How's the Garden Going?

Just see for yourself!

 Kitchen Garden:




 Herb Garden:


 The Indian Garden ("Three Sisters;" corn, beans and squash. Ther's also a couple of rogue swiss chards that decided to stay alive after the rabbits wiped out my patch. Also planted some turnips in the front. They turned out to be food for the bugs - sadly - but a deterrent against the corn ;D)



 The Onion-y Garden (Also very proud of my lettuce here. The lettuce I planted here has hardly been munched on AT ALL by any major pests. Thank you onions)!



 The Everything Else Garden (Consisting of...well...everything that came back from last year and/or that I couldn't fit in any other garden. I guess you could also call this the "Giant Mustard" garden because of how massive the mustard plants are getting. Or it could be the "Catnip and Everything Else" garden...)



 A Garden in Pots. Okay, I will admit, this picture is a couple of months old. I owe you a newer picture, but I'm too lazy right now. Everything is thriving! Well, accept for my carrots.

Grow Your Own...Mushrooms?

I sometimes look into things that seem crazy. If they seem doable enough, I just might dive in. And by doable, I mean that I know I can absolutely do this! Doesn't matter how big or odd a project is. If I think it can be done, it will be done. That's how I got into gardening. It's how I got into composting and foraging!

Which brings us to one of the major reasons for this post. Foraging. I forage a lot now. Yesterday my best friend and I went on a 3 1/2 hour foraging expedition along a nature trail. We found miles of grape vines and the tenderest, most unblemished grape leaves you'll ever find. We also found mulberries and dewberries (the latter I could not eat; because they were growing with poison ivy). That's also not to mention my new culinary delicacy, dock. Seems the wild garlic is disappearing, though, which is indeed a shame.

Anyway, I would call myself both a bold forager and a not so bold forager. Bold in the sense that I am willing to try it when the world says nay and go places where the deer and the antelope play; and not so bold in the sense that I would like to stay alive and not die a violent, convulsive death (or subject anyone else to such). There is a saying in the foraging community that there are "old foragers and bold foragers; but not old bold foragers." I would prefer to be an old forager. This foraging proverb is especially common and crucial in mushroom foraging.

I've always had a secret desire to be a mycologist. To know the poisonous mushrooms from the not poisonous mushrooms and come home with a bag full of mushrooms that won't induce any kind of Alice in Wonderland mind trip after consumption. But, I'm not a mycologist. I don't trust myself with mushrooms (yet, and maybe not ever). I am at war with myself, you know. This constant desire to forage for mushrooms met with this desire to, well, you know...not die. I'd be willing to learn in the near future if it had not been for my mother making me solemnly swear that I will never pick a mushroom. Not even a morel.

"I can't make those kinds of promises," I told her, wide eyed. "About morels at least. But, I can promise you that I'll never forage for anything else that's not an actual plant."

Of course, this answer was not good enough, and I do love my mother. In an attempt to be a good (and alive) daughter; I sought compromise. Instead of forage the mushrooms - we shall find a way to grow them. It couldn't be too hard, I thought. I mean, I'd seen a hundred plus of those Pinterest collages with the "money saving tips" that said you can regrow your "kitchen scraps," including mushrooms. However, upon researching it turned to be a lot harder than formerly depicted.

Then I found out about this neat little company called Back to the Roots. The sell mushroom grow kits and aquaponics tanks. The internet is filled with pictures of delicate, gourmet oyster mushrooms growing out of the side of the box - 5, even 10 pounds worth. And, it was only 20 bucks at Whole Foods. I honestly don't shop at Whole Foods (#1. ridiculously expensive, #2. ridiculously expensive and #3. did I mention ridiculously expensive?), but they had what I wanted. As soon as I brought it home I was eager to start. I followed the directions and noticed that there was already a healthy cluster of mushrooms growing out of the top of the bag. Though, these quickly dried up and withered away...?

Anyway, I'm misting it as it says and waiting for some sign of mushroom to appear where it's supposed to instead of where it can't possibly escape (i.e. beneath the plastic on the opposite side). Right now most of the mushrooms I can see are popping up where they cannot escape and where they are not intended to grow. I guess this can be seen as a good thing and a bad thing. Fingers crossed, it is a success. And if the timing is right, they should be ready just in time for my graduation party!

Joy

Not time for harvest yet, but I can see the first tender plants of springtime that can be harvested coming awfully close. Every weekend now, I say: "Wow, okay, I've gotten enough plants for the garden now!" But, the next weekend I find a new opportunity to raise something great : ) For now, I'm going to have to restrain myself. What better way to do that than lounge in your very own backyard hammock?




