We had a surprise post that came over the fb gardening page last week here on the island. One of the food security advocates let us know that government decided to partner with veseys seeds to provide a beginners veggie collection free of charge (as long a supplies last) to grow a small victory garden. To help with the cost of food this summer.
I was surprised they did that and surprised at the quantities in the package as well. So hopefully we will have some islanders that start to grow some food to help with food security in thier own households. Maybe it will spark a new food revolution of growing for yourself.
The package includes the following: yellow beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, leafy greens blend, radishes, and snap peas.
So I received my package and I can’t wait to get the seeds out in the garden♡
Smart on the government to do it, I am excited that we are encouraging self-sufficiency for a change and healthy food♡
I will do a follow-up post in a couple days and as plants start to pop up and then in a few weeks to show you how it’s growing.♡
We live in beautiful PEI right smack in the middle of Farm country. Our homestead small farm is surrounded by dairy and beef cattle farms. When I look out the back windows I see the directly in the pasture behind us the beef cows and down the hill and then up again I usually see the dairy cows. With the bright deep green grass and dandelion it is a million dollar view.
I love this week in the spring it’s when the beef cows go out to pasture on grass all season. What’s fun to watch is the cows as they come out in the open and run wild with excitement as they have this new freedom to sunbath and eat fresh green grass.
I love watching the cows run from every area getting use to the new digs and all the room to moo!
There is an electric fence that borders our gardens out back and the cow pasture and its funny watching the curiosity of the cows as they soon discover it is a fence not to touch or cross. I havenon occasion mistakenly touched the fence with my butt as I plant and harvest veggies…… not a nice experience. LOL
Electric fence with white plastic so they know where it is…
It’s just one more of those things that happen in the spring that I look forward too. Of course as the season goes my greens always look tastier but I will offer handfuls of fresh plucked grass to those tame enough or brave enough to came and say hi.
I love spring everything comes back to life the miracle of life renewing its self once more.
I eagerly await in anticipation the garden waking up…. seeing what lived through the harsh winter and what succumbed to the the elements and critters.
Our cherry tree and bushes are always exciting to watch and so too are thr blueberries, blackberries, red and black currents, the gooseberries the strawberries and rhubarb as well as the asparagus. Yes I know asparagus is not part of the fruit family here but it is the first perennial veggie that pops up and we enjoy.
We added three new trees this year a Bartlett pear, a golden delicious and a macintosh. It looks so pretty out back and with the wild elderberry bushes in bloom as well it is a delight.
The hummingbirds are back on the island and I think we have at least 3-4 coming to the feeder.
It’s going to be bumper crop of cherries hopefully as long as the hard frost stays away now. The tree is loaded with blossoms and the bees are happily buzzing around.
Stay tuned for an update on the berry / fruit production and for more pretty garden pics.
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So from a couple post ago you all heard my laments of farming. Coyotes came through the farm and took 12 of my chickens a combination of laying hens and roosters. It was a very sad day on the farm
As soon as that happen we went into full on replacement mode. I was unable to find a couple egg layers to bring in to help with our egg supply and I did have to purchase eggs for eating first time in 7 or 8 years.
But like I said we went into replacement mode. I took a bunch of eggs and got them into my newly fixed Cadillac of egg incubators and hatched out successfully 8 eggs. We won’t now for certain how many are boys and girls but it’s all about the fun of watching them grow.
Just this past weekend, farm boy got the coop all renovated and ready for the baby chicks. We did the introduction on Sunday and we have some very happy chicks and a not very lonely or depressed laying hen anymore.
So look for weekly updates on our feathered friends and to see what they grow into looking like and being.
Thanks for stopping by and visiting the homestead and farm. Give us a like or even say high in the comments bellow.
This is a year of trying some new stuff, enjoying a more whimsical eclectic type of garden and trusting that God will bless the gardens.
The new bed set up is working well for me and I am really excited to see how that is going to turn out. Having numerous victory gardens each with its own flare and excitement is cool too.
So I am trying something different with my potatoes this year. I have decided to do a no dig “soiless” method. So in the victory beds near the greenhouse I have two beds that I planted chitted red potatoes in the beds are freshly tilled as is the whole garden and the potatoes are nestled onto of the soil and covered in about 6 inches of straw. Because of the wind on that side of the garden right now I used a clear plastic crop cover that has ventilation holes in it. The plastic is laid over the straw after I watered the beds and weighed down with some bricks.
