Hey guys incase if you are wondering if I just disappeared well I haven’t. For the past two weeks I’ve been spending time with family that I haven’t seen since wayyyy before the pandemic started. Now I’m back and I’ve got some awesome updates for you guys!
For starters, this blog is going to be one of my shorter ones because Ive started my own YouTube channel. I figured it’s better for me to video process that I’ve made than to write about it all the time. My YouTube channel is https://youtube.com/channel/UCXcDX_rmEeb2PeebsuSoO-Q So please go subscribe to my channel.
The second thing that I wanted to update everyone is my garden! Some of my plants have survived and some have not sadly survived. However, my winter and summer squash have made a comeback! They are looking fantastic. Also, before I forget my snap peas are almost ready to harvest as well. I’m so excited! If you want to see what my garden looks like now then head on over to my YouTube channel!
Overall, I think I’m doing okay despite the set backs that I had earlier. If you have gotten this far then make sure you subscribe to my blog and now vlog for updates!
I’m kind of excited to update you guys on what has been happening around here in our garden this week and last week! We have got some changes going on that I think will be very beneficial in helping especially while we are away. I also will be able to update you guys on if my seedlings have survived or not because of last weeks frost and why I decided to combine weeks in this post. Also, last but not least update you all about new seedlings that I’ve planted this week and show you where I am at with my indoor plants.
So while I took that little mini break from blogging and gardening this past fall I started to do a lot of research into ways that I can improve my garden. One way that I read up on was installing a drip irrigation system. I read that installing this system is helpful in watering your plants in more ways than one. For one thing it sits on top of the soil and helps get the water right where it needs to be and that is at the base of the plant. For another thing that I read up on the drip irrigation is that it eliminates watering your plants from above which can not be a great thing to do when you have a plant where getting mildew on the leaves can literally kill it. I still have some tweaks to do to my system but I’m going to get it up and running soon. Also, on top of the system I bought a timer to water my plants so that my plants can get the water that they need while we are away.
The second thing that I want to share with you guys are the seedlings that have survived and so far have sprouted. So I did make a mini video down below one night after work to show you all everything that has so far sprouted. I honestly didn’t think that anything would have survived other than what had already sprouted. So here is what has so far sprouted of both my vegetables and flowers from that deep frost that we had recently. So far I’ve had Danver carrots, lupine, both marigold mixed and red knight and also painted daisies emerge.
The third thing that I wanted to update you all on is why we haven’t been able to update the blog lately and that is because we have all been sick yet again. This time with the stomach bug. It’s has not been fun getting sick with the little guy. However, I’m glad to say that we are now on the mend.
The last thing that I wanted to update you all on the seedlings that I planted in week 9 and also give you guys an update on the plants that I already have already started indoors as well. So first off I wanted to say that I’ve already planted new seedlings for my cauliflower and cabbage outside in the same spots. Fingers crossed that they sprout and survive this time. However, inside you could say that I’m doing early trial run of growing pumpkins. Am I crazy for starting this early? Maybe?? However, if I do really well with them then I will start new seedlings in the summer. Boy oh boy do I have a lot of them too. I have jack o lantern, Halloween blend, sugar pie, little October, and Cinderella. My house will probably be known as the pumpkin house this fall. As of week 10 I have a few pumpkins that have sprouted and a few cauliflowers and cabbages too. and That’s not all that I’m growing though. I still have to update you all where I’m at with my other transplants that are growing. So far I have jalapeños, sweet Williams, Johnny jump up, sweet peppers, bell peppers, supper sweet tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, basil, sage, cantaloupe, Georgia rattlesnake watermelon, straight 8 cucumbers, garden sweet cucumbers and bush variety cucumbers. I know that is a lot and that is what I have so far. I still have more seeds to start in the next few weeks too.
Week 9 In this photo I have a lot of plants growing here. I have watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, plum pear trees and tomatoes.I have more pear plum trees and Johnny jump ups.I have jalapeño’s, sweet pepper, bell peppers, purple cone flowers and Johnny jump up.
I’m so excited to have more plants growing outside. Make sure to follow and subscribe below to our latest updates on our blog! Wait until you see what I have on next weeks blog!
So this week might be a week where I don’t know if all my crops out side will survive. If your wondering why my blog this week is written a little weird then it’s because I’m trying to write it day by day at least for this week. We have had some pretty weird weather happen this week in the good old south!
