Wow!!!!! There has been so much happening

I was going to write several small blogs to cover all that's been happening, but I don't have that kind of time. So I'll try to neatly put it all in one blog.


Yesterday my friend Sheryl sent me an IM telling me she had this composter sitting to the side in her front yard and asked if I'd be interested in having it. Of course I said yes! It was her late mother's and she received it when her mother passed. Apparently, her mom was on her way to becoming a Master Composter. Sheryl said she'd like to see it get used by someone who would appreciate it and that if she kept it she'd just feel guilty about never using it. Well, whatever I can do to take that guilt away! I feel very blessed that she thought of me to give it to. She is a dear friend and we don't see each other enough because we are both busy with our lives, but we think of each other often. Anytime I can get something useful for free for the garden I jump on it, but this one is special because of who it came from and whose it was. Thanks Sheryl!

This past weekend we went out to tackle some chores in what will be our extended portion of the garden. We have had nothing but rain for weeks on end making it impossible to do anything out there. We finally have had some sunny days and I've been doing my best to take advantage. We cleared out a lot of the toys and things that collect out there from the kids playing. We cut down our apple tree. It was severely diseased and has been since I moved here in 2003. I had hoped it would get better, but that just wasn't in the cards. So now we have fire wood for our outdoor pit and more sunny places to grow good food.

Jerod also built me a temporary fence across the patio to help keep the dogs out of the garden. Ottis has figured out a way to get through the gate though, so it's not really helping. So Jerod will get back out there this week and work on it again.

I did a 3'x6' bed using the double dig method. It was a back breaker because we had a lot of old tree roots to break through. Once it was done it looked great! Then we let the chickens out and they went straight to the freshly turned dirt and began looking for worms. The bed is leveled, but I do have to say they managed to help break the larger clumps down. Let's hope we can figure out a way to cage in their hen house so they can't get into the garden after we put seedlings and seeds in.

I had planted a couple flats of seeds several weeks ago and all of the plants were ready to hit the dirt outside once I could harden them off and get the beds dug. Well, all it's done is rain and rain. I tried transplanting them into fresh dirt while they were inside because it didn't matter if they were watered properly they were dying. That didn't help. Back to the drawing board. Thank God seed isn't expensive. I also joined a seed exchange online to help with expenses and to find a place for seeds to go that I have left over.

Below are a few pictures of what we've accomplished in the garden.

We also staked off the fire pit so we can still fit chairs around it and sit and enjoy our garden space.

Leveled it!

A little over two weeks ago I decided to be done with our microwave. Well, actually it was on the verge of quitting on us and as I sat and thought about replacing it I realized we really don't need it. It's a drain on the power when we use it and I can warm up everything using the oven or stove. It does work slower but it's a chance for me to take some time to make dinner or a snack or breakfast or whatever instead of simply throwing it together and rushing through it all. Look at the space I have on my counter without it!

I tried a new apple tart recipe. I liked it, but then I made the one below and it was even better using a tweaked version of the previous recipe. I took some time to relax, read a book and have a taste. A rare quiet moment that didn't last long, but at least it was a moment.

This is Rolly Poley. She was our first hen to lay.

I had tried several different variations of bread from other people's recipes and they never came out how I expected. So I finally scrapped all of them and made up my own. The result was amazing. Buttermilk white. Great for sandwiches.

Eden holding the kitty that she has dubbed hers until it goes on to it's new home. The family is really enjoying watching them grow and learn to explore.

Joey trying out the buttermilk white with local honey on it. Yum!

I like how our chickens lay different colored eggs. The one on the right is from our Rhode Island Red and the one on the left is from our Barred Rock. One pink and one brown. A friend of mine asked if they taste how they look....strawberry and chocolate. I'd make a fortune if they did!

A little over two weeks ago our cat PITA had 4 very adorable kittens. They are thriving and getting bigger each day. They opened their eyes about a week ago. Now they are starting to take mini adventures out of their box. We have to watch out for them now so we don't step on them. They all have future homes with great people. Mama kitty is still very protective. If we approach the box to play with them or pet them she comes running so she can watch to make sure we don't hurt anyone. It's very interesting to see the instincts working.

Here are pictures I took about a week ago:

This is one from the day they were born.

I Predict A Riot

I want to start a food movement. I've never done something like this before, but it's really important to me so I guess I'll learn. How does one become an advocate? I shall ponder this and write about it as things develop.