There are two benefits from covering the straw with the plastic first is obvious…. so that the straw does not blow away and second to heat or warm up the bed so that the potatoes get a kick start in the growing big department.
So if all goes well after the plants have done their thing I should be able to remove the straw and have beautiful clean no dig harvest of potatoes. A follow up will follow later in the summer.
As you can see from the pictures I do have a bunch of other veggies growing in the gardens right now. Especially those that don’t mind the cool temps. In another 2 weeks I belive, once the frost risk is completely gone the rest of the plants we started will go out.
I also got the squash beds covered and ready for planting. It’s a big 50ft by 40ft area. So lots of room for the different varieties we are growing. I didn’t get a chance to grow the squash this way last year but I am looking forward to see what the yields are gonna be growing it this way.
I have one more bed that requires the “rough” walk through to mark the beds and then full steam ahead on the planting of the seedlings and direct sowing. Looking forward to seeing all the pollinators and butterflies and beneficials in the beds.
Look forward to weekly updates on the veggie beds. Take care everyone ❤️ and God Bless.
We spent 3 full days out in the gardens and yard. Our typical spring work to clean up after a long snowy winter.
We got both huge piles of compost tractored out to the garden beds. One of the piles was aged much longer then the other but both really amazing additions to the beds
While my farm boy was playing with the tractor and poop…. I was in the greenhouse chill’in or warm’in or getting my chicken on
I was able to top up all my tomato plants, repot the peppers, flowers and winter squashes.
It was cold the first two days then yesterday was actually nice still cool but much nicer. The only problem was that it went down to -6 sat night and even though I covered the most tender seedlings with grow cloth… I lost a couple of trays of nasturtium, marigold and zinnias. 😦
The empty cells are what lived 😳
I planted a new tray of nasturtium but will plant some more but I had to finish replanting….. so Monday’s plan is seed planting day in the afternoon. Last night it got down to -4, so I was up early to see after having all the tender seedlings covered up last night… everything made it:) yeah!
So the beds git a light tilling but because the soil was still a bit too wet, John will be back this week to give it the final till…it should be alot lighter and softer to plant in.
So after farm boy was done with the compost he worked on the large rock pile out back…..the are that used to have a big compost pile is now a new staging area for the old foundation stones from our house. He has taken a big bite out of one area and it is really nice to see it getting tidied up.
So what we are doing is sorting out the stones and as we get a good pile going we will start put the stones jn place for landscaping around the house and property in general. There will probably be stones left over and we will probably start selling them off
It’s strange…. daisy lost her garden partner in crime last year when barney had a heart attack and died. We then lost our best friend 💔 Murdoch, daisy use to follow him around the garden and lay around in the grass with him.
Daisy has now started to follow us around the yard no matter where we go….usually rolling around and walking in front, on top, between our legs and even just jumping up on us. I guess you can call her my little kitty dog♡.
Well I hope that spring is finding you well get out in sun and enjoy that warmth. Take a moment to appreciate what God has created and the beauty of the seasons.
All I have heard the last while is “food shortages and supply shortages. We may not have much control over supply issues but we sure have some control over food shortages….
Back in the day when “victory garden” terminology came out it was because our country was in a world War and food shortages were in the forefront. Everyone was encouraged to grow one to help curb the food shortages for their family and to also help soldiers.
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II.
What to Grow in a Victory Garden? Traditional victory gardens included foods high in nutrition, such as beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, kale, lettuce, peas, tomatoes, turnips, squash, and Swiss chard.
Planting Victory Gardens helped make sure that there was enough food for our soldiers fighting around the world. Because canned vegetables were rationed, Victory Gardens also helped people stretch their ration coupons (the amount of certain foods they were allowed to buy at the store)
For a small family (two to four people) they recommended a garden that was 15’x25′ with 15′ rows (15 rows total). If you had more space and were feeding more people, they recommended a victory garden that was 25’x50′ and had 25′ rows (27 rows total)
Benefits of Victory Gardens, you can save money, eat healthier food, food security, food tastes better, less trips to the grocery store, better health, stress relief, new life skills, environmentally friendly.
Saving money and less trips to the grocery store are sort of hand in hand. By growing vegetables, fruits and herbs you end up buying less items at the grocery store as well as you then don’t need to visit the grocery store as often. With the cost of inflation that is increasing the price on all foods whatever one can do to cut down the overall cost is hugely beneficial. You will and can eat fresh from the garden but you can also learn the skill of canning and home preservation.
For home canning, pressure canning, home preservation and storage these are ways to make sure that you can save all that hard work growing the food. Because ….. its not just about eating fresh from the gardens but preserving the food from the garden for when you can’t grow outside.
Eating fresh from your garden means you are not eating pesticide and synthetic fertilizers…… unless you are adding them ….. you end up eating healthier and feeling better. Being out in the garden reduces your stress levels and you get the added benefit of exercise… all benefits of growing your own.
Fresh veggies and fruits from your garden taste some much better because your food is not forced to ripen by chemicals in transport to your local grocery store. You get the added benefit of getting a little bit of minerals and dirt from your garden which is so beneficial to your health.
I have found that since I have been canning and home preserving my foods has saved what is actually going into the garbage so it is definitely more environmentally friendly. I keep jars from the store wash them out and use them for food storage like herbs and dried veggies. My mint and camomile and rose heads for homemade teas… not much goes to waste. Of course my canning jars are reused year after year and really the only extra effort is in washing up all the jars and containers.
All our kitchen scrapes minus cooked foods including bones etc…. go into our compost pile out back. That process makes the gardens grow ever so well and cut down on the use of fertilizers needed for growing.
For those who have never gardened or haven’t in a long while….. its a new life skill that you get to learn that brings an incredible sense of accomplishment.
Good luck with growing and look for our next post and how to start seedlings for your garden with out breaking the bank…
I am sure that many are hearing about the cost of food, groceries and just the general large growth of inflation. It’s going to affect us all now matter what….. so how do you help your situation to ease the costs and get your funds to stretch a little farther?
One way I think we can help ourselves is to grow some fruits and veggies either in our yards where we live or a community garden plot or a friend’s or family’s place. Even if all you have is a balcony you can still grow some veggies in pots and planters….every little spot will help.
And it’s not too late to start…… you can find seeds at many stores in your neighborhood. Even the grocery store has a seed area this time of year.
So some will say I can’t buy a planter or I can find pots they’re pricey….. well look around your place….. you might be able to find storage containers…. kiddie pools, even some of the large plastic containers that food come in like the foldgers coffee containers can be used….. do you have any of those ikea bags? They will work too. Be creative and resourceful.
Call it eccentric and creative when it comes to your containers…. make sure you have drainage holes in the bottom of the containers and really the sky’s the limit. For any containers like say for instance baskets…. use landscape cloth to line the basket so the soil stays in place.
Realizing that you can do little steps even if you are not a green thumb gardener gets that much closer to saving money and helping yourself and your family when it comes to inflation and food shortages.
If you have you have kids get them involved….. I think it hugely important for them to know exactly where the food comes from….
If you have room in your yard or a neighbors or even a friends yard grow a victory garden….. don’t know what a victory garden is check out our next post it’s all about victory gardens.
Other ways to help curb cost is smart shopping. If it’s possible always look for sales and buy a little extra that you can put away. Buy in bulk… there is a larger cost initially but big savings over time. Get food grade containers to store your bulk purchases in. In Canada at most grocery stores the sale tag on the shelf will tell you how much your product is per grams etc…. be wise and check it out you will get more bang for your buck.
We store the bulk purchases in these awesome containers.
One thing I didn’t mention in bulk buying another way is to get a couple friends together and buy bulk and share out the cost and the product…..
If it’s possible to buy local or even barter for goods and services do that as well…. having a collective community that you can barter with is an awesome way to save money and help each other and create community.
Being prepared is the key. Pray for the wisdom of God in your purchases and planning and trust that He will take care of your needs.
Using the wisdom He gives us helps us to weather those storms…. prepare and not be caught of guard and able to even help those around us. For times such as these….
Well….. it was about this time 2 weeks ago I let the flock out for their regular everyday wander around the yard, eat bugs, peck and scratch, coo and cockadoodledoo.
Our flock free ranges and they enjoy every moment. They give us beautiful dark yellow/orange yoked eggs and they are happy.
For the past two weeks the roosters 🐓 have been fighting. It’s part of establishing their pecking order…. there were a couple bloody days but little ferocious roadrunner was back in the leading. Now it was getting serious and I was considering exactly who of the three boys was gonna stay and who was going into the stew pot….
