Found My Christmas Present to ME--Master Gardener Class

A local extension office is offering a Master Gardener class and I'm signing up!  I found my Christmas present to me!

As a young girl and in FFA and Agriculture classes, I loved plant identification.  Our class went to the Badlands for competition and practiced at the lake.   

I loved that feeling of walking through the prairie grasses closing observing the individual plants.  There is so much beauty in the shapes and textures of native plants and grasses.

So...I'm jazzed!  I think I'll talk my husband into going with me!  It will be date night!

Expanding Simply

Expanding simply is my goal.  

To add a few new varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, beans and peppers to my seed order was one way of doing this.  To learn more about the differences in varieties and thinking about how they will best work for me and within my schedule, my life and my environment.

I used to work against myself.  I started 50 tomato plants one year and couldn't figure out why I couldn't keep up with them and three little boys of my own and those I provided child care for....  

My personality needs some room to roam and meander and I plant to match me knowing that I will be more successful that way.  I've stopped trying to do what everyone does...instead I do what works for me!

My goal this year is to plant intentionally and not willy nilly as I grab plants from the green house and stick them in the ground.  To take into account how I like to grow things.  

For example:

• I plant my beans, peppers and tomatoes more in squares then in rows.  I find I can manage them better.  
• I use single posts and twine instead of cages that frustrate me.  Using a raised bed helps me do this.
• Using small old tires along the back fence to plant potatoes in helps me plant them and forget them.  I use mulch and when I water my flowers...they get it too!
• I put my garden where it works instead of feeling like I have to have everything in one square plot.  
• Herbs in my flowers.  Zucchini on the back of my flower bed and along the fence.  Onions, dill and other perennials in a back corner out of the way!

Finally to expand simply...I have a plan and I'm beginning to order seeds so I'm set and ready to go!  Limiting buying too much on a whim in the spring.

Get Ready to Plant!!

SEED CATALOGS

Huurrrra....  Seed Catalogs are in.  My pen is out.  Dreaming of gardening again!

Planning Time--- Trying to Keep It Simple!

BEGINNING PLANS!  Notes in my journal!

Planning on changing plants around to different beds!

Helpful Worksheet as I plan out next year!



Vegetable Planting Guide Worksheet
ese are general guidelines. Growing times can vary greatly depending on the seed
variety you select. Check seed packet for exact growing and planting times.
1. Write “Date of Last Frost” for your region in the space provided below.
(See: www.almanac.com)
2. Using a calendar, calculate the “planting date” by adding or subtracting the
number of weeks listed from the “Date of Last Frost.”
3. Calculate the “Sow Date” by subtracting the “Growth Period” from the “Planting
Date.” (Sow Date is the date to sow seed indoors or in a greenhouse for transplanting
into the garden after the last frost.)
Seed/Plant
Beans* 8 to10
Beets* 8 to 10 2-3 weeks after
Broccoli 8 to 10 2 weeks before
Brussels Sprouts 16 to 19 3 weeks before
Cabbage 13 to 17 3 weeks before
Carrots* 8 to 10 1-2 weeks after
Cauliflower 8 to 10 2 weeks before
Collards 4 to 6 4 weeks before
Corn* 9 to 12 2 weeks after
Cucumber* 6 to 12 1-2 weeks after
Eggplant 14 to 20 3 weeks after
Lettuce 4 to 7 1-2 weeks after
Greens* 5 to 7 Soon as soil can be worked
Okra 4 to 6 2-4 weeks after
Onion* 8 to 10 2-3 weeks before
Parsley 8 to 10 2 weeks before
Peas* 8 to 10 4-6 weeks before
Peppers 8 to 10 2 weeks after
Potatoes* 10 to 20 2-3 weeks after
Pumpkin* 15 to 18 2-3 weeks after
Radish* 4 3-4 weeks before
Spinach* 6 to 7 3-6 weeks before
Winter Squash* 13 to 22 2 weeks after
Tomato 8 to 12 1 week after
Zucchini* 2 to 4 2 weeks after
*Seeds can be direct-sown in the garden soil. Other seeds will need to be starte







http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/raised-bed-vegetable-garden.html

Slowing Down-Planning for Next Year

Several nights of "almost freezing" and our growth time is slowing down quickly!! One final bed needs amended manure, compost and grass clippings and leaves.  I'm moving in plants and tools and taking in my owner to be fixed and put away.  So in the spirit of wrapping up I'm making notes now and planning for next year.

