Last night was my last night of antibiotics, and I feel so much better! It's a lovely day today, and I can breathe without coughing or running for a tissue. I feel like my brain, and my whole head in general has come out of a fog. It's lovely.
This morning Silje and I took all of the orange-red tomatoes and the rest of the peppers out of the garden that probably should have been done a few nights back when we had a frost warning. O well, they made it.
The "test" pumpkin that we tried out not that long ago tasted delicious, but had some green near the rind still when we cut it open, so I knew there was no rush to get them out of the garden quite yet. Plus, I think they taste much better when all the leaves of the vine have withered. Most of the leaves today were brown, and it finally allowed for viewing exactly how many pie pumpkins we have. So I attempted a count. Now, I don't really consider it accurate until we actually get them off a vine, and put them in a pile, in my opinion, but just walking around and counting them, I got as high as 82. It's possible I counted a few twice, but I'm lean more on the side that I might have missed a few, as I didn't get walk too close to where the vine took over the green beans and broccoli plants, and there could be some more hiding over there.
So we pulled 4 out today, and they'll be roasting in the oven and then pureed and frozen. I'll be doing that every day here for awhile. I intend on freezing a bunch this year, and won't give them all away, but there's no way I can deal with that many. I've heard from my OB's wife that he loves pumpkin muffins, and if I brought a few pumpkins to my next appointment, they would be dearly loved, so a few will go there. Knut's supposed to tell the other guys on the farm that they can take some home, and if no one else claims some, there may be a "help yourself" pile at church in a few weeks. There's no rush to get them off the vine, but I'm hoping to see how much I can process in the next 2-3 weeks.
Anyway, my kitchen is starting to get caught up since I was sick, my laundry is not. I hate catching up on laundry.
I got an email reminder today that I'm now at 30 weeks. I totally flipped out, because my babies have thus far been born at 40, 37 and 36 weeks. 30 weeks means we're getting close! My goal/expectation this time is 38 weeks. I'd like to carry this baby as long as I possibly can, and wouldn't mind making it to 40 weeks or even overdue. However, I have my mind set that I don't want to go before 38. I will not permit it. We'll see if she agrees. With the trend I've been having, that may prove difficult, as each pregnancy has ended earlier. However my mom encouraged me that in the past it was my boys who came early, and my other girl made it to 40 weeks. Since we're having another girl, I wonder if she's right.
So in my frenzy of "what do you mean I'm 30 weeks?!?!" I finally went through my baby clothes, and got all of the 0-3 month clothes all set, and went through and saw how many newborn cloth diapers I had. That was humorous. The newborn diapers were the first diapers that I made, and I made them when I was pregnant with Elias. They'll work PERFECTLY fine, but it just made me laugh to see how far my sewing has come in these last 2 years! They look awful! The stitching is awful, the snaps are so off, and the snap in inserts! Don't get me started! Since they're only use is to be peed and pooped on, I will not be replacing them, but it did make me smile.
Going through the clothes I weeded through what I had when Silje was born, and just as I expected, I have lots of cozy sleepers, but few long sleeved onesies or pants. The summer girl lived in thin cotton summer dresses or ruffly tops and just bloomers on her bottom. I have some sweaters, and am making more, but I think I might splurge and get a couple cute long sleeved outfits. Knowing me, she'll live in sleepers the first few weeks anyway. Sleepers are so cozy and simple those first few weeks! With my first child, I was very excited to get her dressed in a cute outfit every morning. With each consecutive one, I've been content to have them cozy and swaddled tight in a sleeper most of the day. They just looked more comfortable that way, and it made diaper changes so fast.
Since I was already in the girls' closet, I went through Silje's "big box" and pulled out all of her warm clothes. I'll admit, 95% of clothes my kids have are either hand-me-downs or something I bought the previous year off of the 75% off rack at Target. (RARELY I buy off of the 50% off rack...if it's too cute to pass up.) So I put away all her little shorts and tank tops, and set out all of her sweaters and pants and long sleeved shirts, and warm p.j.s and left them for her to go through, fold and organize. (It's awesome that she's old enough to do that last part for me!)
About half of them still had the $2.48 tag on them, and the other half were hand-me-downs and when she saw the pile she went crazy about this new wardrobe and I sat on her bed and watched her fold and organize them with extreme delight. It was "O! I'm going to wear this shirt tomorrow!" "This will go perfect with this!" "No, wait, I'm going to wear this one tomorrow!" I think she has now until Christmas planned out outfit-wise. I remember those days when my mom would go through my "big box" and I got a whole new wardrobe. It was like Christmas. It was so much fun. I know one of these days we'll need to use things like dressing rooms, and she'll actually be the one picking out the clothes to buy. Right now, though, our system works.
So the girls are ready for the cold weather, although we are not complaining one bit about this "heat wave" that seems to have hit us this harvest season. We wear long sleeves and pants, but you don't even really need a sweatshirt!
I REALLY need to go through the boys' clothes though, and weed out what doesn't fit/summery things, and replace them with clothes that fit and are warm. This is so much trickier to do, though, because that means I need to be working in their room, and if I'm in their room, Elias can't be sleeping in it. I he's not sleeping, he's awake, and when he's awake, he's not exactly as helpful as Silje was today. While writing this, it just dawned on me that I could have him take a nap in the pack 'n' play in my room one afternoon. Hmmm...I think that may work.
That was my morning and afternoon (besides school of course...but more on that on Friday). It was fun sharing with you, but now it's back to work.
Showing newest posts with label gardening. Show older posts
Showing newest posts with label gardening. Show older posts
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Harvest
As Knut was able to start harvesting the soy beans last Saturday, and continues on as long as the weather allows. Harvest in our household continues as well.
For instance, here is my harvest of tomatoes today:
Add to that the tomatoes that I stuck in the upright freezer, per the instructions of Knut's aunt who told me how to freeze the tomatoes whole, and then thaw overnight in a pot of water, and then the peels come right off and it's ready for canning.
So I think it might be time to process some tomatoes. A process I've been putting off. Tomato sauce is better with peppers, so I picked a peck of peppers off our pepper plants to go with it. (I actually don't know how much a peck of peppers is, but it's fun to say. A pail of peppers might be more accurate.
I have some peppers in the freezer holding off for this process as well, if I need to dip into that stash too.
The apple tree is still heavy with baking apples, and I know I need to get on that too. To be honest, I'm having trouble keeping up. There's no rush getting them off the tree yet, though. I'm trying not to stress over all the things that need to get done, and take it just one job at a time. Still, I think I'm going to have to up my once a week mass cooking to 3-4 times a week mass cooking, or even daily for the next week or two. I need to figure out a way to break down all these jobs so I don't get overwhelmed.
Speaking of freezers, have you seen my stash of apple bread and banana bread in there for this winter?
Or as my family's going through them, for the next week or two?
I had to steal a few loaves as I had forgotten that I was supposed to bring treats to church last week. I think there's plenty of room for pureed roasted pumpkins and pumpkin bread (my favorite of the breads I put away for the winter). Wouldn't you know, but our monster pie pumpkin plant seems to have some color too.
Don't tell David, though. We told him it's his birthday when the pumpkins turn orange and his birthday is still a couple weeks away.
I figure I'll have to test one out. You know, to see if they're good first. Now what do you do with a pie pumpkin? What to do...what to do...what to do.
I have an inkling for what we're having for dessert tonight. Do you? I mean really: priorities people. The tomatoes can wait...let's have some pie!
For instance, here is my harvest of tomatoes today:
Add to that the tomatoes that I stuck in the upright freezer, per the instructions of Knut's aunt who told me how to freeze the tomatoes whole, and then thaw overnight in a pot of water, and then the peels come right off and it's ready for canning.
So I think it might be time to process some tomatoes. A process I've been putting off. Tomato sauce is better with peppers, so I picked a peck of peppers off our pepper plants to go with it. (I actually don't know how much a peck of peppers is, but it's fun to say. A pail of peppers might be more accurate.
I have some peppers in the freezer holding off for this process as well, if I need to dip into that stash too.
The apple tree is still heavy with baking apples, and I know I need to get on that too. To be honest, I'm having trouble keeping up. There's no rush getting them off the tree yet, though. I'm trying not to stress over all the things that need to get done, and take it just one job at a time. Still, I think I'm going to have to up my once a week mass cooking to 3-4 times a week mass cooking, or even daily for the next week or two. I need to figure out a way to break down all these jobs so I don't get overwhelmed.
