Planting the In Ground: To Garden or Not to Garden

 I'm facing the dilemma I do every year at this time, to plant my garden or wait. The nights no longer fall below freezing, but the daytime highs are still low. I planted potatoes and carrots, and it snowed. I started seeds are the temperature plummeted to highs in the forties for a week. The days warm up to the 60's one week and then we get another artic blast come through. The weather has been predictably unpredictable.

I looked into buying heat mats to go under my transplant trays. Bot, they want a pretty penny for them, don't they? I'd need at least five for my lettuces and brassicas alone not to mention the electricity to run them. There's also no guarantee that they'd last over a year of seed starting. 

Grow lights are a different story. It's just a question of replacing tubes as they burn out. Not that those are cheap, but they seldom go out all at once either. In my experience one or two out of twenty-four bulbs will burn out a season and the starters will be replaced about every three years or so. So I get a whole lot of bang for my buck. But the warming mats, it's all enclosed so if a wire inside breaks there's no way to fix it short of cutting it open and try gluing or taping it back together ruining the waterproof nature of the product. Water and electricity shouldn't be mixed, right? Not without at a minimum of tripping the circuit breaker, nasty shocks, never working properly,  or causing a fire.  So, it's basically trash and there foes money down the drain. 

I have a healthy respect for electricity. This was reinforced by an incident I experienced as a young teen. I was helping the servants buff the terrazzo floors. I grabbed the power cord to move it out of the way as I buffed. Unknown to me, there was a break in the cord and the protective wire coating had worn off from I assume was running over the cord while buffing the floors. All 240 volts shot into my hand. My fingers tightened around the cord and I couldn't let go (darn reflexes). When I finally let go, my index  through the ring fingers  were burned almost down to the bone along the first joints. I was lucky. I could have died. To this day, I have minimal use of those three fingers because of the scars. It's a permanent reminder of how dangerous electricity can be even with the US's dialed down 110. 

I think I'll err with caution and wait until the end of March or April before I plant outdoors.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Here We Go with the Ruth Stout/Market Garden Makeover

Today would have been my beloved's 72 birthday. Plus it would have been our 29th wedding anniversary. So I'm sort of discombobulated this week. This week actually hits me harder than the anniversary of his death day. Gone but never forgotten.

This week I was arranging for three rolls of hay to be delivered. When the hay will be delivered depends on the guy up the road fixing his portion of the access road. As much as I swore I wouldn't buy this again, it was more cost effective. Square bales are running between $4- $7 a bale while the 4x5 rounds are $25. One square bale will cover a 2'x3' section of the garden at the depth required. It would take a humungous amount of bales to do it that way in the 16'x 32' vegetable patch in front of the house. Cash wins when you're homesteading on a limited resources budget, or having a homestead on a shoestring budget like we do.

Unlike the way we did the orchard area where we manhandled the rolls, we'll be pulling it apart by the cart load. A cart load when dumped is the perfect depth and width for row in this garden. We are still thinking smarter not harder even though it will take multiple trips with the cart. Opposed to rolling out the big bale like we did in the orchard. It only weighs 500-600 lbs to start with between two people. We didn't get more energetic, stronger, or younger in the last two and a half years. It's a trade off in labor, but more doable in the long run. Both of us groaned at the thought of going out to the orchard to complete the task after the first day. Every muscle and bone in our bodies hurt but we finally finished all five tiers done in about two weeks.

We started the Ruth Stout Method this week by weed whacking the entire garden area to where just stubble was left. The weeds had gotten taller than my five-foot frame left to their own devises. So it was impossible to mow. We left the weeds to decompose in place.

Next, we broke out the stakes, scraps of 2x4 pressure treated lumber split in half, crochet thread, and tape measure. The thread is 100% cotton so it will decompose over time and at 1000 yards per ball for $6, it was cheaper than the garden alternative. We placed a stake alternating 3' and 2'  across the width of the garden. Three feet for planting areas and two feet for walkways between the planting rows. We ran it down the 32' length for the rows. We measured out a 3' border around the garden area and staked it.

OOPSY DAISY!

As we talked about the layout later, we realized we made a huge mistake. This was where the tiny houses would be started the beginning of summer. Plans came to a screeching halt. I'd have to reconfigure the garden down in the orchard divided among the fruit and nut trees, and chicken runs. It's getting mighty crowded down there. 

The only problem with the orchard is that it's on the northwest side of the property. It is at least devoid of trees except the ones we've planted but surrounded by old growth trees. We laid out the tiers in  southeastern rows, but sunlight is hampered. While good for the trees, vegetables might be another story. I do grow some vegetables like corn, daikon, carrots, onions, and garlic in the orchard area. They do okay, but other vegetables may not do so well. All those sun loving veg like okra, tomatoes, and eggplants are questionable.  They may not get their minimum sunlight hours even with it being terraced.

I'm just glad we thought about it before we laid all that hay! That would have been a huge mess to move. So tomorrow, we'll be heading down to the orchard to measure and stake off the new Ruth Stout/Market garden. Don't you just love the aspects of homesteading when you have to turn on a dime, and fall back and regroup? One step forward, two back.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Ruth Stout Gardening

 I've tried just about every type of gardening in the past forty years. Back to Eden, Square Foot, Lasagna, and the old, tried and plow it up and plant plus a few more. I even tried out planting in the weeds only to end up failing. They all have one thing in common they build up the soil except the tiller option. It's different strokes for different folks. But it's beside me on getting a decent harvest on this new homestead. It's a constant battle with varmints and weeds.

I watched an interesting documentary on Netflix this week entitled, "Kiss the Ground." I found it interesting because it reinforced my beliefs in the way I've gardened all my life. The whole gist of the show was to reduce the carbon footprint of the Earth by building soil not dirt. I've always gardened organically, only tearing up the dirt to add amendments but only the top six inches. As of 8 years ago, I stopped tilling with a cultivator altogether in favor of building up the beds as they stood. I've looked for other ways to combat the weeds. I am selective in my weed control also. Not every weed is a bad weed. My newest choice is the Ruth Stout Method. Although I've been doing a variation of this all along, I'm going to try it just as it was written up by the lady herself.  

