Self Sustaining......

I am worn out today! I've been outside in my garden and my backyard all day long! My hands have that tingling feeling from working my hand tiller and digging into almost too hard of Earth. I'll be breaking in my summer garden calluses soon... I'm still hoping for a little more cool weather and some rain just to help loosen up the dirt in my chicken pen long enough that I can till it and prep it for planting. It's funny how a little backyard gardening suddenly turns you into a farmer (Of course you add 6 chickens and 10 bunnies and you definitely are a backyard farmer!) lol

We homeschool our kids but on Wednesdays my daughter gets to go to enrichment classes at the school, my son and I decided to take the opportunity today to go to the garden center while we had a few free hours of time. I could spend a rather decent sized fortune in a garden center but I held back and bought just a few things that I needed....With the way I go through soil, I really ought to be buying stock in Kellog's organic (That's my soil of choice) I bought two huge bags and still need more! I get to the veggie plant section and suddenly my legs feel like they're filled with lead, my steps slow way down as I browse along the long aisle of various peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and herbs....I'm trying real hard this year to do mostly by seed and grow from the beginning but it isn't always easy and having a healthy, ready to plant veg in front of me is tempting! I'm definitely not saying that you shouldn't go ahead and buy the already sturdy seedlings, don't get me wrong there, but growing from seed is a personal goal of mine....See I want to get to that magical point where I am self sustainable. I admire people who are successfully growing their own and feeding their own and also planning for the next season with their own.

I've sort of started a list of things that I can do myself and things I'd like to try to do myself...Seed saving is one of those on the "try" list and I am hoping this year to change that and try my hand at seed saving. I bought all organic seeds this year specifically for this purpose. Organic of course is best anyways but I figured why not go with a better quality of seed going the organic route!?! It can't hurt :-) 

My current problem lies in the 3 bundles of starter onions I bought this morning....I accidentally grew onions by mistake, it was kinda funny because I had intended on growing them but I didn't realize that they take a few years to actually grow into an onion! LOL I know!!! ME!?!!! The farmer in the Dale! Not knowing onions take a minimum of 2 years to grow into the actual onion! So you can imagine my total disappointment when I pulled up my onions after a few months and they hadn't done hardly anything! They were still green and not at all looking like an onion. I left the rest and got frustrated until I saw them blooming and then I figured i'd just let the chickens eat the green tops because I couldn't obviously grow onions so what was the point!?! then one day my chicks decided that the spot where I had planted the onions was the perfect location for that afternoon's dirt bath. As they dug around and uncovered the tops of fully grown onions, I began to see that they had actually turned out the way they were supposed to! I have similarly learned this lesson with Garlic :-) 

Since they're going to take two years, I plan on growing a whole bunch! I got three types and I've got a spot set up in the coop where my chickens will hopefully let them grow! 

When stored correctly veggies like onions and potatoes can last all winter long! 

Back to self sufficiency though...I admire the pioneers of today's modern world that embrace a simple, basic, and old fashioned way of doing things (Gardening, cooking, raising animals, etc.) People who have realized that sometimes (actually quite often) simple and basic is best. Alice Waters is one of my food heroes as is Jamie Oliver. I find myself always grabbing one of their books off my shelf to browse thru for inspiration when making a menu or wanting a new recipe. Alice Waters has my dream kitchen, she has a fire place in her dining/kitchen area where she cooks over open flame and real wood! Jamie Oliver has a pizza oven in his backyard and an area where he has a BBQ in ground where he too can cook over open flame. There's something about open flame and being outdoors, the natural wood smoke taste on the food you're cooking, the honest non chemical way of making something delicious without really having to try that hard! I LOVE IT! 

Here are a few of my favorite books that I am always browsing thru. My poor Jamie at home book has been literally love to death, the binding is starting to fall apart! I cook so much from that book!

Maryjane Butters is another one of my heroes. Her wild way of life and embracing the natural world around you is inspiring! I love being out in nature! This lady has an amazing outdoor bath tub that she uses! Can you imagine enjoying a hot bath underneath the stars!?! It probably sounds way crazy but I can't help but be intrigued by it. She has such an adventurous spirit and was sort of brought up in a wild way but it's roots back to basic things that I admire the most. 