So if you guys don’t already know I live in Georgia. Not the country the state that is in the USA. If you are from Georgia then you know that the weather is bipolar. One day it’s warm and in the 60’s then the next day it’s in the 30’s and you see sleet in the forecast. Let’s just say that no farmer, homesteader or hobby gardener liked that little surprise in the forecast. Now I did do some preparation to kinda help it. I don’t think I did enough but something is better than nothing right? Well, I did put a covering on my plants outside with what I could find in my garage. I did find a thin blanket sheet that was super long and I put that on my raised garden bed outside. I also extended a ground cover that was already on the hill over to where my plants are. If I would have been more prepared then I would have bought some plastic wrap from the grocery store like this one guy did in my neighborhood. Yes he literally wrapped his whole front garden in it. Last but not least I just covered my smaller raised bed with the plastic from my garden soil. That last one flew off the bed already. As you can see from the pictures below that I got a little creative with pinning everything down. Also, I should mention that my husband and I tried moving that smaller raised bed but it is too heavy.
Now I usually do my gardening on the weekends because I work a normal 9-5 kind of job during the week. I decided to do my gardening on Sunday this time around because on Saturday as you all know at this point we had a freeze. I decided to video document my experience of the morning after. I’ve got to say that I’m not sure that everything will survive but I’m hoping so. The top soil was fine but digging deeper into the soil it was a little bit rock hard. For this week, I planted flowers, herbs and vegetables outside. I planted red knight marigolds, mixed marigolds, winter and summer squash, and parsley. I also transplanted cauliflower and cabbage too. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will still get a good harvest this year.
The last thing that I did was I also planted some new seedlings indoors. I’m supper excited about these because these are the fruits that we eat the most in my house during the summer. We planted Georgia rattlesnake watermelon and cantaloupe. I also planted some varieties of cucumbers as well. I know I sucked at growing them last year but I wanted to give them another chance this year.
So far this year I’m still hopeful that it will be a great harvest year despite the little set back of the below freezing weather we had this past weekend. I’m hoping a lot of the seeds that I’ve planted outside will pull through. My goal for this year is to not only grow as much food as I can but also eat healthier and also to save on some costs and lower our grocery bill too. Please like share and subscribe to my blog. Comment down below if you guys think I should start a YouTube channel!
I’ve got to say that I’m so excited to garden this year! I’m excited to be pushing my own boundaries and learning how to become better at it. Not only have I started some new seedlings inside and outside this week but I’ve also done a bit of research into learning companion planting. I’m so excited to you you guys what I’ve planted this week and how I’m going to use my garden beds.
So for this week I started planting one of each of my fruits and vegetables. I’ve also planted out some different types of flowers as well. Inside I planted Roma tomatoes. I’m really excited to be growing this variety so that I can make pasta sauce. However, outside I’ve planted strawberries and Danver carrots. I don’t know the variety of straw berries because they are store bought ones that started to go bad and well I just really wanted to at least not let the seeds go to waste. We go through a lot of strawberries so I really didn’t want those ones that went bad to go to waste. I’ve also started planting flowers as well too. The flower seeds that I’ve planted are echinacea, painted daisy, lupine, asylum and ornamental grass (a smaller variety). I’ve selected those flowers for two reasons. The first is that I wanted something that is a perennial and would come back year after year. The second is that they can attract pollinators (bees) and fight off unwanted pests too. I do not want to use any pesticides on my plants. I planted my perennials in two different spots and for slightly different reasons. The first is the obvious in my planter bed to help pollinate my garden and the second place is in the bed in my front yard for aesthetic reasons. Also, I wanted to make sure to tell you guys as a tip when you planting new seedlings inside or outside is to make sure you water your soil first before planting. The is so that your seedlings don’t become washed out and “misplaced”. You defiantly don’t want that to happen.
Another important aspect of gardening is what is called companion planting. Companion planting can help your crops grow by not only sometimes giving it nutrients but it can help ward off unwanted pests. Take for example tomatoes and basil. The herby smell of the basil helps repel bugs and more specifically hornworms. I’ve learned how important companion planting for your garden is. In the next few weeks you guys are going to see me do a lot of companion planting with different herbs and plants.
I can already feel that this year is going to be a big year for growing my garden. Especially with what I’ve learned on how much companion planting and having pollinators (flowers) in your garden can help in the growth of your harvest. I’m not that great with growing flowers but it is something that I’m willing to learn. I’m just hoping that all this rain that we have had this week is going to help with the seeds that are germinating outside.
This week has been a crazy week between my son being sick and my husband starting to go into the office again, thanks covid, I haven’t forgotten about you guys. So where do I start with the updates on my garden? Well, I guess I need to give you guys an update on what I’ve been growing indoors and outdoors. I also need to update you guys on some things that I’ve been doing in my garden this week! I’m so excited to be giving you guys this update! Also, I’m sorry for the lack of pictures! I suck at remembering to take pictures at times.
