The Garden Grows

Even though it's not officially spring yet, it has felt like it here lately and it has renewed in me a spirit of planting.  Not only in the garden but in the life of this home.  Homeschool work is back in full swing, seeds are being put in the ground daily, and changes are happening in how we eat and prepare food as we slowly start to grow our little homestead.  It's all a learning curve but one that draws me closer to God as I watch the miracles around me.

The biggest challenge in our organic garden is the strawberry patch.  It feels like a loosing battle with bugs and birds taking the best of the berries before we can get them.  I'm not giving up yet but it's a large space and I could be producing lots of other edibles that could do well in that spot.  In our decorative beds I have been planting edibles among the flowers.  In the rose garden there is an artichoke plant that will be the center focal point, oregano, lambs ear, and beans and cabbage that have not yet started to sprout.

Here you can see the alfalfa sprouts have started to grow.  I put these in to try out green fertilizer since alfalfa is known to have nitrogen fixing characteristics.  It's also really nutritious for humans and animals and easy to grow. 

The ladies are producing eggs so rich that it looks like I add mustard to my egg salad.  In the whiskey barrel I planted potatoes.  I started with 6" of soil and added more as the potato sprouts broke through the soil.  I took this photo 2 days ago and since then the top has exploded with beautiful full leaves.

This tiny pepper plant has over 30 blooms which makes me wonder why organic green peppers cost so much at the store.

 

The garden is growing.  Both the actual garden and the plants in it.  The past 2 weeks it has been a mad rush to get the beds prepared and the seeds planted in order to get the most out of this growing season.  It gets hard some days when I'm putting work in and not getting a lot of food out but it also amazes and motivates me to watch a seed so tiny I can barely see it become something so big and beautiful right in front of my eyes. 

This is my compost set up for fruit from the fruit trees that spoils, chicken manure, and yard leaves.  The rest goes to the chickens as scraps or to the vermiculture bins.

The boys are always finding fun ways to help as well.  They go fishing while I work in the garden and we feed the fish to the chickens.  It helps cut down on the cost of feed since organic feed is so expensive and I believe is the reason our egg yolks are so yellow and rich lately.  It makes my little hens really happy too.

We still have a long way to go but I can finally see how we can produce a lot of the things we need with ease and oh how I love spending my days with these beautiful children enjoying the beauty God has provided. 

Psalm 104:14  He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate bringing forth food from the earth