kids in the garden

Kids will do anything to get dirty so I put them to work in the garden. We had it planted in no time.

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Working on the Garden Again.

I've been updating all of you on how my garden is coming. I showed you how I built a second raised bed giving me two 8x8 raised beds. I figure I can manage to squeeze 12 corn stalks in there as well as 12 okre plants and maybe even something else, but that's a big maybe. I know that last year I planted 6 plants in each row. I figure on getting about 6 rows as well that's about what I got last year. Well that's in each bed. So two rows of corn, two rows of okre and two rows of peas, maybe. It may all change when actual planting starts. Anyhow, that's what I'm figuring for my new raised bed. The other one will contain the same plants as last year only I plan on getting an early start at reining in my tomatoes. The stakes I bought last year were not strong enough and between the tomatoes and the cucumbers they smothered out my onions. So the onions are planted where the squash was last year. The cucumbers will be grown in a pot that I got recently at the dollar store. I already have my potatoes growing in a garbage can and two of my collard plants still remain from last year. My daughter also had to plant a head of cabbage for a school competition. When its time to plant I will buy the already started plants at the feed store. I will most likely buy 6 bell pepper plants, 2 squash plants, 6 tomato plants. Another thing I've added this year is a solar lantern that is 5 ft tall and has two hanging baskets on the sides. I figure on planting either pepper plants or some kind of herbs. I'm pretty sure I'm going to plant peppers. I also found this window basket at the dollar store. Since I have one window overlooking my garden I thought I might buy it as well. If I do, I will probably use it to plant herbs. I think I'm going to try to find one more garbage can and attempt to plant sweet potatoes. I've never planted them before and I've recently discovered my husband loves them. I've been cooking for that man for 10 years near about and never knew it. As far as herbs go, I mostly use garlic and parsley. So I will have to check on how to grow these two things since I've never grown them. I would eventually like to plant a little salad garden. my husband can eat like a rabbit. He loves salads and so does our daughter. I don't have much room left in my garden area. But maybe I can figure something out. I've thought about moving my strawberry bed from the front yard to the back. I think its a little late for that now. Should have done it in February if I was going to do it. I guess its fine where it is for now. My husband got a friend of his to draw us up a picture for landscaping around the house. I really liked his ideas. I only saw two things I would change and that's just because he didn't include the cyclone fence in the drawing. I am also not getting rid of my antique plows. They were my great grandfathers and I want them to remain as decoration. I have seen someone take parts off a tractor and bury them half in the ground so it looked like a tractor was buried in the flower bed. It was so cute. It was outside of my brother in laws tractor shop. His mother in law done it when her husband owned the business. I have no idea who owns it now. Anyhow, I need to get back on the subject. I don't know how my hubby plans on affording it but he is dead set on landscaping around the house I think it sounds like a great idea, but I'm trying to figure out a way to save a few bucks. We live on the edge of the woods and have several pines. I'm thinking we could mulch with pine straw. It's not as pretty as the wood chips, but its free. Either that or rent a wood chopper. All that is required is the labor. I think if were going to plant flowers they need to be perennials and the ones on the front need to be shade loving. So we need to find something affordable that will grow well from year to year. I would love to hear your ideas in this. Well that's all if you'd like to leave a comment please do so.
Catch yall later,
Country Mama

Canning Peas

This morning I'm going to start canning some peas. I purchased a large bag full at the fruit stand on the other side of town. I have been anxious to use my new canner. Last year I tried canning with my pressure pot (not a pressure canner) and I made it work although I wasn't Happy with the difficulty involved when you don't have the right tools. This time I have everything I need so I'm laying everything out. Then I'm going to put my daughter on the bus and come back and get started. What I really wanted was a pressure canner but I settled for a water bath canner when I saw how much it cost. Living on a budget is tough and I couldn't bring myself to spend that extra $65.00, so I didn't. Maybe next year, ill get one. I have been watching a lot of prepper videos on YouTube, and while I am not a prepper like these people I do feel the need to be prepared for another katrina. We went entirely too long without power. I had two huge freezes that I lost everything in it. I decided then and there that I would eventually learn to can stuff, and be more self sufficient. All those preppers have some great ideas. So I'm watching everything I can find. One of my favorite YouTube channels is Ironhead41. Yall should really check him out. He shows you neat ways to can meats such as bacon and hotdogs. I'm going to try this the next time bacon comes on sell. Also he's pretty funny. I have a friend that talks, laughs and dresses just like him so I was cracking up while thinking of my buddy, Chuck! Well here's some pictures of my preparations. Got to go get my girl out of bed. Yall enjoy, Country Mama

Garden Prep

Today I'm going to start preparing my raised beds for spring. Yesterday I went to Lowes and got some landscaping timbers, and nails. Now were going to get all my feed bags out of the barn and were going to lay them out and begin. Here's the instructions if you'd like to build your own.
First you'll need 8 landscaping timbers. Second you'llneed 12 nails. They need to be big enough to drive through two landscaping timbers. And thirdly you'll need a form of weed preventative. You can buy it in the store or you can use newspaper. But I will be using my old feedbags that are lying in my barn floor. First you lay out four landscaping timbers in a perfect square. Next you will lay out your bags within the square. It's best to cut one side and spread them open. Make sure you tuck them under the edges of the timbers. Once that's complete lay your other four timbers on the previous four and overlap the corners. Then hammer three nails into each corner. This will prevent them from sliding around. Now when you're ready you can add your compost. Just toss it on top of the feed bags and spread it out. When its time to plant this spring your garden bed will be ready. I am thinking of a way to cover it for those cold nights that surprise us. I will post about that if I figure it out. I'm thinking of using pvc pipes and plastic sheeting, kind of like a green house. I haven't quite figured it all out yet. Well take a look at the pics below. I hope this was informative enough.

More on Gardening

Today I bought six blueberry bushes. I didn't get them planted because it started sleeting on me before I got home and it didn't let up til after dark. Tomorrow its supposed to rain early and then move out so I will get them planted tomorrow. I got three climax and three tifblue. Both are of the rabbiteye variety. The climax will fruit in the early season and the tifblue will fruit later keeping me in the berries just a little bit longer. I would say probably from May til July. I worked on a blueberry farm growing up. So I picked up a few things. I am pretty sure I will have no problem getting them to grow. I will probably try to propagate them later on, taking clippings off of them and dipping them in take root and then planting them in my little trays with a drip system of some kind and placing them in sunlight. The soil needs to have a high acid ph, so I will need to plant them in a potting mix with peat moss. For those of you who have never done it that's most of what you need to know. There is also info you can get on it. I picked up an info packet a few years ago from msu. They have a blueberry extension program near where I live. Blueberries are very good for you. They taste great too. I love making blueberry cobbler, blueberry jelly, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, etc. There are so many different things you can make with blueberries. My brother even made a blueberry wine that was delicious. It wasn't too sweet and it wasn't too strong. It was literally just right. But my favorite way to eat blueberry is straight off the bush. I really think that fruit trees or bushes are the way to go when landscaping your yard. They are not only beautiful, they give back to ya every year. One thing you may have to worry about is birds. I've heard that if you put an aluminum pie plate in the berry bush its supposed to scare the birds away. I don't really know if this works, but I'm willing to find out. I just hope it doesn't look too tacky. Another great idea is pecan trees. But then you have to figure out how to outsmart the squirrels. I really wish I had a place and the know how to raise bees because they keep the fruit trees pollinated. I remember being in the blueberry field and having to run to the trucks as the bees started coming in. It was like all of a sudden this black cloud came flying in and all you hear is this big buzzing sound. As a kid I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I guess it wouldnt be if I had been allergic. The lady I worked for had something worked out with someone who had honey bees and they had a whole bunch of hives on the property near the blueberry field. I don't really have a good place to put honey bees due to the flash flooding. Everything that doesn't flood too bad is up around the house. My husband is allergic so being by the house would be a bad idea. I have no idea if my daughter is. I don't really want to chance it and find out she is. So anyway that's all for today. Well its actually already the next morning just looked at the clock and realized its 1AM so I reckon its bedtime yall. I hope yall got some good information about blueberries. Catch yall later, Country Mama

Get Your Gardens Ready

It's getting to be that time of year again. I'm getting my garden ready for planting. I also planted some potatoes today. I found an article on YouTube about planting potatoes in buckets. Well I decided to use a garbage can. I cut holes in the bottom and then I filled it about a quarter of a way full and buried my potatoes, sprouts up. As it grows I will add more soil to it. Later you just turn the garbage can over and dump them out. It should be full of potatoes. Or if you choose you can just dig them out. I can't wait to see if this works. I hope it does because we eat a lot of potatoes I plan on getting a couple more garbage cans and planting red potatoes and sweet potatoes. I love gardening but I don't really get a lot of sunshine except for one small area that I can plant a garden so I'm all for ingenuity. I love learning new ways to garden in a small area. I also like to can my veggies and fruit. There's just something about growing your own food that I like. I feel pride in knowing that I grew something that I can feed my family. This year I plan on planting tomatoes, bellpeppers, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, onions, cabbage only because the school sent one home for a scholarship competition. My daughter is determined to win. The kid who grows the biggest cabbage wins a scholarship. So we are going to grow cabbage this year.  I will be adding another raised bed this year so I can grow okra, peas and possibly corn if there's room. My daughter loves corn. I know it won't be much but were a small family of three. I think it will be enough for us. I will grow some things in big pots and I'm going to try to grow some watermelons out by the branch. I can't grow a garden there because it sometimes floods but I may chance it to grow watermelon. Who knows I haven't decided yet. Good Friday will be here before you know it. Get ready gardeners!
Country Mama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-s1U-W510k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Pictures from the Farm

Just found these pictures from our old farm of our donkey Jack, our goat bumper and our horse Easter, her colt redman and a couple of our hogs. I couldn't find any of the cows or the chickens.

Cold Weather Means Cold Pets

As the weather gets cold here in Mississippi and around the world, I hope everyone remembers to keep their animals warm too. I always throw an old blanket in my dogs box. Hay is often used but its not a good idea. My brothers dogs had some kind of bad reaction to the hay. As a result I never use it for my dogs. As for my horse, she is kept in her stall and I throw hay or straw on the floor to keep her warm. For horses that are out in the open you could put a horse blanket on them if you prefer. But hay always makes a warm bed. If its too cold to leave your dogs out don't be afraid to bring them in the house but have a cage or pet taxi for them if they're not house broke. Hay or straw makes a good warm bed for almost any other kind of animal. Don't forget to lock your chickens in the coop and put hay in the nesting box.