Hi friends. Thank you so much for your comments last week. They were so thoughtful and really touched me! Also, it was enlightening because I didn’t consider that some of you don’t read email newsletters. I still haven’t really made a decision as to how to move forward yet. For now, as long as I have people reading, I will keep writing. High Tunnel #2 This week, our high tunnel arrived. It is our second high tunnel, the one we got a NRCS Grant for. We pay for upfront and they reimburse us after it is after it is built and approved. So that means we’re gonna get started on it quickly and hopefu ..read more

After cooking over 300 pizzas in our backyard pizza oven for family and friends, I can confidently say that there is no better tasting pizza than a pizza made with ingredients from a pizza garden.  Some of you may be asking, “What is a pizza garden?”   I first heard this phrase only a few weeks ago as I was talking with a friend about their newly started garden.  At some point in the conversation he mentioned having just finished planting their pizza garden.  Instantly, I knew what he was talking about.  All the tomatoes, garlic, onions, arugula, basil, and other ..read more

Hey friends! Last week was so crazy I had to postpone the weekly digs. My sister Amy and family came to visit. Amy is always up for a project or task, so we worked on a few things together. The first was that we planted all of our shelling peas. I am doing things a little different this year and didn’t set a trellis up and plant around that. Instead, we planted two rows 12 inches apart down our 30 inch wide garden bed (about 90 ft long).  I’ve planted this variety before (PLS 595) and it is very short. It uses a tiny bit of the trellis then it gets too hot outside and they start to die b ..read more

One of the most popular homegrown garden crops is tomatoes. As with many garden plants, tomatoes are prone to problems and pests. One natural way to improve your tomatoes and reduce problems is through companion planting. The best tomato companion plants help improve yield, reduce weeds, deter pests, and disease. This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure can be found here. What is Companion Planting? Companion planting is planting two or more plant species in close proximity to each other. The purpose of planting close together is to mutually benefit each other by improving gro ..read more

Tomatoes will experience severe injury or die when the temperature drops below freezing, 32ºF or 0ºC. Therefore, the best time to plant tomatoes is after the danger of frost has passed in your area. It’s a simple concept but there is so much more to it than meets the eye. If you want to know when to plant tomatoes there are other important things to know. This post contains affiliate links full disclosure can be found here. Find Out your Average Last Frost Date My favorite average first and last frost date finder by zip code can be found HERE. One thing you may not realize when you search by z ..read more

One of the number one problems of growing carrots is getting the seeds to sprout. If you can get them to sprout they are a very easy crop to grow. We’ve planted thousands of carrots over the years and found there are a few tricks of the trade. Additionally we’ve come up with 3 foolproof methods for Planting Carrot Seeds- but first let’s start with the basics.  This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure can be found here. Best soil for carrots Carrots grow best in soils with a pH range of 6.0 – 6.8 (source) Additionally, a well draining, loose, and fertile soil helps the carrots ..read more

Potato Planting The whole family was out today for a big planting day. We got our year’s supply of potatoes in the ground! Last year I thought our harvest of potatoes was plenty but after finishing planting out all the potatoes for seed today, we only have about 30 lbs left in our cold room.  Instead of planting one row down a 30 inch bed, we planted 2 rows spaced 12 inches apart. We planted the potatoes for this year in front of our caterpillar tunnel. The garden beds there are 36 inches wide because of the width of the tunnel (14ft). So we had a little more space to do the two rows on ..read more

This week Cruz was off of school for Spring break. We did a mini spring break for homeschool too. So it freed up a bunch of time for things to get done outside!  Chicken Tractor & Raccoon We moved one of the chicken tractors down to our orchard so they could eat bugs and spread mulch there. So far it’s been great. But we did run into a little issue. The cows were surrounding the orchard for the first few days but then the cows moved to a new area last night. This morning I went down to check on the chickens and there was one missing! A raccoon took our hen that was sitting on the eggs ..read more

When I grew my first garden 18 years ago, I never expected to be so completely convinced that garden fresh food is superior in every way. I can confidently say growing food will change your life. Why? You’ll find the answer in the 10 reasons below. #1 Taste I didn’t really grow up knowing or tasting homegrown food. Maybe a little here or there. My parents weren’t gardeners. But the first time I tried a strawberry from my mother-in-law’s garden I was in love. It was such a huge difference in taste and flavor the store bought varieties paled in comparison. When I started my own garden, I got a ..read more

Growing a year’s supply of food can save you thousands of dollars. In addition, one of the best benefits is it has the ability to add years to your life by increasing health and wellness. It is one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done in my life and I can’t encourage it highly enough. All that said, it’s not quite as easy as it seems at first glance. One very important thing is to make sure to have plenty of different vegetables and fruits to choose from all throughout the year. This is important to do so you never get too sick of any one food. The aim is a year’s supply of a garden b ..read more