It has been such a busy season around the homestead. Our biggest projects are complete. Is it possible to even say that? Duck house and run, chicken coop and run, garden and fence.. check, check, check! Nothing is ever truly complete, but we like it that way.

I have seen this meme floating around Facebook, and I really like it. We don’t want to rely on the grocery stores for our produce. If the past year has taught anything, we should see how fragile the “food chain” is in our country. Self-reliance is a huge goal of ours. That is why our family garden is such a big deal to us. I’ve been toying with a post all about this, but can’t seem to put my words together well. Hopefully soon I can organize my thoughts. Anyway.. We expanded this year to add a 13 X 24 foot garden on our homestead.

Because we were starting with a section of our yard, we borrowed a tiller to work the ground up. It was tricky to choose a spot. We have many low spots in the yard where water pools when it rains. We also don’t want it too close to the fields where they are spraying chemicals every year. If you know me, you know I’m all about avoiding chemicals. Avoiding too much shade was also important, obviously. It is next to a tree that has lost most of it’s branches. Thankfully what is left of the maple tree doesn’t create much shade here.

We hope to not have to till anymore after this year so that we don’t lose more topsoil. If you are familiar with the back to eden method, that is what we hope to achieve. It won’t be easy, but nothing easy is ever worth it. We have the wood chips to mulch the garden once the plants have a good start. You can get a free wood chip delivery by signing up with Chip Drop. It is a huge truck of chips, so be prepared when they call you!

The whole family got involved in carrying bags of topsoil to the garden. We also did some bags of composed manure. The kids wouldn’t get anywhere near that.

Once we had the topsoil taken care of, we started planting. We had all of our seed starts to put in the ground as well as plenty of direct-sow seeds. We are also going to try growing potatoes this year, which I’m so excited about! We planted foods that we actually eat, which I find to be incredibly important. Plant what you like instead of taking up space with what is popular. We did plant some chocolate pear tomatoes and pink celery just for fun. I have also found that the kids are more likely to try things that we have grown ourselves. They don’t always like it (cherry tomatoes, for example) but at least they try.

Our weather has been all over the place lately, and I am concerned about possibly losing our little plants. We started them too early this year. We are making notes in our homestead planner so that we don’t make the mistake again next year. They were getting root-bound, and we knew we were going to lose them if we kept them inside any longer. If you have seed starts– don’t forget to harden them off! Take them outside for 2 hours and increase the time each day until they are out for a full 24 hours. Otherwise, they get shocked and die easily. Hopefully the weather will stay warm enough for them all to survive.

Succession planting is something that we are excited to try this year. We have several bush bean varieties planted, and we will succession plant so that we have a greater harvest. We are doing the same with our carrots, radishes, etc. I planted some carrot seeds several weeks ago, and we planted a row of rainbow carrots yesterday. Radishes are fun to grow because you can harvest them approximately 25 days after planting. It’s a great encouragement since much of gardening is a waiting game. Then, when you least expect it, you are overwhelmed by your harvest in the best way.

I planted two strawberry plants last year. They have spread and grown a ton this year, and we are seeing a lot of little baby strawberries growing! It’s all so exciting!! We put some new blueberry and raspberry bushes in the ground this year, and it will be fun to see them produce over the next several years.

This has been so much hard work. All of our free time has been spent preparing and working–whether building coops and runs or raking and working the soil. It has been busy and at times overwhelming. It is so rewarding to see it all coming together.

It is that glorious time of year. Spring is on its way. The ground is starting to thaw. Seed catalogs have been arriving in the mail for weeks. We ordered our seeds back in January. We have been talking about the garden since we finished up last year. Probably even before then.

I am so excited for the garden. We are expanding our garden quite a bit this year. (I am just praying the “seventeen year cicadas” aren’t going to ruin it all.) In the picture above, you can see where I have drawn our three garden beds. The smaller rectangular raised bed was the only garden bed that we had last year. Scott built the 4X4 raised bed in the fall for our garlic to be planted in. We are working on another bigger bed. We may actually expand it more than what we have in mind right now, but we will see what we need. We had to pivot our mindset when re-starting our flock.

