"We went together like peas and carrots...." Forrest Gump

Well, carrots are not ready just yet BUT, I do have the peas....

Looks like I'll be having peas for lunch today! We've been harvesting lots of sugar snap peas this year; best year ever for this crop! I think I'm coming to the end of the peas though. This might be the last of them. I've let this last bunch sit on the vine for a little while so the peas inside would get bigger. You can still eat the whole thing but it's fun to break them open and scoop out the brightly colored smooth peas. I think I'll steam them a little and then eat with some good Amish melted butter.....yum.

Who do you go together with like "peas and carrots"?

OH SNAP! Sugar Snap, that is......

Sugar Snap Peas -
I've been picking a small
strainer full every
morning...just love these
peas, they are so sweet
and crunchy. We eat them raw; alone or in a salad. First successful year for this crop!


Pole Beans doing well so far - Peter Rabbit has disappeared for the moment. Second T-Pee was planted just the other day in order to scatter harvest a little.





Rest of raised beds - we're on the 3rd cutting of Romaine Lettuce, Radish; not so good this year??? Cutting Swiss Chard this week. Plum Tomatoes doing great so far. Little worried about the tomato blight threat this year...anyone know anything about this?

How does YOUR garden grow?

One Potato, NEW POTATO....Three Potato, Four....

Awesome! I have successfully grown NEW POTATOES, as opposed to old potatoes, I guess???

Anywhoo, I was outside this evening checking my potato plants and discovered some red potatoes poking through the soil. Wow, already? Well, had to look this up and read about it... I learned that these are NEW POTATOES. They are the first to poke through the soil and you can harvest these. By harvesting these now it leaves more room for the MAIN CROP potatoes to grow; harvesting them after the potato stalks die off.


So, excited I've included a picture of them and a recipe for NEW POTATO POTATO SALAD:

2 pounds of New potatoes unpeeled
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 hard cooked eggs peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups of minced celery
1/2 to 1 cup sweet onion
1/2 cup mayo
1 - 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 chopped sweet pickles with some juice
salt and pepper to taste
dash of cayenne pepper
fresh chopped parsley
paprika

Scrub potatoes, do not peel, cut into 1 inch cubes. Cover with water and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Boil until tender. Drain and let cool.


Combine potatoes with remaining ingredients up to parsley and paprika. Sprinkle with last two ingredients when done. Serves 6-8


My NEW POTATOES are boiling as I write...My hubby and I will be taking fresh potato salad to work tomorrow for lunch!

Here Comes Peter Cottentail Hopping Down.......

AND RIGHT INTO MY POLE BEAN PLANTS!!

Cute little guy...well, I think it's actually a girl. (or a doe, yes same as the deer from what I've read).

Sitting on the porch the other day after a wonderful time spent with family and friends on Memorial Day, we watched her, with her butt facing us from the hillside, digging into the hill. Couldn't figure it out until the next day after work that she was making a nest for her kits (the Internet is awesome!) Anyway, I gently pulled back the straw and fur that she had placed in a shallow hole in the hillside and it revealed about 3 baby rabbits, ahwwww, how cute.....NOT! All I could think about was how close the bean plants were to that hole and boy would those babies be hungry once they realized they were bunnies who like veggies! Oh well, I love nature so I said my "ahww how cute" and went on with my business.

However, the next morning when I took the kids up to see Peter Rabbit (who is really a girl but I love literature too!) the hole was empty???

Enter 3 legged neighborhood cat (slash) bobcat......I could tell you a story about this cat that would curl your toenails....maybe another time; it's late (well 9:46pm - I go to bed early these days)...I'll save it for writers block.

Let's just say for now that knowing this cat (slash) bobcat, I shuddered to think what might have happened. I just made up a lame story for the kids and we just kept moving on up to see the.....a....see...the....ya, the grapes "Come along kids, baby rabbits must be out for a walk, do you know where your grape juice comes from......."

Chamomile Makes Me Smile!

Good Morning Everyone! It is a beautiful day, isn't it? Heading outside on my front porch rocker to read the next couple of chapter's of this great book someone very nice, lent me to read. Oh, and that chamomile just makes me smile!

Check out the pipes!

Yes, this is mister backyard farm.....STUD! My hubby of 26 years! I'm the idea person, he's the muscle that makes it happen. Love you big guy; couldn't do this without ya!

Check out the Pics!

Exciting Progress.....check out the pics!

A Big Fan

Yes, I think I am a big fan of using a fan to strengthen the stems of seedlings. I actually think it worked...my seedlings are doing great! Looking forward to getting them into the ground.

QUESTION: Do you think that this last weekend was the LAST FROST! Fishing in the snow was a bit frustrating...and waiting for the never ending winter to end is frustrating as well. Will it ever be spring, consistently?

UPDATE: Sugar snap peas are looking wonderful...approx. 30 plants - saved from the frost last night - starting to cling to the trellis's - excited about the amount of peas we will have sometime in June, I think....yea!

Little disappointed in the beet rows - don't know where all the seeds went that I planted - no matter - I need to get better at planting in segments anyway - I'll add some more seeds for a scattered harvest of beets, lettuce, radishes and swiss chard

Broccoli - just coming up - little small - hopeful that all is well with them

Onions, Garlic, shallots - all doing well - can't tell them apart???? Wish I would have marked a little clearer...Oh well, next time.

Potatoes! WOW! Should have planted more of these....they are doing great so far. Peter has decided to leave them alone for now...appreciated, thanks.

All Berries - doing well....leaves on blueberry bushes back to a nice green - HAPPY!

Herb Garden - flourishing..awaiting a trip to Lowes to pick up some good organic garden soil to place in the old fashion fruit boxes I picked up at a local used furniture store - will be making them into basil boxes and other lettuces for the front porch where it is cooler - they should be very productive AND look great on the front porch

Hey, let me know how your garden is growing! Did you survive the FREEZING temps last night?

Have a great evening!

Later!

A Much Slower Pace, Place...

Good Things Come in Small Packages....and they are carrying fish!

Yep! That's right....went fishing all weekend...not ice fishing (we could have; it was THAT COLD) And the only fish being caught were by these 3 cute "little packages"! It's a good thing they came along since dinner Saturday night was fish. We would have had NOTHING if it wasn't for the experts! Not a good weekend when 3 people, all under 4 foot were the ONLY ones catching fish...little embarrassing to say the least! Yes, even the littlest one caught a fish AND as we were leaving today he caught ANOTHER ONE.

BUT, my hubby and I did learn some new "tricks" from my trout master, brother-in-law (the "little packages" father, no kiddin!), who was kind enough and PATIENT enough to share a smigeon of the vast knowledge he has about fishing. Really, he was very kind, and my sister was very kind in letting us "steal" him for the weekend. My sister, my daughter and my mother all stayed back at the cabin while we "fishermen" went out in search of omega 3 laden trout. Learned how to set up a minnow rig (I think that's what it was called??) I did, however, have a bite on the end of my line and actually saw the trout, yes trout (what I am interested in catching someday) SHOULD HAVE JUMPED IN AFTER IT ..... IT WAS THAT CLOSE!!!


We did have a marvelous time just hanging out with my sister and her family. The place was awesome (see pictures on next post) and the pace was slow! (except for the fish...they apparently were a little faster than us!)

Wader Everybody!

Heading for the forest for some Mother's Day fishing! Son bought me some waders to celebrate Mother's Day...love that boy; he really knows his mom!

Brother-in-law (avid fishermen with lots and lots of knowledge on how to actually catch a fish) will be advising my hubby and I on the fine art of catching trout or something; been fishing for two years and haven't caught anything but 2 little sunfish.. :(

Ah, cabin in the woods, the smell of spring, the sound of a babbling creek and my dearest best friend, my husband... AND I hope to include in this idyllic scene, some smoking trout later on over a nice hot fire in the fire pit!

No talk of chickens this weekend - ONLY FISH.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mother followers - May the Lord bless your day with your families.

More garden talk upon my return from the forest

Entomologist Files.....

Still observing my prisoners, well actually, I disposed of the first set and captured a couple more late this afternoon; in the act to boot! Further research may show that these are actually some kind of gnats...I believe I have a male and a female....well....I hope I do, otherwise I'm going to have to rethink the whole animal kingdom! More observation and study needed....

SEEDLINGS ARE TRANSPLANTED...into larger containers - Yea! Getting them ready for their first hardening experience outside on the porch tomorrow. I plan on getting them into the ground in a couple of weeks after all threats of frost are past...this is Western PA, ya never know!

Hey, I read that if you put a fan on your seedlings it encourages the stems to become stronger...Biblical lesson in there somewhere :) I'll have to post a picture of this for all you readers who may be laughing at this very moment; I'm out to prove that this actually might work!

Good Night All....Blessings and sweet dreams....
Ally

UFB's - Unidentified Flying Bugs....YIKES

Out enjoying the backyard today and it was swarming with some kind of UFB's. They were everywhere. I had hung out the laundry today and had to pick these UFB's (which by the way were doing the nasty on my button down shirts YUCK) off all my freshly washed clothes. They seemed to be concentrated mostly around one area; over by the evergreen trees inbetween my house and the neighbors house. I decided to play Entomologist and I captured some of them in a clear glass and placed some celophane over the top so I could observe them. Brought them inside and sat down at the computer. Do you know how many bugs there are in this world? I think I narrowed it down to either a flying ant or a termite. I'm hoping it's not the latter. I'm still not sure if it's either.


Has anyone reading this blog ever encountered a flying insect the size of an ant, with the same length wings, clear except for a dark design on outside of wings..very short antennea and mating all over the place...little help here if you've experienced anything like this.

Hey, lest you forget, I still want chickens...talking with a friend last evening about chickens....IT. WAS. FUN. ...just something about those little, feathery, clucking, egg making birds...someday...I can almost smell the eggs and bacon (I do not want a pig, that would be over the top for the burbs)..I will have chickens...BAWK!

Ok, just a couple more....new camera!

Raspberry Bushes

Herb Garden

Romaine Lettuce

More Backyard Photos of things growing...

"....plant gardens and eat what they produce." Jer. 29:5b

Things are growing.....
Shown here are my chamomile tea just ready to flower
Concord grapes coming along nicely
Sugar snap peas up and reaching for the trellis I've placed in the raised bed this year to keep Peter Rabbit from clipping the stems
Other growing plants not shown....
Herb garden producing oregano, chives, lemon balm, lavendar, onions, peppermint, sage, basil just coming up from seeds planted...
Blueberries holding their own so far
Raspberry bushes not dead, but alive so far
Beets, swiss chard, broccoli coming up, lettuce, radishes, strawberries???Cat got these :(

May the Lord bless this backyard with abundance for the harvest in the fall and may He continue to bless the seed I sow in this world as I strive to please Him through obedience to His word in all that I do....In Christ's Name, Amen.

My Irish Eyes are Smiling....

I'm seeing GREEN! Yes, at least one blueberry bush, the Chippewa, is almost completely green again....Thank you Lord. The other 3, the Bluecrops, are slowly turning green. Maybe I'll give them another dose of the blood meal.

Oh, by the way, I'm not actually Irish...married on St. Patty's day but not Irish. Just to clarify.. :)

Today's to do: 1. Plant the raspberry bushes I blogged about earlier in the week. I will be a little more mindful of the dirt mixture this time around. Where to put them????
2. Also, hubby and I will be making the trip to the hardware store to pick up the materials for the 5 X 5 raised bed today.
3. DEAL WITH WHATEVER ATE MY STRAWBERRY PLANTS! BB gun? Oh yea, I'm thinking BB gun. I'm really going to have to come up with a plan that will keep the wildlife out of my gardens. The trick is to make it look nice since my backyard is somewhat of a fishbowl AND keep the deer out. Electric might be the way to go. I once sat out on the porch all night waiting for the deer to show up...I did that for a week to get an idea of when the deer came at night and where they entered the yard...fact finding mission that my hubby found funny and disturbing all at the same time. It turned out that the results left me exhausted and I obviously still have a deer problem. The deer were not the least bit intimidated by my less than ominous presence on the porch that week. If I only had a bb gun then! I would have shown them who's the boss! I do however, know the path they take and I'm watching them and making some BIG plans....LOOK OUT BAMBI.

911 code blue.....

BERRY! Help! Leaves all turning red....I must have done something wrong. I added those pine needles from my 30 foot pine trees and I think that could be the problem. I've been researching and I think I have a nitrogen deficiency??? I went into the garage and pulled out a bag of organic blood meal, removed the pine needles from around the plants and sprinkled about 1/4 cup blood meal all around each plant and watered thoroughly...Oh my goodness, I hope I haven't killed my blueberries :(

Well, we'll just have to see what happens. I'll be praying for the green leaves to return, please join me. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

Going to bed very sad....visions of fresh picked blueberries on my oatmeal fading into the night....

Berry, Berry Blessed....

....by my good friend and fellow backyard farmgirl, Anna. RASPBERRY BUSHES are coming soon! Thank you, Anna for graciously thinking of me, when viewing raspberry bushes for sale. I just got done telling my awesome husband, that I wanted to add raspberries next year to the ever growing collection of fruit in the backyard....and the Lord thru Anna is providing bushes this year for a great price. AWESOME gift to fit this beautiful, relaxing day I'm having. Phil on the other hand will be digging 3 more holes before the end of the week. I love you honey...I do. You, by association are the "backyard farmer" and someday I might get to sing, "she thinks my tractor's sexy"!

Dare I pray ahead for apple trees? I do have my mind wrapped around my own, albeit, small apple orchard. I do, however, have two 30 ft evergreen trees to get rid of first. So first and foremost, I'll be praying for the removal of those trees and since it cost alot of money to remove them, it might be awhile before I can pick an apple from Alison's Apple Orchards and bake a pie for the Washington County Fair. Dream big, pray hard and get on with doing the Lord's will in your life.

Have an awesome day everyone!

I Found My Thrill.....

On blueberry hill! I'm going to have to post a picture here...I actually have a blueberry hill....It is beautiful! The 4 bushes are in, peat moss and aluminum sulfate spread..I can just taste those blueberries on my oatmeal. Fence needs a little tightening but I think the neighbors will be happy it looks un-noticeable; if they happen to notice....

I also picked up some strawberry plants when I went to get the ingredients to fill the holes for the BBs.(blueberry bushes) Not sure where to put those yet....space is filling up!

Oh the pain.....Oh the anguish... of canning my grape vines. Ouch...didn't think it would induce physical pain, but, cutting those vines back to the 3rd bud on each main branch was difficult. I hope I did it correctly and nipped things in the right bud....sorry, couldn't resist that.

Last years Mother's Day present, my beautiful, but very small, lilac bush is ALIVE. I'm very happy. I love the smell of lilacs. Wonder how long it will take to get blossoms on that bush...it's right under my daughters window and only about a foot high. Patience grasshopper.

Well, time for lights out...big temperature drop tomorrow...GREAT, I hope the BBs don't freeze.

Oh yea, chickens; lest you forgot about my desire to have chickens, did you hear the news today? VALUE ADDED TAX - awesome..I can smell chickens in my future 'cause we won't be able to afford chicken at the store anymore! Bowk Bowk!

Night All!

Fences and Poo

Well I am certainly not "on the fence" about a fence for my blueberry bushes. I bought 4 blueberry bushes last year and fed the deer with those ones. This year I am much smarter; yes, a fence.

Now, in the suburbs a backyard farmgirl must be considerate of her non farm like neighbors so my fence, I hope, will be aesthetically, visually, a non issue for them. It is green to blend in and will be neat and orderly as it stands protecting my blueberries. Move over Trax...I open up my "pick your own" in about....5 years.

According to the directions in the book I'm reading, "Backyard Homestead", blueberries should be planted in the spring on a cloudy day. Well, today was a beautiful sunshiney day and I find myself sad about that. But, this is Western Pa so I'm sure the clouds are just around the corner.

Manure has been spread...and I'm not talking about my above post....We have a real farmer friend who gives us real cow poo. Love this stuff. It's aged to a nice piquant aroma and does the trick on vegetables. I'm looking to make some of my beds acidic. Blueberries and melons prefer an acidic soil. Anyone have any ideas on how to make soil more acidic? I've gathered the manure because I read somewhere that manure will make soil more acidic; I am up for any other ideas out there. Thanks in advance!

Oh, yea....embarrassed to say that I just got my seeds planted in my trays. The trays are tucked nicely away in my dark basement. Hopefully I'll see some green poking through in about 7 days. I planted yesterday, so the countdown begins.

I planted about 20 heirloom tomatoes - Brandywine; 20 plum tomatoes; sugar snap peas and some basil. My basil plants that I buy every year never do well so I thought I'd try them from seeds this year...I'll let you know.

Upcoming activities: RAISED BED!!! Number 2; direct sowing sugar snap peas, swiss chard, beets, lettuce and radish. Caneing the vineyard...ha ha...not really a vineyard yet... just some sticks poking out of the ground that I have faith will be concord grapes someday. FAITH: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 Could this apply to my vineyard...Jesus said, I am the vine you are the branches....Good night all!

I Love Dirt!

I do...I just love dirt; the smell, the way it feels between my toes and fingers....my cabin fever dissipates rapidly on that first encounter with my dirt, usually in March sometime.

Well, today was that day! The raised bed has been tilled and the site for the new raised bed was made ready as well. My wonderful husband was very patient with me today as I tried to make my final decision on where to put some new beds I've been thinking about all winter.

We dug a new blueberry patch (the old one was empty of the 4 plants I planted last year...no idea what happened to them), a melon patch and a long 16 ft row for my heirloom tomatoes, Brandywine. They were awesome last year; hoping for a great crop this year.

I plan on moving my peony bushes this year; soon. I wonder if anyone reading this knows how to properly move peony bushes. They are just starting to come up along the south side of the house. I'd like to move some of them to thin them out. Hence a good reason for yet another new bed. Didn't get to this bed today. Hopefully the rain holds off tomorrow and we can dig one more bed for my peony bushes.

Well, all this talk about beds is making me tired. My husband and I enjoyed our first of many, long days of garden work...oh I love that phrase...Thank you Lord for SPRING! It's been a long, hard winter. Hello spring!

Good Night All.

NOTES FROM HOMESCHOOL TALK ON FRUGAL/ORGANIZED LIVING - details upon request. :)

Grocery Shopping Organization = Savings
Gather:

• All newspaper grocery circulars/grocery mailers
• Coupons from Sunday paper/other sources (internet etc., costco, sam’s)
• Scissors, pencils and a Sharpie (that works!)
• Coupon holder/organizer
• Planner/home organizer (I use “Amy Knapp’s Family Organizer”)
• Recipe books/magazines

Organizing Food/Refrigerator = Savings
Needed:

• Medium sized dry erase boards (a couple will do)
• Dry erase markers – packs that have magnetic markers are GREAT!
• Notes from your grocery shopping “system”
• Your refrigerator

Organization in Cleaning Your House = Your Sanity!

Monday: Heavy cleaning – de-clutter house, bathrooms, dusting, sweeping
Tuesday: Wash day – if it isn’t in the hamper it has to wait until NEXT Tues.
Wednesday: Touch up bathrooms, Floors (mopping, washing) every other week
Thursday: DONE or special projects/specific areas needing attention
Friday: DONE or special projects/specific areas needing attention
Weekend: Sat. extra wash day if needed, otherwise SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY Monday’s coming!

Starting Seeds!

Just got back from the depot with my 72 cells and some seeds. Also picked up various onion sets and a garlic pack. Drooled over the Topsy Turvy NEW Strawberry planter, you know the planters that dangle from your porch...had to pass up - keep focused, keep moving....

So, looking forward to this weekends seed drop into my new "greenhouse". Someday maybe I'll have an actual GREENHOUSE...awesome, I can place it next to the homemade wooden chicken coop....still, chickens on the brain..no dice yet.

Anywhoo, have to write up a speech tonight for the upcoming homeschool conference this weekend. I'm sharing time with another woman and we're talking about ideas to stay frugal in today's economy and practical organizational skills as well. I'll post the notes..once I write them...gotta go - duty calls.

Good Night and God bless - good dreams too...cluck, cluck!

St. Patty's Day - Anniversary too!

26 years with the same guy! He is awesome and it's been a great 26 years. I thank the Lord for providing me such a blessing in a husband. We are still very happy after all these years and are committed to the future together whatever it may hold. Happy Anniversary honey! I love you.

Well, he still is saying no to these chickens...tried last night over an early anniversary dinner to get him to agree...no dice. I'll have to keep trying. I'll keep you posted.

Planning on heading to the depot tonight to look at some seed starting kits...have to see what's out there. I think I'd like to start some radishes, beets, and some swiss chard.

I looked out in my herb box yesterday and the german chamomile is coming back! I did have some spring flowers coming up around my mailbox but I believe something ate them last night. darn deer....I gotta come up with a plan this year to defeat these grazers. Any ideas out there that don't involve a gun...I would, but I live in the suburbs, remember. Backyard farms don't allow guns... maybe a be-be...no don't think so.

I'm a BLOGGER; I think...

Oh my goodness! I'm blogging...what pressure - now I have to say something great....um....um....gee...well..

Welcome to Backyard Farmgirl! My purpose for this blog is to learn about this blogging thing AND to share and gather ideas from other "backyard" farmgirls.

Backyard Farmgirl really needs no explanation, I hope. I live in the suburbs but always wanted to live out in the country...you know, city girl with her heart in the country...I don't see us moving out to the country any time soon with the economy the way it is...better to stay put where we are at the moment and learn to use what we have already. So, the journey begins. Well actually, we've been on the journey for a little while, transforming our backyard into a place that I can call my little farmhouse!

Right now we have a large raised bed with plans for another one this spring. We grow beets, carrots, lettuces, onions, radishes, herbs, tomatoes, zucchini and sugar snap peas...oh ya, broccoli and swiss chard.....I try new things every year. We constructed our first rustic grape arbor last year...that was so much fun..we made it completely out of trees we found on the floor of the woods nearby. My husband and I hauled everything out of the woods and loaded it in our CAR! You gotta work with what you have....we do now have a little used truck which will come in handy this spring. I did plant 4 blueberry bushes last spring but I'm still lookin for them...not sure where they went. Last time I saw them the deer found them before me. Looking for larger more mature blueberry bushes to plant this year.

Contemplating chickens...yes dear, chickens. Trying to talk my husband into chickens - just 4; no roosters.