Photo courtesy of my personal Instagram. Taken only a few days ago on a very marvelous day!

Being in the garden is something that gives me true joy. It's super hard work, but it's a beautiful toil. Gardening has been one of the ways that God has taught me to appreciate the little things in life. These are things that go beyond the beauty of watching something grow. It can be feeling the rain on your skin or the sun on your toes. As the weather warms up, there's room for growth in everything. That includes us humans, too. I'm a little on the obsessive side when it comes to growing. I have to keep myself from buying any more plants, because I certainly don't want to go bankrupt. I'm working on a tight, college-saver budget ;) For now, I'll be sowing my last seeds and call it a season, watching to see how my crops turn out. (Well, except for that rogue introduction that I decide to make when I'm walking by the garden section at the hardware store every once in a while).

This is my last season at home, so I've really gone all out with the garden - also in hopes that it will help feed my family while I'm gone away at college. For that reason, my parents have contributed a great deal of effort to this garden also. Even though it's always mainly my "thing," they are really working hard and making this an effort of teamwork and unanimous importance. Even my 12 year old brother is showing some interest now that I've posted the hammock in the center of the yard! He is now an avid spectator of my efforts, watching me and questioning me about my plants as he rocks back and forth in the pink striped cocoon that is my makeshift hammock.

 (In all honesty, the hammock is truly "makeshift." It can probably only support our weight - as my brother and I essentially weigh the same. Even with our bird-like structures, the thing almost sinks to the point that we are touching the ground/ I used too thin-ish tree branches to spread it out on both ends and am constantly anticipating the moment it will break and send us flying. Nevertheless, it is a very comfortable hammock).

Gardening wisdom #1: Get others involved (or at least show them how amazing it is).

Show them that digging in the ground is about more than getting really sweaty over some tulips. Show them the beauty and miracle in how a plant can sprout from a single seed. Show them how quickly they can grow. And, show them how tasty they turn out : ) Nature is a beautiful thing that we can all enjoy. All that we need to do is relate it to others in a way they'll understand; then they can see the beauty in it, too!

More pictures coming soon!

For the Love of Gardening

Gardening is a lot like having superpowers. With dirt, a handful of seeds, some water and care; you share in having the power to make plants grow.

This is something I posted to my Instagram about two weeks ago. The tomato plant pictured has since died (or, if it's not dead, that thing is sure ugly). I replaced it with strawberry and some arugula. Never planted arugula before but I'd certainly heard of it. It's a fun word to say, really. Arugula. Again. Arugula.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll get back on point.

Since purchasing this from the local big-box home improvement store, I discovered a little gem of a nursery that was housed both in and around an old dairy queen. There was a chicken running around the property - and as soon as we saw it, Dad asks: "Why would they keep a chicken here?" My answer was simply: "Because these people know how to do things right." 

That's the kind of person I am. I'm a little quirky and out there, with some pretty crazy ideas. But, what I do in craze can sometimes have great benefits. That chicken running around the property lays eggs and eggs mean food that's not farmed in a plant and trucked to Walmart. More people should have chickens. I want chickens - but we rent our home and I don't think that would go well with my parents, the landlord, or our neighbors (and yes, I've begged my parents for years for a chicken). I love growing my own food and making my own stuff. I also knit, crochet, and would really like to know how to make soap and candles. 

Not exactly sure where it started, but I've wanted to live like a pioneer since I was a kid. While other girls were playing softball and having sleepovers, I was hiding in the woods behind our Florida home and building miniature tee-pees out of sticks. I also tried to rub those sticks together in order to make fire every day. I never achieved it. 

Then I got older and went through other phases. But at 14, it hit me. The love of gardening. And it hit me hard. At the time, I wanted a bike pretty badly. But, the bike I wanted was expensive. I begged my parents for one, to which they eventually agreed, if I could save up some of the money. Then, on a routine trip to Home Depot, I noticed the wide array of vegetable plants in the nursery. "I'll let you make a choice," Dad said. "We can get you the bike, or we can start a garden. You pick."

I picked the garden.

Welcome to my blog. I hope that here you'll find information to fuel your love of gardening just as I did. I will also try to post about sustainable living, homesteading (I'm just a homesteading wannabe, though) foraging, medicinal plants and the like. I'll try to be as regular as possible with my posts. Make sure you comment, so that I know that I'm not just shouting into cyberspace. 

Love,

Keely