Getting Off The Grid - The New Plants Are Thriving

Its been less than two weeks since the garden was planted with the "sow directly in the soil" seeds were put in and I am happy to say that all the seed were good this year.

If its the good Lords will, I will have enough food for myself and more than enough to share with others.

The Homestead :

This time of the year its all about getting the seed up and the plants growing, but there is another problem that absolutely wears me out and that is the grass, if not tended to each week it will be grown up and out of control, especially when we have just the right amount of rain, and we have.

When you think you have a nice spot cleaned off, the next day every week known to mankind will be right there in your face, poison or not, it has to be tamed. 

The Garden :

I am proud to say that I do have a garden in this year. I was not so sure that I could get it plowed, this also makes me think of other ways to grow food instead of the traditional "plow the field." The grass is going crazy this year and it seems impossible to keep it out.

The first round of tomatoes that I planted inside has about played out, they have me plenty of small tomatoes. Now I have the next round in the garden and they are growing nicely. I also have round three seeds up for late tomatoes, they will be planted in the garden in a couple months.

The squash are fast growing and fast to die out, they already have their bigger leaves coming out.

The okra is up and thick but I won`t thin it till its a little bite bigger.

The cucumbers are also up and very thick, same as with the okra I wont thin till they get a little bigger.

I have two rounds of bell pepper plants as well, the oldest that I started indoors back in the wintertime are about to bloom while the smaller are now growing nicely in the field.

I have noticed that I have many passion flower vines, aka May Pops, I need to mow that area so I might try to dug a few up and move them elsewhere.

I am so excited to see the blackberries turning red, means in a week I will be knee deep in those briers picking the ripe berries.

The stockpile :

The past week I did not get to home can anything since I worked away from home most days and then worked out in the fields the days I was home, but I did collect!

I collected the rose petals from the other rose bush, if they were a couple days old I grabbed them. 

I think I got all the honeysuckles around here so I will be on the look out at the other house and land.

I also picked more Chamomile blooms for future teas. 

The Learning :

Since I had to have an outdoor facet changed the yellow flag got smashed down, I knew it was good for something as a medical treatment so I took down a book and read that you use it in lotion to heal up rashes and the skin.

I also learned that I am stronger than I thought I was and that with God and determination anything is possible.

By Andria Perry

Photos by Andria Perry