Sharing a little glimpse of my garden that makes me happy.
Wishing you a very peaceful day.
Once again this year, I’ll be sharing little glimpses of our gardens. Although so much is growing all the time, there is always a little moment every week that makes me smile extra wide and this is what I want to share with you.
August? How did August happen? Did anyone else see it coming? I sure didn’t.
We are starting to really be in the thick of it now. We are harvesting pounds of food everyday for preservation and loving it. There is something different about this year, we can’t quite put our finger on it, but we feel like for the first time since we started growing and preserving food, we might actually make it through almost all of winter. And not only because we stocked up at the farmer’s market, but because we are actually growing food. Not veggies, food… Feeding ourselves, our children. It is an amazing shift. When we made our new year intentions on January 1st, we had a clear goal : We were stepping up to the plate, embarking on this homesteading journey with short and long-term goals and I couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made so far.
One of the greatest achievements? These beautiful root veggies. They are not the biggest or the most perfect, but they are ours! We’ve never been able to grow root vegetable before. Maybe the soil, the wrong time planting them, the wrong varieties? All I know is that this year, although we will not have enough to put aside so we will still have to visit our dear local farmers to can, freeze and dehydrate some goodies for the colder months, we have been picking beets and carrots every day for meals. The kiddos have been walking around the yard with beautiful white, yellow and orange carrots in their hands, tasting summer, being healthy. And that, my dear friends, is why I do it!
How is your garden growing?
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Little side note. I know I’ve been very quiet this week, but please do not worry, it is for very good reasons. Thank to my lovely friend, I was invited to participate in a wonderful online workshop called HARVEST. We have just finished week 1 and I cannot even start to describe the feeling of empowerment and community I’ve felt through all the lessons, videos, ebooks and open discussion forums. The workshop (although closed right now, but do watch for it next year if they decide to repeat the experience) is all about preserving the harvest and I’ve learned so much. As we speak, I’m dehydrating pounds of greens, zucchini and herbs, I’m blanching and freezing vegetables and have even taken my first steps into lacto-fermentation by starting my very own crock of sauerkraut. So if I’m quiet again next week, you will know why. Since I’m trying to limit my screen time daily, the workshop has been taking first seat. I can’t wait to share with you some of the things I’ve learned after the 2nd week is over.
Wishing you all a wonderful week-end!
Family, Faith, Food and Fabric 
My garden makes me really happy too! I’ve been growing lettuce, kale, carrots, pumpkins, sunflowers, jalapeños, bell peppers (didn’t get any), blueberries (none of these either), and beautiful flowers.
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It took me years to get any peppers… and now, my daughter keeps snapping them off before they are ripe. LOL! We are yet to get blueberries from our 2 little 3 year old bushes. We are planning on getting more next year and trying to get them a bit more mature. *fingers crossed*
Thank you for stopping by! xo
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I suspect the change came as soon as you made that intention, it’s just taken a little while for the visible proof to come through! So hurrah for the root veggies and many more to come; this year you grew some, next year who knows!! And your workshop sounds fantastic and perfectly timed, what a treat to have access to so much knowledge!
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I really do have to thank Kim for the opportunity. I wasn’t familiar with either Ben or Heather’s site before now, What amazing people and resources they are. And yes! Next year, more root veggies, less lettuce. LOL!
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Harvesting your own veggies is a really special thing not matter how many years you have been at it. I have accepted that this will be a really poor year for us because it has been so cold. Last year I managed 6 weeks of eating entirely out of the garden, I am going to be lucky to manage a week this year. Some years are good some are bad, such is the life of the gardener!
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It truly is… The challenging years offer us humility and education, the good years offer us abundance and rejoice… all the years offer us a connection to nature that will never be broken. I’m sorry you are having a rough year. Last year, 2 of our 3 garden beds was completely taken over my oxalis. We lost pretty much everything. It was a hard blow as well.
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Sounds like such a satisfying experience in your garden this year. So glad for you, my friend! Wishing for the same one day for us too! In the meantime, I hope you’ll keep sharing your experiences. xo
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I so wish the same for you! Are you guys planning on buying a house? We’ve been thrilled with the results this year. And today, we picked our first cuke, we have about 20 zukes coming, we counted a total of 7 winter squashes (size of golf balls, but still!) and more than 200 tomatoes. That just makes me sing. I keep putting away food with the initials “HG” on the label… Home Grown! Just a wonderful feeling.
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We are sneaking the very first of our beets and carrots as well, and like you, we’re starting to feel a shift in our work on the farmlette this year. I think next season might be the year that we shift into the 50% realm of consuming our own food. Boy that would be exciting!
Thanks for passing along the Harvest workshop link. So cool! That Ben Hewitt, always up to something exciting; 😉
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If they do it again next year you absolutely must join up, just such a positive energy. It’s impossible to NOT feel like you can do it all. 🙂
I’m so happy your hard work is also bringing about a sense of contentment. Our freezer is already half full and we haven’t even reached half the season yet. I might have to “lease” some freezer space at my parents this fall!
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i’m so glad your garden is thriving! it’s probably all your good energy!! root veggies have been my challenge as well, everything seems so stunted. i read Kim’s advice on thinning (on some comment thread), but let me know if you come up with any other great advice. that being said, yours are looking pretty awesome.
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So far, the only thing we seem to have changed is variety. We went for varieties that thrive in cold climate so maybe that was all we needed. The varieties we are having such luck with are 1 type of carrot and 2 type of beets : Napoli Carrots and Lutz Salad Leaf & Bull’s Blood Beets. For the rest, I have no clue. Maybe it’s the horse composted manure we had brought in that made all the difference. Whatever it was, we are doing it again next year with the same varieties and the same amendments. 🙂
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This looks fabulous!!! We have had great luck with Bolero storage carrots. You might want to add them to your trial planting list next year! I usually plant Mokum carrots for summer eating (they grow faster but don’t store as well) and Bolero for winter storage. It sounds like you are really rocking this year!! That must feel SO good 🙂
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Oh, thank you for the recommendation! We are looking into putting in a “root veggie” bed next year. Now that we know we can, why not. 🙂 And yes, we’ve been freezing, dehydrating and canning pounds upon pounds of food daily. It’s amazing… It feels great! 🙂
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The workshop sounds perfect for you, and it’s lovely to see you enjoying the rewards of your commitment to this. Lettuce and greens are all very well and good, but there’s definitely something special about root veggies!
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It was just a wonderful experience.
Yes there is something about root veggies… our next big success (I hope) will be winter squashes. We have at least 10 thriving right now. We’ve never been able to grow more than a summer squash before so any measure of success here will be huge! Here is to hoping!
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