"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth."
~Exerpt from hymn, written by Dorothy Frances Gurney 1858–1932
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth."
~Exerpt from hymn, written by Dorothy Frances Gurney 1858–1932
“The garden is the poor man's apothecary.” ~~~Old Proverb
GARDEN SEEDS FOR HALF AN ACRE. The following seeds, with judicious management, will fully crop a garden of half an acre, which will supply a moderate sized family with vegetables throughout the year. Vegetable seeds, where carefully grown in this country, are (with a few exceptions) preferable to those imported ; but the utter carelessness manifested by many in keeping them apart when growing, is not to be recommended.
Buist's Family Kitchen Gardener, by Robert Buist, (1847) It doesn't take much for me to have gardening fever all year long. ~FW
September 2019: A few days ago I planted a small, enclosed, fall garden. I was about a month late, according to locals, and most sources. But knowing (from experience) it can be planted as late as November in our zone (climate), I went ahead and got the seeds and plants in the ground.
I planted:
NOTE: Technically this is often referred to as a fall garden, but some of these are/can be harvested during the winter and even into the early spring. Most are cold hardy down into the high 20’s, and we rarely experience these lower temperatures until late November/early December. Late Winter & Early Spring 2020:
January:
JANUARY 2021: The only thing growing is collards.
Summer 2021: We grew 2 dozen tomato plants, a few squash plants, peas, corn, and herbs.
Fall 2021: Planted Broccoli, Cauliflower, pansies and snapdragons. The flowers are beautiful, 🌺💐 the veggies have been destroyed by moths/worms. Neem oil has been ordered to try again. It might be a good idea to order frost cloth, as well. ✅ November 2021
I'm working on new cool weather plants: Sweet peas Greens of all sorts, mainly collards, kale, turnips and mustard. Broccoli Cauliflower Cabbage Lettuces Swiss chard Spinach Onions Late Winter & Early Spring 2022
Late January: Planted storage and store-bought potatoes.
Late Feruary: Planted more potatoes. Late March: More potatoes. Planted mustard greens and turnips in kiddy pool. Doing great so far, have eaten from them 2-3 times. April: Planted yellow summer squash, and tomatoes in enclosed fenced area. (Rabbits got through the fence and ate collards, but hoping they won't bother these.) MORE TO COME. . .We have more squash to plant as well as more summer crops. So far, 2023 has been a very good year for some of our endeavors in the garden. Plenty of red potatoes, yellow summer squash, patty pan squash, several types of peppers, several varieties of tomatoes and Icebox watermelons are the ones that have done well. . .
🥔 🍉 🌶 🍅 Of course there were some failures, some seeds just weren't viable, which is sad, but some were very viable...and we had some losses of fruit due to frost. Mainly the figs, mulberry trees and the dewberries! (The blackberries fared very well.) The vines and trees were just loaded with small fruit when the freezing temps hit and it killed all of them. And then later the heat caused some early scorched tomato plants, even though the squash has done remarkably well in the heat, which is unusual. We're still gathering small harvests, so we're happy, even though we would have liked it better had more things survived, but thankful for what we reaped. FALL 2023 has been hit and miss!
I’m so happy that at least some of the seeds I planted came up!
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Where there's a Will, There's a WayMake it Happen. . .
You Can Grow a GardenDevelop your gardening skills no matter where you live...There's nothing that gives more satisfaction in the kitchen than growing, cooking, and eating your own homegrown herbs, fruits and vegetables!
Some of you may live in an apartment or somewhere where there may be no room for a full garden...Well there are many ways to grow things as I'm sure you know! And if you don't then here are some links to articles I've found: Square Foot Gardening Balcony Gardens Potted (Container) Gardens Indoor Gardening-Growing Herbs Indoors Growing Vegetables in the Flower Bed 10 Ways to Get Free Plants For Your Garden Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss
I highly recommend this book! Jethro Kloss, one of the early pioneers in herbal remedies, found that nature works better than drugs in his crusade for better health. Chapter 2 on Soil Preparation and Farming is especially interesting to me as I love growing fruits and vegetables, as well as foraging. How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable
antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew! ~Ralph Waldo Emerson “And the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.” ~~~Ezekiel 47:12 (excerpt)
Cloche GardeningA simple lightweight covering for spring gardening, when your plants and young and tender... and a heavier weight covering for fall and winter gardens.
Materials used: Plastic 2x2's hammer nails or screws and a drill staple gun staples |
Very informative video on gardening! I especially love the section on "Instant Gardening" at 3:22 in the video below. No digging, tilling or tractor needed!
Homestead Gardening from Kromwell Gardens on Vimeo.
You can find more videos on Vimeo, also You Tube, and look at their website Homestead-Blessings