Homestead Garden: Tomato Starts and Garden Update

-


I transplanted my tomato starts last weekend. They all had their first two true leaves and ready for a bigger home…




I have real issues with thinning and tossing my little starters. I planted 2 seeds in each little spot figuring they might not all come up and you know what .. they all did.. So I had to make hard choices and pluck out one of them because I don’t have room in my little seed starting box for them all… plus in reality that would be a HUGE amount of tomatoes. So.. I made the hard choices. :)

We have had one of the wettest and coldest springs on record in my parts. So it has been nearly impossible to find enough dry days to get the garden rototilled. You need at least a day or two for the ground to dry out and then another day to finally get the job done. Normally we rototill for the first time in late February or early March. Finally this last week we had 4 nice days in a row (the first since I can’t remember when) and Tobin got out there right away and got the garden rototilled. It looked so good.. even if it was just dirt.. LOL.. sure made me excited for this years garden season to begin!!

Comments

  1. LynApril 22, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    That is a gorgeous plot. The grass is so green and your soil looks so rich. I'm sure you'll be blessed with a great garden this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. aimeeApril 22, 2011 at 8:11 PM

    Looks beautiful!! I wish our garden looked that good:) We are enjoying the nice, warmer, sunny, wonderful, spring days too!! May they continue!!
    Blessings,
    Aimee

    ReplyDelete
  3. ~JoAnn~April 23, 2011 at 12:04 AM

    Crystal~ Your garden area looks so pretty.
    Blessings,Joann

    ReplyDelete
  4. LaurenApril 23, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Beautiful garden area, Crystal! How long have you gardened in that spot? And what is the structure in the lower corner (looks like it's made of pvc?)?
    Thanks for your inspiring blog.

    ReplyDelete
  5. CrystalApril 23, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    Lauren.. we have lived here 15 years now and I have gardened in that spot for almost all of those years. Took a gardening break a few years ago.. The structure is a green house, formally a pig shelter.. LOL.. we raised pigs in the garden one winter several years ago. Yes that is PVC you see.. the sides are wood. It needs to be covered with plastic. The last time hubby covered it, the wind blew it off during the following winter. I have not, at this point, actually used it as a green house.. just mostly storage.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MelissaApril 24, 2011 at 7:09 AM

    What a beautiful garden!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousApril 24, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    I really like your garden area a lot.
    Lisa (Frugalmomntraining) on the message board.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jenny CoeApril 24, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    That photo of your garden is wonderful! So full of promise! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jhona O.April 26, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    Absolutely gorgeous. I found myself staring at it in awe and then finding peace in the picture. I'm sure your garden will be a great success!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this ...
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine...
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my ...
Read more