The Snow is Going!

Crushed Concrete

Last year David removed the asphalt last spring. It was badly broken up and too thin in places. We added a few loads of class five to raise it up and level it. However it was still pretty sandy and it made a mess in the garage and house. We had 2 loads of crushed concrete brought in this wk. David spread it and level it and I threw the kids in the van and drove back & forth (and back & forth) to flatten. After the first rain and driving on it a bit more I’m hoping it’ll make for less sand in the house, good for bike riding, as well as dribbling a basketball on it!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

I forgot to post a pic of April 1st, but here we are at April 7th. It’s been a more mild winter and a nice, slow spring.  It’s SO nice to see more green than white out there in the yard and to see the garden again. 💚

Beautiful Winter

Our first summer, fall, & winter were awesome. Our snow was gone last wk, March 15th. We had about 4" more come then disappear by the wkend.  I know this is a fluke, but I'm loving it!!! SO excited to be planting soon!!!

The Great Outdoors

This little critter LOVES to be outside, even to help weed the dog kennel. 

Yea! Child Labor ... Just kidding!!

Name That Veg!

No, that's not a beet. It's a radish!

1st Time Canning Results:

First time we tried canning. Outcome:

Carrots: 11 Qts

Beans: 11Qts & 13 Pts

Pickled Beans: 7 Qts

Corn: 21Pts, 1 1/2 Pt

Pickled Beets: 8 Pts
Refrigerator Pickles: 3 Pts

 

 

 

And if we didn't have enough room in the canner then we froze what was left of the batch.  We also have onions, potatoes, and green tomatoes in the garage.  All in all, it was a good year. The fences really helped to keep the deer our, but a little more water would have helped.  David also grew sunflowers as well.  My mom came to stay the weekend & teach us the art of pickling. Good times had by all.  Hopefully we'll get a deer & get a chance to try canning venison!

Save Your Blanching Water

The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don't pour the water down the drain.  Let it cool & use it to water potted patio plants, and you'll be amazed at how the plants respond to the "vegetable soup."

Plant Freezables Near Each Other

I am starting a "Gardening Tips" label for myself (and the 3 people who read this blog :) ). Since we have such a short growing season, we have to make the most of it.  Year after year I get these good tips, but do not remember them from year to year - so I blog them for future reference.  They will include things I hear from others as well as trial & error on my part.

Plant Freezables Near Each Other:  It just so happened that the past few nights have been pretty cold and so we cover our freezables with plastic.  Out of pure dumb luck, I planted my cukes, tomatoes, and peppers near one another.  Thereby, we were able to cover them all together versus covering different parts of the garden.  That's my tip.  Take it or leave it, but I'll try to remember it for next year too!

POP! Praise the Lord! (Canning)

Wanna see how many miles I can put on your pedometer?

Kitchen helper in her new apron.

More of Grandma's jars.

Using Grandma Brooks' blue jars. I bet she'd be happy they're still getting used.

1st time canning.  David has yellow wax beans in his garden and I have green bush beans. We've done 5 gallons of beans between canning & freezing so far.  Not bad for first timers.  It helps to keep those deer out this year!  Listen for the seal, "POP!" PTL!

Garden & Flowers for 2012

My garden



5 new apple trees planted this year



David's garden

Tiger Lillies

New: Bleeding Hearts

New: Red Lilly

New: Mini Gladiolias

New: Hostas L-R (Dancing Queen, Fire & Ice, and Love Pats)

New: ArchAngel (reminds me of Mom)

Sunday Gloves



Sunday Gloves a Blooming

This is a bulb I planted a couple of summers ago for Dad in my flower bed. It finally bloomed this year.  It's called "Sunday Gloves".  It blooms for about a day and then closes and falls off.  Even though it has multiple blooms - they never last long enough - kinda like the time we spend with loved ones.  So cherish it whilst its here.

September Updates

September has been a busy month. I wanted to journal so I don't forget what we completed. We finally got carpet in the SE bedroom. The walls are tan and I wanted to get away from brown and brown, so I did a green carpet in this room. (I think) it looks good. Yeah! 3/3 spare bedrooms completed! Almost - still have to finish the molding, but yeah!

