Grrrrrr....!!

Well, I have done absolutely NOTHING in the gardens for about 2 or 3 weeks now. I've been trying, but August is my super-busy dog boarding month, and I can't seem to escape the dogs for any time at all to get things done. I have garden beds that need cleaning out and replanting, I have trays and trays of plant starts that desperately need to get planted... two weeks ago! and I have compost to make, and compost to spread on the beds, and on and on and on. For the first time in months, I find myself just wanting to sit and vegetate in front of a TV. It's the first time I've even thought about TV in a loonnnggg time. I think I am burning out. I am also busy just trying to 'have a life'. I didn't realize how busy, until my friend came to visit several weeks ago, and almost every night, I had somewhere to go, or something to do. Monday's are flyball practice, Thursdays agility, Wed nites I take shares up to Nanaimo, and Tues nites I do local shares. I think I get Friday nites free.... Whew! No wonder I am tuckered out!!

I have been eating lots of groceries out of my gardens since my last post - and enjoying every single bite! Oh, garden stuff is so much better than store bought, there really is no comparison!

I have a bunch of dogs going home in the next day or two, then I'm gettin' down and dirty, and catching up on my gardening! I haven't even sprayed my EM or my plant tea extract for over 2 weeks! That's just BAD. I get all panicky, thinking WHEN am I going to have time to do everything???

Then, to top it off, I have my new chickens and turkeys arriving probably tomorrow - and of course, I'm not ready for them yet! I need to go get more chicken feed, and I don't know when I'll be able to get to the feed store.

Do you have the sense I am feeling a bit overwhelmed these days??? YEP! But, at least I am paying my bills for the moment, so I had better stop complaining, and just suck it up for a while;-)

Confession time

Ok, I have to admit I have a confession to make. My main goal for having a garden (besides making money) is to be self sustaining and self sufficient, so I have to buy less groceries, and I will know exactly where my food comes from.
I was perusing the garden today, and realized I hadn't even had a salad from it for several weeks now. I keep 'saving it for the shares'. Somehow, I think I need to put EVERYTHING into my CSA shares, so my members are happy, that I have nothing left for myself. This is so totally not the point! I am somewhat disappointed in myself.
Luckily, I can start changing... today!
I picked a red cabbage, and a head of lettuce, and some Sungold cherry tomatoes - ALL FOR ME! Along with a cucumber a client gave me from her own garden, I am now eating a tomato and cucumber salad with balsalmic vinegrette and feta cheese. It is sooooo goood!!! Sometimes, you just get so caught up in the business end of things, you forget why you are doing something in the first place.
I am going to make some coleslaw for tomorrow night, and I am now determined to have a salad or something from my garden each day. The crops I've been planting the last few weeks should start being ready in about 2 or 3 weeks, so I should be able to feed myself for several months now.

A note about Sungold cherry tomatoes. These are a hybrid, but I am going to be making them a regular in the garden. I am planting WAY more next year. They are, bar none, the best cherry tomato out there. They ripen earlier than the Sweet Millions, (which used to be my favourite) and are just as prolific. I eat them like candy. They just pop into your mouth so easily!

My new and lofty goal for next year is to grow enough food for 20 shares (I just did 5 this year) and for myself, too. This is to finance a newer and better car for myself. I am driving a complete piece of crap, and will be amazed if it makes it through the winter. I need better wheels! I will also reinvest some of my share money back into the gardens - so I can continue to grow more. I have a deal with a friend who has a greenhouse to grow all my starts.... WAY more than what I did this year - so I can have crops ready earlier and better than this year. I am going to work all winter on amending the soil that I have, so more of my crops work out - many did not this year. It was quite the bummer, and I am determined not to have a repeat next year!

Saved

Little cabbages two weeks ago. They are now alot bigger, and closer to harvest time!

Well, the rain we had last week was fantastic! It completely watered everything, and filled my well up! I can stop worrying - for this year, at least! I feel so much better about things. It is supposed to get really hot again this week, so I'm super glad the rain came when it did. I am still being frugal with it, though, I don't want to abuse my water priviliges!
I had an entire week off watering, so that was nice, too. I had to start watering again this morning, but because the rain did such a good job, I only have to water each bed for about 20 minutes - instead of the 40 minutes I had to do before the drought.

The deer have been out munching quite a bit lately. I obviously have been too lax with the deer control. I need to get on it! They have stripped my new fruit trees more than once - when I have time this fall, I guess I had better fence them in - and some of my veggies got a good munching last nite. Damn deer. They are so quiet and sneaky, even the dogs don't hear them coming in the middle of the night.

