Utilizing Our Yard

2nd Snow Fall of the Season

2012-01-21T13:09:00.002-05:00

That's right, (1/21/12) today we had our second snow fall. I'm glad that I can say, "second" and not a higher number. However, the weather is still pretty cold. One more month and the winter months will be over. I am looking forward to longer day light. Moving back to the tropic will solve all of my daylight problem, but that is another story. Have a great January everyone! (whatever is left of it)

Blueberries on the Ground

2011-12-01T15:09:00.005-05:00

I mean they are finally planted on the side of our walk path. The elderberry was not looking very well because something was eating its leaves before they all fell down. My insect repellant did not work because we have so much rain. It kept getting wash every time I sprayed it.

And have you heard my very first snow in October. My PIL didn't have any power for a week because their trees still have a lot of leaves. They stayed with us while waiting for the power people to get the line all situated.

MIL never touch anything I cooked, and criticized my pizza because I used flour with the dough. I felt like telling her off, and to make me a pizza with no dough if she can. But my FIL is a very nice man and that is not fair for him that I speak to his wife in such manner. If its not for him, she was dealt with properly....:))

I don't mind criticized if you have a solution for me, give it a go. However, if you cannot give me a solution shut up and accept it.

Anyway enough of that, I wish I can move somewhere in the south of this country for this season...brrrrrrrr and don't get me started with the electric consumption.

First Snow Fall

2011-10-29T13:26:00.004-04:00

Yes, the title is right and it's only Autumn where I am (10/29/11). I have a feeling that we are in for a very long winter months. Our fruit trees still have leaves and we already been outside twice to shake some snow off the branches. The branches are bending too much. This is also the very first winter for these fruit trees. I hope they survive.

We are supposed to go camping with this snow. However, DH have to work and I will not go and spend a night in the woods by myself and our children alone. Not to mention with the snow falling. I hate driving on the snow, and the place we always use to go camping is dirt road and I don't think they even plow it in the middle of snow fall. It is in a high elevation and we don't have a four-wheel drive vehicle. We are all enjoying the comfort of our warm home...today.

More Water

2011-10-12T11:03:00.003-04:00

We never get a rest from rain this year. BY the time the ground dried-up a little, then rain comes down again. Hopefully we can mix the soil when it freezes. Not the way we wanted it but it maybe the only way we will be able to do it.

I will have to cover-up part of our lawn on the side for our herb garden, which by the way gets a lot of sun. DH might say not to do it because people in our road will see the ugliness when they pass our house. I would say, "I don't care, and I really wanted to dry some of these herbs I bought. I am sick and tired of buying herb that are not even good for me because they radiate them. At least my own harvest is not radiated. I just have to think of something with what they actually put in our clouds and make sure they don't drain where my herbs are supposed to go. I know that's a lot to work on, but hopefully some prayers suffice.

If I can get out of spring and fall schooling, now that is something. Spring because planting time, I need all the help I can get and fall the same way for harvesting, canning and freezing vegetables and fruits.

Whoever invented schools, is not thinking about the farmers in the old days. Now a days, if you keep your children to help in the farm, social services will be knocking on your door, take them away and put you in jail for not letting them go to school. Nice job, government...NOT. Then feed them all the non-consumable process food in the grocery stores. No, if the FDA allow it to be eaten, get very scared, because there is something behind why they allow it.

Anyway, it's raining again here.

Harvested Five Peaches

2011-09-27T13:05:00.003-04:00

My peaches always started with many young peaches and always end up with only a few to harvest except last year. Last year we had so many but DH insisted not to picked them because the bible said to wait four years before eating fruits trees. Then took his words back because other knew it all said that only applies during Jesus time. However, it was too late then because all of them fell on the ground and eaten with deers.

The five I harvested this year had plenty of worms in them. They are all crack and ants are sucking the juices from the broken parts. I did try them ans as usual very sweet unlike the ones you can buy from the grocery store.

The tiny garden is done for the season. I got a few bean seeds to plant in spring. Hopefully we'll be able to till the ground before winter and when spring come. I can't stand not having fresh vegetables (mostly from our garden) at home.

And lastly, none of our new fruit trees fruited this year. I'm hoping they will next year, if they will survive the cold winter.

Knee High

2011-08-24T09:55:00.002-04:00

My garden's weeds are knee high. Those weeds are really growing. I was able to collect a few dandelion to dry up to future use as medicinal herb. I will be digging some milkweed too before they all disappear and I may not remember where they used to stand tall.

We also started looking for boondocks property that we can afford. There are many of them with large land, however, we are not really sure if we can afford to live there because we are sure there are no job around it.

If we farm, that will take a long time to perfect and have enough to support the whole family. Not to mention supporting the government too if we are able to sell part of the harvest for cash. They are sure come after us for their share.

DH friend is also looking for some property, and we actually found two property that are two mountains away from each other. Like half hour drive. That would be very nice to have. Not only we can farm, DH can take a friend with him too and become neighbors. We just need to find him a wife and we are good to go...ha ha ha.

Anyway, I will be able to save a few seeds from my beans. I am drying them right now and put away until spring. That's all I have this year, I'm not able to eat any fresh ones. I can but I rather save the beans.

Cooler temperature is here, we are having 50's and up since last week. Swimming pool is still open, I added more salt in it because two weeks ago it rained too much, added a lot of water in it and started to turn green. Not even 24 hours the water was clear as before. I wonder how salt we need to put in it to close it for the winter and not turn green in spring? I have to research it.

That's it for this week. Have a great one. And I apologize on taking so long approving Entrecard. My Firefox is version 6 and entrecard is only 4. The bar is not compatible and it is very hard for me to check the website often.

Growing Weeds

2011-08-11T08:54:00.002-04:00

That is what I have in the garden right now. Weeds towering my small count vegetables that are growing slowly. We have the temperature in the sixties last night. Fall somehow is coming very fast this year. I saw a very small bean trying grow. And might be the only one I'll be getting this year.

The swimming will be close sometime next week because we don't have time to do it this weekend. Many things going on. We still have to give away the kittens. People are emailing or texting us, but we simply told them to call. What is wrong with people? When we say call, please call, we don't bite on the phone.

Anyway, gotta go, getting ready for this weekend. Have a great one everyone.

A Few Words

2011-07-25T11:35:00.003-04:00

Not much lately.DH zero turn lawn mower broke. Our yard is never the same. He only stop at home for less than 10 minute to cut between customers (he does cut lawn for a living). So, no pretty striping in our yard now.

The scorching heat killed most of DH tadpole in the bucket. I think they cannot take that much heat for a period of days. Plus we didn't even bother changing the water those time. Well, lesson learned. We save them from our pool to let loose around the yard for bugs. Not much left now.

My dozen vegetables are thriving. I'm not sure if we are ever get any from it this year. Our children is enjoying the swimming pool. They soak in it twice a day. We had to clean the element (salt water to chlorinated water) a twice a week just to keep it going. Yes, we have saltwater swimming pool. The filter changes the salt to chlorine.

I think it is much healthier than plain chlorine that you can buy from the store. Yes, you can smell the chlorine and the water taste salty also.

That's all for now. Time to relax and trying not to do too much...I wish...

Milkweed

2011-07-17T15:07:00.004-04:00

I don't have much to report about our vegetables garden this year. And I don't want this blog to go doormat. I will be posting weeds around my house that have great benefit to our health. You don't need to buy any organic herb for personal use. If you are familiar with your weeds, that alone can be beneficial. Below is a video of what Milkweed looks like. This is my backyard, and I told DH to not to trim all of the weeds around our property.

I hope you have some idea of what Milkweed look. There are a lot of health benefit from Milkweed. If you have warts and like me (refuses to use any kind of drugs), you can use the white sap from the fresh leaves to remove you warts. You don't need to pick a whole leaf. Just tear a piece and transfer/drop/wipe the white sap onto your wart. Yes, you need to repeat the process until your warts dry, turns black and falls-off.

I took this picture today and the flowers smells pretty good. At the video above you can see a bunch of honey bees around it. The health benefits of milkweed in treating lung related disorders are phenomenal. It is an exceptional herbal treatment for coughs and colds and also for bronchitis, pleurisy, asthma and tuberculosis.

Health benefits are attributed to the rhizomes of the common milkweed and are quite similar to that of butterfly weed. The stems are unearthed after the common milkweed plant die. You can distinguish its characteristic pods and its single stalk. After cleaning the rhizomes up, the rhizomes are desiccated and preserved for future use in tea or the fresh root can be kept tinctured in alcohol.

If you need more information about this weed, the best thing to is search online. I only posted what I knew so far. I have plenty of reading to do before I can post all the benefit of this weed.

In Place

2011-07-08T11:00:00.002-04:00

I finally placed the small amount of seedling left from a long wait being put in the ground. I'm not really sure if I ever see it fruit before the cold weather comes. The dirt in my garden is not till. I just lossen-up a little of it where I planted the seedlings. In my opinion, it's not worth renting a tiller for too little vegetables.

We may go ahead with the raise bed next year. However, the weather changes every year, it depends on how much HAARP play god for that year, and how much disaster they wanted people to get.

Sad, stress about the whole no vegetable garden for us this year.

It's Official

2011-06-12T20:14:00.002-04:00

I am not getting a garden this year. Seems that H.A.A.R.P. is watching my area closely and those who live in valleys can never have garden this year. So, goodbye to fresh vegetables this summer.

My local farmers market is not even open either (well the one I like). I love their red baby potatoes there. The best I have since I started using red potatoes for almost anything, except for french fries for my children. Too little to make from it.

I hope nothing happens this winter, because my family will starve if ever. Crossing my fingers.

Somewhat Started

2011-06-07T14:58:00.002-04:00

Yes, a little part of my garden is clean and turned. You should see my children helping me with it. DH tiller will not start over the weekend, and I started turning the soil myself with a shovel.

A very hard way to do it, but I need a place to plant my seedlings. Even my seed did not come out. One third of it made it. I wanted some fresh vegetables this year, and that was the reason for me turning the soil with a shovel. My children was breaking the chunks into smaller pieces while DH trying to figure out what went wrong to his tiller. One of the people he knew used it last year, and he was the last person that used it. It would be nice if he said that it stopped working after something, so that we knew what happened to it. But nothing was said.

We will be renting a tiller for this weekend. I think what I will plant in it worth more than the renting price. We are just hoping that there is no major storm/rain coming our way this weekend. I miss going to my garden and pull weeds whenever I feel stress. And right now I am stress and nothing to do outside...argh!

Is the Ground Ready Yet?

2011-06-02T09:25:00.003-04:00

After teaching my children yesterday (we got done before lunch because we don't have much to do) I went outside checking the ground and my seedlings. I saw that the puddle in the low part of our property was dry. Right away, my mind told me that maybe I should start turning the soil, well at loosen it up for the rototiller. Can you tell I am very anxious to start?

Well, I went inside and started cooking lunch for everyone, and next thing I noticed that it's getting dark out. The weather bug on my computer was chirping telling me that there is a storm coming. What the heck? Nature knows that I wanted to start my garden and ruined it for me...ha ha ha. Geezzz! I can't win.

Yup, the puddle is back and I am hoping the rest of the week will be very dry. I don't think I will be able to harvest any seeds to the next season the way this weather is going. I wanted to move out of the valley..ugh!

A SIDE NOTE: I added some good blogs to read on the side bar. I hope people who owns those blogs don't mind me putting their links here. I was looking for some little farms around my area but came out empty handed. Others are close enough but nothing compare to my acre lot. They are full of information. I like to learn about wild plants or most call it weeds. I am still waiting for the goldenrod to show up in my yard. I got a book about herbs and the pictures are unrecognizable and one blog got plenty of information about wild herbs or wild plants/weeds and I wanted to compare the images.

Thinking About Chickens

2011-05-30T05:20:00.001-04:00

I am looking at different breed of chickens for our backyard over the weekend. Every time I see something that is very different than others it makes me cringed. I notice one looking like a roadrunner (like the cartoon) and also one with a feather like a kindergarten student might draw. And what's up with the silkies ones? I don't think I will be able to eat them.

Anyway, here are the list of most winter hardy and docile ones I found. The Sussex, Chantecler (it reminds me of one story in my child LIT lesson), Dominique, New Hampshire-red, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, and Rhode Island. I am familiar with Dominique because my parents used to have some, and some brownish red ones. I'm not really sure which they are with the above lists.

We are planning about putting their coop behind the fruit trees, away from neighbor lookers. We are not really sure if we will be able to have a rooster, being early riser and noisy in all. Maybe we can borrow one from our friend and keep it for a few days to breed the hens. We need to figure it out when the time comes.

I can't wait for the fruit trees to grow bigger, because that's the time to put up the chicken fence, the chickens, and coop. I like the feeling that I don't need to buy eggs and chickens to consume anymore. Crossing my fingers! I should probably start planting grains for their feed, don't you think?

No New Property

2011-05-25T07:58:00.002-04:00

Yes, we didn't get the property across the street. They were selling it for $79,900 before it went to auction, and the winner on the auction paid $60,000 for it. That is only $20,000 off the original price.

The only thing I can think of, is the winner did not know what they are asking for it to begin with. The highest we are going to give them for it was $27,000, because that is how much an acre lot goes for in our area. I think the buyer paid way too much for it. Unless the buyer is looking for a return (after fixing it) of something in the 200K.

With the economy, I don't think they sell it for that amount. Or maybe there are a couple who does know any better. Then yes, they will be able to sell it for that much. The dryer area I hope for is gone...

Auction Today

2011-05-24T08:49:00.002-04:00

Today is the auction for the property across the street. I/we are hoping, well actually wishing to win the highest bid. We are not really sure how many people will show up or even try to bid on this property.

Hopefully the amount we save for it will be enough. DH friends told him if he needed to go a little higher, he can provide a few thousand to cover it. What a nice friend he is.

Wish us good luck and lots of it.

First Cut of the Season

2011-05-01T14:36:00.004-04:00

This is our front yard, after DH cut it today. You can see across the street a sign for an auction. Yes, the house across the street from mine could be ours, with a little luck. I am hoping we win it at the auction sometime on the third week of May. You can see three fruit trees in our front yard. And yes, the mulch is not in place yet. Maybe I should have said, "the mulch did not made it to our house yet."...:))

The image below was taken last Wednesday from out backyard. DH was able to cut it once today. He ran out of fuel and he don't want me to go to the gas station to buy some more. He knew I hate driving his truck. I can't see very well in it, being small as I am...:))

Anyway, let's get back to the house across the street from mine. The house is a wreck. The people who own it, really made a mess before they left it to the bank where they got the mortgage from. The inside was much better layout than ours, but it looks like the design of a trailer. The walls and ceiling is as of a trailer, but it has two car garage, garage opener, four bedrooms, 2 and 1/2 bath. However, whatever we are willing to pay for it, is just the price of the land. We are thinking the house will cost thousands to repair. Furthermore, I bet the septic and well work just fine.

If we can win it, we will move our garden there, because the ground is higher in that side of the street. I don't have to worry about not having a garden at all. Power lines are in place and water just in case I need to water the vegetables have an easy access. I wish for luck here...send me some good vibes my readers. It would be nice to own two lots in the neighborhood. Have a great week.

My Hair Smells Like Smoke Maple

2011-04-18T10:05:00.007-04:00

He he he, that's right. I smoked myself yesterday while helping DH with the trees. He was very surprise how I got the fire going with all the dead branches I was chopping. Well, my parents taught me well about burning woods...lol. We cook on it (dry ones) back home when I was little.

I loppered the tiny brushes and put it straight at the bottom of the bonfire (huge). We dragged all the branches from around the house and put them on top of it. DH cut down 4 trees, to give way for the sun around the house. By the time I got inside the house I was ready to pass out. I didn't even take a shower because my feet are killing me. I don't think I will be able to stand in the shower the whole time. I was dirty and muddy, I never saw myself that dirty...well my clothes that is.

My hair smell like Maple flavor smoke hair...yea, I know good enough to eat...lol. I am still in pain. DH kept laughing at me, he said, "that's how I feel when I get home from work." I could not imagine feeling like this every day. I just have enough time to change clothes and fall sleep. Which he always do when he gets home.

Next post, fruit trees in place. We will need a lot of mulch for these trees. DH truck is not big enough to hold one load of it. I wonder if he can take it home in halves. However, the landscape place will have a hard time scooping it with backhoe by half. I don't know, we have to think of better way to take mulch home.

Some of the Fruit Trees

2011-04-12T09:54:00.005-04:00

This ones are my dwarf blueberries. Not really, they get up to 6 feet tall. We are planning on putting it as ornamental plant at the front of the house where is always sunny. We also bought one elderberry for medical purpose. The flowers can be use as tea.

Below are some of the fruit trees. DH still need to trim some of the branches out back. Since our yard don't have much trees, the ones on the property line is leaning towards the empty spot. Those branches need to come down for the fruit trees to get enough sun.

When we bought the fruit trees, the people who works there told us that we are planting an orchard. Orchard for a family of six. I will be doing a lot jamming and canning with the fruits.

List of what we have:
3 peaches trees
3 apples trees
3 pear trees
3 plum trees
5 blueberry bushes
1 elderberry

Yes, you can say we are planting an orchard. I also have one branch of peach inside the house I am trying to root. Experimenting to have more around the house. I think we will have enough to feed the whole street...lol.

Can You Believe It (More Snow)

2011-03-31T19:17:00.003-04:00

Yes, you hear it right, more snow starting tonight. My backyard is not getting a break at all. It was almost dry about two weeks ago, now wet again and getting wetter...ugh. I will be starting my seeds inside the house this weekend. At least they will be bigger, by the time we get the ground till and ready. I'm hoping they don't grow too fast, because I don't know where am I going to put them all.

We are also getting some fruit trees, finally. My peach will not be the only fruit tree in the backyard. We will go out this weekend to get them. They will be taller than me or DH because we don't want to wait too long for them to fruit. We have four children to feed and scared what will happen with the government. DH may not have any job soon, at least with fruit trees and vegetables, we can get by.

DH friend who lives about 10 minutes away from us will be helping with the seedlings too. We are mostly going to plant been seeds. I'm hoping we have enough days to harvest them dry. They are far better than canned beans or frozen ones. We are looking at them as long term storage. We can have fruits, jams and boiled beans if ever US belly up. Scary, I never had any time in my life where I can't buy food. Even when I was still little, my parents made sure we have something to eat. However, northeast US is not even close weather wise, to where I came from.

Six months growing and harvesting will not feed six mouths. Back home, my parents plant vegetables all year round and they also have chickens, pigs, or my father goes to the ocean to fish. Here, you need to have licensed to fish, and we are far away from any body of water. We can't have chickens because we know that our jerk neighbor will not stop until we get rid of it. I wonder how good is the power of prayer...hmm.

More Snow

2011-03-21T17:42:00.002-04:00

Another late start for my garden again. And to think today is the first day of spring here. I was thinking last week that the ground will get dry soon, but no. More snow will get melted within the few days, adding more water to my garden...ugh.

Snows Are Melted

2011-03-07T20:47:00.002-05:00

Wohoo, I can finally see my yard with the brown grass. I was in central & south NJ for the last two weekends and boy, they are having such a warm temperature over there.

I can't still do some soil mixing because my backyard ground is very soft. They are good for mud pies right now.

DH will be going back to work tomorrow for 2011 season. I will sure going to miss him being around during learning hours for our children. Plus I am more at ease when he is around during the day.

Oh well, someone has to make a living. And I can't help him much either. Tending with our children and my soon 2011 vegetable garden makes him happy. I already started planting seeds inside the house. Hopefully my timing is just right.

Nothing Yet

2011-02-02T20:24:00.004-05:00

After having about 5 inches of snow on Monday evening to Tuesday morning, some rain today I don't have much to say. However, I found a three feet long icicles hanging at the two corners of our house.

The water spout are clog, and the gutters are filled with snow and frozen rain. I was thinking about connecting those gutters with a few volts of electricity to melt whatever are in there. Do they make gutters with electric plugs in them? Hmmm, that's an idea...:))

The verdict on my garden; snow and iced covered as of late December. (the image can be seen in my other blog too)

More White Stuff

2011-01-13T08:51:00.002-05:00

So far, the southern states are getting more snow than where I am at the north. You can see at my side bar where I am. Now, everyone knows where I live...yikes.

Anyway, we got about 5 inches overnight yesterday. My children are very happy playing on them. However, I can't wait for a warmer temperature. My bedroom is out of propane and I slept last night breathing cold air. My children left the back door wide open when they went outside and I think my propane fire place was in full blast and ran out of juice (propane). I found out when I was ready to go to bed.

I am not getting it filled until the next winter. I might have to sleep upstairs in the spare bedroom until the weather warm up in spring.

Our First Snow of the Season

2010-12-26T21:30:00.002-05:00

Yup, the much awaited (by the children) snow came today. Last week I saw it was going to be on Christmas Day. However, as the week progresses, it went to Christmas night, then finally the day after. It did not start until one in the afternoon today.

I'm not really sure much we got yet, but our children are very excited about it. They can finally go down on our little hill in the backyard. I will be spending some time outside with them tomorrow.

The best part is, from now on, the day will get longer everyday. I can't wait for spring and planting time again.

Cold Frame

2010-12-21T16:19:00.002-05:00

DH is thinking about making a cold frame in front of our house (well half of the front). I'm not really sure if he will be able to make one but he planning on it. Yes, it is only a plan right now.

However, already have four pieces of sliding glass doors for the front of it. I wish I can give him some of my enthusiasm when making things. I can only push just the right amount towards him. If I push too much, he will give up very easy. If I don't push at all, he will think I am not interested in making it, and he will drop the whole thing.

My father will try to do anything and never give up until he is done. I kept reminding DH to buy him a ticket and let him stay for a month to help him with things. However, the plane ticket is very expensive these days. Will DH able to do it? I guess we will see.

The Harvest

2010-10-18T12:45:00.003-04:00

Here are what I harvested last week. Some of the carrots are being eaten by something. This ones are much better than last year. DH tilled the soil well this year and my carrots turned out good. I still have 1 or 2 that are oddly shaped. That is what happened when they touch some rocks.

