New Year's Eve & the 2009 Tally Wrap-up

We hope you all had a safe, warm, and wonderful New Year's Eve yesterday. With the exception of me tripping, falling, & nearly impaling myself on camping chairs last night, we did too. We took the boys downtown for the Science Museum's Bouncy Ball Drop at noon, quite an interesting event. Here is a link for a quick video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfARXgvTbh4 We also grabbed lunch at Roanoke's famous Texas Tavern, and then visited the Market Building for a treat afterwards. Nice family fun, even if it was rainy and slushy out.

But a really big thing for us this year is the grand Harvest Tallies, along with our 2009 Egg Tally. Keeping tallies has really put things in perspective for us. We realize we could've gone into much greater mathematical tallying, but we didn't. And it is still pretty groovy. Here is a recap from what I posted in November:

Here are the Tallies:
*Tomatoes - 187lbs 12.1oz - prices really varied here, so we picked a mid-way price of $2.82 a pound pound = $529.46
*Bell Peppers - 7lbs 11.4oz - these are priced by quantity, not weight, we had 34, and again prices varied, so we went mid-way @ $2ea. = $68
*"Hungarian Sweet" Banana Peppers - 8lbs 6.4oz - @ $3.29 a pound, non-organic = $27.31
*"Anaheim" Peppers - 11lbs 8oz - @ $2.99 a pound, non-organic = $34.39
*"Charleston Grey" Watermelons - 21lbs 5.6oz (this was only 3 melons, and one was pretty darn small!) - @ $3.99 each (this price is from the Co-Op) = $11.97
*Cherries - 3lbs 8oz - @ $5.99 a pound, non-organic = $22.76
*Beans - 13lbs 8oz - these are a blend of the following: Mitla, Boston Favorite, Charlevioux, Hidatsa, and Roma II - again, a mid-way price of $2.50 a pound = $33.75
*Zucchini - 8lbs 5oz - @ $1.79 a pound, organic from Kroger = $14.86
*Oregano - 3lbs 4oz - ok, this is cool .. a 1/2oz jar of organic oregano from Kroger is $3.99 - at that rate, it's $127.68 a POUND = $434.11 .. AND, we could've harvested TRIPLE that amount, EASILY!!!!!

These are the things we remembered to check price on. So .. you wanna know how much total it would've cost to buy all of this stuff???$1632.75 ... WOW!!!!!!!
Ooh, but let's not forget costs to grow this all. Ok, well we didn't pay for seeds this year because we saved seeds in previous years and took advantage of the Earth Day Seed Swap. We paid $30 for a bale of hay. We paid roughly $49 for some new canning jars. We did buy some plants. So, let's round the total spent up to $80. Ok, well subtract that from the above total. That brings us down to $1552.75. ~ Since I posted this in November we've harvested over 15 lbs more vegetables: mainly potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes. I can't find the Jerusalem Artichokes around here but here is the tally for the potatoes:
*8lbs of organic potatoes (mixed varieties) - a 3lb. bag of organic russet potatoes @ Kroger can be bought for $2, so let's go with that price. = $5.33.


Now for the 2009 Egg Tally. In 2008 we were happy to have our tally be 72 eggs for the year. This year, our sweet biddies managed to lay 808 MORE eggs, with a grand tally of EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY eggs!!!! 880 eggs = 73 dozen eggs. From six little biddies. To buy this at the store would've cost us (@ $3 a dozen) $220. We bought maybe eight bags of feed at roughly $18 a bag, equaling a cost of $144. Let's say we've bought 6 bales of hay for them at $6 a bale = $36. $144 + $36 = $180, so we've still got a good savings of $40 there. I'll add that to the Harvest Tally.

Some more things. From what we've canned so far we've already "saved" well over $100 if not a lot higher than that. So far I've already canned Spaghetti Sauce, Tomato Sauce/Soup, Ketchup, BBQ Relish, and the Strawberry Jam from early Spring (even if we did buy those strawberries from a U-Pick Farm). Not too shabby. This fall we did spend $15 to can lots and lots of apple butter and apple sauce. I'd give us, easily, another $50+ in saving there.
Also, for holidays and general gift giving, we gave away a LOT of homemade/homegrown goodies (and eggs!). I can say at Christmas-time alone, this probably saved us close to $200.

So, let's do some math now, shall we??

