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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.

What should I do with my half packets of basil, br

What should I do with my half packets of basil, broccoli and beets? Those tiny and potentially mighty promises from years gone by that I won’t let go of but don’t trust either…. from my seed box to the compost heap might be the way to set me and my seeds free. #homestead #seeds #garden #compost

I’ve taken lots of pictures, and learned lots of

I’ve taken lots of pictures, and learned lots of things, but I didn’t get any lettuce out of the deal this winter, or tomatoes either. The freeze this past weekend was the death of my last few lettuce starters, which looked so promising just a few days ago.

My husband suggested that I should try growing Romaine in the winter time, instead of the fragile curly leaf varieties that I tried because I still had those seeds. So, I am planning on starting some Romaine seeds, but, it is already almost spring, so I won’t count these starters as a winter crop.

I went ahead and took apart my hoop garden, not only because my last batch of lettuce died, even though I covered them with cloches under the agribon, but because I didn’t realize that I had placed the garden over buried daffodil bulbs that are now showing themselves.

My Cherokee Purple tomato remains stunted in my kitchen window, even with twelve hours of a grow light each day. My mini tomato starters are doing fine, but if I wanted winter tomatoes, as opposed to spring tomatoes, I should have started them sooner. Since I have been so stubborn about my Cherokee Purple, I am going to keep it alive until I can plant it in my garden this spring. Who knows, it might still give me a few early tomatoes to repay me for my efforts…

#homestead #growingfood #wintergardening #hoopgarden

When everything is grey and cold and the world se

When everything is grey and cold
and the world seems old and weary
is when everything changes. #poetry #poetrycommunity #homestead #spring #springiscoming

Starting some sourdough banana strawberry pancake

Starting some sourdough banana strawberry pancake batter for the morning.... #sourdough #pancakes #yum

Transplanting Day Today I moved my tender tomato

Transplanting Day

Today I moved my tender tomato starters into pots and put them under a grow light in my kitchen window. I’ve done all that I can do for them. Now I’ll have to see if it was enough to get back some love.

I also put my lettuce starters in one of my “salad bowls” in the mini-greenhouse on our south facing deck. I covered them with, appropriately, a salad bowl inside the greenhouse, because it’s supposed to freeze tonight.

Lettuce covered against the freeze with a salad bowl. Each layer creates a warmer environment. The greenhouse is zipped up now, collecting heat for tonight…. #homestead #winterveggies #tomatoes #lettuce #greenhouse #growyourownfood

So far my winter tomato romance has all been in my

So far my winter tomato romance has all been in my head. I would probably tell someone else to eat seasonally; enjoy tomatoes in summer. But I am infatuated with the idea of fresh, tasty tomato with our dinner salad. Despite the negative feedback, I have not given up. I am still doing what I can to cultivate a relationship between me and my heirloom tomatoes that’s more than a summer romance.

I gave my remaining Cherokee Purple starter a grow light. But it is not responding the way I hoped it would. The top of the plant appeared to be dead, so I decided to cut it off and see if the bottom part of the plant might adapt itself to my kitchen.

I am grudgingly playing the field now, because I really am partial to the Cherokee Purple. Out of the twenty dwarf tomato seeds that I planted, I have nine starters that are about ready for their own little pots.

The dwarf sprouts are supposed to grow mini tomatoes. We’ll see. #healthyfood #holisticmama #homestead #growyourownfood #tomatoes

A few years ago our chicken coop was assaulted by

A few years ago our chicken coop was assaulted by falling trees. It held up well considering that it was unable to defend itself. My remarkably capable husband managed to dispose of those trees single handedly. Well, he used both of his hands, and some homespun engineering. We didn’t notice at the time that one of the floor joists had been damaged by the weight of the fall. The roof was also leaking in places. I’m planning on incubating some chicks for the Spring but the coop had holes in the floor. So, after a few years of patches and workarounds, the time had arrived for a chicken coop update.

My husband was the one in charge of that project, of course. The first thing he did was to cover the roof with metal panels to prevent leaks. The next step was to tear out the rotted flooring. He decided to use what we had around. So, he covered the new plywood floor with some leftover roofing material, to protect it from moisture.

We have an overflow of dirt that we’ve been spreading on the floor, so we’re switching to dry leaves. We have plenty of those piled up along a perimeter fence that need to get raked up anyway…. We’ve been using some old coffee bean sacks for curtains for the nesting boxes. But the loose weave hasn’t worked out very well. They fall down and we reattach them way too often. If a box doesn’t have a curtain, the ladies don’t use it to lay eggs in. I figured I could handle this part of the project. I picked up an old curtain from the Goodwill Clearance Center. I tore it in half and nailed it up on the reinforced side, and then cut slits for each box. Time will tell if this works better.

Plants in silhouette at dusk #houseplants #housepl

Plants in silhouette at dusk #houseplants #houseplantsofinstagram

Good morning. #sunrise

Good morning. #sunrise

Our family schedule has changed in a way that has

Our family schedule has changed in a way that has made it difficult for me to bake bread during the week. So now, Sunday is the day that I make sure to indulge my love of fresh sourdough bread. Most of what I know about baking sourdough bread comes from Jim Lahey’s Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook. I have baked a few duds along the way. Patience is definitely the main ingredient. Yesterday, however, I came close to achieving perfection!

I keep my biga, (a drier, thriftier form of sourdough starter,) alive in my refrigerator. Since I didn’t remember to start some dough on Saturday night, I chose a recipe that doesn’t take as long to rise that I could still start on Sunday morning. Mr. Lahey offers two ways to make the ciabatta dough, the slow, no mix method, or the fast, use your mixer method. I used my mixer. After three hours I had a glass bowl full of bubbly bread dough that I turned out onto a board, folded in half, and cut into two loaves. I left them to rise for three hours in my bottom oven. Instead of covering with a damp cloth, I put my dough in the bottom oven with the light on and a pan of warm water.

About a half hour before time, I started heating my top oven and the cast iron pots, with lids. The cast iron pots need to be pre-heated in a 500° oven. The tricky part comes when you quickly pick up your bubbly, sticky dough and place it in the pot without over-handling it. I have messed that part up a couple of times. I think it was because I rushed the foreplay a little…

The moment of truth comes after you take the pots out of the oven and lift the lid to see if the bread that you touched so tenderly, actually rose up, and looks golden and inviting. This time around, I got exactly what I was going for!
#virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife #baking #bread #sourdough

#poetsofig #instapoet #writersofinstagram #poetsof

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

I expect each one of these to produce an abundance

I expect each one of these to produce an abundance of winter tomatoes! The first part of every garden plan is to sprout some seeds. These sprouts are heirloom dwarf tomatoes. It's a little late to expect winter tomatoes at this point, but I am learning for next year... #virginhomesteader
#homestead #garden
#momlife
#canning #preserving
#dirt #dirtyjob

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

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