Little Susie Homemaker

Tag: garden

  • Hibernation

    Sometimes, I want to be a bear. Hibernating during winter just feels right somehow!

    For some reason, this winter, I have felt a bit more like hibernating than I have in the past. Even though we don’t have harsh winters and much snow at home, the colder, darker days just called to me to take things slower and stay home.

    With the fall wrap up of the garden, and heading into winter and getting to stay inside, I have enjoyed spending quite a bit of time in my sewing room (aka, the little bedroom).

    My local quilt shop has an annual UFO (unfinished objects) contest that I decided to do this year. You write down a list of 12 unfinished or not yet started projects that you want to finish this year, with an optional 5 extras and submit it to the quilt shop. They then choose a random number from the list to be finished each month and you either email in photos or can take the item into the shop to show its finished.

    I wrote out my list of just random stuff I wanted to work on or finish with the first 3 on the list almost finished (needed long-arming) and submitted it to the shop. Here we are with February not even finished and I have 10 of my 12 items finished.

    I guess that is one of the perks of hibernating – being able to focus on projects and stay in my sewing room.

    Here are a few of the items:

    This is a pattern I’ve now made 3 times and each of the quilts were gifted to my brothers & sisters-in-law. This gray one was the last one to go and was #3 of my UFO list as I started the year with it needing to be long-armed. It has now been sent to my brother and his wife so I can now show the photo. (The ones finished last year had one that was more yellow and the other was more green. I have enough of the material from the layer cake I purchased to make one more that would be pink)

    This “Chandelier” pattern is one I have loved since the first time I saw it. It was fun to make it once and see how it went together. I’m looking forward to getting this one on the long arm to finish it.

    The scraps of the Chandelier quilt were used for the Dresden pieces to make a spring table runner (pictured below). I hadn’t ever done something with rounded edges and had to figure out how to turn the edges under to sew it onto the square. Thank you YouTube for tutorial videos! I also tried doing some free-motion quilting on my sewing machine. While it was fun to try, I definitely need a LOT more practice to get better at it.

    One of the items on my UFO list was to finish 3 insulated RV window covers. (We need a total of 9, but I thought I’d just put 3 on my UFO list). We plan to be using our trailer more often and in early spring, the weather can be chilly.

    I finished the initial 3, then realized a 4th window was likely the same size and quickly finished the 4th cover. While these aren’t very pretty, they will help insulate around all the single-pane windows to keep the cold air out. Once they are in the windows, we’ll pull the blinds down and won’t really see much of them anyway.

    Since I’ve started quilting, I’ve seen quilt a few “sew-a-long” or “block of the month” (BOM) projects. A pattern is released on a regular basis, and you make that one square before they release the next pattern. It gives you a lot of patterns to try all while building skills and leading to a finished sampler quilt at the end.

    I decided to try the Riley Blake Designs BOM pattern this year. I was able to get all of the material cut and have everything organized by block for the whole quilt.

    It has been fun to try new patterns and see how something seemingly complex can be really simple to put together. Some of the blocks, I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out until I literally pieces the last bit.

    Here are a few more of the projects from the UFO list that I’ve finished (or at least gotten to where they are ready for the long-arm) so far this winter:

    As winter is wrapping up, I’m starting to look ahead to the garden. We’re only a few weeks away from the early, cold-weather stuff being able to get planted.

    Plans for the garden in the next few weeks are to expand the existing rows. Amend the soil (we’ll go pick up some horse manure to spread over everything), and get new supports put up for a couple of things.

    We will also be growing some flowers this year for my step-daughter’s wedding in August. I hope things will actually grow for us so she has a large variety to use for her special day!

    Winter hibernating has been fun, relaxing and needed. As the days are getting a bit warmer, spring is coming and I look forward to what it brings with it this year!

  • Garden – June 2025

    My garden is growing!

    I wasn’t sure how things would work with being gone at the wrong times this year, but thankfully things seem to be chugging along.

    Some things are just plain slow, and I need to do some education to figure out why (beets – yeah, you!!). And some things are plugging along as expected and should be ready to harvest on time soon (peas – way to go babies!!)

    Asparagus, Cauliflower and Volunteer Potato
    Peas, Kale, Black Beans, Cucumber, Spinach, Lettuce
    Beans, Beets

    In the main garden, I have a couple of volunteer potatoes. I didn’t buy seed potatoes this year. I had a couple of potatoes from last year that had sprouted. There was also a leftover store-bought organic russet that I used as well. Time will tell how any of those turn out.

