Kate's Garden

No Garden In 2011

2011-04-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

So sorry to say that I won't be able to have the garden this year. I can't do it alone and Annette and Jessica are both going to be in school. Nursing and teaching. I would have to hire people to plant and tend the garden and there is no way I can afford to do that. I will still keep buying cases of food when on sale to give to the needy.. I CANNOT BEAR TO HEAR OF FOLKS GOING WITHOUT FOOD!!

God Bless You All
Suzanne

2nd Sweet Corn Planting

2010-05-31T13:00:00.006-05:00

This is Kate's Garden. It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies. This is the 2nd year.

~God Bless This Garden~

My beautiful daughter-in-law, Annette. She's becoming a very good gardener. I'm hoping to instill a passion for gardening in my family, as soon that will be the only way a person will be able to eat.

The green beans are up and looking great!!

Jessica moving the drip hose.

Jessica putting the Hula-Ho to good use. BTW she's beautiful, too.

NOT beautiful.. This is probably the most dorky pic I have ever taken. eyes closed, drinking my Frappuccino. :)

The kids beside one of the nectarine tree's.

The 1st planting of sweet corn is up!!!!!

Another shot of the green beans.

One of the many tomato plants.

Here's our one little nectarine for this year...

Oh boy! The grapes are setting.

Another shot of the grapes.

There are a few baby clusters of grapes coming.

Michaela made a heart in the soil. I can't believe after spraying with Round-up last year and then plowing, disking, and tilling, the grass is still growing.

Supervising the drip hose getting moved.

Hard at work!!

Jessica weeding the green beans.

Annette weeding the green beans. Great job everyone!!

~~~~~~

Total for today:

3 more 50 ft. rows of sweet corn

Lots of weeding and watering.

More Corn Tomorrow

2010-05-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

I think tomorrow we will plant 3 more 50 ft. rows of sweet corn. That way they won't all be ripe at the same time. Maybe we will plant some squash in between the corn rows to help with weed control... :)

Planting Corn, Green Beans, Tomatoes & Peppers

2010-05-22T21:56:00.007-05:00

This is Kate's Garden. It's named after the person who made it possible.
My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies. This is the 2nd year.
~God Bless This Garden~

Note: I wasn't able to get too close for some of the pics as my mobility scooter kept getting stuck in the tilled soil. The kids had to keep pushing me out so I finally gave up and photographed from a distance... Suzanne

I am so thankful we were finally able to get the planting started. Annette and the kids are marking rows using step-in fence posts.

We're using a 50 ft. hose to measure the length of each row.

Stepping a post at the end of row.

Annette trying to get the row straight.

Pouring sweet corn seed into the little borrowed planter.

Annette's pushing the planter along the edge of the hose. The planter cuts a slot, drops in the seed but it didn't cover it very well so the kids went behind and pushed soil over the corn seed and stepped it down. Great job Annette.

Annette and the kids are planting about a 30 foot row of tomatoes and peppers.

Here's one of the nectarine tree's from last year. It has one nectarine about the size of a small prune on it this year.

These raspberries are doing great. Lots of new shoots. Later we will dig them up and start getting them put into long rows.

The rhubarb is delicious. Michaela ate some raw today.

Annette and the kids planting tomatoes.

Stepping down the green bean seeds.

Finishing planting the last of the tomatoes.

Well done guys.

James, Miss Becky and her great granddaughter, Rhiannon at the end of the day.

~~~~

Total for today:

3- 50 ft. rows of Corn

2- 30 ft. rows of Green Beans

1- 30 ft. row of Tomatoes & Peppers

~~~~

James set up 2 rows of trickle irrigation with a timer on it at the very end of the day. There is still more to set up. Also have some roll out mulch but it was far too windy today to put it out.

~~~~~

I am soooo sunburned I can barely move... :)

Planting Day!!!

2010-05-22T06:30:00.002-05:00

I am overjoyed!! Finally, planting day is here. It will only be me, Annette and the little kids, I think.. Everyone one else is working or in Nursing classes. Oh, I think Miss Becky will be around too. James may possibly get off at noon today. I have no I idea what we will get done today but we will soon see. My mobility scooter is charged up, my portable nebulizer has new batteries in it, my camera is charged. We are borrowing a two wheeled corn planter that you push and I am hoping we can get it to work for the green beans too. We'll try to get some tomato plants in today too. It's supposed to be thunderstorms for the next several day so need to get busy now.. It's going to be 92* today with 20-30 mph winds. We'll get done as much as possible and thank the Lord and ask Him to bless the veggies and fruit. Yippee!!!!!!!

Tilling Is Done!