To Do Next year:

• Plant more potatoes!
• Make more raised beds.
• Create my own custom tomato cages.
• PUT UP A PRIVACY FENCE!
• Draw garden layout and organize plant ordering now!
• Space my plants more realistically.
• Put stakes out immediately when I plant.
• Beg my husband to make a drip system and water collection system for me.
• Write when and where I plant everything AS I plant them!
• Peruse the dumping spots for flat rocks and bricks to finish a path around my beds.
• Re-design berm with the plants for butterflies and grasses.
• Cover herb beds.

David's Raised Bed Design

I have loved my raised beds that David and the boys made for me.  My goal all summer was to put in the Buster Bed!  Buster was our very loved family pet and the bed is where we buried him.  It was a beautiful day with two boys so we decided to get it done.  Although when we were finish...we all missed Buster and were wistful for Joshua.

People have asked how we made ours so this is it...  I do use clear caulking to fill in the larger cracks in the joints and I water proof the wood later.

Leveled!

4X4X6 Treated Post

Deciding the Lay Out.  (Oops you can see the chair that is waiting for a trip to the dump!)

Is It Square?

Drilling the Holes!

  

Drilling the holes through.  Two on each corner.  They set up the corners so they are super sturdy!

Hammering in Two Foot Re-bar.... Way Harder Than It Looks!

Next Step:  Fill the bed with the compost and dirt that I've been saving and water.  Add the chicken manure and grass clippings and it will be ready to work through the winter.  It will be our pepper bed!

Fall is in the Air

It is feeling rather fallish!!!  I love a long and drawn out autumn but have a feeling that this is not the year.  It just seems different.  My cottonwood trees are shedding a few leaves and am not sure if that is from the heat earlier or... gasp.... fall!!!

Beginning fall clean up chores while nurturing those tomatoes, peppers and beans to keep producing!  

Winter is time for the soil to do what the soil does! My job is giving it an environment to do that.

Putting in a new bed so the grass clippings can be doing its thing over the winter.

Watering deeply.  

Bringing home from the chicken house and barn bags of manure.

Sprinkling Epson salt on my yard and around the trees.

Pruning and transplanting.

Mulching and protecting.

Tucking everything in for the winter rest.

Fall is a good feeling.  

A sense of harvest and warmth.  Hope.

Pruning Tomatoes

The mornings and evenings are beginning to have a fall feel to them.  My tomato are finally turning red after the 3rd time of taking the shears to them.

What Worked For Me:

1.  I started at the bottom cutting the crowded stems and new growth.


2.  Pruned on the sides taking off the extra stems and leaves leaving only the main step with the fruit on them.


3.  Went over the top pinching off the new growth at the end of every stem.

Professional Know How

"A tomato is a solar-powered sugar factory. For the first month or so, all of the sugar it produces is directed towards new leaf growth. During this stage, tomato plants grow very rapidly, doubling their size every 12 to 15 days. Eventually, the plants make more sugar than the single growing tip can use, which signals the plant to make new branches and to flower. This usually happens after 10 to 13 leaves have expanded, at which time the plant is 12 to 18 inches tall. In the next few weeks, the entire character of the tomato plant changes. If unsupported, the increasing weight of filling fruit and multiple side branches forces the plant to lie on the ground. Once the main stem is horizontal, there is an increased tendency to branch. Left to its own devices, a vigorous indeterminate tomato plant can easily cover a 4- by 4-foot area with as many as 10 stems, each 3 to 5 feet long. By season's end, it will be an unsightly, impenetrable, disease-wracked tangle." http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx

Random Pictures

Beginning Repairs such as filling in old holes where the boys were playing war!

