Y'all...
I actually did it. I don't even know what came over me... ... I already ordered my seeds for my summer garden. Yes, it's still only January. Yes, I won't be able to start planting outside until mid- to late May. And yes, looking at those seed packets full of potential might give me even more severe spring fever than the temporary bout of madness that resulted in this purchase in the first place. But... since I'm here, and the damage has already been done... I thought I'd go ahead and tell you all the juicy details of my weekend shopping spree!! I went to three different online retailers for my seeds this year: Burpee (www.burpee.com/), Fruition Seeds (www.fruitionseeds.com/), and Seeds 'N Such (www.seedsnsuch.com/). I haven't ordered from this many companies in one season before, but this year I needed these three unique sellers in order to meet all my needs for my garden this year. Burpee From Burpee this season I got potatoes and squash seeds. The potato varieties I chose were All Blue (same as last year) and Daisy Gold. I ordered two sets of All Blue and one of Daisy Gold, for a total of (hopefully) 30 potato plants this spring. The squash variety I bought (my mom actually selected it!) is Winter Mashed Potatoes. It is white and, according to the name, it looks like mashed potatoes when it's prepared a certain way. I think that is why it intrigued my mom! :) Fruition Seeds From what I can tell, this seller deals with organic seeds cultivated for northern growing regions, so it was an ideal choice for my peanut seeds, since peanuts are traditionally a southern crop. I got one pack each of two varieties: Schronce's Deep Black Peanut and Northern Hardy Valencia Peanut. Each pack has 15 seeds in it, so if all of them sprout I'll be looking at 30 peanut plants this spring! Seeds 'N Such This seller is where I got the bulk of my seed order this year. They are all nonGMO seeds, and there seem to be a decent amount of organic and heirloom options as well. The shipping fee is reasonable, and if you order somewhat early (like I've done!) they give you an "earlybird special", which is a packet of 5 tomato seeds and 5 cucumber seeds. I don't remember what varieties those were, but I'll figure it out when they arrive! Anyway, the seeds I ordered from them were: Peas: Golden Sweet Snow Pea Pansies: Super Swiss Giants Florist Mix Carrots: Rainbow Gourmet Series - Formula Mix (4 Colors - red, white, purple, yellow) Sunflowers: Red Sun Spinach: Olympia Hybrid Beets: Cylindra and Ruby Queen None of my seeds have arrived yet, since I just ordered them a couple of days ago. And these are not all the seeds/plants I'm going to need this year! We usually buy live tomato plants when we're ready to plant them, so those are still on the list, and I also bought marigold and lavender seeds at the grocery store a week or so ago, so I already have those in my stash for the spring. What are you going to plant in your garden this year? I'd LOVE hearing about your gardens, it might help cure my spring fever! Don't be afraid to be creative, Nicole
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You may not know this, but I'm a college student, and my major is elementary education. As a potential future teacher, I hear a lot about reflection. It is a good practice for educators to look back over the lessons they've taught, and evaluate what worked well and what they can change and do better next time. I tend to do the same thing in most areas of my life, especially gardening! Now that my garden is done for the season, it is time for me to start reflecting about what I did this season, and evaluate what worked and didn't work. The things that did work, I look forward to doing again this summer! For the things that didn't work so well, I like to try to figure out what I could have done differently, and make a specific plan to change the outcome next time.
