What is Happening Thursday?

Well.. Several things-

1- we are making birdfood balls (or bombs at the boys have named them)
I have a canning jar full of grease from cooking- I am going to warm it up, pour it through cheese cloth to remove all particles..
Next, we will pour it into a large metal bowl, mix wild bird food with it - now comes the part the kids LOVE!
Each child gets a decent size square of plastic wrap, we (meaning my older daughter or I) take an ice cream scooper and scoop some of the birdfood mix into each piece of plastic, then the kids get to form their scoop into a ball (the ooshy gooshy part!) and my 2 daughters wrap yarn around each ball to hold and hang them, let them air dry just a bit and we hang them all over our trees and porch-

The birds love it - the kids love it and I love seeing the birds right about now...

2- Ok, we are also sledding today.  This last minute snow storm is perfect for sledding sooo, the kids are going to my mother in laws farm to play with their cousins. 

3- We are making homemade newspaper pots to begin our seed planting...

4- I am taking each of the 1 million seed packets I have listed in my other post (ok, exagerating.. just a bit)
I am going to sit down with a child or two- the do love to help - find how long before last frost they can be started indoors, mark the exact date for planting the seeds on each packet.  If I plan to stagger the harvest like I do with peas and green beans, I might mark 2 or 3 dates 1 week apart.  Now I will take each seed packet and put it in a plastic shoe box, closest date to last date.  Now, I have them planned for when the need to be planted, and in order so I don't miss a packet.  If I have more than one date on the packet, I will plant what I need, tape the packet up and refile in the next section it belongs in.  Easy and Done!

I will post pics later...

Good Monday Morning!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and had time to praise and thank God for all he does for us each and every day!

                                                                                
Today I want to continue with tips for gardening as I said I would~8 Muddy Boots - the blog I had refered to the other day, mentioned that she had trouble keeping the little ones out of her seedlings.. well, here is what I did last year and it was a huge hit plus it kept them out of the gardening stuff.

We planted grass!  Each child got there own small coffee cup, terra cotta pot (the small ones) or votive cups.
The votive cups were the coolest, since they were clear we got to see everything happening...
We filled them with potting soil and planted grass seed.  Each child had to water and watch, oh, and chart (for homeschool) the progress or lack of.  They had a project, I had a great Spring decoration for my dining room table, it was fun and they stayed away from our seedlings~

Hope This Helps,
Missy

Gardening

Are you planting a garden this year? 

Bigger than last year? 

We are!

Mostly because I just love to garden.

But also because the food just tastes so so good fresh picked.

This week we are expecting quite a snowfall in some nearby areas (Not like my brother in law down in Maryland.. but snow non the less) - just look at what is predicted for the Northeast...


So, to head off any end of winter weariness and because Sarah over at 8 Muddy Boots got me in a gardening mood.. (check out her site.. I love her blog)


I going to start sharing our plans for this years garden... hopefully every couple days I can add more info.


First thing I did this year was sit the kids down and ask each and every one what they wanted in the garden.  Some are greatly helpful, some.. my older son .. just said, "It doesn't matter as long as I am not planting and weeding."  But he does, and he is very helpful, I think he just loves saying what might annoy me.


This year I am getting more involved in using heiloom seeds so this year I ordered from Victory Seed Co




So here is our list of what will be in our garden:
Carrots - 2 types - 1 Danvers - I always have good results with them
                           - 1 Royal Chatenay - I like to try a new variety each year & they are good for freezing
Lettuce - 2 types - 1 Tango - a nice leaf lettuce - new to me
                           - 1 Tom Thumb - a nice butterhead type - also new to me
Cukes -  3 types -  1 Boston Pickling Improved - I love eating a pickling cuke - they are so crisp!
                              1 West Indian Gerkin - I am going to try pickling these
                              1 Spacemaster 80 - just for eating :)
Celery - 1 type    - 1 type - it never grows for me so type does not really matter! haha
Corn -   3 types  * please let me explain before telling the type* I will be planting the eating corn at home
                              and the popcorn at my mother in laws - she lives on a farm so we have enough land
                              and she doesn't ever complain about us using a little area.
                                1 Sweet - Stowell's Evergreen
                                1 Sweet - Country Gentleman
                                1 Popcorn - Japanese Hulless
Peas - 2 types -      1 - Oregon Sugar Pod II - these primarily get picked & eaten as we tend the garden
                              2 - Green Arrow - hopefully doubling last year will bring me enough to eat & freeze
Luffa - 1 type -       1 - Dishrag Gourd - if this works it will be a frugal Christmas Gift/ Dishscrubber/ etc.
Gourd - 1 type -     1 Birdhouse or Bottleneck - just for crafting & again Christmas Gifts
Radish - 1 type -     1 German Giant - just to add to salads
Pumpkins -3 types -1 Small Sugar - for pies and decoration
                               1 Atlantic Giant - fun and decoration (oh, and seeds! yummy)
                               1 Cinderella - for freezing (breads and muffins), seeds & decor
Tomato - 3 types -  1 Red Grape - I pack these in pots for porch and backyard decoration
                               1 Red Brandywine - the best in a salad! or plain ..
                               1 Prinipe Borghese - heavy yielder - small - good to freeze and can - salsa anyone?
Squash - 4 types -   1 summer squash/ Early Prolific Straight Neck - great on the grill & to share
                               1 summer squash/Dark Green Zucchini - bread, grill & sharing
                               1 winter squash/Waltham Butternut - my very favorite! baking and such - great to store
                               1 winter squash/ Table Queen Acorn - to bake with  - great to store
Watermelon - type -1 Watermelon - Mountain Hoosier
                              - because every single year we try a different type and hope in our cold climate that
                                 we will get at least 1 or 2.




I know it seems like a rediculous amount of stuff, but it works and is what we need to grow for our size family.


I will be adding a little more every day or two so come back - I'm sure you are anxious to hear how I will be fitting this in 24 x 32 ft. garden!


See You Soon,
Missy