I am majorly bummed about something.
Our plan for this year was to finish switching out appliances, as we have a nice stove and dryer in our back shed, than empty that shed and tear it down. Not only is this shed just worn out, but it is taking up precious space where I would like to put my garden in.
We're not going to make it. My very generous friend who will be helping Mr Scratch switch said appliances out, is extremely busy right now. Sucky, but understandable. So, our vegetables will cost a little more than I intended to grow, as we will have to do a container garden.
I would like to share our expenses and plans with you.
I would like to have 13 tomato plants, 6 jalepeno pepper plants and 6 bell pepper plants.
I was also given 4 cucumber plants by my neighbor.
We decided we didn't want to invest in expensive pots, just wanted the cheap nursery style pots.
I spent a night searching online for pots. It was beginning to look hopeless! Many of the websites, I would get excited, a 5 gallon pot would only be $1.50. So, I'd load up my 'basket' with everything we needed...and shipping would cost more than the products! The added shipping would make it more worthwhile to go to the hardware store or Walmart and just buy their cheapest pots and call it a day.
Than I found this website...Alternative Gardening
Their pots were cheap...and so was their shipping.
For a total of 28 pots, and shipping, we paid $57. Most other sites were around $100 or more!
So, we ordered them, and about 4 days later, they showed up.
Next was to figure out how much soil we needed...the answer? almost 400 gallons. I knew that was going to put a hole in my pocket!
After shopping around, we got it down to $38 for all that soil.
Everything else we need has been either given to us or reused from years past, so I don't tend to count those--afterall, if I use these 'new' pots next year for seedlings, I wouldn't count them towards my total spent towards gardening!
I will be lining the pots along my back fence, so they should be fun and decorative too!
How is your gardening coming along?
Showing posts with label canning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canning. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Mary, Mary How does your garden grow
Spring is springing in my area. As a child, this meant playing, as an adult, this is something totally different. I don't believe I ever noticed just how incredibly much green is out there!
We started today taking "death" out of my garden beds...and some life, in the form of weeds. So in the spirit, I wanted to take you on a small tour of the life I have planted in my yard since we have lived here...
Below are the iris bulbs I planted last fall. My neighbor showed up one day and said "do you want some Iris bulbs?" At the time, my MIL was in the process of losing her home-which she had spent 20 years landscaping. Purple irises are her favorite and she always planted them. So, I said yes, and planted them around for her.
This is just a SMALL amount, which borders my shed.
We also took much of her favorite and our favorite plants from the yard. Around the time my sister in law was born, she bought a hydrangea. Traditionally, these bloom either blue or pink. Last summer, we had balls of flowers in both colors on the same bush, we also had some that were half and half and even purple. So, of course, this bush had to come. If you look closely, the buds are starting. It was cut down for winter, as I was told to do, and I can't wait for it to start shooting up and get big again!
And here is a rosebush. I absolutely love roses, they are amongst my favorites. This is for my daughter though, whose middle name is Rose.
She also had a few fun hostas, here are a couple different varieties. I didn't know much about Hostas, and this is my first time experiencing them coming up. The more purple one we didn't think made it through the winter. However, we removed some dead leaves and there it was!
This is just a pile of SOME of the "branch-like" death we pulled out. We intend to set them aside for kindling for some fires this summer.
As you are about to notice, I rather like lilies. This is one of my five "Happy Return Lilies". They bloom all summer and just keep going.
We were given some Oriental Lilies as well, and those are shooting up, despite the fact that we had a hard time keeping them going last year.
One of my housewarming gifts was a few mint plants. I excitedly planted them...than learned they take over quickly. As each vine grows out, it roots down! These will be replaced in the garden with something else and moved into pots because I just don't want to fight them this year.
Day Lilies. I am not hugely fond of Day Lilies as they take a lot of space and each bloom only blooms for one day, I just haven't figured out what I would like there instead so they're staying for now.
And, last but not least, these are the seedlings I have started and am starting. Since the beginning of March, I have been rotating seedlings through that little greenhouse flat (which works awesome, it was only $5 at Wal-Mart too!) until they get too big for it, than they go in a larger pot with friends, and will be moved into the gardens when it's time.
Off the top of my head, there are marigolds, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, daisies, squash, canterbury bells, lavender and so much more!
What's sprouting up in your gardens?
We started today taking "death" out of my garden beds...and some life, in the form of weeds. So in the spirit, I wanted to take you on a small tour of the life I have planted in my yard since we have lived here...