I have tried planting kohlrabi for the first time this year. I think I might even get some little kohlrabi's! I've been researching the companion planting, so have planted the little kohl's with beets. Both seem to be doing very well. Can't wait to see what a kohlrabi tastes like. Never had one!

There was a bunch of slugs out this morning... all were having sex. Ooooh, that made me mad! How dare they procreate when there are so many of them to begin with? They died. They all died. I massacred them. I don't even feel bad about it! Slugs having sex is NOT something you need to see early in the morning. Just so you know.

Rain, rain, beautiful rain!

It's finally RAINING! A good, slow, soaking rain. It's just what I ordered! The gardens will be so happy, and I won't have to water for days or a week. I was so SICK of watering! It was an endless chore, but it was more the stress of always having to watch how much I was using. My well would run dry regularly. At first, I was watering 5 beds a morning, and 5 at night. Then it was down to 4, then 3. The last week or so, I was only able to water 1 or 2 beds at a time before the well would run out. It was quite discouraging. I was falling farther and farther behind, and the plants were getting just enough to survive, but not to thrive. Hopefully, it will rain like crazy, then be sunny and nice again, so everything will grow gangbusters.

Tomatoes

About three weeks ago now, I made a trip up to Lantzville to visit Nicole and Dirk on their farm. They have a 2 acre organic produce farm, on which they make their entire living. You may remember I went up there last fall to visit, too. Nicole spent a good 2 hours with me, taking me for a tour, answering all my questions, helping me all she could. I learned so much! They start planting their potatoes in February... mine didn't go in until April/May. I'd better get on it better next year! The other major thing I learned was to keep planting. All year long. They never stop planting seeds. So, when in doubt, plant some seeds. Want to earn more money? Plant some seeds. Feeling down because of the weather? Plant some seeds! I've taken this advice to heart, and over the last 3 weeks or so, I've planted about 2 or 3 thousand seeds. Maybe more. Most of them were planted in seed flats that I borrowed from a friend. This is a bit more time consuming, but the savings on water is astronomical. Many of what I planted just 3 weeks ago is already ready to go into the garden. Some of it already has gone into the garden. I've planted 2 types of kale, purple sprouting broccoli, mega mesculin, 4 or 5 kinds of lettuce, onions, winter cabbage, and I can't remember what else. Peas! About 6 beds of peas. This year, I think I planted them early enough that I should get a crop off of them. Last year I was about 2 weeks too late. Everything I plant is getting the mycroizzial fungi, and I am doing weekly dousings of the EM and the plant tea extract. I've had some amazing successes with these products. I had bought a sad little lemon tree in the spring, hoping to get some lemons at some point. The little tree had been shipped up from the States without even being rooted out, and was so stressed - it was literally on it's last legs. I had potted it up in hopes of it perking up, but immediately after, a dog ripped it out and tossed it 'round and 'round the yard. That poor lemon tree! I thought it was a goner for sure. I repotted it, used the plant tea, the EM and my compost tea on it weekly for the last 4 weeks or so. It's looking AMAZING! The leaves have all greened up (no more sickly yellow leaves), it has lush new growth, and is flowering like mad. I've been taking the flowers off for a while, so the little tree can continue to grow and get healthier before it starts to fruit.
Other successes: tomatoes have a ZILLION blooms and tomatoes forming. Some of my squash and watermelons and zucchini are looking fantastic (some of them never took... just wasn't meant to be, I guess). I just hope everything is looking good on time to get a decent harvest out of them. If not, there is always next year, I guess!

Broccoli

I finished making my own ginger beer the other day. Blueberry flavoured. It was fantastic! Didn't last long, though! I am busy making some more, and plan to keep it going so I always have a new batch coming up.

I also ordered 25 new meat birds and 10 new turkeys from a different hatchery. They will be here late August. I plan on stocking my freezer before winter sets in, so I will never have to worry about eating through the winter. My heritage turkeys and 4 little Dorking chicks I got a while ago are doing well - they are getting big! Now that it's rained, the ground should be soft enough to finish building them an outdoor run. Guess I'll have to get on that, too. So much to do. A friend gave me some fencing and a gate from an old dog kennel, which I am going to use for the run. FREEEEE! It's my favourite word;-) My other score this summer was the new garden center that opened up near by - they were giving away seeds. Lots and lots of seeds. I was a total pig and took LOTS of them each time I went. The seed savings for me should be good next year- I got all sorts of stuff. Carrots, broccoli, squash, zucchini, watermelon, onion, and so much more. Too much to list.

