Prepping for Spring - Soil prep & Choosing seed

A good friend shared some advice on facebook this morning and I think it is worth sharing here.  I know in some places gardening year round isn't feasible without a green house but that doesn't mean there isn't work to be done.

Get ready!!!!! We are about to have a few days of dry weather. It will be a perfect time for some old fashioned weed and insect control practices. When the soil firms enough, either turn or till it. 1-This will bust up the insect beds where they are hibernating for the winter and freeze a lot to death. 2-it will expose the young tender roots of the grass and kill a lot back. Grass puts on new root growth during the winter if you did not know. For better weed control turn every two to three weeks if able to expose more new root growth to freezing temperatures. 3- This will also allow for better water infiltration to build your subsoil moister. Subsoil moisture is your plants reserve drinking supply in the dry months. For those of you who attended my garden workshops and learned to use a probe, winter is a great time to use it to increase your subsoil moisture and work off some of that Christmas candy too. 4- The best part about doing this is that it gets you out into the garden making winter a LOT less gloomy!!!   ~Tim from Oleo Acres Farm 

Everytime I turn soil, I try to work in compost or any other organic fertilizer so I have nice rich soil ready for spring planting.  Also an important step in the planning category is to know what you are planting.  If you took notes last year, they will be of great help in deciding what is worth planting this year or what you need to plant more/less of. (I highly suggest taking detailed notes  Next, order your seed catalogs, I recommend ordering from a company that sells heirloom non-GMO seed, that way you can harvest and save your own seeds for next year.

Sustainable Seed Co.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange

How to save seeds


Once I plan what I am planting, I map out my planting space on paper and draw very basic blueprints, noting which sides of the yard get full sun or shade.  Most veggies take full sun (6+ hours a day), so keep this in mind when choosing seed.

What do you do to prep for spring or do you garden year-round?

Whats growing right now?

Right now we are doing more prepping and planning than growing, but I do have a few things going right now.  I have 2 broccoli plants that are growing good and have baby broc on them, 2 cauliflower plants which are growing big but no cauli yet.  I lost all the bean plants to the frost we got a couple weeks ago (guess they aren't as winter hardy as they said they were).  The nagoya kale looks beautiful and is ready to eat. I'm gonna pick some leaves off and cook them for lunch and if its good dinner too.  The only herb I have left is the rosemary and its growing big; planning on using some to infuse olive oil.

(insert pics)

Today on the Homestead...

We are getting new windows and a new sliding door to the patio.  It's a wee bit drafty while the are switching over, but well worth it!  Thankfully its over 50 degrees right now, with a high expected to be almost 70 before the storms roll in tonight.  Still crazy its that warm in mid-December and I'm sticking to my gut that this doesn't bode well for the winter to come.

Adding to the stash today:  1 quart dill green tomato relish, a couple quarts bread and butter green tomato relish, 2 quarts pickled banana peppers.  Also changing out some of the water supply today.  Might do some cranberries in syrup later, really love using the old-time method of inversion canning!!!  So far, i haven't lost a seal yet and I've been doing it this way all summer (with my high acid foods).  Hoping to get a pressure canner for Christmas, it's top priority on my list.  And a Aeropress.  Google it, you will thank my later. (that is if yo u are a coffee drinker like me).

Long Overdue Updates

Sorry y'all for not updating sooner, I've had a ton going on.  My garden right now consists of 2 broccoli plants, 2 cauliflower plants, rosemary & nagoya red kale.  I'm hoping to get a greenhouse setup for christmas so that I can add some more and start some seeds for spring.


Forecast says its gonna be almost 70 degrees later this week.  It's mid-December y'all, this ain't normal.  Today I have been busy clearing out clutter and added 13 litres of water to my emergency stash.  My gut tells me a storm's a coming, and I'm gonna be prepared.  Got about 10 more litres i need to take out and rotate with fresh.


I've been doing a ton of reading lately and wanted to share some stuff with y'all.

Generation Organic

This is one inspiring story..it moved me to tears y'all.

Town trying to grow all its own veg

Companion planting

Whats your barter list?

I saw this on Facebook and thought it would make for an interesting post.

"What would you consider the top 10 things valuable for 

bartering if there was no system of living like we know of 

now?"

1. fuel sources

2. medical supplies

3. foodstuffs/spices

4. metals

5. tobacco/alcohol/coffee

6. drinkable water/water filter

7. soap

8. rope/building materials

9. duct tape

10. fabric

what would your list look like?

The Fall Garden

Prep for the fall garden is well underway!  We have planted some spinach and lettuce that is sprouting now and will be moved to a coldframe later.  The coldframe is currently being "lasagna composted" and we will use clear plastic or a tarp to cover.  I am also inheriting 2 of each broccoli and cauliflower plants from a friend.  One of the roma bush beans failed to thrive and I have 3 more that are sprouting nicely.  Hopefully the fall garden will lead to a more bountiful harvest than the summer one did.

My yellow plum tomatoes are still producing and little clusters of tomatoes are hanging like grapes. Hopefully they all ripen at the same instead of one at a time.  I have 1 eggplant that is still producing, they other 2 have stopped and 1 pepper plant that is still trying.  The herbs are doing great, still have peppermint, chocolate mint, rosemary, basil and lemon thyme.



Summer Garden Summary:
FAILED MISERABLY

Reasons for conclusion:
Definitely not self sustaining, most of the veggies failed to produce, were eaten by the hen or destroyed by the dogs.  

Notes for next year:
Utilize space in front yard, fence off chicken run, barriers around garden, plant more

Preparedness 101: Food Storage

Long Term food storage tips:

• if storing glass containers (such as canning jars) stoe in the jar box with the partitions in it. this keeps the jars out of the light and keeps them from knocking together as much in the event of an earthquake.  Also can be stored in a box with vaccuum sealed bags of stuff (tea bags, sugar, etc) in between jars
• keep bags of dried beans or rice (or any grains, sugar, etc) in metal popcorn tins. this keeps the critters out
• always rotate your stock!  home bottled water should be drained and refilled every 6 months.  put oldest cans up front with newest in the back that way you use the older stuff first.

September is National Preparedness Month.  Check out Survival Doc for more info on preparedness skills!  Be ready for the Zombie Apocolypse, economic collapse, natural disasters, etc.