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Wherever you are, it's your homestead and you and your children will benefit from whatever you do to make it healthy and happy.

am still amazed by the humble seed. It is mind bog

am still amazed by the humble seed. It is mind boggling to me how a tiny tomato seed can become a vine with pounds of produce hanging from its extended branches. I know it’s only January, but I am getting an early start this year. One reason I am starting early is that I don’t have many flowers in my deck pots right now. I want to fill them with cheerful winter hardy flowers. Why do people call people pansies when they want to say that they are weak? Pansies might look weak, but they are hardy. Last week I said I had bought all my seeds for the year. I guess I lied. I spent another seven bucks on pretty flowers…. I want to start some more lettuce, as part of my effort to keep a steady supply of dinner salad coming to our plates. But that’s not all. Even though I have not completely given up on the Cherokee Purple tomato that is currently barely growing in my kitchen, (even with a grow light,) I am going to try a different approach. Maybe a dwarf tomato will thrive where a large tomato will only survive? Only time will tell.

Right now the chosen seeds have all disappeared into the soil. If all goes well, I will have sprouts coming up in my living room in a week or two. #homestead #seedstarting #lettuce #winterflowers #momlife #gardening

was warned that my lettuce might not make it throu

was warned that my lettuce might not make it through the overnight frosts we are having and expecting this week. I wasn’t prepared with covers for each plant, so I decided to use the covers to my portable cake holders as cloches to cover as much as I could. was warned that my lettuce might not make it through the overnight frosts we are having and expecting this week. I wasn’t prepared with covers for each plant, so I decided to use the covers to my portable cake holders as cloches to cover as much as I could. Looking good after a frosty night.
There’s condensation on the inside of the covers, like a tropical terrarium.
So far so good! After inspection, I covered them back up until warmer weather returns. sealed up for the freeze. #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving
#dirt #dirtyjob

https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2eZ You’re gonna have to vi

https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2eZ You’re gonna have to visit my site for the recipe.... #recipes #brownies #yummy #yum #chocolatelover #recipeoftheday

Good morning...

Good morning...

I love waking up to greet the sun. #yeahthatgreen

I love waking up to greet the sun. #yeahthatgreenville #parismountain #parismountainphotography #sunrise_sunset_photogroup

Even though my husband and I grow and preserve an

Even though my husband and I grow and preserve an abundance of food for the family, I still buy lettuce in the winter. We do have all sorts of canned and frozen veggies to choose from during the fall, winter and spring. Since they are already prepared most of the time, there’s not much work in serving them either! But, we also like to have that bit of crunchy freshness with dinner every night. This winter, I have been experimenting on a small scale with different ways to produce a cold weather crop of salad fixings for our table.

So far my little hoop garden covered with agribon is working out. When I pulled back the agribon after a few days of rain I was greeted with the site of some healthy looking lettuce, and even one onion starter from the kitchen that is holding on. I wish that I had begun a little sooner and planted a few more starters!

One thing I have noticed about the agribon is that it doesn’t let much rain through. It seems like the water just rolls down the sides. So underneath, it was much drier than I expected it to be. In the future I will make sure to water no matter the weather. I have some more lettuce starters in what I call my salad bowl, that I am going to put in the hoop garden on the next good planting day.

Next winter I will plan on having two little hoop gardens instead of one, and I will begin sooner with more starters. My goal, of course, will be to have fresh salad every night with dinner!

#homestead #garden
#momlife
#lettuce #wintergarden #wintergardening #agribon

It’s been pouring rain around here. It’s a ble

It’s been pouring rain around here. It’s a blessing to have a kitchen and a well stocked pantry to putter around in when going outside is not the best option. Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist in the kitchen, a fantasy that my family reinforces when they say that that is what I am. Other times they call me a witch, when I get out my herbs and make bitter brews…

But, sometimes, I feel like an artist, or maybe not the artist, but I feel like I understand the pleasure an artist probably gets from her pure palette before she ever paints a stroke.

#virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving #spices #secretingredient

I spend my time going from west to east to west ag

I spend my time going from west to east to west again. After covering the west garden, we spread compost and then leaves beneath the raspberries and the blueberry bushes in the east garden.

The blueberries are already budding, and the Winter Wonder, Camelia is about to bloom. #berries #mulch #wintergarden #camelia #homestead #homesteading #homesteadinglife

My mother lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The last

My mother lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The last time we visited her she drove us to Chimayo. It is a sacred place that people come to from all over the world for the healing properties of the soil. We walked into the Potrero Trading Post while we were there and, probably like everyone else who steps inside, were overcome by the smell of the dried Chipotle.

I bought some of the powder for $4.95. Last week I ran out of it, and I couldn’t stand the thought. There is something just really special about the flavor of that chile powder. Heads up, I use half a teaspoon in my brownies… Generally, I’m a use what’s around me kind of woman. I prefer to eat local. And I mostly avoid expensive ingredients. But I have to affirm that there is something very special about Chimayo, New Mexico, and the flavor of the chile. And, I have to say that the chile powder is very reasonably priced.

I found the website a little difficult to navigate, but they were very friendly and helpful on the phone. They also talked me into trying their (more expensive) heirloom chile powder, which is a very bright red indeed. So now I have divulged one of my secret sources of goodness… #cooking #chilepowder #chipotlepeppers #chimayochile #momlife

While people in the world are creating anxiety for

While people in the world are creating anxiety for more people everywhere that there will be more war, I am still planning for my future garden as if spring will still come and plants will grow and life will go on. If only everyone could just plan a spring garden instead of conflict and conflagration. #backtoedengarden #winter2020 #homestead #homesteadinglife #yeahthatgreenville #momlife #growingfood

I’m a little late but took advantage of a sunny

I’m a little late but took advantage of a sunny day to give the garden some protection from the winter weather. #homestead #homesteading #dirtyjob #garden #wintergardengreenville #yeahthatgreenville

Maybe I’m stubborn. Or maybe I have to try a dif

Maybe I’m stubborn. Or maybe I have to try a different variety of tomato to grow in winter. I’m going to go with the second thought for the time being. It seems obvious, though, that my Cherokee Purple heirloom variety is not exactly thriving in my kitchen this winter, not even with a grow light. At six in the morning it is bathed in light while it is still dark outside. From a distance it looks really discouraging, and maybe time to scrap the idea as not worth the electric bill for the twelve hours of artificial light that I am bestowing on my tomato, (a celery too.) But! I haven’t given up yet, because if you look closely, the growth at the bottom looks new and healthy.

There is new growth at the bottom of the plant that looks healthy.
At this rate, though, I will be having spring tomatoes, not winter ones. This is what I call learning by doing, as opposed to fantasizing about fat, juicy tomatoes greeting my in my kitchen in the middle of February…. #homestead #momlife #wintergarden #growlight #tomato #tomatoes #dirtyjob #growingfood

had a happy surprise, seeing two bulbs blooming in

had a happy surprise, seeing two bulbs blooming in my kitchen garden. They are both some variety of daffodil. Since they looked lonely out there, in two different beds, I brought them together in our bedroom. I’m on vacation until January 6, 2020. Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. #homestead #garden
#momlife
#daffodils #bulbs #bedroomdecor

Recently, I started a local homesteading group on

Recently, I started a local homesteading group on NextDoor. My goal is to connect with and learn from other people gardening in the same conditions that I am. I can tell you that in the couple of weeks that the group has existed, I have learned new things already. I asked the group what winter gardening they were doing. A member told me that she wanted to enlarge her Back to Eden garden. I didn’t know what she meant by that. She explained that she had to do very little weeding or watering, and she had learned how to do it by watching YouTube videos. So, intrigued, I did a little research of my own.
More at https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2d7 #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving
#dirt #dirtyjob #backtoedengarden #backtoeden #backtoedengardening #yeahthatgreenville

