Fruits (Or Rather Vegetables) of Our Labor

Today I picked the first of my potato crop! We have more, but I am waiting on them to get bigger. Bad me because I forgot to take a photo of them before I cut them up to start cooking. Next time I dig some up, I'll be sure to include a photo.

There is a doe eating my field pea plants and I have to do something to stop her. I've heard of different methods, but need to find something tried and true that won't harm her. She can have some veggies AFTER they start producing!


I have learned of a new concept called Lasagna Gardening. Yes, dad, I know you can't actually grow lasagna. ;) It's more organic and less weedy than what I am doing now. I plan on looking into this a bit more and maybe start working on a spot for next year's garden. Weeding is such a bear on my hands and back, but it must be done. If I can avoid it, I will!

The Garden, Day One - Tilling the Ground

There are some physically painful things we easily forget; labor pains and tilling ground are two of them. I forgot how backbreaking using a tiller is. Seriously. There were three of us and we all took turns. 6-7 hours of this yesterday and let me tell you, there are also muscles that I forgot about too.
My father was the one that did the most work. He's a tough fellow; I didn't realize his knee was bothering him this entire time. I would offer to take over after he mentioned it, but he was having none of that. He really helped me out a lot yesterday. Thanks, Dad!

There are no photos of me on the tiller, but I promise, I did my share. I just had the camera in my hand on occasion to memorialize this event. The day was very nice.
My father's wife is to tiny, but she also got in on it. She's so cute! After a while, she'd turn it off and say, "It's done!" with a big grin. We could only hope. Using the tiller was pretty painful on the hands because there is a lever that we constantly had to hold down while pushing the tiller through the tough dirt.
"J" saying, "Are you nuts?!!" when we mentioned her taking her turn at tilling the garden. She was having none of that! I'm telling you, this is one happy child. She was so good all day and outside with us the entire time. I even have some photos of her playing with the Spoon Fudge box.
At one point, we found this little guy trying to get away from us. We moved him to another area of the yard so he could enjoy himself away from the turmoil we were causing. He's a Ringneck Snake which is a pretty common snake throughout the United States. Unless they are poisonous, we pretty much leave the snakes around here alone. I haven't seen a moccasin in a very long time in our yard, but I have seen an occasional Southern Hognose snake, a Scarlet Kingsnake, and the Black Racer (who I see all of the time). We have quite the collection of snakes in our area.

All in all, we had quite a day. Afterwards, my husband and I went to get our hair cut, have chinese food, then we came home and enjoyed some movie time together. The day was very rewarding after everything is said and done. I can't wait to show off more photos of my garden in progress!

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Gardening...

This year, we are planning to have a large garden. There's only three of us to eat, but I'm sure I'll find other people who will be wanting some fresh vegetables. I haven't had a garden in years, so I'm very excited!

What I'll be planting this year:

Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
Sunshine Corn
Boston Pickling Cucumbers
Golden California Wonder Bell Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
Early Scarlet Globe Radishes
Pink Eye Purple Hull Cowpeas (YUM!)
Early Prolific Squash
Brandywine Red Tomatoes
White Seeded Watson Watermelon
White Sweet Spanish Onions
Danvers 126 Carrots
Potatoes
Garlic

Part of my wanting to do this is reading Omnivore's Dilemma and learning a lot about our industrial (and what appears to be cruel & unhealthy) food system. I highly recommend this book.


This year, I'm going to start making changes by buying more locally and growing what I can. I've found some organic fertilizer recipes and will be working at doing this without chemical pesticides or fertilizers. I believe this will also lead to a healthier me (and family).

Some sites to visit that tell you more about buying locally and grass fed animals are Eat Wild and Local Harvest.