    I’ve tried planting things more interspersed to not waste space, but also to hopefully have things that help one another. Since beets prefer cooler weather, I’ve planted bush beans in between the row of beets.

    (Maybe I should take a gardening class – its all one big experiment)

    The berries that line one side of the main garden are all doing well. The Logan Berries skipped last year but appear to be a bumper crop this year. Tayberries are already ripening. And the Boysenberry has a lot of blossoms.

    First Tayberry harvest
    Boysenberry
    Logan Berry
    Tayberry

    The side garden is doing well. We added a hog panel as a trellis. The tubers, squash and cucumbers all need something to climb. I planted zucchini, yellow summer squash as well as spaghetti squash and delicata squash. Thankfully, at least 1 of each one has come up.

    Cucumbers are planted along both sides of the trellis.

    My hubby planted about 4x more tubers this year. Now to figure out how to cook them properly to eat them!

    The side yard also has most of the rhubarb, raspberries and the biggest, more prolific blueberry bushes. The raspberries are beginning to ripen, and I picked the first one last night.

    Blueberries and Rhubarb
    Squash(es), Cucumbers and Tubers
    Raspberry

    A couple other random things that are coming along – the black currants and honey berries are almost ready to harvest.

    The main potatoes are in a pot and doing really well! I can’t wait for the blossoms! Have you ever smelled a potato blossom? Seriously, why has no one ever come up with using that scent??

    Goji berries are going crazy and starting to ripen. The quince tree has lots of little quince growing. And the tomatoes are in the ground. (I have basil and parsley planted nearby. These were from seed so they’re VERY behind)

    Black Currants
    Goji Berries
    Honey Berries
    Pepper and Potato
    Quince
    Tomatoes

    The flowers throughout the yard are beautiful and doing well. The peonies are just about finished up. The allium look gorgeous. And the sedum I planted in the fall from the neighbor are all doing well.

    Alpine strawberries are ripening. I took a couple of shoots last year and managed to keep two of them alive over winter. I’ve planted those near the asparagus as they’re supposed to be great companion plants.

    Allium
    Alpine Strawberries
    Sedum

    For missing April and getting things started, I’m pretty happy with how things are going. I’m gearing up for the July harvest as the blueberries ripen up.

    I’m hoping to harvest 100 lbs. If I get that much, great. If I don’t, that’s great too!

  • Garden Update – December 2024

    Not much to add here but wanted to wrap up the year with the final post about the garden.

    The Oca and Mashua tubers were harvested in early December. We had a light frost earlier, but it didn’t kill off the leaves above ground until about three frosts in.

    My husband took care of it as he’s the one who planted them. He really likes having unique things growing in the backyard. Hence the variety of berries we have! I did help him a bit, but the digging was all him!

    He had ordered 3 different colors of the Oca tubers. We assumed the white with red creases is a mix of the other two.

    These little guys can be eaten raw and are supposed to taste like water chestnuts. My husband said that’s true (I didn’t try it!).

    We got a bit over 3/4 of a pound of the Ocas. There are several that he’s keeping in the fridge to use as seed for next year.

    The Mashua tubers did really well. We ended up with a bit over 3 1/4 lbs of these. (The above picture was obviously taken prior to washing. The weight was taken AFTER the dirt was removed)

    He cooked a few of these up like potatoes and they turned out pretty well. We have enough left for a couple more meals to have a side of tubers.

    The rest of the garden is a sleep for the winter aside from 4 beets that I haven’t pulled yet. Now that it’s too cold for snails and slugs, they’re doing great! LOL

    I put 6+ inches of compost over all the growing areas and then covered with a few inches of leaves. I’m also throwing our used coffee grounds into the growing areas to help add more to the soil over winter.

    The one crop I haven’t addressed in a post, but did harvest was the sweet potato. I’ll just say it was beyond disappointing. Not one was bigger than my thumb and all total the harvest was less than 1/2 lb.

    All total; the backyard produced 133.87 lbs of food. Not too shabby but thank goodness for perennials!

  • Garden Update – November 2024

    Alas, the garden has been put to bed for the winter. The time had come.

