I haven't posted on the garden's progress since July, as, after that, I had a lot of produce from the garden to preserve. Just to give you an idea, I froze 4 cups of peas, 2 cups of raspberries, 6 cups of rhubarb, 4 cups of zucchini, 20 cups of green beans, 7 cups of pureed pumpkin, 10 cups of tomatoes, 12 cups of broccoli, and 16 cups of carrots. I canned 2 pints of peas, 24 pints of green beans, 10 quarts of pumpkin, 7 pints of salsa, 16 half-pints of pizza sauce, 3 pints of pasta sauce, 8 half-pints of pumpkin butter, 5 half-pints of grape jelly, and 37 quarts of grape juice. This was all from my yard. As you'll recall, I live on less than a tenth of an acre. I have a tiny, tiny yard. And this list doesn't even get into all the drying I did. I dried mostly herbs, and onions, rhubarb, sunflower seeds, and dandelion root.
A lot of the stuff I put up is gone. We're down to the last bag of carrots and our beans are nearly half-gone, as is our broccoli. Going to have to start shopping for produce in the grocery store pretty soon.
The garden plans for next year are coming along very well. I have nearly all the seeds I'll need in May. I have more specific plans drawn up to best utilize the space in the garden. My patches of grass are going to be a bit smaller this year than they were last year.
My blueberry bushes should be bearing some fruit, and we've made big improvements in the strawberry patch, so hopefully we'll have a lot of fruit this year. I'm hoping for a modest five pounds from the blueberry bushes, but we shall see. I'm hoping the strawberries will hit their stride this year. I'm considering using some of the grapes to make wine. I'm also hoping to barter the chestnuts, as we don't much care for them.
I'll be making a list of the annual plants I plan to grow in a later post.
Showing posts with label self-sufficient. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self-sufficient. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Busy Weekend
My husband and I re-did our front yard this weekend. The front yard was unevenly graded and full of grass...we dug up about half of the yard, as the other half was already dug up. We dug it up not only to grade it, but also to expose the weed seeds for the birds to eat and to amend and aerate the soil. We dumped some compost and peat moss over the area where the blueberry bushes are going to go. We put the sod we dug up back in two areas after aerating the soil. I got 2 of my 3 raised beds ready for planting. I planted about half of my peas because I ran out of seeds. I also got my cement blocks set up behind my raised beds. I'll be putting herbs in the cement blocks. My father-in-law should be coming this week to give us a bunch of manure. After that's incorporated in, I'm going to be able to plant my onions and create a path in the front yard.
Now all that's left for the front yard, for now, are about 4 trellises, and, of coarse, planting the rest of my seeds.
Now all that's left for the front yard, for now, are about 4 trellises, and, of coarse, planting the rest of my seeds.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
On Being Self-Sufficient
I thought I would write a post on being self-sufficient. Now, as I've stated before, I think it's impossible for someone in my position to become completely self-sufficient. However, I think a lot of people could stand to be more self-sufficient- they just don't know how.
Why would someone choose to be more self-sufficient? Why would someone choose to do things the hard way, as opposed to the easy way?
Because it saves money. Sure, you could drive to the grocery store and buy a lasagna from the freezer, bring it home and pop it in. Or you could buy (or even better, grow) the ingredients for a fraction of the cost.
Because it cuts down on waste. For all the packaging involved with the lasagna scenario above, you could use less than half the packaging to make your own. I buy noodles (in bulk) and cheese for lasagna, so the packaging for those gets reused or recycled. Also, since I buy the ingredients in bulk, it saves trips to the store, thereby cutting down on gas I am consuming.
Because it contributes to a healthy lifestyle. If you turn over your store-bought lasagna and look at the ingredients, what do you find? Can you even pronounce some of the ingredients? Now consider what your ingredients list would look like if you made the lasagna from scratch. If you grew some of the ingredients, even better. Not only do you know exactly what contributed to their growth, but also you got some exercise while growing them! When you prepare food from scratch you burn less calories than if you had bought it at the grocery store and "prepared" it by picking it out from the freezer section, bringing it home, and popping it in the oven.
Because of pride of ownership. Would you be more proud of a lasagna you bought from the store or one you spent all day carefully preparing? Would you be more willing to throw out the left-overs from the store-bought lasagna or the one you made from scratch?
