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!

Growing radishes are great for my self esteem!

I love growing radishes!
I feel so accomplished and smart!  LOL!
Growing radishes are awesome for my self esteem.  They grow fast and are very hardy and forgiving with a first timer urban farmer.
They are the first veggies to mature in my garden and I am so grateful for them.
I don't know what it is, but when you take a bite of the first vegetable that you have ever grown from seed, it's an amazing feeling!
Thank you radishes for growing and teaching me that I can do it!
Feeling Blessed!

Mushrooms!

I was shopping at the grocery store the other day and came upon this Organic mini mushroom farm! It says, grow mushrooms right out of this box!  Just add water. Harvest in 10 days.  How can I not try it.  I love mushrooms!

I cut open the box according to the directions, cut a + into the plastic and scraped the white stuff off.  It said this stimulates mushroom growth.

Then, I took the bag out of the box and placed it into a bucket of water for 8 hours. The bag floats so I had to place it scraped (white) side down and then place the bag back into the box after 8 hours.

Stayed tuned for the results!  

I will be setting the box indoors (some light is needed but no direct sun) and sprinkling 1tsp of water per day on the scraped area until the mushrooms are fully grown.

Check back in 10 days for a yummy mushroom recipe with my homegrown mushrooms!

Transplants are growing and thriving!

Here are some pictures of the transplants I started from seed.  I mixed some potting soil with compost that I have been preparing over the last 4 months.  Then I added some food and water. I then placed woodchips on the top. I watched Garden of Eden and really like this method.  I noticed a huge difference in my plants growth after I added wood chips to the top of the soil. I also have to water it much less.  Loving that!

Growing vegetables from seed

Here are some green peppers, cucumbers, green lettuce, and spinach.  I also took a pumpkin seed (not pictured) from a pumpkin and sprouted it inside with paper towel in a plastic bag then planted it outside in a container. I started the seeds in the picture inside from seed, and I started some outside too, to see which way they do better.  I used organic seed, which I am super excited about.  I could not find any organic transplants and by starting from seed I had so much more to choose from!

Live Simply, Bloom Wildly

Live Simply and Bloom Wildly sounds like my life, including my garden, plants, etc.

What exactly is Simply?
Well according to Oxford Dictionaries, it means, "the quality or condition of being plain" and this is not what I am at all, or what I strive to be in my life.

To me, living simply, is to get rid of all the clutter in our heads as well as in our homes.  To remove all the 'junk' that is thrown at us as we travel on our journey of life.  To laugh more, and to love more.  To be less occupied with material things, money, what people think, how we look, etc and to really enjoy the present moment.  This frees us up to really live, instead of just existing and going through the motions.  It's simple, Live simply, live more!  When all the clutter is stripped away, we can find ourselves and our purpose.  The fog is lifted and we are able to bloom, and bloom wildly that is!

To bloom wildly?  What does that mean?
According to Oxford Dictionary, bloom, means "to produce a flower or be in flower. "
Wild means, "uncontrolled or unrestrained."
Hmm.. need I say more?
I strive to grow and produce many flowers throughout my life.  I want my flowers to reach very far across the wild globe, like a wild, untamed, ripple, making a difference in many peoples lives.

I want my garden to grow like they do in the wild, perfect in every way.  The less human interaction, the more yield.  I know this is how we can create more organic, nutritious food, for the planet.  It will save our planet's food supply one day!