Here are the squash/pumpkins that I was talking about. I know 2 or 3 pieces are acorn squash. I'm not sure what the others are.

And below is what I use some of the carrots above. Sweet and sour fish. I did not have any bell peppers in my garden this year, so, there is no pepper with this recipe. This picture can be also found in my cooking blog. This is it, for the 2010 season. I hope you all have a great winter and free from cold and flu.

My Vegetable Garden is Done

2010-10-11T16:12:00.003-04:00

For the season that is. I will never stop planting vegetables. I wanted to plant all the vegetables we eat next season. Buying the veggies in our local farmers market is not safe anymore. Why do they need to compete with commercial farmers. I like my vegetables all natural. It's bad enough I have to buy fish from farm raise, vegetables too? I need a balance here and I will make it balance.

DD was bugging me too much today to pick the pumpkins/squash. Since we are off for a holiday, I tried to harvest everything I can. Saved the seeds of long beans, okra and pak choy. Our friend wanted some seeds and there are plenty to share.

I even removed the fence and put them dry and safe from rust in our garage. My min-van have to share it if I wanted to use them again next year. We are moving the garden where the sun can reach all parts of the garden next year. DH have to till again from a scratch but we both agree that the outcome will be abundance.

I still need to make a mix of garlic powder and some kind of oil if I will plant some lettuce next year. If I don't make it, I bet we will never harvest lettuce to eat. The bugs will be all over them, just like what they are doing with my pak choy, rabe broccoli and other leafy vegetables.

My next post will have the pictures of harvested carrots and pumpkins/squash.

Peaches

2010-09-28T14:26:00.000-04:00

I only got 1 peach from the fruit tree this year. DD actually got 2 but it wasn't too ripe yet when she picked them. Three weeks ago DH told me that I should go out there and pick them but our weekend was too busy and I didn't have any time to pick them.

When I finally got out, we only have one still attached on the branch and nothing on the ground. I wasn't satisfy that everyone of the fruit was taken by someone or something. I looked carefully on the ground and found plenty of pits. I picked them all up and buried them in my garden. I am hoping they grow and I can move them when they are big enough.

I can't believe it, we had so much fruit but I got next to nothing. One of the reason that I didn't hurry picking them up, because DH was telling me that we are not allowed to eat the fruit until the tree is 5 years old. Well we asked around with some old and young people that knew more about the bible than us, and they came with the conclusion that those law only applies in the old days. Not really sure if it's true but we both think it make sense.

So, next year, I really have to watch the tree and make sure to harvest them before they fall on the ground.

Cantaloupe

2010-09-14T09:00:00.002-04:00

Finally, I have two small cantaloupe. I was been talking about this things since the beginning and they all turned out to be squash... It happens when I don't know what I am planting. The seeds looks all the same, well except for the cantaloupe.

I think the one below is ripe. I have to go back there later when the dew are dried up and check on it.

I will post our ripe peaches next time. We have talk to some people and we decided that the fruit tree law in the bible was for the people in the past. So, we will be picking the peaches pretty soon. Maybe I will try making a pie or preserve, depending which one is better for human consumption.

My Collection of Squash(es)....:P

2010-09-09T12:44:00.006-04:00

I apologize for not posting the squash/es (that just makes me smile) images sooner. But here they are now, I think each one came from different vines. I recognize the acorn squash but the others I don't have any idea what type of squash they are. Let me know if you recognize anything.

DH call all of them pumpkins...lol

You can click on anyone of them to see it bigger. I usually keep it this size but I made an exemption with them...today :))

I will try to take another picture before we pick them for Halloween.

Below is what I call Acorn Squash.

More of Vegetable Garden

2010-08-17T09:50:00.005-04:00

DD holding the longest yard/string/asparagus beans I harvested for dinner. No fertilizer just plain dirt.

Asparagus beans where I harvested the ones above.

This is okra (lady finger), I am letting this mature for my next year seeds.

Some type of squash, I harvested it and taste just like squash with white meat.

My carrots are thriving inspite of weeds growing faster than I can pull it.

More squash picture coming soon...

Update 8/12/10

2010-08-12T14:34:00.003-04:00

Pictures are taken 2 weeks ago.

Long/yard beans (sitaw), I actually harvested some today and thinking about making fresh bean adobo.

I thought this one was cantaloupes, it turned out they are pumpkins...:0..lol

Here are my sweet potatoes. I think deers are eating their leaves, there are hooves marks around it.

The okra/lady finger, I found 2 today that I can mix with my adobo. I can't wait for dinner...yummy!!!

I Can't Keep Up

2010-07-27T18:25:00.003-04:00

The weeds in my garden is growing faster than I can take it out. Most days I can do it for a few hours, but when it rains or showers like they say, "they grow like weeds." I really don't mind weeding but this is ridiculous. My shoulder, hands, fingers are in pain after a few days doing it...whew!

My sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, beans, okra, bok choy, carrots, and rabe broccoli are growing nicely too. A lot of bugs are eating the leaves of my bok choy and caterpillars are enjoying the leaves of my rabe broccoli too. The broccoli, I can keep up, but those little black bugs on my bok choy are too many, too little and can fly, I can't get rid off.

Anyway, I will post some pictures soon.

Summer Rain & Cats/Kittens

2010-07-13T11:37:00.005-04:00

I do love it because I don't have to water my garden. But I hated it because when finally the weeds are tall enough to pull, I can't because a sudden downpours poured when I wanted to weeds. Argh, very annoying...it feels like the cloud is watching me saying, "oh look she is out again weeding, let me rain on her." It is very nice to pull the weeds too because after a rain the ground is very soft. I don't need my trowel to help me pull them. And when I accidentally pulled one of my veggie, i just pack it down and good as new.

Sweet Potatoes

I went out the second time, and I can hear from the woods the rain drops. I waited until it's on top of me, just in case it will not come to my direction but no luck. Right smack on top of me, I had to ran back inside the house. My kitty (my 4 month old male cat, he was from the 1st litter of our 1st cat) was keeping me company weeding and joined me inside the house too...lol.

Cantaloupes

They are both people cat, if we are outside, they are outside and when we go for a walk, they come too. I love both of them. Anyway, his mother gave birth to her 2nd litter of the year yesterday. She have 3 kitten this time, the 1st time she had 4. This time the kittens are mostly black, compare to the last one with white/cream stripes, orange stripes, gray stripes and black stripes (we kept). The color this time are 2 black stripes and 1 black and white.

We listed the 1st one in Craigslist, and was gone the same day we listed the 3 kittens. We are planning on doing the same thing this time. I still wanted cream and orange stripes cats. Maybe next year when the mother is getting old, I can talk DH on keeping those colors. We didn't on the first time because the one we kept was the most playful one and still is until now. He is our stress reliever here at home, and he knows how not to use his claws when playing with us too. What I like the most is when he stand up and hug my leg, then run away...lol.

This part was weeded for a day, mostly pak choi/bok choy.

Ok, to others I may sound like a cat nut just about now. So, enjoy the pictures from my garden. Some part are weeded and the biggest part is not. I am working on it...lol.

Our Fruit Tree

2010-06-28T11:04:00.002-04:00

I finally had a chance to take a picture of our fruit tree. I know I have mentioned before that we are getting more, but the good ones (organic not GMO) are hard to find. There are places that sell some but they are too far away from us and I wanted to go with DH to pick it up. Meaning we need to drive 2 vehicles because I can't leave the kids home alone and DH truck can only 2 comfortably. We are a family of 6, he used to have a big work truck, he sold it because it was a fuel hugger. One of this days, we will plant a new fruit tree. More likely in fall or spring.