Obviously this isn't all about lasagna. Being self-sufficient is a lifestyle based on concious choices. Whatever your main motivation, I urge you to give self-sufficiency a try, one small change at a time. You cannot change your entire lifestyle overnight. This is a series of baby steps in the right direction.
This is my first in what I hope to be a series of discussing being self-sufficient.
Why would someone choose to be more self-sufficient? Why would someone choose to do things the hard way, as opposed to the easy way?
Because it saves money. Sure, you could drive to the grocery store and buy a lasagna from the freezer, bring it home and pop it in. Or you could buy (or even better, grow) the ingredients for a fraction of the cost.
Because it cuts down on waste. For all the packaging involved with the lasagna scenario above, you could use less than half the packaging to make your own. I buy noodles (in bulk) and cheese for lasagna, so the packaging for those gets reused or recycled. Also, since I buy the ingredients in bulk, it saves trips to the store, thereby cutting down on gas I am consuming.
Because it contributes to a healthy lifestyle. If you turn over your store-bought lasagna and look at the ingredients, what do you find? Can you even pronounce some of the ingredients? Now consider what your ingredients list would look like if you made the lasagna from scratch. If you grew some of the ingredients, even better. Not only do you know exactly what contributed to their growth, but also you got some exercise while growing them! When you prepare food from scratch you burn less calories than if you had bought it at the grocery store and "prepared" it by picking it out from the freezer section, bringing it home, and popping it in the oven.
Because of pride of ownership. Would you be more proud of a lasagna you bought from the store or one you spent all day carefully preparing? Would you be more willing to throw out the left-overs from the store-bought lasagna or the one you made from scratch?
Obviously this isn't all about lasagna. Being self-sufficient is a lifestyle based on concious choices. Whatever your main motivation, I urge you to give self-sufficiency a try, one small change at a time. You cannot change your entire lifestyle overnight. This is a series of baby steps in the right direction.
This is my first in what I hope to be a series of discussing being self-sufficient.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Seeds!
I finally got to count my seeds over the weekend. I estimate I have at least 50 different kinds of seeds. The only two kinds of seeds I was missing, so far as I could tell after preliminary checks, were large pumpkins (for making pies) and zucchini. I'll probably have to buy more peas, too.
As far as the garden planning goes, I'm just about set...I think. Every time I come up with a new plan, I end up changing it in a month or so. This cycle repeats itself all winter till Springtime when I have to make the final decision of what to plant where. A great panic ensues until my friend B convinces me this stuff is only going to be planted here one year (the perrenials I always know one year in advance where I'll plant them- I won't even consider them until I already have a specific spot lined up). So if I plant bean seeds in soil with less-than-ideal pH, they won't suffer too badly. Then I just have to try to get them in a better position next year.
My plan this year is just about complete (at least, this revision is) aside from a few herbs. I have everything planned down to the square foot or less of where it will go. I just have to match a few square feet to a few herbs.
As far as the garden planning goes, I'm just about set...I think. Every time I come up with a new plan, I end up changing it in a month or so. This cycle repeats itself all winter till Springtime when I have to make the final decision of what to plant where. A great panic ensues until my friend B convinces me this stuff is only going to be planted here one year (the perrenials I always know one year in advance where I'll plant them- I won't even consider them until I already have a specific spot lined up). So if I plant bean seeds in soil with less-than-ideal pH, they won't suffer too badly. Then I just have to try to get them in a better position next year.
My plan this year is just about complete (at least, this revision is) aside from a few herbs. I have everything planned down to the square foot or less of where it will go. I just have to match a few square feet to a few herbs.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Seeds of Doubt
I still haven't counted my seeds collected and saved over from last year. I still have no idea how many seeds I need to get. I like to trade seeds rather than buy them. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I'd rather get my seeds through exchange with another gardener than from a packet at Walmart. And seeds from catalogs are so expensive....
I would like to get on my seeds right away, but I have other projects to do first. For one thing, I've got to sort and put away all the herbs I grew and harvested like four months ago. Before that, even, I've got to make birthday party invitations for my "baby", who is turning two in a few weeks.