This spring, I was hopeful and praying that our vegetable garden would produce a good harvest. But the cockeyed weather cycle beat me down. Constant rains, cooler than normal weather, and blistering hot and humid weeks just ruined all my efforts.

We've got some major changes happening on the homestead over the next two to three years. It's something that has been in the plan all these years since I moved up to these northeast GA mountains, but couldn't implement it. But more on that later.

This year was a bad year for vegetables, but a great year for fruits as you can tell from my posts. For the past two weeks it's all been about apples. Applesauce, apple cider, mincemeat, diced and sliced, pie filling, apple butter, and on and on, ending with pectin and apple cider vinegar. The apple harvest like all my plants were delayed by a month because of the weather. It's actually been a good enough year for fruits that I've put up at least two years worth. 

But as yucky as my vegetable harvest was, I was able to shop locally (friends and neighbors) and the wholesale house for vegetables to put by. I actually put up 18 months worth of vegetables. All that is left to can is meats, but I can locally source that too as needed. I put my meager stimulus check to good use in restocking my pantry out building. Did I tell you we found a rat proof insulation...corrugated foil wrap. It set us back almost $200 but it's worth it. The stores building stayed about 60 degrees even on the hottest days of summer.

Back to the topic at hand. With the changes upcoming in fall 2021, I've got spring and summer to make the garden produce even more food stuff. After that I won't have an easily access garden in front of our trailer for at least a year. I'll have to garden in the orchard area. It will be competing with the wheat and oats, and orchard grass that's usually grown down there. Now, there's the new chicken coops and runs as well as the fruit trees. It's getting to be a crowded 1/4 acre. But it's only a short-term situation.

With my eyes on higher production, I read about the Ruth Stout Method of gardening. I was intrigued. Basically, you grow your vegetables in 2'-3' mounds of hay and compost. With our chickens, we've got plenty of compost. Getting that much hay is problematic but doable. We still have enough wood chips from the tree service delivery to make the walkways. I'll still be doing the weed blocker fabric for my tomatoes and peppers. My tomatoes might have died, but it held the weeds down to a manageable chore.

Now that there's a lull in food preservation or at least slowing down a bit, I can split my focus on preparing beds for next year. This experiment will be for my carrots, onions, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Later on in the season, there'll be other crops planted. I'm thinking green beans, cucumbers,  and maybe squashes in the hay rows. It will definitely be easier on my back harvesting them.

If this works, I'll have a jump start in 2023 with a new 50' x 120' homestead/market garden.  Yes, I'll mostly be starting from scratch again...sigh!, but at least it will be a regular type garden instead of plant where you can around the landscaping. I'll have to bring in truck loads of wood chips and compost for that first year, but after that, our homestead should produce enough to maintain the new garden. Also in the works is a high tunnel greenhouse (20'x 50') and a small seed starting greenhouse (10'x10') made of repurposed windows and pallet lumber. It'll be this homesteader's dream fulfilled when finished...or at least these homesteaders.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Still Time for Sweet and White Taters?

I may fail at this but I'm going to try and beat the odds. It's late August almost the end of summer with the first freeze date of October 26th. It a gamble.

So what am I doing? I've had russets and sweet potatoes sprouting all over the place. The humid Georgia summer is to blame. I planted them all this week. I must be insane, right? I planted vegetables that require 89-120 days to mature.

I'm second guessing Mother Nature here. But, check my reasoning. We've had some down right, cockeyed weather this year. Our spring had a late start. We had lows near or at freezing until mid June. So the summer heat didn't consistently really start until July. It's still in the 90s with lows in the 70s. So there's plenty of time until the projected freeze date for sweet potatoes to get some great growth on to form tubers. It's the same for potatoes, but they'll love the cooler temperatures. I'm banking on a day in the first freeze date being off by 30 days or close to it.

I'll dig up the tubers around Thanksgiving (US) giving them a full 90 days. The tubers will/may be smaller than if I had planted them at the proper time, but every mouthful counts in the lean times, AKA winter.

I may fail, but nothing ventured nothing gained. Worse comes to worst, I'll leave some of them in the ground and they'll put on new seed growth when the temperature is ripe for them to next year. I'll just mulch them heavily over winter and add compost in the spring. Or, I'll have a fabulous harvest. It's anybody's guess. Wish me luck.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Green Beans Avalanche in my Homesteading Kitchen!

I'm up to my knees in baskets of picked green beans in my kitchen right now. I'm picking almost 20 lbs of them every other day. I'm not complaining mind you. I'm loving it! Last week I planted the final succession planting of bush green beans for the season. They'll be harvestable in early September. As one planting rotation peters out, the next one is ready to be harvested.

A 20lbs harvest will only fill 15 pint jars which means I'll be 4 jars short of a full load. I hate wasting the energy to can without a full canner load, but then I could use my smaller canner and just do multiple batches too which cuts into my time for other things. What I'll usually do is can a smaller load and save the unused green beans to can with the next 20 lb harvest. So every other batch is a small canner load. With the larger canner every third rotation uses every green bean for 19 full jars (a full big canner load) with no beans leftover. After so many years of doing this, I've got the math down pat. 😀

We need them to be able to eat greens beans twice a week until next harvest. This doesn't includes beans added into soups and casseroles. I calculated 104 pint jars for the two of us. We will eat one full jar in one meal unlike other vegetables that can be stretched over two meals. There's 3/4 of a pound of beans in each jar (1/2 a lb serving equals a little over 1/2 a cup for me and a 1/4 of a cup for Mel). We'd need a minimum of 78 lbs to fill 104 jars as just a side dish. But I need extra green beans for beef and chicken vegetables soups, fried green beans, green bean casseroles, etc.

I calculated 6 gallon bags of fried green beans are needed to go with sandwich type dinners. A one gallon bag makes four servings for us. I'll need five lbs for each of dozen jars of beef and chicken vegetable soups I can of which I'll make a total of 24 jars of each for stores. I'll need another 5 lbs for the vegetable based mixed vegetables jars for pot pies and the like. It's these little things that bring the total pounds needed to well over 100 lbs of this one vegetable and every other vegetable in the mix.

Sounds insane for only two people, doesn't it? But take a look at your consumption and you'll soon realize this is what it takes to feed someone for a year. In the mean time, there's the fresh eating of green beans twice a week while the harvest is ongoing too. We'll have almost six months of this going into the stores after the beans are all harvested and the plants are pulled for composting. We will have a six month worth of just in case like last year's garden failure. Keep in mind I'm also saving seed for the next planting too.

I read about the Ruth Stout method of gardening. I wish I knew someone who had horses. Manure and old hay would be a godsend for completing the orchard planting area. The expense of hay is one I'd like to do without, plus we don't have a truck to haul it anymore. I know people have them because I've seen them. We'd have to get a hitch and a trailer to be able to get it. Right now with the months of rain we've had, the main drive in of the driveway is washed out very badly. Nobody wants to chance messing up their trucks even attempting to come down it even with 4 wheel drive. And yet, we go up and down it in Mel's Blazer and the neighbor farther up the hill does too. Of course, we have no choice either if we have to leave. Sigh! It's always something.

Well, I've had enough resting of my foot. It's time to start canning again.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Crazy Weather Affecting Plant Growth

It used to be that you could predict the weather by the seasons. Especially here in Georgia. Even though I moved to the northern part of the state, it's still Georgia. Maybe it's the climate change, but the past few years it's been insane. You can't predict nothing.

In the past three years we've had...

• 100+ days of drought.
• A category 1 hurricane hit us in these mountains.
• Torrential downpours, flooding, washed out roads, etc even in these mountains.
• Snow and ice in March and April.
• Unseasonably late cold snaps.
• Unseasonably late or no seasonal changes (a two day spring and fall)

This year alone, it's the normal expected temperature for a few days or maybe a week, and then it's be cold again. Our poor garden doesn't know what's going on either.  It's supposed to be summer. But yet, the weather went from a normal highs in the 80s & 90s to a high of maybe 70 for a week, and then back again.

My heat loving veges like tomatoes, okra, squashes, peppers, eggplant, and melons are happily dancing in the sun producing flowers and fruit one week to having their leaves curl up and dying off the next. We experienced gardeners are left scratching our heads at a loss of what to do, what to plant, and praying that we get a crop this year. Others, who just started gardening this year, are wondering if the "new age of victory gardens" is a cruel joke and are disheartened.

I mean normally by now, I'm in shorts and tank tops, and praying for a cool breeze. I still haven't packed up my flannel shirts in various thicknesses. Every time I wash them all intent on packing them away, the weather turns cooler again and I'm grabbing them again. It's the end of June already!

Does this mean we are facing a later longer fall season? Your guess is as good as mine. There is no second guessing Mother Nature. Of course, with greenhouses you could combat some of this unpredictability. If this month was any indicator, I would have raised or lowered the vent sides four times or replaced the plastic with shade cloth and back again. My corn (and other plants) will be knee high by the 4th of July but will be stunted in growth with this weather.

Bees and other pollinating insects do not like the cooler temperature either. Many a morning (earlier than 9AM), I'm finding bumble bees in my garden on the ground too cold to fly. I'll gently pick them u in my gloved hand to warm them. Once they are warmed, they'll fly away and get busy. If they don't work, we don't eat. Yes, it's taking my life in my hand to do this. I've already stated in here that I'm highly allergic to bees on this blog, but if they get too cold, they'll die and I need them. The sun has been up a few hours already, but they are still too cold to fly. It's summer fer God's sake! Luckily the smaller bees and wasps that frequent our garden are busily working on my green beans, peas, and other vegetables that are flowering. And yes, even though it's almost July, my English peas are still growing and flowering! My lettuces and spinach still haven't bolted yet. I'm still waiting for my potatoes to flower. I should have harvested them by now. At this rate, it will be time to plant my fall rotation of cooler weather  crops again by the time these spring garden plants die off and are fully harvested. Is that insane or what?

I know it's the same all over the country because I read other bloggers. Except for maybe Florida, Texas, or California... farmers are complaining. Meanwhile, my orchard grass needs to be cut, dried, and baled. We don't have rabbits anymore that will need to eat it. Sigh! The only high point in gardening this year is a mute point. Only the

her blog

grass crops are doing well. We really don't eat the grasses, but we may have to learn. As much rain as we've had I should have planted the upland rices like Leigh over at 5 Acres and a Dream did, but I didn't. Isn't hindsight wonderful?! But it all goes back to how unpredictable the weather has been.

 
Well enough complaining and back to work in the garden and the critters. We've had a total of two of Mel's hens get loose and are now part of Big Red's harem. I have no idea where they are laying their eggs and I'm not about to challenge him again to get them back with the rest of the girls. It took me almost three weeks for the puncture wounds to heal from our last battle.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

New Adventures in Gardening for Me

I don't know anyone who enjoys pulling weeds. Do you?

In the orchard area, we simply lay down cardboard, rough compost, and straw/hay every fall. We are still conditioning the soil in that area from hard, compacted, clay soil. We sow orchard grass seeds in the spring, and deer forage in the fall. We've tilled it all under once. Each year the weeds we don't want grow less and less as the plants we do want produces more and chokes out the weeds. Our orchard area is 1/4 acre of terraced hillside dropping a total of 300 ft. There's no way I'm hand pilling unwanted weeds there.

My 2020 garden experiment

In our summer garden in front of our house, we are trying something new I saw on YouTube, landscape fabric. I know we've tried it before with little to no success, but we'll be trying a different tactic, as Living Traditions homestead does. To try it out, I bought a heavy duty landscape fabric like they did. It's 4'x50' and much heavier than we've used before. After Dave's grandson tilled the garden, we let the rains settle the soil a bit. We laid two 25' rows of the weed cloth down. We pinned it down about every  8"-12" and overlapped the edges about 6," I burned holes in the fabric every 2' for the transplants to go in. So it looks like this. The black area is the landscape fabric. I'll put 6 cattle panels anchored by T-posts between the two rows of tomatoes to support them. I'll also be putting a drip hose line between the rows and on the outside edges, so 3 lines total.

For the other two rows of Roma tomatoes, I'll do it the same way I always have. If this works, I'll buy more landscape fabric for the other areas of the garden. This should make it easier to work smarter, not harder in the future. None of us are getting any younger. FYI (for your information), I rotate where I plant my vegetables every two years. I planted my tomatoes where my 3 sisters row is in 2018. I planted them a foot apart and that was way too close together so this year I'm giving them 2'. Even after all these years of organic gardening, I'm still trying new things to make it better, There's no absolutely right way to garden. You can read dozens of books but until you get your hands dirty, get out there, and do it, you'll never find what works for you. You take the basic principle, tweak it, and make it your own.

