Garden Journal - Monday, May 30

We had a great and productive weekend here around the Davis' house!

I am so relieved to announce that we have all our garden(s) in!

My favorite part of gardening is definently NOT planting. I love to weed, take care of, harvest and preserve but getting the seeds in the ground stresses me out. I think it comes from my OCD/perfectionist side. All rows must be straight and with equal distance apart. My poor husband. It is quite an interesting time putting a garden in with me. But now, all I have to do is the "work" I enjoy.

Here are some pictures for the garden journal:

My container tomato plant. Doing quite well in spite of the winds this past week.

 With the constant rain, the little sun we had caused my tomato plants to thrive. I really think they are enjoying the extremely HOT weather as well!

Hard to tell with all the green but a closer picture.

  Excited for the fruits this plant with bear!

 Side view

  side garden view

 snow peas

 shell peas

 spinach slowly growing

 kale

 cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage trying to survive the squirrels

 beautiful cabbage plant

 beautiful broccoli plant

 more cabbage and peppers awaiting planting

 delicious lettuce needing to be cut for eating

 yummy lettuce blend!

 This brand of lettuce is having a harder time getting going but has such a sweet taste. Lincoln just stands and eats it out of the container!

 Andy worked so hard to get our "new to us" tiller to run. Thanks so much hunny <3!

 Bed of garlic - almost time for harvesting! I will be drying it and dehydrating it as well as using it fresh!

 Before - bed number 2 - I am not very good about cleaning out and preparing beds for the next season in the fall. This is one area that I want to be researching and working on this year.

planting carrots and getting sun burnt! :)

  Trying to make the "perfect" row and spacing!

 Bed number 2 - after - raised bed of carrots!

 Our longer garden that you look out the kitchen sink window and see. I cannot wait to look out and see all the fruits of our labor!

 Loves that even though it's not his favorite, Andy still helps and supports me when I garden! :)

 Seeds planted in order from fence to back door (right to left)

Fence: Watermelons and Melons

(from left to right in row)

7 Crimson Sweet Watermelon

2 Golden Honey Dew

2 Escondido Gold Melon

3 Amish Melon

Row 2: Squash and Zucchini

(from left to right in row)

9 Burgess Butternut Squash 

9 Black Beauty Zucchini

Row 3: Pumpkins

(from left to right in row)

4 Connecticut Field

6 Big Max

6 Galeux d'Eysines

Row 4-5: Beets

Detroit Red

Row 6-7: Cucumbers

Double Yield

Row 8-9: Onions

Yellow of Parma

Row 10-24: Green Beans

(from left to right in row)
11 rows of Blue Lake
1 row of Blue Contender
2 rows of Ideal Market

Getting our marigolds ready to be planted in between rows and plants

 

This year, I am just jumping in (trying to plan ahead a little) but really trying new things and trying to find things that work for us. I'm not sure how some things will turn out but you never know until you give it a try!

How about you? How does your garden grow?

Looking Ahead to June

Are there any seriously dependent list makers out there like me? I cannot live without my lists. I tried and seriously came unraveled.

One thing that I'd like to begin doing on my blog is making goals for the month ahead. That would bring us to June.

In June....

My goals in the kitchen are:

• be more diligent in taking care of my water kefir, dairy kefir and sourdough starter. I need to feed them properly and actually use them. 
• tackle the area of breakfast. Breakfast is usually just thrown together. I am terrible at actually planning ahead and soaking and preparing for it. I will be adding breakfast to my menu plans.
• to begin making my own granola. My family LOVES granola in our yoghurt. This would be an exciting treat for my kids. I will be scouring the Internet for good granola recipes.. Know of any?

My homemaking goals are:

• to begin a cleaning routine.
• to have a specific baking/preparing day.

My frugality goals are:

• to be more intentional about my time. Making the most of it and not just wandering from one thing to another. Do things that matter and have a positive affect on my family, me and those around me.
• stop eating out.

 My gardening goals are:

• to take pictures and be more diligent in documenting on journey. I am notorious for coming up with good ideas, them working and then the next year totally forgetting what I did.

Books I will be reading:

• Real Food Has Curves: How to Get Off Processed Food, Lose Weight, and Love What You Eat 
• The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden

How about you? Any intentional ideas for next month?

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

Sometimes I feel as if my life just took off without me. All of the sudden I was out of high school doing stupid things and the next I was a mother and a wife. I catch myself wondering if I really ever figured out who I was and if I ever grew up.

Enter meltdown...

My oldest son is graduating from preschool this evening and moving on to all day kindergarten next year. I know y'all are laughing at me... All of the sudden this feeling came over me. I am going to be lost when I don't have kids at home anymore!

So after many days, weeks.. of praying, I decided what I want to be when I grow up. I adore being out in farm country. There is a peace that washes over me. God's beautiful country. I can feel Him in the breeze and see Him in the blowing grass in the fields. I long to be a country girl. I long to harvest our own foods and I long to be able to do it myself. I long to raise free range meat and breed horses. I long to do so much. I'm not sure just yet what my area will be but I know God's plan is great!

I have no idea to do a lot of what I will need to do but the next four years will be dedicated to trying to obtain financial security, lots of reading and research, and learning as much as I can about the life on a farm from right here in my own little suburban development.

I am beginning to garden at my home and trying to learn many other skills. I will be checking in and giving y'all progress updates and most likely some good stories of success and failure.

Join me on my journey from crazy suburbia to peaceful pastures!

Suburban Gardening

I am so excited about the new gardening season. This year we are trying to garden at our home in a suburb of Dayton. I am very excited!

Here are some pictures of the beginning stages of the garden:

Have you started working on your garden? Any new ideas that you will be trying this year?