gardening – Staying home with Cheyenne

The garden is doing some really exciting things! I have been harvesting the cold hardy crops that I planted the end of March. We have enjoyed tons of fresh spinach and froze bags and bags of spinach we were unable to eat before the spinach began to bolt with the warmer weather. We will use the frozen spinach in soups, smoothies and sauces for the year!

We have been continually been harvesting beet greens, kale and lettuce for a couple months. It’s so wonderful to just walk up to the garden and get the veggies I need for dinner. It doesnt get fresher than that!!

Yesturday I harvested some carrots and discovered some of them were very woody. After some research I discovered it was probably from the heat wave last week. So I plucked all of them out of the ground. Luckily there were many that are still very yummy! The bunnies enjoyed the woody ones and the carrot tops! So everyone was happy.

I have also been harvesting beets that are ready! First I roasted some with fresh rosemary and garlic. They tasted like a mix between a carrot and a potato when roasted. My family loved them that way! I also did some pickled today. They will be ready in a week…. I am looking forward to trying them!! We have also done kale chips and lots of greens in everything!

Having this garden is such a lovely experience. Working outside in the dirt is so good for the soul, enjoying all this fresh produce is so good for the body! If you are considering growing some food… just get out there and grow something you wont regret it!!!!

So many changes since my last blog, it is hard to know where to begin…

Around a year and a half ago my family moved to a 1865 farm house. We tore up old carpet, painted walls and much more. We tore out way over grown flower beds and planted loads of flowers. So much work, but now things are lovely.

Since moving to our farm we have been busy sculpting the land to be what we need, we dug up a huge part of our yard for a garden. Last year we dug up the grass and plowed the dirt, then added lots of manure and mulch. I also started a compost pile right in the garden that was later plowed into the ground. It has made for an awesome garden. My garden is thriving! We have already harvested alot of the Spring crops: carrots, spinach, kale, beets and lettuce!!! I am thrilled. This is my first huge garden. The last few years I have attempted little gardens, but between moving, remodeling and having two babies thirteen months apart, they were mostly failures. This success has me addicted to growing food!

With warm weather here there is fun and exciting work to do every day. We have bunnies to enjoy, chickens to feed, dogs to play with, cows to pet and a horse to train…. not including all the plants and children!! So many fun things coming this Summer. I am really excited to start regularly documenting it on my blog!

Some photos of our little loves!