One day I would like to have a nice box, maybe wit

One day I would like to have a nice box, maybe with a used window on hinges for a lid, nestled right up against the brick wall of the house. But this winter I am happy with my hoops, a sheet of agribon, and some old planks and bricks. I thought that three hoops might be enough for one row, but that turned out not to be stable enough in the wind. So if I want to do another row I’ll have to find some more hoops. More at https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2d3 #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#winterveggies #growingfood #lettuce #onions
#dirt #dirtyjob

Before I went to a winter vegetable lecture at the

Before I went to a winter vegetable lecture at the library, I looked at my empty garden pots as though they were reproaching me. They seemed to say that I could have found some winter pansies or something, anything, to allow them to perform their function. They are empty because I put the plants that were growing in them this summer into the ground in the west garden. But now I see those same pots as potential protectors of vulnerable crops on a freezing night. They can serve a whole other purpose just by turning them upside down… #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving
#dirt #dirtyjob #cloche

Strawberry Surprise. While stepping on carefully p

Strawberry Surprise. While stepping on
carefully placed stones
on an errand
in the garden
of my hours,
my eyes scour
either side of the path,
spotting weeds
and winter chores
waiting for me.
Sometimes a surprise,
like strawberry flowers
for Christmas.

#virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife #foodforthought
#notebook
#poetry #micropoem #minipoem #poem #poetrycommunity #poetsofig #instapoet #writersofinstagram #poetsofinstagram

would say that I am moving on the slow track with

would say that I am moving on the slow track with my winter gardening, but I am moving, and learning as I go, so it’s just as well that I don’t move too fast. On the deck, facing south, I have a pie safe with a mini-greenhouse cover that I ordered for it with approximately the right dimensions. This morning I was happy to see a few lettuce sprouts appear. Eventually, I will move them to the garden.

More at https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2cK #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving
#dirt #dirtyjob

Three Birthday Blooms Cold, grey, raining, Friday

Three Birthday Blooms

Cold, grey, raining, Friday the 13th, my 57th anniversary of living and I’m grateful to be alive and for everyone I love, and to be loved, and the plants that please me… #hibiscus #momlife #pottedplants

It’s hard to tell you how much pleasure I get fr

It’s hard to tell you how much pleasure I get from my indoor plants during winter. I like to drink coffee and watch the sunrise with them. This photo describes my feelings better than I can in words this morning. #pottedplants #momlife #ferns #sunrise #morningcoffee #morningvibes

have finally accepted that a tomato is not going t

have finally accepted that a tomato is not going to grow in winter, not even in a greenhouse, without some extra hours of sunlight. I am down to one tomato starter that is still alive almost half way through December. I am determined for it stay alive, and also to get a few tomatoes from it! So I bought a grow light, my first one ever.

I have the tomato in the kitchen where I can keep a close eye on it. The light is on a timer. It comes on at 6:30am, before it’s light out these days, and switches off at 6:30pm, when it is already dark again. The plant was looking droopy. After a few days of extra light it is looking a little more perky. So, we’ll see. Growing is a game of waiting and patience. #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving
#dirt #dirtyjob #tomatoes #growlights

mint, garlic, dormant strawberries, and lettuce un

mint, garlic, dormant strawberries, and lettuce under the cloth…
#virginhomesteader

#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving

#deer

#dirt #dirtyjob

Mr. Nathan Vannette gave an information packed lec

Mr. Nathan Vannette gave an information packed lecture about best practices here in the Upstate of South Carolina for keeping a garden going year round. https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2c7 #marthacinader

#virginhomesteader

#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving

#deer

#dirt #dirtyjob

It's raining and dark but the rooster is crowing k

It's raining and dark
but the rooster is crowing
knowing the light will come.

There was a large moon
even waning it looked full
but now the rooster crows.

There will be light soon
the rain will fall everywhere
on the garden.

The plants will grow.
The rooster will crow.
Why don't people like roosters?

