Welcome to the 2021 Garden
Springtime Garden
Are you already starting to think about your springtime garden?
Me too! I’m sharing what we are working on in the video.
Making Mint and Vanilla Extracts
Smells, isn’t it funny how they can bring memories rushing back. That is what happened to me this week as I was working on making some vanilla extract and mint extract. The wonderfully strong vanilla smell brought back memories of past Christmas baking.
Vanilla Extract
Sourcing for Vanilla Extract
I ordered my Madagascar vanilla beans from Amazon. For a pack of 10 it was $24.99. This might seem expensive upfront however; the good news is you can reuse the beans so you will get your money’s worth from them.
Vodka is the next thing you will need. As you go shopping for it just remember that you don’t need the most expensive brand. Vodka is just the vehicle used to hydrate and coax the vanilla flavoring.
Creating Vanilla Extract
Cut the vanilla bean lengthways just opening it up. Leave the vanilla alone and put it into your storage container. For me it was a pint jar with a plastic lid. I also use other glass jars as long as they are around a pint size container.
Storage for Vanilla Extract
Now put your jars in the back of your cabinets for the next 3-6 months even up to one year.
Seems pretty simple doesn’t it.
Mint Extract
Sourcing for Mint Extract
Mint extract isn’t as expensive to start if you have some mint growing in your garden. Trim it up and fill a container. I had enough to fill a quart jar. Again any glass container will work for this.
Creating Mint Extract
Fill the jars with the mint leaves. Here is a hint I use a variety of mint so don’t worry too much about what kind of mint to use. Then pour vodka over the leaves and cap it.
Storage for Mint Extract
Now put your jars in the back of your cabinets for the next month then take out the mint and you can put the extract in smaller jars or leave it in the jars you started it in. Make sure to strain it before you use it.
As you have seen making the extracts is pretty simple. I hope you step out and try making some.
Here is a video link talking about the extracts.
Worm Farming for the Garden
It has been a busy and crazy gardening season here. I hope that you have had good luck with your garden as well! This has been the first full garden we have had since I got sick three years ago so it has taken a lot out of me to keep up with the garden and then with the harvesting, canning and dehydrating. But I am so thankful for the garden it is what has kept my spirits happy.
So, even though I have enjoyed the garden and it has done well, it hasn’t done as well as what I wanted with my tomatoes. To be fair to the tomatoes it wasn’t all their fault. Ron created two new beds and I didn’t pay attention enough to the soil we put in them. We actually put to much compost in the beds. So the tomato yield wasn’t what I thought it should of been.
We are actually going to put in another two new beds this fall and I don’t want to make the same mistake so I decided to add a new venture to help our gardens.
WORMS
I decided to shoot a video this week about starting worm vermiculture.
Here it is. My first 1st delivery of red wiggler worms for the garden.
Do You Keep A Garden Journal?
It’s a simple one subject notebook that sits on the end of a table I have in my grow room. Right now, it’s pretty bear in that room. I haven’t been in there lately because all of the plants are outside. Today, as I walked by I spied my garden journal and realized I hadn’t written in it for awhile. Not because my gardening dreams have waned but now they are not in this room.
As I picked up the journal and scanned through the pages I got excited all over again as I read through the notes I made in December and January. It made me sad when I realized I didn’t make any notes in May. So, I decided to use this first day of June to update my garden journal.
Want to take a peek of what has been happening in my garden?
Dear Journal,
The last several months have not been easy for me, the state, the United States and the world as we have all had to deal with Covid19. Thankfully, I have been oblivious to most of it because I have had my garden to keep me busy. Here is what is happening right now with the garden.
Hydroponic System
As you come onto the deck our hydroponic system is set up with different lettuce products. Because it’s getting hot the lettuce is starting to bolt and tasting a little bitter.
If you turn right off the deck the potatoes, onions and peppers are over there. The potatoes are about ready to come out. The peppers are being eaten by bugs but we have gotten some sweet peppers already. They taste yummy!
Herb Garden
If you take a right off the deck you will see our new herb garden that we just started this Spring. We cut down two big trees and there are another two I’d like down. The herbs are all in pots so we can move them around as we need to. I have harvested and dehydrated lots of lemon balm, basil, greek oregano and a little chamomile.
Cantaloupe & Watermelon Patch
The cantaloupe and watermelon patch is growing great. I haven’t seen any fruit from it yet but lots of blossoms.
Ron built an amazing ramp that takes me from the back deck down to the concrete slab that has 4 raised beds. At the bottom in front of the ramp is a zucchini bed with 4 plants in it. Big, green and lots of male blossoms just no fruit yet.
The Raised Beds
Raised bed #1: Has 4 cucumber plants with lots of fruit on them. We had one in our salad last night!
Raised bed #2: Full of beefsteak tomatoes. These are what we will eat on sandwiches all summer. I can’t wait. We have green tomatoes and lots of blossoms right now.
Raised bed #3: Probably my favorite bed this year. We call it our CPR bed. It had carrots, peas and radishes. We got a nice radish crop. We are picking peas right now and enjoying them in our salads. And I have carrots this year! I’ve pulled all the radishes out and planted some beans. They are up and flowering right now.
Raised bed #4: This is a new bed and right up against the ramp coming down. I have about 26 Roma tomato plants in there right now. I’ve got some tomatoes and blossoms but not what I was hoping for.
Corn!
In the middle is probably my favorite thing because so many said it couldn’t be done. My corn plants, about 20 of them in a kiddy pool and they are tasseling and have corn cobs on them! Around the pool I have about 13 cherry tomato plants that are growing great with lots of little green tomatoes and blossoms.
So, there is what I have been up to. Hope you enjoyed a peek inside of my garden journal. If you don’t have one pick up a notebook and start one today. You will be glad you did.
Blessings,
Shawn
Garden Tour May 2020
Hi guys, we have been very busy with the garden. I’ve been drying herbs such as basil and lemon balm. And I’m learning how to ferment foods such as carrots and kimchi.
So, I haven’t forgotten about you and I promise I will be writing up a blog about all of the different adventures! Today, I hope you will enjoy a tour of our garden. It will become very apparent why we call it Our DIY Garden. Enjoy!
Broth by So Many Names
We all know how popular bone broth has become and I find it amusing that it has been made for centuries but been called by the protein of the bone; chicken, beef, pork, seafood and etc. I’ve been making chicken stock forever but when I heard of this new broth called bone broth I had to go google it to see what this new broth was all about and how come I was unaware of it.
Newsflash
Boy was I disappointed! Newsflash: the new exciting thing called bone broth… was stock made with the bones/carcass of an animal. I’ve been doing it for years. You know that country song that says I was country before country was cool. That’s me and bone broth.
Vegetable Broth
Now, I’m going to make you laugh right now or at least snicker. I’m not even writing about bone broth, no I want to talk to you about veggie broth. The funny thing to me is for as long as I’ve made bone broth I have never thought of making veggie broth, it wasn’t until I was looking for bouillon cubes and came across vegetable bouillon that I thought about why I never made fresh vegetable broth.
Simple and Oh So Good
The good thing about making vegetable broth is how simple it is. Whenever you have the peelings, ends, cores, and seeds of a vegetable save and put them into a gallon Ziploc baggie or something that you can throw into the fridge or freezer until it’s full and you are ready to start making broth. You ask how to know when it’s time to start your veggie broth? The answer is when the bag is full or you have time to put everything together.
Making of the Broth
You can do it two different ways, get out your large Dutch oven or your crockpot, dump veggie scraps into your choice of cooking vessel, and fill the pot with water. Bring to boil, bring heat down to simmer, cook all day, I usually let it go for 6-8 hours. Strain veggies out of broth, set veggies aside for your chickens or compost pile.
Managing the Broth
You can do many things with the broth. You can freeze it, can it or my favorite thing to do is pour it into some canning jars and keep in the fridge. When I make rice, couscous, mashed potatoes, soups or anything that needs water to make I use my vegetable broth to flavor that item. I go through the broth fast and am usually out and needing to make another batch in a week or so.
Let me know how your vegetable broth making goes.
CPR Facts for the Garden
Earlier this spring we planted what we call our CPR garden which has carrots, peas and radishes in it. We have really enjoyed it and are already enjoying radishes out of it, the peas are growing and I am actually seeing carrots this year which I have not had much luck with in the past.
So, I thought I would share some fun facts about carrots, peas and radishes.
Carrot Facts
Romans and ancient Greeks believed carrots to be an aphrodisiac.
Carrots were not orange until the Dutch worked to cultivate the strain for the ruling House of Orange.
Earlier versions of colors for carrots where white, purple, red, yellow, green or black.
Carrots were first grown as a medicine not a food.
The first cultivated carrot first appeared in Britain in the 1400’s.
Cultivated carrots originated in Afghanistan.
Pea Facts
Peas are best grown in late spring.
The world’s largest producer of peas is India
Only 5% of peas produced are sold fresh
The pea is thought to have originated from Middle Asia
Peas are very high in fiber and very low in fat and calories.
Peas are green because they are harvested when not fully mature
Daily usage of peas can help prevent stomach cancer.
Peas are anti-aging, gives strong immune system and high energy.
Radish Facts
Radishes are edible root vegetable.
The radish is a member of the brassicaceae family; its cousins are broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and turnip.
The origins of radishes are most likely China.
There are hundreds of varieties of radishes grown worldwide.
Radishes are easy and fast to grown.
Half a cup of sliced radishes is only 10 calories. They are a good source of Vitamin C.
The most common use for raw radishes is in a salad.
Daikon is another type of elongated radish, most famously used in Japanese cuisine, where it is pickled, dried, grated and used in stir fry.
Which is your favorite vegetable out of the CPR bed?
Positive Side of Covid-19
Wow, I don’t know about you but this Covid-19 seems to be banging on my door trying to demand my attention, trying to scare me and to take my calm away and hold it hostage. I don’t know if you are feeling it too but I know that a lot of my neighbors and friends are and I want to share some of my tricks with you about how to tell Old Man Scare to go away and offer Sweet Mother Nature a more permanent spot in your life right now.
Helping others
One of the easiest ways to gain a new mindset is to take your eyes off of yourself and to help someone else. Earlier this Spring I started a lot of seeds and soon learned I didn’t have enough room for all my seedlings. I decided to put the extras out at the end of the driveway offering the plants to our neighbors. So many of our neighbors stopped thankful for the plants, it was nice to be helpful to others in my community with something that I really enjoy and stop worrying about things that concern me for a while.
Gain a new skill
A lot of us have extra time on our hands we can use this time to gain new skills that we are interested in. I’ve taken a class in medicinal herbal teas which I really enjoyed. I’ve already started some seeds for the herbs of the teas I like the best so I’m also learning about how to grow these new herbs in my garden. And because of these crazy times I wanted to learn how to bake better so I am taking a class where I’m learning sourdough bread and other bread baking techniques. Honestly, Ron likes the results from this class more than the herbal tea class. With learning new skills it takes up time and helps the day to go faster and my attitude stays more positive.
Celebrate the little things
So, as you are helping your friends and family not only does it make you feel good also take some time to reward yourself. Buy yourself something special, for me I got some new herbs. It filled more time and made me feel good as I was planting them. When I gained my new skills of making herbal teas and baking bread I celebrated by making some great teas for us to drink and I was able to make some treats for my husband which makes me feel good because it brings him enjoyment.
Yes, these are little things but each one brings little celebrations into my life helping me to take the focus off of myself, to stop feeling sorry for myself and complaining about the situation we are in right now with the stay at home order.
What about you? How are you going to help others, what are some new things you plan on learning. Most importantly, make sure to celebrate in the little things.
Being Prepared In the Garden
Last year Ron and I decided we wanted to do a big garden and wanted to learn different ways of growing food. This was way before the coronavirus was heard of here in the United States but there were other factors that have happened to make us think this way.
Weather Phenomenon & Gardening Conversation Article
So, early January we set up a grow room in our guest bedroom. I started some onion seeds I have never planted onion seeds before, always bought the onion slips. But, I have onions growing that I started from seed! Ron built a small hydroponic system and we have been growing and eating different lettuce products from all winter long. I have about 24 cabbage, 24 cauliflower and 18 broccoli plants that we started in hydroponic Kratky systems.
The First Steps into Hydroponics Can Be Seen Here
As much fun as hydroponics is I still love digging in the dirt so I started seeds… a lot of seeds. Back in January and February it didn’t seem like much plus there is no guarantee on what seeds will make it and what won’t.
Well, our grow room is full!
I have tables that go around all four walls, grow lights above the tables, grow lights under the tables. I have heat mats for the sprouting table. I went crazy! To date there a 6 zucchini, 4 cucumbers, 50 tomatoes and 50+ peppers, 10 corn, 5 watermelon, 6 cantaloupe, 7 sunflowers, 20 garlic, about a dozen different herbs that I’m trying for the first time.
Plus we planted a CPR Bed that you can read about here.
Did I mention there are only two of us in this household?
But guess what, I will be eating fresh fruits and veggies and canning and freezing the rest of the things coming out of our gardens. When more viruses or weather phenomenons come and believe me there will be more… I won’t be panic stricken and frenzy buying worried about what are we going to eat because the stores are all sold out of everything. And I don’t want you to experience that either. That is why we created Our DIY Garden we can help you build and create systems to keep your family feed. Click on the sign up to the right and become a part of Our DIY Garden family.
Carrots – My Story
Carrots, it seems one of the most common vegetables out there. But I have never been able to grow them. So this spring I set out to try to grow that little orange veggie. I did some research on YouTube and found a guy that really seemed to know his stuff when it came to carrots. Actually, he had a beautiful garden area so I’m sure he knew his stuff when it comes to all garden facts.
Carrots
A carrot is a root veggie and is probably one of the most popular vegetables. It can be eaten raw and fresh making a perfect snack food. Then it can be cooked usually served with a meat and rounds out a perfect plate. It is a source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium and antioxidants.
Companion Planting
So, with this new information, special items for the bed, and my seeds I set out last weekend and planted a CPR garden. What is a CPR garden you ask? It is a companion planted garden with carrots, peas and radishes. The back of the garden has lattice so a perfect place to put peas. Then I put radishes all around the outside of the garden perimeter to protect the carrots that are in the middle of the garden.
Carrot Fact: We think of carrots as orange, but they can also be white, yellow, red, and purple.
Soil+
But, I am getting ahead of myself and not telling you about the foundational and most important part of any garden is the soil. We work on our soil by building it with compost. We actually have three different compost piles working at all times. This helps us to have black gold in our gardens which is so important.
Remember when I mentioned above doing my research off of YouTube? The guy mentioned adding bone meal and perlite to the soil. Perlite helps keep the soil lose and helps keep moisture in the soil. The bone meal acts as a fertilizer to the plants. So, with a good foundation of soil and the bone meal and perlite I am hoping to start my carrot planting.
It’s Working
We have had some nice rain days over the week with some nice weather. The garden has been in for 8 days and the radishes are coming up. It is so exciting to see green coming up in the garden. It’s still too early to know the truth about how my carrots will grow but I promise to keep you updated and let you know how it goes through the summer.
Did You Know: Carrots can be traced back about 5,000 years through historical documents and paintings. People first grew carrots as medicine, not food, for a variety of ailments.
Your Turn
Do you grow carrots? Tell me about it.