Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Pumpkins & Squash

I am so excited.  This weekend as I looked over our garden, I found several pumpkins.  I have a single pumpkin plant that survived the weather.  On the plant, there is a nearly full-size sugar baby pie pumpkin.  I have more on various vines still growing with more blooms yet to produce.  If these survive and continue to produce, we will have fresh pumpkin for making the pies for the holidays.

My butternut squash has taken on a life of it's own.  It  seems that every 3-4 days, I have a new batch of squash to pick from the last 2 producing plants.  The vines are stretching out over 6 feet long.  I have never had a squash plant that has produced such long vines.  We have all enjoyed the butternut squash.  This was my first year growing it in quite a long time.  I primarily grew it to give the kids.  Micah loves it.  I puree it up and mix in a little of his formula to thin it down some.   This is a variety of squash that many people use in place of pumpkin for making the pies.  The color and flavor is very similar.

The zucchini and yellow squash are still producing, but are beginning to slow down.  I have done fairly well with them once the hot weather was no longer an issue.  Next year I am going to start the seeds early and plant only the plants instead of direct planting the seeds in the spring.  In late July, I will start more seeds for the squash and a few other plants to translplant about Labor Day weekend for the fall garden.  It seems that in our area, the plants do wonderful in the cooler months.  There are some that will do well in the intense heat, those will continue to be grown then.  Everything else will be planted as transplants in the spring and again in the early fall.  It will be fun to see how the new planting schedule will affect our garden's harvest amounts.

I still have sweet potatoes growing.  I don't plan to dig them up until closer to Thanksgiving.  This is my first year with them also.  I plants a few that I had bought at the store & sprouted.  I cut up the potatoes to allow 2-3 sprouts per piece, then planted them late July.

Fall Gardening

Are you planting a fall garden?  If you have a long growing season, you may still have time to plant the fast growing things like the leafy greens - spinach, mustard, swiss chard, leaf lettuce, etc.  If your first heavy frost doesn't occur until late fall, you can plant pease, beans, winter squash, brussel sprouts, and many other varieties.

To get the most out of the season, I start new seed for my fall garden in late July/early August for the vegetables needing a longer growing time.  I start the seeds in containers and set them in the sun durign the cooler parts of the day so that the summer sun doesn't become too harsh on the tender plants.  About Labor Day, when the most harsh part of the summer's heat has passed, I transplant the little plants into the garden. 

By starting the seeds early (about 2 months before transplanting) I am able to grow just about everything that I would normally plant in the spring.  This extends my growing season tremendously. 

Fall Gardening

This year, the gardens in our area have been challenging.  With too much rain, many gardens were devastated.  In speaking to Joe about it on the phone, he asked if I knew what vegetables, if any, could be grown in our area for a late fall harvest.  I haven't planted a fall garden in Oklahoma before, so I did a search on the internet.   I used the search terms of "fall vegetable garden Oklahoma".   I found that   Oklahoma's Cooperative Extension Service has a wonderful, detailed paper called "Fall Gardening (#HLA-6009).   Their fact sheets are available at: http://osufacts.okstate.edu

In reading the paper, I found that most every vegetable that you would plant in the early spring can also be grown for a late fall harvest.  There were charts which give planting dates, instructions on how to plant, and estimated number of days until harvest.  The varieties were also separated by the "tender" crops which need protection from frost, and the "semi-hardy" crops that can handle a few frosts.

What a blessing!  I am now ordering more organic seed since all of my other seeds were drowned in the rains.  It is a shame that I cannot just buy the seed at a store this time of year.  It is humbling to realise that had I known to plant again in early July, I could have started another complete garden.  Now that I have the information, I will be better prepared next year.  I will buy enough seed for 2 plantings.  This will double our harvest on the good years.  On the wet years like this one, it will give us a good fall harvest to make up for the loss of any plants the spring storms may have damaged.

I printed out the paper, also one for spring gardens, and added them to my Gardening Notebook.  I may also check to see if they have any papers on "over wintering".  Over wintering is planting specific crops late in the season that will be ready to harvest in spring.  Garlic, Leeks, & Onions are among the things you can plant in late fall.  As soon as the ground is warm enough in the spring, the plants will grow and give you a jump-start on your gardening season.

I encourage you to check and see if there is information available for your areas.  You may be surprised to find tips on how to extend your gardening season or how to get 2 full plantings like we can do here.  For those with large families, who preserve their harvest through canning, freezing or dehydrating, this can really increase your pantry stores.  It can also be a income source for those who wish to sell the surplus that they don't need.

God's Blessings be with you.

Beginning of the Harvest

Today, I picked the first of our squash from the garden.  There wasn't much.  Many of the squash had rotted on the vine due to all the rain.  I still have many more blooms yet to produce though, so there will be alot of squash this year.  I am cooking up the yellow squash to eat later tonight.  The zucchini is shredded and bagged for making Zucchini Bread later on.

The eggplant and tomato plants are also doing good.  One of the eggplants has 5 blooms on it.  This is exciting to me since I have never grown it before.

I have taken it easy today.  I wasn't feeling well, so let myself be abit lazy.  About the only work I accomplished was to care for Abbie and the animals.  That is alright though.  The important stuff was dealt with.

Joe is doing well out on the truck.  His trainee finished up his first of 4 weeks of training.  They are running as a team now, criss-crossing around the US.  This is Joe's last student.  He decided to get a co-driver next time he is home.  He wants to be able to run as a team all the time.  Also, having a trainee in the truck makes it really hard on the trainer to get any sleep.  You have to be available to your student 24/7.  Even if it means losing sleep because they are driving through a storm, the mountains, or some other thing for the first time.   Yes, that is a part of the job, but Joe is wanting to be able to feel that he can get the sleep he needs to be well rested when he is behind the wheel.

Abbie is doing great.  She has been having fun in all the new space we gained in the rooms after clearing so much out.  It is really opening up alot of empty area for us to enjoy. Today, I took her outside for awhile and she had fun in her swing on the porch. 

We are getting the really hot weather now.  Thank heavens the worst of the flooded areas around here have dried up.  When the water was still standing in the yard, the hot temps made the air very muggy. 

I am already looking into seeds for next year's garden.  It is hard to believe that in a few months, I will have to start placing orders for some of the varieties that I will be starting from seed during the winter.  This season just seems to be going by so fast.

I used to think that the time Joe was out on the truck took forever for him to return home.  Life here is busy enough now that I am finding the days passing much quicker.  It doesn't seem too long before I am starting to make preparations for his return.

This month has been pretty busy.  With de-cluttering, caring for Abbie, tending the animals & watching over the garden.  Now, I am getting things organized and am getting things like my sewing area set up so that I can be more efficient in my home sewing business.

I am enjoying this time.  I work hard while Joe is gone so that during the week that he is home, I can spend the time just enjoying his company and doing things as a family.

Home Canning & Garden Plans