We replaced three windows on the front of the house. This was supposed to be a 2012 project, but a rock through the widow via lawnmower boosted it up a year. And if you do one, you may as well do an adjacent one too! Two thumbs up on the Jeld Wen window! Great quality.

Here is a picture of the garage. If you look closely you'll see something that wasn't there before. No, not the broken windows that were replaced...the snow bar on the roof & the gutters (front, back not pictured). Good teamwork, Babe!

And here's out little helper. This is the view she usually gets with most recent household projects since she's a girl on the go and everything goes in the mouth. It's just easier to strap her on and let her supervise our work! :)
With the 3 days of 22 degree nights, our garden was pretty much shot - what was left over - but we snapped a few pictures of what we nibbled on this summer. I really missed out on our eggplants this year. Phoey on freezing temps! Luckily my Mom blessed us with tomatoes galore, so we'll still get tomatoes on our lunches and also my favorite: fried green tomatoes! Mmmmm.

Dinner from the Garden

We had a beautiful dinner last night from our garden: corn-on-the-cob, breaded zucchini fries, fried green tomatoes, beans, kohlrabi, and leftover tuna & potato salad. Miss Elizabeth started on oatmeal this week and ate 1/2 cup all gone. Dessert: blueberries & strawberries & blackberries, oh my! (Atop of ice cream, that is!) No leftovers, so no pics. :)

Here's an update on my garden for my journal: this year we moved the garden from the SE side of the house to the driveway turnaround. It did much better there with more sunlight and new black dirt. Unfortunately a few deer have jumped my 4' fence and ate my potato, cabbage, strawberry, tomato, squash, & raspberry plants and whatever else they ate that I haven't yet noticed. Solution? Deer hunting this year and a higher fence next year. So, even though they nibble on the plants, we have still been pretty fruitful. David also had his own garden at the end of the drive and while the deer cleaned out his sunflowers and beans, he has a lot of corn, potatoes, and onions.

Mommy's Little Kitchen Helper.

Weekend Trenching

My favorite father-in-law came over this weekend to assist Dave w/ digging a 2-foot deep trench from the back of the garage, across the yard, & to the power pole so that we could bury cables and get electricity to the garage. The digging was done Sat 10/10/09. Today, we got the wires fed into the garage and into the power pole. Those wires are the size of David's pinky, so to bend them is more than just squeezing w/ your hands.

Brooks' Garden

Even with getting the garden late this year, it's producing pretty well. Kohlrabi is one of my favorites. I swore I'd plant more this year, which I did. And yet, I should have planted a whole row vs just 12 feet of them. We have leaf lettuce & onions coming out of our ears. Peas & beans are catching up. My beets are crying out, "pluck me, can me, cook me, eat me!" Carrots fresh from the garden just make my mouth water. That sweet smell you can only get from your own garden that gets lost in the packaging and shipping to the local grocery store fills the ol' olfactory system and brings back childhood memories. I gave my pumpkin patch 10 feet to spread out and grow, and yet it is still is trying to choke out my brussel sprouts, green & yellow squash, and cukes. Wiley little things. The tomato plants are only about a foot tall, but sturdy and blossom-covered. We didn't even have to use cages this year.

I Love Spinach, but this is Ridiculous :)

Our garden loves to produce leafy greens. Popeye would be so proud!
I saved one large bag for salads & sandwiches. The rest I blanched & froze.
Haha, two large cookie sheets of spinach, after blanching, fit into one quart-sized freezer bag. I have a whole new respect for the farmers and companies who freeze veggies and they shrink to a fraction of the amount of produce.

Look Who Popped Open Last Night..

"Good Morning Lilly!"
Click on picture to make bigger.
Aren't God's creations amazing?!

"Honey, Whatcha Doing?"

Do you ever wonder what your husband does outdoors when you're not watching? If he's anything like mine, he's probably building, cleaning, cutting, or moving something. Last year we had sand delivered, and since we didn't use it all, David built an 8' x 8' sand box. You can see how big it is. He did an excellent job @ reinforcing the frame & I think the hardest part was shoveling the 20 truck loads of sand and moving it from point A to point B (see pics L-R). He did it over the weekend of June 6th, but now it's not sitting in the yard anymore. Good job, Hon!