I didn't know until recently that I have this reputation amongst my friends as being this "homemade, from scratch, super organic" person and I have to say how incredibly flattered and humbled I am by that! Not only do I admire people like that but I put into practices in my own life the things that I admire in others like Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters and people apparently see that in me. Self Sustainability is my ultimate goal and whether I live on an actual farm or in an neighborhood, being able to grow my own food is one of the best things I can do for myself and for my family!

Today was just too beautiful not to take a picture! My fruit salad tree has begun to bloom in my front yard and as you can see, I am definitely an urban farmer! The front flowerbed will be occupying my watermelon and zucchini soon! 

I have 4 different types of fruit on this tree (apricot, peach, plum, and nectarine) and I am currently praying the bees pollinate it well! 

One thing that always seems to thrive are my herbs! I had to transplant them all into larger pots today! This parsley has been doing amazingly well and come to find out it had out rooted it's pot and had begun to dig deep into my garden through a small hole in the bottom of the pot it was in. Thankfully I was able to transplant it and he seems very happy with his new location.

I plant just about everything in my garden but I also keep in the back of my mind ingredients for common things that I like to can such as salsa and Spaghetti sauce. Peppers, tomatoes, Italian herbs and cilantro are something I always have growing in my summer garden! This year I am doing a variety of peppers to try my hand at not just salsa but Chipolte sauce and hot sauce! 

My winter garden is set up to automatically water itself so I moved a lot of my seedlings inside to ensure they get the proper amount of water every day. I'm stagger planting seeds as well for a variation of harvest times. I desperately need like 3 more raised beds for all the stuff I am growing! 

And you know it's a good day when everyone in your coop laid you an egg! I am so thrilled to be getting 6 eggs daily (most days) now! My girls are happy and you can tell how healthy they are by how hard it is to crack their eggs (and those rich orange yolks inside!) Everybody in my yard works hard to make our garden more self sustaining, eggs for my family to eat, bunny and chicken poop for my compost which makes my garden healthy and strong and helps my plants yield a healthier and better crop! 

Growing your garden....

My gardening bench is full of jiffy pots with tiny little sprouts in each one....I'm planning for an expanded garden this year. I would like to build another raised bed and utilize the space around my cherry tree for more than just my potted herbs. The signs of spring are all around me now, my fruit salad tree has bloomed in two sections and I'm praying that it yields a good amount of fruit for me this year. Last year we battled ants and birds for the already sparse amount of fruit on the tree. Last year I got two cherries off my cherry tree! Granted that these fruit trees of mine are still very young, I was surprised the first year of planting the whole  fruit salad tree gave me every kind of fruit grafted on and not just a little of each kind, a lot! (Fruit salad trees are generally made of the stock of one type of fruit, ours is a peach tree, that is then specially grafted with other varieties to grow on one tree. Grafting is done by a specialist at Nurseries., I special ordered my fruit salad tree from White Forrest Nursery. I have a four fruit bearing fruit salad tree that gives me plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots) Last winter we cut back the fruit salad tree quite a bit, the rest of the healthy branches were starving out my small apricot section so in order to ensure growth and survival, I had to drastically trim the rest of the tree down practically to nubs. This year seeing all the healthy branches and blooms make me smile. The kids love seeing the flowers too! If I could keep bees, I totally would! Bees are the life force of gardening!!! Without bees, nothing grows! When you start growing your own food you become sensitive to what makes that work, pollinators are everything to someone who is growing food. I love seeing the bee boxes out by the almond orchards, those farmers know that to ensure a good crop, they need the bees to do their work!

Speaking of growing your own food, I've had several friends message me, text me and even discuss with me in person about starting a garden this year. It makes my heart so happy to hear the words "you've inspired me to grow a garden this year" and even more happy that you guys are excited about growing your own food! you all know where my heart is on the gardening issues, I think it's one of the best things you can do for the health of yourself and your family! Especially for your kids, it's so important for them to be part of the whole process, to work soil with their own hands, to feel the dirt and place the seeds inside, to help water and watch it grow. They're going to be that much more jazzed up about eating their veggies when they're growing them! I've been in the garden before with my kids trailing behind me and they see me pick a little lettuce leaf and pop it into my mouth so of course they want to try it too and of course I let them because it engages their interest in the process. Maybe they don't care for everything that gets grown, I plan on growing tons of tomatoes this year because we eat a lot of tomato based products like spaghetti sauce, salsa and ketchup, all things I plan on making and canning for winter use but I also know that Kaitlyn will not want to eat tomatoes raw off the vine (We'll see about Edward, he usually follows right in my footsteps when it comes to eating and loving his veggies) but getting my kids interested in growing, letting them see me, helping me pick, helping me collect eggs and change straw out for the chickens, helping me move manure from the bunny collection box to my compost area, letting them pick the veggie seed packets and helping me grow those little seeds for our garden.....it all makes a big difference in how they see our world from a different perspective. I want my kids sensitive to nature, sensitive to weather patterns, checking the rain and picking the weeds, growing their patience as we wait to pull carrots from the ground.....life lessons can be learned in the Garden.

