Tag: Gardening

August On The Homestead
Gardening · Homesteading

August On The Homestead

Sarah

August was….hot, dry and long. At least the smoke from the many forest fires wasn’t as bad this year. We only had a couple days, and they were very tolerable overall. Not like the past years where we have had choking smoke roll in for long periods.

At the start of August, the gardens are full and lush with growth.

Corn growing well.

Pumpkins growing.

Garlic harvest was one early in the month.

Curing onions, on a pallet, for air flow.

The hot weather this summer led to a bumper crop of bell peppers.

Helichrysum in bloom.

Curious hen.

Leaf Cutter Bees love thick blueberry leaves to build their egg tubes.

Cosmo and Honeybee.

Being able to produce store size bell peppers.

Harvesting sweet corn. Not only did I grow corn successfully this year, it was really good tasting. I will put this down to a hot summer, and irrigation.

Corn on stalk.

Thai chili peppers.

Sunflower, planted by a squirrel.

Butternut Squash. When I picked it last week it weighed in at 6 pounds.

Acorn squash.

Summer winding down, the second crop of golden raspberries start and continue till first frost.

Alpine strawberries start up in August again, and also produce till first frost.

This Lupine plant my youngest grew from seed for me last spring and now it is getting big.

Grapes picked off the vine.

Two of the baby chickens. These are half-siblings, but raised by the same hen. They are around 7 weeks old now.

A baby butternut squash trying at the end of the season.

~Sarah

Gardening Experiments: September Planted Potatoes
Gardening · Homesteading

Gardening Experiments: September Planted Potatoes

Sarah

If you are going to garden, be open to experiments. The worst is it fails, and if you do low cost items, your gamble isn’t big. And the bright side is…chances it will work, or at least you learn from it.

We live in Grow Zone 8b. We tend to have wet winters/early spring, but don’t have deep freezes that often, and snow is rare. We live within a mile of the Salish Sea and sit around 150 feet above sea level.

Potatoes start waking up when the soil hits 40°, but peter out at 75° and stop at above 85° with all growing. So yes, potatoes do well in our climate here in zone 8b.

Typically for spring potatoes you can plant from January to February, so they wake up and grow for a late Spring harvest.

For fall potatoes in 8a and 8b, typically around the first of August plant potatoes from the summer harvest, to grow for late fall harvest. I dig through the harvested and stored potatoes, and pull any that are soft, green or have started sprouting. These I use for seed. I don’t cut them up, just toss in and cover deeply with soil. And walk away. Just keep well watered of course, in the last hot month and into mid September. I will harvest these around November most likely.

(Photo taken on August 16th)

But then I got working on a winter crop – that will be harvested most likely come as spring warms up.

Now that we are solidly a week into September, I planted a 40 foot row of various potatoes I had saved (once you pick out the ugly ones, you can toss them into a sack and let sit…them getting uglier isn’t going to affect their growing at all). I then covered it thickly with straw, to protect it for the long haul. Potatoes take a long time, up to 120 days to grow, when the temperatures are right. So in theory once we pass the Winter Solstice in late December, and the sun starts returning, as we enter February, the plants will start their growth above ground. The potatoes planted to seed, will have developed roots over the long winter and have a jump on growing. In early spring I will remove the straw and cover with fresh compost to hill up the plants a bit, for a heftier haul.

If you decide to try this method, dig a trench deep in your rows, sprinkle on the potatoes you are using (and don’t cut them, use whole to avoid rotting), then cover with soil, then straw. And walk away. Unless your early fall is dry, then water as needed. It’ll also wet down the hay, so it won’t blow off.

And how will it turn out? See you in March….of 2022!

These potatoes were from an experiment. I picked up a packet of Clancy Potatoes from Botanical Interests at a local store last winter. These were actual seed, from the flowers. The seeds grew well, then I transferred them to the ground. The plants were delicate, but flowered well.

In late August I dug up the potatoes, and was pleasantly surprised that they grew well. We shall enjoy them with dinners. I have reserved back seed potatoes I will replant to see if I grow them deeper, if the plants are more robust.

