June 17 - 25, 2012

Temperature Range:

• lows: 60 - 70° F
• highs: 83 - 94° F

Rainfall: 0.05"

Planted:

• amaranth
• black oil sunflowers
• sweet potato slips

Harvested:

• potatoes
• peaches
• blueberries
• yellow onions
• multiplier onions

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 7
• Mon 6
• Tues 6
• Wed 6
• Thurs 9
• Fri 6
• Sat 6
• Week's Total: 46

Observed & Accomplished:

Sunday

• day of rest

Monday

• picked blueberries
• harvested onions
• harvested more potatoes

Tuesday

• finished harvesting potatoes
• weeded
• 1st cukes will be ready to harvest soon
• I think Mrs. Mean might be laying her eggs in the Broody's nest!

Wednesday

• latest garden post on my homestead blog
• weeded
• planted amaranth in old potato beds
• planted BOSS with cucumbers
• applied 4 cups dolomitic limestone and 3 cups bone meal to each bed
• picked about a gallon of blueberries
• 1st day this summer we broke 90°
• light rain, welcome after planting those seeds

Thursday

• weeded front herb bed; near impossible because of all the wire grass growing there

Friday

• froze blueberries

Saturday

• finished planting sweet potatoes
• applied dolomitic limestone to both sweet potato beds
• weeded tomato aisles
• noted some beds are muddy, some beds are dry as a bone
• picked blueberries (almost 2 gallons)
• other hens keep laying in the broody's nest. She has 5 or 6 eggs now; only supposed to have 3
• late afternoon thunder & a sprinkle

Ap. 29 - May 5, 2012

Temperature Range:

• lows: 55 - 67° F
• highs: 83 - 87° F

Rainfall: sprinkle

Planted:

• tomatoes, Amish Paste (Sustainable)
• borage (Pinetree Gardens)
• marigolds, antique (saved seeds)
• BOSS (boughten bird seed)
• cucumbers, Marketmore 76 (saved seeds)
• Eggplant, Florida High Bush (Seed Savers)
• soup beans, Dwarf Horticultural Taylor (Sustainable)
• buckwheat

Harvested:

• strawberries (just a few)
• lettuce
• broccoli
• carrots

Egg Counts

• Sun. 8
• Mon. 7
• Tues. 7
• Wed. 10
• Thurs. 8
• Fri. 7
• Sat. 8
• Week's Total: 55

Observed & Accomplished:

Sunday

• day of rest
• days are getting hotter
• potted ginger is sprouting

Monday

• pulled all but one collard cabbage for seed
• did a lot of my spring planting

Tuesday

• raked up hay and cut more
• Dan tilled part of this summer's corn patch
• ordered barley & flax seed

Wednesday

• magnolia is blooming
• planted buckwheat near the almond tree where the old landscape cloth isn't pinned to the ground
• brought house plants outside
• scales on Meyers Lemon (scraped & washed off)
• compost worms seems sparse in that big bed, but they're there
• starting to get hot. I'm not ready for that

Thursday

• scythed & raked more hay
• Dan finished tilling the corn patch
• repotted banana tree

Saturday

• Dan finished scything pasture for hay

Aug. Wk 1: 31 - 6

Temperature Range:

• lows: 68 - 76
• highs: 89 - 100

Rainfall: sprinkle

Harvested:

• green beans
• okra
• watermelon
• cowpeas
• green nutmeg melon
• tomatoes
• Hutterite soup beans
• summer squash
• elderberries
• fingerling potatoes
• black oil sunflower seed heads
• figs

Preserved:

• dehydrated watermelon, 1 pint
• dehydrated figs, 3 pints
• froze 1 ice cube tray of whey
• chicken/okra gumbo soup, 11 quarts canned
• chicken/tomato soup base, 2 quarts canned
• tomato/veggie juice, 10 quarts canned
• okra, 2 quarts frozen
• mozzarella, 6 pizza's worth frozen
• scallop squash, froze 1 quart

Seeds Saved:

• dill
• green nutmeg melon

Egg Counts:

• Sun: 4
• Mon. 2
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 3
• Thurs. 2
• Fri. 4
• Sat. 3
• Week's total: 23

Eating Our Own:

• fresh eggs
• fresh tomatoes
• fresh figs
• fresh cabbage
• fresh carrots
• fresh okra
• fresh green beans
• fresh scallop squash
• fresh watermelon
• fresh nutmeg melon
• goats milk including:
• mozzarella
• yogurt
• sour milk (cake)
• frozen bell pepper
• lacto-fermented dill pickles
• lacto-fermented Swiss chard
• canned pickle relish
• canned blueberry jam

