Finally getting into a Routine...and my kids are loving it too!

Composting was a big change for us.  From the time I set up the big black container in the back yard and explained to my family what it was for, they looked at me like I had three eyes.  Well, we've come a long way since then.  As a family we have been composting for over 4 months now and it is becoming part of our daily lives.  When the veggies get chopped, the scraps go under the sink in the bucket then they get placed out side and mixed with leaves, cardboard, sticks, etc. They all take turns mixing the compost every day.  It is turning into black gold and looking very good.

This is our black gold!  Good stuff right there!

We have been busy raking leaves.  They are going into the compost pile.  No garbage pickup for us!

 

My daughter has her friends over and they made scrambled eggs.  Her friend threw away the shells.  My 11 year old dug them out of the trash and told her why we need to compost the egg shells.  She went on about how the tomatoes love them!  LOL!  Our lives have changed for the better since I've learned ways to compost and farm.

We made a yummy green salad the other day all from greens, tomatoes, radishes and spinach from our garden! When we had a BBQ, all the kids went and picked the lettuce they wanted to put on their burger.  So cool!   We are loving our new and improved lifestyle, and looking forward to learning so much more!

Lesson Learned...Well, it's more like lessons learned !

What a crazy last few weeks!  Christmas came and went, New Years came and went and the frost has set in.

Lessons learned...

1.  check the weather before you go out of town...if temp drops to freezing, cover plants to protect them.
2.  I plan, God laughs..
3.  My mushroom farm isn't doing so well...keep trying don't give up.
4.  Don't get discouraged, there no failure, only lessons learned!
5.  Tomato plants love Epsom salt water and fish oil!

The frost got the best of me.  I lost my cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin and peppers.  On a good note my lettuce is doing great and I was able to save my tomatoes! ( I have 5 tomatoes growing well)

Pics of zucchini and spinach before the frost....

Pics of zucchini and spinach now.. :(  But on a good note, the spinach is hanging in there! 

This is my compost.  It is doing great!  I am getting better and better at saving organic scraps and adding them to the compost.  Leaves are falling all around and I get so excited when I get to bag them up and keep them instead of throwing them away.  I asked the neighbors if I could have their fallen leaves as well. :)

My tomato plant gets to come inside at night.  It is doing very well.  I can't wait to eat my very first tomato ever that I have grown!

I am growing celery from a celery stalk I used.  It is doing great!  The kids love watching it grow. I have it sitting on the kitchen table.  It makes a great center piece and a reminder of how food grows beautifully when you give it the right environment.

My son was in a motorcycle accident and suffered 2nd and 3rd degree road burns on 11% of his body.   I will be making him some homemade Aloe Vera to apply to his skin as it heals.  The aloe plant is doing very good!  I love this plant!