tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80373070741770118492024-08-28T08:37:07.124-07:00A blog about our home, vegetable gardens, chickens, crafts, food preservation and recipes.Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-1744624492038529622010-06-19T10:48:00.000-07:002010-06-19T10:48:36.089-07:00

So check out my new blog please, Tamara Quilts. After learning to sew with the girls in 4-H, quilting has quickly become my new favorite hobby! But back to the business of of our home and gardens. This spring has been dreadful. The coldest wettest June on record! I have just now got my garden planted in full. Except I still need to pot up my tomatoes. My lettuce is ready to be harvested. My peas

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-79222742715546447452010-01-05T11:59:00.000-08:002010-01-05T12:07:30.141-08:00

Hard to believe another year has gone by! May this one be filled with health and happiness for all.Our Fall was busy with getting back into the school/activities routine. Our holidays were lovely and quiet and joyful. My younger 2 girls have begun to learn how to sew in 4-H, and I have learned along side them. I received a new sewing machine for my Birthday in December and have been busy over

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-87165715025571347772009-08-04T22:42:00.000-07:002009-08-04T22:46:18.009-07:00

First, a quick shout out to my middle DD Shannon. It's her 10th B-day today!!! Second, I hope hope hope I remember to check back here next year and I'm reminding myself right now, DO NOT PLANT SO MUCH ZUCCINI!!!!! I had tons and tons last year, and thought I was under control this year, but no, I am still buried in it. For the record, I planted 3 regular zuccini plants, 3 Italian zuccini, 1 patti

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-47357963615668934912009-07-27T17:09:00.000-07:002009-07-27T17:21:16.758-07:00

Oh my, I haven't posted in ages. Thought I'd come and post and update because it is just way too hot to do much else around here! It's near 100 today, and should break 100 the next 3 days or so. It never gets this hot around here, so we are really not used to it at all. It's also very humid, which just makes it so much worse.ANYWAY. The garden is booming! We have harvested 5 gallon sized bags of

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-58750186937943870682009-05-06T19:53:00.000-07:002009-05-06T20:05:13.904-07:00

My how time flies! Last week was just gorgeous weather wise, including the entire weekend, and we got a lot accomplished around here. Our older chicks moved into the new coop about a week and a half ago. I'll post some pics on my chicken blog in a bit. I'm also pretty darn sure at least one of our chicks is a rooster, which is fairly disappointing. No one else sees it, but I'm waiting for it to

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-59201178281258150742009-04-22T19:49:00.000-07:002009-04-22T19:54:53.662-07:00

I hope everyone pitched in and did something kind for the Earth today. My DH and I actually loaded up our SUV and took part in a recycle event at his work. I'm almost ashamed to say we brought in 3 monitors, 2 CPU's, an old TV, a printer, a scanner, and old broken X-Box and 3 old cell phones. It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate! I'm glad all of it went to an organization that will

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-21660703362277638852009-04-19T22:10:00.000-07:002009-04-19T22:30:26.392-07:00

Look what came in the mail on Friday? It includes 5 bags of onion sets, 3 yellow Ebenezer, and one bag each of red onions and white onions.52 bare root Whopper Strawberry plantsAnd last, 2 bags each of potato starts, in the Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold and Kennibeck varietiesI had hoped to start getting these planted this weekend, but we were too busy trying to finish the new chicken coop. Check out

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-38664998625681215792009-04-17T20:20:00.001-07:002009-04-17T20:27:32.790-07:00

Well for the most part the weather was great this week. Supposed to be even nicer this weekend, which will be perfect for finishing the new chicken coop. Over the last few days, I got quite a bit done. I planted alot outside, including 3 packs of peas, two Early Frosty and one Lincoln Homesteader. I also planted two packages of Shallots and half a packet of spinach, and three types of lettuces,

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-85703012064024629612009-04-12T16:38:00.000-07:002009-04-17T20:28:07.703-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We had a quiet day at home. We cooked a big ham dinner last night for some friends, and the family has been munching on ham leftovers all day. The girls woke early to see what the Easter Bunny had brought and have been eating more sugar than they should be. It's our last day of Spring Break with everyone home, and we are basically having a veg day, with lots

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-23738547245672410182009-04-06T20:39:00.000-07:002009-04-06T20:51:20.301-07:00

Just an update on things around here at the end of the first week in April. Did I mention we are refinancing? We locked in a 5.0% rate. If you haven't looked into it yet, you really should! We will be saving a nice bundle each month at this new rate. We should close in the next two weeks. Make sure you also consider changing the term of your loan. If you have had your mortage for awhile and

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-79158029533950469432009-03-28T21:35:00.000-07:002009-03-28T21:55:54.719-07:00

So while I wait for the spring rains to subside enough for me to get outside and acually enjoy working in the garden instead of freezing my buns off (did I mention it is supposed to SNOW again tonight?!?!?!), I've been sewing. Now let me let you know, I do not sew. I am just learning. My 9 year old daughter wanted to sew, so last year, we joined a 4-H sewing group. This is her second year in the

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-85571343680237791982009-03-24T18:05:00.000-07:002009-03-24T18:28:10.753-07:00

Now that it is officially spring, I guess I can call them that! Since I posted a few weeks ago about it raining, and it still is. We've been busy with my mom visiting, and trying to refinance the house, so we've been pretty busy and not really able to get outside much. We did score a bunch of free pallets off of Freecycle.org almost 2 weeks ago, and will begin working on the new coop this weekend