The only bit of bad news is that our last remaining angora died. I believe the same parasite that killed Buddy Baby was the reason. So we are out of the rabbit fiber business. There goes my instantly usuable rabbit poo tea and time release fertilizer. Well, we've got plenty of chicken manure. It'll just have to be composted first.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

The Rain is Gone. Let the Work Begin!

Crazy weather in reverse now

After the past couple weeks of rain and cooler temperatures, we are having the rises in temperatures into the 80s finally. The weather the past couple years has been nuts. Global warming or whatever is the cause has made it difficult to predict growing wise.

Mel was finally able to make a pass with the weed eater to prepare it for tilling the summer garden. The weather and me has made the planting late this year. Maybe fall and winter will be late coming also, but as I said, it's been hard predicting the weather. As crazy as it sounds, I'll be prepping the fall seeds as soon as I finish planting the summer garden... just in case. I can't afford to lose a single opportunity to grow food.

I've harvested 4 lbs of oregano, 2 lbs of rosemary and 1 lb of sage from the perennial herb beds so far. I gave them a "haircut" this week. That wasn't even cutting it to the ground. I left a foot on each plant to continue to grow! When you think of the cost savings in just oregano, it's mind boggling. A 24 oz jar/ 1.5 lbs) of dried oregano is $24-$27 in the stores. Four pounds of fresh equals two 24 oz containers full after it was dried. All I did was buy six plants ($3.50 each) two years ago.  Sure I watered it some and spread compost around them each fall, but that was about it besides harvesting the stems. By the time of the first frost killing it back (I do the six inch crop cut, and add compost mulch) I'll have harvested six to eight pounds of oregano. That's dried weight and a savings of $90+ for ONE herb. [Rosemary $16 for 24 oz, Sage $17 for 16 oz] Of annual herbs, like basil, I'll have harvested about half that much but every little bit helps. We are self-sufficient in the major herbs we use.

On a side note- I'm using the new Blogger interface for the first time and it's taking me twice as long to do everything. It's quite irritating. It's been over a decade since they've done this, and I've held off not doing it until they gave me no choice. My old, stroke addled mind does not take kindly to changes. 

Today is our youngest daughter's birthday! Happy Birthday, Jennifer! 🎂❤

The English peas have flowered and set fruit. As soon as they fatten up, I'll harvest them. I think I'll freeze them rather than canning them this year. I can always can them later. But it all depends on the harvest, if I can get 80 lbs, I'll consider canning them. Does 80 lbs sound like a lot of peas to you? Well, think about it. If a 15 oz (8 oz drained) can of peas provides a vegetable for two meals, we eat peas twice a week (including soups, stews, and pot pies) times 52 weeks in a year that roughly equals 104- 1/2 lb pint jars or freezer bags for two people for a year.

That's how I do the math to get how much to plant. I've got 60+ pea plants in the ground. Yes, every seed sprouted. I consider myself extremely blessed. I love❤❤ Park Seed Company! All of them had flowers on them. The bees and other pollinators did their job. How do I know? I watched them and counted. I even discounted the flowers by 50%, and still we'll have enough peas.   Is that counting your chickens before they hatch? Maybe, but that's how critical this harvest is for us.

Extra peas were planted against forces of nature (storm damage, bugs, birds, etc.). I try to plan for every contingency. So I planted my peas on 4-8' rows. When I am finished with the peas, I'll pull and chop them up for side dressing for my asparagus patch. Nothing goes to waste on this homestead. Legumes like peas and beans are nitrogen fixers into the soil and asparagus are heavy feeders of nitrogen. It doesn't hurt the parsley planted between the asparagus either.  

My homesteading waste not want not principle takes a lot of research and planning before implementing. It's knowing a combination of companion planting, how plants multiply (by root or self sowing, etc.), and knowing each plant and their life cycle. Most is done prior to planting the first seed. After that, it's just doing it like it is for me now. I still need refreshers from time to time even after thirty years of gardening, so I hit the books. Organic gardening is almost an art form to get the optimum bang for your buck and a healthier you.

"Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Mel's Garden Experiment- 5-Gallon Wicking Buckets

As I've already stated in here, Mel's idea of gardening is for fresh eating and mine is self sufficiency. At times, never the twain meet. She's more for experimenting and mine is tried and true. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above trying something new. I've done it quite often, but I demand results. Show me how to get the same results and I'll go for it with you.

Each year, Mel tries something different in the garden and I'll let her. Last year the garden was all hers. It was a bust and all the hard work, I'd spent ridding weeds from the gardening areas was laid to waste. But it wasn't a total waste. You see, all the rime and money I had put into building great soil wasn't wasted. It's still there under all those weeds.

Best yet, all the earthworms and red wigglers are abundant for vermicompost. I can't lift a spade full of dirt without disturbing a few. They are happily breaking u the soil pooping out their "golden" fertilizer, reproducing, and loosen the soil without me lifting a finger. Ya gotta love that. Added to that rabbit manure, composted chicken waste, and  leaves and their molds, and I have soil with block busters to grow things without adding chemicals. It was 4-5 years in the making to get here.

Mel hates weeding. Because of this, my almost weed free garden went to the weeds last year in an explosion. They choked out all the vegetable plants. Those that weren't choked out struggled and were impossible to harvest because they couldn't be found. Disgusted, Mel left it alone. Enter Jo this spring. We need the vegetables so I'm taking the garden back. Mel will be allow to experiment, but only in a small section.

Over the winter, Mel watched a YouTube video on self watering wicking tuns and high tunnels. That's the answer to a no wedding garden she thought, so she planned the garden and was going to build a high tunnel over the garden area. I wasn't about to spend another cent on a "hair brained scheme" no matter what everyone else said about it. I know Mel. I watched several videos and was on the fence about the plan.