    As you know, I had planted some things for fall, but those things were not thriving if they were even growing at all. The slugs around here were feasting, so it was more frustration than anything.

    There are still a few things waiting for the first frost which should be any day now. The two types of tubers are dug up after the frost. And the sweet potato will get harvested this weekend frost or not. The leaves on that are starting to die off, so time to dig those up. (or since they’re in a pot, turn the pot over and sort through the dirt)

    Sweet Potatoes
    Tubers
    Tubers (other kind)

    Surprisingly, I’m still getting some raspberries. About every 2-3 days, I can go pick a small handful and get about a half an ounce.

    1/2 oz of berries
    still growing berries

    There are still some peas, beets and kale growing in the main garden. I’ll keep an eye on those and see what they do.

    Beets
    Kale
    Sleeping garden bed

    But for the rest of the growing areas, I have added about 6+ inches of garden mix soil (mix of compost, fertilizer [horse apples] and fertile mulch) and covered everything with leaves.

    My suspicion has been that the soil is not nutrient dense enough for growing vegetables. My hope is that with a good amount of amendments this fall and another good amount in the spring, next year’s garden might do better.

    I have also put some leaves around the base of the strawberries (which are also still growing berries, just not ripening) to put those to sleep for the winter. I’ll get a bit more of the Japanese maple leaves and bulk that up this weekend as well.

    Alpine Strawberries
    Leaf Mulch strawberry bed

    It amazes me what is still growing in spite of little sunlight, tons of rain and colder temperatures.

    This year’s harvest from the backyard has come to 129.2 lbs. Tubers and sweet potatoes still to come!

    Winter is coming!! Time to start planning next year’s garden.

  • Garden Update – August 2024

    Time has flown by this summer and it feels like it’s been awhile since I’ve made a garden update.

    Gardening is a continuous learning process and learning is definitely something I’m doing this year!

    New seeds make all the difference!!!! Most of the seeds used this year are almost 10+ years old. When we got married, we both had seeds and I wanted to use up what we had before buying more.

    Well, lesson learned, once they expire, they have almost zero viability and even if they germinate, those poor old seeds just don’t have much in them to actually grow.

    But, here is where things stand at this point in the summer.

    Black Beans
    Bush Beans
    Cucumbers

    In the main garden, I planted 6 different types of beans. I had two of the kinds not pictured grow exactly 2 stalk each, but they never grew to the point of getting any leaves. The Black Beans grew, but they have only grown about 8 inches tall. They are growing beans, so that’s good. I’ve decided to let those dry to use for seed next year.

    The Bush Beans that were planted (2 rows) grew 3 stalks and I have harvested a whole 4 beans from them. I’ll be ordering new seeds for next year.

    The cucumber that came up was after tossing an old pack of seeds on the grow to see what would happen. ONE grew!! It is actually growing some cukes, but those pictured haven’t really grown in the last couple of weeks. With more watering on the garden, maybe they’ll get to a size that I can actually harvest 2-3 cucumbers.

    Boysen Berries
    Tomato
    Pepper
    Apples

    In the rest of the garden on that side of the yard, we have the last remaining summer berry producing. I think it is a Boysen berry, but it doesn’t look like the other Boysen berry plant we have. But, it’s producing really well with a TON of berries on it.

    We have a tomato, but I’m seeing several other plants are blossoming and starting to grow the tomatoes. Now, I’m hoping we still have enough summer left for them to finish ripening. I don’t think we live in a place that big tomatoes flourish. We don’t get enough hot weather for long enough. Next year, I’ll stick to smaller varieties – cherry or maybe try some smaller paste tomatoes.

    I used seeds from the little peppers from CostCo to try to grow a couple of plants. I have 3 plants, but only one has had even one blossom. If it actually grows a pepper, I’ll save those seeds to plant next year. Again, because we don’t get a lot of hot weather, I’m not sure peppers will do all that well. But, I’ll keep trying!

    And the apple tree directly behind the garden is FULL of apples….on half the tree. I’m already collecting the apples that have fallen on the ground to use for apple cider vinegar. The apples from this tree go bad fairly quickly if we can even get good ones that aren’t bug infested. Next year, I will try to get some vinegar hung in the branches after they’ve been pollinated to see if that helps keep bugs away.

    Alpine Strawberries
    Thyme, Chives and Tomatoes
    Delicata Squash
    Goji Berries
    Rhubarb
    Sweet Potato
    Tubers

    In the rest of the yard, we have things growing, but only time will tell what we can harvest!

    The alpine strawberries are still producing pretty well. I think we’ll get a LOT more next year after the plants are a bit more established. But, in the meantime, I’ve had several days that I’ve been able to pick 5-7 berries. They are so tiny, it’s only 1 mouthful of berries. They are very sweet and have good flavor, but being so small they have a TON of seeds for their small size.

    We have another spot that has tomatoes, chives and thyme growing. The chives and thyme have both blossomed, but I haven’t yet harvested them. I’ll try to get a few sprigs of thyme and will dry them. The chives aren’t something I think about grabbing to use, but I need to start. I’ll snip some of those and dry them as well.

    The delicata squash is growing beautifully! This is a good example of how much of a difference new seeds make. The seeds used were harvested from a squash I purchased at a farmers market last year. Blossoms have started showing up, we’ll see how quickly the squash develop and grow.

    Goji berries are coming in strong for their second harvest of the year. There are a TON of blossoms that are attract the bees and hummingbirds.

    The rhubarb on the side of the house has come back strong this later summer time. I won’t be harvesting anymore this year as I have a ton in the freezer. Rhubarb, the food that just keeps giving when you don’t really want any more! 😛

    The Sweet Potato in the pot appears to be doing well, but I can’t see what’s happening under the soil. Time will tell.

    And the tubers are doing well. However, the neighbors fence was ‘finished’ and something was spraying on it. Time will tell if that affected the tubers and the raspberries that are right next to the fence.

    And finally, I purchased new seeds for fall planting – cabbage, onions, spinach, kale and shelling peas. Everything that I planted a couple weeks ago are coming in really well! Again, lesson learned that new seeds really DO make a huge difference in how the garden produces.

    Newly planted kale

    Harvest total so far this year as of 8/17/24: 52.64 lbs

    I’ve harvested spinach seeds and will be harvesting radish seed pods in the next few days. The radish seed pods are edible and seem to be able to be pickled. I’ll give that a try while also saving a few of the pods to use for seeds next year.

  • Garden Update – June 2024

    June has arrived and it’s been beautiful! The garden is growing, but I’m not expecting much this season. Thankfully the yard has a LOT of perennial plants which are producing well!

    I took these pictures at the end of the week, left to go backpacking for the weekend and came home to quite a bit of progress in the berries!

    Boysenberries
    Currants
    Honey Berries (Haskaps)

    Just today, I picked over a half pound of honey berries (haskaps). There are more on the bushes that will be ready for harvest in the next couple of days.

    Some of the boysenberries and raspberries are starting to turn. I think they will be ready earlier this last year.

    Alpine Strawberries
    Blueberries
    Raspberries

    The more standard berries are ripening as well. I’ve picked about 5 alpine strawberries, and about an ounce of raspberries. Just today, we picked 2 blueberries! I’m always excited when things start coming in and there’s some production in the garden.

    Apples
    Thyme

    For the other stuff that returns or grows every year, our apples are coming in well on 2 of our 3 trees. The tree in the middle was pruned quite a bit this winter, so I think it’ll be fine next year.

    The thyme has blossomed and looks beautiful! I’ll try harvesting some of the stalks that haven’t bloomed to dry for use as spices this fall.

    Now for the garden, I’ll start with what is doing really well! Peas and potatoes!! We have blossoms on both, but peas are starting to ripen.

    Have you ever smelled a potato blossom? I wish I could provide you with a scratch and sniff picture because they smell AMAZING!

    Peas
    Potato Blossoms

    The garden rows are still looking rather pathetic. But, so be it. The radishes I had planted went to flower, so I pulled them up. I would say I harvested probably a total of 7 radishes. The beets that were planted at the same time as the radishes just didn’t grow. I have one that grew to about 3 inches and stopped. And several others that grew to about an inch tall and stopped.

    Once I harvested the radishes, I cut of the stalks and threw them on top of the garden to let them rot back into the soil.

    The asparagus barely came up with a whopping total of 6 stalks but what came up grew and is going to seed. I’m hoping that it will help replenish the crowns underground and we’ll get a lot more next year.

    The spinach has bolted and is either going to flower or just go to seed. I’ll be pulling out the spinach later this week. I’ll plant more in September when things get cooler again.