2010-04-28T22:34:00.001-05:00

Well we got enough of a break between rain storms to get the garden tilled. We may start planting some corn this weekend. We are also tossing around the idea of drip irrigation. Haven't decided yet. I'll get some pics and post them in here.

I found a great guide for drying veggies in your oven. Thought I would try it with sweet corn and green beans this year. The guide was too large for this space so I posted it in my newz blog. You can find it here:

Drying Veggies Guide

Yes! The Plow Man Came!!

2010-04-21T19:05:00.001-05:00

Miss Becky just called me and said the plow guy just finished plowing and discing the garden. I didn't even know he was going to be there today. What a relief to get that done!! I ordered 2 Hula Ho's last night on line. The best garden tool ever made!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suzanne

Yes! The Plow Man Cometh

2010-04-08T20:52:00.000-05:00

I met with the plow man today and he gave me a price to plow, disc, and till the garden. The folks will be out Tuesday to spray paint where any underground utilities are at and if the weather is good, the plowing will commence.. I was so ill all winter that today was the first day I set foot out of my apartment since Sept. 16th. It sure did feel good to be out and about!!

Tractor vs Tiller

2010-04-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

I found out about a guy that will plow your garden at a very reasonable fee. Seeing as how the ground here is like a rock, it seems wise to use his service and then we won't need the tiller for so long a time. So I am going to make arrangements to get the garden plowed. Yes!!

Oh, Shoot!!

2010-04-01T08:36:00.000-05:00

Folks, I refigured my budget for the month and had to call and cancel using the tiller on Saturday. I'll have to wait and see if any gifts come in and then reschedule the tiller...

Woo Hoo!! Saturday's the Day!!

2010-03-31T15:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I've got the tiller reserved for Sat. from 10 am to 1 pm. It will be the first day in the garden this year. At $20 per hour, we will have to get as much done with the tiller as possible. This old grandma lives on soc. sec. so that's a LOT of money to me. I'll take pics and post them in here so you can all see them. We are going to try some different things this year than we did last year. Back to basics will be the main theme I think.. I'm getting excited. Time to get my mobility scooter charged up as it's a couple of miles each way to the garden and back.

Can't Wait

2010-03-27T07:04:00.000-05:00

Hi Folks,
I've been pretty sick so haven't had our family meeting yet. I think we will rent a tiller soon to start gettting the ground worked up. I can't wait. Need to see some things growing. :)
Suzanne

More Sweet Potatoes??

2010-03-03T18:23:00.002-06:00

We haven't had our formal garden meeting yet, but we have talked a little about planting waaaay more sweet potatoes this year. They make an excellent survival food. They are easy to store in a root cellar or basement, or you can can them. They are high in nutrition. As a child, I even liked to eat a piece of sweet potato raw.. :)

Suzanne

Getting Garden Fever

2010-02-24T16:12:00.006-06:00

Hi Folks... I'm beginning to get garden fever already.. :) Our family is going to hold a garden meeting soon to decide what we'll do this year. I think we may double the garden space and use a tiller to break and maintain the additional ground. I'll be in DIRE need of a good tiller.

We may even take a few videos along with the usual pics this year. :)

God bless you,
Suzanne

10-25 Jessica's Squash & Apple Soup

2009-10-25T16:13:00.005-05:00

For those who have never tried squash soup.. you are in for a real treat with this recipe.

I will post the recipe at the end of this. Here Jessica is pouring in apple cider.

Here's some of the cooked and peeled butternut squash.

Squash getting pureed.

Pureed squash getting poured into the pot.

Squash Soup Recipe:

1 cube butter
2 granny smith apples (diced w/peels on)
1 large onion (chopped) Saute these items with the butter then puree
add sauted items to pot and add:
3 cups apple cider
1 quart chicken broth
add 8 cups cooked peeled squash puree
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
simmer and serve or can

Canning Meat Pics

2009-10-19T21:07:00.010-05:00

My daughter, Jessica is cutting up chicken and her friend Crystal, is adding water to the canner. This is Cyrstal's first time canning. All the meat was on sale and was less than $2.00 per pound.
Cutting more Chicken.

Pack the chicken very tightly in the jars. We're using skinless, boneless, chicken breasts, here.

Packing more jars of Chicken. About 2 pounds of meat fits into each tightly packed jar.

Cutting up pork.

This is some really nice pork.

Pack all jars of meat really tight. We used a heavy plastic foot long ruler to pack the meat tight and get all the air bubbles out.

Time for the beef.

Cutting the beef into chunks.

Making some good progress.

We added 1 tsp. each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Plus, added a touch of A-1 to the beef and a little Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce to the chicken and pork.

