Honoring God in all we do on the Homestead
We have these crazy beautiful bushes that I initially found to be crazy ugly. The problem with flowering plants is that if they aren't tended at least semi-regularly, they get a bit out of hand. That's what happened to these quince bushes. When we first moved in, they were scraggly overgrown shrubbery that I intended … Continue reading Quince Bush Maintenance
It's "joked" about amongst my husband's coworkers (our pastors and church staff) that we're all just one light bulb away from being Amish. I say "joked" because it's not far off from the truth. We don't have social media and, honestly, if I had my way, you'd all be reading this via handwritten newsletter. Unfortunately … Continue reading Electricity and Other Unfortunate Inventions
One of the biggest challenges of homesteading with 3 small children is... homesteading with 3 small children.It's almost impossible to get a job done without interruption making it take 4 times as long.It helps a little to have my husband home helping, but we rarely end up working on the same task to completion. Usually, … Continue reading Work Day on the Homestead
Oh my goodness, springtime is beautiful! My son and I were out enjoying this fine Saturday morning and we planted some onions and radishes and carrots... Or at least I thought they were onions... Turns out, instead of the red Spanish onion seed, I had actually mistakenly planted Martha Washington asparagus along side my yellow … Continue reading Back to Eden Update
When my husband was in the Marine Corps, we bought a house in a cul-de-sac to avoid rent gouging and sketchy neighborhoods, and the outrageously long waiting list (2 years!) for on-base housing. When we bought it, we purchased by owner and the previous homeowners had put time and effort into landscaping it to give … Continue reading Functional vs. Ornamental Landscaping
I'm named after the Biblical Garden of Eden. As such, I've always thought it would be ironic if I couldn't manage to grow a decent garden. At last, I think I've finally gotten there. I have successfully managed to bring a long dormant phalaenopsis orchid (or moth orchids) out of dormancy! Huzzah! It should be … Continue reading Enabling Orchids to Bloom
It's December and I'm still puttering in the garden... Ugh. I finally sat down last week and did the math for the space per veggie we need. Since this spring will be mostly a trial year, we're only growing the basics (tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, peas, beans, radishes, squash/zucchini, carrots, cruciferous veggies, sunchokes) and then judging … Continue reading Still Back to Eden Gardening!!
So, I had been building a hot bed (small one) in the back yard starting in May. I tilled up the space and then put down a couple 13 gallon bags of "Maggie waste" which consisted of rabbit poop, hay, and newspaper. That aged for about 2 months, and then I topped it with a … Continue reading Jardin de Eden Update
After a couple setbacks in my planning and preparation, I was finally ready to indoor seed my peppers today! I put a folding table down in the basement to elevate my boxes off the floor. I chose my basement near a southwestern facing window so that 1) they get some natural sunlight, and 2) I … Continue reading Sowing Day