Speaking of freezers, have you seen my stash of apple bread and banana bread in there for this winter?
Or as my family's going through them, for the next week or two?
I had to steal a few loaves as I had forgotten that I was supposed to bring treats to church last week. I think there's plenty of room for pureed roasted pumpkins and pumpkin bread (my favorite of the breads I put away for the winter). Wouldn't you know, but our monster pie pumpkin plant seems to have some color too.
Don't tell David, though. We told him it's his birthday when the pumpkins turn orange and his birthday is still a couple weeks away.
I figure I'll have to test one out. You know, to see if they're good first. Now what do you do with a pie pumpkin? What to do...what to do...what to do.
I have an inkling for what we're having for dessert tonight. Do you? I mean really: priorities people. The tomatoes can wait...let's have some pie!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
I wasn't kidding
I know much of my family is waiting to find out how our first week of homeschooling is going. I'll only say, awesome, and leave it at that for now. I'm very aware that many don't need a daily update, and I simply don't have the time for that, but I'm hoping to share our homeschooling highlights on Fridays, just for fun.
Just to show you, though, that I wasn't kidding about our pumpkin vine, I thought I'd share some pictures:
Yes, that is our pie pumpkin vine in the middle of our garden. You see, 2 summers ago, I was thinking that I hated spending the money on pumpkins at Halloween time, but they were just so festive, and not in a demonic way. Just fun. So I decided to grow a jack-o-lantern pumpkin vine. That year we got a handful of pumpkins. 3 good ones, at least. So the next year we decided to do it again. However, we got 19 pumpkins. (I know I've written this all before, I'm just reviewing.) We couldn't get rid of them all and we made some delicious pumpkin things with it, but many went bad.
These are not jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but pie pumpkins which are a bit smaller with a yummier meat to them, since we're now addicted to all of those pumpkin recipes that we tried last year. If you can see, the far right of the garden is my asparagus plants which are done for the year. A bit to the left of that in the back are the 10 tomato plants that we're harvesting now. We have "healthy kick" roma tomatoes with twice some of the vitamins of normal tomatoes, and "big boy" tomatoes which are huge now, but not red yet. Beating back the vine away from these tomato stalks have been a daily job. The vines have wrapped around, grown inside, (Knut found 2 pumpkins growing INSIDE of the tomato stalk one day) growing over, under, around...you name it. There was a cucumber vine that was much smaller that got swallowed up by this pumpkin vine. It's under there somewhere.
This is the left side of the garden. The vine overtook the broccoli plants, which are fortunately done, but we haven't been able to get them out yet. It has grown over the beets and the green beans so we have to beat them back there, too. If you notice the dead plants to the far left, that was our peas which have been done awhile, but we've been gone and haven't had a chance to take those vines down yet. Basically, Knut and I walk around the perimeter with cutters and just cut the vine to save the other plants, but the vine is just back the next day, wrapped around some poor plant, and invading the grass around the garden as well.
Today when I was walking around the perimeter of the vine, trying to contain it, I counted over 20 larger green pie pumpkins. That's just the perimeter. We're going to blow away our record of 19 pumpkins last year. Like I said, there will be enough for everyone!
Just for fun, I'll show you the jalepenos I picked from the garden this afternoon. This was a new crop for our garden this year, but I was hoping to try my hand at making salsa, so we planted 3 of these plants. Fortunately I found out these freeze really really well. I need to find a salsa recipe or 2 to try out, though. I'm guessing pretty soon.
Just to show you, though, that I wasn't kidding about our pumpkin vine, I thought I'd share some pictures:
Yes, that is our pie pumpkin vine in the middle of our garden. You see, 2 summers ago, I was thinking that I hated spending the money on pumpkins at Halloween time, but they were just so festive, and not in a demonic way. Just fun. So I decided to grow a jack-o-lantern pumpkin vine. That year we got a handful of pumpkins. 3 good ones, at least. So the next year we decided to do it again. However, we got 19 pumpkins. (I know I've written this all before, I'm just reviewing.) We couldn't get rid of them all and we made some delicious pumpkin things with it, but many went bad.
These are not jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but pie pumpkins which are a bit smaller with a yummier meat to them, since we're now addicted to all of those pumpkin recipes that we tried last year. If you can see, the far right of the garden is my asparagus plants which are done for the year. A bit to the left of that in the back are the 10 tomato plants that we're harvesting now. We have "healthy kick" roma tomatoes with twice some of the vitamins of normal tomatoes, and "big boy" tomatoes which are huge now, but not red yet. Beating back the vine away from these tomato stalks have been a daily job. The vines have wrapped around, grown inside, (Knut found 2 pumpkins growing INSIDE of the tomato stalk one day) growing over, under, around...you name it. There was a cucumber vine that was much smaller that got swallowed up by this pumpkin vine. It's under there somewhere.
This is the left side of the garden. The vine overtook the broccoli plants, which are fortunately done, but we haven't been able to get them out yet. It has grown over the beets and the green beans so we have to beat them back there, too. If you notice the dead plants to the far left, that was our peas which have been done awhile, but we've been gone and haven't had a chance to take those vines down yet. Basically, Knut and I walk around the perimeter with cutters and just cut the vine to save the other plants, but the vine is just back the next day, wrapped around some poor plant, and invading the grass around the garden as well.
Today when I was walking around the perimeter of the vine, trying to contain it, I counted over 20 larger green pie pumpkins. That's just the perimeter. We're going to blow away our record of 19 pumpkins last year. Like I said, there will be enough for everyone!
Just for fun, I'll show you the jalepenos I picked from the garden this afternoon. This was a new crop for our garden this year, but I was hoping to try my hand at making salsa, so we planted 3 of these plants. Fortunately I found out these freeze really really well. I need to find a salsa recipe or 2 to try out, though. I'm guessing pretty soon.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Bringing the outdoors in and indoors out!
However, my freezer is officially full from our enormous garden harvest this year, so Knut and I are debating about either buying another freezer, or storing some things elsewhere for the winter. Is a bumper crop of everything considered an emergency, so we could take money from the emergency savings? The beans still aren't done for the year, I have no room for any freezer meals right now, and don't even get me started on the pumpkins again.
You know, the pie pumpkin plant in our garden with its sights set on taking over the world.
I had plans to freeze pumpkin bread (my favorite!), roasted pureed pumpkin for pies this winter, for soups, pumpkin cheesecake. Did I mention that everyone I know is entitled to 1 or 10 free pie pumpkins this fall? I'll keep you updated.
Today I finally conquered a project I've been wanting to do for awhile. The chandelier in our dining room was gold, and I really wanted a bronzy one to match the fixtures in the rest of the house. I saw on an HGTV episode years ago when we still had the channel, that if you spray paint it in just bronze, it looks flat, but if you give a little shimmer over the bronze with copper spray paint, it adds depth and looks more like real bronze. So if you come to my house, pretend it looks real. ;)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Wagon Load
Our wagon is full! We have peas and green beans keeping us busy up to our ears! And you know, as soon as they're out of the garden...
There's work in the kitchen to be done! We've actually been having lots of fun singing songs like "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" although we ran out of the traditional farm animals on the farm, so our poor Old MacDonald had mosquitoes and dinosaurs and a quite large vast array of animals added to his little farm today in our version.
6 hands work so much better than 2!
And where was Elias in all of this? Well, in the garden the kids took shifts feeding him raw peas as I kept the work up. He has no complaints!
There's work in the kitchen to be done! We've actually been having lots of fun singing songs like "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" although we ran out of the traditional farm animals on the farm, so our poor Old MacDonald had mosquitoes and dinosaurs and a quite large vast array of animals added to his little farm today in our version.
6 hands work so much better than 2!
And where was Elias in all of this? Well, in the garden the kids took shifts feeding him raw peas as I kept the work up. He has no complaints!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
First Fruits...er...Vegetables
We have green beans! Finally, our garden is starting to get a harvest. When Knut was out there weeding last weekend, he said that there were lots of blossoms on the green beans, with a few tiny beans already there. It dawned on me today that there was probably a bunch in there for us! I was not disappointed as the kids and I filled up two ice cream pails of beans.
The peas are ready-ish, but I only found a handful of about 10 pods that couldn't wait until tomorrow, and the rest looked like they needed one more day. So I picked the few that couldn't wait and we ate them raw for morning snacks. Raw peas are definitely the kids' favorite and they were giggling with delight over the thought!