So Much Rain

We have had so much rain in the last few weeks it's been really hard to get out in the garden and get things prepared. Rain or shine this weekend I'm measuring beds and digging. We have a canopy, so I'm setting it up and away I will go!

We did have a small break in the weather yesterday and I might be able to get a few things done during the day today if the sun lasts. Yesterday I gave the chicken coop a good cleaning. With all the rain and wind the inside had gotten wet, not to mention my chickens love to run around in the rain and slurp up fat worms that surface, so they end up soaked. When they are finally full they take their wet selves into the coop and that adds even more water. I cleared all of the wet wood chips, chicken poop and any food leftover. It all went into the compost pile to cover a nice new layer of food scraps I had taken out. I sprayed out their water bowl since they are constantly getting dirt in it. I need to buy a feeder and watering system for them, but just haven't had the money. Lack of money just means more work to keep it clean, so that's what I do!

All this time I had been having trouble reaching the nesting boxes (not that any of them lay in the boxes as we had thought) and yesterday I discovered the hatch over them DOES open as Jerod had planned. I thought he hadn't gotten to it yet. Turns out he hadn't gotten to a way to keep it open for egg collection and cleaning (again, not that the egg collecting part counts). Needless to say the nest were a mess since they had been hard to manage before. They are nice and clean now. The chicken were given nice fresh wood chips to nest in, kick around and just plain enjoy, which they do.

I have a ton of starts in flats that are so ready to see daylight outside. I just need a break in the rain long enough to get them in. I also need to grab some organic compost and some hay. Then I am completely set to go!

I cannot wait for spring and the abundance of wonderful food my garden will be giving! I cannot wait until my days are spent less in the house and more in the garden. Nights by the fire instead of on the couch with the tv. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!! But I am thankful for the rain. We need it here and it is making my digging efforts easier everyday that it comes down. So thank God for the rain!

On to another topic....today I will have my first sewing lesson. Ok, not my very first. My Grandmother, Elaine, tried to teach me several times when I was young, but I just wasn't having it. Now I wish I had. So I have enlisted the help of a friend who I love to chit chat with and don't get the chance as often as I'd like. Monica and I will attempt to start one of the several projects I have. I'm very excited and I plan to take pictures and of course post them here.

That's all for now!

More Eggs

Ok, this is my third and final blog of the day. We had our second out of three chickens lay today. Just waiting on the hold out. Our black and white chicken Rolley Poley has been laying beautiful brown tasty eggs for over a week now (we discovered 4 eggs on Sunday last week).

Today when I walked out to check on our girls Bossy was walking around pissed off! She was squawking and carrying on through the yard. I thought, "Well that's weird they are usually very quiet except for the little clucking they do and when they actually lay!" I closed the lid on the house because it had been opened, but it was going to rain. I went inside to do something else.

Later in the day I came out to check on her. Twitchey (that's our other Rhode Island Red) and Poley were outside the house and came running to me as always. Side note they follow me around the yard because they want me to dig so they can eat the worms. I had been feeling very special, but then realized it had nothing to do with me. I digress. They came running and Bossy wasn't there. I checked the house first and she was in there nestled into the wood chips. Opening the house disturbed her, so she got up and started cleaning up her space; scratching in the chips and making a nice spot. I lowered the roof to the house and went inside. Another side note, I'm very much obsessed with checking on the chickens and the possibility of an egg being out there. It's very novel to me still.

Later (see here's where the obsession comes in), I walked back out to just see how she was. She was out with the other two searching for worms, beetles whatever. Cool! I had been slightly worried we had a sick chicken on our hands. We had lost two of them to the cold earlier in the winter and the nights have been cold here. I opened the room and there laid (no pun intended) a pink egg. PINK!!! REALLY?? Can we just say I'm so excited that my chicken lays pink eggs? I grabbed it and brought it in to show the family. Everyone is super excited about pink eggs right? Well in our house, yes!

What did we do after finding it? I promptly made egg sandwiches on my homemade bread for my husband and oldest daughter, Eden. Yum!

With two laying an egg just about everyday we'll have a good supply of eggs. Now if the third one will get started my egg buying days are virtually over.

GMOs

I have spent most of yesterday and today reading, studying and watching video about GMOs and Monsanto. My head is spinning! I am appalled that our government lets this company run rampant doing whatever to our food supply. Honestly I've never trusted our government, but when it comes to our food supply that's where I draw the line!