*Approximate total 2009 Harvest Tally - 280lbs 4.5 oz
*2009 Egg Tally - 880 eggs

*Approximate Money Saved in 2009 = $1948.08 ~ remember, this is with costs spent taken out, and costs saved via gift giving, not having to visit the doc (because of better health from all this goodness), and etc!

The thing that really amazes me the most though is that we don't have a huge garden. We don't devote our lives just to this. This really has taken nothing "out" of our lives, but it has given SO much. We're already planning next year's plantings. Onion and garlic for spring picking have already been planted. I'm working on a medicinal herb garden in my mind.
But this is still small stuff. Imagine if the majority of families started something small on their own too. One plant is still more than no plants.

Welcome December

And so we enter the final month of the year. November was an interesting month, that's for sure.
Our Egg Tally: For November we had ZERO eggs! That's right, NADA, ZIP, ZILCH! The chickens still seem to be going through their molting phase, but the only naked spots we've seen are some bellies, and only Ann Bancroft shows signs of really missing feathers (she looks scrawny). The others look like they've had their feathers ruffled a little bit, with pin feathers sticking out here and there, but other than that ~ well, it is strange. So, our Year To Date Egg Tally remains where it was at the end of October - 855 eggs. Still not bad.
The biddies are now up in their "Winter Chalet" ~ meaning we've moved the tractor up to the back of the house and next to their coop, where they can get inside and out of the elements. They seem to really enjoy the indoor life, as every time I go out there it seems they're in the coop .. even when weather is warm. We've been adding extra scraps to their diet, even some black oil sunflower seeds as they're supposedly good ways to add protein to their diet. All of this is supposed to help them get through the molting process and get back to laying eggs. Will we get another egg before the year is up? We'll see!
Another new change: our dogs are now, officially, indoor dogs. When we brought the chickens back out of the garden and into the yard Jomo decided he REALLY wanted to be in the tractor with them. Not attacking them, just one of those curious & jealous puppy things. Of course, this puppy is a year and a half old and a very muscular 75 or so pounds! After attempts to deter him failed we decided it was time to make the switch. This is something we've been wanting to do, but little kids and big puppies don't often play so well together. Toys get stolen and chewed up. Rough housing gets rougher than little hands can handle. It's been a transition period, but we seem to be co-existing well enough. Of course, one other animal did have to move: Logan is now located in the sunroom as Whiskey decided she wanted to play with the dropping pan too much. Like every damn time I turned around. Seriously, couldn't take a shower without them harrassing the rabbit!
Speaking of harrassment, our neighbor has started back up. This time with phone calls when the boys play the drums. We're talking about a 5 1/2 year old and a 3 year old, and we're talking about playing them for 5 minutes (these times are NOT exaggerations!) the first time and 10 minutes the second time. The first time was a Sunday evening, 6pm. The second, a Saturday afternoon right before 5pm. She calls, she yells, she threatens, she hangs up. I've got better things to do lady. So, we added call blocking to our phone line and have blocked her number. For $4.20 a month it is worth it. We can block up to 6 numbers, so hopefully she doesn't have more than that!! Seriously, my life is too good to waste time dealing with an irrational, angry, and hateful person.
And, speaking of good ..


~a common sight these days~

.. this is good! This is one of those soul-touching moments where those damn t-shirts (that secretly I really LOVE) are correct ~ Life is Good.
The drum set is set up and Shannon has begun taking lessons. We're having a little trouble convincing Tristan that lesson time is just for Shannon, as the lessons happen here at our house, but there are always pebbles on the paths of life .. right?
The boys jamming with Daddy is just awesome.
A lot of people, well-meaning family memebers mainly, keep asking the boys what they're learning in homeschool. Well, Tristan is getting the hang of the potty, so that is a HUGE life lesson. Shannon is getting really good at reading, something he wants to do, not something we're forcing him to do. Other than that, we work on math here and there, measure miles driven when we go places, we play outdoors, Shannon builds things, we go to the Lowe's Kids' Workshops, we play music. These are hard things to get people who don't understand unschooling to see as school work. But they, we, are learning. At it's very core and meaning, they are learning and growing every day. And that is a very beautiful thing to be part of, to get to see, to admire.