The Old Garden Shed

Hanging plastic.  I loved using the staple gun!

Spray foam insulation.  Hammer in old nails.  Spread plastic sheeting.  Caulk holes and seams.  Someday-new siding!!

An old birdhouse made from my Great Grandparent's Barn.  I used caulking to put in on my post.

Beginning of the Russian Sage and native grass plus my Karl Grass!

Planted Potatoes using old salvaged tires against the old fence in my yard where it is hard to grow anything!

And they grew!

Constructive Thinking Time

Doing things seems to free my mind and my spirit to reflect and recharge.  The last few days I've taken off from work and "should" be doing many important things like cleaning my house or laundry.  

However, I have spent quite a few of my hours:  buying 6 Mil plastic and stapling the inside of my "new" shed, spraying foam insulation,  and caulking to fill in holes where the boys were attacked by an intruder when it was their fort.  While I painted, I was visited by wasp, garden snakes and butterflies.  My dog, of course kept watch!

I scored big at both the hardware and the lumber yard where I found light bulbs for plants that are perfect for my heating lamp and cheap!

I'm going to pull off an East Panel and cover with plastic, put up some shelves on that wall some hanging baskets.  Now to decide what to plant for fall both out and within.

Any ideas????

Outside:

1. Potato

2. Carrots

  

Inside:

1. Tomato

2. Pepper

Pruning, Pulling and Replanting

That wonderful time of year when the dead needs pulled or pruned!  The herbs cut and dried.  I also just planted beans and several different kinds of carrots where the old squash was.  Excited to check that out.

I wondered if any of you have tried this method of storing cabbage as I read in "The Backwoodsman" July/August 2011 edition?  My father-in-law shares his with us.  

Dennis Byrd from California wrote that his parents planted cabbage to be ready about the time o first snow.  "Once it had snowed the cabbages were dug and turned upside down, root up, into their own holds and covered with dirt and snow.  Over the course of winter you could dig these up, the outside leaves would be wrinkled and rotten, but inside was a fresh white head of cabbage."

Might be a new experiment I have to try.  I'm a beginner at planting a fall garden and am excited to see what that will be like.

I'm curious what you plant in your fall garden?  What works in the Midwest and what doesn't?  I'm looking for a mentor!!!

A Little Saggy!

My garden is looking a little saggy and weary after the hot and humid days they have faced lately.  They look slightly better after a rain last night. 

And yet... they continue to produce.  The tomatoes loaded and beginning to ripen.  Zucchini is piled at the door for the neighbors and blended and hidden in whatever I can sneak to the boys!  Peppers have been grilled and potatoes are dug.  In fact, I pulled out a potato that I thought was dead to find dozens of spuds in it's roots.

Herbs are growing like mad-now what do we do with them?  That's the new thing I need to learn!

Looking out my back window is a lesson in looking past the obvious to what is under and within.  When the plants were gorgeous without a dry leaf or a bug bite- they were not producing.  Now, looking a little worse for wear- they are providing for our table.

Makes one wonder if those times in our lives when we are a little saggy, shaggy, dry, beat up and wilted- is when we produce the most fruit?  Something to think about!

Pruning Tomatoes

Our family Grandmother-Maurine- Beat her tomato plants with a stick after she watched the plants take off after a beating from a summer hail storm.  I have learned not to doubt Maurine because she DID gardening, making her own soap, quilting, canning etc. etc.

Since I'm not into beating my tomatoes though-I decided last year to begin to prune them.  I just went at them and it worked.  This year I'm actually being more intentional with it but here is a good article that I want to share.

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.aspx

Growing and Producing

Tomato Take Over!

Potatoes!

The squash I planted behind my flowers. 

I love these colors and textures together!

Russian Sage, Lavender, Butterfly Bush and Native Grass.

Volunteer Tomato!

