Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Sun!!!

We've had the sun for two days now and it's awesome!! We've had temperatures in the high 40's (yes, this is a good thing) and it's so motivating.

Yesterday, Hubby and I went out and purchased our seeds to start our garden plants. We bought those little greenhouses with the peat moss packets that swell when you add water, and started our seeds. We took the leaf out of our kitchen table and put a small table near the windows where they'll get the most sunlight. We planted both Roma and beefsteak tomatoes, Honeydew melon and pumpkins, and green and rainbow colored peppers, too. Ever since I learned last fall that I can freeze tomatoes, I've been so excited for this summer's harvest. I had found out after we had lost many of our tomatoes that I just had to wash the tomatoes and freeze them as is. I so enjoyed making soups with the fresh-frozen tomatoes I froze in the fall. They were so yummy! I also love chopping and slicing peppers and freezing them just like that so I can throw in sauces, chili, and on pizza. The only thing I don't know what do to do with is cucumbers. We're not big pickle eaters, so we just have to eat the cucumbers when we have them and share with our family and friends. Unless anyone has any ideas. (hint. hint.)

We're in zone 3, so we can't plant anything until June after the last frost. Last year Hubby and I invested in a greenhouse and we loved it! Our tomatoes and cucumbers grew like crazy! Our regular garden, however, didn't do so well. Our green beans were meager, our carrots were too snug in the dirt that I had to use a pitchfork to pry them out, and our corn didn't do well at all. The goats we had at the time enjoyed eating the tender stalks and they made great decorations. I also love fresh spinach, but last summer it didn't grow at all. In all fairness, though, many people in our area claimed to have meager harvests from their gardens too. Hopefully, things will go better this summer.

Hubby and I have this dream to be as self-sufficient as we possibly can. I feel so much satisfaction having a full freezer of veggies from our garden, fruit that I've picked, and meat that we've hunted. It certainly made things easier having all of that already available rather than having to go to the store and buy our supper, if you know what I mean. With the economy the way that it is, we have to do what we can to take care of ourselves as much as possible.

3 comments:

  1. We've had sun for the last few days too. It's so great! We need to pick out our seeds as well. Usually we start some indoors, but this year we are a little late on the draw.

    I am the only one that likes cukes in my family. But everyone likes pickles, go figure. Sometimes I have made up Refrigerator pickles, which keep about a month in the frig. They are a even cross between raw cukes and pickles. Also I tried a recipe my mother-in-law gave me called cinnamon pickles. There turn out sweet and spicy instead of briney like real pickles.
    I could always send you the recipe for either of these if they sound good.

    Have fun planning your garden!

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  2. I would love the recipe for both the refrigerator pickles and cinnamon pickles. I think I've had the refrigerator ones before, but the cinnamon ones are new to me. Thanks so much for offering.

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  3. Great, I'll see if I can round them up and put them on one of your posts next week.

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