Our Garden

2010-06-19T18:48:00.003-04:00

Here is the picture, finally...lol. I already taken a picture a long time ago but I accidentally delete it from ODS camera. I thought I load them in my PC but I can't find them. Which means I deleted it before loading into my PC...:(

There are not much to see here yet but my melons (cantaloupes). However, when I went out there today, (watched the kids in the pool) I saw my beans coming out along with basil, carrots and sweet potatoes. Our first day of summer is tomorrow and I have nothing to show for it. I really need to bug DH next year to start early and I need to start my seeds inside the house. The way my is going now, there will be no saving for the winter and no seeds for the next season. This is not good. It does not help either during spring, because the kids are very busy with their meetings in March and April. Meaning I am busy too...:(

My Garden is Very Late

2010-06-09T21:53:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, DH finally mixed the soil for the last time. I have some cantaloupe growing and I planted it when he finished. I did not planted any seeds because I am saving the job for today. And guess what happened, all day today? Yes, it rained all day. That is what I got for waiting. Plus, my parents remind me not to plant anything early in the week because it will not fruit as much when doing it later in the week.

I have not really proven it yet, but hey, I am applying the my parents old wives tale in my garden. I got nothing to loss but missing a day of planting. I will definitely take a picture of the garden before the weeds grows again. I will do it first thing in the morning, unless it's raining again.

I can't wait to see how my vegetables will turn out this year.

Spring Brought Me Down

2010-05-16T19:59:00.003-04:00

Soon or later I know it was coming, and it did at the beginning of this month. Having no help around the house, it was hard trying to get some rest and trying to get better at the same time. I still have my daily duties to do even though I am not feeling very well.

I haven't taken a picture of my garden because I feel it does not look presentable at this point. DH only mixed it once and the weeds on it are starting to grow again. He got some things to do yesterday, and today he helped DD do some project outside. It wasn't even dry yet and they all ruined it. I would say probably 3 of our kids help messing it all up.

The good news, my peach/nectarine has so many buds this year. I think half of it will still fall, but it's about 90% more this year than last year. Everywhere I look, I can buds. Too bad we can't touch the fruits until it is 5 years bearing fruits (a bible thing). I went out there today without camera, and I did not feel like going back inside the house just for it. I take a shot the next time the kids are outside.

Anyway, how is your spring so far? My garden will be late again this year, and I'm not sure if I can freeze anything again, just like last year. The first frost of September is always a killer. I want to move to the tropic...who is with me...:)).

Finally an Update

2010-04-09T22:01:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know exactly how you feel. I can't really update this blog until we finally do something in our garden. Well, yesterday it was dry enough to some mixing. Not very well mix, but it was a start.

DH tried very hard to mix it yesterday because last night we had a rain. We are not raising it this year, I think we will re-route the water away better this year. Even with a deeper trench will do for now.

I will post a picture as soon as I have time to take them. Hoping for a great harvest this year.

Welcome.

Fourth Bucket Full

2010-03-17T10:42:00.003-04:00

Another addition to our garden. I wish we can do something with the garden right now however, we can't. It is way too wet out there, and I am sure that it will just turn into mud. Hopefully the nice temperature continues, and in no time it will dry up and we will be able to mix the soil. Crossing my fingers.

Active Droppers for February

2010-03-01T13:57:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much everyone. It will not very long, this blog will be active again. As soon as the snow melts off the ground, I will starts the updates.

Third Time

2010-02-05T06:10:00.000-05:00

This is the 3rd time we emptied our home made fertilizer since we started. Our garden is still frozen and I think this is the coldest month for winter so far. Anyway, the only thing we don't put in our food scraps are any kind of meat and milk products. I don't think what we collected this year will be not enough. However, if we keep on doing this, eventually we will have enough for the whole garden. Maybe by next winter our garden dirt will have enough.

Vegetable Garden Top EC Droppers

2010-02-03T06:46:00.000-05:00

My apology for not posting much in this blog during winter months. There are only two more months and this blog will get updates often, please bear with until then. Thank you so much for the non-stop visits and drops. And as appreciation here are the top droppers images:

More Food Waste

2010-01-17T18:33:00.003-05:00

Before leaving for his training on Saturday, DH brought the food waste outside in the garden. It would be nice if we can have a little refrigerator under the sink to keep it cool and not stink the kitchen. Anyway, anytime it starts smelling, we have to take it out. We keep the house as cold as we can stand it, but the summer we leave warm as the temperature outside except for the classroom where 8 computers are running 24 hours 7 days a week.

We had a very nice Friday and Saturday. Everything melted where the sun can see. Sunday is cloudy and it rained in the afternoon. We will never get the garden set-up with all the wet or frozen ground. And you know spring, rain, rain, and more rain. We might end up hauling dirt from somewhere just to have a garden this year. That would be a lot of work for DH.

I guess we just have to wait and see.

Top EC Droppers from December

2010-01-01T12:30:00.004-05:00

17 Pounds of Food

2009-12-29T20:25:00.004-05:00

DH empty our food bucket that weight 17 pounds. The ground here was very wet yesterday and today it is very hard because our temperature is in the single digit. DH covered the rotting food with turf to keep the wild animals from eating it. We really don't mind then eating it but we figure that they will keep coming back when our garden is done in the spring. They might ruin our garden or worst eat everything we are going to grow there.

Hopefully with the cold weather they will not smell it. We probably have to dig a trench again to keep the water running in our garden. We don't know where the end will land but hoping away from the garden.

I am getting cold sitting in front of my pc right now. I think it's time to put a second pair of socks just about now. Tomorrow I am thinking about using our above ground pool to ice skate. What do your think? I think we might brake it with our ice skate and have a big block of ice in the backyard until spring. That would be so funny.

Frozen Or Wet

2009-12-13T08:28:00.004-05:00

I don't we can do anything in my garden until the ground is dry and not covered with snow. That will be more likely sometimes in spring. We had some nice day, but that means the ground is still pretty soak in water. We may have to haul some dirt from the farm where we buy our raw milk to add to my raise beds for spring.

We also started saving food scraps to add as compose for it. I think we need to put it in a barrel to stop the animals for eating it. Now my kitchen is getting smaller with all this things that we are doing to be self sufficient (somewhat, just starting). Wish us luck!!!

Top Card Droppers

2009-12-02T20:36:00.001-05:00

Girls are Made of Sugar and Spice
In This Life of Ours
In My Kitchen
Product Reviews Von Mir
Everything Has a Reason
Fledgling Blogger
My GypsyGoods
Ungkutan
Photography by KML
Shopperista

Thank you so much for keep coming back and dropping. You are all appreciated.

My Vegetable Garden Received an Award

2009-11-26T19:14:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Rumpleteazer of Smallholdersdiary. It nice to be known by some people in blogosphere even though we don't actually know each other. Thank you so much.

Raise Beds

2009-11-24T07:30:00.002-05:00

Right now we are trying to get prices on woods that we can put around our raise beds for the garden next spring. Our ground is just too wet and not enough vegetables grew this year. The first year we did our vegetable garden we did great because most of the water goes into our garage. This year we re-directed the water flow and it goes to where our garden is.

We are pricing the wood that is not treated with arsenic (sp?). I think it start with "L" but I can't seems to have the rest of it...lol. Anyway, soon or later I will get it. We will make it about 4 feet wide, so I can reach 2 feet from both side. We also have two canopies about 7 or 8 feet long to cover it to have an early start in spring.

