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Plant sale 2014

They dug up the sidewalk just outside my house today. They didn't tell me they would be doing this, so I cannot drive my car today. The driveway is blocked for at least a few hours. So I went online and order seeds and pots. In about 6 weeks we can begin starting plants for our garden, and plants to sell. This year we will have heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, Hokkaido pumpkin, red and green onion, and some herbs to sell (the plants). I would gladly start plants for anyone in our area. Place an order and I'll start whatever you want. Sarah is saving money to go to China. She wants to find her birth parents. Nicole wants to save money for her next mission’s trip(she has ideas of what she wants so do, but no set plans yet). All the money from our plants sale goes towards these projects. contact me if you want to preorder plants.

CANNING POTATOES

So I'm going to can potatoes today. I have so many it may take me a few days to can them all. The reason I'll can them is to keep them longer. I did some reading. With good treatment you can keep potatoes for 6 months. But canned potatoes keep for years. I will most likely use all my potatoes up with in 12 months, but I don't want to waste any of what I've grown. I will also be canning tomatoes sauce and zucchini today and most likely tomorrow. And I'm replanting the two beds the potatoes came out of. My garden has really done well this year. Not bad for the first year! The soil was pretty bad, but the straw has really improved it. Over the winter I'll add compost, and ash to continue to improve the soil. Over time it should just get better! And I hope to move the tomatoes into a greenhouse next season. So I'll much more room for the other crops next year. Well that's the hope, it's all according to God's will. You can never count on anything, it's all grace!
We harvested 25 gallons of potatoes today.

Chinese cabbages, tomatoes and zucchini and potatoes

The garden is really starting to produce well. I now need to process what I have grown. Yesterday I made a giant pot of vegetable soup using my potatoes onions, and zucchini. I'll can what we don't eat. I'm also making pickles today. I also have lots of tomatoes, so I guess I'll make some tomato sauce. I need to find a good way to save the Chinese cabbage. I wonder if you can make sauerkraut with Chinese cabbage? Anyway, here are a few pictures of yesterdays crops. I have about this much every other day. I need to dig up all the potatoes now. I think I'll can those too. New potatoes don’t keep well, but they can well.

Finally!

We finally have vine ripened Heirloom tomatoes. This is what I picked today. I have peas, tomatoes, yellow zucchini, and cucumbers and flowers. I don't have enough for the whole world but I do have enough for a few friends. So if you want some fresh tomatoes then let me know. I'm ready to trade!

A good trade

A friend of mine traded me her good berries for our vegetables. Nicole and I picked 5 gallons of mixed fruit (cherries, gooseberries and currants). We are making juice. I'll add a little sugar to the juice, and we will have a very good syrup to have with ice cream or pan cakes. Juergen's mom use to make this berry syrup.

please come pick salad

To my local friends…I really need people to come pick salad from my garden. Please, do not be shy! It's fresh, organic heirloom lettuce. And it's free! We are eating a salad a day but I just have too much. Please come by and get some fresh salad. If we don’t pick the lettuce it will go to seed. It needs to be picked. My good friend Vivienne just came to pick up some salad. We had tea and a nice visit. She is going to teach me how to cook Indian food in exchange for my fresh vegetables. I'm getting the best part of the deal. She is a great cook! Please do not be shy, I have allot of very good salad to give away. I’ll give it away for free… but if it makes you feel uncomfortable I will also trade it for any useful thing or skill. I have so much very good lettuce right now, I would hate for it to go to seed! I even have a few plants to give away. Tomato plants and flowers and peppers. Everything we have started from seeds. I don’t have many plants to give away…so this is a first come first serve offer. It was a cold and wet day, but I just loved sharing a tea with my good friend!