Well I didn’t have to decide, or cull, or clean……
It’s was on Saturday 2 weeks around 3:30pm when we heard the first squabble…. I looked out everyone was wandering around in the rain….. everything looked good….. I went down to the greenroom to plant seeds and Rusty came down and said he heard a big commotion and that I need to go out… there are white feathers on the side of the house.
Well I went out I looked everywhere…. no chickens….. ugh!
There was areas of feathers but I didn’t see black feathers or the dark rusty brown feathers of big red.
I went back to the house looking for hubby help. We searched for and hour, not one bird in sight…. but what we did see was not promising…… canine tracks….. to be more specific coyote tracks…. well at this point I was gob smacked and in huge disbelief.
We haven’t had issues with coyotes for a couple years. I knew there was no hope….. it started to pour rain so we headed back to the house….. I left the coop door open hoping that maybe by chance if any chickens made it they would come back.
Around 6:30pm I went out to look and to my huge surprise a brown laying hen came back but she was injured…. loose feathers, blood and a droopy wing. My heart sank….. for the next 30-45 mins both Rusty and I walked the perimeter of the farm playing rooster crows on our cell phones…. out of the corner of my eye I could see my barred rock hen running with great fear towards the coop.
So I had two frightened chickens and one of them….. well it was debatable if it would make it through the night…. I locked them up and prayed that God would heal up my injured hen and asked if any others were around they would come back in the morning.
Well sweetpea made it through the night and momma did too…..I now have to hens….and well that isn’t good for scrambled eggs and baking.
I went through the stash of eggs I had been getting and took the best ones I wanted and set them aside but now I had another issue I have an incubator that wasn’t working properly…..
Now this is an awesome part of the story. My good friend Fran has a hubby who is a retired engineer and loves to fix stuff. Well I asked and he took on the challenge. Within a couple days the Cadillac of incubators was working perfectly. So absolutely a big huge big shout out to Rusty, Fran’s hubby who worked a miracle for me.
I have 14 eggs in the incubator they have been in there 6 days and I can see the embryos in 10 of them. Out of the last 4, I can’t see through the thick colored shell of 3 and one I am pretty sure was not fertilized.
The chart below shows the stages of the chick embryos we are at day 5/6.
So there is hope once again. Funny thing I tried putting a few eggs in the nesting box because momma is usually broody in the spring but I think because of the trauma of almost being killed, she won’t sit on the eggs.
I am hopeful in about 2 more weeks when the eggs hatch and I put them in the coop with the two hens they take over and become mommas to the babies. Time will tell.
Amazing really how farm life changes so quickly.
So it’s 50/50 males to females and then there is a percentage of chicks that don’t make it through the hatching process… I can’t remember how many didn’t make it the last time. But if I get 5 or 6 hens I will be happy and time will tell what kind of rooster we will get. I loved red because he was a gentle giant Rhode Island. It will be interesting to see what colour of egg shells we get too.
These eggs are from a hatchout a couple years ago…..
The repotting of the tomatoes plants is done. I have another couple trays started that will get replanted in 2 weeks time.
We try to grow mainly heirloom types of tomatoes but I think there are two this year that are hybrids. This year we have planted: pruden purple, primo red, roma, golden cherry, costoluto fiorentino, oplaka, and salvaterra. The last two are new heirloom paste tomatoes. I ordered them but we were not sure if they were gonna make it to start them this year. A fellow homesteader grows these both and they make amazing sauces and salsa….. can’t wait.
As I am replanting. We are having a pretty good snowstorm 😦 hopefully it won’t be long before it all melts again.
I have also grown some extra plants for some friends ♡.
So as the plants grow up, the cups will be filled with more soil. This will allow us to grow tomatoes with a solid root ball. Roots will grow from the stems as you fill it with soil. As the second set of true leaves are coming out we will be feeding the seedlings with a fish fertilizer. Feeding with a fertilizer will allow them to grow nice and big and strong.
Charlie on quality control♡
What you don’t see in the growing room is the big fan that goes on during the day. The air circulation is excellent to help with a couple things: strong plants as it simulates wind and helping to keep damping off from happening and keeping all the plants Happy, happy, happy 😊
When it’s warm enough at night the plants will be transferred from their happy home under the grow lights in our grow room to the greenhouse.
Muddy Boots, Old Houses and The Farm 