So....for those of you who have been wanting to start a garden here's some tips to help you along (and of course you can always call me, text me, message me on facebook and instagram, email me etc. I LOVE answering your questions and helping you!)


Space: First you need some place to put your plants. Raised beds are great but you don't have to use a raised bed. I personally have 2 raised beds, a flowerbed out front and several pots all around my house. Potted planting is just as effective in gardening! I've even seen some neat ideas on pinterest for space savers using vertical gardening methods but I haven't personally tried any yet so i'll stick with  what I know.Little pots of herbs are great for starters, herbs are hearty and easy to grow and you can still get the satisfaction of picking your own with your kids as you cook with fresh herbs!

Dirt: Once you get your space marked out, built, or placed you're gonna wanna focus on dirt! If you have a space that already has dirt you may take it to a local nursery (not lowes or home depot but an actual nursery) to get it tested to see if it needs anything. I didn't do this myself and just went full into a huge garden my first year of owning our house and I was lucky. The ground hadn't been utilized for gardening much but the dirt was pretty healthy. If you want a cheaper way of finding out how healthy your dirt is, dig up a section and if you see a lot of earthworms, you have healthy dirt! Earth worms are good indicators of healthy soil! It's also a good idea to get yourself some earthworms for your garden if you end up without any or using planting mix. Think of them as your employees, they work for you in your garden and it's good to have them!

Seeds or seedlings?: We're at the time of the year when it's still early enough to start your garden by planting your own seeds. You'll want to start with some jiffy pots (they're a biodegradable pot that can be planted straight into the ground, no fuss and easy to operate!) what I do is fill up my little jiffy pots with soil, poke a few holes in with my pinky finger about knuckle deep, drop a seed into each hole, cover and then water daily. (make sure the dirt is moist but not overly wet otherwise you could get mold and have to thrown them out.) If you decide that seeds sound like a little more work than you'd like to deal with you can purchase already established seedlings (young plants) I've had great success with organic plants from Lowes, White Forrest Nursery and Robby's. They are little more instantly gratifying than seeds because you basically bring them home and plant them in their space in your garden! Make sure to check labels on what plants like direct sun and which ones prefer shade or cooler areas in your garden, where you plant what can make a big difference and most things in season for summer are full sun types. I wouldn't plant anything for summer until mid to end of march, even if you buy the established young plants, frost can be a killer and we are still in February!
 
My friend Sarah gave me the broccolini which are the taller more established plants you see in this pic. I have watermelon, peas, lettuces, zucchini, summer squashes and some tomatoes in the small jiffy pots. I'll be adding to that with some pepper varieties, more tomatoes, green beans, carrots, radishes, garlic, onions and others....I went a little seed crazy at Lowes a few weeks ago and because there's hardly a veggie that I don't love, I will be planting a ton of crops this year!

Companion Planting: What is companion planting? It's planting flowers near certain veggie plants to attract the pest that would normally inhabit those veggies and instead draw them to the flowers of the companion plant instead. Some companion plants make pests want to stay away all together because they let off an odor to the pests that they don't like. Marigolds are a popular companion flower that is planted in or around veggie gardens to ward away pests. Sure you can always just spray your garden with pesticides but I highly recommend for optimal health for your plants, your dirt and your family, not to go that route unless you use a natural remedy such as cinnamon water. There's a brand called "Dr. Earth" I believe that has a whole line of organic gardening products including a natural and organic pesticide, it's made up of several different things and it works wonderfully!
*Side note, if you go the companion plant route, make sure that the plants you plant as companions are friends with the veggies you plant them near. Some plants don't get along! You can find lists of companion planting on pinterest :-) or the internet!


