Category Archives: the homestead

favortie spring chore

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When spring time finally rolls around I just love getting out my seed box.
It is usually a huge mess with old, empty seed packages.

I spread them all out on the table so I can get a good idea of what I have.

Then I plan my garden for the year, and make a list of all the veggies and flowers I am going to need seeds for.

Whatever I don’t already have I order.
I usually try something new each year, it is exciting.
(I know dull life!)

Once the order is placed I can hardly wait to get my package in the mail.

Thursday my seeds came, and on that very day my oldest and I planted a few squares of lettuce, spinach and cabbage. In two more weeks we will do some more of the same, along with some potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips and some others. and in 6 weeks all the tender, summer veggies will go out.

What is planted (or will be) in your gardens this year?

My new favorite veggie.

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I wanted to do a post for everyday of this month, well, I have had sick kids over the weekend, so I am a little behind…hope you don’t mind if I do more than one post in the next few days.

In all the years I have planted a garden I have never grown broccoli. I figured why go to all the work and use all the space for a plant that will be harvested once, and will barely feel my family in that one harvesting

Well, I am a Ding Dong

This spring I got this book and started to read it. It is my all time favorite, this is where I get a lot of my homesteading ideas…

Purchase this book.

and I saw this little blurb in the margin one day.

That is why I am a Ding Dong. I just assumed that you could only get one harvest out of a broccoli plant, I didn’t think to actually research it!

So I decided this year I was going to plant broccoli, and I am so glad I did!

I have have numerous harvest from my six plants, and I plan on planting more next year so I can freeze some for the winter.


This is the basket I picked on Thursday of last week, I can’t believe it is the end of November, and the night temperatures are in the 30’s and I am still harvesting!

(see those pretty yellow flowers, that is a stalk of broccoli that got away from me and bloomed, isn’t it pretty!)

While I was out there I snagged the eggs that my chickens had laid that day. I find so much satisfaction in providing my own food.

Saturday morning on The Homestead

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Saturday morning are big work days for our family
Dadzoo is home, so he can do the heavy work that needs to be done
and of coarse
our slaves….um….I mean children are there to help

We had 5 bushes this size that needed to be cut back to almost nothing
they haven’t been pruned for a few years and needed it badly

While Dad cut back the bushes, the kids packed it in the garbage
and later when the bin was full they stacked the limbs in the old potato patch, we will slowly burn it all in the fire pit (after I make it..hehe) through out the winter.

There were also some big plants that had died back that the kids pulled up.

Even Punk Baby Boy was part of the action.

Later that afternoon I was inside cleaning up lunch
when I realised that things had gotten really quiet,

I went looking for the kids and found them playing “bird nest” in the bush pile!

Kids are funny

Then I noticed that Dadzoo wasn’t around anywhere.

After looking around for a bit, I found him, on our neighbors roof..
hmmmm….

Garlic

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Yesterday afternoon was cool and cloudy
a perfect day for planting
Garlic

Dadzoo made this nice little planter box for me a couple of weeks ago, and I filled it with a mix of peat moss and some home grown compost.

Last spring I planted chives in a pot and sat it on my back porch, so I decided to re-plant them in the box with my garlic, I am hoping to have enough chives to dry next spring.


I punched little holes in the soil about 2 inches apart

I then pulled my garlic bulbs apart.
Planting garlic is really cheap, I just bought them at the grocery store.

I plunked those cloves in the holes and covered them up

As I was walking back into the house after planting my garlic I noticed the sky.
I was really hoping that my laundry would dry before the storm rolled in.

(At about 9:30 that night I did bring the laundry in before it started to rain, when it is only 60 degrees outside and cloudy all day the laundry doesn’t dry as quickly…I am thankful for my good ‘ol electric dryer!)