Add lids and bands and finger tighten after all your seasonings are added. Don't add any water or broth. The meat makes it's own gravy. Then process according to your canner instructions. I processed 90 minutes at 10 lb.s pressure.

Here's the first batch of beef. Mmmmmm. You can see the broth it made. All the flavor and nutrients are trapped right inside each jar. Wonderful!! For a quick and easy meal, make some mashed potatoes or biscuits, or noodles, and pour heated meat and broth over. Add a salad or coleslaw and you have a meal fit for a king. :)

Wow! Just look at all this delicious meat!

It sure makes a body feel good to sit back and look at the end product of all your labor.

Canning 20 Quarts of Meat

2009-10-19T19:11:00.002-05:00

I have the first 5 quarts of meat in the pressure cooker right now. I will post some pics later tonight. I am canning chicken, pork, and beef. All the meat was on sale and I paid less than $2.00 per pound.

Time to Can Meat

2009-10-17T06:11:00.002-05:00

Well, Folks, the garden is done for this year. We not only had fun growing all the food, but were able to bless others as well. Now it's time to start canning meat. Beef, pork, and chicken. There are some really good meat sales right now, so I plan to go shopping this weekend. I will take pics of the canning as usual and post them here. Blessings.. Suzanne

How to Can Meat, Veggies, and Fruit

2009-10-08T18:14:00.003-05:00

Hi Folks.. I personally ordered this DVD set on canning your own food. I truly think it is the best teaching aid I have ever seen. Even if you have never canned before, this will guide you right through the process.. Suzanne

9-20 Peppers, Yams, Berries, Carrots

2009-09-20T18:53:00.005-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Hot Peppers!!
Really, really hot peppers!!

Got carrots?

Lots of red raspberries to ripen yet.

More Carrots.

Sweet potatoes!!

Lots of sweet potatoes. We're leaving the rest to get bigger..

He likes the sweet potatoes raw, too!!

Last but not least.... cabbage!!

9-20 Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

2009-09-20T13:44:00.002-05:00

Hi Folks..
There are still a bunch of carrots to be canned. :) Today we will dig around in the sweet potatoes and see how big they are getting. I do soooo love sweet potatoes. I can remember when I was about 5 years old, in southern Calif., there was a huge field of sweet potatoes next to our property. I would sneak out to the field and crawl down the rows pulling up sweet potatoes and eating them raw. :) :) Suzanne

9-7-2009 Pineapple Jam

2009-09-07T15:48:00.003-05:00

I had some pineapple left so decided to make some pineapple jam. Never made it before so don't know how it will set up. Looks pretty good, though. :)

9-6-09 Watermelons

2009-09-06T20:40:00.002-05:00

James, Annette, and the kids, brought over some watermelons from the garden tonight.
Sooooo.. I traded them some peaches and a jar of peach jam for watermelon. It was delicious!

0-6-09 Peach - Pineapple Jam

2009-09-06T13:51:00.008-05:00

Jim, at Pure Prairie, got in some peaches from Colorado, so I decided to make some peach jam.
I used 2 cups crushed pineapple, 6 cups peaches, 10 cups sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tblsp. butter, and 2 boxes sure-jell.

I got 6 pint jars of jam from one batch. It sure smells good in here right now! :)

8-22-09 Think I was kidding about grasshoppers?

2009-08-22T22:05:00.000-05:00

Grasshopper infestation forces livestock sales

8-16-09 Canning Bean Soup Pics

2009-08-16T21:09:00.012-05:00

Jessica lifting some canned jars out of the pressure cooker. I have all these pics of canning soup in the wrong order but haven't figured out yet how to move them. :)

Bean soup is ready to eat. All finished and canned.

Here's the bean soup simmering in the pot.

Annette adding the lids and rings.

Ready to can as soon as lids and rings are on.

Some cut-up onions, celery and bell peppers for the soup.

The market had some great looking smoked ham shanks for the soup.

Here are the beans (about 5 or 6 lbs.) soaking in a huge bowl.

Getting the carrots sliced up for the soup. Folks, I wish you could all be in my kitchen to smell this soup cooking tonight, but I barely fit in my kitchen. :) The smell is incredible!! Be sure to follow your canners instructions. I canned at 10 lb.s for 90 min.

8-16-09 Canning Bean Soup

2009-08-16T19:40:00.001-05:00

I'm canning bean soup, folks.. I should have some pics up either tonight or tomorrow. We're using shelled Great White Northern beans, smoked ham shanks, carrots, onions, garlic, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, and bay leaf. I can't imagine who wouldn't LOVE this hearty soup. Better figure on tomorrow for the pics as I will probably be canning all night.. :) This is some really good stuff!!

8-13-09 Attack of the Grasshoppers!

2009-08-13T18:04:00.003-05:00

Dear Folks... please pray for the garden. There are thousands of grasshoppers!! I had planned on sharing the garden, but NOT with bugs!

8-13-09 Poor Folks Recipes

2009-08-13T04:40:00.002-05:00

Hi Folks.. I just opened a new forum called Poor Folks Recipes. If any of you would like to contribute some recipes, please do. Here's the link. http://lit4ever.org/poorfolksrecipes/index.php

8-03-09 Melons & More

2009-08-03T20:27:00.004-05:00

This is Kate's Garden. It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Jessica took a few pics today of melons, etc. These cantaloupes are looking good.

Here's a blue hubbard squash.. Known to be the worlds ugliest squash but ohhh they taste good.

This balck diamond watermelon is the size of a basketball.

The raspberries are really growing. Next year we will have bunches of them.

8-02-09 Canning Veggies

2009-08-02T18:54:00.011-05:00

Using the Victorio food strainer for the tomatoes. We ended up canning in my tiny kitchen again as the canners won't fit on Annette's stove.. :)

Pushing the tomatoes down with the plunger.

Just core the tomatoes and then quarter them and dump them into the hopper of strainer and then turn the crank handle. It shoots the juice and pulp out one place and shoots the skins and seeds out another. Sooo easy!!

Pouring the tomato juice and pulp into canning jars.

More juice and pulp..

Adding green beans to the jars.

Today's bean snappers.. :) We set up a small white folding table in my livingroom to use for some of the veggie preparations since there is NO room in my kitchen for it.. :)

Annette peeling potatoes.

Adding green beans, zucchini, carrots, and bell peppers to the jars.

Adding potatoes until jars are full. I added 1 tbs. of worcestershire sauce to each jar along with 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. onion powder. Add enough water to fill jars to proper level. Wipe off the rims of the jars and place lids and rings on the jars.. Do not over tighten the rings.

My canner calls for 2 1/2 quarts water in it so Annette is adding that here.

Place the jars of veggies in the canner. Process the jars according to the directions that came with your canner.

Voila.. the finished product...

Another pic of the finished jars of veggies.

7-31-09 Pray.. We Have Ice Chunks

2009-07-31T19:37:00.002-05:00

Folks.. please pray.. terrible thunderstorm with 2" ice chunks falling right now..
Father, in the name of Jesus, protect our garden. Amen

7-29-09 First Day of Canning

2009-07-29T20:06:00.006-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Here's the green bean girl. Snap, snap, snap!! :)

The canning today is beef stew, with green beans, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, bay leaf, celery, bell peppers, rice, barley, and tomatoes... Mmmmm...
And here's a green bean smile.. :)
I kept out 2 quarts of stew just to have in my fridge so these didn't get canned.

Here are some finished jars. You can see the new pressure cooker reflecting on the right side of the pic.

Some more finished jars. This isn't a very good pic. I took it. :) We were all trying to fit in my itty-bitty kitchen so we didn't get many pics today. We'll try canning at Annette's tomorrow and will take pics to show step by step how-to pics..

7-27-09 Canning Starts Tomorrow!

2009-07-27T14:47:00.002-05:00

The new canner arrives tomorrow. We will start canning stew, either tomorrow or the next day, depending on how late or early the canner arrives. I may not get the pics up til the following day. Woo Hoo!! Can't wait!! Suzanne

7-20-09 New Pressure Cooker/Canner

2009-07-20T21:33:00.002-05:00

Hi, Folks... someone has made it possible to purchase another pressure cooker so we can have one cooking stew and another with jars of stew getting canned. Yes!! It will take up to a week for the cooker to get here and then the canning starts. Until the potatoes are ready, we'll can beef stew with rice, barley, or noodles. Mmmmm... Still need lots more canning jars, but we have enough to get a good start... Suzanne

7-18-09 Set Up Sprinklers - Etc.

2009-07-18T16:48:00.006-05:00

Jessica and Annette worked hard today getting a watering system set up with some duplex couplers and hoses and sprinklers. The vine plants were spreading out so that the hose was causing damage when we would drag it through the garden. Here you can see some green beans with a dusting of Sevin on them. Bugs are bad this year. Especially grasshoppers.
Baby Watermelon.

We've picked many tomatoes and tons are coming yet. Will have plenty for canning.

A blue hubbard winter squash is starting.

Tomatoes everywhere. Early Girl, Beefsteak, and Roma's.

The one little bunch of grapes is steadily growing.

