Garden Planning!!

In all of my reflection and looking forward that January inevitably brings for me, I have been thinking through my garden goals for 2012.

I started by looking back at my notes on last year (yes, I keep a garden journal).  Last year I wanted to grow enough produce for our family and one share for a friend's family.  I learned a lot from that.

I learned that I should have planned for the unexpected.  I had a total crop failure of all 8 squash and pumpkin varieties planted.  I had a terrible time trying to keep up with the squash bugs while using only organic methods to deter them (hand-picking thousands of bugs and scraping eggs from the bottom of leaves every day).  I have learned a little more about the pest this season and will hopefully be able to stay on top of them this year.  Having something ready to put in the spot that was suddenly empty would have been wise.

I learned that I need to figure out what I am doing wrong with root vegetables.  I cannot get radishes or beets to set fruit at all.  They have lots of lovely leaves and no bulb at all.

I learned that digging potatoes is a lot of fun and fresh from the ground potatoes are far superior to any at the store.  They taste like they already have butter on them!  I should have planted WAY more!!

I learned which things our family loves the most and how much we will actually eat of any given item.  I learned that more of something that we love is a waste of space if we can't actually eat that much of it.

I learned that growing some of the food items that your family loves is a great way to save a little money.  I also learned that my kids are more likely to eat food that they grew themselves!

So what does that mean for this year?  Well, there is no CSA.  My focus this year will be growing enough for our family and putting up as much as possible.  I hope to stay on top of the pests and get rid of some things that either didn't work or didn't yield enough for the amount of space they took.  I plan to continue composting because it has worked out beautifully!

I had planned on expanding the space again this year, but I need to have another year of working this space before I make that happen.

Here is the early plan for my space.

What ambitious plans do you have in the garden this year?

I am sharing today at The Thrifty Home.

I have been thinking about a verse of Scripture to take me through 2012.  I think I have found the perfect one.

Every wise woman builds her house, 

but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

Proverbs 14:1

Reflection on 2011

I love looking back at the old year and seeing what was accomplished, what wasn't and planning some goals for the new year!

Last year was such an amazing year!  I won't link to all my posts, but here is a recap.
-We figured out Theo's SPD issues and got him the therapy he needed.
-I talked about my postpartum depression and enjoyed Theo so much.
-I grew a winter garden, expanded my garden space, began using a 3 bin composting system and added a cold frame to my garden.
-I shared my garden's bounty weekly with a friend and periodically with Brandon's coworkers.
-We cleared a spot and built a chicken coop.  We got day-old chicks and watched them grow into lovely hens and now eat eggs from our own flock!  We added a rooster this year, too.
-We concentrated on living a rich life while trimming some of our excesses.  We continued to live debt-free.
-We made the decision to homeschool Eden for Kindergarten and then did it!
-We celebrated 9 years of marriage, 5 years with Eden, 2 years with Theo and Brandon and I both turned (GASP!) 34.
-I made fig newtons.  I am now seriously looking forward to summer!!!!
-I revamped the look of my blog... by myself!! ;)
-We hosted Cousin's Camp for the second year.  One week later, we lived through an earthquake, a hurricane and a 20 hour power outage all in the same week.
-I learned to knit.
-I concentrated on feeding my family real, local, and in season.
-We nearly completed the kitchen.  It is painted and half of the cabinetry is in.
-We also made the decision to begin looking for a church closer to home.  This involves leaving the church we have been a part of for 25 years!  Sad but necessary for our family.

This year I hope to:
-Complete the kitchen.
-Paint the rest of the interior of the house.
-Create a beautiful bedroom for us.
-Hatch some of our eggs.
-Raise a flock of meat chickens.
-Cultivate another great garden!
-Blog at least once per week.
-Take an anniversary vacation with Brandon (10 years in June).
-Find a new church home.

What do you hope to accomplish this year?

Another new addition!

No, no, we aren't pregnant, so don't let that thought even cross your mind.  

I have wanted a cold frame for quite some time.  It is the logical next step on the gardening journey for me. A greenhouse would be wonderful, but the man is extremely hung up on aesthetics.  Beautiful greenhouses exist, but are not something we have the budget for at this time.  A low tunnel would be more than sufficient, but again, not aesthetically pleasing.

It was on the list last year.  You know, "the list" that is ever growing, always being shuffled as time passes and some things become a bigger priority, as money comes available (or not).  Somehow, the cold frame got shuffled to the bottom of the list.  It was looking like it was going to get shuffled again this year, but then I went on Craigslist.  Oh, how I love Craigslist!  I found a lovely 9'X4' cold frame and bought it!  We don't have to design plans around the windows we have, Brandon doesn't need to spend a weekend building it.  It is sitting in the back yard waiting for me to dig out the bed (half done as of last night).

It needs 2 of the plexiglass windows replaced... easy peasy!

Cold frame will go here next to the garden.

 I can't wait to get my spinach and lettuce moved in!

Introducing a New Roo

I am proud to introduce you to Roofus.  He is a 2 year old Blue Wheaten Ameracauna.

Roofus

We got him 2 weeks ago from a neighbor who was thinning their flock.  He is a a handsome devil and he has fit right in with our girls.  I don't know why I am amazed when animals do what they are supposed to do, but it gets me every time!  It really was amazing to watch him assert himself in the flock,  quickly establish himself as the dominant chicken and begin caring for the hens.  He calls them over to feed when he finds good grub, he stands watch and keeps the hens together.  I love him! <3

Such a showoff!

Henri popping in to say hello! 

On a sad note, we have been faced with a tough decision.  One of our hens (Buttercup) has attacked the kids several times.  She began attacking me and after several weeks of trying to rehabilitate her, things were getting worse.  Theo has started to be afraid of all of the chickens and the kids won't play outside without me right next to them!

We decided to try to re-home her.  If we could find a suitable home for her, we wouldn't have to cull her (while we like chicken soup, Buttercup soup may not go over well).  My neighbor (the one who gave us Roofus) offered to take her!  So, she will be close enough to visit and far enough to not be a threat.  Eden shed some tears, but she will be glad to not have to watch her back when she goes out to play.

Bye bye Buttercup.

Also, today is Eden's 5th birthday!  We had a party for her last night.  My beautiful big girl.

Please ignore the frosting hack-job... I told you I'm not a food blogger!!

A Food Blogger I Am Not

Those of you who read on a regular basis know that I don't often blog about my skills in the kitchen.  Not that I don't have any.  I am competent.  I am a from-scratch, simple-food kind of gal, but so many do the food blog thing so well that I rarely step foot into that arena.  Some of the amazing food bloggers I read are Nourished Kitchen, 100 Days of Real Food, The Healthy Home Economist, Whole. New. Mom., Smitten Kitchen, and The Pioneer Woman.

I have been trying, however to overcome my disorganization in the kitchen.  Difficult when your kitchen is still unfinished and this is what your "cabinets" look like.

We are hoping that our cabinet situation will be remedied before Christmas.  The cabinet maker says "Maybe."

Anyway, I have tried without success to get better at the kitchen organizing.  This week I attempted the impossible and cooked ahead for the week.  I am also processing apples from our homeschool field trip to Johnson's Orchard in Bedford, VA.  So, from the work yesterday, I ended up with 2 chicken pot pies (one for now, one to feed the freezer), 2 quarts of chicken stock, 2.5 quarts of venison lentil stew, 1 quart of lentil spread (think hummus), 1 apple pie, 3 quarts of apple butter and 3 quarts of apple sauce.

I still have a half a bushel of apples to process, but can I just say I am an apple butter ninja!  I did it in the crock pot.  I am not usually a fan of apple butter, but wow, this stuff is amazing!  Can't wait to have shelves full of home canned yumminess!

Just because I don't think I can handle another blog post in the next day, here are a couple of pictures from our day of apple picking.

Theo's Mint Chocolate Chip Sweater

I am very proud to say that I have completed my first human-sized sweater as a knitter!

I am usually really hard on myself when it comes to handcrafted items, but in spite of many mistakes (that I can see, but you probably can't) I am in LOVE!  This is the cutest sweater EVER and on Theo... oh my word.  I can't stand it!

Not the greatest shot, but catching him still is almost impossible.  I take what I can get!

It reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  That may be why I love it so much.  Theo loves the pocket and practically refuses to take it off.  Of course this makes me love him more! <3

Finished sweater!  

I got the pattern from the book The Yarn Girl's Guide to Knits for Older Kids.  I used Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool  yarn in Nature's Brown for the body.  For the pocket and stripes on the hood I used Bamboospun yarn in Limey.

I am participating in Just Something I Whipped Up over at The Girl Creative and the Sew Darn Crafty party at Sew Many Ways today.