https://gpnmag.com/article/veronica-x-hybrida-christy-0/
You can check out all our gardening endeavors, and check out recipes and canning adventures right here!
Garden 2025
- Summer has flown by,.. I simply cannot get enough time in the garden, although I have had help this year, which is a true blessing…. We planted early, and I got alot of flake from the garden groups, but we only had a few peppers and tomatoes freeze and they all came back after trimming the damage off.
- Chicken coop is coming along, I never got past the foundation last year, with everything else going on ( building on our home). I need to side it, roof it, and paint it. We even added boxes for plants for the chickens.
- Redesigning the garden again, for next year. We added a couple of boxes, a water feature, redoing the herb garden… and kitten proofing.. ( We had a stray and her four babies move in on the 4th of July. They are proving to be quite the hunters, so they get to stay… although fixing them is going to cost a pretty penny.)
- Tried broccoli and cauliflower again this year, I’m getting better at it. We planted them in the garden beds in April and they produced some, before it got hot, I just started a new bed in a somewhat shady spot in the garden, we will see how those do.
- Adding a TON of new iris and new beds…stay tuned for those!
- Added some grapes, and some boysenberries to the garden as well.
- Still working on organizing the greenhouse and finishing up the inside, we got the fans in and it has made a huge difference. We can actually work in there without dying of heat stroke. We also added a cat tree and a cat house.. those had not been on the plan until the new family showed up. ~ stay tuned!
their lil sister Wesley aka Wesley Snipes (she bites) and Judge,
who is last to warm up to people,
Judge would rather sit in a corner and judge you from afar.
Garden 2024
- What a weird summer…. Nothing wanted to grow, couple of freezes hit hard and we had to replant a couple things. then the hot flash, kicked our butts…. We did have a bumper crop of ‘cukes and got lots of pickles put up ( they’re really good so they won’t last though!
- Started on the chicken coop…
- Redesigning the garden for next year.
- Going to try cauliflower one more time next year, I’m still not having any luck with it, but we did get some broccoli this year.
- Working on organizing the greenhouse and finishing up the inside, this fall. Couple of neat additions! ~ stay tuned!
____________________*updated September 18th, 2024________________
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Greenhouse is up! ~ Huge thanks to my wonderful husband, my brother Derek, and my uncle Norm for all the heavy lifting.
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I have added a page for my mother’s plants. My mother had amazing talents; cooking, gardening, painting… she was a remarkable woman. I don’t have her talents, but I’m learning every day. Though our gardening endeavors, and check out recipes and canning adventures . One of my biggest projects is collecting all of my mother’s plants, to add to our greenhouse here on the bluff. I want to share them with the world. ❤ If you happen to have some of her plants, I would love a start!
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Just made these cute garden markers – found the plain wood signs at the Dollar Tree!
just painted them and added my doodles -still need to clearcoat them
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Mama Frankie’s spaghetti sauce
We didn’t get moved in time for a garden, this year, but that isn’t going to stop me from making my mother in laws awesome sauce! My husband lost his parent’s at a young age, and I never got to meet them, but making her recipes, make me feel connected to that part of his life. ❤
!0 lbs of tomatoes, blanched and peeled. ( drop tomatoes into boiling water for about a minute and a half; then drop into an ice bath ( cold water and ice in a big bowl). Once blanched the peels should come off fairly easy. Don’t forget to code the tomatoes-you don’t want to bite into a chunk of core.
I also take the time to save lots of seeds to plant the next year.
Makes 8 pints of sauce.
I prefer to run mine thru the blender, but the chunky is great too!
Once you have all your meaty chunks of tomato , peeled and cored in a pan, add 4 large onions-diced, 2 green peppers-diced, 1/4 olive oil, 3 TBs salt, 2 TBs celery salt, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp pepper. She cooked hers on the stove until it reduced in half. I like to put mine in the crock pot for about 7 hours on low, or until reduced in half. (peppers are easier to slice and dice if you lay them as shown.) once reduced you can can as is, or puree and can, depending on how chunky you like your sauce. ❤
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A very wet spring, didn’t allow us to accomplish much. We have all but one garden box set, gravel going in and the greenhouse is set to start any day. (waiting on our compactor repair.) We will also be tackling that fence! – We have baby grass coming up!
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February 5, 2022: Still several feet of snow covering our land, but I’m already planning the new garden and greenhouse. The seed catalogs have been coming in the mail, and I can’t help myself! With the days soon getting longer, I’m hoping to have a couple of hoop houses started with things like onions, leeks , and celery, by the first of April, weather permitting.
Some of my favorite catalogs…
August 28th, 2021
Grew this beauty
from a single rose
I took from a friends garden.
I’m over the moon!
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Couldn’t resist this cute little chicken for the new garden.
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We have been so busy this summer, and are way behind on getting moved so I broke down and bought tomatoes this years to make Mama Frankie’s homemade spaghetti sauce..
Huge thanks to my hubby, for assisting me with the majority of this task ! ❤
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I am working hard to find all of moms plants to add to our garden on the bluff. It took almost a year to get the 3 little babies from Burpee, and then I was so excited to see Lowes now has them! Mom would be tickled pink to know that her plants were selling at Lowes of all places.
“Hello iris,.. that is not where I planted you buddy.”
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We have some blooms at our old place, we will enjoy them and then transfer them to the new property later this spring.
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The grands came out to release the butterflies they raised, and spend some quality time in the dirt.
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Getting a slow start this year, weather has been weird,..
throw in a knee injury… and our move is delayed due to lumber costs.
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April 10, 2021
Building garden boxes with the kid
Filling with homegrown compost
Plotting the greenhouse and fence.
Love deals on garden stuff online? Do you follow our daily deals blog?
April 8. 2021
Baby plants sprouting
in the mini greenhouse.
I picked up a couple of clearance lilacs last year and had actually forgotten about them! but look who has new buds!
I got mine for $3 each. It pays to check out the clearance rack
March 26, 2021
Love my plant lights!
We post these from time to time on the Cup o’ savings page
My beautiful $5 clearance Christmas Amaryllis
we got two blooms this spring.
My kitchen window is its own lil greenhouse these days. I’m loving the recent buy from our deal group for the macrame plant hangers and my baby plants are thriving!
This is only a pile of compost today
but in the very near future this will become a focal point,
that someday will be our front circle drive.
Stay tuned to watch it develop.
Do you love strawberries as much as we do? just ordered new plants again this year for the new patch I get about 40 plants for $20 www.gurneys.com/whopper
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April 2020:
Trying to learn propagation this year…
My mom, had a green thumb, I’m still learning
Here’s our baby lemons…
April 2020: Got myself this cute lil’ greenhouse, for here at the house.
We are clearing ground and putting in a large garden and greenhouse this summer.
stay tuned for updates!
baby “strawbabies” as our granddaughter says.
Baby beans
Baby ‘mater
baby punkin’
Butterflies on the bluff 