You can see a grape vine in the middle of the petunia's. The flowers add some nice color.

James, Annette and the kids thinned out the 3 beds of carrots this morning. Now they have room to grow. Even the 20,000 carrot bed. :)

The baby watermelons are growing well.

Bell peppers are coming right along. I love to can them with tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.

The butternut squash is really growing. I love this kind of squash baked with a little raisin sauce spooned on top. Mmmmm....

Does anyone need some watermelons? :)

We are getting extreme amounts of watermelons.. They are black diamond.

Getting lost amongst melons, greenbeans, and other veggies..

7-10-09 A Little of Everything

2009-07-10T19:27:00.008-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

A most beautiful squash.

Kate's garden is becoming a jungle.. :)

Beautiful plants!

Oh.. a tiny baby watermelon..

The melons are sure growing!!

I think we'll have a watermelon fest come late summer.

Hot peppers!!

Totally lovely!!

Thank you, Kate.. :)

Gotta eat those thinned out carrots..

A baby from the 20,000 carrot bed.

Picture perfect!!

Oh, how I love squash!!

Green beans are blooming like crazy. Time to start canning soon.

Our little grape cluster is growing.

I think I forgot to mention the grapes are Reliance.

7-08-09 Four Bags of Lettuce

2009-07-08T20:52:00.001-05:00

Oh my gosh!! 4 grocery bags of lettuce from just one raised garden bed this evening!! Several folks got blessed with it.. :)

New Garden Pics Coming Soon

2009-07-08T18:23:00.002-05:00

Hi Folks.. I apologize for the lack of garden pics, but my health was really bad for a while there. I promise to have some great new pics for you in the next few days. Everything has grown so much.. :) Canning time will be here very soon.. Blessings

6-26-09 Tiny Grape Cluster

2009-06-26T20:23:00.005-05:00

I didn't think we would get any grapes until next year, but the Lord loves to send us little surprises. Here is our first cluster of baby grapes. This makes me happy. :)

6-24-09 Update on Bunnies

2009-06-24T12:21:00.003-05:00

A note to all of you who are concerned about the baby bunnies. They are thriving on kitten replacement milk. They are very loved and doing well. I'll post more pics of them later on. :)

6-22-09 Bunny Nest and More

2009-06-22T23:34:00.005-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Green beans minus bunnies.

The bunny nest from yesterday.

The 20,000 carrot bed. :)

Watermelons

Lettuce

Yes! Cucumbers!

I love cucumbers!

Zucchinni

Winter squash.

Cantaloupes.

Grape vine.

Some of the onions.

Raspberries.

Sweet potatoes.

6-21-09 Yep..The rabbit fence worked well !?

2009-06-21T20:14:00.003-05:00

Jessica and Jakki went to the garden a little while ago to water. When they started to water one of the green bean beds, they heard these strange squeaks. When they looked in the center of the bed, there was a rabbit nest with 5 baby bunnies in it. :)

Here's the bunnies all dried off and in a box.

This baby bunny has it's little paws raised to the Lord. :) Needless to say, no more work got done in the garden today. :)

6-11-09 Tomatoes-Potatoes-Carrots-Berries

2009-06-11T18:01:00.015-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Here's the first DON'T. Do not plant broccoli when the weather is too hot! It will bolt like these did and go to seed. We will save seeds for next year.

I was still too weak from the horrible asthma attack yesterday, so Jessica took the kids to the garden and got some great close-ups. Here's the kids next to the potatoes.

I can taste potato soup already. :)

Cabbage is coming right along.

Won't be long til the green beans are blooming. Then the canning starts.

Oooh...little baby zuchinni squash.

Great close-up of some tomatoes.

I'm keeping my eye on this one. It will probably ripen first. :) Looks like we may have some small tomato worms in the foliage. They will get HUGE so will pay the kids to pick them off each day. :) :) I refuse to touch those horrible tomato worms. ESPECIALLY when they get big. :)

Just found this pic of one of the horrible beasts.. YUK!!!!

Lots of little tomatoes coming right along. Plan on canning tons along with peppers and onions.

The tomato pics are from different beds and are all doing very well.

Onions are doing very well.

Here's a really nice close-up of the blackberry cluster.

Rhubarb is very pretty.

Sweet Potatoes have started to grow now. Took them awhile to come out of shock.

This is one of the newest carrot beds. Just starting to come up.

I am sooo ready for some fresh lettuce. It will grow fast now.