Looking back at October

November is well underway, so it is past time to reflect upon October. I'll get the Harvest Tally out of way first:
Eggs for October - 34! Quite a drop in production there. The gals are going through their first molt, and so we've seen a HUGE decline in eggs. As I type this, we've yet to get ANY eggs in November.
Harvest for October - 15+ pounds. Ok, I'm being lazy here and not looking at the book.
We harvested one birdhouse gourd that weighed in at well over 7lbs, and then over 7lbs of Jerusalem Artichokes. These are native to North America though now grown all over the world. They can be quite invasive and are often called "sun chokes." Their name is a misnomer, as they are a member of the sunflower family, and not actually an artichoke. They are very tasty and can be cooked like potatoes (and are good in mashed potatoes!) ~ but, be warned, they give you gas. I've read the effect will decline the more you eat, but so far it's been a lot of windy fun around here!


~Boo, y'all!!~

Halloween is always HUGE around here. Seriously, we get over 200 kids every year! You actually do see them being dropped off by the bus-full. It is insane, but in a fun way. Since I grew up in this house, this is how I've always known Halloween and it was quite a shock to move somewhere where you were "lucky" to get 10 kids. I was happy to return.
One thing we do every year is to have a Halloween Party, always on Halloween. It started out of an invitation to friends who lived on a mountain, for them to bring their kids and trick-or-treat here .. and if you're gonna invite some people, might as well invite more and make it a party!
The dads tend to take the kids trick-or-treating, the moms hang out on the porch and hand out candy. We're lucky, our kids go spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa after they've gone through our neighborhood, so the adults get a chance to let loose. Everyone is in costume.
This year, a friend went as a Zombie and asked me if I wanted to help with her costume and do her make-up. I agreed to. She was one rockin' Zombie. I then did my make-up as well as Justin's ~ we went as a dead/corpse bride & groom. I got to wear my wedding dress again which was a lot of fun. I gotta say I think I have a knack for Halloween make-up.
This year, as I'm sure you remember, Halloween was on a Saturday. Much to our shock, we had a lot less kids than usual. Still well over 100, maybe between 150 & 175, but a noticeable amount less. I think there were a lot of churches doing stuff since it was a Saturday, so we'll wait till next year to see how things go.
The other odd thing we noticed was a lot less kids dressed up, and also kids with very little enthusiasm about it. Where did the fun go?? Where was the fun of going house to house, seeing pumpkins and people in costumes, and of course, getting candy?? Maybe these kids get too much candy on too regular a basis? Maybe imaginations have been killed by tv and video games? Maybe the commercialization of it has taken the magic out? I don't know, but it was a shame. Keeping the magic alive is vital.

The Numbers Are In

~The road into Fall~

AND THE TALLIES ARE IN!!! Well, kind of anyway. The main garden is pretty much done for the year. The chickens are in there now, noshing on any leftovers (not-yet-ripes, not worth picking, and rottens) they find, tilling things up for us and fertilizing for next Spring while they go. We just ordered garlic for Fall planting, have onions growing still, and have potatoes still waiting to be harvested out of that garden. So ... the tallies are in .. kind of.

Before I tell you how it came out, I'll let you know something new we did this year. Not only did we really make an effort to weigh things, we tried to take note (I say try, as we weren't always successfull) of how much comparable items would've cost us had we bought them at the store or Co-op. This got to be a little tricky sometimes. We are growing heirloom, organic foods. Finding prices for heirloom, organic foods isn't always possible. So we did our best.

Here are the Tallies:
*Tomatoes - 187lbs 12.1oz - prices really varied here, so we picked a mid-way price of $2.82 a pound pound = $529.46
*Bell Peppers - 7lbs 11.4oz - these are priced by quantity, not weight, we had 34, and again prices varied, so we went mid-way @ $2ea. = $68
*"Hungarian Sweet" Banana Peppers - 8lbs 6.4oz - @ $3.29 a pound, non-organic = $27.31
*"Anaheim" Peppers - 11lbs 8oz - @ $2.99 a pound, non-organic = $34.39
*"Charleston Grey" Watermelons - 21lbs 5.6oz (this was only 3 melons, and one was pretty darn small!) - @ $3.99 each (this price is from the Co-Op) = $11.97
*Cherries - 3lbs 8oz - @ $5.99 a pound, non-organic = $22.76
*Beans - 13lbs 8oz - these are a blend of the following: Mitla, Boston Favorite, Charlevioux, Hidatsa, and Roma II - again, a mid-way price of $2.50 a pound = $33.75
*Zucchini - 8lbs 5oz - @ $1.79 a pound, organic from Kroger = $14.86
*Oregano - 3lbs 4oz - ok, this is cool .. a 1/2oz jar of organic oregano from Kroger is $3.99 - at that rate, it's $127.68 a POUND = $434.11 .. AND, we could've harvested TRIPLE that amount, EASILY!!!!!

