2017 - Looking back, part 3

This continues the series looking back at our crop-list for 2017.  The first post is found here and the second is here.

Food Production
Unfortunately, we didn't weigh and catalog everything we harvested; there were times when Wifey would harvest something and not get a picture or times we'd get something for a recipe (or fresh eating) and not get a picture.  For example, there have been a number of salads and smoothies made using the spinach, kale, and/or lettuce with no accounting of how much was used.  Looking back, we regret not cataloging what we grew.  It's really nice to have an idea of how much money we saved (or not) vs buying at a market.

We'll have to resume that in the future.


Food Preservation
Tomatoes
Wifey canned 52 quarts of tomatoes as well as 7 quarts and 2 pints of marinara sauce.  There is also a 1/2 gallon of frozen cherry tomatoes.  Lastly, we have 2 quart bags of frozen marinara sauce.

Beans
We have 1 gallon bag as well as 10 quart bags of frozen green beans.  All have been trimmed and blanched to make for easy cooking when we need them.

Nuts
We have a gallon bag of float-tested hickory nuts (in shell) as well as 2 quart bags of shelled hickory nuts.  All the hickory nuts are in one freezer or another.

Apples
Although we didn't harvest any of our own, we made a couple of trips in the fall to Larriland Farm and picked apples there.  We dehydrated two gallon bags of sliced apples for snacking and addition to oatmeal.  The apples also provided for a lot of our breakfasts and lunches over the last two months.  Hopefully, I'll be able to do similar posts referencing our own apples instead.

We received a pretty blanket...

....of snow.

Although it wasn't anywhere as much as predicted, it's enough to put a hush over our area.  I've always found that acoustic dampening during snowfall and shortly afterward to be peaceful.  I hope to expand that feeling to the kids for them to enjoy and appreciate for years to come.

This snow will only last for a few days as the temps are supposed to back up into the upper 40's in the few days but I'll sure enjoy it while we have it.

2017 - Looking back, part 2

This continues the series looking back at our crop-list for 2017.  The first post is found here.

The Weather
This year the weather was interesting.  Not the norm.  I'll quote the intro page of the Southern Exposure Seed Catalog.

It's been another interesting weather year - in Virginia, we had a mild summer, with only a few hot spells.  Then August here was downright cold, staying in the 70s and 80s, and that slowed down our heat-loving crops[.]  Warm early fall weather helped us get some harvests off these crops, but still had is longing for a more "normal" summer next year!

Although we are in Maryland instead of Virginia, we had similar weather with similar results.

Crop List
Peanuts
We purchased a peanut starter for The Boy's part of the garden from a local food market that trends heavily toward organics.  It grew and looked great, but we didn't harvest it until it was too late.  All the peanuts rotted in the ground.  I think it'd be worth trying to grow another in the future.

Corn
We grew a variety of open pollinated sweet corn called Aunt Mary's.  We've never grown corn before.  Although the corn got nice and tall and had a number of well-formed ears, they tasted very starchy.  It never got sweet.

Lettuce, Spinach, and Kale
We grew Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Long Standing Bloomsdale Spinach, Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale, and Red Malabar Salad Greens (summer spinach).  I would grow all but the Red Malabar again; the leaves tasted like dirt.  I only ate it raw, but really didn't care for it in the least.  Didn't bother trying to cook it.  It's a shame.  I liked the idea of a heat-tolerant spinach variety.  That said, it was pretty.  I liked the purple vines it grew on.

Carrots
We grew Scarlet Nantes and Cosmic Purple carrots.  The Nantes were tasty and grew well in our soil.  Due to my goof in planting -- accidentally mulched over them preventing them from doing anything -- we didn't get any of the Cosmic variety.  I'll try both again.

Sweet Potatoes
Holy cow, did we ever get sweet potatoes.  We had never grown them before and had no idea what to expect.  We weren't sure when to harvest them due to there being varying info available on the internet and in my gardening books.  As a result, we have some huge ones as well as some smaller ones and they are everywhere in the garden.  It would have been even worse if we hadn't cut them way back a few times.

Wifey is convinced we will find them in the asparagus bed and far garden path for years to come.  I have a hard time disagreeing with her.

Others
I'd intended to grow some other things -- brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, zucchini -- but because almost all of our starters died (I think from the water softener), we had to go with what we could get from the food market that we trusted.  Most places we could get plant starters beyond there sell GMO stuff.  Won't do that.

Front Bed
We converted the front planter bed from overgrown juniper bushes and scrubby ornamental pines to a permaculture bed.  We planted a dwarf Kieffer pear tree, four artichoke starters, and a number of herbs.  I'm happy to report that the pear tree did well and produced over a dozen large, tasty pears in its first year.  The artichokes survived and have been mulched to try to help them survive the winter.  Most of the herbs we planted survived with a few perishing.  In the spring, I'll be evaluating what did and didn't make it through the winter and plant more to supplement.

The Kieffer pear sent out a shoot (a sucker, I guess) from the base.  I've removed it, got some fledgling roots to come from it, and planted it in a pot (currently in the garage to overwinter) and am hoping I can get it to survive another year with the idea of planting it elsewhere in the yard in the future.

Others
Nut Trees
We discovered that we have 3-4 pig nut hickory trees in the side yard going to the orchard.  We have harvested, float tested, dried, shelled and consumed the nuts and have been pleasantly surprised by the maple flavor they have.

Peach Tree
Wifey did some reading and found that by thinning the extensive peach growth on the dwarf tree we have in the front year, you will end up encouraging the peaches that are left to grow to an edible size.  Although there appeared to be some merit to that theory, she didn't discover that nugget until later in the summer so the results are still somewhat inconclusive.  We're looking forward to thinning things out considerably earlier this year.

Citrus Plants
Wifey and the kids got me two tiny citrus plants last winter.  Neither survived.  I can't help but wonder if they succumbed to the same water-related issues as my seed starters.  I'd like to try one more plant in the future to see if my theory that watering with the condensed water from the dehumidifier fixes that problem.

Oh, yeahhhhhh....

Wifey's a funny bird.

Upon checking the mail, she said, "After we get the kids inside and showered, I think you're going to need a few moments to yourself."

I was bewildered until I saw what she was holding.

Welcome back, family.

We spent the weekend out of state with the inlaws.  Upon getting back and unpacking the car, we did some yard work.  Among other winterizing tasks, Wifey and I finished putting the deer netting around the apple trees.  That's a load off my mind!

For our hard work, God rewarded us with a beautiful sunset that my picture can't possibly do justice.

Figuring out why our indoor plants die

I've been thinking.  Last year almost all of my plant starters died.  I never had that problem in the townhouse.  We also had two fledgling geraniums, a baby bay laurel, and two citrus plants die.

We don't overwater, occasionally fertilize with organic fertilizer, don't put the plants in direct sunlight (that don't want it), and maintain proper temperatures for them.

I don't know why I think so, but I think it's our water that's causing the problems.  We have hard water at our house which has caused problems with mineral buildup in some of the water lines.  To address this, we had a salt water softener installed.  I've assumed that the tech who did the work calibrated the unit to provide the proper amount of salinity to the water, but I'm not so sure.

To test it going forward, I'm going to solely water our plants with water obtained from the dehumidifiers in the basement.

I'm also going to do some digging into how to control the softener control system.

Oh, it's so on!

While at work yesterday afternoon, I got a text message from Wifey.  It contained a picture and a funny and cheeky message.

She's a funny one, that bride of mine.

It's too early to plant any seeds (unless it's for spring planting), but it's still interesting and a little exciting to get my seed catalogs.  I can't blame her for being bemused with the "kid in the candy shop" mentality I exhibit both as I start perusing the options and once I get close to deciding on what to get and plant.

I generally don't start the seeds until right around the beginning of January.  Regardless, I'll likely be ordering seeds within the next few weeks.