Keeping Berries Fresh

This is genius, I had to share!

I love this time of year when berries start going on sale in the store (my strawberries are still green.) So when they are a great deal I snag up some. Yet, how many strawberries can one small family eat in a day before they go bad? And I feel bad giving Grace an overload of Vitamin C 3 times a day, even though she loves them.

The internet has amazing solutions!

To keep your berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.) fresh WAY longer: mix 1 part White Vinegar and 10 parts water. (I did 1/2c Vin and 5c water), put berries in bowl, let sit for 5ish minutes. Strain and lay out to air dry. Then put either covered or uncovered in fridge. (Mine were good uncovered for 4-5 days!!) This doesnt affect the berries taste at all and it kills all the mold spores, etc on the fruit (which really, you should be killing anyway!)



30 Weeks With Little Man and Home Projects

Baby Orion

30 weeks with Orion.

I cant wait to be done! Im not sure I am ready to have two kids under 18 months, but I am sure done with lugging this one around. He is SO much bigger than Grace was. Or at least I carried Grace more in my hips and wider, he is straight out belly. I also carried Grace high and he is obviously lower and therefore, already making me hurt. 10ish weeks to go! Yikes!

My Big Girl!

So...the toddler bed.

In my mom-mind, I wanted to switch her over in July (when she gets a new room) with this huge celebration of a "big girl bed" with fancy big girl sheets. Well I must have kept all this wonderfulness to myself because Papa decided to set it up Memorial Day. After 4 days, it was completely successful, and I am thankful that we didnt wait until July. (I ordered said fancy sheets that night though, just because.) It is wonderful and she is only now 15 months. I put her to bed/nap and she will sometimes get up and read her books for a bit, then crawl in bed on her own and go to sleep. I hear her wake up between 6-630am and then she again, sits and reads her books and doesnt start hollering for me until around 7. I am so thankful for that extra sleep right now! The crib is now ready for Orion to arrive.

Moving on to bigger changes going on....

We are in the process of adding on to our house. More babies = more room. The idea is to then switch the kids into the current master bedroom and our addition is off of Grace's room now. Much bigger room and a bathroom will be added. I am so excited!

The nice dirt hole dug out.

First set of forms built. We are getting cement this week.

And My Garden

One of my favorite things about my husband is how I can tell him some crazy idea in my head and he brings it to life. Here is my new greenhouse. Now, a few weeks in, my tomato, zucchini and pepper plants are loving their warm home!

I also have planted again this year - strawberries, green onion and carrots. My new additions are yellow onion, basil, cilantro, parsley and thyme. And again, my cucumber plant has already died. I am not sure on why all my others are thriving and I cant grow a cucumber. 4th plant in 3 years - I think I will give up on fresh cucumbers and enjoy my others.



Gardening

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." ~ Galatians 5:22

These are my strawberry plants growing strong. We are starting to have lots of little berries on them, sometime soon they will explode with fruit! This is the very first berry and the only one that is now almost ripe. I am so excited!


My green onions. Still a long way to go, but they are getting big.

Lettuce, spinach and carrots

My garden.

I surround it with smashed eggshells. This prevents slugs & snails from entering.

Jalapeno plant. I am praying it will live so Steve can have at least one pepper. That is all he wanted!

One of the clusters of radishes. They should be the first crop that I can enjoy. Steve built this gate for me this weekend. I love it! It keeps my beagle from seeing out front and barking all the time and it allows me more privacy when I'm out in the garden. He is so talented!

I planted these out front. They are the only flowers I have this year. Maybe I will plant more... Ive been so focused on my vegetables that I havent cared too much about flowers.

Well my garden - and gardening skills - have come a long way so far! It is so relaxing to work in the garden, especially in the early morning or evening. I completely understand now why Jesus liked to pray in a garden! The solitude is peaceful. If all vegetables fail, it is still worth it. More pictures to come later!