To start off with my plants have been growing like crazy!! Induct I’ve already had to transplant one type of flower into a bigger container. I also have so many peppers and tomatoes that I’m growing too! It is literally crazy too! My end goal for this year is to see if I can learn and grow as much food as possible to sustain my family and also create a business to sell produce at farmers markets. I want to be able to share what I’m growing with other people. Now outside I’m already seeing black seeded lettuce, sparkler rashes and Nantes carrots growing too. I see a lot more of them growing. I know that I probably mentioned about them popping up last week but since last week I’ve had a few more come up. I think that the raised garden bed that I have my radishes and carrots in was a great investment. If you guys would like a review than please comment down below!
The second thing that I have been busy doing other than taking care of a sick toddler is getting my in ground raised garden bed ready for some plants and seeds. If you read my post last week then you would have seen that I built that thing in about an hour. However, this week I’ve decided to fill it. I started off with putting down some card board (thanks Amazon) at the very bottom. I then bought the cheapest compost manure I could find at lowes. I did already have some compost of my own but it wasn’t enough to fill it so I bought 30 bags of compost. All I’m going to say is that boy oh boy that was quite a workout! I still have some left over for my grow bags too. Before I buy another bed I’m going to see just how many seedlings/plants I can fit into the one bed that I do have.
Overall, I think I’ve got off to a good start with my crops this year. Ive learn a lot in between seasons about what Ive could have done differently and I think it’s really paying off now with how much I am now growing. I’m also super excited to be growing crops in my raised garden bed this year too!
Here we are at week 5 and boy oh boy do I have a lot to tell you guys! I have some changes that are going on in my garden from upgrades that I’ve made and some landscaping that I’ve done. I’m so excited to tell you guys so let’s get started.
The first thing that I’ve done is worked a little bit more on the hill. I’ve cleared out a good section of it. While it is a big project to work on I know that I can get a majority of it done my summer if I work on clearing it out on the weekends. I’ve taken pictures of my progress so far of before and after. As you can see in the pictures below I’ve decided to start from the top and work my way down. My thinking is that instead of growing fruits and vegetables all over it I may put a lot of flowers and attract pollinators and put my fruits and veggies somewhere else.
Before After
Which comes to my second point. I’ve finally come to a point where I bought a huge 8 foot raised garden bed. I think I’m going to buy another one in the next few weeks. It was easy for me to put together as a woman on my own. It took me about 45 minutes with one mess up. It only took me that long because I was screwing in the screws and bolts by hand. (I was too lazy to grab a screwdriver) I’ve also took some cardboard that I was going to put in composter and I put that at the bottom of the bed. It wasn’t super hard to put together but it was very time consuming.
Lastly, I wanted to update you guys on seedlings that are started to emerge outside. I finally have two lettuce plants emerging, some radishes and a carrot coming out. I am ecstatic about it. I was a little bit nervous that my lettuce seeds that I planted on the hill had washed out from all the rain we have had but nope they did not! One tip that I’m going to give you guys and I do this with both my seeds inside and outside when first planting is that after I put the seeds in the ground is I will water them with warm water. I do this because in February the ground here is sill on the colder side so it helps the seeds germinate.
My one little carrot that is growing. This type is called Nantes half longThese are called sparkler rashes One of my lettuce black seeds that sproutedThese are both of my lettuce black seeds that sprouted.
Overall, I’m pretty ecstatic with what I’m growing. I just hope that I have a good outcome of crops for this year. Like I’ve said that my goal for this year is to cut down on cost of our groceries and that my goal for next year is to hopefully start my own farmers market business. At least that’s what I want to do in the next two years. I think with all the supply chain issues that more and more people are going to start producing and selling locally.
Hey guys I wanted to jump on here to say that I’m still going to be blogging. I just wanted to give you guys an update on everything going on around here. It has defiantly been a minute from everyone in my house getting sick to me planting new seeds.
Everyone around here has been sick this last month. Tis the season for colds! No we didn’t have COViD this year even though 2 out of the three of us did have it last year. Weirdly enough since my body has had many colds in the past from teaching that ever since I had COViD I have symptoms that mimic COViD. Yes I did test negative for COViD and yes I am fully vaccinated. As a side note I believe it’s your choice to be vaccinated or not. The whole vaccination thing is not why I’m posting this update. I’m posting this update to let you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to!
If your asking if I’m still going to garden in the spring then the answer is yes! My son is a bit older and walking now so I hope by summer that we will get to have some fun gardening together. After all toddlers do like to play with water and dirt right now I’ve already stared to plant some seeds. Yes I know it’s early but some of these seeds are more like tester seeds for me because they all are from fruits that are store bought. I’m trying out different ways and methods to get them to grow. I should also mention that I learned to harvest the beans from the green beans so that I can grow more green beans next spring. Even though it’s the dead of winter here in Georgia I have been preparing my garden for the next growing season. I will make another post about that later on though.