~Sarah

Corn Tomato Salsa
Gardening · Homesteading · Preserving · Recipes

Corn Tomato Salsa

Sarah

While we are growing corn this year on the homestead, we don’t have a lot of it, so while out on the mainland I saw the annual signs along the highway for fresh corn. I wasn’t the only one peeling off the highway for it. At 4 ears for $1 you stop! It was being harvested across the street. Driving home I was thinking of things to do with it, and corn salsa came to mind. Our tomato season is in swing now, and I am picking 5 pounds every other day right now, so salsa is getting canned often. I strive for 75 to 100 jars a year of salsa….and I am barely getting there but the ripening weeks are on now, and I will quickly catch up.

Corn Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 5 pounds ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 cups fresh corn kernels (scraped off of 2 to 4 fresh ears of corn)
  • 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup bottled lime juice
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

Directions:

Add 6 pint mason jars to a canning kettle, fill jars with water, and the kettle halfway with water, bring to a boil, then let simmer.

Place rings and new canning lids in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a simmer.

Add ingredients to a large pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Drain jars back into the canning kettle, place on a clean kitchen towel.

Ladle the salsa into the jars. Run an air bubble popper in each jar, add more salsa if needed to leave a ½” headspace.

Wet a new paper towel, run around the rim.

Place a lid and ring on each jar, tighten finger-tight, place into canning kettle. Make sure the jars are fully covered with water. Bring to a boil, let process for 15 minutes.

Remove from kettle, place on a clean kitchen towel. Let cool fully, then remove bands (wash and airdry), and check for each jar’s lid to be flat and sealed. If any are not, place in refrigerator and use up within a week or two.

Store in a cool dry place for up to a year.

Makes about 6 pint jars.

Note:

I don’t peel tomatoes for salsa, and often use cherry tomatoes to make it, a mix of many colors. Just core and tidy as needed, then finely chop up.

~Sarah

July On The Homestead
Gardening · Homesteading

July On The Homestead

Sarah

July’s theme has been sunny and warm, with it starting off with the PNW heat wave of around 100* on our homestead. I was in Alaska for the first bit of the heat wave, and we will most likely lose a couple blueberry plants due to the heat. Those plants were easily missed and right on the hottest day our irrigation system decided to blow a ring as well. No vacation goes easily, right? But thankfully most everything came through, and it definitely popped out tomatoes.

The squirrels and chipmunks ate my mammoth sunflower plant starts but then planted black oil sunflower seeds that have grown into multiple plants throughout the gardens.

First week of July I had a deer play Kool-Ade Man and knock a fence down. The U post holding it was flattened, but nothing was eaten. I am thinking it freaked the deer out, and it took off.

First tomatoes of the season.

We picked a lot of peas this year.

3 types raspberries.

First zucchinis.

I have been growing a different kind of potato that I found in the spring. It was started from the seeds that the flowers put on. Every seed germinated, so all went into the beds. They are Clancy Potato Seeds.

I planted a seed mix for the hens, first coop wouldn’t touch it, but the young hens loved it.

Yum yum yum. Which…these 6 hens all started laying in the 14 to 16 week range. I was shocked. We lost one of the black/teal ones suddenly (woke up to a dead bird), it had all the signs of a heart attack, maybe related to her starting to lay eggs. The rest seem to be fine and have carried on.

Sunflower growing.

We have tarped the upper field with two silage tarps, to get it ready to plant next year, in early spring.

When we first moved here in 2018 one of the first things I did was plant lavender around the front of the house. This year I have not watered it at all, and it has done well. Even in the heat wave.

It’s a great point when you can get to the ignore point, and do nothing, and it grows.

This sunflower is amazing. It is stocky (3 to 4 feet high) with a stem thicker than my wrist. It is putting on multiple side shoots now, that are opening up.

One issue is always dealing with cotton tail rabbits, which are not native to our island. The big ones I can deal with, the small ones do the most damage. This one was in one of the chicken coops, and I hadn’t noticed till it was shut in. The chickens were so upset. V, the white chicken, is a dwarf. She was part of the chicks we raised last year, and the only one to never lay an egg. She’s a funky little thing, but is doing well now, though she never looks right. Multiple chickens have tried to kill her since she was a baby, but we finally found a place for her, where she has been safe. She lives with a 6 year old hen we took in, and Gray Grey, another small hen – who is biologically related – that we took in. It is like 3 little old ladies in that coop. They don’t tear up the land either, so they live in the orchard.

As I walked down the stairs this month I looked out to see a horned owl sitting on a pipe that sticks up near our propane tank. It was there forever. It likes to sit on the farm tent in the fields as well – and stare at our chickens.

Goldie is one of the hens we raised last year. She went broody, and built herself a clutch of eggs. The rooster, Raven, we passed onto a friend who needed a rooster for their 14 hens, so they could get babies…and we know he can do the job.

Another hen, Rosie, also went broody. She sat on 2 of her eggs, and 1 hatched. It looks just like her (we know she was on her eggs, not “borrowed” from the other hens, as she hangs out in a deck box, and not the coop).

Bee on leeks that went to flower.

Honeybees on a different large sunflower.

One of the beds in production.

Bee on Catnip.

Little bee delicately walking from stem to stem.

Rosie with her baby, she took the baby outside on the second day.

A day after Goldie had another chick hatch successfully. And it looks like here. She had 3 hen’s worth of eggs under her, 10 eggs total. 2 of the eggs tried to hatch but didn’t successfully. 3 days out, yesterday morning, a last chick hatched. And Goldie ignored it, instead trying to bury it. I rescued it and another friend took it, and put it under her broody hen, who accepted it. Chicken raising is so full of drama I tell you…..

I grew Cosmos last year and they feral seeded and grew this summer. Both purple/pink and white ones.

Garlic harvest time.

Sunny, or as I call her, Stabby (she’s a pecker) checking out my garlic. We had a massive crop this summer, pulled it up last weekend. It is now curing.

Also growing wild was a couple types of potatoes. You never quite get all the potatoes it seems, and yes, they come back. These are Ozette Potatoes, which were grown by the Makah people for over 200 years on their lands. The potato nearly went extinct, but has been saved. They are so good, buttery and tender. I was so excited as I dug up the random potatoes growing to find these.

Pumpkins growing. Hog panels for the win this year as a trellis.

The corn is over 6 feet 4 inches now and growing higher.

July isn’t over yet, but it is winding down. Fall crops are going in the ground, and seeds are coming up.

~Sarah

It’s Time For Fall Crop Planting
Gardening · Homesteading · Prepping

It’s Time For Fall Crop Planting

Sarah

Last year when I posted about growing fall crops, we were in the midst of the Covid Pandemic, but a year later I will tell you I feel this is so much more important this year. Take the time to do fall crops if you can.

Faced with what is happening in our states here in the United States, and in our global world, a fall garden is a wise choice for food security. It doesn’t take a lot of time to get it going, and you can eat till first freeze, when the days are getting short. And frankly…watching and tending a garden is good for the soul. It gets you outside most days, you get fresh air and sunlight. Enjoy the end of summer as it slips into fall.

And about that food security thing….a single English Cucumber is selling for nearly $4 at the grocery store 2 miles away from our homestead this week. $4. Insanity. In summer! And a small Kale bunch for $3.49? Sigh.

Food security is getting worse by the month. Every time I go shopping I wonder what will be the next thing that isn’t in stock. And I have noticed the fresh produce quality is lagging this summer, when it should be in its prime. It’s up to US to make sure we are set. Don’t rely on the system to do it for you.

Fall Is Coming:

It’s July 23rd and the living is easy right now, with the beds lush with green, but “We need to get planning for fall”, this is the week to get going. If you are in a temperate area, you will want your fall crops in the ground or in seed pots by first week of August for best results.

We are zone 8A here on the south end of Whidbey Island, in the Olympic Rainshadow, though we used to farm in Zone 7 when we lived on the mainland, so below will cover much of Western Washington.