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-63215357155724823222009-03-01T15:35:00.000-08:002009-03-01T20:23:06.079-08:00

Well, my to do list was very long today, but I made a good dent before the rain came in. I planted 2 more packets of peas, this time the Little Wonder variety, last weekend I planted 2 packets of Early Frosty peas. I also got in 1/2 a packet of Swiss Chard, the Large White Rib variety...that was when the rain started! I had wanted to get some spinach and shallots in too, but I had to stop

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-50551971192584275132009-02-28T22:43:00.000-08:002009-02-28T22:53:37.620-08:00

Now is the season where your local feed stores will start carrying baby chicks! They are so adorable and hard to resist! If you are thinking of getting some and are new to chickens, here are some books I recommend:

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-66009288002768984642009-02-22T21:41:00.000-08:002009-02-22T21:43:18.481-08:00

I'm so proud of myself! I've never gotten my peas in so early before. My Mother-in-law and many others in this neck of the woods, have always said February is the time to get the peas planted, and I was determined to get it done this weekend. Hubby even tilled the garden bed for me after I cleaned it up. It's been in the 50's and sunny for the last week, but rain is supposed to come and stay

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-10983602265106931762009-02-17T12:10:00.000-08:002009-02-17T12:28:08.642-08:00

I had to share what has been keeping us busy these last 2 weeks. We got new baby chicks! 13 in all, including 3 Buff Rock, 1 Barred Rock, 2 Speckled Sussex, 2 Ameraucana (aka: Easter Eggers), 2 Silver Polish, 2 Rhode Island Red and one mystery chick that we know is a feather footed bantam of some type who is yellow in color right now. Here's the pic's!We actually went in on an order with a couple

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-8203139705986152272009-02-12T13:55:00.000-08:002009-02-12T14:05:54.099-08:00

Well, guess what? I got soooo busy in the garden's last year, I didn't post here! Sooo sad! Well now it's that time of year again, I'm just itching to get out there, and it's still too cold and wet to do much.So let me fill you in on things around here. The gardens were a HUGE success! It is February, and we are still eating our own potatoes, carrots, leeks, parnsips, turnips and winter squashes.

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-6227455322839923392008-05-23T21:20:00.000-07:002008-05-23T21:29:57.427-07:00

It's been chilly and wet this week, and it's supposed to stick around over Memorial Day weekend. Needless to say, we haven't gotten much done outside this week. My husband did dig another potato row/trench for me. The first row I planted quite few weeks ago is due for it's final hilling. Hoping to get him to do one more row for me for a total of 3 rows of potatoes. I also got in my misc "leftover

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-76840513671002114622008-05-13T22:30:00.001-07:002008-05-13T22:57:27.443-07:00

It's that time of year, and a lot of people would like to have a vegetable garden, but don't really know where to start. Especially this year, with the cost of food prices on the rise. Here is my advise for what it is worth.First, make a list of the things you would like to grow in your vegetable garden. Include all your favorite foods that you would like to grow. Then figure out how big a garden

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-18130879480754079312008-05-11T10:59:00.001-07:002008-05-11T11:17:27.892-07:00

WOW! How did two weeks fly by already since I've posted last? Hard to believe!I hope all you mom's out there are enjoying our special day! I woke up to breakfast in bed and we are heading out soon to buy all our veggie starts we still need for the garden. Looking forward to that.Let me fill you in on what's been happening in the garden since my last post! Ok, in the back beds, in the one with the

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-86641097933888867772008-04-24T15:07:00.000-07:002008-12-09T00:12:06.299-08:00

I was out today inspecting my seeded crops very closely. The peas are now up here and there, and the radishes I sprinkled in with my seed tapes are also sprouting.Here's some photo's of my 2 back beds, which are nearly all planted. In this photo below, I have one wide row left on the right for the beans to go in. Then I have one row of brussel sprouts and one row of broccoli.In this second bed, I

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-41598306631472616672008-04-23T19:11:00.000-07:002008-12-09T00:12:06.503-08:00

It was a typical spring day today with showers and sun. Late this afternoon a thunderstorm blew through and left this rainbow over the valley. Note my cherry trees are in full bloom! And yes, that is my huge new veggie garden to be in front of the trees!

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-46004814353158773942008-04-22T19:34:00.001-07:002008-04-24T15:04:34.055-07:00

I had a great day and spent most of it getting veggies planted. I started the second veggie bed in back, and got my broccoli and brussel sprouts in. I planted Early Green broccoli, and Jade and Red Rubine brussel sprouts. I'm anxious to see and taste the Red Rubine. I've never seen or tasted red brussel sprouts! Brussel Sprouts are one of my all time favorite veggies these days, although you

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-43851038541137922572008-04-21T21:44:00.000-07:002008-04-21T22:03:04.375-07:00

Yeah for the sun! Yesterday it continued to hail, snow, thunderstorm, with bright sun out in between. It was cold though, so didn't get outside at all. The sun was out today, but still a bit cold. I had to run a lot of errands, and finally got outside after the kids got home from school. Got another carrot seed tape put in, and finished installing my rabbit guard fence at the back of the garden

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8037307074177011849.post-12575961471447289682008-04-18T21:48:00.000-07:002008-12-09T00:12:06.731-08:00

Well, it snowed today, can't believe it! Here's a pic of my broccoli starts. Didn't get anything done today in the garden and cleaned the house instead. Supposed to get nice out again Sunday and will have to get busy than.

Tamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05520275690092549059noreply@blogger.com0