Last, but not least, the 20,000 Carrot bed. Must start thinning them. :)

6-07-09 Small Bed-Flowers

2009-06-07T15:10:00.006-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.
It's named after the person who made it possible.
My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.
~God Bless This Garden~
Well, folks, no cardboad mulching today. My hernia is really acting up so will try again tomorrow. Jessica built a small bed and planted some flowers that I took from my apartment. Marigolds, Petunias, and Rose Moss. It looks like it will rain any second so we are in a bit of a hurry as my mobility scooter can't get wet and it's a couple of miles back to my apartment.

Green Beans are looking great.

More green beans.

Grape vine and cabbage plants in the background. The grape vines are where I want to use the cardboard mulch.

The blackberies are doing quite well. The have one little cluster of berries already.

Another shot of the blackberries.

I can't believe the potatoes! They look like could reach out and grab someone. :) I've never seen potatoes grow so much.

Sweet potatoes are starting to perk up now after the shock of being transplanted.

Jessica watering the red raspberries.

Everything is looking so good!

Watering some of the tomatoes.

The 20,000 carrot bed. :) :) They will really have to be thinned.

6-06-09 Busy Day

2009-06-06T04:47:00.002-05:00

It's going to be a very busy day today. I'll have lots of new pics to post here tonight. We were able to get 10 dozen canning jars. We'll still need lots more. Want to get some cardboard boxes cut up and soaked in water to use for mulch in some of the garden beds. Many more things to get done as you will see in the pics tonight. :)

6-02-09 Hail Storm

2009-06-02T10:25:00.000-05:00

God is Good!! We had a terrible thunder storm with huge hail last night. Jessica just called and said she checked the garden this morn and the only damage is a few onion plants got knocked over!! That's amazing. It was quite a storm!! :) :)

6-01-09 Rain-Mulching Beds

2009-06-01T01:05:00.003-05:00

Looks like we will have rain off and on through Tuesday night. I will try to sneak in between showers and get the lawn clippings from Sunday, packed into some more garden beds. I don't mind working in the rain but my mobility scooter can't get wet.

5-31-09 Mowing-Planting Strawberry Seeds

2009-05-31T18:36:00.007-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Jessica getting another raised bed ready to plant Strawberry seeds in. Yes, you heard right. Strawberry seeds. :) Years ago, on the farm, I had 2 acres of "pick your own" strawberries. Of course, I planted strawberry plants, not seeds. :)

Here she's planting the Strawberry seeds. We'll see what happens. By the way, you may leave any questions or comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the end of each post. :)

James and Jessica, my son and daughter, lifting the new mower from the van.

James mowing. It's 93 degrees.

A view of the garden.

Here you can see a couple of the beds that I packed grass clipping into.

Another view of the garden.

James mowing.

New beds of Lettuce and Carrots.

Another view of new beds.

5-29-09 We've Got a Lawnmower!

2009-05-29T17:05:00.005-05:00

We were in dire need of a lawnmower so finally my son, James and I decided to go halves on a rear bagger. Annette just called and she has it in the van. :) James will mow tomorrow. Yes!! Then I can start packing lawn clippings in the garden beds! That makes me very happy! :) I went over earlier and watered. The lettuce is coming up. Carrots are coming up like crazy. Everything is looking sooo good. :)

5-28-09 Principles Of Home Canning

2009-05-28T22:06:00.001-05:00

Here's a PDF file about home canning:

http://www.lit4ever.org/pdf/USDA_canning.all.pdf

5-27-09 Triple Potato Bed-Adding Soil-Sevin

2009-05-27T19:35:00.006-05:00

James, Annette and Miss Becky, added the 3rd bed to the potatoes, making it a triple bed. James added more soil and sprinkled with a little Sevin to discourage bugs.

Engle's delivered another 30 bags of soil today so Annette is topping off this bed with some more soil as it had settled so much after all the hard rain. James dusted all the plants with a little Sevin. Tomorrow is supposed to be about 80 with sunshine so will get a lot done then. It's still pretty wet today. :)

5-26-09 Rain

2009-05-26T20:21:00.002-05:00

No getting in the garden today! We've had 4 inches of rain since Saturday!! Of course, the garden loves it. :)

5-26-09 Kate's Garden Needs

2009-05-26T01:31:00.005-05:00

Kate's Garden is in need of a lawnmower with a grass catcher so we can use the clippings for mulch in the garden beds. The one we were using broke down. We also need tons of canning jars. Anyone who would like to donate towards these things, will be very much appreciated.

Suzanne

5-25-09 Herbs-Potatoes-Green Beans

2009-05-25T16:40:00.003-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Planting the herb bed. Sweet Basil, Dill, Sage, and Lavender. That's all they had so will go to the other nursery tomorrow for more herbs. :)

One of her watermelons is up!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Sweet Basil.