These are the things we remembered to check price on. So .. you wanna know how much total it would've cost to buy all of this stuff???

$1632.75 ... WOW!!!!!!!

Ooh, but let's not forget costs to grow this all. Ok, well we didn't pay for seeds this year because we saved seeds in previous years and took advantage of the Earth Day Seed Swap. We paid $30 for a bale of hay. We paid roughly $49 for some new canning jars. We did buy some plants. So, let's round the total spent up to $80. Ok, well subtract that from the above total. That brings us down to $1552.75. I'm still sitting here typing with my jaw on the floor.

Something else. From what we've canned so far we've already "saved" well over $100 if not a lot higher than that. So far I've already canned Spaghetti Sauce, Tomato Sauce/Soup, Ketchup, BBQ Relish, and the Strawberry Jam from early Spring (even if we did buy those strawberries from a U-Pick Farm). Not too shabby.

And, anyone who gripes about the similarity of this post to the one from the end of August .. well 1)get over it, and 2)props to you for actually noticing. Thank you, I'm flattered!! Don't worry, I won't be doing this every month. ;)

Also - before you think I forgot. Egg Tally for September was 68. Definitely down. We also had to deal with another "break-in" from the dogs, which left LadyBird badly wounded. This happened yesterday. She spent last night in the coop by herself, and this evening we put her back in the tractor. The wound was looking ok, and it was kinda hard to see. It's a good thing she is Queen on the Totem Pole, as she did get pecked by Patti. LadyBird seemed pretty pissed off about that and pecked her right back. She also pecked at either Easter or Bunny when they nosed near her. By dark they were all huddling into the nest box together. We wanted to put her back in with them since temperatures were supposed to drop down into the low 40's tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that "the Queen" will hold onto her title and be ok. Stupid dog.

August Tallies & Some Math Too!

~While I realize this isn't your typical "harvest" photo, I found it rather appropriate. Yes, those photos of counters full of vegetables are fantastic - but I think this photo captures something more important: Soul-Smile. It's a feeling you get when you harvest food you've raised or grown. It is fantastic. It pleases me to no end to see it in my child.

August is over and September has arrived with a very Fall feeling. The mornings are chilly and some days you can even wear jeans quite comfortably for the day. In a house with no AC, that is saying something!
August definitely was our biggest harvest month. Previously we'd had a year to date tally of 20+ pounds at the end of June and then 27 pounds just for the month of July. August found us having 20+ pounds everytime we went out to the garden!! I am especially grateful for the cooler temperatures now because our freezer is so full it won't hold much more, meaning it is canning time.

For the 2009 Tallies:

Eggs: August - 81 (they did NOT like the weather!) ~ Year to Date - 753
Food: August - 181 POUNDS 1 oz ~ Year to Date - 236 pounds 7.5 oz

First off - read that again -- ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY ONE POUNDS!!! WOW!! My mind is still trying to wrap around that!!!!

Now, for some cool math:

1) If we were buying eggs we would pay $3 per dozen. 753 eggs equals 62.75 dozen eggs - which means we would've spent $188.25 so far this year on eggs. Instead, we've spent (roughly) $81 on feed. I say roughly because the price of feed fluctuates and I honestly don't know how many bags we've bought. Oh, let's not forget hay - throw another $24 on. That brings us up to $105. Still saving some serious money and we're blessed with enough eggs that we've been able to share with friends and family. Strengthening bonds and building community = priceless. (Sorry, Mastercard commercials have succeeded in their brainwashing!)

2) The spaghetti sauce we buy from the store is $3.19 for a 24oz jar. On August 23rd I canned 10 quart jars, 1 pint jar, and 1 24oz jar of spaghetti sauce. Doing the math - $3.19 for 24 oz = almost 14 cents an ounce. I'm going with 14 cents because I would also have to pay sales tax. To buy the amount of sauce that I canned would've cost us $49.11!!

