Category: food (Page 14 of 35)

It’s been some time since our last garden update, and so we thought we’d post an update on some of the results…

Last Year’s Butternut Squash

First, earlier in the year, Sue decided to process our butternut squash from last year that had been stored in the root cellar up until that point.

Here is a basket of it:

She then peeled it:

And cleaned out the innards:

And sliced them up, and then pressure canned them. Nice! Thanks to the Lord for them, and being able to store them all that time in the root cellar to be able to be processed later:

Winter Peas & Beets

We did get to enjoy quite a few peas we mentioned in the last blog post, and a few beets, in salads and the like. Given the fact we had laid down a new, thick mulch layer before planting these, we are thankful to God for what we received!

Here are some of the peas:

Fall Garden

Catching up to now, we planted okra during the summer, given how prolific they are and needing warmer soil. I used older seeds, and with the new mulch layer and harder soil underneath, continued to have trouble getting things going.

However, we bought some new seeds, and those worked better, although we got a late start because that was our third iteration of seed planting:

Here’s our best one:

And an okra! Right now with as few as we have, we’re just eating them in salads as we receive them:

We had something in our garden slicing off smaller okra plants across the stem, but I took one of the cutoff branches and thought I’d try planting it in the soil, and it’s actually still making it, with a little okra on it too!

This plant in front of this picture grew in a place where I didn’t specifically plant something. I’m assuming it’s an okra too, but it is a surprise plant!

And this is a little okra still struggling away. I continue to water it; I don’t want to give up on it as for me there is always hope.

This little plant reminds me of me, and my struggle for spiritual growth and where I see great lack. I pray and hope the Lord continues to water me that I may one day produce the fruit of His graces, and that He doesn’t give up on me either:

Also in garden 1 here, there are a couple of volunteer plants that just sprung up by themselves from seeds of seasons past.

The front one is all one big tomato plant, and the back a zucchini I believe, although we have just not had zucchini or squash work in this garden area. I’m not sure why: the plants grow big and green, but just no fruit. Maybe because it’s in the shade? Maybe because there is an odorous wild brush that grows behind it hiding the zucchini flower odors from pollinating insects? I’m just not sure, although there is a little one that has been growing on it, but just isn’t healthy:

And here are some tomatoes!

Lastly, here is the only cabbage that has made it since it was planted in the winter, and it’s starting to re-grow:

Over in garden 2, as mentioned in the last garden blog post, I scattered turnip seeds there, and here are the results so far! These have grown with zero work or effort on our part, and thanks to the Lord we have greens for our salads from these as well:

And some turnips!

As always, we consider all of these things gifts from God, and we try to always be thankful, as we believe these are all granted by Him by His graces and mercies alone. Indeed we thank Him!

— David

Garden 1

After mulching over the raised beds in Garden 1 over the Winter, and using the mini-greenhouses to start seedlings in good soil, and after some progress of growth after transplanting, sadly many of the plants just haven’t made it.

I’m thinking a couple of things:

1. I should have planted only one plant per greenhouse and then let them grow much bigger before transplanting.
2. Planting in newly-laid mulch is probably not the best place to plant — it probably needs to sit at least a year to compress down and help prepare the soil beneath. I thought having the plants in good garden bed soil when transplanted would be enough, but I’m thinking probably not.

But, we always pray for God’s guidance and help and direction to learn. And, there are still some things growing, mostly in the mulch laid down some time before the last section, which sort of helps support point #2 above:

Here are a couple of cabbages getting by:

And one of the beets:

And the peas are doing the best. It’s nice to have some fresh for a nightly salad!

Finally, I was able to almost finish laying that thick first layer over where the raised beds used to be:

Garden 2

I mentioned in our last garden update that I was re-mulching Garden 2. While doing so, and chopping the weeds, we have found turnips along the way that have grown from seeds I planted or scattered several years ago. Here’s a whopper we came across!

And so, I figured it might be a good idea to just throw down a bunch of turnip seeds with the hopes they just come up over the years:

And after about four and a half mulch loads, I was able to finish re-mulching Garden 2, and then I scattered about a pound of the seeds all over. It will be interesting to see what happens over the years, if the Lord wills!

Other than what’s already planted, I’m thinking this year is going to be more of a building year, mostly doing prep work, laying mulch, etc.

We are always thankful to the Lord for any bit of provision He grants, and for the opportunity to continue to learn how to go about these agrarian ways, and we pray for His guidance and direction, in all things, both temporal and spiritual.

— David