I'm on day 3 of a new push to have the kids help me more around the house. I've been listening to some homeschool podcasts on managing the home during the school year and got some great ideas on how to get the kids to help more around the house. This is our 3rd day and I have to say so far it's working! After the kids helped me pick in the garden, I let them have their raw pea snack, and then we snapped the green beans together. A job that easily would have taken me most of the morning last year took me about a half hour to complete with the kids.
Now, they still whine, but I'm more determined than them this time, and even David has been following suit...eventually. So far my house is cleaner, and my jobs are getting done! Yeah! Yesterday, I had all of my daily chores (and caught up from chores from the day before) done before lunch, and I had the rest of the day to read and play with the kids, and I even got some very productive sewing time in. This progress is making want to keep this system of expecting them to help more in place!
I'm not saying that they don't usually help. It's just I tend to not like to take the time to teach them how to do it properly. They rarely get it done the way I like it done anyway, but I'm finding that they are getting to an age where me fixing what they have done is faster than doing it all by myself. I'm really liking this age!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Gardening Has Begun
I was planning on planting some seeds this morning, but once again, I forgot to pick up the ones I like in town. However, Mr. Postman brought my bare root strawberry plants in the mail today, and since Knut had the garden already tilled, I thought I'd bring the boys out there and plant some strawberries!
I was surprised to see the 3 plants I put in the ground (and the deer ate every single leaf last year) actually came up again this year! Yeah! What a good start. I planted the huge bunch that came from Park Seed Co. in a little patch formation. Since Knut saw the strawberry plants coming up from last year, he didn't till that part of the garden, so it needed a bit of work.
David was a huge help, and Elias squealed and clapped as we worked on the weeds already coming up. The asparagus that we planted 2 years ago is coming up, and with the 2 year wait, we actually get to harvest some this spring! I only picked 5 long stalks that were still tender for supper tonight, and left the rest to go to more seed. There are so many baby stalks still coming up!
I know it's still too early to plant the tomatoes, but as soon as I get back to town (probably tomorrow, since I forgot to go to the post office today too. Where is my head?) I'll soon have the peas, green beans, beets, pumpkins, lettuce, spinach, and whatever else looks good in the ground. I'm wondering if I should venture on broccoli this year. Hmmmm.
I've been working a tiny bit in the flower garden, thinning out some things that should have been thinned out last fall. The way-too-expensive hydrangeas that I planted last year are coming up this year, and I'm so relived that they made it through the winter!
The peony bushes are coming up nicely, and so are the lilies on the side of the house. I was so so worried because I've been dreading gardening season this year, but I'll tell ya--now that I've got dirt under my fingernails, I've been bitten by the gardening bug again! I can't wait to get out there more! I'm certain that my new plans this year will make a much more successful year than last, but I suppose only time will tell.
The lettuce and other leafy vegies might have to go in a pot on my porch this year, as last year the deer ate it all! I'm trying to figure out how to battle the deer this year, as Knut doesn't want to put a fence up. Believe me, if you google this gardening question, you'll find quite an array of answers from which plants will deter them to the outright gross. Knut says I need a gun, but I haven't shot a gun since I was a little girl on the shooting range with my dad. Who knows...maybe it's just like riding a bike. I was a pretty good shot when I was 7 with the little 22. However, if I actually shot a deer, and it landed and smushed my strawberries, I know Knut would be excited...but I think I'd be upset it smushed my strawberries. Strawberries are way better than deer meat, in my opinion!
I was surprised to see the 3 plants I put in the ground (and the deer ate every single leaf last year) actually came up again this year! Yeah! What a good start. I planted the huge bunch that came from Park Seed Co. in a little patch formation. Since Knut saw the strawberry plants coming up from last year, he didn't till that part of the garden, so it needed a bit of work.
David was a huge help, and Elias squealed and clapped as we worked on the weeds already coming up. The asparagus that we planted 2 years ago is coming up, and with the 2 year wait, we actually get to harvest some this spring! I only picked 5 long stalks that were still tender for supper tonight, and left the rest to go to more seed. There are so many baby stalks still coming up!
I know it's still too early to plant the tomatoes, but as soon as I get back to town (probably tomorrow, since I forgot to go to the post office today too. Where is my head?) I'll soon have the peas, green beans, beets, pumpkins, lettuce, spinach, and whatever else looks good in the ground. I'm wondering if I should venture on broccoli this year. Hmmmm.
I've been working a tiny bit in the flower garden, thinning out some things that should have been thinned out last fall. The way-too-expensive hydrangeas that I planted last year are coming up this year, and I'm so relived that they made it through the winter!
The peony bushes are coming up nicely, and so are the lilies on the side of the house. I was so so worried because I've been dreading gardening season this year, but I'll tell ya--now that I've got dirt under my fingernails, I've been bitten by the gardening bug again! I can't wait to get out there more! I'm certain that my new plans this year will make a much more successful year than last, but I suppose only time will tell.
The lettuce and other leafy vegies might have to go in a pot on my porch this year, as last year the deer ate it all! I'm trying to figure out how to battle the deer this year, as Knut doesn't want to put a fence up. Believe me, if you google this gardening question, you'll find quite an array of answers from which plants will deter them to the outright gross. Knut says I need a gun, but I haven't shot a gun since I was a little girl on the shooting range with my dad. Who knows...maybe it's just like riding a bike. I was a pretty good shot when I was 7 with the little 22. However, if I actually shot a deer, and it landed and smushed my strawberries, I know Knut would be excited...but I think I'd be upset it smushed my strawberries. Strawberries are way better than deer meat, in my opinion!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Stream of Consciousness
I'm totally copying McMama in her post today, but there are so many random things to push together that this seemed to be the most appropriate. I've been sewing, sewing, sewing. Honestly, I never thought I'd believe I'd say this but I think I need a break from sewing. (For lunch that is...) Elias is a goof. He cracks me up all. day. long. I really really need to remember to put Frontline on Lena tonight before we go to bed.
Tomorrow is the woman's expo type thing at the mall, so I'm getting all of my Nerdy Gerdy stuff ready for a booth. Putting price tags on, printing off information sheets, etc. I'm giving a presentation on cloth diapers at 2pm, and I'm actually not nervous at all. Those who know me know I could talk about cloth diapers forever. That's why I'm a nerd. I am trying to get too much done, product-wise for tomorrow, which I should slow down on. I really don't need anything else.
(baaaad picture. They really are cute. I totally think that my first profits from the store should go to getting a Canon Rebel or the Nikkon equivalent. I really want a nice camera!)
I got some big orders through my store recently, and it has been keeping me busy, and will continue to do so through most of May. This makes me happy and not stressed at all because I don't think I've overbooked myself in this area, and so far things are going according to plan...with a few hiccups here and there. About all of my orders have been for a one-sized diaper, but I actually don't have any individually listed in the store, so that's a project I've been working on too. If none of them sell at the show at the mall, then I'll have a few to put in there next month. But then there's the garden.
It needs to be planted, and soon. I'm thinking this weekend maybe, but I haven't checked the weather yet. About half my seeds did well, and so I'm fairly disappointed, and I think that I may not start seeds next year as it's not turning out to be the money saver I had hoped for 2 years running. Knut thinks that at this rate I may never be a farmer. The weather has been so nice for gardening, so it should be fun.
The busy-ness has not been good for my ever-degenerating house, so I've had to come down harder on the kids to pick up their toys, their books, their clothes, etc. Silje's been helping me with the dishes more too, as Knut is working most evenings. She loves that time. Lena's been "helping" by chewing every toy that gets left out lately, so that's been some incentive for the kids to keep their stuff picked up. It's gotten a rid of a few toys in our house too, so that's not so bad either. I really should be more mad at her. I just found her chew toy in the garage that I thought was lost, and Knut thought he put away, so hopefully she'll stop chewing the kids toys now.
Knut came home for lunch, and the truck he drove home was really loud. Either that or I'm not used to having my windows open yet. Elias is REALLY into Knut lately. He drops everything and screams "Dada" and gets to Knut through the fastest means possible every time he hears Knut get home. I mean, the other kids love Knut too, but the reaction from Elias has been quite humorous. This is the first planting season that he's probably remembered, and I remember each of our kids at this age, and even the year after, having an especially tough time with Knut gone so much. I think Silje and David get it more.