This isn’t a huge list, but recommendations for some of the more popular seed choices.

Depending on where you live, you may want to invest into frost cloth if you have early freezes (we don’t here, we usually don’t freeze until early November as the Salish Sea protects us).

A side project:

If you have children and you have open pollinated (heirloom) (but not hybrid F1) crops going to seed right now, consider doing seed saving for the next spring, and get the kids to make some seed packets! They can decorate the packets and get “ownership” in the garden. To save seeds easily, have them place the seeds in brown paper lunch bags, label and set aside to dry in a cool/dry area till Fall, then package up.

What to get working on this week:

Chores:

You knew I would say that, right? But it is true. Chores lead to a happy garden or homestead.

  • Go out and walk your gardens, pull things that were sapped by heatwaves and won’t make it back (for example, lettuce that is bolting). I feed this to our ducks and chickens. They love those days.
  • Weed, even though it sucks to do (I hate weeding so much but it feels great after I do it). Figure out what you will be harvesting soon, such as onions and garlic, and figure out what can be sown in those spots for say the next 60 days. You could do peas or beans, and then be ready to put in garlic for the Fall…..
  • Check fences for damage.
  • Look at trellising you might have up, that needs repairs or changes.
  • Prune your tomatoes if you haven’t, to promote the energy to the fruit.
  • If you need to fertilize, do it soon.
  • If your wood chips in your walking aisles are gone, add in more. They suppress weeds and keep moisture in.
  • Walk your land and look for noxious weeds to pull. We have to deal with Tansy, Thistles and those nasty blackberry runners that rip at your legs. Pull often and they decrease over time. Where we live if you put noxious weeds in black bags the local dump takes them for free.
  • Think long and hard about if you would like more garden space. This is the time of year to start planning. If you have to lay down sileage tarps to kill weeds/grass you want the hot sunny days to do the work. It’s a good 6 to 9 months time for it, so get started for next Spring.

Seeds In Soil – 

Beans:

Sow every 2 weeks direct seed, bush beans can be seeded up to early to mid-August for fall crops. Bush bean varieties grow faster than pole, and are preferable for fall.

Beets:

Last week of July to mid-August for fall crops. Seed every 1-2 weeks till then.

Broccoli: 

Transplant first week of August. Get into pots now as seeds. Like today!

This crop grows best as a fall crop. It can bolt to seed in early warm springs. Protect late summer plants from summer heat with shade cloth if needed.

Carrots:

Seed August 1st for fall crops. Seed every 2 weeks for continuous harvesting.

Cauliflower:

Certain varieties are planted in fall, to be harvested the next year.

Chard:

In most summers grow it continuously, when it’s too hot for lettuce. Seed every 2 weeks for continuous harvesting through mid-August.

Garlic & Shallots:

Direct plant October to November, before hard freezing. Buy now, or when you pull this summer’s crop, save some for fall planting.

Kale:

Plant by mid August for fall crops. Seed every 2 weeks for continuous harvesting.

Kohlrabi:

Plant by August 1st for fall crops. Can sow direct or start in pots late July.

Lettuce:

Resume seeding end of July to plant fall crops through mid August. Can direct seed or start in pots.

Onions, from seed:

Green onions can be seeded every few weeks for a continuous crop, through mid August.

Peas:

Direct seed from mid-July through first 2 weeks of August for fall crops.

Bush takes less time than tall climbing varieties, and are preferable for fall.

Potatoes:

Plant July and on for fall crops. Grow smaller varieties for best results (save the russets for summer). Ensure they get plenty of sun, fall grows well in large containers. Keep them in as much sun as you can.

Radishes:

Resume in August for fall crops. Seed every 2 weeks for continuous harvesting.

Spinach/Bok Choy/Other Greens:

Direct seed or start in pots by second week in August. Seed every 2 weeks for continuous harvesting.

Squash (Zucchini):

Can be seeded through late July.

Turnips:

Sow every 2 weeks direct seed, through mid-August.

~Sarah