Broccoli is looking good.

Pretty little tomato...

Look at the size of the bell pepper already!!

Oh my gosh!! Look at the potatoes today!! I think tomorrow we should add another bed on top and more soil to make it a triple decker.

The green beans are coming up like crazy. Carrots have started to germinate, too.

5-24-09 Me-Day Off

2009-05-24T18:55:00.006-05:00

Jessica and I went to the garden for a little while today. She dug the sod out a ways from the fruit trees and filled in the low spots with soil. It's a holiday and everyone else is off doing something with family. We bought some herbs today and will plant an herb bed probably on Wednesday. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. :)

5-23-09 Water-Lettuce-Beds-Sweet Potatoes

2009-05-23T20:41:00.015-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Jessica with the new bed of lettuce. It's Black-Seeded Simpson.

Here's that sweet little apple blossom. :)

Jessica digging the hole bigger so Dave can fit in it to work on the pipe. Not bad for a girl with a stitched up finger. She gets the stitches out Tuesday. You can see my mobility scooter in the background.

Annette's turn to do more digging.

Way to go, Annette!

Dave in the hole with the pipe cutter.

Dave sanding a piece of copper pipe.

Testing to see if it works.

Jessica and Dave. We've got water!!

Filling the hole back up.

Jessica building more beds.

Miss Becky with a handful of asparagus.

Building his second bed.

Annette hard at work.

Building her first bed.

Triple deep bed with the new sweet potato slips just planted.

A new bed of lettuce and 2 more beds of carrots.

A Storm was coming in so we headed home after watering everything. We no sooner got home and it started pouring rain. :) Now that we have a water hydrant. :) I think there are 35 beds now.

More beds to get planted tomorrow.

The end of another wonderful day in Kate's Garden.

5-22-09 Busy Day Tomorrow - Whew!

2009-05-22T23:01:00.001-05:00

Boy! Tomorrow is going to be busy. There are 43 bags of soil sitting in the gardsn to use, more boards are being delivered tomorrow. Tons of seeds and plants to get planted, grass to be mowed and edged, etc. Jakki is home for the weekend. She will plant her own garden bed too. The grape vines are leafing out. There are baby tomatoes and peppers already. Oh, forgot... lots of sweet potatoes to get planted, too. Also must get the water faucet put in. Whew!!

5-21-09 Beans & Melons up

2009-05-21T23:09:00.005-05:00

The soil didn't get delivered early enough today so we only spent a few minutes at the garden. We did get quite a few more tomatoes and peppers planted. Some of the green beans, watermelons and cantaloupes are up. I didn't take pics but will tomorrrow or Saturday.

5-19-09 Kids-Carrots-Watermelons

2009-05-19T21:30:00.007-05:00

Here's the box he built all by himself. He wanted to plant carrots in it so that's what he did this evening.

Way to go! Looks good!! (I think he planted enough carrot seeds for the entire state of Kansas) :)

She wanted to plant watermelons, so that's what she did this evening.

Gotta keep them moist so the seeds can germinate. Looks great!!

5-18-09 Planting Seeds & Sets

2009-05-18T17:20:00.017-05:00

Here are a few notes on planting seeds in the raised garden beds:

It takes 4 small bags of Miracle-Gro soil per raised garden bed.

Green Beans ~~ Add 3 bags of the soil to the bed and smooth the soil out some. Sprinkle handsful of bean seeds over the surface of the soil. You can get them pretty close together in raised beds. Add 1 bag of soil over the seeds, smooth and tamp down the soil a little. Water well and try to keep a little moist. Any beans that come up too close together can be thinned out later. I plant only Top Crop green beans. They are the best without a doubt.

Carrots ~~ Add 3 1/2 bags of soil to the bed. Smooth and pat down the soil. Taking pinches of carrot seeds between your fingers, sprinkle fairly evenly over the surface of the soil. Crumble the remaining 1/2 bag of soil evenly over the seeds. Tamp down fairly firmly and water well using light mist. Keep moist. As the baby carrot come up you can harvest some of the babies to leave room for the others to get big. I will only use Red-Cored Chatenay carrots.

Watermelons - Cantaloupes - Squash ~~ These can all be planted just like the green beans. Keep moist. I used Black Diamond watermelons, Hales Best cantaloupes, and Hubbard winter squash.

Onion Sets ~~ When you plant onion sets, use all 4 bags of soil in the garden bed. smooth out and tamp down slightly. Push each little set (pointy end up) down into the soil so about half of the set remains above the soil line. If you bury them deeper you won't get the wonderful big onions you were dreaming of. Water and keep moist.