Silje's birthday is around the corner, and she really wants a sleepover party, and I'm fine with a bunch of little girls sleeping over. However, I'm not sure how to go about it as some of the girls she wants to invite are from school and I don't know their parents (well, at least one of the girls' parents). Plus after talking it over with some moms, I found that some but not all of them feel that their girls' are old enough for a sleepover, or they're just not ready for something like that. I've tried explaining that to Silje, and she's just not understanding. She so extremely into her friends that she can't possibly imagine not wanting to sleep over at one of their houses. She keeps trying to say it's going to be a surprise party, but I told her that if I told her it was a surprise party, than it wouldn't be a surprise. She doesn't get that either, and continues to plan for this party with quite a lot of passion. According to her, I'm sewing her and all of her friends matching pajamas for the sleepover that she knows nothing about.
Tomorrow is the woman's expo type thing at the mall, so I'm getting all of my Nerdy Gerdy stuff ready for a booth. Putting price tags on, printing off information sheets, etc. I'm giving a presentation on cloth diapers at 2pm, and I'm actually not nervous at all. Those who know me know I could talk about cloth diapers forever. That's why I'm a nerd. I am trying to get too much done, product-wise for tomorrow, which I should slow down on. I really don't need anything else.
(baaaad picture. They really are cute. I totally think that my first profits from the store should go to getting a Canon Rebel or the Nikkon equivalent. I really want a nice camera!)
I got some big orders through my store recently, and it has been keeping me busy, and will continue to do so through most of May. This makes me happy and not stressed at all because I don't think I've overbooked myself in this area, and so far things are going according to plan...with a few hiccups here and there. About all of my orders have been for a one-sized diaper, but I actually don't have any individually listed in the store, so that's a project I've been working on too. If none of them sell at the show at the mall, then I'll have a few to put in there next month. But then there's the garden.
It needs to be planted, and soon. I'm thinking this weekend maybe, but I haven't checked the weather yet. About half my seeds did well, and so I'm fairly disappointed, and I think that I may not start seeds next year as it's not turning out to be the money saver I had hoped for 2 years running. Knut thinks that at this rate I may never be a farmer. The weather has been so nice for gardening, so it should be fun.
The busy-ness has not been good for my ever-degenerating house, so I've had to come down harder on the kids to pick up their toys, their books, their clothes, etc. Silje's been helping me with the dishes more too, as Knut is working most evenings. She loves that time. Lena's been "helping" by chewing every toy that gets left out lately, so that's been some incentive for the kids to keep their stuff picked up. It's gotten a rid of a few toys in our house too, so that's not so bad either. I really should be more mad at her. I just found her chew toy in the garage that I thought was lost, and Knut thought he put away, so hopefully she'll stop chewing the kids toys now.
Knut came home for lunch, and the truck he drove home was really loud. Either that or I'm not used to having my windows open yet. Elias is REALLY into Knut lately. He drops everything and screams "Dada" and gets to Knut through the fastest means possible every time he hears Knut get home. I mean, the other kids love Knut too, but the reaction from Elias has been quite humorous. This is the first planting season that he's probably remembered, and I remember each of our kids at this age, and even the year after, having an especially tough time with Knut gone so much. I think Silje and David get it more.
Silje's birthday is around the corner, and she really wants a sleepover party, and I'm fine with a bunch of little girls sleeping over. However, I'm not sure how to go about it as some of the girls she wants to invite are from school and I don't know their parents (well, at least one of the girls' parents). Plus after talking it over with some moms, I found that some but not all of them feel that their girls' are old enough for a sleepover, or they're just not ready for something like that. I've tried explaining that to Silje, and she's just not understanding. She so extremely into her friends that she can't possibly imagine not wanting to sleep over at one of their houses. She keeps trying to say it's going to be a surprise party, but I told her that if I told her it was a surprise party, than it wouldn't be a surprise. She doesn't get that either, and continues to plan for this party with quite a lot of passion. According to her, I'm sewing her and all of her friends matching pajamas for the sleepover that she knows nothing about.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Spring has Sprung
Ready or not, here it comes! It's time for Knut to put the skis away, and return to the tractor, and time for me to put the sewing down, and start gardening. Who am I kidding? Of course I'll keep sewing, and Knut won't ski, but he will roller-ski, and bike and run. We won't be able to devote as much time as we would like, but it's just the ebb and flow of things.
Knut has started working a lot again, although he has been home in the evenings, and was able to come by and rescue David the other day as he was supposed to take a nap, but ended up doing some sort of acrobatics from the top bunk, and tried to squeeze between the bunk beds and the wall. His little body fit, but his head didn't, so there he was, with a squished head, and the bunk beds were much to heavy for me to move. So Knut stopped by and rescued us from that situation.
It rained yesterday, and although we've had nice weather before then, it was as though this rain woke up all of the grass, because it almost immediately turned green. It hasn't needed a good mow yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. Although we love our big lawn, I must admit that I think Knut is counting down the days until David is old enough to run the riding lawn mower himself. Silje too, for that matter. I remember when we first moved into this house, I thought we should give it a name. You know, like they do in England. Houses have names there. Knut came up with : "Lotsamowin".
This morning, when Knut walked Silje out to the bus, looked what he brought me back from the front flower bed:
I believe daffodils are my favorite garden flower, and since we're finally in our permanent home, I planted a few of these bulbs near the tulips in the front flower bed last fall. I'm not sure why the daffodils are growing in so short, though. I planted them at the depth required, but they are blossoming at such a short height. The tulip leaves are growing, but there are no buds yet. The tulip leaves, though, are already taller than the daffodils.
You see my window with all the finger prints? We're a kid-friendly home if you couldn't tell. I suppose that should serve as a reminder to me that I should start on spring cleaning. I'm hoping to catch up to regular cleaning first, I guess! Speaking of which...
Knut has started working a lot again, although he has been home in the evenings, and was able to come by and rescue David the other day as he was supposed to take a nap, but ended up doing some sort of acrobatics from the top bunk, and tried to squeeze between the bunk beds and the wall. His little body fit, but his head didn't, so there he was, with a squished head, and the bunk beds were much to heavy for me to move. So Knut stopped by and rescued us from that situation.
It rained yesterday, and although we've had nice weather before then, it was as though this rain woke up all of the grass, because it almost immediately turned green. It hasn't needed a good mow yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. Although we love our big lawn, I must admit that I think Knut is counting down the days until David is old enough to run the riding lawn mower himself. Silje too, for that matter. I remember when we first moved into this house, I thought we should give it a name. You know, like they do in England. Houses have names there. Knut came up with : "Lotsamowin".
This morning, when Knut walked Silje out to the bus, looked what he brought me back from the front flower bed:
I believe daffodils are my favorite garden flower, and since we're finally in our permanent home, I planted a few of these bulbs near the tulips in the front flower bed last fall. I'm not sure why the daffodils are growing in so short, though. I planted them at the depth required, but they are blossoming at such a short height. The tulip leaves are growing, but there are no buds yet. The tulip leaves, though, are already taller than the daffodils.
You see my window with all the finger prints? We're a kid-friendly home if you couldn't tell. I suppose that should serve as a reminder to me that I should start on spring cleaning. I'm hoping to catch up to regular cleaning first, I guess! Speaking of which...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Preparing for Spring
Just as I type this, I'm hearing birds chirp loudly outside my kitchen window. That's the first time I've heard that in months. Spring must be just around the corner.
It's the first spring in awhile where Knut and I don't feel quite ready for it. This may surprise you with all the madness we've had this winter, but we're having too much fun in winter to have spring come just yet. Knut, especially, isn't quite ready to give up the skiing season, and walk into the roller-skiing season.
As for me, I'm not geared up for gardening yet. Normally, I get all excited and start seeds, and am really good with the garden until about the end of June, or mid-July. Somewhere in there I loose steam, and things go downhill pretty fast.
I have ordered and received my seeds, but I haven't started them yet. Hopefully it's not too late. Our 3 season porch has been so warm in the afternoons with the sun just beating on it, and it would have been perfect for seed growth the last few days. Hopefully I haven't missed any window.
Most of the seeds I start are for flowers, as on paper you can save so much money starting from seed, rather than buying plants every year. Last year my seeds did very very well, until about 2 weeks before I was ready to plant them, and I forgot them in a late frost, and they all died. Just like that. Weeks worth of work, gone in a night.
Although I'm not excited for it yet, I do have a plan because the reality is--gardening season will soon be here whether I like it or not. I need a survival plan. Last year I used dried grass clippings on a few rows of my vegi garden, and since they were dried, the grass seeds had died, and it actually worked quite well. Except the raking for hours and hours for a few days just to fill one row, and then not replenishing the grass when I needed to because it was during my "burned out from gardening" part of the summer.
