This has been another busy week for me and all I want to do is play in the dirt! Instead of, you know, working and getting close to finishing up my classes (research papers suck, by the way). I have to give myself “garden breaks” from time to time so I don’t hate school so much. OK…I guess that’s not entirely true, I don’t hate school…I’m actually pretty lucky to get to study Environmental Education…I’m just very ready for the semester to be over so I can shift my focus into the yard a bit more 🙂 Anyhow, I/we did get a few things done this week…
Plant something: My planting has definitely slowed down since I’ve been planting under our grow lights like a mad woman for the past couple of months, but I did get a few seeds into some soil.
- I planted several random potatoes that sprouted in our pantry. I couldn’t tell you their names because we got them at the farmers market and just grabbed what looked good. There were some white, some red and some purple…we’ll see what happens 🙂
- Cayenne Peppers (Ring-o-Fire)
- Indigo Rose tomatoes
I ordered my newest tomato and pepper seeds here and although I just learned about Indigo Rose tomatoes, I am excited to try them out…see how they do here and if they taste any good. Aren’t they gorgeous!?!? The first seeds are going into the soil tonight, which is a bit late, but they just came in the mail, so hopefully they’ll have enough time to mature. Fingers crossed! I look forward to letting you know how it goes 🙂
I’ve also begun the hardening off process by moving several tomatoes and peppers outside each day and then back into the house in the evenings. I’m even tempted to plant out a couple of my bigger tomatoes into one of the hoop houses to see how they’ll do…though I’m still a bit hesitant since we have about a month before we’re officially frost free.
Harvest something (from this Harvest Monday post):
- Chard = 6 ounces
- Spinach = 1 ounce
- Kale = 6 ounces
- Eggs = 36
Preserve something: Well, of course we canned some more pinto beans (7 quarts)…but…that’s about it this week!
Waste not (beyond the weekly composting and kitchen scraps to the chickens): Tool Lady continued working through our lumber score with this shelf building project! And…we still have more lumber to work through…
Want Not: We got a hold of several (official) MREs and have added them to our ICE (in case of emergency) storage. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, so I won’t give you much more information other than that they are official, they were a good deal, they don’t expire for years and they will help us get through some rough days with the comfort of some warm food if the shit really ever does hit the fan.
Eat the Food: We ate some more beans form the pantry and beef and red chile from the freezer. We ate most of what was harvested (it’s getting difficult to keep up…we really need to eat more greens!). Tool Lady also made a new bread last weekend that was quite divine…and yet she didn’t write down the recipe. I’m going to do my best to get her to reproduce it, because it might be one of my favorites!
Build community food systems: Oh, I don’t think I did anything on this one this week. This is another thing I need to work on improving!
Skill up: Tool Lady taught Fish girl and myself how to “make” and eat an MRE. This process made us all feel a bit better knowing that we actually know what to do and that the food is (surprisingly) pretty good. Who knew?!
Indigo rose tomatoes! Gorgeous. I want, I want 😉
My dad was in the military, and I remember sampling his MREs when we were young! I think there was even an “ice cream” one that we thought was pretty good (strange texturally, but good flavor).
-Jaime
P.S. No cedar wood from Craigslist for us 🙁 Turned out to be in pretty bad shape (I had a feeling the price was too good to be true! Ah well, win some, lose some)
Jaime, have you already started your seedlings inside? I will send you a few seeds if you email me your address 🙂 My packet only came with 25 seeds, but I’d be happy to share!!! trinityvision3(at)gmail(dot)com
I have heard about the ice cream in the MREs…sounds interesting and like something I’d be willing to try if the shit hit the fan, but probably not before then…LOL!
Sorry to hear about that lumber! It’s always a bit of a gamble! I’m sure you’ll find some, though!
Oh, you are too kind! I have tomato seedlings already growing inside…wonder if it would be too late to start more? I’ll send you an email later 🙂 Maybe there’s something I’m growing you might want to try, so I can send you something, too! (I have a page on my blog with my grow list for 2012).
-Jaime
Awesome shelving!(Can one really ever have to much sturdy shelving? I think not.)
It is so great that you keep count of your eggs and harvest tally. We were keeping track of our produce, but I got irritated with having to weigh everything and write it down by the end of summer, so I stopped. Of course, we were tracking things individually so that was probably the problem. I think I’ll take it up again. And it would be fun to count our eggs.
We started a bunch of seeds inside under lights for the first time this year and it did not go so well. They mostly survived but they aren’t exactly thriving, and I don’t know why. Oh well, we’ll try again for fall.
I read back through your posts on your “1/8” tab. You have done awesome things with your space! Love it.
Thanks Lily! Tracking harvests totals can get a bit tedious at the height of the season, but I think it’s worth it in the end! It was so nice at the end of the year last year to see in numbers how much we’d grown! Plus, it gives me a goal to push past for this year 😉
I wonder what happening with your little seedlings? Sorry they’re giving you a hard time! I hope you can figure out the problem so your fall seedlings have a better chance 🙂
Thanks for checking out the 1/8 tab. It’s been a lot of work, but we’re really happy with the progress so far! It’s amazing how much we’ve fit into such a tiny space! If you would’ve asked me a few years ago, I would have never thought it possible.
ah, indigo rose! very cool. i grew those last year when they still went by the name “OSU blue,” before they were commercially available. they’re one of my favorite tomatoes now. not only are they incredibly cool looking, they’re also way productive and one of the most delicious tomatoes i’ve ever eaten!! good luck with them!
Oh yay! Thanks Emily! I’m so glad to hear they did so well for you! I hope they do just as well here! 🙂
Your seed growing is very impressive! I fear that until I get a real grow light set up, my attempts at starting from seed will be for nothing 🙁 Your week looks very productive! I can totally relate to you on the need to take ‘garden breaks’. Between running my business, household stuff and working on the home remodeling projects, I have to take garden breaks too, or less I’m pretty crabby 🙂 Cheers, Jenni
Thanks, Jenni! Yeah, garden breaks are necessary…no one likes a crabby momma, and I get real crabby, too, if i don’t get some time in the dirt 🙂