My goal with this seasonal reflection is, as always, to make my garden even better this year. I want to combine the best things about last year with the improvements I plan to make this year. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 goals for this year! 1. Get better at trellising, especially peas and tomatoes This year, I struggled with getting my vining plants trellised in time to prevent damage and promote growth. This has actually been a consistent struggle each year. My main problems tend to be finding enough trellises that are tall and sturdy enough for my plants and the unpredictable summer weather. Trellises can be expensive, especially when you need lots of high-quality ones, and they have proven difficult to make on my own! Also, the timing of putting the trellises out can be tricky. I don't want to put them out too early and possibly have them blocking light from my vulnerable seedlings, but not putting them out soon enough can lead to the plants getting too tall and becoming weakened from supporting their own weight. This year, I hope to organize my inventory of trellises long before I'll need them, and have them standing by in the shed where they will be handy to put out at just the right time. I also plan to organize the garden in such a way that the plants that need trellises will be in longer rows, so it will simply be easier for me as I am putting out the trellises. 2. More potatoes (and preserving some of them?) After my success with growing blue potatoes last year, and then consuming all of them within a couple of months after harvesting them, I've decided to at least double (maybe even triple??) my potato production this year. After reading a Reformation Acres article about preserving potatoes, I got inspiration to possibly can, dehydrate, or freeze my potatoes for use throughout the year, so I won't be pressured to eat them all at once so they don't go bad. I also want to continue to work toward being self-sufficient for my food, and having preserved garden produce at my college apartment is a big part of that goal. 3. Same amount of tomatoes Well, this goal isn't really about improving something, but instead re-creating perfection. In last year's garden, I think I had about 8 Roma tomato plants (or was it 6? I already can't remember!). They were pretty heavy producers, and we ended up with several batches of beautiful red, smooth, flavorful spaghetti sauce in our cupboard. I've been eating a steady diet of pasta with this sauce, and several months later I'm not at all tired of it and I'm not close to running out either! I am so pleased that I had enough tomatoes to make enough sauce for a year, and I want to do that again this year. 4. More spinach/improve sprouting (try something better?) Another thing that has been a constant struggle over the past few years has been.... spinach. The reason I grow spinach instead of other greens is because I enjoy eating it, the leaves are bite-sized and more accessible for snacking, and I think the taste is more pleasant than other greens I have tried. Also, spinach does not get bitter like lettuce does! (Which is why lettuce is now banned from my garden!) My problem, however, is that my spinach never sprouts very well. I can plant a whole packet of spinach seeds, carefully cover them with soil, and sprinkle just the right amount of water on them, and still only end up with 5 little seedlings! In order to improve on this goal, I intend to do some more research into the soil conditions that spinach needs, and perhaps build a small raised bed so that I can control the quality of the soil the seeds are planted in. 5. Make use of vertical space (more about trellising) With both trellising and space being an increasing issue in my garden, this year I want to focus on starting to make more use of my vertical space. Right now I'm looking at some ideas for using live plants, like sunflowers, as trellises for other plants. I don't know yet about constructing raised beds, but that is an option I am considering for the future. I may also try to use more sturdy trellises for large vining crops, like squash and melons. This is definitely one of my goals that I will continue to work on for several years before I find a system that completely works for me. 6. Improve sprouting/timing of cover crop So last year was my first time attempting to sow a cover crop, and so far I think it's pretty much failed. I didn't get the garden completely cleaned up until about October, and I was holding off on sowing the cover crop until we could till up the soil. However, the weather and our schedules seemed to be working together to make sure the soil didn't get tilled. When I saw that the tilling wasn't going to happen, I hurriedly bundled up in my sweatshirt, took my seed packets, and scattered the seed on the garden, not even bothering to cover it up. I haven't seen any sprouts that look like they could be the cover crop I've sown, so I'm thinking the birds probably ate them or they blew away or something. I still have a small hope that it will somehow come to life and sprout in the early spring, but that still wasn't the point of the cover crop. I wanted it to grow a good, thick cover to feed the soil and prevent weeds early in the spring. This year I plan to get the garden cleaned up earlier and be more intentional about planting (and covering!) the seeds earlier. Those are all the goals I have so far for this year's garden. I'm currently working on planning the garden, so perhaps soon I'll be able to post my ideal layout, which crops I'm planting, and perhaps even the varieties I intend to plant this year. In the meantime, don't be afraid to be creative! Nicole Today I just want to chat with you about something that is near and dear to my heart: homesteading for everyone. You may have heard this many times before, but anyone can homestead anywhere! Even college students!