Monsanto makes claims to be sustainable. How can they say that when it's proven that soil not properly cared for will stop producing crops no matter how much synthetic or organic fertilizer you put on it. You have to feed and tend you soil to stay sustainable. Rotating crops doesn't do this. Dousing crops with Round Up that isn't biodegradable is not good for the soil and therefore cannot be considered sustainable.

What I want to know is how this happened? How did they end up being able to become so huge at our expense? People have been paying for their misleading statements, irresponsible business practices and their nasty greed for too long! Not only that but we shouldn't have to have a list of what foods we don't want to put in our mouths because we don't want to eat genetically modified foods.

They don't have to label their foods as GMOs. Basically they created these foods, patent them and started putting them into our food supply without the public knowing. The government didn't feel that we needed to know. They were assured that the GMOs were just as safe as regular food based on tests driven by Monsanto themselves. How can they say that when they literally created soy beans, corn, cotton etc. to either resist chemical herbicides or to produce their own pesticide that kills bugs that might eat them?

They also make claim to being environmentally safe. How? Their herbicide is not even biodegradable!! Let's not forget to mention all of the pollution left behind from the dioxin and the PCBs. Don't even get me started on how bad I feel for the people left behind with the side effects from these chemicals and chemical byproducts!

Then they go after milk. Growth hormones so they can produce more milk. First of all when they started producing rBGH we didn't even need to produce more milk. Dairy farmers had more milk than they could sell and were being subsidised by the government. So what's this synthetic hormone for?? Is it just a way to poison people? 99% of the population drinks milk or uses it in other foods. The hormones come through the milk. They have to! I know the hormones they give to chickens come through the meat. Have you seen the changes in female bodies over the years?

Some milk companies (a lot of organic companies) have started labeling their milk as free of rBGH and guess who got mad? Monsanto. They claim that by labeling the milk that it's free of this hormone they are insinuating that something is wrong with milk made with the hormone. Well I don't really need to insinuate from the label. Knowing they are putting hormones in my milk automatically took me in the direction of organic milk any possible chance I could buy it. It's expensive and sometimes I'd have to take a risk and buy regular milk. Not anymore. I'd rather be flat broke than ingest another product from Monsanto.

America it is time we take our control back. Whoever controls the food controls the world. This company has proven time and again they are irresponsible. They contaminate and they lie. As a consumer we have a choice what goes into our bodies. The stores and agricultural companies will know what you choose by what you take across the scanner. Choose wisely. Choose healthy and whatever you do choose to not choose Monsanto!

One voice is more than one we had before. Look up products that contain GMOs. Refuse to buy them and eat them. Write to the companies and tell them why you are boycotting their product. All you have to do is set up one hour once a week to start looking into what you need to do to make our food supply safe again. What kind of future will you children have and so on if we don't stand up now for better food and better growing practices.

I know I will have more on this subject because I haven't even started on the lawsuits they file with farmers. That will be another blog entirely.

Update

We have four beautiful kitties born Friday! Two orange boys and two grey girls! Mama kitty is healthy and being a wonderful mama! The babies are doing great! What a neat lesson for our kids to see!

Queening Kittens

Our baby PITA (Pain In The Ass) is having her babies today. She decided the couch in the middle of the main part of the house was the spot. We bottle fed her after she had been abandoned by her mama so she's very comfy with us.

We have two so far. I'll get pics and post later. Stay tuned! She's doing great!!

Compost Pile

I have tried several different styles of compost piles, bins etc. None of them have done anything but collect old food, garden scraps and yard waste. No matter how hard I have tried to tend them they just never work.

Reading the biointensive gardening books and trying to put into practice this philosophy on gardening has led me to another type. Of course I HAD to try it. What if this time it works? This method is actually easy after the initial start up. Really the start up isn't hard; just labor intensive. I think the hard work in the beginning brings a sense of pride for a job well done.
Basically what I did was a lasagna style pile. I didn't do it exactly as the books said because they said to only dig and turn the dirt where the pile will exist 12", but I did a double dig method thinking that was what it said. It can't harm the pile, but it was more work than I NEEDED to do.

I started by measuring how wide/long the one side would be and marked it by digging the spade along the edge. I didn't measure how long/wide the other side would be. I wanted to eyeball it and see how large of a pile I could get since we have the space and from what I've read the bigger the better. I ended up with about a 4'x4' pile. I double dug the bottom of the pile 24" approximately. Once I finished the digging I took what had been my previous pile and layered it on top, sticks, dry material, moist material, kitchen scraps, dry material and then soil. It came to about 2' high (maybe a little less). I gently watered it to make it moist (not soggy). Now it is ready for me to continue building. I made sure there was enough space for turning the pile. I think this one will work since it really seems to have the space to breathe etc.

Here are a couple pictures I took while digging and the finished product.

Part way through the digging...Notice Rolley Poley over there to the left? She eats worms as I dig. It's a great deal for her! She now follows me all over the garden just in case I might dig.

This is the finished pile.

Here is a picture of the nice clean slate we plan to turn into our garden. We have a lot of space which means a lot of veggies, grains and herbs to eat, store and share!

Odds and Ends

As promised these are the pictures of our eggs cooked. I know it seems silly to post pictures of backyard fresh eggs, but you can really see the difference in color of the yolk compared to even a store bought organic egg.

After our delicious breakfast of backyard fresh eggs and homemade wheat toast I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and my husband's willingness to clean the house. I stepped outside into what will be our garden this year and began cleaning and organizing. I dug up worms for the chickens as a reward for their eggs.

This morning was our daughter, Eden's first day of independent study for her new school. Yes, it's a holiday today, but because she is currently so far behind she doesn't get holidays. Welcome to the real world! Amazingly for her English assignment her first task was to write a paragraph about food safety and tainted meat. Considering this is close to my heart and close to hers it was easy for her to write a paragraph in favor of ways to make our food safe.

Before writing the paragraph I asked her what she planned to write. I was happy with what she chose and asked her what the law was that would help our food safety. Without hesitation she quoted Kevin's Law and what it would do if voted into law. I was very proud!

I don't force my beliefs on my children. I simply watch, study, read, and listen to both sides in their presence and allow them to make their choices on politics, religion, climate change etc. Sometimes they see things the way I do and others they don't. In this case I was particularly proud because I put the movie Food Inc. on and she sat and semi-watched it with me. She was on her ipod and phone at the time. We watched it again later that night because I really felt my husband needed to watch it and she really paid attention, obviously.

I was happy to see an advance subject pop up for her to write about also. Sometimes I feel the schools are so far removed from the issues of the world and give kids a false view of what is important. Right now we are in recession (ok, yeah they say we aren't, but does it really feel any different? Not really). Climate change, war, sustainability, economics...these are the buzz words right now. Eden has been failed by the traditional school system. So glad I moved her.

On the agenda for the garden today....more clean up, weed removal and compost pile making!

Eggs!

I could hear one of our chickens cackling in what sounded like distress. I rarely hear them unless they are stuck on the wrong side of the fence going into our existing garden or when one of the dogs chases them in fun. This kept on going so I finally decided I should investigate. As I walked out I noticed none of them came running, which is unusal. I thought they must have jumped to the neighbor's yard....not good. Then Rolley Polley came walking out of this tunnel we have for the kids to play in and the other two came from another part of the yard. Ok, they're fine!

Then I saw it. The first egg in the chicken house and beside it was another. I was so excited!!! I grabbed one and ran into the house and showed Jerod who raised his fist in victory! We've been waiting a long time thinking maybe our beautiful girls wouldn't lay. The weather has been so strange and sometimes so cold for this area, so I held out hope that once the weather started to level out we'd see something. Fingers crossed. Well, we were rewarded for our patience!

I ran back out to grab the second egg and remembered Rolley Polley had been cackling and carrying on from inside the kids tunnel. I looked and there I found two more eggs one of them still warm from being laid. Amazing! I came in and showed Jerod that we were now going to eat 4 farm fresh eggs for breakfast! I did the test for freshness and they are only a day or two new!

I cannot wait to be able to scratch organic eggs off my shopping list for a while! I'll post pictures of what they look like prepared. But here is what they look like now!

Food

As a cook, both home and semi-professional, food is huge to me. I have been having a huge dilemma for several years about where the food I eat, cook and serve comes from. I'm a firm believer in buying locally and yet I don't follow it to a "T". Because we are a family of limited means with many mouths to feed I have to compromise. I don't want to do that anymore!

As consumers we tell farmers what we want to eat. Right now we are settling for what is given to us, unfortunately, and I think it's because many really don't know what they are feeding us. There are several things I’ve always had trouble with, but watching Food Inc. yesterday put the nail in the coffin.

1. Corn fed cattle should NEVER be an advertising campaign! Corn fed verses grass fed is no comparison. Corn fed cows are fat meaning the producer (not farmer) gets more for their money. You know what else they get? E. coli O157:H7. Cows have a wonderful digestive system with 4 chambers giving them the ability to eat grasses. Corn IS a grass, but they only feed the cows the grain. They need GRASS! If we fed all of the cows on feed lots grass over a short period of time they would shed 80% of the E. Coli and be healthier cows and healthier food. This is their NATURAL food. So that "All Natural" Beef you think you're eating is anything but!

2. Monsanto! Look it up. Go to their website see how awesome they make themselves seem. Then find the truth. You won't tolerate monopolies in energy and technology companies but you will with your corn and soy products which go into pretty much ALL processed food. You should try to avoid processed food as much as possible. I am guilty of eating and feeding my family processed food. I plan to change that. Oh and Clinton and Bush thanks for lying in bed with this company. I hope it was as good for you as it seems to have been for them!

3. That nice LARGE juicy chicken breast you're about to dive into came from a genetically modified chicken (unless you bought it organic then you man carry on). They are bred to grow bigger breasts and to grow larger in a shorter amount of time than a chicken should. Hormones, antibiotics etc course through their systems at a large rate. These chickens grow so large so fast their organs and bones cannot support them. The chicken you eat spends the majority of its 46 day or so life sitting in its own feces on the ground. YUM! A chicken house can hold thousands of chickens. What are the odds that when they collect them you get one that ends up on your plate that was ill? Very very good odds. Have fun eating it now!

4. McDonalds can suck it! That's all I have to say!

5. Want to see how many times they rearrange corn in the food you eat? Find out all the different ingredients corn is TURNED into (genetically modified) and then read your labels. It's in just about everything and your government controls it. It even fills that meat you love so much!

6. Veggie Liable Laws???? WTF??? I'll go to jail! I don't care. The government protects these industries to the point that you cannot speak out against what people put into their bodies. You have got to be kidding me!!! People can talk crap about our President more openly than they can about these producers. Hmmm something is wrong with this picture!

7. Everyone let me repeat that EVERYONE deserves healthy food. It's obvious we are always going to see the "haves" and "have not’s.” But a family shouldn't be able to buy greasy, processed, nasty hamburgers cheaper than organic, natural food. This is unacceptable!

We have a say America! Just like the movie said you cast your vote for what gets produced by what you take across that scanner at the market. Demand better for yourselves, you families, Americans and the world. Big companies want you to feel powerless against them, but you aren't.

Here are a few things you can do to put the power back into your own hands.

1. The healthiest food in the market is in the produce section. Eat seasonally (tomatoes in winter??? NO!) Also eat organic. Spend the extra money on that instead of that pedicure ok? Those toenails don't do your children any good.

2. Don't feed to your kids or eat cereal that changes the color of the milk. Bad bad bad.

3. If it comes from a plant eat it

4. If it grew in a plant or lab avoid it. NO MONSANTO!

5. Plant a garden whether it’s huge or patio sized find a way to plant the produce you like best. Bigger is better, but whatever size you can do is better than nothing so get out there and plant something beneficial.

6. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it yourself. This was in the interview I watched yesterday. No, junk food isn't healthy, but if you make your own French fries from potato to plate you'll most likely eat them less than if you pull them out of a bag or worse go to a fast food restaurant. You wash, (peel) cut, fry and it can be a process. It's the same for any food.

7. If you are going to eat a processed food, stick to foods that have only 5 ingredients or less.

8. COOK!!!!! This is the easiest way to take back control of what YOU eat.

All of these come from Michael Pollan's book “Food Rules.”

Many of my family and friends know that this is very important to me. I try very hard not to shove propaganda down your throats, but I cannot stand by and watch people I care about continue to consume something that sustains our lives that has been transformed into unrecognizable products. It's bad for you. It's proven.

Here are some of the things we plan to implement here in our home.

1. We already grow an all natural garden. This means we do not treat with sythetic fertilizers or pesticides. To extend this we are growing it larger this year using a new method to help us grow more and feed the soil so it can sustain us over time.

2. Since I do love beef and other meats I need to research where, in our food shed (100 mile radius of your home), I can find organic grass fed beef and other organic meats or naturally grown at least.

3. That being said I am cutting meat down in our diets. We eat meat everyday with just about each meal here. That's not necessary nor is it healthy. 90% of what we eat daily should be vegetable based. I'll be working on this.

4. Bake more bread from whole wheat

5. Find healthy snack recipes and make them here for the kids (anyone have a dehydrator they want to unload??)

6. Sorry kids but your Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops have seen their last visit to my cupboards.

7. Can from our garden, eat seasonally and eat organic as much as possible. There is a list out there of the 12 worst foods to eat inorganic. I will find that list and those will be the ones I INSIST are always organic.

8. We do not eat often in restaurants, but we will be doing it less. This one is hard for me because I work in a restaurant. I’m not sure what to do here on this one.

9. Buy fast food! This will be hard because I love the convenience and boy do I love the taste sometimes, but I won't take it and I won't feed it to my kids. Not anymore.

10. I plan to research more and share what I know. I've never has any trouble sharing that I'm a Christian and what that means to me, so I will use that same idea here. This is very important to me, my family and the future my kids and grandkids etc. will see.

We can change the world one voice at a time. I just added mine!

Another Good Read

I started Second Nature by Michael Pollan last night. I'm hooked! His writing is so easy to follow and full of sarcasm andthings that make me chuckle. But this book is a serious look at gardening from his experiences etc. I'm looking forward to gleaning from his experiences.

It's been raining something terrible for over a week, so we've been mostly stuck indoors. As I said in an earlier post, Jerod and Eden did clear where our existing garden used to be. So now we are ready to start getting the beds ready. I need to move a couple things around and figure out how to get a fence up to keep the dogs out of the main garden area. I'd block off the whole yard if Jerod would let me, but I don't think that's going to happen. So we'll get that figured out.

Seeds should arrive soon. I still need to order my seed potatoes and garlic.....oh and I forgot peppers! Can't forget pepper!!!! So those will be ordered soon. Need to get some compost as we haven't gotten our pile started yet. Lots to do still. I'll try to keep this updated and get some pictures on here as well.

Seeds Are On Their Way

I discovered a fantastic easier to follow book on Biointensive gardening written by John Jeavons who also wrote How To Grow More Vegetables. The Sustainable Vegetable Garden is much easier to follow for someone just starting out on this adventure. I followed the author's advice on which seeds to try first so my list did change some. After I see what's in stock and on it's way I'll post what we will attempt to grow this year. But the seeds are ordered!

Yesterday Jerod and Eden went into what was our existing garden and took out all of the old plants and we will begin our compost pile with that. I purchased a couple tools that we will need and once the extreme weather has passed us by I will begin digging our beds.

I also need to look into getting decent equipment for canning. We are definately going to need it this year...I hope.

So that's the latest here on our little patch of dirt.

We're back!!!

It's that time of year again! Even though it's still cold and the rain is coming down spring is right around the corner and there is so much to be done to get our garden up and going for the year.

Last year we had great plans of expanding our garden throughout our backyard, but the dogs had other plans. This year a new fence will be installed prior to bed prep.

I have already done my seed research and here is a list of what we plan to see in the garden by spring/summer (please note we have found heirloom varieties for everything we want to grow this year):

Tomatoes:

• Black Giants
• Cherokee Chocolate
• Arkansas Traveler
• Aurora

Peas:

• Shelling: Alderman Pole Pea
• Sugar Snap: Super Sugar Snap

Zucchini: Golden Zucchini

Corn:

• Golden Bantam
• Japanese Popcorn

Romain: Jerico (this is a cold weather and warm weather. If planted in the next few weeks we can have this by spring and then replant in August for a winter crop)

Spinach: Strawberr/Beatberry (this isn't actually spinach but great warm/hot weather sub)

Cabbage: All Season Cabbage (this won't do as well in summer here, but if planted soon we can see quite a lot for spring and then again for winter. We can make all sorts of canned goodies with this.)

Cucumbers:

• Pickling: Snow Fancy
• Regular: Cucumber mix (lemon, American and Straight)

Leeks: Mussel burgh (this is also a warm weather/cold weather crop. If planted soon we can have leeks for spring and then again for winter)

Cantaloupe: Northern Arizona (This is not a cantaloupe. But it's flavor is similar)

Beans: Anasazi Bush Bean

Strawberry: Alpine

Sunflower: Mammoth

Peppers: Jalapenos/Early/Hot

Radishes: Mix for various colors and also making this an all season

Tomatillo

• Toma Verde (which is what you typically see)
• Purple de Milpa (beautiful purple color)

Herbs:

• Basil
• Borage
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Chamomile
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Sage
• Cumin
• Lemon Balm
• Mint
• Savory

Quite the list! I am studying the Grow Bio intensive method this year because it really helps keep your soil alive. Good living soil helps a good living garden.

We still have 3 of our 5 chickens. We lost 2 of them due to the freezing weather we had a few weeks ago. They just couldn't take it. It was a sad loss.

I will try to update weekly if not more frequently as we progress or I learn something new.