This year, I've decided I'm going to spend the money, and get some sort of mulch to put inbetween the rows in the vegetable garden. What I liked so much about the dried grass last year was I could still work out there after a rain, even though it was so muddy--which really helped in not getting behind or slowed down with weeding because of the rain. It was awesome for weed control (that is, for the rows that got the mulch, for the time that the mulch was there.) If I can just get some help with the weed control, I'm hoping to push back my "burned out from gardening" date to as late as the middle to end of August. Baby steps.
My other plan is to really get the 2 older kids to help more this year. If I can institute a "15 minutes of nonstop weeding" rule/chore every morning, with the 3 of us, I think it would really help. Last year they weren't so keen on weeding, but they were both great help when it came to harvesting peas and green beans. If we can as a family, work for 15 minutes every morning, and then I work out there a bit while the kids are playing, combined with adding a mulch (I'm leaning towards hay/straw) I might be able to gain control.
I also need to figure out how to keep the deer away from my strawberry patch. I've been trying to get a strawberry patch going, and nothing really spreads with deer eating it up every night. I'm wondering if some sort of cage over the patch would help. I still need to ask Knut his opinion on that. I ordered a "patch starter" of strawberry plants to be delivered this spring. It's like 15 or 25 plants, and was at a great price through Park Seed. I'm determined to make it work this year.
Speaking of Park Seed, here are the seeds I ordered this year, as well as some of my lists:
Seeds for the flower garden:
Poppy (falling in love)
Marigold (moonstruck yellow...large yellow orbs)
Lisianthus (saphire pink and blue)
Geranium (Horizon Red Ice)
English Thyme
Chives
Coneflower (Echinacea bravado)
Aster Opus
Lisanthus (Cinderella Lime)
Lisanthus (Cinderella Pink)
Seeds for the vegi garden:
Tomato Park Razzleberry hybrid (came free with my order...so we'll see)
Tomato Margherita Hybrid (don't get any ideas! I believe this one was highly recommended for sauces and was determinate or indeterminate (the one where they should be able to be harvested at all the same time so that I'm not making tomato sauce all summer long, but in one or two weeks.) I wanted a roma tomato that they just developed that is great for sauces, and they developed it to have twice the lycopene in it...but it was already sold out.)
Organic Pepper Early Jalapeno (This is my first try with this. I thought with the number of peppers Knut eats we'd try to add this.)
Pepper (karma hybrid)
Pepper (gusto) (Really...I need to stop buying so many peppers for Knut's south beach diet. These WILL work this year!)
Tomato (beefy boy) this one should provide us with eating tomatoes all summer long.
I also ordered a red tomato mulch that I've been reading so much about. It's basically a bright red tarp that goes around the tomato plants. Not only is it great for weed control, but in testing, tomato plants respond to the color red--producing up to 30% more. Who knew? So you know I have to try it. As you can tell, if I do end up planting the razzelberry tomotoes that they sent along free...we may have tomatoes coming out our ears. I've yet to decide if I'm going to start that one, though.
Last year I was so pleased with the speghetti sauce that I definitely want a repeat of that, and I'm thinking about canning salsa this year for the first time.
Other than that, I'm praying that the cold hardy hydrangeas that we planted last spring have survived the winter, and I really really need to cut back the lilies and wildflowers (I don't know what they're called, but they're pretty) that have taken over the small garden on the side of the house by the three season porch. There's a gorgeous (snowball?) hydrangea back there that I know is aching to thrive, if it could just get some breathing room.
Knut and I didn't really cut back as many of those things last fall as we should have, so our work this spring may be more intensive.
I'm thinking about getting some wood chips for the the front flower garden. Again, something I'm going to have to think on more. It has always just been exposed soil.
Whew! I'm already feeling busy and I'm just sitting inside, looking at the snow outside! Time to give myself a pep talk, I might also make a chart and give myself stickers and a prize for completing stuff. Hey...whatever it takes!
It's the first spring in awhile where Knut and I don't feel quite ready for it. This may surprise you with all the madness we've had this winter, but we're having too much fun in winter to have spring come just yet. Knut, especially, isn't quite ready to give up the skiing season, and walk into the roller-skiing season.
As for me, I'm not geared up for gardening yet. Normally, I get all excited and start seeds, and am really good with the garden until about the end of June, or mid-July. Somewhere in there I loose steam, and things go downhill pretty fast.
I have ordered and received my seeds, but I haven't started them yet. Hopefully it's not too late. Our 3 season porch has been so warm in the afternoons with the sun just beating on it, and it would have been perfect for seed growth the last few days. Hopefully I haven't missed any window.
Most of the seeds I start are for flowers, as on paper you can save so much money starting from seed, rather than buying plants every year. Last year my seeds did very very well, until about 2 weeks before I was ready to plant them, and I forgot them in a late frost, and they all died. Just like that. Weeks worth of work, gone in a night.
Although I'm not excited for it yet, I do have a plan because the reality is--gardening season will soon be here whether I like it or not. I need a survival plan. Last year I used dried grass clippings on a few rows of my vegi garden, and since they were dried, the grass seeds had died, and it actually worked quite well. Except the raking for hours and hours for a few days just to fill one row, and then not replenishing the grass when I needed to because it was during my "burned out from gardening" part of the summer.
This year, I've decided I'm going to spend the money, and get some sort of mulch to put inbetween the rows in the vegetable garden. What I liked so much about the dried grass last year was I could still work out there after a rain, even though it was so muddy--which really helped in not getting behind or slowed down with weeding because of the rain. It was awesome for weed control (that is, for the rows that got the mulch, for the time that the mulch was there.) If I can just get some help with the weed control, I'm hoping to push back my "burned out from gardening" date to as late as the middle to end of August. Baby steps.
My other plan is to really get the 2 older kids to help more this year. If I can institute a "15 minutes of nonstop weeding" rule/chore every morning, with the 3 of us, I think it would really help. Last year they weren't so keen on weeding, but they were both great help when it came to harvesting peas and green beans. If we can as a family, work for 15 minutes every morning, and then I work out there a bit while the kids are playing, combined with adding a mulch (I'm leaning towards hay/straw) I might be able to gain control.
I also need to figure out how to keep the deer away from my strawberry patch. I've been trying to get a strawberry patch going, and nothing really spreads with deer eating it up every night. I'm wondering if some sort of cage over the patch would help. I still need to ask Knut his opinion on that. I ordered a "patch starter" of strawberry plants to be delivered this spring. It's like 15 or 25 plants, and was at a great price through Park Seed. I'm determined to make it work this year.
Speaking of Park Seed, here are the seeds I ordered this year, as well as some of my lists:
Seeds for the flower garden:
Poppy (falling in love)
Marigold (moonstruck yellow...large yellow orbs)
Lisianthus (saphire pink and blue)
Geranium (Horizon Red Ice)
English Thyme
Chives
Coneflower (Echinacea bravado)
Aster Opus
Lisanthus (Cinderella Lime)
Lisanthus (Cinderella Pink)
Seeds for the vegi garden:
Tomato Park Razzleberry hybrid (came free with my order...so we'll see)
Tomato Margherita Hybrid (don't get any ideas! I believe this one was highly recommended for sauces and was determinate or indeterminate (the one where they should be able to be harvested at all the same time so that I'm not making tomato sauce all summer long, but in one or two weeks.) I wanted a roma tomato that they just developed that is great for sauces, and they developed it to have twice the lycopene in it...but it was already sold out.)
Organic Pepper Early Jalapeno (This is my first try with this. I thought with the number of peppers Knut eats we'd try to add this.)
Pepper (karma hybrid)
Pepper (gusto) (Really...I need to stop buying so many peppers for Knut's south beach diet. These WILL work this year!)
Tomato (beefy boy) this one should provide us with eating tomatoes all summer long.
I also ordered a red tomato mulch that I've been reading so much about. It's basically a bright red tarp that goes around the tomato plants. Not only is it great for weed control, but in testing, tomato plants respond to the color red--producing up to 30% more. Who knew? So you know I have to try it. As you can tell, if I do end up planting the razzelberry tomotoes that they sent along free...we may have tomatoes coming out our ears. I've yet to decide if I'm going to start that one, though.
Last year I was so pleased with the speghetti sauce that I definitely want a repeat of that, and I'm thinking about canning salsa this year for the first time.
Other than that, I'm praying that the cold hardy hydrangeas that we planted last spring have survived the winter, and I really really need to cut back the lilies and wildflowers (I don't know what they're called, but they're pretty) that have taken over the small garden on the side of the house by the three season porch. There's a gorgeous (snowball?) hydrangea back there that I know is aching to thrive, if it could just get some breathing room.