Beans

Learning to 'put up' food for the winter

As you know, I have been changing my diet, and researching ways to preserve food, so I will eventually be able to live entirely on what I grow here on the farm. That day is getting closer sooner than I thought! I just signed up for an online (FREE!!) course on how to preserve food. I have always wanted to learn to can, but it just seems like so much WORK! I've just discovered there is an easier way. Yesterday, I harvested all my beets. The greens went into salads, but what to do with all those beets? I wanted to can, but all that work seemed daunting. Then I remembered you can ferment all sorts of veggies. Sounds a bit gross, but the flora it creates is super-healthy for you, and helps to keep your colon clean and you digesting well. So, I filled 2 jars with sliced up beets, added sea salt and water, and in three days... voila! Preserved beets. How easy is that? I'm going to do a couple more jars, and add apple cider vinegar... that sounds delicious!
Over the last few years, I have spent a fortune on juice and drinks. I just get tired of drinking plain water all the time. This week, however, I am learning to make my own pop - Ginger Beer - the old fashioned way. No chemicals, no additives, no preservitives. My friend made some last week, and was it ever delicious! I am going to try making blueberry flavoured. Then maybe raspberry. Then, something else. I will have endless yummy, healthy drinks for just pennies a gallon. No more store bought stuff for me!

If you are interested in learning about preserving food the old, OLD fashioned way (before canners) try this link:
http://nourishedkitchen.com/preserve-the-bounty/

Panic averted... for the moment

Well, it took about an hour, but water started coming out of my hose again. I didn't put my head under the covers like I threatened to do, but was it ever tempting! Instead, I started looking at Craigslist, UsedNanaimo and Kijiji. Low and behold, a guy just over in Chemainus (about 10 minutes from here) was selling some used 100 gallon water tanks! So, I ran right over and bought the 2 he had left. They aren't the full solution, but they will help! I go over tomorrow to pay him and help him load them up... he is going to deliver them for me. I am going to arrange them under the rainspout, so they will fill up (IF we ever get rain again) or if the worst was to happen, and I run out of water, at least if I have to get some trucked in, I will have somewhere for the delivery guy to put it!!

I decided not to give up on the gardening thing. Last year, I panicked, and started harvesting everything early, afraid I was going to run out of water. This year, I am just going to be very frugal with the water, and hope it lasts until the rains come again. I planted 3 beds of kale, some kohlrabi and some beets this morning - hand watered everything, so not a drop was wasted. It will take alot of my time, but I will continue to hand water until the bitter end...

I am also starting more seeds for my fall/ spring crops. I wish I had more seed trays, but I am just making do with what I have right now. I have been using my EM and my mycchroizzal fungi with everything I have planted, so we'll see how big of a difference that makes! I also went around the entire garden the other nite, and sprayed EVERYTHING with the EM. We shall see!

While I was having my panic attack yesterday, I saw the coolest thing... a snake zooming away with a huge slug in it's mouth! I ran in to grab my camera, but of course when I got out, the snake was gone. No wonder there are so many big, fat snakes around this year... easy pickings with all the slugs around here! It would've made a great picture, though.

A few days ago, I suddenly remembered I had planted a grape plant last fall. I had completely forgotten about it... bad farmer! Expecting the worst, I went to check on it. It was completely covered with weeds and grass, but I think that's what saved it - shaded it from the worst of the heat. It was alive! And looking healthy, to boot! Amazing. I watered it, and talked to it for a while, telling it it was a good little grape plant, and hopefully it will continue to flourish, and I'll get some grapes in a year or two!

Panic Attack

Well, I am sitting here having a total panic attack. The rain we had last week wasn't enough to help much. Last night, my well ran low, so this morning I have been very, very careful with it. I just went out to fill a watering can, and NO WATER CAME OUT. I never seriously entertained the idea that my well would run competely dry... I thought I would just have to be very, very careful with it. Now I feel a bit frozen. I don't know what to do! Where do you get water? I know you can get it trucked in (at great expense) but I don't have a holding tank. If anyone has any bright ideas, I'd love to hear them. I am FREAKING OUT.

I spent the morning transplanting seedlings... how do I water them? It had better rain very, very soon. A good, heavy, soaking rain.

Think I'm going to go put my head under the blankies now... I need to figure this out.