!

We had these beautiful birds visiting our bird feeder again this year!

New Dawn rose.

Clematis.

I almost waited too late to get their pic!

My new swimming pool!

The making of a grow bin.

I had the weel barrow full of dirt I mixed. That was a job!. Rain water.

I'm experimenting growing in these things I found on the homestead.

The grow bag after I sewed it.

Grow bags in plastic containers.

A glimpse of a few of our daylillies in bloom.

Using materials I can find for a weed barrier in the garden.

So happy for these grapes!

The planted grow bins.

Blackberries that will soon turn black.

A friendly snake to deter birds.

So happy for all these apples!

The all seeing eye should help keep birds away.

Lots of nectarines!

Love this beauty!

And this!

The yellow climber adds brightness to the shady area.

Gardening, Summer Vacation, And 24th Wedding Anniversary!

      As I said in the last post, it's a busy season! Thus the reason I haven't written! You wouldn't believe the heat unless you live in the South! I'm sitting here sweating as I write this! AND the air conditioner is on! What a drastic change in the weather in just a few short weeks! We went from somewhat mild and rain to heat and drought! I would sure like to get some of that rain they are getting in the west and along the coast! At least some clouds would be nice! When I get up at 7, it's already 70+ with about 50% humidity. Then the temps climb into the 90's! Today it's supposed to get to 98 but probably much higher. My body is so sore and drained! I can't even walk my regular walk! All I've done is work in the garden. I love it, but it's so hard! I'm hoeing all the grass and putting down mulch, so hopefully I won't have to hoe much the rest of the summer. If I had been smart, I would've gotten the mulch in when we planted. Randy seemed to think he could keep it tilled. He wants to till and I want no till! I think he finally agrees, since his job is keeping him so hot and busy! He comes home literally soaked from sweat every day! And I'm talking blue jeans! Poor guy! I think our summers are as extreme as Wisconsin winters! What do you think, Jacky? 

      We got to go to the beach a couple of weeks ago and it was so nice! It wasn't too hot and it didn't rain but a little. We had one cloudy day, but still went to the beach. My Mom and Dad, Amber and the girls all went. We stayed in the camper and they rented a house close to the state park. It was convienient for them and us. The girls had a blast! The trip was not without incident however. We had a blowout on the trailer along the Florida State line. Thank goodness it wasn't far from a rest stop! It didn't take Randy and Skylar long to fix it and we were back on the road. Then Skylar got food poisoning or something he ate made him terribly sick for a couple of days. Then he felt better again and was able to participate in all the fun. We played putt-putt on Yasmine's birthday that night and my Mom fell and dislocated her little pinky. It went backwards and you could see the ligament poking through the skin on the front! Needless to say, we spent most of the early morning hours in an emergency room. She's much better now and had the stitches removed. It will take some time to heal since it was a rather serious injury. An hour before we got home, the neighbor called and said our beloved collie of 12 years died in their garage. Randy and Skylar her buried down the hill behind our house as soon as we got in. I was so sad! I miss her so much! She was my daily companion and watched me every where I went outside. I have a hard time when I walk through the back door where she always layed. She was the most faithful and sweetest dog we ever had!

      This past Sunday, Randy and I celebrated 24 years of wedded bliss! We went to the local Thai restaurant where Skylar treated us to dinner! He's such a thoughtful young man! He's been working hard too! He rarely gets home before 9:00 P.M.! Well, I think I've caught ya'll up on all the happenings here on the homestead! Just more heat and no rain predicted for the next week! I hope we do have a shower! The extreme heat is not good to go on without one! People will start to get sick in this heat if they're not careful! I hope ya'll stay cool and dry! Thanks for reading and commenting! Blessings from Bama!

The beautiful water and sand!

Little LuLu playing in the white sand.

View from the back of the camper.

Me and Randy with the girls on the Sea Dragon ship. We took them for a cruise along with their Mom for Yasmine's 6th birthday.

The girls wanted a pic with the pirates.

The night and place where my Mom fell.

Can you believe the size of this ship?

Even I enjoyed staying under here!

Such pretty water to have such danger lurking below! Two days in a row, we saw sting rays swim by!

We enjoy staying in here even though it gets a little cramped at times.

First harvest. I've harvested more since this photo.

Homemade chicken nuggets with homemade ketchup. Better than McD's! That's homemade chicken noodle soup, creamy style. Yum!

I made enough for eating and to freeze.

Homemade bread with homegrown eggs and homegrown squash inside!

The girls planted birdseed while the weather was still cold. These are what they turned into!

The sun is so bright, it makes the dirt look white. It is very dusty.

Finally got this section done!

There's a lot more grass than what you can see here. It is very thick and deep so I will let Randy till this.

The path down the side was tilled awhile back. We just failed to remove the grass so it grew back.

Even the chicks know to stay out of the sun in this heat!