Knut and I didn't really cut back as many of those things last fall as we should have, so our work this spring may be more intensive.
I'm thinking about getting some wood chips for the the front flower garden. Again, something I'm going to have to think on more. It has always just been exposed soil.
Whew! I'm already feeling busy and I'm just sitting inside, looking at the snow outside! Time to give myself a pep talk, I might also make a chart and give myself stickers and a prize for completing stuff. Hey...whatever it takes!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
My Favorite Part of Gardening
This afternoon, I braved the snow and wind and ventured outside to get my mail. I thought about it for awhile, and wondered if it was worth that much effort and getting that cold just to pick up what would most likely be junk mail. I was excited to find the Park and Seed Co. seed catalog, for planning your garden for the following year.
This is the part of gardening I'm good at. Let's face it, I'm not a very good gardener. I haven't been able to stay on top of the weeds, and harvests rot on the stem as I don't always get to them, and I will openly agree to the fact that I routinely have no clue what I'm doing.
This is incredibly embarrassing as a farmer's wife. (Almost as embarrassing as not knowing how to spell "yolks" as an english major...on a farm.) I'm not sure if it's more embarrassing to me or Knut. I mean, his garden is thousands of acres and it's gorgeous. I just have this little plot. In my defense, I don't have machinery that costs more than our house, and I try to do as much as I can without sprays, as my crop is for human consumption.
Still, as trucks drive by our house on the way to the grain leg, I can't help but feel embarrassed that a farmer's wife can't keep a garden very neat and tidy. I mean, I'm not very neat and tidy inside my house, but in my garden there is no hiding it.
I am told it will get easier as the kids get older.
I hope so.
This last year gave me some hope, as I was able to get the kids to weed for at least 5 minutes before they shut down and it ended in weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then there's the dealing with a toddler, as I will next summer. (You know toddler hood: the inability to stay in one place and of course eating dirt and anything else that looks interesting.)
Then of course, there's just the busy-ness of summer! This last summer we were gone for almost 2 weeks! Do you know how many weeds add up in 2 weeks? Before then, I had non-stop company, and then there's Silje's birthday party in the summer. I did try to encourage my company to help with the gardening, which they kindly did. However, no-offense, but people from Arizona have no clue what to do in a garden. I'm pretty much proof of that. We're just shocked that the dirt is naturally black and stuff grows in it.
I am fascinated by great gardens, though, and love to research. I've googled for hours, and this last summer, I toured Knut's uncle's amazing garden on our road trip, and got lots of tips. I'm determined that each year I'm going to get a little better. I'm going to try something new. I'll try to push my "burned out from gardening" date further back each year.
You see, going through seed catalogs...this is the part I'm good at. Drawing garden maps, and planning what goes where. Dreaming and researching--that's me! I can make early winter gardening resolutions with the best of them. I'm trying to convince myself that wanting to be a half way decent gardener is almost as good as actually being a half way decent gardener. At least I'm on the right path. Right?
We shall see.
This is the part of gardening I'm good at. Let's face it, I'm not a very good gardener. I haven't been able to stay on top of the weeds, and harvests rot on the stem as I don't always get to them, and I will openly agree to the fact that I routinely have no clue what I'm doing.
This is incredibly embarrassing as a farmer's wife. (Almost as embarrassing as not knowing how to spell "yolks" as an english major...on a farm.) I'm not sure if it's more embarrassing to me or Knut. I mean, his garden is thousands of acres and it's gorgeous. I just have this little plot. In my defense, I don't have machinery that costs more than our house, and I try to do as much as I can without sprays, as my crop is for human consumption.
Still, as trucks drive by our house on the way to the grain leg, I can't help but feel embarrassed that a farmer's wife can't keep a garden very neat and tidy. I mean, I'm not very neat and tidy inside my house, but in my garden there is no hiding it.
I am told it will get easier as the kids get older.
I hope so.
This last year gave me some hope, as I was able to get the kids to weed for at least 5 minutes before they shut down and it ended in weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then there's the dealing with a toddler, as I will next summer. (You know toddler hood: the inability to stay in one place and of course eating dirt and anything else that looks interesting.)
Then of course, there's just the busy-ness of summer! This last summer we were gone for almost 2 weeks! Do you know how many weeds add up in 2 weeks? Before then, I had non-stop company, and then there's Silje's birthday party in the summer. I did try to encourage my company to help with the gardening, which they kindly did. However, no-offense, but people from Arizona have no clue what to do in a garden. I'm pretty much proof of that. We're just shocked that the dirt is naturally black and stuff grows in it.
I am fascinated by great gardens, though, and love to research. I've googled for hours, and this last summer, I toured Knut's uncle's amazing garden on our road trip, and got lots of tips. I'm determined that each year I'm going to get a little better. I'm going to try something new. I'll try to push my "burned out from gardening" date further back each year.
You see, going through seed catalogs...this is the part I'm good at. Drawing garden maps, and planning what goes where. Dreaming and researching--that's me! I can make early winter gardening resolutions with the best of them. I'm trying to convince myself that wanting to be a half way decent gardener is almost as good as actually being a half way decent gardener. At least I'm on the right path. Right?
We shall see.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Garden Harvest
Well, things have been a little frustrating around here because there is so much to do, and I find it difficult to do anything. Silje has been throwing up most of the morning, and Elias seems to be into everything at all times. So today, Knut did me a huge favor, and drove the pick up down to the garden and brought in all the squash, pumpkins, and beets before the hard frost tonight.
What a harvest this year!
Last year I planted squash and pumpkin and the squash died after the vine got about 5 feet long, (too late to replant) and the pumpkin vine yielded about 3 pumpkins. I was trying to count them in the garden this year, and after many counts got 17 or 18 pumpkins. But now that they are out of the garden we know for sure: there are 19. About all of them are perfect shaped carving pumpkins. I'm hoping to make pumpkin butter out of the not so perfect shaped ones. I'm not planning on carving all of them, and will probably give some away to my in-laws. If anyone else is interested in a couple and live near us, give me a call and we might have some left!
We might be able to throw some squash into the deal too! I'm planning on roasting and freezing most of this. I'm now imagining all the yummy soups we'll have this winter! I learned from Rachel Ray that baked macaroni and cheese is really good with squash in it too.
Knut also pulled the apples off the tree. (Well, his dad helped there!) These are just the last of the baking apples. (There is another bucket full under the box, that the picture doesn't show.) I've already made more than 20 jars of either applesauce or apple butter. I'll take most of this and make some apple pie fillings to freeze, and probably a lot more applesauce that some of you might be getting for Christmas this year. ;)
Our eating apple harvest isn't so overwhelming this year. Compared to last year, it's meager. Just 2 huge buckets.
O, and the beets. I found out this year that you can freeze beets too. You cook and peel them, and then you slip them into freezer bags, either sliced or whole. These got so huge this year! This is one of Silje's favorite vegetables. (Because it's pink...of course!)
It's times like this that I really debate getting a pressure cooker. I'm running out of room in my freezer, and it really would be good to can instead of freeze some of this. One of these days I'm going to splurge and get a really big pressure cooker so I can can vegetables. Maybe next year... I seriously don't know when I'm going to get to this all! Anyone want to watch my kids for like, a week?
What a harvest this year!
Last year I planted squash and pumpkin and the squash died after the vine got about 5 feet long, (too late to replant) and the pumpkin vine yielded about 3 pumpkins. I was trying to count them in the garden this year, and after many counts got 17 or 18 pumpkins. But now that they are out of the garden we know for sure: there are 19. About all of them are perfect shaped carving pumpkins. I'm hoping to make pumpkin butter out of the not so perfect shaped ones. I'm not planning on carving all of them, and will probably give some away to my in-laws. If anyone else is interested in a couple and live near us, give me a call and we might have some left!
We might be able to throw some squash into the deal too! I'm planning on roasting and freezing most of this. I'm now imagining all the yummy soups we'll have this winter! I learned from Rachel Ray that baked macaroni and cheese is really good with squash in it too.
Knut also pulled the apples off the tree. (Well, his dad helped there!) These are just the last of the baking apples. (There is another bucket full under the box, that the picture doesn't show.) I've already made more than 20 jars of either applesauce or apple butter. I'll take most of this and make some apple pie fillings to freeze, and probably a lot more applesauce that some of you might be getting for Christmas this year. ;)
Our eating apple harvest isn't so overwhelming this year. Compared to last year, it's meager. Just 2 huge buckets.
O, and the beets. I found out this year that you can freeze beets too. You cook and peel them, and then you slip them into freezer bags, either sliced or whole. These got so huge this year! This is one of Silje's favorite vegetables. (Because it's pink...of course!)
It's times like this that I really debate getting a pressure cooker. I'm running out of room in my freezer, and it really would be good to can instead of freeze some of this. One of these days I'm going to splurge and get a really big pressure cooker so I can can vegetables. Maybe next year... I seriously don't know when I'm going to get to this all! Anyone want to watch my kids for like, a week?
Friday, September 25, 2009
Airing out some dirty laundry
I was at the story time at the library tomorrow, and one of the mom said that she reads my blog, and doesn't know how I do it all. I get that a lot. I feel really silly getting that, because you know, I only show you the good stuff. I usually only show you the stuff I'm proud of. The confessions of not-me-Monday are true, but mostly just for fun.
So today, I decided to do the unthinkable, and air out what I'm really bad at. This is a visual tour. I'll explain as I go.
This is my front flower garden. At one point I was ambitious enough to plant some flowers around the tulips this spring. I was planning on filling in the spots where the tulips were with some annuals, but never got to it. Now grass and weeds are there. Yes, the picture at the top of my blog now is of this flower garden, but I only showed a pretty part of it in the photo, of course.
And horror of horrors, this is my jungle of a vegetable garden. Want to see it close up?
Here's my strawberry patch in the garden. The deer ate most of the strawberry leaves and blooms, and I just let it grow over.
And here is just a patch of weeds so tall you think it would be put there on purpose. But no...just weeds.
And here are my tomato plants that are producing so much now. They got so big that all 6 of them tipped over, and many of the tomatoes are sitting in the dirt on top of each other, and therefore many have to get thrown in the field because they're too bruised to use. I should have reinforced their stakes, and picked them up at some point, I guess.
The middle mass of plants are the green beans. They still have beans on them, and I haven't picked them in a long time. I'm kinda afraid to go over there to see how much has gone to waste because I haven't had time to get there. Blogging is more important to me than green beans, I guess. Then there's a mass of weeds and a short row of beets and in the corner are the asparagus plants. Those actually are supposed to be that way--looking like mini trees. To the left are another row of weeds and the peas.
The peas are long gone, and really should be pulled and the fences be put away. But instead, a row of weeds between them has risen up, determined to surpass the actual pea plants.
So there you have it. I'm terrible at gardening. I want to be good at gardening. I spend a lot of time planning them out. I always seem to give up mid summer sometime, and just harvest what survives. This summer I was determined to see it through, but we were on what seemed like a constant month of vacation with Montana, family visiting, and lake time. I could never quite recover the garden from weeds after that, and gave up not too long after that.
So I hope you all feel better about yourselves now, and not put me on such a pedestal for getting so much done. There are things that never get done at my house too. This is so embarrassing, because farmer's are supposed to have nice gardens, and my poor husband does not. (Well, he actually takes care of the rose garden, and that is beautiful.) When I look at my garden, I often feel like a city girl who has no clue what she is doing. It's the thorn in my side, that I hope one day to conquer. Silje and David actually were a decent help this year in the garden at the beginning of the summer. I'm hoping next year it will be even more so. Because as you can see, I need all the help I can get!
So today, I decided to do the unthinkable, and air out what I'm really bad at. This is a visual tour. I'll explain as I go.
This is my front flower garden. At one point I was ambitious enough to plant some flowers around the tulips this spring. I was planning on filling in the spots where the tulips were with some annuals, but never got to it. Now grass and weeds are there. Yes, the picture at the top of my blog now is of this flower garden, but I only showed a pretty part of it in the photo, of course.
And horror of horrors, this is my jungle of a vegetable garden. Want to see it close up?
Here's my strawberry patch in the garden. The deer ate most of the strawberry leaves and blooms, and I just let it grow over.
And here is just a patch of weeds so tall you think it would be put there on purpose. But no...just weeds.
And here are my tomato plants that are producing so much now. They got so big that all 6 of them tipped over, and many of the tomatoes are sitting in the dirt on top of each other, and therefore many have to get thrown in the field because they're too bruised to use. I should have reinforced their stakes, and picked them up at some point, I guess.
The middle mass of plants are the green beans. They still have beans on them, and I haven't picked them in a long time. I'm kinda afraid to go over there to see how much has gone to waste because I haven't had time to get there. Blogging is more important to me than green beans, I guess. Then there's a mass of weeds and a short row of beets and in the corner are the asparagus plants. Those actually are supposed to be that way--looking like mini trees. To the left are another row of weeds and the peas.
The peas are long gone, and really should be pulled and the fences be put away. But instead, a row of weeds between them has risen up, determined to surpass the actual pea plants.
So there you have it. I'm terrible at gardening. I want to be good at gardening. I spend a lot of time planning them out. I always seem to give up mid summer sometime, and just harvest what survives. This summer I was determined to see it through, but we were on what seemed like a constant month of vacation with Montana, family visiting, and lake time. I could never quite recover the garden from weeds after that, and gave up not too long after that.
So I hope you all feel better about yourselves now, and not put me on such a pedestal for getting so much done. There are things that never get done at my house too. This is so embarrassing, because farmer's are supposed to have nice gardens, and my poor husband does not. (Well, he actually takes care of the rose garden, and that is beautiful.) When I look at my garden, I often feel like a city girl who has no clue what she is doing. It's the thorn in my side, that I hope one day to conquer. Silje and David actually were a decent help this year in the garden at the beginning of the summer. I'm hoping next year it will be even more so. Because as you can see, I need all the help I can get!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Always Lots to Do
I had a huge picking of tomatoes again yesterday. I'm out of oregano, so after a trip to the store this morning, I'll start making another batch of spaghetti sauce. This number might help me make another double batch, in fact! I left so many beautiful orange tomatoes on the vine, so I'm sure tomorrow I'll get at least this many as well. No rest this week, I guess! I'm up to 12 jars of spaghetti sauce put away. I get 3 jars out of a batch. (or 6 out of a double batch). I've never seen so many tomatoes!
Last year we got 4 pumpkins out of our pumpkin patch. This year, I have counted 18! Wow! I'll have enough for decoration, jack-o-lanterns, and pumpkin butter--a new recipe to try out this year. They look like they're getting ready! They're so huge this year! My squash died last year, and this year it was looking good. But the last time I was out there, it almost looked like a heard of dear had been laying all over it. Seriously, it looked trampled. So hopefully all will be well there.
And let's not forget, I haven't even dented the baking apples yet. I've made a ton of apple sauce, apple butter, and 1 each of apple pie and apple crisp. I'm sure my family wouldn't mind another pie! I'm thinking that my next project here will be to make up a bunch of apple pie fillings to freeze. That way when I want any apple pie this winter, I just have to make up a crust and dump it in. We hardly had any baking apples last year. Seriously, I'm not sure if we even got 12. This year, one tree is going nuts, and the other is so-so. I've heard they're the best after the first frost, and that may not be that far away.
We have 2 eating apple trees, which went nuts last year, and they're not so hot this year. They look like they're dying. I hope not! They started flowering this spring very brightly, and then a late frost came and froze off all the beautiful blooms. It tried to start up again, but just didn't have the strength.
This one has a few eating apples on one branch. They're not quite ready yet. I'm hoping that this next spring we'll see these ones take off again, and that they are not, in fact dying.
But this guy is ready to take off now!
We spike his hair, because we can...and it's funny.
I saw him take 4 steps cruising around the coffee table yesterday. O Wow! I'm not ready! I'm not ready!
And as for this guy, he's still being a good guy and listening to the doctor. He has to keep his leg raised with a warm compress all the time. It has been looking mildly better, which hasn't been encouraging. But this morning, over half of it drained out, so Knut was excited. He's been so stiff sitting all day long, and he can't sleep very easily at night. Probably because he has been taking at least 2 naps a day in this chair. I have to admit, though, it's been nice having him home.
But for the rest of the week, it's not fireplace or farm for him. It's this:
Poor guy indeed! Really, though, he's been such a help, I can't remember the last time my house looked so good. He reads to the kids so much, and feeds Elias his morning bottle. (The rest of the feedings he nurses, and well, Knut can't help much there.) The kids love playing on the floor next to him and they talk to him so much. I can get so much done with that diversion. For that, I am thankful. But for Knut, I know he's dying to get up and move! That man was not designed to sit!
Last year we got 4 pumpkins out of our pumpkin patch. This year, I have counted 18! Wow! I'll have enough for decoration, jack-o-lanterns, and pumpkin butter--a new recipe to try out this year. They look like they're getting ready! They're so huge this year! My squash died last year, and this year it was looking good. But the last time I was out there, it almost looked like a heard of dear had been laying all over it. Seriously, it looked trampled. So hopefully all will be well there.
And let's not forget, I haven't even dented the baking apples yet. I've made a ton of apple sauce, apple butter, and 1 each of apple pie and apple crisp. I'm sure my family wouldn't mind another pie! I'm thinking that my next project here will be to make up a bunch of apple pie fillings to freeze. That way when I want any apple pie this winter, I just have to make up a crust and dump it in. We hardly had any baking apples last year. Seriously, I'm not sure if we even got 12. This year, one tree is going nuts, and the other is so-so. I've heard they're the best after the first frost, and that may not be that far away.
We have 2 eating apple trees, which went nuts last year, and they're not so hot this year. They look like they're dying. I hope not! They started flowering this spring very brightly, and then a late frost came and froze off all the beautiful blooms. It tried to start up again, but just didn't have the strength.
This one has a few eating apples on one branch. They're not quite ready yet. I'm hoping that this next spring we'll see these ones take off again, and that they are not, in fact dying.
But this guy is ready to take off now!
We spike his hair, because we can...and it's funny.
I saw him take 4 steps cruising around the coffee table yesterday. O Wow! I'm not ready! I'm not ready!
And as for this guy, he's still being a good guy and listening to the doctor. He has to keep his leg raised with a warm compress all the time. It has been looking mildly better, which hasn't been encouraging. But this morning, over half of it drained out, so Knut was excited. He's been so stiff sitting all day long, and he can't sleep very easily at night. Probably because he has been taking at least 2 naps a day in this chair. I have to admit, though, it's been nice having him home.
But for the rest of the week, it's not fireplace or farm for him. It's this:
Poor guy indeed! Really, though, he's been such a help, I can't remember the last time my house looked so good. He reads to the kids so much, and feeds Elias his morning bottle. (The rest of the feedings he nurses, and well, Knut can't help much there.) The kids love playing on the floor next to him and they talk to him so much. I can get so much done with that diversion. For that, I am thankful. But for Knut, I know he's dying to get up and move! That man was not designed to sit!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Work, work, work
Well, I'm all for trying things new when it comes to gardening. You see, I really have no clue what I'm doing in this area, so I do a bunch of internet research, and ask people what they do, and why they do it. (If they usually respond, 'I don't know...it's how I've always done it.' my first response is wondering if it could be done better.)
Besides adding spinach to our vegetable list this year, the new thing for our garden is trying grass clippings on top of the soil, once the plants have come up.
Here's our tomato plants that Knut covered a couple weeks ago. It's supposed to help tone down the amount of bugs on your plants, as well as really help with weed control, and keeping moisture in. It also keeps the plants cleaner, which is nice when you like to eat it right in the garden like me. I have also been able to enter the garden and work in these areas after a rain without getting so dirty. It's been working so great for the tomato and strawberry patch, that we've been thinking about extending the practice to the rest of the garden.
I once saw in a Martha Stewart Living magazine that she had dried straw/grass in between every row in her vegetable garden. It looked so neat, but I thought it was a bit excessive. Then I realized...
we have excess. I mean seriously, if you're going to go to the trouble of having acreage to mow, you might as well put those grass clippings to work, you know?
So here was the row I got done today. I pulled all the weeds from the area first, and after raking a huge part of the lawn, and bringing the clippings over, I filled the whole space between the row of green beans and the row with beets, lettuce, and spinach. (Those 3 are all in one row.) It's green now, but it will dry in the sun, and turn yellow like the other areas. When I went out to "weed" the tomato and strawberry section, it took me about 30 seconds. Only a few weeds were strong enough to push through the clippings, and I have very few to pull. I'm hoping that if I can get the whole garden done before these plants need to start being harvested, I can spend most of my time harvesting, and not as much weeding.
But as you can see, I have a bit of garden left to go. We've got 2 rows of peas, the asparagus, and then I'm not sure what I should do where the pumpkins and squash vines will grow. Something to think about. But if I can rake enough to fill one row a day, then I think it will be doable. (By the way, this is what my garden looks like after 4 days of no weeding. Ahhh!) Today I weeded and raked and spread grass for 2 hours during nap time (in the heat of the day...of course.) and got one row done. Tomorrow morning we should be home, though, and I hope I'll be able to get a good chunk done when it's not so hot.
Because the front flower bed could use some work too.
I planted around the tulips because I read that you should leave them there until all the green leaves the leaves, because as long as they are green, they are still feeding the bulbs for the next year. Ummm, they haven't been green for over a week, and I think it's time I take them out!
And we planted 2 hydrangea bushes in front of the house this year, and weeds have come around to welcome them. They are either pink or blue depending on the acidity of the soil. I found pink ones that looked very healthy, but I think we're going to try to gradually turn them blue, as we think that will pop against the color of the house better. We had blue hydrageas in our wedding, so it will be fun to have them planted in our garden!
I had taken some pictures of our rose bushes which are just gorgeous this year, but they all turned out sideways for some reason. Trust me, they're gorgeous!
And I called it quits for the day when Silje came down from her nap. We decided that we should have some drumsticks. I took a picture of her, and not me because really, a sweaty dirty mommy with grass clippings all up her arms and frizzy hair pulled back in a pony tail is really not something that should be posted;)
Besides adding spinach to our vegetable list this year, the new thing for our garden is trying grass clippings on top of the soil, once the plants have come up.
Here's our tomato plants that Knut covered a couple weeks ago. It's supposed to help tone down the amount of bugs on your plants, as well as really help with weed control, and keeping moisture in. It also keeps the plants cleaner, which is nice when you like to eat it right in the garden like me. I have also been able to enter the garden and work in these areas after a rain without getting so dirty. It's been working so great for the tomato and strawberry patch, that we've been thinking about extending the practice to the rest of the garden.
I once saw in a Martha Stewart Living magazine that she had dried straw/grass in between every row in her vegetable garden. It looked so neat, but I thought it was a bit excessive. Then I realized...
we have excess. I mean seriously, if you're going to go to the trouble of having acreage to mow, you might as well put those grass clippings to work, you know?
So here was the row I got done today. I pulled all the weeds from the area first, and after raking a huge part of the lawn, and bringing the clippings over, I filled the whole space between the row of green beans and the row with beets, lettuce, and spinach. (Those 3 are all in one row.) It's green now, but it will dry in the sun, and turn yellow like the other areas. When I went out to "weed" the tomato and strawberry section, it took me about 30 seconds. Only a few weeds were strong enough to push through the clippings, and I have very few to pull. I'm hoping that if I can get the whole garden done before these plants need to start being harvested, I can spend most of my time harvesting, and not as much weeding.
But as you can see, I have a bit of garden left to go. We've got 2 rows of peas, the asparagus, and then I'm not sure what I should do where the pumpkins and squash vines will grow. Something to think about. But if I can rake enough to fill one row a day, then I think it will be doable. (By the way, this is what my garden looks like after 4 days of no weeding. Ahhh!) Today I weeded and raked and spread grass for 2 hours during nap time (in the heat of the day...of course.) and got one row done. Tomorrow morning we should be home, though, and I hope I'll be able to get a good chunk done when it's not so hot.
Because the front flower bed could use some work too.
I planted around the tulips because I read that you should leave them there until all the green leaves the leaves, because as long as they are green, they are still feeding the bulbs for the next year. Ummm, they haven't been green for over a week, and I think it's time I take them out!
And we planted 2 hydrangea bushes in front of the house this year, and weeds have come around to welcome them. They are either pink or blue depending on the acidity of the soil. I found pink ones that looked very healthy, but I think we're going to try to gradually turn them blue, as we think that will pop against the color of the house better. We had blue hydrageas in our wedding, so it will be fun to have them planted in our garden!
I had taken some pictures of our rose bushes which are just gorgeous this year, but they all turned out sideways for some reason. Trust me, they're gorgeous!
And I called it quits for the day when Silje came down from her nap. We decided that we should have some drumsticks. I took a picture of her, and not me because really, a sweaty dirty mommy with grass clippings all up her arms and frizzy hair pulled back in a pony tail is really not something that should be posted;)
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