~ Yesterday started off well ...............................

I strolled down to the chicken coop to feed the chickens , guinea and check on the young hen. I released her from the inside pen Sunday night and let her roost with the other chickens , but the older hens kept pecking at her. She finally found a safe place in one of the nesting boxes. She was doing well yesterday morning , although she was sitting alone atop the door of the pen when I opened up the coop.

I took some veggie scraps and dumped them in the compost bin , the older hens love getting in the compost bin and scratching around. I let the chickens out to free range and walked around checking out the garlic and greens. I was amazed how the garlic and greens had grown since last week , everything looked like it had grown an inch or more.

The lettuce I planted last week has started sprouting , the spinach looks better since I thinned it out. After taking a few pics I headed back to the house to do dishes and household chores. I went back out to check on the small hen around lunch , she was fine but was alone near some old wooden doors. So I went back to the house for awhile , went back out around 2:30 and she was hanging out with the guineas at the edge of the woods.

At 5:00 I went out again and as I was walking to the coop , I saw a small hawk in a tree at the edge of the woods , he flew away upon seeing me. Unfortunately this time I couldn't find the little hen. I was looking for her when Dh got home from work , he started looking too and found her lying near some steel he has in the field , the hawk had killed her. So my day didn't end so well. Some days you wonder if it's worth the effort you put into trying to be self sufficient , it was definitely one of those days.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ How the Garden Grows ~

We finally got a little rain Sunday night , it's been very dry for the last couple of weeks. The garden wasn't looking so great , hopefully it will be revived now.
The guinea are doing a great job with pest control , they're keeping those pesty Japanese beetles under control. I love watching them walk down the rows , pecking them off the plants , they're wonderful organic pest control. Our sweet yellow corn is starting to develop ears , the rain should really help that process along.

Our cucumbers are bearing , but they're tasting a little bitter , due to no rain. Next year I hope to have a better irrigation plan in place or at least add clay pot irrigation to the cucumbers , squash and tomatoes.

The Tommy Toe tomatoes are starting to ripen , we're still waiting on the Roma and the larger tomatoes to ripen.

This is the first time we've grown popcorn , it's doing really well , look at those ears ....... I'm excited about the popcorn.

The zucchini are growing well this year too , last year my zucchini squash didn't do well at all.

So that's how the garden grows , you never know from one year to the next how it will turn out , but I feel Blessed by whatever it provides.



~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ In the Garden this Week ~

~ The broccoli has been harvested , blanched and frozen ~

~ We've got baby cucumbers on the vines ~

~ Those tomatoes are really growing ~


~ The calico popcorn is developing ears ~


~ My first try at garlic braiding , hope I get better ( LOL ) ~



It's been a busy week in the garden , we had rain almost everyday last week and the weeds have taken over , so I've been pulling , chopping the last couple of days. The squash are coming in , we had fried squash night before last , they were delish .........tonight I'm making a squash casserole. Yesterday I cut all the cabbage , they didn't fare so well this year. We planted them late and the cabbage worms ate their share. I'm going to try to grow cabbage this Fall and see how they do. The garlic is almost ready to clean and store. I've been trying to braid garlic , it's harder than it looks , but I'll keep practicing , eventually I hope to get it right.



~ Garden Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

~ In the Garden ~

~ The blackberries are starting to ripen ~

~~ Umm ....... Fresh Broccoli ~~



~~ Baby Yellow Crookneck Squash ~~





~ Look how those claypot irrigated tomatoes have grown ~

~ Baby Tommy Toes ~

~~ Little Zucchini Squash ~~

Whatever lofty things you might accomplish today , you will do them only because you first ate something that grew out of dirt.

Barbara Kingsolver

~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Garlic Galore ~

We've been busy digging garlic this week , the garden wagon sure came in handy.

The garlic didn't do as well as it did last year , but looking back at my garden journal , we planted it a couple weeks later and had to harvest about 3 weeks earlier , due to the weather. We've had hot summer like weather for the last month or so , and the bottom leaves were dying , so we had to harvest earlier. It's not as large in size , but we have about triple what we had last year.


Yesterday I graded most of the garlic , small , medium and large. I really enjoyed this part of the harvest , being outside under the shed , watching the guineas and listening to the birds singing , so peaceful.

~ Small ~

~ Medium ~

~ Large ~

Bundled and hung to cure !

In about 2 weeks it should be cured , then it will be time to clean it up and store it. I'm considering selling garlic at the local farmer's market later this summer.

~ Garlic Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Garlic Harvest Time ~

The garlic is ready to harvest , we were planning to dig today , but we had rain yesterday , so it maybe to wet. If the sun comes out early , it may dry up enough to dig , we'll see.