 

I told Mel to try it first. We had enough stuff on the homestead to make them for nothing. What homestead doesn't have surplus 5- gallon buckets? We have bags of empty soda cans. The aluminum recycling place is closed due to the county lockdown because of COVID-19 so the soda cans are adding up. For the fill pipe, we repurposed scraps of PVC and support legs from some cheap storage racks. And for the fill "dirt" we recharged raised bed "soil" and compost. We didn't use the chemicals Leon did in the video. Instead we used the compost with blood and bone meal. 

Mel didn't want to place the buckets on the ground so she built stands a foot off the ground. She used scrap lumber, scrap bricks, (leftover from the porch and other building projects) and already purchased wire shelves. I had bought the previous year for rabbit cages and food pantry shelves, but didn't use them. So my cost for this venture was zero. You gotta love that!

It ended up looking like this.

So Mel can piddle prattle in the garden this year with her buckets. Here's hoping it works out well for us. She's testing out bush green beans, corn, cucumbers, and beefsteak tomatoes. I planted oregano in with the tomatoes. She argued with me, but I did it anyhow. We're breaking down the elevated raised beds of  oregano, sage, lemon balm, and lavender this year. I may transfer those into some wicking pots too, but we'll see how many I can plant around my heirloom Roma tomatoes. Did you know these herbs are perennials?  Plant them once, watch them self sow, and multiply. 

I firmly believe in companion planting.I planting peas or beans, and parsley in my asparagus patch each year, Oregano, basil, and garlic with my tomatoes. My potato plants are surround by dill weed. These are just a couple of examples. They combat predatory insects and diseases. They have a symbiotic relationship where each supports the other for the best possible outcome plus it doubles or triples what I can harvest from the same spot. When you have a small area to plant, this is paramount.

So Mel can be happily conduct this year's experiment and I can garden for the short and long term. We both win.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Transplants- Into the Ground They Go Goes

When starting seeds I staggered the sowing by two weeks. Now the second set goes into the ground. Now I'm starting all my tomato plants, peppers and okra. By the time they are ready to transplant outside in four weeks, I should be harvesting most of the lettuces and radishes except for the daikon. I'll let the Daikons grow a little bit longer until it's time to harvest the Napa cabbage and a few onion tops The carrots should be ready by then also for some dynamite Kimchi.

I sowed 3 bell pepper seeds, 6 gochujang pepper seeds, and 6 cayenne peppers. For tomatoes I sowed 40 Roma tomato seeds, 3 each of Purple Cherokees and Beefsteaks. That should make enough canned tomato sauce and diced tomatoes  for two years' worth. Some I'll dehydrated tomatoes for tomato powder and have plenty for fresh eating. I've doubled the amount of tomato plants than I planted in 2018 because I ran short of two years' worth.  After the garden failure of 2019, I'm not taking any chances. For corn and green beans, well I've doubled those plants too. But okra I kept at four plants. My plan is to resow green beans every two weeks until August. I'll be planting Black Oil Sunflower seeds, for the bunnies and chickens with the corn side by side to help support each other. I'll be doing the three sisters method of planting with black eyed peas, zucchini and straight neck yellow squash.

I may plant some cantaloupes, watermelons, and sweet potatoes under some of the popcorn in the orchard area also. My experimental plants this year down in the orchard is apple and bird house, and luffa gourds. I can trellis them with 8' flat pallets to form a "fence" between the chicken area compost piles and the orchard grass. In another 4'x8' raised bed plot of the orchard, I'll be trying my hand at growing upland rice. This will leave an 1/8 of an acre, give or take, for orchard grass. That's almost a year's worth of grass hay (in two cuttings) for the two rabbits we have left. The ground in the orchard could use another year or so to be fertile enough for general planting. Whether I get to all of this remain to be seen, but that's the plan. If the amount of produce doesn't harvest that much, it's fine. There's always next year. Organically grown produce is a process.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Sowing Seeds and Watching Them Grow

Is there anything more boring than that? Anything is farther from the truth. Every farmer longs for this time of year.  Here in our necks of the woods violets, daffodils and crocus are all abloom. They are first to hearld in the coming spring. The peach trees are starting to show their colors this week too. Of course many a year, these blooms are covered just as quickly with late snows or killing frosts. Peaches actually need this drop in temperature to produce good fruit.

I'm watching for the first signs of green sprouts in my indoor garden. Any day now, I should see the new signs of life in these trays. Each sprout holds a promise of abundant growth and harvest. We are positively giddy at the promise.

For the first time in months, I didn't rush to start a fire in the wood stove upon rising. There may be a few coolish days to come, but spring is definitely on it's way. I'm itching to get my hands dirty. Not the little bit dirty from planting seeds, but the up to the elbows of sweet smelling earth kind of dirty. I get this way around mid March and it continues through to October. From Daddy's little girl making mud pies to a gardener trying to live an organic, self sufficient lifestyle. Yes, it's been my life long dream.

So I sowed carrots, lettuces, radishes, and green peas week before last. My potato chits are hardening off and ready to go in the garden. I took a week off and now this week, I'm sowing some more seeds. Thirty to sixty seeds each. I'll repeat the pattern again this week. In two more weeks, I'll sow corn, onions, garlic, and herbs. I like the instant gratification of seeing plants in my garden. Plus, I can mulch around plants better to hold down the weed population. After the weed explosion of 2019, we honestly considered planting everything in pots this year.

Mel and I differ in opinions on starting seeds. I say, start them all and plant the plants. This way I can pick and choose which plants to grow. Mel says plant the seeds in the grown the way nature intended. My major problem with this approach is not all seeds will germinate, Then you are left with gaps in your rows. When working a small garden space, every inch counts. Every inch has to produce something. Nature needs a push or a head start.

Thirty Roma tomato plants netting 300 lbs of tomatoes in a 26' row may seem extreme, but I've done it. Secession planting green beans for a yield for 260 lbs of green beans for a year is also doable. Twenty pound harvests of oregano, basil, and other herbs planted around each other provides pest deterrent and happy cohabitation relationships.

I'm looking forward to sitting on the front porch swing shelling peas til my fingers hurt. Loading half pint canning jars with my bounty to squirrel them away until the fresh eating is done. Packing tomatoes away in the freezer to can into sauce later. I will have to can one batch of tomatoes to keep us in sauce though. The case of sauce I made this fall is almost gone.

To have a full stores building once again. Full of the fruits of our labor. Yes, I'm sowing seeds and watching them grow. I'm shooting for 100% self sustainability in green peas, green beans, corn, potatoes, and tomatoes this year. Plus, a year's supply of kimchi and sauerkraut for me. All homegrown.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Starting the Garden from Scratch...Almost

Our garden this year has been a bust. Between my surgery and car accident, Mel's depression issues plus driving me hither and yon, and Mother Nature, it's all worked against us. I said before my break from posting, I wish I could blame Mel's garden plan, but I'm as much at fault as she. The garden I had almost weed free has been taken over by weeds. Where there is a bare spot Mother Nature will fill it. It's a huge change from last year where I met 100% of several vegetables. Now is the time to start planting our fall garden. I think we'll pass.

Mel's thought was to turn the whole garden area into greenhouses. She got tired of sitting on the ground to sort of deal with the weeds. "I'm not getting any younger, ya know!" I talked to her brick wall when I told her gardens take daily if not weekly tending to keep weeds down to a minimum.  Even weed-free systems need mulching and tending. No garden is no-labor intensive to get good produce.

The year before I'd spend hours each day in the garden. Some areas I let go wild for rabbit food, but where my plants were was almost weed free. I'm thinking of a different strategy. We've spent monies, time, and effort building up the soil two and a half feet above the hard clay and granite which was the original garden area. The fact that I produced so much in such a small area the year before proves that the soil is great even the not so good areas.

I'm thinking of starting from scratch again...almost. Especially since I know there is good soil in the garden area. I want to till the whole garden area under and lay a 3-6" layer of wood chips over the entire area again. To speed the decomposition process along, I'll pin landscape fabric over the top of it all for the fall and winter seasons. It will still benefit from the rain and snow, still be able to breathe, and compost while killing any weeds and rhizomes. I liked Mel's idea of a 18" border of coke boxes and straw for keeping outside the garden area weed-free. I'm thinking of expanding it to 2-3'.

Come spring, we should gave a totally weed free area to plant. We'll start all seeds and transplant them into the garden except for the beans. By using transplants, we'll be able to mulch around the plants tightly thus depriving weeds a foothold. I'm foregoing Mel's  standard, single group plantings back to my double raised beds with a mixture of beneficial flowers, herbs, and other companion plants. In other words, I'm going back to the system I know that works. She can have a 8'x26' greenhouse too. It amounts to 3 rows of crops I would have planted. It could work. I'll work around it. I'll be hanged if we have another busted garden year while she experiments with this or that method. We simply can't afford it and I want something to eat from our seeds planted.

While during the composting/weed eradication process, Mel will be building her greenhouse. She'll be placing the good soil into elevated planting beds inside. This is so she she won't have to kneel or sit on the ground to weed around the plants. Is there an echo in here or wasn't that my suggestion several years ago?

While I thought about burning the bunny greens patch between the garden and the workshop, I've changed my mind. It will also get several inches of wood chips and a cover. We'll see if that pesky spiny rushes and Spanish

Cockeyed Bunny Barn

bayonet can survive through six to seven months of dense mulch, wood chips, and landscape fabric. Although, for this area I could use tarps and cover the whole area. In the spring, I can sow some grass seed mixed with white clover seed for the rabbits. I can plant my black oil sunflower seeds along the side of the workshop for a complete bunny love area. I can even transplant some plantains from various areas of the yard into the space. None of it is deep rooted so it'll be perfect. The fact that we have fewer rabbits is besides the point. We love our critters and want the best for them!

By consolidating cages and rabbits, there will be more available space in the bunny barn. We can better store our feed and hay out of the weather. I can finally have a decent grooming area for the rabbits.  I can build a roosting area out of limbs for the three hens and rooster that actually roost in there at night. The rest roost in the coop. Our fifteen-hole rabbitry will now only ever house seven. But the space won't go to waste.

So that's the plan, sort of. How much we get done is another story. A tractor with a scoop would be helpful, but we are doing things with a garden cart, a wheel barrow, and manual labor, so our physical and mental well being comes into play. For two disabled ladies in their sixties that a major monkey wrench in getting everything done. At least we've got the wood chips courtesy of the tree service back in early spring. It's a start in starting from scratch with the garden...almost.

 Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Saving the Asparagus Patch!

Bad gardener, bad! I left my asparagus 4x8 patch alone fall, winter and most of the spring. Now, it's overgrown. Other things on the homestead took precedence over a patch of vegetable that I won't be able to harvest sparingly for another year or two. I cite the spasticity and pain in my semi paralyzed arm as an excuse, but that's just an excuse. I just didn't bother with any putting the garden to bed for the winter except for pulling dead plants, sprinkled some compost, and spread a layer of straw.

I planted the bare root vegetable late last spring. Being a chemical free,"organic," self sustainable type, I planted green beans and parsley in that same 4x8 space. Parsley naturally deters asparagus beetles and green beans or any legumes fix nitrogen into the soil. Asparagus are heavy feeders. I basically planted the bed purposefully  to not have the do much to it and basically left alone while other parts of the garden drew my attention heavily. That's the way I like to garden with long-term growth perennials.

My time table is a week because I'm still a week away from the post surgical baclofen pump placement restrictions (No heavy lifting of over 10 lbs, no extensive bending or twisting). I've been a pretty good girl about following these restrictions. I mean, I take an hour and a half to pick the rabbits' breakfast salad each morning instead of the half an hour it usually takes by adding frequent breaks. As much as this irks me, there has been a couple of guarded lifts of 30 lbs, but not many. Like I said, I've been pretty good.

As you can see in the first picture, grasses, wild blue heliotrope, Virginia Creeper various other invasive weeds, and of course, the very present chicken transplanted strawberries all among the asparagus fronds. My mission this week is to clear it all out leaving only asparagus, whatever green beans and parsley that may have self sowed. I'll be sowing black eyed peas and more parsley among the fronds for the same reasons as last year. Ill again cover all seeds with well composted rabbit and chicken manure before putting mulch over the area. Summer is officially starting very soon.

To me, invasive weeds are plants that the rabbits or chickens won't eat like English ivy, blue heliotrope, Virginia Creeper and Morning Glory vines. I'm constantly digging them up, trying to get them gone before they reseed an area. My current wars is with spiny rushes. I'm starting really dislike this weed that has taken a foothold in bunny greens patches and others areas. What I may end up doing this fall is burning the whole area losing both the beneficial (rabbit loving) weeds as well as the unwanted weeds.

