Cucumbers and Tomatoes Only Mix in the Salad Bowl

Note to self: Check companion planting charts before planting. 

Neither my tomato or my cucumber were doing very well. I figured maybe they were suffering from my compost/straw made up potting mix, but today I was looking through a companion planting list. It said tomatoes and cucumbers aren't good for each other. 

No wonder! They were fighting! The tomato was winning, but since I have 2 other tomato plants, I tore it out. I left the cucumber since it had one leaf, but  I'll plant a couple more seeds just in case it doesn't recover. Might have cucumbers before spring! Will keep you updated!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue!

Radishes

I've still got lots of radishes! The kind I have are Crimson Giants. They are huge, but great tasting. Check out this video about the nutritional benefits of radishes.

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=FAD94DA9A11E756DDEBE9BB2CF5998C1

Elderberries

So why the picture of sticks? Last week, we went to the Small Farm Conference in Columbia, MO. While there we met a man that raises elderberries, he also buys them and pays what we thought was a pretty good price for them. We talked a lot with him about how to grow them, what kind of yields to expect and so on. The picture is of the elderberry starts that we bought. He said if you put them in water, they will grow roots and leaves. In the spring we will plant them in the ground. 

The guy we talked to said he started out with 16 sticks and now has 32 acres of elderberries. We bought 8. He also gave us a couple of smaller sticks. And, when I got home, I found out that a neighbor is planning to cut down one of his elderberry bushes, so we'll have all sorts of sticks to start off of that. We thought we'd plant some in the front yard at our place this year just to see what we can do. Then if all goes well, we will start putting them up at our son's place in Dallas next year. 

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Elderberries

So why the picture of sticks? Last week, we went to the Small Farm Conference in Columbia, MO. While there we met a man that raises elderberries, he also buys them and pays what we thought was a pretty good price for them. We talked a lot with him about how to grow them, what kind of yields to expect and so on. The picture is of the elderberry starts that we bought. He said if you put them in water, they will grow roots and leaves. In the spring we will plant them in the ground. 

The guy we talked to said he started out with 16 sticks and now has 32 acres of elderberries. We bought 8. He also gave us a couple of smaller sticks. And, when I got home, I found out that a neighbor is planning to cut down one of his elderberry bushes, so we'll have all sorts of sticks to start off of that. We thought we'd plant some in the front yard at our place this year just to see what we can do. Then if all goes well, we will start putting them up at our son's place in Dallas next year. 

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Stevia Apple Butter

Last spring while browsing through the plants at Farm and Home, I came across a stevia plant. On impulse, I bought it. When I got it home, I put it in a pot and placed it in the garden. A few days later, it DIED. I mean DEAD, no leaves, stem disintegrated, nothing left DEAD! I didn't have anything else to put in that pot, so I just left it there. Almost 3 months later, I looked in the pot and saw something growing. It didn't look like any weed I was familiar with, so I decided to let it grow. After a few weeks, I got brave and tasted one of the leaves. Sure enough! It was my stevia plant back from the dead!

Yesterday, I thought it had grown enough that I could steal a handful of leaves from it without much harm. I picked up some apples and experimented with making apple butter with fresh stevia instead of sugar. I'm not a big fan of stevia extract. I think it's got a funny aftertaste, but my apple butter is nice and sweet, with no aftertaste that I can tell! I'm so excited! I'm going to take some to the market in Burlington tomorrow. Come tell me what you think!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

November Garden

Amazing! It's November 8th and I've still got lots of garden out there! Here's a few pictures:

There's lettuce, parsley, thyme, chard and kale in this bed.

There's kale, chard and radishes uncovered here. Under the plastic is a tomato plant and some basil believe it or not.

This is my peppermint.

There's spinach, lettuce, beets, carrots and radishes in this bed. And some very overgrown arugula on the right side with more kale and chard behind it.

Still have all sorts of radishes, as well as some younger arugula and iceberg lettuce here. 

I put my marjoram under a clear refrigerator drawer. It seems to like it! The sheet to the left is covering my dill.

My rosemary is also under some refrigerator drawers. The sheet on the right is another picture of my dill. and the plastic on the left is covering some tomatoes.

They really are doing quite well yet. Pretty slow ripening and they aren't as sweet as a summer tomato, but hey! It's November!

Here's my cherry tomato bed.

And my indoor garden!

I didn't think to take pictures of Grampa Tom's peas. He's got a few beets left too. We've got potatoes, squash and egg plants in storage that still look pretty good. I've also got sage, oregano and lemon grass that are thriving.  Maybe a few other things too. I always forget at least one!  It's supposed to get down to 27 tomorrow night. We are going to work on covering the rest of the gardens tomorrow.  We'll see what happens!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue