The Compost Bin

Although I took pictures, I never got around to writing about the new compost bin. At our old house we had a compost "pile" beside the chicken pen and it worked great but here in town compost piles are just not... appreciated so we bought the bin. It came with some assembly required like everything you buy these days. Lots and lots of little bolts and nuts.

So it is now outside by the shop. It has been set up for a few months now and we don't even have one side full and it isn't really composting yet or hot but hopefully, once we get enough stuff in it, it will become hot enough to work. Everything with time. 

Another Garden Update

Of course I am way behind again. I planted just a few things in the summer garden, yellow and pattypan squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, turnips, onions, beans and herbs. The squash did great. We got a total of 26 pattypan and yellow squash and we sure did enjoy that fresh squash.
The tomatoes also did well and we had enough to freeze some though those went quickly. We would have had a lot more but we got a dry spell and then a good bit of rain and most of the later tomatoes split. I got some of them in the freezer and we ate some fresh but the spoiled quickly when they were split. 
There was a little handful of turnips and the beans grew and produced great but only about 5 of them sprouted and grew. The onions did almost nothing. I think they just didn't get enough water. We didn't even have green onions! The cucumbers didn't do well either. Too hot and not enough water but we got one small one. The rest were yellow and round. 
The herbs are doing well. More rosemary than I will ever use and basil as well. Actually I am trying to make some basil bread today and there will be a post on its success or failure tomorrow. 

Garden Update

 The garden here at the new house is doing amazingly well. We don't have huge amounts of produce but everything I did plant is looking great. The kale grew great over the winter an we have 6 packages of frozen kale to show for it. 

We have had a small meal of podded peas but those have gone by now that it is getting hot. The tomatoes, however, are loving the heat. I ended up buying a 6 pack of Celebrity tomatoes because my seedlings just did not do well under the grow lights this year. I really think it is because I bought a seed starting mix to plant them in and the stuff just dried out so fast. Next year we'll go with regular potting soil. Anyway, there are a few of my seedling tomatoes that survived and the Celebrity six pack and, though my seedings are growing slower, all are making tomatoes now. 

The other success is the squash. I planted some yellow, zucchini and pattypan and so far we have yellow and pattypan making squash. I harvested 3 yellow squash this week and we had squash and onions with a grilled roast last night that was absolutely wonderful. 

I also have onions, turnips and beans in the garden. I believe the birds found quite a few of the bean seeds as I have large gaps in my little rows and the turnip row seems to have only turnips on both ends not in the middle. Next year maybe some netting. I also have two of these galvanized bins with herbs in them: sage, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Plus I have a very large rosemary plant that I planted last year. 

I think my next project will be a compost bin. My daughter had a small rolling one given to her that I like very much and believe I will order one for myself. 
Hope you all are having a great growing season and that it is raining when you need it to. Until next time....

Sourdough Bread Fail

 So I got some sourdough starter from a friend and I have made a lot of things with starter but bread has never been one of them. They tend to come out ...well bad and today's bread was no exception. I am definitely going to have to find a better recipe than the Rustic King Arthur one that I chose this time. I started it yesterday and gave up on it rising any better by 11:00 this morning and put it in to bake.

The bread itself tasted fine but it was very dense and the crust was very hard. I haven't given up, I'll just be trying a different recipe next time.

Seed Starting Time

 It's seed starting time here in Georgia. I am so excited to be able to have a little garden here but I am trying not to go overboard and plant too much. I have just the two beds. I believe they are about 4 ft. by 4 ft but I haven't measured they may be larger. I am not good at judging size just by looking. Right now one bed is about half full of dirt and is growing some nice looking kale and one rosemary plant. I hope to get that one more dirt for it  this spring and get the other one filled. 
Anyway, about the seeds. I bought them from eBay and I have some from Baker Creek as well but the ones I started early were from eBay. I just found the free shipping just way cheaper than any of the seed catalogs. Not exactly as reliable  maybe, but I was willing to chance it. 
For tomatoes I chose Floradade and Bradley.  I mainly just wanted a good determinate variety. I find the indeterminate just way too big. I planted 8 of each. I know that will be too many but some probably will end up in some planters I have. For peppers I planted just 4 of a white bell pepper and 4 ofrom seeds from a grocery store pepper. My daughter got some great peppers from a grocery store pepper last year and I wanted to try just for fun. I also have two of a white pattypan squash and 2 of a yellow crookneck squash. Probably too early to start those but I had 4 squares to fill. And the last set has seeds from my Easter cactus house plant. Also just an experiment. I have never grown one from seeds. 
They all just sit on a shelf under a grow light and we'll see how it goes.