I noticed a couple of blooms on my fronds of asparagus, so this effort will not be wasted. The ground will be ripe for receiving these seeds when the time comes. I can see ten of of twenty-two fronds for the crowns I planted, but that doesn't mean there aren't more buried under a blanket of weeds. The fronds will be healthier for my efforts too. It is an asparagus patch after all.

Anyhow, that's my plan for the week. What's yours?

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Another Homestead Garden Update

With the daytime high temperatures reaching 80 degrees and above, it's time to plant heat loving plants like tomatoes, okra, squash, cucumbers, melons, and corn.

While others direct sow their seeds directly into the ground like Mel did, I find I get better results by soaking my seeds in a 10% hydrogen peroxide solution overnight, and then starting my seeds as transplants. I don't like the hit or miss of direct sowing. You end up with gaps in your planting area. This may not matter for those that have a large acreage to plant, but we have a little over 500 sq ft of gardening space to provide our needs. By using a combination of sq ft, back to Eden, and lasagna organic gardening techniques, I get the most bang for my efforts.

So while Mel does her direct sowing method, I'm going to eek out a small space to do my thing. I can't let her have  all the fun. While we actually have enough corn and pickles to last another year, I'm  going grow field corn to supplement our chicken's winter rations and popcorn. While Mel doesn't care for cucumbers or squash (didn't plant any), I love them so a few plants are in order. I'll start 6 and pick the best 4 plants. My gochugaru and bell peppers didn't get started so I'll start a half dozen of those too. They will keep the rats, and squirrels away.

I'll grow the field corn down in the orchard and the popcorn in a (3'x6') "raised" bed area. This way there is no cross pollination between the two types of corn with several hundred feet and the barn between them. It's a raised bed because I'm raising the soil about a foot to two feet from ground level with no containment boards.

On the short ends with popcorn, I'll use a variation of the three sisters method and sq ft gardening method. I'll plant my cucumber or luffa sponges at each of the corner with one corn plant in the center. I'll plant a squash (zucchini and yellow) plant in outer most edge of the corner and 4 garlic plants along the inner edge.  In between the corner squares I'll plant three corn shoots in the 1 open squares.

On the long sides for every other square, I'll plant one corn two peppers (1 gochugaru and 1 bell), and 4 scallions, or small onions with garlic planted along the the back edge. I'll have 2 squares on each side four a total of four of each type of peppers.For every missed sq ft, I'll plant three corn plants. I'll intersperse peppermint  or cosmos flowers along the the front of the rows. About five plants in each square.

In each interior square, I'll plant three corn plants. Again, I'll plant three cosmos flowers or dill with them in every other or there about. Sound nuts? Believe me, there's a method to my insanity of  planting like this.

As a small-time, organic gardener, I believe in companion planting and natural pest deterrents. My number one problem in growing corn is squirrels and rats. Onion, garlic, and hot peppers and peppermint. they even shy away other predatory animals and pests. Rabbits love mint, but not the others so the young shoots are protected.

My second problem is corn earwig worms by planting cosmos and dill around the corn shoots encourage green lace wings to come and stay. Green lace wings just love the corn earwigs and other pests that can destroy your garden. Besides, it looks pretty and you can eat them too. Be sure to plant the Cosmos Sulfureus type only if you want to eat them. The other varieties will poison you! I get my seeds from Baker Creek. They give my garden bright spots of color specially after the corn stocks dry and turn brown.

When you harvest your dried corn (popcorn and field) you can also harvest the seeds from the flowers for next year. I've done this for a couple of years now. Although they are an annual, they reseed themselves easily. this year I've got an abundance of seed of cosmos and dill so I mixed them into the orchard grass seed (I plant the corn with  it) this year. Rabbits and chickens love cosmos and dill! It's and extra treats in their hay.

See there was a method to my madness. Oh, after I transplant the shoots, I sprinkle rabbit poop over the whole area. I'll mulch it 3" deep around the plants in the raised bed and 6" deep with loosely scattered hay or straw in the orchard. I'll let Mother Nature do her thing. I don't have to do much except pull the occasional weed and water it if we have a dry spell over a week or two long. That's the beauty of raised bed gardening. It also meets my dual or three prong of use status in small area homesteading.

Y'all have a blessed day.

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Fresh Salad!

I watched and waited for this for months! It's time for for fresh salads from our garden! I was out early this morning harvesting assorted leaves from our red sail, oak leaf, radish leaf, other assorted other lettuces and greens, herbs, and flowers. All our organically garden.

For tonight's salad, I picked the outer leaves of assorted lettuce leaves, strawberry leaves, dandelion leaves, some of the English pea leaves, and plantains. For good measure I pick some small strawberries too. There are still some chicken planted strawberries outside the garden fence line. The berries are pea size.

I then went for the flowers and herbs. I grabbed a few pea blossoms, dandelions, nasturtiums, pansies, impatiens, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and a couple of roses.I peeled the petals off the dandelions, nasturtiums, clovers, pansies, and roses (the centers and green bits can taste a bit off). I do a double rinse on my harvest. Followed by a good spin in my salad spinner and placed them all in the refrigerator until supper time.

I mixed up some lemon vinaigrette about thirty minutes before dinner and poured it into the salad bowl. I thinly sliced an onion and put that with some grated carrots to marinate. Just before serving I'll add my herbs, lettuces, leaves, and flowers. I'll toss it very gently to lightly coat the greens, flowers, and herbs. I can't wait to add our other homegrown veggies to this in the next month or so.

Hey Jo, where's the recipe? Don't worry. Here it is...

Jo's Lemon Vinaigrette 
Makes 5 servings or 1 large (family size) salad

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (about 1/2 a lemon zested)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 whole lemon)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon lemon thyme, minced
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

• In small bowl, add lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and mustard. Whisk until sugar and salt are dissolved.
• Add pepper and lemon thyme.
• Drizzle in oil. Whisk until emulsified.
• Pour into air tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days for optimum taste.

Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

It's Definitely Springtime!

True meaning of the rhyme aside

"Mistress Mary quite contrary

How does your garden grow?"