A friend of ours sent us the videos of this family who grow organic vegetables in California in their 10th of an acre on raise beds. Interesting but I don't think we grow that much (6000 pounds) vegetable in a year. We are just trying to grow enough for our own use. If we can grow enough, now the problem will be "how to feed my kids what I grow". That would be an interesting battle...lol.

That's all for an update. I will not be posting much here until we do things in our garden. Wish me luck with the raise beds. I think I will like because I don't have to squat to weeds them.

I Harvested Some Carrots

2009-11-09T06:37:00.001-05:00

Maybe someone can tell me what is wrong with them. Is the ground to wet or not mix enough? They don't seems to grow downward but outward. The one in the middle is hardly orange. When I open and cut the top and biggest one, the middle is very watery and it does not taste like carrots and the outside part is just fine.

They almost look like radishes or beets with the shapes. I will try again next year and I shall not give up...lol.

Time To Appreciate

2009-11-03T06:21:00.001-05:00

My top EC droppers for the month of October. Any words are not enough to say how much I thank all of you.

Everything Has A Reason

Girls are Made of Sugar and Spice

Product Reviews Von Mir

My Gypsygoods

Allotment4You

Photography by KML

After The Snow Storm

2009-10-30T19:02:00.004-04:00

I have learn something new about vegetables. Broccoli, pak choy, carrots, rapunzel can survive snows. Yup, I just found out after the storm we had about a few weeks ago. I went to my garden after a week it happened and see for yourself.

This is what is left of my pak choy. I have so much seeds, some are big and fertile and the other are tiny and the looks of it will never grow from them.

I don't have a pictures of the carrots but they sure are growing big. My garden is filled with so much weeds now. I pulled one of my sweet potatoes but turn out to be yams. They biggest one is as big as my thumb. I'm not really sure if they will still grow because the leaves are dead from the snow get got.

Hubby wanted to mix the soil but they are still too wet. Maybe we will do it when the ground is frozen, at least it's dry and hard...:)).

Gourd (Repost)

2009-10-21T10:28:00.002-04:00

Can you see four gourds here. Yes, and that is only from one vine. First year with this gourd was very nice, then it went downhill because of the weather. Not enough warm months from where I am.This was taken three years ago when my gourd had plenty of fruits. My father was so surprise when he saw that we got so much.

This one was the old fashion ones that came from back home. I still prefer the mini ones because with the big ones I had to eat it all week long. That is just too much for one single person.

An Update

2009-10-13T19:08:00.002-04:00

My peaches fell off the tree because of the strong wind. DH only found two of them and now I can't find the seed/pits that I tried drying outside. I think the wind blow it somewhere else.

I even tried locating where I put it to dry but no luck. Hopefully I can get some pits next year. They are small than the ones I can see at the local market. However, I guess that's there regular considering I do not put anything but all natural soil.

Top Droppers for September

2009-10-04T18:05:00.002-04:00

Peaches Update

2009-09-27T10:22:00.002-04:00

Look at them, after two weeks they almost ready to be pick. You can see below what they look like two weeks ago. I'm hoping I can pick them before they fall on the ground. Makes me wonder too if I can plant the seeds to have another tree, but I have my doubt it may not grow.

For Your Information

2009-09-24T06:34:00.003-04:00

I will start accepting EC ads again starting this Saturday 9/26. The widget will be open until 10/3 for the same price of 2ec a day. I wish I can let everyone to place an ad for free but I have no control over the management. However, I can sent you back your 2ec if you want.

All ads will be approve on 10/4, please don't be alarm if you don't see your adverts getting approve the day you place them.

Peaches This Year

2009-09-12T20:55:00.003-04:00

This is my Nectarine tree with only three fruits on it. I think we are having Peaches this year because the fruits are velvety. It has the texture of peach. From what I read they fruit peach one year and peach the next, is it right?

Anyway, DH drag me out there yesterday and show me that they are getting big. I agree they are pretty much noticeable now. We have to prune the tree when the leaves falls because it is tall and we can't reach the top of it anymore. I am also looking on buying some other fruit trees this fall.

Nothing Much

2009-09-06T20:35:00.002-04:00

This is the end of my garden for this year. I already stopped weeding and now trying to let some seeds matured for next year seeds. My carrots are starting to die because the ground is plain too wet for them. I pulled a few of them this weekend and they are starting to rot under the ground.

I am hoping for warmer temperature, less rain next year and hopefully I can start early. My okra/lady finger are trying to fruit and they are only a foot tall. Lucky I still have some seeds from last year.

I can't even get some sweet potato tops because the temperature already made the leaves very hard, even if I cook them longer than I usually do. How I wish I live in the tropic in this situations.

August Top EC Droppers

2009-09-01T19:56:00.003-04:00

Fledgling Blogger
Girls Are Made of Sugar and Spice
In This Life of Ours
Product Reviews Von Mir
In My Kitchen
Everything Has A Reason
Allotment 4 You
Frugal Healthy Choices
Animal Kingdom
Lohman Trading

My Garden's Update

2009-08-17T07:17:00.000-04:00

This are my Rapunzel, the leaves are getting eaten by something, the same with my pak choy. Yes, that is our cat, she follows me to my garden. The grass/weeds are better than my vegetables. This was the part I weed first, and look are them weeds now.

My carrots are getting bigger everyday. But little bunnies keeps eating the leaves on some.

This is my biggest roma tomato and our cat modeling behind it.

My one and only big rabe broccoli I have. The rest are just 1 inch tall.

Pak Choy

2009-08-11T12:10:00.004-04:00

Click the image to see it clearly.

This week update of my vegetable garden. This is my Pak Choy flowering, I can definitely have some next year too. See the red arrows, I am pointing to the seeds. Very nice, I'm hoping I can sell some at my local Asian store next year. Crossing my finger.

My Vegetable Garden @ Present

2009-08-07T08:43:00.002-04:00

Pak choys, basils, roma tomatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and 1 rabe broccoli can be found in today's picture of my garden. The weeding is getting done but not very fast...it will get done before the first frost comes...lol. I don't have much this year, DH and I was hoping to can or freeze some vegetables but I don't think it's going to happen.

July Top EC Droppers

2009-08-01T11:06:00.004-04:00

Thank you everyone, the top two are tie for first place and your widget will be featured for a month in my side bar.

Update on "my Vegetable Garden"

2009-07-30T17:57:00.003-04:00

This is taken form the window today. It looks like just our yard. I hate weeds and I can't keep up with them. I think if I do the weeding all day un-interrupted within a few days, this thing should be clean. Sad looking garden of mine.

I Harvested some Pak Choy

2009-07-27T06:56:00.001-04:00

Some of my Pak Choy are having flowers already but they are still very tiny. I could use the seeds for next year, and I'm glad they are having flowers. Sad because, this is my very first harvest and it's only enough for myself.

I cooked this with some water, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and oyster sauce. DH actually ate two raw leaves and he told me it tasted like grass. I was hoping to get more from it but since we had so much cold temperature they did not thrive well.

I only cut some leaves from the bunch. That is how my mother harvest them back home. We only take the largest leaves or the oldest and save the young ones for later. I sure miss Asian vegetables this year. I don't hardly have any :)

The Weeding Begun

2009-07-23T08:21:00.002-04:00

I could not stand it any longer. See I started weeding yesterday. I could have done bigger than this but DC can not leave me alone. Every time I started getting into it they would call me from the window. I want this, I want that, so and so is touching me/don't want me to play with/I need you to do this for me/are you done yet and so on. I get leave the inside of our house and they are stressing me so much and I decided to stop pulling weeds.

This is not even 1/4 of the garden. My hands are hurting because it is so hard pulling those weeds. I have to loosen up the soil before I can take the weeds out.

My Vegetable Garden @ Present

2009-07-16T13:49:00.009-04:00

Bok Choi

Rabi Broccoli

Regular Potatoes and sugar snap peas

I think these are carrots

These I still don't know what

Can you see how much weeds I got in this garden. We had so much rain, and this is what happened, dried crack/pack and very hard to weeds garden. From very muddy, now very dry packed. The weeds grows faster than my vegetables. I'm not really sure how much vegetables I can harvest this year.

These are my sweet potatoes, they are getting bigger everyday, well at least bigger than the weeds. I put some stakes for the extra sugar snap peas (not in the picture) and my long yard beans. Hopefully they thrive in this weather, too wet, too cold at night for a summer.

Using Peppermint

2009-07-09T06:49:00.002-04:00

We will be starting a herb garden next spring. We will be covering some part of the yard with black plastic to kill the weeds there and hopefully the herbs grow first before the weeds comes back. I will be using fresh herbs with my cooking starting next year, I can't wait. Anyhow, here are something about peppermint.

Peppermint is a type of mint. Normally one simply uses the leaves, either fresh or dried. The leaves have the best flavor if harvested just before the plant blooms. Fresh leaves are good in iced teas, lemonade, fruit salad, cucumber salad and so on. Dried leaves can be used in Middle Eastern recipes and tea as well as in baking.

Borrowed online image

To dry, cut the mint near the base of each stem, tie the stems into bundles using rubber bands at the cut ends. Then hook the rubber bands on bent paper clips and use those as hooks to hang the bundles--hook them onto an ordinary coat hanger, for instance. Hang them in a cool, dark, dry, well ventilated spot until crispy. Then remove the leaves from the stems and store in airtight packages such as jars or zipper bags, again in a cool, dark, dry location. Make sure there is no condensation in the container--that means it is not dry enough yet.

Going on Vacation

2009-07-07T06:33:00.002-04:00

How about your vegetable garden? Not to worry, here are some tips to keep them safe.

To keep your vegetable garden in good shape while you're on summer vacation, pick mature or nearly mature vegetables before you leave. Water the garden deeply and then mulch with grass clippings, hay, or straw.

The Fence is Up

2009-07-05T09:55:00.001-04:00

DH came home yesterday while the kids and I are outside. I asked him to put the fence up because most of my seeds are sprouting out. Youngest DS keeps on walking inside plus my sugar peas needed something to climb. There are so much weeds growing already but my seed sprouts are still smaller than them. I wish they grow faster, but we all know they don't.

Patriotic Potato Salad

2009-07-03T06:31:00.000-04:00

Show your patriotic colors this 4th of July with a red, white, and blue potato salad. Harvest new potatoes of 'Red Pontiac', 'Katahdin', and 'All Blue' now, gently digging around potato plants, taking 2 to 3 spuds per hill.

Top EC Droppers for June

2009-07-02T07:22:00.000-04:00

Visible Vegetables

2009-06-29T18:13:00.000-04:00

Some of the sprouts I can't really tell what they are yet. But the bigger ones I can tell, plus I remember where I planted them.

This ones could be broccoli or bok choi, I'm not really sure yet. I just have to wait when it gets bigger.

This ones are my long yard beans (sitaw). One of my favorite oriental vegetables.

Sugar snap peas, DH and Pat (YDS) favorites. I really need to put the fence up for support on these.

Regular potato, I can't believe they are out.

Sweet Potato

2009-06-26T09:56:00.001-04:00

My sweet potatoes are getting bigger. I know this is only one bush but I planted them far apart and I can only take one of them in one shot. I don't really care about the actual potatoes, I like the tops better. My garden is getting there.

Planted Yesterday

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness I had a chance to plant some seeds yesterday. I planted sugar snap peas, carrots, broccoli, basil, okra, Rapunzel, plum tomatoes, bok choi and long beans (sitaw). I also have rice seeds, eggplants, corn, gourd, and bell peppers. I don't think I'm planting them this year. I am worry that it will not make it before the first frost.

Now the wait begun.

Our Garden

2009-06-15T12:07:00.000-04:00

It's finally getting into shape. This is taken from my house window. We removed the plastic cover yesterday and I planting some potatoes where the arrow is pointing. After doing so DH came out telling me how ugly the dirt looks. I really don't mind, I just wanted to plant the seeds we have. I weeds are dead and it is nice to have them sprout out before the weeds grows back. He wants me to wait until Wednesday to plants the seeds. (I can't wait that long.)

Bolting Lettuce

2009-06-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

Lettuce plants mature and go to seed very quickly. The stalk you are seeing is the stem on which a flower and subsequently seeds will be produced. There is nothing you can do to stop the process. Cool weather may slow it down, but the plants will eventually produce a flower stalk and go to seed (called bolting), and it happens fastest in hot weather. Many gardeners make successive plantings of lettuce every other week or so. This will provide a continuous supply of young, vigorous lettuce to harvest from early spring through fall. There are varieties that are more bolt-resistant--look for this quality when reading descriptions in seed catalogs.

More Visible Nectarine Fruit

2009-06-04T10:13:00.000-04:00

Here is my nectarine tree. I can easily see the fruits now. So far I counted four, I can't wait to taste my home grown fruit.
Make sure you click the picture to see it better.

I even put an arrow to it, to see where they are.

Plant Melons

2009-06-02T08:28:00.000-04:00

Once the soil is warm(65F), plant melons. Cantaloupes, honeydews, and watermelons like fertile, warm soil and plenty of water. Plant seeds in circles 5 to 6 feet apart and thin to the strongest two plants per circle.

Control Corn Earworms

2009-05-22T11:32:00.000-04:00

As corn begins to mature, you may notice a worm in the end of the ears. The corn earworm larvae feed on silks and kernels. The damage is limited to ear tips, so cut that part off when harvesting.

Covered with Plastic

2009-05-20T16:20:00.000-04:00

DH and I covered our garden Sunday morning to keep the dirt warm. Sunday evening we had about 27°F for the low or lower (I didn't check). And like I mention below it was pretty wet and muddy. DH was not able to mix it very well the last he tried.

We are hoping to make the dirt warm and dry-up faster. We had to put logs and bricks to hold it down too, because when the wind blows the plastic goes up and fly away.

The kids wanted to play in the swimming today and I noticed there are patches of water on top. We had 82°F today for the high, you would think that water should not be there, but they are. Hopefully DH will be able to mix it again this weekend. My seeds should be on the ground by now, argh...it's too wet to plant.

April Rains May Bring More Rains

2009-05-17T08:44:00.000-04:00

It won't stop, we have an early April nice weather the kids are even in the pool way before May. Now we are having not so nice weather and it's raining too much. My garden will not get dry and very muddy right now. My neighbor planted their garden today. They only buy ready to plant vegetables. And they are about 4 inches high already. Mine in the other hand is not even in the ground.

Waah, I want my vegetables garden.

The Beginning of My Garden

2009-05-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

Here is my garden. It's not done yet because when DH mixed the soil it was very muddy. I think he will mix it again at the end of May when there is less rain and the ground is less wet. By the way this is going we are not going to have good harvest this year. The herbs and vegetables I wanted to plant takes longer to fruit/matured.

We still need to dig around it for the water to stay out. And put the fence around the whole thing. I have about half of it last year and the year before that. And you should have seen it the first time we started. It was like 5 feet by 5 feet round. Now this looks like 15'x15' or bigger, I did not actually measure it.

