One More Step on a Long Road

My garden is started, and I'd say it's coming along fairly well. I haven't gotten everything in yet, however, and I'm hoping it's not to late to plant a few more things from seed. Out here things need to be started pretty early in the year because of the long growing season and the extreme hot and dry days coming up later on.

I took some pictures at different stages and I will try to post a few soon. I uploaded all of my recent pictures to my old computer last week, but since then I got an amazing new laptop that I have been using almost exclusively, so I don't have immediate access to them. My other computer is very old and is really having some serious problems, but I'll try to get over there and get a few of them up.

So far, this is what I have already growing in my garden: potatoes, red onions, sweet onions, elephant garlic, which is actually more of a wonderful leek, basil, dill, lemon balm, rosemary, a few green bean bushes, spaghetti squash, some early girl tomatoes, because they reportedly do fairly well out here, a few other heirloom variety tomatoes, and a pot with some cherry tomatoes to sit nearer the house. That makes them handy for snackin', and if it gets too hot I can move them out of the heat.

There is some sort of volunteer plant coming up over against the fence. I don't know what it is, but it's thriving! It's a remnant of a bygone garden attempt, and therefore probably either a squash, cucumber, a melon, or a gourd. I think that is all I would have planted near the fence. It's a section of fence that we erected in order to keep the dogs away from a newly planted tree so that they wouldn't chew it off at the ground. Ten or twelve or so years, many feet of tree growth, and several dogs later, it's only purpose for years now has been to support climbing garden plants. I don't think I would have planted anything else over there.

I planted a blackberry bush at the end post of that same fence. I'm very happy about that! It seems to be pretty content in it's little spot. I am hoping to find a raspberry bush to plant near it, on the opposite end post. Eventually I would like to have rows of berries. I don't think I can ever get enough. I love berries.

I bought some strawberry starts, too, but they are still in the little six pack they came in. My husband thinks I'm trying to kill them by not getting the poor things in the ground, but actually I'm trying to gather some containers and fix them to my fence like hanging baskets. I think I'd rather have them there. I don't have a lot of garden space yet, and I would like to better utilize what I do have by growing things in it that need the space. Some of the things I want to grow will probably do just as well in planters or baskets as they would in my garden space, so I am planning on pulling a rabbit out of the hat and starting chard, lettuce, radishes, and my strawberries in those kinds of containers. I have a ton of big ideas, but if I don't get them underway I'm going to miss my opportunity.

I seeded a few zucchini plants along another stretch of the same old fence. I have some watermelon and a few decorative gourds planted in hills along the back of my garden as well. I hope they come up soon. Almost immediately after I planted them it turned unseasonably cool, and the wind blew so hard it probably dried the hills out, so right away I start to wonder if they will survive it all. I tried to keep them wet. We shall see.

"The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn't understand how." Mark 4:27 (CEV)

I still have cucumbers and cantaloupe seeds to plant. I've run out of fence to plant them near, so I'm going to have to rig some sort of trellises for them. I also found some brussel sprout seeds, but the cool weather came and went, and the chance to plant them, or any cabbage or kale, slipped unceremoniously past.

I have some green pepper seeds someplace around here, and I think I'm going to throw a few of those in when I find them. To me, a garden isn't complete without green peppers. I think they will do alright. I have quite a bit of mulch to cover things with once they get up and growing. That will help keep the moisture in, and that's really the biggest concern. The blazing sun is always an issue when it hits, whether the plants are big or small. We have talked about erecting some kind of a sun screen to protect things, but we never have. Maybe this is the year for it.

I get a little aggravated with gardening out here. I know once I get everything up and running it will be fun and wonderful and everything I was hoping it would be, but with all the expense of constructing shelters and shades, and for all the extra water and everything we have to do to make it work, we would be almost as well off to pay for produce at the store! I do take comfort in knowing that the food will be actual food, and it will be more nutritious for the family, and that every year that we make improvements to the garden areas will serve to make it more and more self sustaining until someday it wont be necessary to buy any more props or artificial aids from the store. Meanwhile, I guess I will continue propping it all up.

Hopefully I will have a successful garden this year and will have plenty to put up. I haven't canned in many years, but I think I remember how. Between me and google, we got it! I have a water bath canner, but my next acquisition should probably be a pressure canner. I would like a nice, big, stainless steel one. I found one at Amazon for $99.00, and that is really a pretty good price. Maybe by the time I need it I will have found a way to get it.

I'm scanning yard sales and second hand stores for pressure canners, too. You never know, I might get lucky. I'm really hoping for two. I want the one big one for canning, but I would also love to have a smaller one to cook in. I can remember my grandma cooking in one. It was a long time ago, but I remember the food being good, and I remember her talking about how fast it was. I can't remember the cook times, but I can remember the fork tender pot roast and back bone. I know you can start food from a frozen state and still cook it quickly. That would be quite a bonus around here since we don't use a microwave and I'm notorious for forgetting to thaw the meat.

Last week end I picked up six cases of Ball jars with the rings and lids at the church yard sale. I got them for two dollars a case! I was so excited. I already have several cases of large jars in my shed. Now I can add a few more, and several cases of smaller jars to go along with them. There were some tiny wide mouth jars among them. I think I may try to make a few pies in them. I saw a recipe for some tiny fruit pies that are made right in the jars, and can be frozen and later baked or reheated in the same jars. I think it would be a fun thing to try. It would be a handy snack for my husbands lunch box. Maybe I will get enough blackberries to make a few pies out of them.

We haven't completed the patio, but it should be done soon. It's all ready to go, but it is on hold until my husband gets a few days off back to back. We have to get some sand and then set the cement pieces in, but I don't think I'm strong enough to move them all on my own. Once it is finished, I'm going to set some containers on the south end with lettuce and chard in them. That will not only save space, taste good, and be handy, but it will look nice, too.

We have acquired a nice, big table to use in the work area. I don't have a potting shed, just a shady area under a tree, but perfect for a nice table and for a staging area for whatever I find myself doing out there. I have to pick it up this week. A good coating of polyurethane or some other sealer is all it will need to be in full time service. Meanwhile I have a big piece of plywood propped on two sawhorses, all things that could be put to better use elsewhere. The plywood is about ready to be turned into a set of shelves in my kitchen. That is a plan that's been put on hold for far too long. It will be the biggest single improvement to the inside of my house and to improving my daily life and schedule in many years.

We still haven't done anything concrete about setting up any water catchment. I inquired after a few large containers but I haven't heard anything back about them. I'll follow up on that tonight. We have researched it a bit and know fairly well what we plan to do once we get the big containers. It will be a huge thing for us to be able to water our garden from rain barrels. That is probably one of the projects that is working it's way to the top of the priorities list.

I am learning as I go. I am planning to start saving seeds, composting on a larger scale, making small structural improvements, and marking what did and didn't work well. I'm going to can and dry some of the produce, if we get enough and it's not all eaten. I plan to get a few laying hens. I have a little roost and an area that could be pretty easily and inexpensively changed over and prepared for them. I'm not sure when I'm going to do that, though. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew at the expense of the chickens. I'm doing well to keep up with what I have, if you can call what I'm doing 'keeping up'.

Well, that's the update. I will post when more happens. I'll probably post when more doesn't happen. ;-)