I love to hear the rooster crow.
I know he's being he
and I'm being me

and there will be light
because the rooster is crowing
knowing that the light will come. #virginhomesteader

#homestead #garden
#momlife
#rooster #poem #gardenparty

I don't know if my plants in my greenhouse died be

I don't know if my plants in my greenhouse died because they got too dry in the daytime, or if it was because there's a hole in the plastic at the bottom, or if there is too much air coming up from underneath the deck and I should seal that off, or if I should have watered them even more. I have got to learn the right moves. https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2bz #virginhomesteader

#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving

Last year I successfully grew garlic from a garlic

Last year I successfully grew garlic from a garlic bulb that I bought at the supermarket. That went so well that I decided to up my game this year and start off with some heirloom garlic, something that I can't just buy at the grocery store. So I bought two varieties from Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds. That wasn't cheap, but I reasoned that I would only have to buy it once. I could save some from this year's crop for next year. More at https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2br #virginhomesteader

#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving #garlic

wanted to wait. I was hoping I could let these tom

wanted to wait. I was hoping I could let these tomatoes grow another week or two. But I was afraid of losing them. That’s the way it goes. If I’m lucky I’ll be slicing my last red tomato for a Thanksgiving salad. #virginhomesteader #homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving

The annual ritual of moving my potted plants has g

The annual ritual of moving my potted plants has gotten to be a bigger chore than it used to be. I also brought in one of my avocado trees, and a potted amaryllis that I couldn't find a spot for in my house last fall. At this point I have used up about all the space that I have in the sunny portion of our living room. I also brought in one of my pots that has both a tomato starter and a celery starter, both only a few weeks old. More at. https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2b3 #virginhomesteader
#dirt #dirtyjob
#homestead #garden
#momlife

spotted this mushroom from about two hundred feet

spotted this mushroom from about two hundred feet away. It was the only one in the field and looked like a stray toy ball. I didn’t see any stem and didn’t touch it either. It’s about seven inches in diameter. It appeared after a rain that followed an extended dry period and has been there for several days now. Who knows what this is? #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife #mushrooms #mushroomidentification

A #marigold bush busy with #bees and #butterflies.

A #marigold bush busy with #bees and #butterflies. #foodforthought
#notebook
#poetry #micropoem #minipoem #poem #poetrycommunity
#experimental #writerscommunity

#poetsofig #instapoet #writersofinstagram #poetsofinstagram #liveperformance #spokenword #openmic

Making #rootbeer this morning. I keep a root beer

Making #rootbeer this morning. I keep a root beer basket. Had to order most of it online.... #momlife #homestead #fermenteddrinks

Patience was the missing ingredient my friends. I

Patience was the missing ingredient my friends. I spent more time on foreplay, allowing the pot to heat up gently. I eased it back down too, once the weights got to gently rocking and rolling, and then when the ingredients were at the perfect moment, I waited for the weights to completely stop moving before removing the pot from my glass stove top. Of course after that I still waited for the pressure valve to pop back down before opening the lid. I was relieved and happy to find that all of my jars remained full. After hearing that pleasant ping that tells me the top of each one is sealed, it’s a done deal. More at https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2ad #homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving #preservingtheharvest

I’m determined not to let these die. Also, I hav

I’m determined not to let these die. Also, I have some celery growing in pots that I recycled from the kitchen. So now I’m going to take the next logical step and actually go to a class and learn as much as I can about hooking up the simplest of greenhouses this very winter, and not at some distant time in the future. The class, called Winter Vegetable Gardening, is taught by Growing Green Family Farm and will be hosted by the Travelers Rest Branch of the Greenville Public Library on November 19 from 7-8pm. It’s free but you do have register. Send and email to travelersrestATgreenvillelibrary.org or call 834-3650 to register. If you’re thinking along the same lines, then maybe I’ll see your there. I hope we don’t have a frost before then! More at https://wp.me/p8oKNi-2a7 #gardeningtips #greenhouse #tomatoes #celery #momlife #organicgardening #homestead

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