Another garden challenge I'm currently facing is a dilemma between how much I can grow, given the amount of room and time I have, versus how much I would like to grow. I want to be as self-sufficient as possible, at least when it comes to fruits and veg and herbs, but at the same time, I want to be able to give some of my produce away. It's not so much a sense of pride as much as it's a sense of being able to help others. I have other family members who could really benefit from fresh and canned food. I definitely understand there are plenty of people worse-off financially than we are, and I just want to help them! I'll probably end up striking a compromise between how much I save and how much I give away. In the process, I may just be able to convince a few people to grow their own, seeing as I have a limited amount of space to begin with.
I would like to get on my seeds right away, but I have other projects to do first. For one thing, I've got to sort and put away all the herbs I grew and harvested like four months ago. Before that, even, I've got to make birthday party invitations for my "baby", who is turning two in a few weeks.
Another garden challenge I'm currently facing is a dilemma between how much I can grow, given the amount of room and time I have, versus how much I would like to grow. I want to be as self-sufficient as possible, at least when it comes to fruits and veg and herbs, but at the same time, I want to be able to give some of my produce away. It's not so much a sense of pride as much as it's a sense of being able to help others. I have other family members who could really benefit from fresh and canned food. I definitely understand there are plenty of people worse-off financially than we are, and I just want to help them! I'll probably end up striking a compromise between how much I save and how much I give away. In the process, I may just be able to convince a few people to grow their own, seeing as I have a limited amount of space to begin with.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Self-Sufficiency
My definition of self-sufficiency is to be able to live your day-to-day life without being dependant on anyone else. By that definition, no one will ever truly be self-sufficient, but I still think it's a goal worth reaching for. There are people in our own country that are close. I keep getting closer every day. I already know me and my family will never be completely self-sufficient. Then why bother trying?
To cut down on dependancy of oil. Let's face it, oil is running low. Think about how much oil is involved for you to go to the grocery store and pick up a bunch of carrots. The carrots are grown in a field which is plowed with a tractor that uses gas. Then the carrots are harvested with another gas-using tractor. And the person who is driving the tractor probably doesn't live on the farm where he works. (S)he probably had to drive to work in a car or truck. Then, once the carrots are harvested, they are loaded onto a truck which, of coarse, runs on diesil, and the truck transports the carrots to the grocery store. So then you get in your car and drive to the grocery store and back to get your carrots. Now let's say you grow carrots in your own yard. You walk ten or twenty feet from your door, prepare the soil by hand, plant the carrots by hand, pull them by hand, and eventually walk back into your house to eat the carrots. No oil involved.
To know where my food is coming from. I've always been on the picky side when it comes to food. It plain grosses me out to not know where my food is coming from. Every few months there is a brand new news report out telling us not to eat this or that because it's tainted with one poison or another. I don't use anything on my food that is not organic- and especially no pesticides. So I know exactly where my food is coming from, down to the square inch of soil where I planted the seed, all the way through the growth cycle and onto my family's table.
Because it saves money. For less than half the cost of the bag of carrots I could buy at the store, I could buy a packet of seeds of carrots and have carrots for the entire year. Depending on the variety of vegitable, I collect the seeds and carry them through from one year to the next. So let's say instead of buying a bag of peas at the grocery store for $2, I can buy a packet of pea seeds for $1. Then when the growing season is over, I can collect my pea seeds every year and have peas indefinately.
Because it's fun. I enjoy the challenge of thinking up new items around the house I can make myself and depend even less on other people to provide for me. Self-sufficiency does not just have to do with food, but every facet of life. I make my own laundry soap and body soap, for example. These are really fun to make, so it's a hobby as well as a lifestyle choice.
Those are the main reasons, not in any order, that I choose to be self-sufficient.
To cut down on dependancy of oil. Let's face it, oil is running low. Think about how much oil is involved for you to go to the grocery store and pick up a bunch of carrots. The carrots are grown in a field which is plowed with a tractor that uses gas. Then the carrots are harvested with another gas-using tractor. And the person who is driving the tractor probably doesn't live on the farm where he works. (S)he probably had to drive to work in a car or truck. Then, once the carrots are harvested, they are loaded onto a truck which, of coarse, runs on diesil, and the truck transports the carrots to the grocery store. So then you get in your car and drive to the grocery store and back to get your carrots. Now let's say you grow carrots in your own yard. You walk ten or twenty feet from your door, prepare the soil by hand, plant the carrots by hand, pull them by hand, and eventually walk back into your house to eat the carrots. No oil involved.