3) To buy a 1/2oz jar of organic oregano at Kroger costs $3.99. This year I harvested 3lbs 4oz. Actually, I could've harvested easily three times that much, but to be honest, I was sick of it and that amount was enough. Now, I have to note here, I weighed it with the stems still on there, so the truth and accuracy of this weight and the costs might be faulty, but it is what I've got to work with so I am. Ok - $3.99 for 1/2oz comes out to $127.68 per pound. 3 lbs 4 oz roughly = $434.11!!! FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS for Oregano!!!Here are the rest of what I added up, based on costs of the products

4) Here are the other numbers I've come up with based on cost from Kroger:

*Cherries - $5.99lb @ Kroger - we harvested 3lbs 8oz = $22.76
*Hungarian Sweet Banana Peppers - (just banana peppers) $3.29 lb - we harvested 5 lbs 11.2oz = $18.92 (also note - our were organic & heirloom the ones at Kroger were neither)
*Anaheim Peppers - $2.99 @ Kroger (again, not organic) - we harvested 6lbs 3oz = $18.53
*Zucchini - $1.79 @ Kroger (organic zucchini) - we harvested 8 lbs 5oz = $14.86
*Bell Peppers - $1.50 non-organic & $2.99 organic @ Kroger for Red Bell Peppers, this price is PER PEPPER! - we harvested 18 Bell Peppers, all organically grown of course = (@ $2.99 each) $53.82
*Tomatoes - pricing this one was a little tricky, as there weren't any organics to compare with & to be honest I likely would've bought in season from the Farmer's Market, but here is what I got -> between $1.65lb & $3.99lb - I split the difference and went with $2.82lb - we harvested 161lbs 10.7 oz = (roughly) $456.14!!!

ADD IT ALL UP == $773.28!! That's a savings of over $96 a month from January through the end of August!

It even gets better too! There were several things I DIDN'T do the cost comparison on: greens, herbs, Roma beans, black "Mitla" beans, red "Hidatsa" beans, "Boston Favorite" baked beans, yellow squash, and potatoes. ALSO - it's not all done yet!!!

Anyone who thinks gardening and growing your own isn't worth it couldn't be further from the truth. True, we spent around $10 on buying a couple of the plants, and we spent $30 on spoiled hay to use as mulch. We didn't have to buy seeds this year because we either had ones that we saved/didn't use from previous years or we got seeds from the Earth Day Seed Swap. We did spend $8 on some new canning jars, and I might still have to buy some more, we'll see. The math can not be done on the health value of growing our own. We tend to give away jars of canned items as gifts too, so there are some future $$ savings. And, since we did deep mulch (and have had a fairly rainy summer), we only watered the garden FOUR times this year.
If you can't tell, I'm bearing a huge Soul Smile right now. :)

June Tally & Summer Begins

~These are some "Cherokee Chocolate" heirloom tomatoes, just starting to come out on the vine. We got the seeds from www.victoryseeds.org~

JUNE HARVEST TALLIES:
*Eggs in June: 92 - the chickens really weren't digging the heat & humidity!
*Eggs for the Year: 583!

*June Harvest - 9lbs 9.5oz - cherries, oregano, calendula, greens, our 1st zucchini (which was 1lb 7oz!!!), & two "Roma" tomatoes
*Year to Date Harvest - 27lbs 11.5oz

And so Summer has begun. June started out cooler than usual and WET, but the second half went into hot and dry, but that doesn't mean it isn't still humid ~ whew! Although the chickens really haven't liked it, egg production is down by about 20 eggs, everything else has been hanging on fairly well.
As you most likely know, this year marks our 1st year following the "Ruth Stout Method" which involves deep mulching. We've been using spoiled hay and wood chip mulch. Where the hay has sprouted and begun to grow we've laid down a nice layer of newspaper and then layered on the wood-chip mulch. It's made for very pretty walking paths through the garden. My apologies for the lack of photos to back up that claim, but you'll just have to take my word.
The best thing about the "Ruth Stout Method" so far though is that the plants have withstood wild weather swings quite impressively. Late cold snaps = no problem; no rain = barely having to water them. Justin has only gone out and actually watered the garden 2, maybe 3, times this year! This is compared to what, in past years, would've been EVERY NIGHT!! YES!!!! We are so lovin' this!
We've got green tomatoes popping out on several of the vines, zucchinis almost ready to pick (one we've picked already), beans growing like weeds, melons coming back to life, peppers doing ok, and potatoes that we're hoping will produce potatoes. It is an iffy time, hoping more than anything that your crop will turn out well and produce a good bounty for fall, but we remain optimistic.
Of course, it wouldn't be Summer without pools, and so we've gotten another little one for the kids this year. The dogs like to eat the pools, and year after year they get more expensive and tinier, so this year we moved the pool from the back porch to the end of the driveway. Only about 15' or so away, but an important move since the dogs can't get to it! We used leftover wood chip mulch to attempt to provide a level (and somewhat softer) surface, topping it with a tarp to keep the wood chip from puncturing the pool. It is an inflatable pool. It's been wonderfully refreshing so far!
And here is one of the really fun aspects of homeschooling - playing in the pool is also "school-work!" Shannon and I take turns tossing a "splash ball" back and forth, trying to beam it just right to really maximize the splash, and counting by 2's or 5's to 100. Everytime he gets one wrong (or I do), he has to go under water. Truly a delight, and it has turned what otherwise would've been a mindless, boring, repititous chore into a fun game. A bonus-point is that it is rubbing off on Tristan! WOO HOO!! Homeschooling/Unschooling truly rocks!
Hope everyone's Summer is going as well. If you would like to see more Summertime photos, please visit here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/funkymamataney/sets/72157605881033938/