Below are the iris bulbs I planted last fall. My neighbor showed up one day and said "do you want some Iris bulbs?" At the time, my MIL was in the process of losing her home-which she had spent 20 years landscaping. Purple irises are her favorite and she always planted them. So, I said yes, and planted them around for her.
This is just a SMALL amount, which borders my shed.
We also took much of her favorite and our favorite plants from the yard. Around the time my sister in law was born, she bought a hydrangea. Traditionally, these bloom either blue or pink. Last summer, we had balls of flowers in both colors on the same bush, we also had some that were half and half and even purple. So, of course, this bush had to come. If you look closely, the buds are starting. It was cut down for winter, as I was told to do, and I can't wait for it to start shooting up and get big again!
And here is a rosebush. I absolutely love roses, they are amongst my favorites. This is for my daughter though, whose middle name is Rose.
She also had a few fun hostas, here are a couple different varieties. I didn't know much about Hostas, and this is my first time experiencing them coming up. The more purple one we didn't think made it through the winter. However, we removed some dead leaves and there it was!
This is just a pile of SOME of the "branch-like" death we pulled out. We intend to set them aside for kindling for some fires this summer.
As you are about to notice, I rather like lilies. This is one of my five "Happy Return Lilies". They bloom all summer and just keep going.
We were given some Oriental Lilies as well, and those are shooting up, despite the fact that we had a hard time keeping them going last year.
One of my housewarming gifts was a few mint plants. I excitedly planted them...than learned they take over quickly. As each vine grows out, it roots down! These will be replaced in the garden with something else and moved into pots because I just don't want to fight them this year.
Day Lilies. I am not hugely fond of Day Lilies as they take a lot of space and each bloom only blooms for one day, I just haven't figured out what I would like there instead so they're staying for now.
And, last but not least, these are the seedlings I have started and am starting. Since the beginning of March, I have been rotating seedlings through that little greenhouse flat (which works awesome, it was only $5 at Wal-Mart too!) until they get too big for it, than they go in a larger pot with friends, and will be moved into the gardens when it's time.
Off the top of my head, there are marigolds, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, daisies, squash, canterbury bells, lavender and so much more!
What's sprouting up in your gardens?
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
How does your Garden grow?
I love gardening. I don't always have the energy required for it, but I love it. There is nothing like sticking your hands into Mother Earth, putting something there to grow and nurture until it comes up and awes you with the creation. The colors the earth can produce! Oh, it's lovely.
What's better than just a garden though? A vegetable garden.
And we have a plan in the workings for this year's vegetables already.
My canning book came this morning. This was a bit of a splurge for us, let me tell you. It was only $20 but for us, sometimes that's a lot. However, we got the hardcover edition, so it'll last a bit longer, and I love this book. It shouldn't be an issue to turn it into something that my daughter will treasure long after I am gone.
Anyhow, so I went through and decided what I would like to be able to can at the harvest time and added up the pounds of tomatoes I will need. I then found that on average a Roma tomato plant should produce 13 lbs of tomatoes-but if you do well, it could give you up to 20 lbs! Of course, I go with the lower number, as it is my first year actually putting some true effort into growing and growing them on time.
I am not joking, I need to plant at least 10 tomato plants this year--and this coming from a girl who hates tomatoes on her burgers. But, I love pasta and salsa and will put canned tomatoes in nearly everything.
I will also be planting at least 6 jalepeno plants. Andrew and I tend to enjoy hot food. We have begun to find that at least once a month I am purchasing little jars of canned jalepenos! So, this year, I hope to can enough to counter balance that! My book isn't perfect, it did not have this recipe in it, but I found one online.
We also intend to do 1 or 2 bell pepper plants. Mostly to add a little something to our salsa and for use at harvest time.
I have not decided on any further vegetables to be planted. It sort of depends on how this spring goes for us. We have two sheds, they came with the house. We are trying to eliminate our need for the back shed as it is pretty deteriorated. It has been patched together by so many previous owners (and by various materiels) that it's just not worth that precious space that we could have our garden in. If for some reason, we cannot eliminate that shed, or if we cannot plant where it is due to soil conditions, than we will put the plants into large pails this year.
I am also excited for my flowers this year. I was able to get some of those going last year, which was so much fun. I will wait to see what comes in nicely for us and go from there, but there will surely be some impatiens and petunias in honor of my grandmother.
So tell me, what do you grow? How do you decide? Do you plant anything to honor anyone in particular?
What's better than just a garden though? A vegetable garden.
And we have a plan in the workings for this year's vegetables already.
My canning book came this morning. This was a bit of a splurge for us, let me tell you. It was only $20 but for us, sometimes that's a lot. However, we got the hardcover edition, so it'll last a bit longer, and I love this book. It shouldn't be an issue to turn it into something that my daughter will treasure long after I am gone.
Anyhow, so I went through and decided what I would like to be able to can at the harvest time and added up the pounds of tomatoes I will need. I then found that on average a Roma tomato plant should produce 13 lbs of tomatoes-but if you do well, it could give you up to 20 lbs! Of course, I go with the lower number, as it is my first year actually putting some true effort into growing and growing them on time.
I am not joking, I need to plant at least 10 tomato plants this year--and this coming from a girl who hates tomatoes on her burgers. But, I love pasta and salsa and will put canned tomatoes in nearly everything.
I will also be planting at least 6 jalepeno plants. Andrew and I tend to enjoy hot food. We have begun to find that at least once a month I am purchasing little jars of canned jalepenos! So, this year, I hope to can enough to counter balance that! My book isn't perfect, it did not have this recipe in it, but I found one online.
We also intend to do 1 or 2 bell pepper plants. Mostly to add a little something to our salsa and for use at harvest time.
I have not decided on any further vegetables to be planted. It sort of depends on how this spring goes for us. We have two sheds, they came with the house. We are trying to eliminate our need for the back shed as it is pretty deteriorated. It has been patched together by so many previous owners (and by various materiels) that it's just not worth that precious space that we could have our garden in. If for some reason, we cannot eliminate that shed, or if we cannot plant where it is due to soil conditions, than we will put the plants into large pails this year.
I am also excited for my flowers this year. I was able to get some of those going last year, which was so much fun. I will wait to see what comes in nicely for us and go from there, but there will surely be some impatiens and petunias in honor of my grandmother.
So tell me, what do you grow? How do you decide? Do you plant anything to honor anyone in particular?
Monday, February 1, 2010
What Types of Things Can I make from scratch?
Honestly?
You can make anything from scratch that is a compound product. When I say compound product, I mean that a company somewhere in the world takes two (or more) ingredients and combines them to make something else.
For example, noodles. I can't teach you to make flour, as that stretches WAY beyond my resources, however we can combine flour and water to make a basic noodle. Oh yes, noodles can become more complicated than that, you could add eggs for an egg noodle and even flavor them. But majority of your noodles will say they are flour and water. There may be a few extra unpronouncable ingredients, but those are usually preservatives. If you're using your new found noodles that day, there is NO need for preservatives.
That being said, we have a few ventures we intend on trying, or have tried...
We make our own biscuits and tortillas.
We intend to make our own noodles (when the stash is low), doughnuts and more.
We also can once a year. Canning is a joy of mine that is a WHOLE other topic. However, from our canning last year, we got salsa, apple pie filling, apple ice cream topping, apple butter and apple sauce.
This year's canning will be bigger. We are going to have time to plant our tomatoes sooner, which will give us the ability to do SO much more. We hope in that will be tomato sauce, salsa, pasta sauce, maybe some tomato paste...
But, I have a wonderful book on it's way to me. We found a deal on the canning book I borrowed from the library and used last year (and LOVED!) so it's coming so I can figure out what I'd like to make so I can plan the garden for the year. When I have that all figured out, I will be making a post and sharing that with you all.
You can make anything from scratch that is a compound product. When I say compound product, I mean that a company somewhere in the world takes two (or more) ingredients and combines them to make something else.
For example, noodles. I can't teach you to make flour, as that stretches WAY beyond my resources, however we can combine flour and water to make a basic noodle. Oh yes, noodles can become more complicated than that, you could add eggs for an egg noodle and even flavor them. But majority of your noodles will say they are flour and water. There may be a few extra unpronouncable ingredients, but those are usually preservatives. If you're using your new found noodles that day, there is NO need for preservatives.
That being said, we have a few ventures we intend on trying, or have tried...
We make our own biscuits and tortillas.
We intend to make our own noodles (when the stash is low), doughnuts and more.
We also can once a year. Canning is a joy of mine that is a WHOLE other topic. However, from our canning last year, we got salsa, apple pie filling, apple ice cream topping, apple butter and apple sauce.
This year's canning will be bigger. We are going to have time to plant our tomatoes sooner, which will give us the ability to do SO much more. We hope in that will be tomato sauce, salsa, pasta sauce, maybe some tomato paste...
But, I have a wonderful book on it's way to me. We found a deal on the canning book I borrowed from the library and used last year (and LOVED!) so it's coming so I can figure out what I'd like to make so I can plan the garden for the year. When I have that all figured out, I will be making a post and sharing that with you all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)