A couple weeks back I awoke at 5:30 a.m. in a complete panic because I had forgotten my tomatoes out in the greenhouse overnight. I slipped on my boots and ran out only to discover lots of limp vegetable seedlings. 50 plus plants tossed into the compost. SO disappointing! Thankfully I had enough time to replant.
Maine Man has decided to cut WAY back on gardening this year. I’ll admit when he first told me I was a tad bit peeved because I have lots of big bad plans for preserving this year.
Last garden season I was in the midst of maintaining two homes while caring for my farmer friend. I did not have a lot left to put into the gardens and preserving was not a priority. I did make time to put up the best spaghetti sauce I ever did make but that’s about it. That recipe I plan to share soon!
The picture above is from a few weeks back before any greens had sprouted in the greenhouse. MM and CB did a little reorganizing and set up half of it for growing vegetables and the other half to house some birds they had ordered.
So far I have planted radishes, kale, bok choy, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, beans, beets, basil,and oregano. They have all surfaced except the broccoli, beans, and peppers. Not quite sure how I screwed them up but I did. Since I have NEVER been the primary gardener of this homestead this should be an interesting year. Regardless, whatever I don’t grow I will buy from local farm stands or the farmers market. I have made a plan as to what I am most interested in canning: spaghetti sauce, salsa, beets, and pickles. So I will focus more on the crops needed for the final product. MM did plant some onions from seed. He also planted some high bush blueberry bushes so I wouldn’t say he hasn’t washed his hands completely of gardening. In addition to that he also has the responsibility of haying and maintaining our 40 acre pasture as of last year. That in itself is a lot of work!
The meat birds are growing fast. We are looking forward to filling the freezers. We also have some pigs that will be going at the end of the month and a cow come fall. It is rewarding to raise some of the food that sustains our family. I think more and more people are going to go down this path in the future.
Growing your own veg had become very popular (even trendy) here in the UK, a lot more people are also keeping 'backyard' laying hens.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea and if it makes more people realise about where their food comes from & that French beans don't grow in this country in January....it can't be a bad thing!