And a Big Ole PS ~ Justin and I are going camping this weekend, giving me a chance to actually do something I've been meaning to for a while .. blog about food & camping. I've taken some photos of prep-work and will take more while we're camping. We'll be back on July 4th so keep an eye on my food blog, www.mamataneyskitchen.blogspot.com, sometime soon afterwards!

Roller-Coaster Spring

It's been a little while, my apologies. Spring is a roller-coaster for everyone I think. When the rain stops we make mad dashes out the door to try and get everything done and accomplished: both things we WANT to do and things we really NEED to do.
On top of that, our neighbor has started back up complaining about us. It is really quite laughable (you know, the complaint because we had a hay bale), but it is also quite emotionally draining. I'm a "why can't we all just get along and if you don't like it piss off" type of mama, but when someone is hell-bent on making your life miserable .. ESPECIALLY when all you're trying to do is live the green life, well, it can drain you.
But, on to the fun stuff:

There's the potato garden, in the process of getting some more straw put on it. We were blessed to be given all the potato seedlings from friends who had extra. They're coming up like mad and will be very grateful for the forecasted rain.


This is a shot of the Cascade Hop vine, reaching up into the sky, as it has already out-grown it's post (which is about 10' tall). We had planned to do a full hop garden this year, but much was needed to dog-proof it - which was the fatal flaw in last year's garden. Time and $$ never quite lined up. But we do have the Cascade back, now in it's 2nd year. And, as I always say, it's better to start with one small thing than not to start at all.


Here's a close-up of one the Cascade Hop Cones. These are the babies that we'll harvest and then put into our beer. If you've seen our brew-blog (www.soulonebrewery.blogspot.com) you'll know that brewing is a passion, one we intend to turn into a business in the near future. Growing our own for that is as important to us as it is for growing our own for our pantry.


Here's the back, main garden. Justin put up the picket fence this past weekend - it's been something we've wanted to do since Day 1, but again .. funds. As usual though, we never let that stop us from having a garden, but getting the picket fence in is definitely a proud moment!! You can see the tomatoes in the foreground. They're heirloom breeds from Victory Seeds: Cherokee Chocoalte and Sausage. We have the cherry tomato plants up front since they'll cross pollinate. Behind the tomatoes are the pepper plants: mainly red and yellow bells for now. We have more that need transplanting, more varieties. Next, going back, you can see the poles for the bean trellises. We have five different varieties of beans going: Mitla Black Tepary Bean (from Seeds of Change ~ certified organic), Boston Favorite Bean (Seed Savers Exchange), Hidatsa Red Bean (Seed Savers Exchange), Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney Bean (Seed Savers Exchange), and some Roma II Garden Bush that we picked up locally. Finally, in the very back of the garden, we have two Black Beauty Zucchini plants, and one Charleston Gray watermelon (that's in the far left corner of the photo, but you can't see it yet). We're REALLY excited to be adopting the Ruth Stout Method of gardening, and will let you know how it goes - so far so good though (aside from the complaint about the hay bale). All the junk behind the fence is now gone too. Yay!




The above three photos I took on June 1st. It is our cherry tree in the front yard, and this was our first time ever harvesting anything from it. That evening we collected 1lb. 4oz. of cherries. Standing out in the front yard, harvesting cherries, waving to neighbors and passers by .. it truly is a wonderful feeling.


Blue Cornflower, growing at the corner of the front fence, meeting with the gate.


