I finally have chicks...

{Hens and Chickens} that is

I want chickens (the kind that lay eggs) but my husband does not. I don't blame him-we have a small village yard, a dog, a couple-soon to be several kids that keep us busy. I have a medium size garden, a couple fruit trees, a elderberry, blue berry, and many raspberry bushes. He is probable right that we don't need or have room to add chickens to the brood.

So what's a girl to do?!?! I snagged some hens and chickens from a friend and planted them around my yard. I have my little "chicken yard" right outside my back door and it puts a smile on my face each time I see it :)

The process of planting my "chicken yard"

♥ 

 

 

 

What is making you smile these days?

Garden Journal 2009

Stephanie over at Keeper of the Home is hosting an Organic Gardening Carnival. Well, she was hosting it on November 4th but I have been sick for the past couple of days and just got my "color" back so I am adding my post now. I had to realize that it's ok to let everything go for a couple of days - Family and health first!!!

This year was my 3rd attempt at a garden. Let's take a look at my progress...

♦The first year was a flop since I was gone almost every weekend. I work full time so that was when I could really work in the garden and preserve my bounty. 

♦The 2nd year I only put in tomato, cucumber, and banana pepper plants. I did well with the cucumbers and peppers but I couldn't keep up with the tomatoes. I didn't really know was scared to try preserving them. I never wanted to learn to can from my mom (oh my, teenagers can be so silly) and now that she is gone I had no one to teach me. They rotted! What a waste.

♦Third times a charm! This year I was a little more ambitious. I live in the village with  .20 acre of land which my house and garage are on so I only have room for small garden. This year I planted lettuce, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. I also was able to utilize some of my Father-in-laws garden space for planting a large crop of tomatoes (4 varieties) and peppers (3 varieties). I wanted to be able to have enough for hot pepper relish and salsa for my business I started in May (BTW, I have learned how to can! Hooray). Things were off to a great start early in the season. I planted peas in April via seed. I live in Western New York so I was a little worried about the ground being workable for them but they did fine. I soaked the seeds for a hour before planting (this gives them a boost in my clay soil). I started my lettuce and cucumbers from seed indoors then tried transplanting them. The lettuce did ok but the cucumbers didn't make it. I ended up buying cucumber plants when I bought my tomato and pepper plants. Next year I plan on planting more peas so I can preserve some (all the kids in the neighborhood raided them). Maybe a late season crop will go in around August. I would like to plant different cucumbers so I can make some pickles and relish. My tomatoes at both my house and my FIL's got blight, apparently almost everyone's tomatoes around here were hit with this disease. Any tips to battle this? I have a friend who gave me her spaghetti sauce recipe and  was able to get a batch out of the tomatoes (together we had at least 5 doz planted). The peppers did wonderful and got several batches of hot pepper relish out of them. I know I planted banana and a purple variety (not sure on the other 2) and would like to add more for next year. My FIL always has an abundance of zucchini and squash so I get his extra. As far as pests...I didn't have any problems except for the blight. 

Here is one of my only pictures from the season. 

I am looking forward to another sucessfull year of planting, harvesting, and preserving.