    I also got the tomatoes and peppers I had started from seed moved into their final spots. We’ll see how they do. We just don’t get warm enough for most tomatoes and peppers.

    There is plenty of room to get some things planted for fall. The potatoes in the garden are doing well. There’s a small patch of peas that are about a month behind the other peas. And the black beans seem to be coming out of their slug-eaten state and are growing new leaves.

    Black Beans
    Spinach, Asparagus, Beets
    Peas, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers

    We also have some delicata squash starting and some Peruvian tubers planted that are doing well. The tubers were done last year and were kept in the fridge to plant again this year. We’ll see how they do. That is one of the ‘exotic’ plants my hubby likes to try out!

    Delicata Squash
    Peruvian Tubers

    And finally, I threw a bunch of old seed packets into a section of the yard that the bunnies can get at. I figured if something grew, then the bunnies could feast. It looks like we have some cilantro starting in that section. Feast away bunnies, cilantro is gross!!

    There you have it. The garden is doing its garden thing and I’m waiting patiently for it to need me. See you next month with the next update!

  • Garden Update – May 2024 (later)

    I know I already posted about the garden for the month of May, but I find myself walking around the backyard multiple times a day just to gaze at the dirt.

    There is something so satisfying about watching things grow.

    I have harvested rhubarb, radishes and spinach so far. The rhubarb is excelling! If only I could excel in how to use it all up!

    First Radish
    First Spinach Harvest

    I have 4+ cups frozen ready to do a batch of raspberry rhubarb jam. I only hesitate because I still have jam left from last season and the strawberry rhubarb is my least favorite flavor. But, I’ve never had (or made) raspberry rhubarb so I’ll give it a try.

    I also have 4+ cups of frozen raspberries that were given to me, and they were already frozen solid. I figure this is a great way to use up both items!

    The radishes are coming in well, but so far, the ones I’ve picked have all been split. At first I thought something was eating them, but once harvested, I realized they were split and not bites out of them. I’m also finding that they don’t keep. I’ll need to look into how to keep them, although I’m harvesting 1-2 every few days, so really should just eat them right away.

    Spinach has been planted in 2 different places. I’ve done multiple plantings in both spots, but so far they’re only so-so in how it’s coming in. The larger garden area seems to not be very hospitable to spinach.

    One of the spinaches looked like it was growing a seed pod, so I snipped that off the top before it bolted. (No idea how it could bolt as we haven’t had much heat yet)

    One of the biggest hurdles to the garden (at least I’m blaming it on this and NOT on my own skills) is that we’ve had old seeds that I’m using up. I decided that was a major issue and decided to go ahead and throw seeds onto the garden just to see what will take.

    There were several packets of miscellaneous ‘greens’ that I figured we wouldn’t actually eat so I threw them into an open area along the back fence that the bunnies can have their fill (if the seeds actually grow something). So far, I’m seeing two areas that seem to be growing. If that will keep the bunnies away from the other things growing, it will accomplish what I hoped it would.

    In the main garden, there are 6 bush beans that have sprouted. And 3 rows of black beans have sprouted! The potatoes have come up and I’ve added more soil on top of the greens, and they’re working their way up over that additional soil. The peas planted under the tomato cages are coming up on one side. And it looks like there might be broccoli and cauliflower coming up next to the potatoes (time will tell).

    Top row (L to R): Spinach, Asparagus, Beets (not growing), Radishes
    Middle row (L to R): onions and carrots (not growing), peas, potatoes and possibly broccoli & cauliflower on the edges of the potatoes
    Bottom row: black beans (3 rows), bush beans (3 whole sprouts :o) and not seen, 2 rosemary bushes on the corners
    Potatoes in the pot! They are loving this pot. I’m excited to harvest this fall!

    The honey berries are starting to turn purple and ripen. These are the first berries to ripen and they’re quick to ripen. (Kind of like an avocado – “I’m ready!!!!” 30 seconds later, “sorry, now I’m over ripe. You missed it.”)

    Blueberries
    Currants
    Honeyberries

    Blueberries, currants, huckleberries, gooseberries and raspberries all seem to be coming in strong. Little green berries are growing, and blossoms are falling off. Thank you, bees!!

    Looking forward to what June bring!

    Garden Tally as of 5/26/24: 7.78 lbs harvested (thank you rhubarb!)