Control Squash Bugs

2009-05-10T08:18:00.000-04:00

These greenish-gray, 1/2-inch long bugs are found sucking plant juices on underside of cucumber, melon, squash, and pumpkin leaves. Crush the masses of shiny brown eggs when found and pick and destroy the young and adults.

Grow Container Eggplants

2009-05-03T08:28:00.000-04:00

Growing eggplant in 12-inch wide containers filled with potting soil allows you to reduce the chance of eggplants being killed by wilt disease and let's you place the plant in the sunniest location.

My Nectarine

2009-04-30T08:10:00.000-04:00

My youngest DS and I was walking around the property and I saw my Nectarine tree have blossoms. I may not get a very nice size Nectarine this year however, I'm happy because it finally flowered. I bought it from a mailing catalog when we moved here. After 6 long years I can taste it.

Click on the image to see the flowers.

We also bought a almond tree for DH, but he ran it over with the lawn mower and it never grew back the last time he did. He also cut my Nectarine tree once, but I am clever enough to put tomato cage around it. It should be bigger than what it is now and I'm surprise it grew back after he ran it over. I guess it is really for us. We are also looking for apple trees but we can't find the ones we wanted. Hopefully we can find some soon.

I will add the picture later, I still have to go out there and take a picture of it.

Trimming Sweet Basil

2009-04-27T08:33:00.000-04:00

Actually, it is best to keep basil from flowering because, as an annual, once the plant flowers and sets seed it will go into decline.

Usually gardeners encourage bushiness by a process called pinching. They begin literally pinching off or trimming off the growing tip(s) of the branches when the plants are quite small. (You can eat the pinchings!) They repeat this several times until the plants are as bushy as desired.

When the plants become quite dense, some gardeners simply trim or shear them regularly and use the shearings in cooking. Other gardeners will cut off a larger proportion of the plant for harvest, especially if they plan to dry or freeze a quantity of basil all at one time. These more drastic harvests can be done just a few times a season as they are stressful on the plants and eventually the plants just "wear out". In either case, the trimming prevents the plant from flowering and it regrows in order to try to flower.

Since your plants are already quite tall, I would suggest cutting them back by about a third. This will give you a nice harvest and allow you to begin pinching as it grows back. When you do this, be sure the plant receives adequate water and nutrients to regenerate itself. Enjoy your basil!

Caterpillars on Tomatoes

2009-04-25T08:24:00.000-04:00

It sounds like you're seeing tomato hornworms, which can grow to an alarming size! Like most caterpillars, hornworms can be controlled by using Bt, Bacillis thuringiensis.However, since tomato hornworms can do a lot of damage in a short time, you may want to remove the ones you see by hand. Note: If you see a caterpillar with what looks like grains of rice all over it, relocate it elsewhere in the garden rather than killing it. It has been parasitized by a certain wasp laying its eggs on it. These small wasps are harmless to humans, but will help the hornworm population in check. (The parasitized hornworm will die anyway.)

Tomato Blossom Drop

2009-04-22T08:32:00.000-04:00

Tomato blossom drop is usually caused by above 90F or below 50F temperatures. To protect plants against heat, provide shade from the hot afternoon sun. To protect against cold temperatures, cover plants with a floating row cover.

Pruning Herbs

2009-04-16T08:30:00.000-04:00

As you're harvesting herbs such as basil, rosemary, and mint, snip off any flowers that form. This will encourage the creation of a bushier plant with more leaves that have better flavor.

We Need to Start

2009-04-11T13:47:00.000-04:00

Still wet and cold outside to start my vegetables garden. I wish DH can get the dirt ready but he refuses to do it yet. He told me that we still have about a month before we can actually plant anything. This time of year I wish I live in the warmer part of the world.

Sweet potato and potatoes

I have onion, garlic, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes growing in the kitchen. No they are not organic, the sad part about it, I bought them from my local grocery store.

Garlic

I am planning about planting some mung beans and herbs this year too. Mung beans are very easy to store for later use. All I have to do is let it dry under the sun.

Onion

BTW, I have a PR2 in this blog. That is nice to know. I will add the images later, DC are using my PC and I am using the laptop right now. All of my pictures are in my PC and I don't an access to them right now. They are not shared and I can't access them.

Renovate Strawberry Beds

2009-03-30T08:23:00.000-04:00

If strawberry beds are weedy and overcrowded, renovate them. Mow plants down with the mower. Till under all but an 8-inch row of plants in the middle of the bed and thin remaining plants to 6 inches.

Squash and Melons Not Setting Fruit

2009-03-26T09:23:00.000-04:00

You're right that there aren't as many pollinators around, for a variety of reasons. A mite has devastated the honey bee population, and the media has scared everyone with "Killer Bees" so people are having hives removed in greater numbers than before. You might try a diverse planting of flowers to encourage more visitors. Some annuals that do well in the heat here are coreopsis, cosmos, gaillardia, vinca, lisianthus, and salvia. Herb flowers are also great for attracting insects. Limiting or eliminating pesticide use also encourages them.

Most vining crops start by producing a lot of male flowers before the females, and these early flowers wither and die. Once both flowers are present, you can hand pollinate the blossoms yourself by taking a small artist's paint brush or cotton swab and transferring pollen from the male flower(without a small fruit behind the flower) to the female flower (the one with a small fruit behind the flower).

Tomato pollen isn't viable much over 90 degrees, so fruits won't set when our temperatures get too high. You can try gently tapping and shaking tomato plants in the early morning to pollinate.

Sweet Corn Ears Lack Kernels

2009-03-20T09:21:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, if the kernels are not formed they will not fill out. I would suspect the problem was caused by poor pollination, due either to rainy weather when the pollen was ready, and/or perhaps planting your corn in a row instead of a block. Since corn depends primarily on wind to transfer the pollen to the silks (which is what makes the kernels grow), you need to plant it in a block. A clump of 5 stalks per hill or a block 4 feet square is usually the base limit to ensure proper pollination. Also, corn is a heavy feeder and requires a good, steady supply of nutrients for good growth. Since the stalks look fine, though, I don't think lack of nutrients was the problem.

Growing Swiss Chard

2009-03-13T09:35:00.000-04:00

Swiss Chard is easy to grow. Plant the seeds in the spring and harvest anytime, from baby leaves for salad to larger leaves for cooking. Burpee's carries 'Bright Lights', a packet containing several colors. You can also purchas 'Rhubarb Chard' that has crimson stalks and glossy green, crinkled leaves, or 'Fordhook Giant' with dark green, thick, tender leaves.

Wilting Basil

2009-03-09T08:34:00.000-04:00

In my experience, even though it is an herb basil actually needs a "normal" amount of water. If the soil feels dry and the plant recovers when you water it, then it needs more water--either more frequent watering, or more thorough watering. When you apply water, soak the entire rootball--rather than just sprinkling the surface. (Be sure to allow excess water to drain away.) When the soil surface dries out, it's time to water again.

There are two other possibilities, however. One is that the plant is simply reacting to heat and perhaps wind and cannot take up water fast enough to make up for the speed at which it is transpiring. In this case it may wilt slightly even when it has been well watered. Providing it with a bit of shade at noon or during the afternoon will help if this is the case. Another possibility is that the roots have begun to fill the container, and it needs a larger pot with more soil.

Harvest Edible Flowers

2009-03-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

Edible flowers such as borage, calendula, nasturtium, pansy, and rose taste best when picked and eaten the same day. Harvest flowers in the morning, after the dew has dried to adorn salads, soups, and entrees.