Accomplished:

• Sunday
• day of rest
• chicks hatched
• placed mail order chicks under Mama Hen
• Monday:
• picked
• watered main garden
• started more tomato juice
• made mozzarella from 2 gallons milk
• Tuesday:
• made & canned chicken okra gumbo
• canned surplus broth as soup base
• had to go buy more quart canning jars
• made yogurt
• froze more whey
• veggies through food mill for tomato juice
• watered raspberries, blueberries, elderberries
• Wednesday:
• dug potatoes (2nd bed of fingerlings)
• picked okra, toms, squash
• picked figs
• watered new pumpkins
• harvested BOSS heads
• canned tomato/veggie juice
• froze okra & ate some fresh
• chopped & froze 4.5 qts figs for jam making later
• Thursday:
• grated & froze Monday's mozzarella
• made more mozzarella from 1.5 gallons milk
• Friday:
• picked green beans, okra, soup beans, toms
• harvested dried dill heads for seed
• set melon seeds to soak for saving
• watered popcorn
• watered comfrey
• Saturday:
• helped finish goat fencing
• grated & froze scallop squash

May Wk 3: 15 - 21

Temperature Range:

• lows: 47 - 61
• highs: 60 - 88

Rainfall: only sprinkles

Planted:

• sand cherry bushes (Burgess)
• butternut squash (saved seed)
• borage (Pinetree Gardens)
• field corn, Truckers Favorite (Shumway)
• black oil sunflowers (feed store)

Harvested:

• peas
• Swiss chard
• yarrow
• calendula
• comfrey leaves

Eating our own:

• fresh strawberries
• fresh peas (in salad)
• fresh Swiss chard (in salad)
• fresh goats milk, including:
• yogurt
• cheese
• whey
• fresh eggs
• canned strawberry jam
• canned sweet potatoes
• canned Swiss chard
• canned green tomato salsa
• canned dill pickles
• canned cucumber relish
• canned pizza sauce
• frozen bell pepper
• dried wild onions (in rolls)
• dried figs (in cake)
• stored pecans & hickory nuts (in salad)

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon 6
• Tues. 5
• Wed. 4
• Thurs. 5
• Fri. 5 + stash of 3
• Sat. 5
• Week's Total: 33

Accomplished:

• mulched early potato beds
• finished planting corn field
• watered main garden

Observations:

• fall garden is a weedy mess

May Wk. 1: 1 - 7

Temperature Range:

• lows: 37 - 63
• highs: 68 - 83

Rainfall: none

Planted:

• white broom corn (Baker Creek)
• okra, Clemson Spineless (saved seed)
• eggplant, FL High Bush (Seed Savers)
• habanero peppers (Pinetree Garden)
• cosmos (saved seed)
• black oil sunflowers (feed store)
• summer squash, Bennings Green Tint (Pinetree Garden)

Harvested:

• lettuce
• strawberries

Egg Counts:

• Sun. 5
• Mon. 5
• Tues. 6
• Wed. 4
• Thurs, 4
• Fri. 6
• Sat. 6
• Week's Total: 36

Eating our own:

• fresh lettuce
• fresh goats milk
• fresh eggs
• fresh beets
• fresh carrots
• fresh strawberries
• canned green beans
• canned tomato soup
• canned pizza sauce
• canned dill pickles
• frozen summer squash
• frozen okra
• frozen green pepper
• dried cantaloupe

Accomplished:

• continued mulching strawberry bed
• fenced off corn field

Observations:

• pea pods filling out
• corn coming up!

Oct. Wk 1, 3rd - 9th

Temperature Range:

• lows: 44 - 54° F
• highs:  66 - 80° F

Rainfall: none

Harvested:

• sweet peppers
• Swiss chard
• beet greens with baby beets 
• dried State 1/2 runner beans (for seed & soup)
• buttercup squash
• dill seed
• sunflower seed heads (last of)

Preserved:

• froze sweet pepper
• froze eggs

Problems noted:

• black rot(?) on curing sweet potatoes

Accomplished:

• started removing amaranth seed from heads
• pulling dead bean plants
• pulled out the last of the dead sunflower stalks
• thinning beets & eating steamed thinnings
• hilled fall potatoes (mostly volunteers)
• sprayed zucchini plants with Soap Shield (copper solution) for powdery mildew
• cleaned out old cantaloupe bed, pulling dried vines & weeds with seed heads
• fed weeds to the goats (much appreciated)
• working on new fencing mostly
• husked popcorn
• shelled dried sweet corn for seed

To Do:

• finish amaranth seed
• get something to store amaranth seed in
• mulch fall garden
• work on fall fruit tree & shrub nursery order
• finish pulling out dead squash and cucumber vines
• clean out chicken coop & spread on garden for tilling
• till summer garden
• plant green manure cover crop of annual rye

Homestead Cuisine:

• baked chicken, steamed baby beets with greens, potato salad with pickle juice in mayonnaise and ripe sweet pepper

Sept/Oct Transition Week (Sept 26 - Oct 2)

Rainfall: 3.1 inches

Harvested:

• zucchini
• black turtle beans
• sweet peppers
• buttercup squash
• sunflowers

Problems noted:

• powdery mildew on zucchini
  

Preserved:

• froze 1 pint pumpkin
• froze eggs
• froze sweet peppers
• cured sunflower heads

Accomplished:

• Sorted stored potatoes. Some going bad, all sprouting
• Composted bad potatoes
• cleaned out pantry fridge for sprouting potatoes
• made potato soup (it's getting to be that soup time of year)
• pulled black turtle bean plants & sunflower stalks
• shelling saved seeds: radishes, turnips
• Finally visited my area food co-op and got a one month trial membership. I will probably join.  They do buy produce from members so maybe this will be an outlet in the future. They also told me about an area locavore group. It's good to be finding some area resources.
  

To Do:

• spray zucchini for the mildew
• sort sweet potatoes for storage
• shake seeds from dried amaranth heads
• finish cleaning up garden
• plant more radishes
• mulch fall garden

May 14, 2010

Temperature:
~ low 68 F
~ high 88 F

Planted:
~ buttercup squash
~ nasturtiums
~ sunflowers (from saved seed)

Harvested:
~ broccoli (fall planted) - 0.2 oz
~ English peas - 0.4 oz
~ lettuce (fall planted) - 1.7 oz

October 27, 2009

Temp:
~ low 52° F
~ high 62° F
Rainfall - 1.4"

Noted that the sunflower seed heads were getting moldy, so I removed all the seeds. Yielded 2 pounds of seeds.

October 20, 2009

Temp:
~ low 32° F
~ high 56° F
First frost

Harvested:
~ rose hips - 0.8 oz

Notes:

• Cleaned up garden, took down corn stalks, sunflower stalks, green beans, and all but one tomato plant.
• Covered the green pepper plant last night and did not lose it to frost.
  
• Another frost advisory tonight, will cover both green pepper & tomato
  

Sept. 17, 2009

Temp:
~ low 66° F
~ high 74° F
Overcast all day. No rain.

Harvested:
~ sunflowers - 8 heads

Watered:
~ broccoli
~ Leyland cypresses - remaining trees
~ romaine lettuce
~ radishes

Sept. 14, 2009

Temp:
~ low 62° F
~ high 84° F
Mostly sunny

Harvested:
~ Acorn squash - 1 ct, 6.8 oz
~ butternut squash - 1 ct, 15.4 oz
~ muscadines - 3 lb 0.3 oz
~ okra - 9.9 oz
~ tomatoes - 6 ct, 1 lb 6.9 oz

Preserved:
~ corn - 1 pint cut, frozen

Watered:
~ carrots
~ garlic
~ Leyland cypresses - half row
~ sunflowers

August 5, 2009

Temp:
~ low 67° F
~ high 90° F
Rainfall: 0.5"
Severe thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Blooming: 1st sunflower

Harvested:
~ cucumbers - 3 count, 1 lb 3.2 oz
~ green beans - 4.8 oz
~ green peppers - 1
~ straightneck summer squash - 2 count 11.9 oz

Problem:
Mexican bean beetles on the green beans. Will spray tomorrow.

July 21, 2009

Temp:
~ low 65° F
~ high 80° F
Overcast all morning. Partly sunny in the afternoon.

Watered corn, green pepper, sunflowers, and green beans.

Bought a used chipper/shredder (yay!)

July 17, 2009

Temp. 88° F
Mostly cloudy with a thundershower
Rainfall - 0.05"

Green beans - starting to bloom. Watered with soaker hose.

Also watered corn and sunflowers.

Pumpkins - sprayed again with the baking soda solution for powdery mildew. One hill appears to have no traces of it, the other has a few spots. Will continue to spray daily.