Now, that means that not all homesteads will look the same, or have the same level of self-sufficiency! Instead, homesteading for everyone means that whoever you are, whatever you do, you can adopt some principles and routines that will make you more self-sufficient, healthy, and environmentally conscious. Today I want to tell you specifically about some things that I have done over my past two and a half years in college, as well as some other ideas that I've heard or thought of but haven't tried yet! 1. Reduce waste! The first tip I want you to walk away with is to reduce your trash output, especially paper products. Chances are, if you live in a dormitory with shared bathrooms, those bathrooms are equipped with paper towels to dry your hands with. After the first semester of my freshman year, however, those paper towels were drying out my hands too much, making them cracked and chapped even more than they would normally be in the winter. I also began to realize how much paper I had thrown away just over one semester. I realized I needed to change, so I started keeping my own hand towel in my cubby in the restroom. We each had a cubby on the wall to keep our shower stuff, toothpaste, etc. in, so I kept a hand towel and a small container of hand soap for myself in my cubby, out of everyone else's way. There were a few times I forgot, but after a while it felt really luxurious to dry my hands with a nice soft towel instead of the rough, dry paper. You could also get some earth-conscious soap or even something locally made to keep in the restroom along with your towel! 2. Use your schedule to your advantage Every homesteader needs to manage their time wisely, but college students face extra time-management challenges! Classes at odd times, awkward two-hour breaks in the middle of the day, and 9pm group project meetings are just a few of the not-so-uncommon events on a student's schedule. It is hard to have a routine, but keeping a flexible, forgiving homesteading routine is better than none. For example, my laundry/cleaning day is Tuesday this semester. I don't have a set time of day that I do my laundry and cleaning, since I never know what's going to come up that day! I just try to make sure that I use my time wisely and get the tasks done by the end of the day. I've even been known to time my laundry so that it is in the dryer for an hour while I'm at class! That way when I walk back in the building and pass by the laundry room after class, I can just pop in and grab the clean laundry out of the dryer. For you, it might be starting a batch of bread dough in the morning, and letting it rise while you are at class, then baking it in the break between your afternoon classes. The point is, be creative and make your schedule work for you! 3. Container gardening Now, I must confess, I haven't done this one much so far. In my apartment I currently have an aloe vera plant and a basil plant. This is because I don't have a very big window and there's not much sunlight that comes through it. But if you have a nice, sunny window in your dorm or apartment, or maybe even a patio, I would encourage you to USE IT!! Sure, you won't be able to grow ALL your own vegetables, and it might not be necessary if you have a mandatory meal plan at your school. But just being able to spend a couple less dollars at the grocery store, or eat fresher vegetables than those in the dining hall, is totally worth it. 4. Summer is your best friend Plant a garden in the summer!! Use those golden weeks before school starts to preserve some food to eat during the school year! I even used the first few weekends in the school year to can tomato sauce, which I have been eating with pasta a lot. My grocery bill would be so much higher if I didn't have homemade pasta sauce and applesauce in my pantry! Some of the other things I've preserved are corn, spaghetti squash, and jams/jellies. This next year I'm looking at even canning potatoes. If you live far away from home and don't have a ton of freezer space, I would encourage you to can or dehydrate your food instead of freezing it. Since I go home on the weekends, I have the blessing of keeping preserved produce in my mom's chest freezer, and grabbing a couple containers of it each weekend, as needed. I also keep a few cans of different produce in my pantry at the apartment. 5. Compost!! I am so passionate about this one. Now, this one may be hard to do if you don't have your own compost pile, or the city you live in does not have a composting program. If neither of these things are available to you, I would check around and try to find a local community garden that might be willing to accept your compost. Me and my roommates just started composting this semester with a fancy, stainless steel compost bucket. It even has a charcoal filter in the lid to control odors! If you have a place to take your compost, I would certainly keep a compost bucket in your kitchen (or in your dorm, if you don't have a kitchen of your own). It's just one more way to use your food waste for good and make a little difference for the environment. 6. Cleaning products Now, if you live in a dorm, you may not worry too much about cleaning products. But if you live in an apartment, like I do, they are a part of your everyday life. My roommates and I generally try to buy earth-friendly dishwasher and laundry detergents, but I also enjoy making my own laundry detergent! Recently I also tried making homemade dishwasher tablets, but I need to do a bit of tweaking with how big I make them and the other products I use with them. But that's a different story. I'm just saying to look at the cleaning products you buy, and if you find a good recipe on Pinterest that you could use to make an alternative product, try it out and see how it works! Making your own products not only reduces the chemicals used in your space, but also all the packaging it comes in. This is also a good option if you have sensitive skin or allergies, because when you make your own you can control and eliminate certain scents, soaps, and dyes. 7. Have goals This one may sound a bit random after all the more practical tips I've already listed, but having goals and dreams that you are working toward gives your homesteading journey purpose and direction. My roommates and I put up a "vision board" in our living room this semester, filled with pictures and quotes that represent things that inspire and motivate us, as well as the aspirations and goals we have. Some of the pictures in my portion of the vision board include a pantry filled with canned produce, a spinning wheel, a cabin out in the country, and a knitting stitch I want to try. These pictures have a deeper purpose than to brighten up our living room and tell our visitors something about ourselves. These pictures inspire us, and they remind us of what we want and where we are going. It is an important skill to be able to picture how you want your life to turn out in the future, then keeping your current goals consistent with that vision. It may look different to you. You might put your goals in the form of a journal, a drawing, a poem, or a list. However it works best for you, I can't tell you enough how important it is for an aspiring homesteader to visualize their goals and dreams. These are just a few of the ways I incorporate a homesteading mindset and lifestyle into my busy college life. I hope you are able to use at least a couple of these tips in your own homesteading journey! I would love to hear your ideas about this topic in the comments below. Don't be afraid to be creative, Nicole |
AuthorI am a college student who loves being creative and resourceful. I have passions for knitting, subsistence farming, Scripture memory, and anything creative! I hope this blog will prove to be a good creative outlet for me, and inspiring for you! Archives
January 2018
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