here is my beautiful oregano plant that i trimmed back and am in the purpose of drying for use as our own spice over the winter. we will get several cuttings from this one plant over the season to dry to make our spice. this oregano plant is 5 yrs old and they come back on their own - year after year.
we have a ton of store-bought spices in our long-term food storage...but we won't use any of it if we can grow and dry our own. it's always great to have a ton of store-bought spices in your food stores but it is so much better if you can grow and dry your own. healthier too!
surprise!
the tulips are popping up and showing green. the tulips i planted were a mixed bag so i don't even know what colour each tulip will be until the flowers appear! that's the surprise!
here's a prepper-related item that i am growing for the first time - hops!
can you say home-made beer???? we have a beer-making kit and can't wait to try and grow our own hops! again - you can buy beer, you can store beer - but isn't it better if you have the knowledge and equipment to make your own? from your own hops? again - healthier, too!
some stuff that i planted today - some of which is prepper-related, and one that is simply for my enjoyment:
american ginseng, irish moss, F1 hybrid cabbage and sugar beets! the ginseng, cabbage and sugar beets are all prepper-related - the ginseng root can be used just like ginger and turmeric root - and we all know the health benefits of ginseng! i got the cabbage because it is a super-size cabbage that does well in northern climes and stores well. the sugar beets can be used as regular beets, or you can make sugar out of them. the process is not difficult to do at all! and, even though we already have a ton of organic sugar (cane) in our stores, if we can make our own - that will be brilliant! we are not big sugar consumers to begin with but the ability and knowledge to make our own sugar is also brilliant!
the irish moss is simply for my pure enjoyment. jambaloney said "we have 10 million kinds of mosses all over our land! why do you need to buy moss seeds!". i explained that irish moss is a particular-looking moss that i want to use in my faery gardens. he just shook his head. and now that i come to think about it - the moss IS prepper-related - imagine this scenario: S has hit the fan, zombies are everywhere, no one has any food - what is the one thing that will become one of the biggest barter items??? yep - you guessed it! FAERY GARDENS!!! bahahaha!
anyway, while i was doing my planting, jambaloney transplanted the kale from the greenhouse into a bed. yes - he needs a tiny bit of help with making straight rows!
here are some daffodils popping up!
and some more!
kids - we had a long, wonderful day! and tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer - woohoo - RIVER DAY! after we do some chores and whatnot. maybe even our first canoe or boat ride tomorrow.
after such an awesome day, we of course had to celebrate with some sushi!
tuna and avocado sushi with dipping sauce, warm tamago and pickled ginger. not an exciting sushi plate but i can gum the tuna, avocado and tamago. i can't gum the strawberry due to the seeds.
anyway, in good old kirsty udall style who never seems to get her deliveries on time - we have been waiting for our 2 new loungers (our 10yr old ones finally crapped out!) allllllll day! and this is the third time we waited. the first time they left a note on the door - i must have been asleep and jambaloney at work. then they sent us an email for another delivery day - then changed that day to today! they deliver anywhere between 7am and 7pm which means you can't go anywhere (like walk to the river). we were outside all day and so left a note on the front door telling the guy that if he knocked and got no answer, to come around back. it's now 6:40pm and that guy better get here soon! i don't like being mean but we planned to spend all this evening in the hottub!!! arghgghghg!
oh well - tomorrow it's supposed to be gorgeous out....can't wait! and if everything goes as planned - i'll show you the GREATEST THING ON THE PLANET! it's hot pink, is sparkly and completely useless to most people. and certainly there is no 45yr old woman would ever WANT - let alone go out and GET!!! but she's a real beauty and i cannot wait to share it with you all - bahahahahah! if you don't already think i'm loopy - you definitely will when you see this! bahahahahah!
One thing I have learned about Spring down here on the edge of the plains....
ReplyDeleteIT LIES!!!!
A lot
ok buddy - i used to think that you read the heading of my posts...then scanned while bored through all of the pics...but i always believed that you at least read my last paragraph!!! and it shows that you don't! because i called myself loopy and you didn't jump on it.
Deletei am heartbroken and now know that you only read the title and scroll down to leave a some-what related comment. heartbroken i say.
i am not even leaving you any x's or o's.
Spring? It isn't showing up this year... we went from 80 degrees down to a windy 45 degrees. And today I saw a couple of snowflakes. Good grief!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy our Spring, I think it went north! :-)
hobo - it seems that spring is finally here (*knocking on wood*)! snowflakes? oh crap! but if you sent us your spring - we appreciate it very much! xox
DeleteI love to see what you're planting! And ginseng! Wow! I have a lot of trouble growing herbs from seed so I hope you have great success. I'm in Jam's camp when it comes to planting in straight lines, LOL.
ReplyDeleteWe missed out on spring too; it just got too hot too quickly. But that's always the case it seems. I like autumn for weather better. :)
Leigh - your garden is beautiful and i love seeing pics of it! for some strange reason, i have a really pretty easy time with just about all herbs. except for one. i bought comfrey seeds and nursed and cared for that scrawny plant like you wouldn't believe. this was our first spring here so we didn't know what was already here. we had these big, beautiful, 6ft high plants with beautiful blue-lavender flowers all over our land! jambaloney said - isn't that comfrey? and it was!!! we had comfrey all over our land and some of it gets 8ft tall if we don't cut it down. my comfrey that i planted is still scrawny and has never flowered! fail!
Deletewe are just getting our spring - my favourite season except for summer and fall. our spring lasts until the beginning of july and then we get summer from mid-july right through to end september. we have a very temperate and stable climate through each season and we love it.
i am sorry you missed your spring. and autumn will be coming your way soon. xoxox
Sounds like life is cranking along ok way up there. I can sympathize about your recliners. I always had trouble getting deliveries because the trucks couldn't get past my gate. I finally just told all the drivers to either leave the boxes at the gate or tie the stuff to the gate in a plastic bag. Now only rarely do I have to hassle with driving into town to pick something up.
ReplyDeleteHarry - these loungers are for outside - nothing fancy just something we can lay on and read our books and chat and sunbathe. we actually had them delivered saturday morning out of the blue. i'll tell more in my next post. but yes, we are getting to the point where we just want to make a laminated sign and put it on our chain that says "any deliveries - just leave here". but UPS ALWAYS requires a signature - arghghghgh! sending love,buddy! xoxox
DeleteLove the idea of faery gardens. We have found Gnomes hidden all over the garden here, as we slowly cut the garden back. The lady who lived here certainly had many items growing in it, that during the witch hunt times she would have been tried for it.
ReplyDeleteHow are your grape vines doing?
Sol - i do faery gardens all over the yard. i also do faery garden salvation army store where faeries can come and pick and choose their materials for dresses (it's really just strips of old material that birds take for their nests!). but i also do faery doors on trees and rocks. maybe i'll put up a post about that.
Deletesince pruning back the vines, the grapes seem to be doing very well as they are all budding. fingers crossed! xoxoxo
I hope I didn't curse you and pass my delivery bug to you. I would laugh if he came as soon as you were naked in the tub!
ReplyDelete