Well, I don't know about her garden, but the Cockeyed Homestead is starting to green up. The seeds are sprouting there first true leaves and the transplanted tomatoes and peppers are loving these warmer days.

In fact we've only had to water once so far. Mother Nature has been good to us. We harvested some Dandelion seeds last week to plant them where we want them. We've got a spot for these nutritious and medicinal weeds. They can grow and spread to their hearts content. We've also reseeded the bunny patches. Yes, I'm already pulling plantains, clover and grasses for their yearly diet transition. At least as much as my back and abdominal incisions will allow.Yes, the surgery sites are still tender because of all the bending. That's the thing about not being a spring chicken nor a fall hen anymore, you do everything slower including healing. If it wasn't so hard getting up again, I'd kneel or squat. The Golden Years are so great, why are we having such "fun" dealing with 'em?

$27 for a new looking porch

But honestly, I'm enjoying these days. I can take my rest periods with my glass of tea on the porch swing. Yes, the house is going through the yearly transition too. Porches are cleaned off for the warm weather migration. Now that the weather is nicer, I'm investing in the evergreen paint for the porch and shutters. We'll have to invest in some new roller and brushes since the 45 lb puppy, otherwise known as Kassity or chew up everything she can get to, has absconded off somewhere in the deeply wooded property with them. Nothing brightens them exterior  of a house faster than a fresh coat of paint. I'd planned to do this in the fall, but fall lasted two days. Not a lot of bending so it's a perfect job for me. 

A quick sanding job and a new stain would make it almost new again patio set. I may even get new patio chair cushions. The old ones are getting thin. Maybe new foam will suffice. Bennie, our previous German Shepherd, made short work of shredding them. By the time I get the porch done, I should be healed enough from my surgery to do the chairs and table. At least that's the plan.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo

Chicken Planted Strawberries and Wild Violet Patches in the Garden

When you have a small amount of land to work with, you can only preserve in small batches. But even small batches over time add up. Such is the case with the Cockeyed Homestead. Every inch of growing soil is spoken for.

Last year, I left room for the chicken planted strawberries to grow and mature. Now that spring has sprung once again, they have to be moved or tilled under to make way for other plants in the garden. I should have done it during our 2 days of fall, but didn't. The same goes for my wild violet patches. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.

While Mel is implementing her garden plan, I have a day to decide what to do with these patches. I know the violets can be transplanted into large pots until I decide where to put them. But the strawberries should go under the raspberry bushes. These plants bloom and produce berries all summer long with the largest harvest in mid spring. They are already blooming and I may miss this big harvest trying to transplant them.

My question is, do I even bother with them, or do I start them again? I'm leaning towards starting them again. Seeds are cheap. Then, I waver. The berries while small are super sweet and flavorful. I dehydrated them for cereals and muffins last year. So you see my dilemma.Do I start again with bigger berry seed, or keep what I got. It's only their second season and the berries towards late summer were bigger. Decisions, decisions. ARGH!

Mel is still laying the big 24 count soda boxes around the perimeter and a thick layer of wood chips to hold down the weeds encroaching from outside the garden area and making pathways. Yes, we've saved this many! She's completed making two long growing beds. So it's crunch time for me. She only has to make two more rows for her to reach my wild chicken planted strawberries and wild violets. She'll possibly get those done today. Nothing like waiting until the last moment to decide.

Well, I'm off to the garden.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo

Garden Layout- Implementing the Plan

I've been to Atlanta and back again several times. I have been doing a SCS (spinal cord simulator) trial. I had electrodes inserted into my spine to combat my pain and post stroke spasticity. This is the preliminary step for a permanent implant. Maybe, I'll work towards stroke recovery again instead of backsliding into immobility. At least that's the goal for my arm and leg.

On the homestead front this week, it's all been Mel as she maps out her garden plan.She's been busy making new homes for the transplants and seeds for spring planting.

The transplants are beginning to show their first true leaves. We're so excited! There's something magical about sowing seeds and watching them grow. It's God's Grace to be sure. Of this blessing, I have no doubt. A new and sustaining life begins.

Standard YouTube license

 The gate into the garden area is finally fixed. Mel replaced the tree trunk pieces with pressure treated 4x4s. As much as I dislike putting the chemicals  in my soil, it's a necessary evil. It will make a more stable footing for the archway she plans to build. I bought some landscape timbers to use as fence posts. She'll just have to dig the holes for them. For now, Mel's portable fence posts will work.

Standard YouTube license

We talked about making kits for these and selling them like another Youtuber has done, but decided to make the design openly available to all. They are easy and cheap enough to build out of scrap 2x4s. Most homesteaders have a bunch of these leftover from finished projects. We use untreated wood and paint the portable fence posts after construction. The design is also available on our Pinterest account if you are interested.

I calculated just how much in cost and labor it took to rejuvenate and build the garden area closest to the house from hard packed red clay soil to the rich, fertile area it is now. The time frame was five years. We expanded a bit (4'x26'area each year) for a total of 500 sq ft of growing space. We also started a 1/4 acre orchard area two years ago. We were taking it slow until three years ago when I came on board this homestead. So the time frame began in earnest about three years ago. It was a bi-yearly progression of cardboard, 4 bales of straw, 3 bales of peat moss, and compost. Tilling it into the hard packed clay until the beneficial microbes and earthworms could have a stable enough environment to thrive and multiply in our organic garden. But all that work has paid off. We mulch in shredded leaves and compost each year from here on out to continue the growth cycle. 

The orchard is a different story. Cardboard, 2 round bales of hay, and compost times two years. We sow orchard grass and wheat in the open areas each spring. We've tilled the area twice since we've terraced it. Where the trees are we've sowed garlic, onions and leeks around them. Orchard grass is sowed around the fruit bearing vines and bushes. The orchard grass does triple duty as a erosion and weed deterrent, and  fresh greens for the rabbits. What they don't eat fresh (about 3/4s) is dried into hay for them. The wheat kernels are turned into fodder for the rabbits and chickens.

I believe in God's three Biblical promises (not literally) to provide a roof over your head, clothing on your back, and food in your mouth. These are basic human needs once met, you can freely commune with Him. That doesn't mean you won't have to work for it. He has provided for thee needs on this homestead. Everything else is gravy on your mashed potatoes.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo