a morning by the garden

Tending to Our Community Garden Plot

Our community garden plot is doing rather well, considering the dry spell we had when we first planted. We have discovered the wonders of mulching around the plants to keep weeds down and to keep moisture in the ground. One of the cool things about having a community garden plot is you get to see the other members plots and their gardening styles. We have beginner gardeners (that's us!) and the masters all in one place. Some mulch, some don't. Some do square foot gardening, some use a mound and ditch system, and someone even has raised beds. We are lucky that all of this is just a few blocks from our house. Urban homesteading opportunities are all over Waukesha, now only if we could have chickens....

Plotting

Big plans await this space this year. We are so lucky to have a community garden plot a few blocks away. This will be our third year gardening here. This afternoon the Simplestead family took a walk to the plot to scope out the freshly tilled ground. Last week Jake took the compost from our angora rabbits and worked it into our plot of dirt so that it would get mixed in well when it was finally tilled. Planting will commence next week.

We introduced Simplestead Baby and Sawyer to the garden. This will be a space they will learn to love as much as we do.

Starting

I've been so busy being a daddy that I almost forgot to start my seeds for the garden!  There was more prep work that last year because I was going to use the finished product from the worm bin to start them.  I found that the vermicompost was very wet and I had a rough go at sifting it.  I used an old window screen which punched holes in it.  It took damn near 3 hours to get a half a 5 gallon bucket full.  I am thinking that the stuff was just way too wet, but the worms were loving it.  I literally could squeeze the water out of the stuff.

So into the flats the worm casting went.  This year we are planning on having three different types of tomato ( cherry, beef and past).  I have been finding that mixing up the tomatoes so not two of the same kind are next to each other keeps the pests and blight to a minimum.  Also started was kohlrabi, cabbage, bell peppers, and summer squash.  Sure does feel good to get some dirt under the fingernails.  Middle of May cannot come soon enough!

UPDATE:  three days later I get my first germinating seeds!  This is the same flat as above on day 4:

   

Kraut In A Crock

 The cabbage is finally ready to be picked and made into sauerkraut.  Sauerkraut great for the digestive system and is also boosts the immune system.  This was also one of the easiest things to make.  This was our first time making kraut and honestly, my first time tasting it! 

We used 3 table spoons or per five pounds as a starting point.  As we mashed the cabbage we then added more salt to taste.

 

When the crock was full, we covered the soon to be kraut with some of the larger left over leaves and then put a lid with weight on it to keep the cabbage submerged below the juices to keep bacteria from getting in.  After 24 hours we had to add more brine to get the kraut submerged like we wanted.  After 5 days we tasted it (it needed a couple more days) and when it got to the sourness we wanted, it was canned it. 

 

This was just four head of cabbage and really only took around a half hour of prep and another half hour to can over the course of a week.  Easy peasy!  And for my first time tasting it, I can say that I should not have waited so long.

I Want To Be A GREENHORN

I love this community of young farmers I discovered through Cold Antler Farm. I see what people my age are doing and I beam with excitement. These farmers are at the forefront of the food revolution and will ensure the prosperity of our future food supply and the health of our nation. Also check out the book that will be released May 8th.