My garden plan and Cruz's

Remember yesterday how I said the curved wall was good? Can you see why? Yes, It allows for an entrance and a place for the door to swing open. Also, plenty of room to bring a cart full of dirt or anything else inside.  "t"'s are tomatoes that will grow up the back fence. Solid line beds are raised and framed with wood and dotted line ones are just mounded dirt, no wood. The raspberries aren't in the fenced area because I don't think the deer will bother them much. I haven't planned were all my other plants will go because this is subject to change once the fence goes in.

 This is option #2 for the garden perimeter plan. Plantings would be pretty much the same.  Circles represent some kind of paving stones for in front of the door.

While I was drawing my plan, Cruz drew his. I think its so cute! Inside the large box is me in the garden. Then Cruz was nice enough to draw an extra garden (top) and to the left is our house. I told Cruz I loved how big my garden was compared to the house haha! Hopefully someday that will happen...

Retaining Wall- Day 5 (shaping shotcrete)

 The snow has finally melted enough that the guys came back to work. They started by taking off the forms on the large wall.

 Then they sprayed the concrete. It came out a big blob like mess.

Then they shaped it. The large back wall will be filled with dirt so that's why only the top is finished.

 

 Back view. I love how it came out here. Too bad you can't really see it unless you go for a walk in the woods :) There is a trail behind our house for real though.

 As I wrote earlier, we will be fencing in the garden area in side the walls. The fence will be a rectangle which leaves some extra area where the bottom wall curves. For that reason, you may be wondering why we curved the bottom wall. Well, the initial plan was to do just a lower wall. But when Randy came, he said that there is a minimum amount of concrete that needs to be used and the lower wall wasn't enough. So then we decided to do it terraced adding the upper small wall. In order to maximize the space inside the fence we did that wall more straight. So I kind of wish I had designed things better but in the end, it actually worked out well. I will post tomorrow about the garden plan and you'll see why :)

Indoor seeds- 7 days later...

Yesterday, my one of my tomato seedlings finally came up. And today there are lots more, including some of the basil.

Now that they are finally up, I could see how my light set up was working. The result? Well the shop light I brought up from my art room was on one side, and the specialty "plant" light on the other. I just find it funny the all the seedlings grew towards (you guessed it) the regular old shop light. So I packed up those "plant" lights and they went right back to home depot today. And I got some more 5000k (mine fits T12's) lights. They are half the price of the specialty ones too.

Another thing I found is that my window is a bit cool, so I've been taking the seedlings down by the fire at night to sleep :) During the day, they go back up to my bedroom under the lights. I'm hoping that warmth from the fire will help my peppers germinate.

New seeds!

A big part of the fun for me in gardening is planting interesting varieties that I wouldn't find in an ordinary grocery store. But of course that needs to be balanced with things I know we will eat.

A few of my seeds are inspired by my sister Amy who planted these last year and they looked yummy.  (Sorrel, ground cherries, lemon grass, thai basil)

The marshmallow herb I read is a natural remedy for acid reflux, which plagues me constantly.
Also, I will probably use it to make home made marshmallows since that's how they used to be made.

The huckleberries I've never tried before. Although I just read the seed package and it says they are poisonous when still green... which may be a problem with a certain 2 year old (last year he ate a large portion of our raspberries while they were still hard, white and unripe). So those will probably have to wait another year just to be safe.

Purslane and watercress- I know most people consider them weeds and I could probably find them in my backyard, but not in large enough amounts. I have a green smoothie book that I love and she suggests all kinds of greens- these being 2 of them.

The lemon squash had reviews about it that said it was squash bug resistant which I will definitely try since they are a huge problem here!

I hope they all grow because I'm excited to try them!

Indoor seeds

I finally got some of my seeds started inside.

When I first moved to Arkansas from Idaho (5 years ago!), I started seeds that year too. But growing seeds here was different because that first year all my seedlings ended up suffering from diseases because there is so much moisture in the air here.

After that year, I direct seeded everything or bought bigger plants from a nursery.

I'm giving the indoor seed starting another chance and I'm doing 2 things different this time around. First of all, I'm not using the "greenhouse" cover they give you for seed trays. And second, I invested in some extra light. I grabbed a shop fixture and plant florescent lights from Home Depot. I'm using that and my window to make sure those little seedlings have enough light and don't get leggy.

They are hanging out in my bedroom on the window seat. After hanging the light I realized my seed tray was wider than the area of light. I grabbed my other fluorescent light that I use
in my painting room and put next to the other and it was better. I'll probably return the one I got for a 4 bulb light.  Also, after reading online it said you could use a regular 4000k to 5000k fluorescent and it would be fine. I'll definitely update on how it goes since its all an experiment for me.

I know its kind of a makeshift set up but it's only for a little while :)

So far for seedlings I'm planting:

• Cherry tomatoes- I've saved the best seeds for these for 3 years and they are great producers and fairly bug resistant
• Amish Paste tomatoes- planted last year
• Pantano Romanesco tomatoes- planted last year
• California Wonder peppers
• Serrano Peppers- planted last year liked them in salsa!
• Sweet Basil
• Genovese Basil
• Cosmos

I ordered some more seeds too that came today!! It's exciting even though we still have snow outside. I will share my spoils soon. 

Retaining Wall- Day 4 (Shotcrete)

This is what went on last Thursday. Both Cameron and I haven't seen shotcrete done before so it was fun to watch.

I didn't even know there was a concrete truck involved haha!

It comes out really pressurized, hence the three guys holding the hose.

 Randy let Cruz help hold the hose it was really cute. 

And a video:

They just put on one layer, and soon they will do another. The weather here now is icy and cold so I don't think there will be much going on with the wall early this week.

In the Kitchen: Cultured Food

I think most people who read this know that I've been dealing with digestive problems (aka IBS) for the last year. I've experimented with different diets- vegan,  paleo, and just plain elimination diets. Right now, I'm gluten and dairy free and have been for about six months. It's helped substantially but I recently stumbled on a book about fermented foods and implementing what she suggests is not just masking symptoms but is really healing my digestive system.

Image from here

The book is "Cultured Food for Life" by Donna Schweck. Donna talks about her daughter Maci who suffered from IBS but was able heal herself by eating cultured (probiotic) food everyday -a few tablespoons with each meal. So I thought I would try it out and since I've been dairy free I didn't want to start out with Kefir and I opted for what I could find in the grocery store- kimchi. I've been eating it a few tablespoons with breakfast and dinner and it really has made a big difference in how I feel. Since I've had a lot of success with it and the tiny kimchi jar costs $5, I'm making my own fermented veggies now to save money and add variety. I started with a classic fermented food- sauerkraut and a recipe from Donna's book "Dilly Beans".

Pink Sauerkraut fermenting- day 4

Donna said Maci was able to add back in wheat when it had been sprouted first. I can see how this would be helpful because I've read many Paleo books that talk about how bad grains are because of the phytic acid (anti-nutrient). The thing they don't talk about is the idea that soaked and sprouted grains deactivate the phytic acid and makes the nutrient available for the body to digest. I've been soaking my rice and quinoa for a while and because Maci's story mirrors my own, I'm going to give wheat a try again after I sprout it... (in the process now, see photo below)

Donna says you can sprout the wheat, then dehydrate it and grind it to make flour just like regular wheat. I hope it works because I will be so happy to eat wheat bread again!

 My spouted wheat- can you see the little tails?

In Donna's book she also recommends making sourdough bread (more fermenting!) to make it easier to digest.

As you can tell, I am super excited about fermenting! There are lots of reasons to love it...

1. Because I've had less stomach pain and fewer IBS symptoms

2. Because it will be a good way to use my garden veggies (after food is fermented it has to be stored in the fridge but can last for 9 months! The previous owners left us an extra fridge so I have lots of extra space).

3. Unlike canning, there is little to no risk for botulism because there is no heat to kill the good bacteria which eats up the bad.