A War was Waged - Me vs. Kitties

I stepped back, looked at my pretty new planted garden and felt dang proud of myself. That is until the next morning when two of my bell pepper plants were torn up, dirt (with my seeds) were flung about and a couple piles of cat poo were left as a gift. I was livid! Black pepper and chili powder didnt do the trick, and after two days of battling (and currently losing) I had to go high tech.

This little device is how I won the war. When it detects motion, it sends out a loud annoying sound that only kitties can hear. Since putting this in the garden, I have seen no paw prints in my soil! Great investment.This is the lone bell pepper plant that survived the destruction. On top of the sound devide, I also spread Cayenne Pepper, coffee grounds and orange peel around the dirt ( I am NOT messing around!) I am sure the sound is what did it, but having their mitts on fire must not have felt good either.
Seriously, keep your cats in your house. I do not let my Beagle and Boxer roam about to poop in your yard and tear apart your hard work. But in the end, I WON.

I Believe That Getting Your Hands Dirty, Cleanses Your Mind

"He who plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see a plant, believes in God."

My garden is finally planted! It will all look much bigger when everything starts to grow. My cucumber plants ( I planted 3 and will leave the strongest 2) look so tiny outside now!
It's hard to see but there are 4 hills here. Today I planted 2 hills with lettuce, 2 with spinach and then carrots inbetween the hills. The little green plants at the top right are the jalapenos.

Out of all those seedlings I transplanted the strongest 3 of cucumbers, jalapenos and bell peppers. Hopefully at least one from each will produce for us. Also planted today in between each of the other plants were more carrots, radishes, and green onions. More pics to come when they all start to spout and it looks like a garden, not like dirt with a few green things. :o)

Regardless, I am happy that I have a garden this year. And happy that I have my kitchen back too!

The Garden is Moving Outside

These are my little green onions. They take about 120 days to mature, but Im so excited to eat them come, oh, August! Strawberries, Green Onions and some Radishes

I bought one set of already started strawberries, just in case the others from just roots dont make it.

These are the stawberry roots. In a few weeks they should turn into a plant (I hope!) This is all very new and a little strange to me...

Im hardening off all the plants I started inside. Sometime this week they will be transplanted into the garden on the side of our house.

If all goes well and I can keep critters away, this summer we will be enjoying:

Lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, jalapenos, bell peppers, green onions, spinach, radishes and strawberries.
May God please bless my garden!

Garden Update

Here is a little update on my seedlings. They are 4 weeks along.
The heartiest of the plants is definately the cucumber plant. They are way taller than all the others.

Here is most of the plants. They have taken over my kitchen. This is the only place in the house that gets direct sunlight for a longer period of the day. I am looking forward to transplanting them outside so I can have my space back! I also have green onions in a pot outside and radishes in a pot on the other side of the kitchen! ahh!

Experienced gardeners help me out! The seedling on the right is the odd one out. It came out of the bell pepper packet, but looks nothing like any of my other plants. The plant on the left is a bell pepper (the jalapenos look the same) so Im curious to know what this rounded leaf little plant is. I hope it survives to be big enough for me to tell. It is a mystery plant.

Happiness is Homemade!

My first pie. It was delicious! I made the crust from scratch and filled it with blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Definately making this again and again!

I planted my seeds THREE days ago! Look at that whole row of lettuce sprouts growing quickly. The package said 10-14 days...not too bad for the little guys. Notice the one lone bell pepper in the corner. The others need to catch up. I was just so surprised at how fast this occured, I had to show it!

Spring is Approaching!

"Build houses and settle down: plant gardens and eat what they produce."

Jeremiah 29:5 The veggie variety. This year is gardening 101 for me, so experimenting I am! The Jalapinos were Steves only request. We will see if I can work magic and grow them up in our climate! I am so excited to see the little seedling start to sprout!A few are lucky enough to start growing inside. My goal is to plant them outside April 22-ish. Based on our current weather, I will surely be frost free and safe by then!Here is where it will all grow, 6 -8 weeks from now! My garden area is now all turned over and just waiting for more dry weather in March for fresh topsoil. By July we should be eating the fruits of my labor. :o)