Herbs and Asparagus. 

Beautiful Prairie

Walking among native grasses and flowers gives wings to my heart!!!!  I feel like I'm soaring in the wide open skies and could tough the clouds.

Treasure Hunting

We were invited to our friends' house for supper last night and it is beautiful!  They have worked so hard painting, scrubbing, carpet and tile.  It is gorgeous.  But then I checked out the back yard.....  It was a jungle as the house had not been lived in for a while but it was amazing!  

Grape vines, rhubarb, strawberries, dill and who knows what else were stubbornly standing among the weeds.  So of course I asked if I could dig a rhubarb plant!!

The coolest thing was that this family had taken trash cans with lids and put the the down spout into it to use as their water barrel.  Since we have so much rain our friend attached an overflow hose on to them which can water the grass instead of running down the street.  It was a wonderful treasure to find!  My husband and I were excitedly talking on the way home about it and where we would put it.

Amazing what we find when we SEE!!

Progress

Spud experiment progress. As you remember I used a few methods to grow a few potatoes to see what works best in my soil.  I've learned that I need to space the potatoes much further!!!  Use the tires as it also gives them support and they are growing like crazy!  I really like the small tires that are very wide.  Those work the best if you will be scavenging.

We have our first yellow squash and are so excited to grill it tonight.  Bring on the Zuchini!

I'm beginning my painting project for our garage, shed and trim between work and am going to try my hand at putting in the windows in my garden shed and get it cleaned out.

My tomatoes are poking along slowly.  Very very slowly.

But the bees are very busy around my salvia and other flowers.  The butterfly bush is just about to bloom so that is exciting to me!  The doves seem to enjoy picking in my beds and scratching out what they can find and the finches are flitting in and out of the grapevines to get to the bird feeder.  

My husband and I have been looking for flat rocks and flat pieces of cement from the dumping spot here in town and he is making me a pad of sorts and a walk between the beds.

Thanks for enjoying this journey with me!

Growing a garden was necesity when I grew up as in the generations past.  Parents passed down how to grow their own food and be self sufficient.  I think it is time to walk those footsteps again.  

Teaching our sons and daughters the value and experience of growing our own food and other simple life skills.  Whether we need it or not at least we have an appreciation of where food comes from and something to fall back on.  Plus children learn and grow in so many ways when they are outside.

Wild Flower

My Favorite:  Wild Roses

Yucca in Bloom!

Native grasses mesmerize me with their waving tops and varying textures and shades of green.  Little wild flowers are tucked in.

Nature at it's finest!

Amazing at how beautiful simplicity is.

Garden Helpers

A peaceful two quiet hours outside this morning before church watering, reading, thinking and praying.  And... enjoying the company workers in my yard.

I have friendly robin who will walk right up on the patio with me and she was a hunting machine this morning as she ate breakfast, patched her nest and fed her babes.

 And a friendly...as long as I stay an arms length away...garden snake who lives in the rocks under the spicket in my flowers.  I have to be careful to warn him before going to turn the water off or on.  But if he will travel my yard eating bugs then he can stay!

I also have Peter and Paul...names of two wild bunnies whom I never have my camera ready when they are out who forage on dandelions and dropped cotton tree leaves.

New Treasure

My husband brought a gift home yesterday and I'm thrilled with my new treasure!!!!  Now am researching to see how I can protect them so they will last.  Any ideas???

David's Anvil  stand... but mine for now!

My Favorite!  If only trees could talk!

Old Becomes New...or at least Usable!

O.k. so it is not new but it is functional again.  My husband is a genius and I'm a scavenger.  Together we are a good team.  An old chaise lounge is becoming new and comfy.

Tearing apart the sun destroyed chair.

Oreo trying to figure out what David is doing.

A VERY Comfy Back Already!! 

David also took old wire clothes hangers that were being thrown away and cut them in to stakes for my soaker hose so I don't have to fight it all year.  I wish he knew how much these "little things" mean to me.  Better then roses!!!