I'm considering starting a garlic farm , we love garlic , it's easy to grow and would provide extra income. I think it would be wonderful to have a family farm. I grew up on a family farm , my Granddaddy raised tobacco. He farmed tobacco , to pay taxes on the farm , but it also provided extra income for most of his kids and grand kids. It was a family business , my grandparents , mom , dad , aunts , uncles , and all the kids helped harvest the tobacco , prepare it to hang in the barns and take it to the market. It was a learning experience for us grand kids , we had to earn our money , it wasn't just handed out. I'm thankful I was raised this way and hope to teach my grand kids the same principles.

Granddaddy raised his tobacco without pesticides , he would give us grands a reused food can to put tobacco worms in. One of our (grand kids) jobs was to go down the rows and pick the cut worms off the plants by hand. He would pay us for each worm we harvested.

.01 ~ small worms

.05 ~ med worms

.10 ~ large worms

We would fly down those rows , trying to out do each other of course. It was fun and we learned so much from the experience. Of course his tobacco farm was small compared to days farming operations , just 2 or maybe 3 acres at the most. We loved working in tobacco , as it was called , it was family time. I would love to provide the same family values for my grand kids , family working , laughing and learning together.

~ Family Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Clay Pot Irrigation *

~ Clay Pot buried , shows cork plugging hole ~

~ Clay Pots filled with water ~




~ Clay Pot with saucer used as lid ~




~ Needed 1 more lid , so I used a hubcap (LOL) ~




I'm experimenting in the garden this year with clay pot irrigation. This technique has been used for thousands of years , so thought I would give it a try. Last year I used plastic 2 liter bottles for this process , they worked well but I would like something that's better for the environment and easier to fill with water.


I have a few clay pots that I'm not using , they're 6 inch pots. Two of the pots had saucers , so I'm using those for lids. I dug holes between my Roma tomatoes and buried the clay pots. The article I read recommended using silicone to plug up holes in the bottom of pots , but I wanted something natural , decided to use corks. I hope they work , you need the water to seep out slowly.



I'll probably use some 2 liter bottles too , but I love the clay pots. I'm going to scout some yard sales , thrift stores for more pots and saucers.



~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ In the Garden ~

~ Potted Herbs ~


~~ Cilantro ~~

~~ Broccoli Head ~~

~~ Potatoes Blooming ~~

~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ In the Garden ~

The garden is growing quite nicely , so are the weeds. I fertilized the garlic last week and have been weeding it this week. Monday I had a visitor come through the garden , Mr. Kong the sneaky snake. He went back to the woods , hope he stays there. I really don't want to mess with him , but if he ends up in the chicken coop , he'll have to go. The potatoes have sprouted and took a good growth.

Remember the seeds I started awhile back , the kitty laid on the lettuce plants and ruined them. My brussel sprouts and broccoli didn't do so well either , so I moved them outside. The brussel sprouts died and the broccoli was still looking terrible. Easter weekend I sat the broccoli plants out on the deck by the pool , I was planning to dump them in the compost bin the next week. But they started looking better , the stems were looking stronger but still tiny. The following Monday I planted them with some other broccoli plants we had bought , they have grew and are almost as large as the other broccoli. The broccoli that is mulched is the broccoli we bought , the other pic shows the broccoli I grew from seeds. I need to mulch them when it stops raining.

The last few times I've worked in the garden , there has been a wonderful smell wafting through the air , I finally figured out what smelt so heavenly , they're wild roses. I've never really paid attention to the area they're growing in , they're in the edge of the woods and running up in the trees. It's a small white rose , my wildflower guide said they're called , Rosa multiflora. I'm going to dry some of the blooms for potpourri , they'll look good mixed with my dried violets.

Sooo ..... How does your garden grow ?

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ In the Garden ~

I worked in the garden Saturday , finally got the broccoli and cabbage planted , hope it has time to produce before it gets to hot. I also got my asparagus and strawberries planted in the raised beds , still need to mulch them. Hope to get the seeds planted this week. The onions and potatoes are sprouting , need to mulch them soon too.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ A Walk around the Homestead ~

Between the April showers , Little Froggy and I took a walk around the homestead yesterday. Just as we were getting to the chicken coop , I saw a big bird flying up to a tree at the end of the garden. I thought it was a buzzard , but then I saw the long tail feathers. I believe it was a wild turkey , I had my camera , but by the time I got close enough to get a pic , it flew off. I think it may have came by to visit the guineas and the hens, maybe it will come back. The hens are enjoying their freshly , cleaned coop.

The blueberry bush I moved last fall , is putting out leaves and buds. The other two aren't sprouting , hope to get some more blueberry bushes this weekend to replace those.

Little Froggy thought it might be fun to feed Jazzy a stick , she wasn't to thrilled , although she does love apple tree sticks.

Have you taken a walk around your homestead lately ?

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn