Spring Gardening, Missouri Style

It's been a wonderful spring in my opinion, for gardening. Who knew you could get such beautiful crops this time of year.?! I took the extra steps to cover my cole crops, such as my cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, and the cabbages are doing beautifully.

The potatoes shot up like weeds, so I may get two crops if I do this right. Although you can't see them, on the hill behind the potato plants are raspberry starts. My goal is to have a single row, up against the fence, so I don't have the major weeding I dealt with in Oregon.

My garlic is getting the scapes, so harvest time is coming soon. I look forward to sauteed garlic scapes for dinner. Garlic scapes are the seed pod bearers that come up from the center of the plant. once they reach a certain length they start to curl. After you get the second curl you can harvest them, and should so you garlic plants put all their energy into forming the clove bulbs. You can saute them and add them to all sorts of stir fries, or eat them by themselves, or you can pickle them. They're delicious!

We're getting some peas this year, yay! So far the beets and carrots are doing okay, but they do look like the need a bit of nourishment. All in all though, the garden is looking pretty good! How's your garden growing? What are you planting this year?

Life by the Big Muddy

 A dear friend asked me to blog our new adventures in Missouri, but I’ve not taken the time to sit down and write anything. I wanted fabulous pictures to go with the posts, but unlike where we used to live in Oregon, the roads here are roller coaster strips of pavement winding through corn and soybean fields. Shoulders to pull off on are non-existent on most back roads. I didn’t want to scare folks by pulling off onto their driveways to jump out and take photos, but I’m hoping to get some good shots soon. Our neighborhood is surrounded by verdant fields, so add that to beautiful early morning sunrises, I have captured a couple of share worthy shots so far.

Missouri is unlike any other state I’ve lived in. Most notable to me so far has been all the back roads spider webbing through the landscape; some flat, some quite winding with deep dips shaded under a canopy of tree branches reaching across both sides of the road.

Intriguing to me has been the lack of sprinklers anywhere here. The corn, and soybean fields stretch for miles, with nary a watering system in sight. Yards here are watered by Mother Nature, and that’s it! Our yard has some spots that could use watering, but that’s only because of the soil in those areas. No one waters their vegetable gardens either, yet they have huge beautiful squash, pepper and tomato plants. I was so intrigued by the lack of sprinklers so I asked my neighbor and she said the soil here is mostly a silt loam, which has great drainage, but is also relatively moist, so gardens don’t need to be watered unless we have a long dry stretch of weather. Haven't seen that happen yet. Combine that with the rainfall here, and there’s no need to water in most cases. We do have pockets of very thick clay in our yard, so I will have to loosen that up with sand and a lot of peat moss, because it doesn't hold water, as it's too dense. 

Speaking of rainfall, when it rains here, which happens more than predicted, it comes in waves of water from the clouds. You think I’m kidding, right? Ha! We had 18 inches come down in a 24 hour period, and thus ended up with a bit of water in our basement because the ground was saturated and there was no where else for it to go. Luckily for us it was minor flooding, but the folks across the street had inches of water in their basement for days as it kept trickling down the hill from above. As for driving in a cloudburst here, there are some who think they are impervious, but most of us just pull off to the side of the road, if there is one, or become one of those annoyingly slow drivers going 25 mph to keep from going off the road or veering into oncoming traffic. It's like trying to drive through a car wash, without the suds of course.

My next post I’ll share a bit about the birds, and the bugs and the heat, oh my! Have a blessed day, Sheryl

The Touch

 I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It's a story that so startlingly mirrors what we are heading into today, that it makes you sit back and think. the similarities to the voice in the seashell bud in the ear, the walls that bring the "family" into the living room via screens with a scripted story people interact in. It brought to mind bluetooth ear buds, smartphones and Facebook with the hours we can get lost in chatting with people about things, but we don't really "do" anything.

The part that caught my eye the most was toward the end of the book where the story reads, "Everyone must leave something in the room or left behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there. It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime."

I love the gardener analogy so I've added here, a couple of photos I took with my dumb phone last night while out for a walk.  The hillsides here are covered with lupine and daisies and such in with wild abandon. The Creator must have delighted in tossing out the seeds of change this once naked earth needed to blossom and become the beautiful orb it now is. We see his hand in all the world around us, orderly in life cycles, yet given to asymmetric design.

More than that though, in the creative nature of the earth, is the living to touch the life of someone each day.

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

 Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.

 What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.

 For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.

 Karen Lynn Davidson

Today I hope to be more the gardener than the lawn cutter, the friend, the neighbor I should be.

Monday Madness - Dear Mother Nature.....

 

I thought we had an agreement! I collected the toilet paper rolls, empty milk cartons, saved the salad tubs, bought grow lights, all to get started on Spring planting.  I even sacrificed my breakfast bar to start to this venture.....

 

See the little salad seedlings peeking out of the soil?  They have come out of their long slumber on a promise that they will be the star of the dinner table someday soon.

 

The Cress is already growing tall, and soon will be ready to harvest... I had even told them they would get to go outside this morning to enjoy some warm sunshine.....

 

.......and then you send us this!!!!!  I thought your affair with the WIND was over! You were the one who said he was just a big blowhard, so pushy, and messing things up all the time. Then you had to throw in his buddy SNOW!

 

It's just shameless how these poor little daffodils are shivering! If you really want to have a romantic fling, would you consider RAIN? He's manly, but can be so gentle and soothing to spend time with. He's great for going on walks with, and really helps the garden turn green and lush. Wouldn't that be much nicer than frost bitten, wind blown blossoms and fruit trees stripped bare by WIND'S violent nature? Treated right, RAIN will also let SUN have a bit of time to brighten things up and wrap you in his warmth. I don't know about you, but I'm so ready for you to dump WIND and SNOW and move on to some REAL  weather men. 

Straw Bale Gardening

I have discovered a different way to garden that I thought I would share with you. It's straw bale gardening. Some of the benefits are space, no need for a lot of soil, weed free, and easy on your back. There are several links on the internet talking about this process, but from what I can gather you want to stay away from hay bales which are full of weed seeds and go for straw. If you don't have much room to garden and your soil is poor this might be just the ticket for you. I would love to try this but here in our area I might be hard pressed to find straw. I will be on the hunt though. Here's the link to Nichol's Nursery that I found most informative. Let me know if you give it a try and what your results are. Happy gardening!

Mother Earth News Garden Compost Tip

No photos today but I learned an interesting tip while riding the exercise bike this morning. In the fall when it's time to put the garden to bed take some of the space and make trenches. They only need to be about 6" deep. Cover with floating row cover or plastic to keep animals from using them as litter boxes. As you collect kitchen scraps over the winter take them out and dump them in the trenches. For things like banana peels and melon rind I would cut these into small pieces to make them easier to decompose or be devoured by our friendly worms. Cover with the hilled up dirt to the sides of the trenches and cover them back up. In the Spring next year you should find nicely composted soil thanks to the earth worms who've enjoyed the feast you've been providing them. When I saw this tip I had an AHA moment! So easy, and what a great way to compost. If you give this a try this next Fall and Winter season, let me know how it goes! I'm also wondering how this would work to try in the Spring in a portion of the garden. I'm going to give it a try....

Have you started your garden yet?

Yes, it's time, and if you are like me, your fingers are itching to be digging through the warm soil, breaking up clumps and adding amendments to make it nice and rich for all the little plants you started indoors. While it may not be warm enough to play in the dirt yet, and for those who are ready to chastise me for not wearing gloves while digging around rest assured that when I'm adding the compost and steer manure you bet I use gloves!

Starting a garden doesn't have to be expensive and you don't need fancy equipment. Empty salad tubs from Costco, recycled 4 and 6 packs from the nursery, toilet paper rolls, meat trays from that pack of chicken and those steaks you bought last week, all can be used to start seeds. In order to keep track of what is planted in what I use clothes pins with the names of what I planted written on them. I've tried writing on the sides of the nursery packs but it washes off. Now, a warning to those with little children, they will move the clips around so watch for that....lol. In the top tub with the little packs I wrote on the outside of the tub. The toilet paper rolls were cut in half. The nice thing about these is that once you are ready to transplant you can put the whole thing in the ground and it acts as a root protector from pests that like to chew on them. You can also add another half roll on top when they go outside to help protect from creepy crawlies that will chew through the stems and ruin a good plant.

I planted all these seeds last Monday the 14th, and have half of my little crop up through the soil, yay! The fastest growing are the asian greens such as the baby pac choi, and joi choi, as well as the mesclun mix and even my basil is up and going. I started all of these in window areas, but when it's warm enough outside you can move them outdoors. What I like about the salad tubs or anything with a clear lid is that they will act like a mini green house outside and also protect your seedlings from the elements. If you are still getting temps in the 30's at night move them indoors though or all your work could be wasted. This week I will be looking at attacking the soil and beds, cleaning up things and perhaps adding soil amendments. If you want a good source for seeds go to the Vesey's link I have to the right. There are a lot of companies out there that have great seeds. I would warn you about Wally worlds seeds though. They aren't the best quality and often don't even germinate so avoid box store brand seeds. Call your local nursery if you have any questions and they can tell you what seeds and so on work well in your area. If I've left anything out feel free to add to my comments. Now, let's get planting!

I'm back!!!!!!!

Hah! You can't get rid of me that easily! While back in Utah there was a lot of yard work to catch up on. Everything was growing like weeds, including my lavender. See the rock in front of it with the shape embedded that looks like a human figure? It was so cool I had to bring it home and put it in a place where folks could see it. Makes a great conversation piece.

As I poked around outside I heard little peeps, and to my surprise and delight mixed with dismay I found these 3 little baby birds sitting in my rock garden. Apparently they had fallen or been blown out of their nest and were feeling a bit lost. I did dig up some worms for them, but was very careful not to touch the little birds as I was afraid mom and dad might not take care of them. They happily gulped down the worms I found.


Then I found another of their siblings sitting all by itself. I took a stick and gently moved it over with the others. I was so afraid a cat would get them as our neighborhood is full of strays, but after 4 days they were still under the tree in the rock garden and I spotted their parents feeding them several times. I sure hope they were able to grow fast enough to escape any cat attack.
Here's more of my garden. The rock path I put in myself using desert rocks I gathered. I trained the neighbors ivy to come over to our side of the fence and added iris, and lamium to give some different color and texture.
Here's the view from my raspberry patch. It's such a pretty and peaceful area, you would never know we lived in the desert.
Look at those raspberries! Let me tell you, they are so delicious! This year has been a good year for them. I hope the kids are picking them while I'm gone.
Here's some strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb jam I made with my fresh raspberries and some rhubarb given me by friends. I'm not sure if it shows, but the jam is such a gorgeous color of red, and it's quite tasty I might add.
So up next, the rest of the story......

Tortillas and seeds.....

I've been trying to use some of our dried goods such as beans to make our budget stretch so we had bean tostadas the night before last. With just the two of us at home we usually have leftovers, but not always all of everything. So not having enough tostada shells required my being resourceful. I have lard and flour and salt, so I made tortillas! I'm a purist when it comes to some things so yes, I do use lard when the need arises, and tortillas just aren't the same without it. I used 2 cups flour, 2 T. lard, 1/2 t. salt and about 1/2 cup very warm water, or enough to make a kneadable dough. I kneaded the dough til it was soft and smooth, covered it and let it sit for a bit. Then I created 8 balls and flattened each then dipped each in flour and rolled them out as thin as I could. I cooked them in a very hot, dry skillet, turning quickly to keep them from burning. I kept them in a covered dish to keep warm until dinner. Yummy! You can make a dozen by using 3 cups flour, 3 T. lard or oil, 1/2-1 t. salt, and about 1 cup very warm water. No, I don't use baking powder in mine. I was taught by a gal from Nogales, Mexico how to make tortillas and she would never have thought of using it.
Aren't these delightful looking seed packets? I love how fresh and wonderful the veggies and plants look on these! It gets my fingers itching to play in the soil, working through it to get all the junk and lumps out and mixing the good stuff in. Here in Wendover we have to add things to the soil such as peat moss, and manure because our dirt is so alkyline an tough. The results are worth the effort though as we can get some very tasty food out of our garden. I order from Vesey's as they have the best seeds I've found and their seeds are perfect for the shorter growing season in our neck of the woods in Oregon. I know, Wendover isn't in Oregon, but we plant some things here before heading to Oregon for the summer. I can come back to tomatoes, carrots, beets and so on here, ready to harvest. I will start plants here to take to Oregon so they have time to mature before leaving there to come back here. Can you tell I love to garden?