To know where my food is coming from. I've always been on the picky side when it comes to food. It plain grosses me out to not know where my food is coming from. Every few months there is a brand new news report out telling us not to eat this or that because it's tainted with one poison or another. I don't use anything on my food that is not organic- and especially no pesticides. So I know exactly where my food is coming from, down to the square inch of soil where I planted the seed, all the way through the growth cycle and onto my family's table.
Because it saves money. For less than half the cost of the bag of carrots I could buy at the store, I could buy a packet of seeds of carrots and have carrots for the entire year. Depending on the variety of vegitable, I collect the seeds and carry them through from one year to the next. So let's say instead of buying a bag of peas at the grocery store for $2, I can buy a packet of pea seeds for $1. Then when the growing season is over, I can collect my pea seeds every year and have peas indefinately.
Because it's fun. I enjoy the challenge of thinking up new items around the house I can make myself and depend even less on other people to provide for me. Self-sufficiency does not just have to do with food, but every facet of life. I make my own laundry soap and body soap, for example. These are really fun to make, so it's a hobby as well as a lifestyle choice.
Those are the main reasons, not in any order, that I choose to be self-sufficient.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Write Now
I like to write. When I was little, I always thought I would grow up to be a famous author. So far that hasn't happened. When I got a little older, I thought I would go to New York City or someplace just as glamorous and go to university there. I had this whole plan in my head: go to University, let a much older, very rich professor fall in love with me and have a lurid affair with him while he supports me while I write until I become famous. Then I would dump him and let a younger, richer celebrity fall in love with me and only use him for some of his money while I made my own money writing. All of that fell through.
I wound up marrying a guy I met in high school. We hung around the same group of friends, but we didn't even start dating till I was 19. Then we got married, had our first baby, and he became an engineer. We had another baby, and now he has a "career" while I'm home with my girls, nowhere near New York City.
Don't get me wrong- I love staying home with my girls. I don't have a boss to report to, and I can do all my work in my jammies. While sitting around in jammies and being spit up on isn't quiet as glamorous as the lifestyle I had in mind, it does have it's perks. Jammies are much more comfortable than mini-skirts or power suits. In all fairness, I find jammies to be more flattering than power suits most of the time.
Since my husband is an engineer, we have money coming out of our ears. At least, that's what a lot of people tend to think. While we don't lack the money to provide basic nessecities, and a few niceties, we don't have a money tree growing out back. I like to think that part of the reason we can afford the things we do is smart money-management. I'll be talking a lot more about that in future posts.
The last thing you should know about me is that I love to grow food. I have quite an extensive garden which takes up most of our front lawn and a good part of our back yard, too. It's growing every year. My ultimate goal is to have about 100 square feet of lawn, and the rest of our space will be dedicated to growing useful things. I estimate I will approach that goal within the next four years or so. I want to become as self-sufficient as possible. I'm not some Doomsday Loonie, I just like to grow things and I find grass to be a waste of space. There are plenty of other reasons, but I won't get into that now. I've got dinner to make.
I wound up marrying a guy I met in high school. We hung around the same group of friends, but we didn't even start dating till I was 19. Then we got married, had our first baby, and he became an engineer. We had another baby, and now he has a "career" while I'm home with my girls, nowhere near New York City.
Don't get me wrong- I love staying home with my girls. I don't have a boss to report to, and I can do all my work in my jammies. While sitting around in jammies and being spit up on isn't quiet as glamorous as the lifestyle I had in mind, it does have it's perks. Jammies are much more comfortable than mini-skirts or power suits. In all fairness, I find jammies to be more flattering than power suits most of the time.
Since my husband is an engineer, we have money coming out of our ears. At least, that's what a lot of people tend to think. While we don't lack the money to provide basic nessecities, and a few niceties, we don't have a money tree growing out back. I like to think that part of the reason we can afford the things we do is smart money-management. I'll be talking a lot more about that in future posts.
The last thing you should know about me is that I love to grow food. I have quite an extensive garden which takes up most of our front lawn and a good part of our back yard, too. It's growing every year. My ultimate goal is to have about 100 square feet of lawn, and the rest of our space will be dedicated to growing useful things. I estimate I will approach that goal within the next four years or so. I want to become as self-sufficient as possible. I'm not some Doomsday Loonie, I just like to grow things and I find grass to be a waste of space. There are plenty of other reasons, but I won't get into that now. I've got dinner to make.
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