Moolie - Happy Thanksgiving :)

[moolie]

Thanks Dawn! And Happy 4th tomorrow!

Wow! Great haul! I wish people would part with jars - cheap - around here! Wonder why the glass lids haven't caught on here? Seems like a smart thing!

Can't wait to see the after pictures! Love that sort of clever redo - I chuckled when I read about the W/D change. I tend to think of something that will work SO much better for me - simple and easy, in my mind - then DH points out that he'll have to move a wall, or relocate the electric lines, or chip out the concrete floor Yeah, and????

Lol, totally hear you on that--I guess we are both creative types

Moving everything sideways was such an obviously better use of the space (which is really just a glorified closet off our back door) that I just didn't understand why it wasn't organized that way to begin with, but the dryer vent was a toughie. Fortunately even though hubs needed to move the water pipes/drain and electrical outlets, those were relatively simple because we have basement access to all of it directly underneath.

I SO can't wait for my new shelves, especially now with all the new jars

 

[TanksHill]

Jars , ahhhh just beautiful!!! Great find, congrats!!!

 

[moolie]

Hey Gina!

How's your garden and canning going this summer?

 

[hqueen13]

Awesome haul! Looks a bit like mine, though I think you got the better deal....

Terrific on the rearrangement, can't wait to see the pics! I love improving a space!

 

[TanksHill]

Hey Gina!

How's your garden and canning going this summer?

Hi to you too!!! The garden is doing ok this year. We took a 10 day trip back to Mo. to visit family again. Actually looked at some properties this time. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!! The garden had a bit of a lapse while we were gone.

Garden is producing fairly well. So far we have plenty of zucchini and squash. Green beans are coming in strong. I have canned pickles and beets. My neighbor has a gazillion boysenberries so I made jam the other day.

I am buying produce in bulk this year. I feel the need to fill in some pantry gaps. So I bought corn last week and will probably buy my tomatoes as seconds this year as well. Works out for the best and lets me concentrate on things that grow well in my confined space.

The weather here has been cool. I hate to complain with the heat everyone else is suffering through but.... My veggies could use the sun. Coastal fog and cool mornings kinda slow things down.

I hope all is well for you. I was following your meal planning and menus. So much organization. Great job.

g

 

[moolie]

So here's a few garden pics:

Our four 4x4' gardens: tomatoes, lettuce, onions, carrots, beets

Our two 4x8' gardens: corn, beans, parsnips, turnips, peas, pumpkins

Floriani Red Flint corn

The greenhouse

West side: Rutgers tomatoes, Utah Green celery, Sweet Allsorts bell peppers, red onions

East side: Early Girl tomatoes, Sweet Allsorts bell peppers, yellow onions

Apples

 

[moolie]

Hey Gina!

How's your garden and canning going this summer?

Hi to you too!!! The garden is doing ok this year. We took a 10 day trip back to Mo. to visit family again. Actually looked at some properties this time. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!! The garden had a bit of a lapse while we were gone.

Garden is producing fairly well. So far we have plenty of zucchini and squash. Green beans are coming in strong. I have canned pickles and beets. My neighbor has a gazillion boysenberries so I made jam the other day.

I am buying produce in bulk this year. I feel the need to fill in some pantry gaps. So I bought corn last week and will probably buy my tomatoes as seconds this year as well. Works out for the best and lets me concentrate on things that grow well in my confined space.

The weather here has been cool. I hate to complain with the heat everyone else is suffering through but.... My veggies could use the sun. Coastal fog and cool mornings kinda slow things down.

I hope all is well for you. I was following your meal planning and menus. So much organization. Great job.

g

Glad you are having a good summer and had a good visit back home, will definitely keep fingers crossed for the right situation for you!

Busy here, like usual. Had some tomato setbacks so I think next year we will just pot up some cherry toms on the deck and do the same as you--devote more space to other things that are easier to grow and just do my canning from the Farmer's Market. Have already done a few loads of tomatoes, and we'll be getting some fruit next week when we head out to visit my parents in BC.

Our garden is quite behind yours, just finished radishes and we have a glut of lettuce at the moment. Beans and peas are coming along, might have some to pick in a couple of weeks. Onions growing nicely, although I keep stealing bits of green top for salads! Beets look a little sad, cukes are really slow, sweet peppers are growing well, and our heritage Floriani Red Flint corn seems to be doing well. Raspberries that we planted last year got off to a slow start this spring, but I'm hopeful for enough for some jam--next year I know they will really take off!

Been wet off and on here, and warm--not cool or hot. I think our "real" summer will start this weekend, forecast is for low 30sC/~90F. Typical summer temps here are mid to high 20sC/80sF.

The meal planning has been good so far, keeping us organized and actually getting the kids to do more in the kitchen, which is an unexpected very positive side-effect Before I did the chart in Word, I just wrote dinners on the calendar and I'm not sure the kids ever noticed. But now we tape the chart to a kitchen cupboard door so everyone can see it. I've got one more week of the "$35/person/week" plan and then I'm going to start a bigger rotation of dishes.

 

[cheepo]

very impressive garden!!!!
I like the grid Idea....
way to make the most of a small space
lately I have been looking into
Perenial harvests...

 

[SSDreamin]

Oh, Moolie! Wish my SFG's looked as nice as yours! What is that you put around your lettuce? I have had horrible luck with lettuce, in ground or in the SFG :/ Does your corn stand up OK? I was worried about needing to tie it up somehow?

I just ate my last radish yesterday. Think I should've pulled it before the heat came on so hard though, because man, it was hot!

 

[moolie]

Thanks Cheapo and SSD

Cheapo, the grid idea comes from something called Square Foot Gardening, where each square foot is planted with 1, 4 or 9 seeds to maximize harvest in small gardens.

SSD, it only looks good because I just weeded the heck out of it all yesterday--I find that if I get them when they are really small, they are easy to pull right out.

I've put play sand (for kids sandboxes) around the lettuce to keep the slugs off, so far they are merely decimating my strawberries and I'm hoping that keeps them busy for a while. Most of those lettuces will get picked right down to the middle over the weekend and next week.

Yeah, radishes sure have a short "tastes good" window--we finished ours a few days ago and they were all pretty good, though small this year.