10 things you should save........

I was so excited when I saw that the seeds I planted last Thursday came up yesterday! So I wanted to share, and tell you how easy it is to grow Asian veggies. They grow fast, and are very tasty as well as good for you. I also wanted to share a list of things you should save. Well, I forgot that photos load opposite of what you saved them here, so I will start with the most important things to save......
1. Time for family - We oft times get too busy doing mundane things...
2. Time for spiritual feeding - scripture study should be a daily uplift...
3. Time for prayer - He wants to hear from us, and often....
4. Time for learning - There's so much to learn, whether it's from a person, or book......
5. Time for play - What better way to unwind, and appreciate our blessings than to play....

6. toilet paper rolls - They are wonderful for plant starts or keeping ribbon scraps on.....
7. produce bags - perfect for home made bread, keeping things dry....
8. plastic dairy containers - great for food storage in fridge, and much cheaper than buying new..
9. meat trays - great for plant start trays! paint pallets, glitter projects
10. juice jugs - great for water storage, dry goods such as beans, corn meal, and so on.

Can you add to this list or think of other uses for these items? Feel free to comment.

New Goals.....

Aaaaawwww, aren't they cute? So soft, cuddly and tiny! They have nothing to do with this post, but I wanted a picture to share with you so I put up one of my paintings.

I had some good thoughts I wanted to share earlier, but they drifted away on the path that all good thoughts often go, getting lost among the tasks of the day, or, in my case in the fog of my brain....lol. I'll be so glad when my sinuses are healed. We set a goal this morning to read the scriptures together. I asked Kent when we should do this and he said we could read in the morning right after breakfast, and wouldn't you know it, we didn't do it! We have a serious family matter that has weighed heavily on my mind and that got in the way of my reminding him. I will get him to read though. Another goal we have is to stop being so negative. It's such a disease, and so non-productive! I'm sure that if we heard all the negative remarks about us, we would be totally crushed, so I think about that whenever an incident comes up that I'm thinking of sharing, or even a news story that irks me. And, while my inclination is to rant about what is going on in the U.S. today, it won't help, so I'm trying to learn to be pro-active. So let me ask you this, what are you doing to be prepared for what is coming with the economy and so forth? Are you planning a garden this year? Are you looking for ways to save money or cut back? What are you doing? Me, I will be going through the seed catalog and ordering seeds this week. I will be planting tomato seeds, and perhaps peppers and squash. I will be putting out pea seeds, in the garden, and maybe even some carrots and garlic.
Here's another recipe that I put together for a soup I was asked to make for our District Conference. It's very yummy if I do say so myself so give it a try!

Red Lentil and Wheat Berry Soup
2 c. cooked wheat berries - 1 c. dried red lentils,rinsed - 8 c. water
1 ham hock - 3 slices bacon, chopped - 1 onion, chopped - 1 large carrot, scrubbed or peeled, thinly sliced - 1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms -
1 1/2 c. chopped celery - 3 c. chopped cabbage - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz. can stewed tomatoes - 1-8 oz. can tomato sauce - 4 chicken bullion cubes
1 bay leaf - 1 T. cumin powder - 1/2 t. red chili flakes
Seasoning salt to taste - 1/2 t. pepper - 1 cooked potato, cubed

Saute bacon, onion, garlic, celery and cabbage in a large pot until veggies are tender. Combine the rest of the ingredients in the pot and simmer slowly, covered, until lentils are cooked. Remove ham hock and serve hot. Serves 10-12.
If you want you can add some Garam Masala for a nice East Indian flare. This is a nice, healthy soup without much meat that can be adapted to whatever your family preferences are. Enjoy!