Where We Buy Our Seeds:

We have a few places that we like to order our seeds from. Some have major shipping delays because of the influx of orders this year. I highly recommend ordering ASAP so that you can get started on time.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds This is where we ordered most of our seeds from this year. I love that they have so many heirloom varieties to choose from. They currently don’t have any delays in shipping. Something fun about this company is they send a free packet of seeds with your order, which is a fun way to try new things. Shipping is also free with your order.
Johnny’s Select Seeds You can get free shipping on orders over $200. They are currently accepting home garden orders, so jump on it!
Seed Savers Exchange This is another place with loads of organic and heirloom seeds. I’ve received free seed packets from them with previous orders in the past. They are currently accepting orders, but limiting the number they accept each day, so keep your eyes out.
True Leaf Market This was our first year ordering with them, but shipping was fast. They also had a lot in stock. I’m thinking about ordering microgreens and/or sprouts from them later this year.
Territorial Seed Company Be sure to check their shipping update page to know how things will ship for you.
Annie’s Heirloom Seeds You can get free shipping on orders over $50. They are substituting seeds if something in your order goes out of stock. Be sure to note if you don’t want substitutions.

What we are planting:

This is my favorite part of it all! We are all truly so excited for this season–the kids included. We are trying to plant things that we can store long term through the fall and winter months and things that I am able to water bath can. A pressure canner is at the top of our wish list so that we can safely can veggies and meats. I am so thankful that I was sent a water bath canner a few years ago to try and review. It has been fun to learn how to preserve foods. There is something so incredibly satisfying about pulling a jar of home-canned food off the shelf to eat. Now, on to our long list of what we are planning to grow this year.

Veggies–
Scarlet Nantes Carrots– my plan is to plant a lot of carrots this year. They take a long time to mature. This particular variety is a good storage variety.
Yellow Sweet Spanish Onions– these are my favorite, and also a good storage variety.
Chocolate Pear Tomato– I know nothing about these, but I was curious to try them.
Amish Paste Tomato– These will be perfect for sauce. I hope to can many of these!
Tam Jalapeno Pepper– I love jalapeno poppers, and we plan to make salsa as well.
Parris Island Lettuce– this was one of our free seeds from Baker Creek.
Russian Red Kale– Another free variety from Baker Creek.
De Jours Radish– I love how quickly these mature. Yummy as a snack and to go on top of salads.
Chinese Pink Celery– Everyone (but me) loves celery in this family. I’m excited to try another variety.
Flat of Italy Onion– This is another variety that I just wanted to try.
Merlo Nero Spinach– This is supposed to be a slow bolting variety, which is good for our temperature fluctuations.
Utah Tall Celery– We grew this last year, and it was so flavorful. The greens on top were beautiful also.
Musquee De Provence Squash– these are beautiful pumpkins, but are also great storage squash.
Cornfield Pumpkin Squash– just for pumpkins in the fall!

Fruits:
I hope that our strawberry and blueberry bushes grow again this year, so we will see on those.
Beni Kodima Watermelon– This variety is a personal sized watermelon. We have found that we don’t eat a full melon before it goes bad, so we are excited to try these.
Rhubarb– We will plant this in the fall. I ordered these seeds to plant last year, but we couldn’t decide where we would put it.

Herbs:
Genovese Basil
Wild Thyme
Slo-Bolt cilantro
Broad leaf sage
Oregano– growing again from last year hopefully
Garlic Chives–also growing again from last year
*I will purchase rosemary plants because I’ve never had success with starting it from seed.
We will have around 90 head of garlic to pull up when they mature this spring, too!

Beans:
Dragon Tongue Beans (to dry)
Climbing French Green Beans
Hutterite Soup Beans (free variety from Seed Savers)
Black Turtle Beans (to dry)

Flowers:
Lavender
Paradiso Mix Echinacea
Hopi Black Dye Sunflower
Autumn Beauty Sunflower
Evening Sun Sunflower

Cover Crop— We have winter rye to plant in our gardens after the main growing season is over. This will help put nitrogen back in our soil and prevent soil erosion during the winter months. I’ve tried to learn about soil health. The healthier our soil, the healthier our plants and food will be.

Of course, these plans could always change. We hope to grow more and more each year as we learn preservation methods. I’ve been slowly buying canning jars and/or lids whenever I find them in the stores. If you didn’t know, there is a major shortage happening on canning equipment. If you are a canner, buy when you see it all or you may miss out. It’s wild times.

I hope that it was warming up where you are! If you garden, what are you planting this year? The big girls want to have their own little garden space to grow flowers, so it will be fun to see what they choose.

Some of your are so invested in this with us. I went out to the coop today to open the door. We have very strong winds today, and the coop door had blown shut. I opened it and stepped inside. One of the roosters was in the nesting boxes and I was so distracted that I nearly stepped on our very first egg. I looked down after he hopped out of the box and there was an egg right next to my boot.

It had been there for a while, so I am not sure who laid it. It’s all scratched up from chicken feet stepping on it. I asked them who did it, but would you believe those chickens didn’t answer me? We’ve had our oldest chickens for 28 weeks. We’ve all celebrated our egg. It’s a big bright spot since we lost another chicken. Quite literally. We have no idea where she went and there has been no sign of her since Sunday. Poor girl.

I also go a surprise second shipment of garlic, which I did not order. I e-mailed the company right away, and they generously told me to keep it. MORE garlic next year? Yes, please.

I hope that you are finding tiny and large joys sprinkled throughout your days. These times are difficult for all of us. Our state has gone back in tiers, which is overwhelming. We are once again having to pivot at work and the way we are able to function to serve the public. I’m thankful it’s not another stay-at-home order.. yet. I’m not losing any hours.. yet. I’m thankful for my job. I am thankful for Scott’s job and the overtime he is still able to get. We are truly blessed.

When everything went crazy back in March, I decided that I was going to use the time as a gift. I determined that I was going to make the most of the slower pace of life and soak it all in. Having a terrible attitude about it all wasn’t going to change a thing. If only more people would realize that fact..

2020 has been far from our worst year ever. That is not to say that this year has been all smooth sailing and easy for Scott and me. It hasn’t. We have faced hard questions and struggles. But, we have faced far worse in our years of marriage.

In this quiet time, I’ve asked myself a lot of questions. I realized that I have said yes to SO MANY THINGS just because I felt like I had to say yes. Since the world crashed to a grinding hault, I started thinking “What would I do if I didn’t care what PEOPLE thought of it?” Would I volunteer to do so much when all it does is drain me? Would I go back to that?

Let me clarify something. I care a great deal of what God thinks of me and my choices. We have been praying a lot seeking guidance from the Lord in all of these things. But, PEOPLE… People are judgemental and like to apply pressure if they don’t like what you are doing. This year has shown the true colors of many people, and if I’m honest, my heart is broken by it. But, that is a completely different topic.

When we moved into the country, we were really excited to start living a more simple life. Our goal is to be more self sufficient– to not rely on a grocery store so much. I’ve always cooked most of our food from scratch, but it was still ingredients from a store. Our garden is producing, and it has been so delightful to step outside and grab some cucumbers from the vine. I made marinara sauce last week, and picked the tomatoes and herbs from our garden. We had garlic and onions from a farmer’s market.

The simple life isn’t really simple. It’s a lot of work. It takes a lot of effort and a constant willingness to learn. I laugh when people think that we don’t have anything to do. We have plenty to do. Plenty that brings us immense amounts of joy!

I learned how to water bath can a few years ago, and it’s CANNING SEASON. It’s a lot of work, but rewarding. In the middle of writing this blog post, our landlord (AKA “the farmer”) showed up to reinstall our dishwasher that needed some work. He was showing me the water valves are, and we discovered that some of the jars in the root cellar still had jam and grapes (?) inside. These are from 1988! He said that there used to be a good vineyard around here many years ago.

Just imagining his wife working tirelessly in the kitchen to provide food for her family through the winter months is so special. I love this life. I love the care and thought that go into every decision. I love that we’ve been able to share some with others.. We’ve had others bring us MANY vegetables.

You can’t waste time with a homestead, and I love that. I love being more intentional with how my time is spent. Shaye wrote a really great post that describes exactly how I’ve been feeling lately, so I’m just going to link you to it here. I’m so tired of the over-connectedness of our society. Do you really think we can listen to the Lord’s leading with all of the NOISE around us?

I encourage you to step away today. Find some quiet. Put your phone away and love the people right in front of you!