Filling in the garden area

I can't believe spring is already here. We are really trying to get things rolling with the garden area but it's been a ton of work. To save money on the retaining wall we agreed to fill in the area ourselves. First we had to get a bunch of gravel to fill in by the wall for good drainage. Cameron did one load in his truck but it was heavy so he couldn't take much. Thankfully, Cameron was able to borrow a trailer from a friend so one more load after that and it was done.

 The wall got some color. And yeah the stumps need to go! They are an eyesore now next to the finished wall.

Next up was to fill it with dirt. Last week was free compost week so we filled the whole thing with compost. I am still doing a mix of raised beds and traditional so I think it will be beneficial to have the compost nice and deep. It took a lot of compost!! Cameron would get a load at lunch and unload it, then another after work and did that for 5 days.

After the gravel was put in, we laid landscape fabric over it to keep dirt out but still let things drain.

We are still working on getting things finished and leveled out. I will post a picture when its done.

The lot next door...

When we purchased the house the previous owners also owned the lot next door. They didn't want to sell it yet though for sentimental reasons. Finally, the offered to sell it to us and of course we bought it!! We are only on .31 acres but with the the lot next door we now have .61 acres. It may not seem like much for some people but it's really great for us!

We've already decided the lot will be cleared and fenced. The front portion will be for more garden stuff that I can't grow in the current garden like blueberry bushes and other fruit bushes, maybe watermelon (definitely a space hog!!), and any other sprawling veggies. The back will be for the boys and have a tree fort and dirt bike track (at least that's what they've decided thus far). Of course, this will all happen as time and budget allow- which will probably be at least next year. We're psyched!

Front Landscaping

I was feeling really under pressure to get my front garden bed dug out before the grass came out of dormancy. Since all the sod we would dig up would get relocated and reused in a new spot it needed to be done quickly.

I started last week doing a little bit at a time when I could with the kids. Kian and Dax played for hours with a trickle of water coming out of the garden hose. I got a lot done but the kids were a mess when we finished for the day!

Kian's shirt saying is fitting for this picture right?!

Over the weekend, I enlisted Camerons help. I woke up early and got started before everyone else. Then everyone came out and started helping and we really got a lot done. 

I took a break for food. It was maybe 20 minutes. I came outside and wow, Cameron had it pretty much done!

Indoor seedlings- after 2 weeks

I'm starting to get worried about fungal problems again. Nothing has died yet but the soil is turning slightly green in some containers. Maybe I'm watering too much? I'll be taking them outside for fresh air as soon as this snow we got today melts. Google said that sprinkling cinnamon might help with that so I did that.

Peppers are finally coming up which is actually a surprise. I thought the air was too cool in my house for them to germinate but maybe sleeping by the fire helped :)

In the Kitchen: Sprouted Wheat Bread

I finally got the courage to try the spouted wheat flour in bread. I was really nervous about it because the last time I had wheat, I was so, so sick.

I tried it and I'm happy to report it was successful! I had no problems at all with it, no bloating, tummy ache or anything.

It tasted the same as regular bread, but the surprise was it rose different. It was way more light and fluffy than non-spouted. I had to adjust my go-to recipe from 2 tablespoons of gluten to none. Which is probably better for me anyway, and it also needed a bit of extra cooking time.

Here is the recipe:

Sprouted Wheat Bread

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
290mL warm water
2T honey
1t. sea salt
2t. apple cider vinegar (I use Braggs)
1 egg
3 cups sprouted white wheat flour (See below for directions)
1 1/2 t. instant yeast


To make sprouted wheat flour:
Put 10 cups of wheat kernels in a bowl.
Cover the wheat in bowl with filtered water. Make sure to allow an extra inch of water at the top for expansion of the wheat.
Next add 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in the water. Let sit in a warm place for 24 to 36 hours.
Drain and rinse.
Place on dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 12 hours.
Grind in wheat grinder. Done!  Should make around 12 cups ground flour. Or about 4 loaves worth (my recipe makes one at a time)

Now for the bread making.

 Load ingredients (in bold above) in the order listed into your machine.

Once its all ready, press the dough button on the machine.  When in beeps just take it out and knead into bread shape. It will be a little wet so add flour as needed. Place in a greased bread pan.

Next let it rise until it comes just about the top of the pan.  This took about 45 minutes for me.

Then place in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Then enjoy your yummy easy to digest bread :)

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.