Overall, I’m excited for this next growing season. I’ll have some pretty big updates to give you guys in the next couple of weeks. Right now it’s our dead season down here in Georgia so nothing is growing and everything is pretty much dead. Don’t forget to sign up to receive blog updates down below!
This weeks post is going to be a little bit different. I’ve decided to combine my weekly posts because well not much is going on here in our garden. It’s almost the end of our growing season and right now I’m in sort of a planning stage of deciding what changes we want to make in our garden.
First off our plants are still doing great. Knock on wood I’m getting some great output from my tomato plant. I haven’t harvested them yet but I see lots of them growing. I recorded some short clips of my tomato plants. It’s starting to get a little bit colder here in the south. If you live in Georgia then you know that Georgia weather can be bipolar as I call it. Where it can be cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. As a result of it turning into fall my green bean plant has slowed down with growing and my cucumber plant has completely died on me. My plan for this week is to let my beans dry out so that I can use the seeds for the next growing season.
So what do you have planned next? Well, my husband and I already have a couple of projects planned out for this fall. The first three projects are putting up Halloween decorations, fixing up our plant bed in the front of our house and starting a compost pile. This is a brand new house so our front yard has a lot of crab grass and weeds because of the sod. It’s been kinda crazy around here with Halloween coming up. We haven’t been doing much to the garden this week because it has rained so much. As for the composter though, I found this outdoor duel one by for less than $100.00. It did take me a while to put it together but I think it will be well worth it.
Overall’ we are super excited to start planning out our garden for the spring. We hope that with adding in mulch it will give it a much cleaner look. I’m also hoping that my composting adventure will cut down on the cost of soil in our yard while also growing lots of food for us next year.
Ok so since I kinda missed last weeks update I’ve decided to combine this weeks and last weeks updates. A lot has happened since I’ve last blogged. I’ve learned that I’m good in some areas and I kinda suck in others.
Onto the good parts. Well, let’s just say that my green bean plant came back from the dead and now it’s thriving! I’m having so many green beans growing it’s crazy. It’s fuller and thicker. Also a very shocking surprise that I had today was that I had my first cucumber grow! I checked it out the other day and I must have missed it. I do have lots of little ones towards the top but they aren’t growing as well. It tasted very sweet and my husband agrees that it was a very good cucumber. My other plants are growing very well outside too. I have a small variety growing outside that has grown a lot this week. I thinned them out last week so I think that helped a lot.
Even though I had some positives happen this week I also had a major blow happen. I ended up losing my remaining basil plants. I think it had something to do with the fertilizer. It was a good run while I had them but I still have more seeds for more basil plants in the future.
Overall, this has been so much fun for me to do as a hobby. Slowly I’m learning more and more about gardening. It feels great to know that That at least I know what I’m putting into my own body food wise. I think I’ve come a long way with gardening and this is something that I’m going to continue doing.
So as a new gardener I came to this bump in the road and questioning what is the right way to harvest basil? So I’ve scoured the internet and also asked my father on what’s the proper way to harvest and store basil. These are the steps that I’ve learned on how to do just that.
Materials:
Paper towels
Ice water in a bowl or plastic container is fine
Scissors
Gallon size bag
Basil plants
Step 1: Go through your plant and take out all the dead leaves that have fallen on the soil.
Step 2: Start cutting the stems right after the first node of the mature basil. The mature basil will have two big leaves and two small leaves on it like the one in this picture. You want to make sure you harvest the basil before those two little leaves form seeds. Once it starts forming seeds it will die. Doing this will also help encourage new and more growth. You will see more stems growing and sprouting.
The node is right above my thumb. So you want to cut between where my thumb and where the two stems shoot off of the main stem.
Step 3: once you have harvested your basil go through them and take out any leaves that are starting to become diseased. You don’t want to eat those.
Step 4: cut off and discard the stems of your basil.
Step 5: take your leaves and run them under water to take off any soil or critters that may still be on them. Pat them as dry as you can get them with paper towels
After I harvested one of my two basil pots
Step 6: Put them in the ice cold water for 15 seconds. This will shock them and help stop them from going bad.
Step 7 pat them dry with a paper towel and fold the paper towel with the basil in it and store in a gallon sized bag.
The ones on the left is right after the ice bath and the ones on the right are about to be put into ziplock bags.
Step 8: repeat steps 6 and 7 if necessary.
Step 9 date and freeze your bags for future use.
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