Calendula, growing along the front gate as well. I do intend to harvest some of the flowers from this to use in my next batch of soap. Since these flowers run parralel to the road though, I may harvest from some growing in another bed, further away from the road.

And finally, Harvest Tallies:
Egg Tally For May = 112
Egg Tally For the Year = 491!
Garden Harvest (including strawberries from Scott's Farm & spring onions from the Farmer's Market)= 18 lbs 2 oz produce! YAY!! ~ we know it doesn't begin to Path to Freedom, or even other urban homesteads, but we're still very proud.

May gets underway ..

This is a photo of the guys beginning to clear out the potato garden area. We were really blessed to have friends who shared extra organic seed potatoes with us, enough to fill the area!! WOW!! We put in 5 "long" rows and 3 "short" ones. While we aren't tilling at all this year, this particular area hadn't been touched by anything other than a lawnmower in a couple years, so it did need clearing out. We dug small trenches for the potatoes, put in a layer of compost, set in the cut up seed potatoes and then topped them with a nice layer of straw.
Though I had been beginning to worry about them not coming up, I just looked out and saw one row sprouting up nicely with more sprouts starting to peek through in other rows. Once the sprouts start really coming in we'll add more straw as mulch.

The front gardens are starting to do well, especially the greens. For some reason, our carrot seeds aren't wanting to sprout. Late last week I resowed some as I thought perhaps we set them out to early. Nothing really coming up yet, but we'll give it a little longer before we toss in the towel. The beds really need weeding thanks to all the rain, but I'm surely not going to complain about the rain! I have noticed that we have one strawberry that has turned red, so that is really exciting!!! The cherry tree looks to be full of berries too, so that is another very big excitement.
The onions we planted in the bed under the boys window seem to be doing well. Though since this is our first year growing I have to admit to not really knowing what is proper growth for them. We'll see. The Blue Hubbard squash plant's leaves are turning yellow. That's a head-scratcher. There is only one plant in there, it has gotten plenty of rain, and is in a nice mixture of aged compost and dirt so I have no idea what's up. Gonna go with the theory, for now anyway, about plants just following their own rules and guidelines, not ours!

Yesterday we worked on the back garden, which still doesn't yet have plants actually planted in it! A friend delivered us some old pallets which we used to temporarily patch the holes in the fence. We're planning on putting a picket fence in, but funds are an issue, so we're making due with pallets (which can then be re-used again to build another compost bin!). While Justin messed with that, I worked on emptying out the old compost bin. I have to admit that it hadn't fully composted. I think we need to turn it more often. Anyway, it took 5 or 6 wheelbarrow-fulls, but all the compost is now spread around the garden. I was then able to get one wheelbarrow-full (VERY FULL!) of wet, spoiled hay into the garden before we had to call it an evening.
Things we have learned: 1) When planning compost piles, make sure to take into account how you plan to empty them. Currently ours our too close, making emptying out the old one a true pain. Luckily, it is getting tossed since it didn't keep dogs out. But lesson was still learned!
2) We were lucky to get a big, round bale of spoiled hay delivered to us. Unfortunately, there was no way to drop it off in or near the garden. It went in the driveway. We tried getting it up over the fence (a seperate blog that I promise I will post soon!), which ... well I don't want to ruin the suprise, but it didn't work. ---- LESSON LEARNED: We're planning on putting in a new fence and gate at the end of the driveway anyway, but now we know to plan to make sure that the entry there is at least 6' wide. This way we can at least roll a hay bale through the gates.
While we haven't finished spreading mulch or hay, the garden IS ready for plants to be put in it. We plan to get out there and do that as soon as we have a good evening (or weekend day) where the weather is good and we aren't swamped with other "must-do's".

ALSO ~ APRIL'S EGG TALLY: 119 Eggs -- Year to Date (as of April 31st) 379 Eggs ~ YAY!!

Finally, this morning I wondered down to our Farmer's Market. I've been really excited about it since they've begun allowing meat & dairy to be sold! WOO HOO!!! I picked up some plants for the garden, since we've had bum-luck with some of the seeds. Got some Black Beauty Zucchini, some straight yellow summer squash, and then 8 red bell pepper plants. Let's REALLY keep our fingers crossed that these babies transplant well into the garden and take off. It will be our first year really attempting zucchini and summer squash too, so lots of excitement there.

How's your garden growin'??

Getting Seeds Planted & Started, the 2009 Egg Tally to date, and Tally Ho!

NOT a terribly impressive photo, I know. Sorry. When you're gearing up for things, the photos are always that impressive, what can I say? So, what the hell are you looking at there .. well, I'll tell ya! On the left, the green things shooting up are garlic bulbs coming up. I've been slack and still have yet to order my desired garlic, these are from store-bought garlic cloves that sprouted and I figured can't hurt to plant 'em. Obviously, there are some Black-eyed Susans planted next to them. To the right of the photo you can see some not-impressive looking strawberry plants. There are 6 of them there, though it is hard to see in the photo. We transplanted them for else-where in the yard to that spot, so we'll see how they do. Finally, in the front you can see some mustard greens (planted last year) coming up.
This past Sunday we took advantage of a pretty, and dry!, day and went to work in the front beds, planting seeds. We planted kale, buttercrunch lettuce (a really well-growing staple in our yard), rouge d'hiver lettuce (a red lettuce), and some more mustard greens. These were all planted in the same area, roughly speaking, as the photo above. It'll look good when they come up, so you'll just have to trust me until then.
We also planted some Chantennay Red Carrots and some Cosmic Charlie Purple Carrots. Ok, they aren't really called Cosmic Charlie, they're just called Cosmic Purple, but we're too ingrained with Grateful Dead songs .. so we've affectionately renamed them. We switched up the areas of planting just a little bit, rotating crops some so as to better preserve the soil. We've already planted some onion seeds, Newburg Onions, which are beginning to sprout up a little, but nothing picture worthy yet. This is our first year actually trying to grow onions, so we're really excited about this.
Indoors, we got a seed tray going. We started Romanesco Broccoli, Hungarian Sweet Banana Peppers, Tall Utah Celery, Anaheim (hot) peppers, and Red & Yellow Bell Peppers (seeds we had saved from previous growing seasons). As of today, the broccoli seeds have started to sprout!! YAY!! We also had a LONG and "very stern" lecture with the kids about NOT messing with the seed trays. They tend to enjoy digging in the plants that we have in the sunroom, so we explained that the seeds really needed to be left alone if we want to have a good garden this year. While out getting groceries yesterday I picked up another seed tray, this one will be all tomatoes. We're going to be doing mostly all Cherokee Chocolate tomatoes, but we'll also have some that will be good for sauces and ketchups. I can't decide yet where exactly to plant them though: their heirloom and open pollinated, meaning they will cross-pollinate with each other - something we learned about the hard way after our 1st year. We'll see about that though as the time comes closer.
This should get us well underway. Everything else can be directly sown into the ground once the time comes. We still need to put the new fence up around the garden, and then get some more straw down in there, but that will come. Oh yea, and we're growing hops for our beer again this year. The Cascade Hops from last year are coming back up, but we think all the other ones were destroyed by the dogs last year (the Cascades were the only ones that really grew last year). We'll be ordering the rhizomes in a couple weeks, and should have those in the ground by the end of the month.

As you may remember (or maybe not) our Egg Tally for last year was 72 eggs. Considering the chicks were born a year ago today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADYBIRD - who is pictured above, ANN BANCROFT, PATTI, and PATTI), and everything we went through, we were thrilled with this number. We've been keeping count of how many eggs we get a day, even which colors we get so that we can know who is laying. Here is the EGG TALLY for 2009:
January - 53 eggs
February - 98 eggs
March - 109 eggs
2009 EGG TALLY as of March 31st - 260 Eggs!!!
We've given away at least 10 dozen, though I think the number is higher than that (I think I gave away several 1/2 dozens without writing it down). It sounds like a lot of eggs, and to some degree it is, but as I type this, we have no eggs. There was one outside this morning when I went out, but I cooked 2 eggs for Justin for breakfast and the boys split 6 eggs, scrambled, for lunch - so unless there are more outside, we're currently sitting on empty. Still, it is a wonderful feeling to know that the eggs we eat are usually only a couple of days old, if that!
Finally, inspired by the Dervaes and they're Little Homestead in the City,
, we've realized the importance of keeping a tally of how much we're able to grow. We're also going to attempt to keep a tally of how much we're able to save. This helps us know and remember the impact we're able to make, and foster a positive attitude about it. The Dervaes call it "Tally Ho!" and for now we will too.
Look for some slight changes to the blog as I figure out the best way to share these tallies with everyone.