So there you have it! I hope you all enjoy creating your gardens as much as I do! It can be such a relaxing part of your day to go out in the morning or evening and check on all your plants, water, pick weeds and feel blessed that God created our food in such a way to be enjoyed :-)

The verdict is still out but I might be part rabbit!?!





Every farm worth it's salt (urban or not) needs a farm cat! My little Mow followed me out the door this morning when I went to collect eggs, feed animals, and water plants. So I made him take a picture with me! lol

February, you snuck up on me!

I can't believe we are half way thru February already! I remember as a kid thinking it would take FOREVER to get to spring time. I hated having to wait so long to wear shorts and go swimming and play outside all day every day but now as an adult time seems to fly past me so fast! in 5 days I will have a 7 year old daughter! 7!!! Like what!?! didn't I just bring her home from the hospital!?! I sit here today trying to figure out how I can slow time down a little, make the days last a little longer, have a little more peace so that we can enjoy time....The Spring/Summer season is by far my favorite of the seasons, I love the long days, the warm evenings that can be enjoyed sitting on the back porch and watch my chickens peck around the grass. I love BBQing with friends and family, enjoying a summer breeze, seeing flowers everywhere and having most of everything that is my favorite be in season (especially those June cherries!). I like a simple life that isn't overfilled with activities or errands, I feel like too much clutter makes time waste away even faster! This past week was pure torture for me, so many things to do, so many appointments, so many places to be at particular times when all I wanted to be was at home enjoying the peace. I am a home body!!! I'm not ashamed of that fact at all!

I pride myself on making my home a sanctuary, a place that not only we like to be but also a place where we can thrive. To me that looks a lot like comfy spots on a couch that was made for sittin and loungin! A big backyard garden where I can mettle with plants, pick weeds, spend time in the morning and evening just enjoying the weather outdoors, some sunshine and the ability to feed my family with the plants I'm growing. A kitchen that has what I need so I can cook meals at home, we make the majority of our meals that are eaten in my kitchen so I like having it well stocked at all times. Home grown, homemade, and home built is how I like to roll! Being at home gives me a sense of comfort, a feeling of belonging, a special space that's ours and it's very sacred to me. I feel like I'm about to bust out in song with "a few of my favorite things" lol but honestly the simple life for me is being here with my family, loving them the best way I can, and getting back to basics of life.

This morning my little man was driving his mama crazy! I love that boy with all my heart but he has that ability to push all my buttons all at once! The springtime weather has definitely brought out more energy and sass from my kids lately....So when I put him down for a nap my brain switched over to day dream mode and I started thinking about what I think makes a perfect day? I love the weather, it couldn't be better! All sunshine but not too hot yet, the bees flying around in the air as they search for newly opening blossoms. I love that my fruit salad tree is starting to bloom and I'm hoping it gives me a whole tree full of goodness this year! The sound of my chickens enjoying the sunshine, watching them take a dirt bath in their coop and the dark green color of our backyard grass from all the lovely rain we've gotten so far. It feels like this year is going to be something special, if I can slow down and enjoy it a little more.....A perfect day to me is filled with lots of moments of peaceful enjoyment at home. Today has been such a day and it has been wonderful.

Last weekend I spent a day starting seedlings in jiffy containers to transplant into my spring garden.

Just a week later and I have babies popping up thru the soil! I am planning for a big garden this year and even some potted veggies around the house. 

One good thing about California is our mild winters. My Parsley has been thriving lately! Thankfully all my herbs did really well this year and were able to last thru the colder days. 

Speaking of warmth, this sunshine has inspired quite the egg production in my girls! They've been busy laying me eggs daily now! I love the green eggs my Easter egg hens are giving me! There's nothing like fresh eggs from your hens! 

We can't skip collecting more than a day or two or we end up with all of this! 

Even my little Cactus are happy for the sunshine! Look at this flower crown growing :-) So very pretty!!!

and 2 weeks ago my Rabbits had babies! Are they not the cutest things you've ever seen!?! I am so in love with baby bunnies! Our hearts melt daily watching these little ones grow and play! My kids have especially loved having baby bunnies to look at and love! 

My winter lettuces have started to do really well and my Broccoli are finally getting taller! I'm hoping next year to have a good crop from them! Gardening is such a wonderful hobby that yields so much from it! It relaxes me, it grounds me back to nature and helps me to focus on the now, it gives us good health and teaches many life lessons along the way. If you haven't yet, maybe consider starting a garden for your home! I guarantee you'll love it!