Potatoes ~~ I prefer Kennebec Potatoes over any other variety. Lay your seed potatoes near a sunny window until they have nice green sprouts on them before planting. I used a double-high raised bed and laid the seed potatoes directly on the loosened soil of the bottom of the bed. Then filled the double-high bed with soil. This should give plenty of grow room for the potatoes. You could make it triple-high if you so desire.

5-17-09 Beds-Mowing-Woods

2009-05-17T19:54:00.010-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Starting to build some more garden beds.

The potatoes are doing sooo well.

James is digging more, still looking for the copper water pipe.

An 8 year olds first time building beds.

Miss Becky using my favorite tool, a hula hoe.

Wow! He finished his very first garden bed! Good job!! He wants to plant carrots in it.

Here's a shot in the woods behind the garden. This is part of the garden property.

Here's another shot of the woods. Beautiful!!

Getting some of the new beds lined up.

David mowing the unfenced portion of the garden lot. It's looking good.

James still looking for the copper pipe. :)

I think they may have found the pipe.

An 8 year olds first open work blister. :) Ouch!

This is looking good.

James mowing in the fenced section of the garden lot.

Another shot of the potatoes. Sweet potatoes will get planted this next week.

James mowing. Annette watering.

End of the day. Beautiful. :) There are 29 beds now.

5-13-09 Apples-Fence

2009-05-16T03:17:00.010-05:00

Jessica working on the fence!

The little apple tree that spent days in my kitchen, has a blossom bud on it's
lower branch. How cute.

Here's another shot of the apple blossom.

Made it around to the gate.

Gate's up! It's really windy today. Honest, the gate is straight, but the camera
was not.

Jessica planting seeds. Today we planted 3 beds of green beans, 1 bed of
hubbard squash, 1 bed of watermelons, and 1 bed of cantaloupes.

Putting things away at the end of the day.

James, digging to find the end of the water line.

Lots more to dig. They said it is probably about 4 feet down.

Hey, it's me. Sitting on my mobility scooter, watering the garden beds.

5-09-09 Potatoes-Fence

2009-05-16T03:02:00.007-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Wow! The potatoes are looking good!

Potatoes are planted in a double high bed to give them room to produce. The
new baby potatoes will grow NOT from the roots but from the stems.

Tamping down the soil around a new wealthy apple tree. Two of them got
planted today.

We used a garden hose to mark the line for fence posts.

Big job rolling up 75 ft. of hose.

Jessica getting the fencing started.

The bunnies are not going to like this fence. You can see the compost pile on the left.

The end of one 50ft roll of fencing.

Connecting the fencing with short pieces of wire to the post.

Starting the fence on the west side of the garden. Altogether 200 ft. of fencing got
done today. Probably at least another 100 ft. to go.

5-06-09 Tomatoes-Peppers

2009-05-16T02:43:00.010-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Miss Becky, planting about 50 lilacs and red sumac.

Tomatoes need to be planted a little sideways.

Here's another shot of how to lay the tomatoes.

If you remove the bottom couple of leaves before you cover with dirt, then the
plant will root along the stem, giving you sturdier plants and more tomatoes.

Annette trying to get her hair out of her face.

Annette busy planting.

Planting broccolli. Mmmm.

Here's the two little bottom leaves to remove. Just pinch them off.

No! Don't eat yet. Wait for them to grow little florettes.

How cute. Little baby broccolli plants.

We also planted bellpeppers, red cayenne peppers, cucumbers, zuchinni. cabbage, etc.
Will take pics of those tomorrow. I have 2 wealthy apple trees sitting in my kitchen
that will get planted Saturday. They got the water meter put in today. Hope to get
the fencing up this week-end before the bunny rabbits discover what is planted.

Hard at work.

5-02-09 Fruit-Berries

2009-05-15T23:02:00.010-05:00

This little Nectarine tree spent several days in my kitchen. You can't see it in this
picture, but it has tiny leaf buds opening already.

Digging a hole for the 2nd Nectarine tree.

Untangling roots of the red raspberries.

Planting the red raspberries. These will spread so will eventually move a bunch of new
shoots to other beds.

Becky, the previous owner of the garden lot, planting a baby Pecan tree.

Becky and Annette digging a hole for the second Pecan tree.

Done for the day and putting things away.

God Bless this garden. :)

4-26-09 Building Beds

2009-05-15T22:39:00.009-05:00

This is a little hard to see but if you look really close you can see asparagus spears.

The blackberries look happy. Nice and green.

Tiny baby rhubarb is popping up now.

The garlic is still recovering from transplant shock and getting their tops cropped, but is doing well.

We'll go through many times this amount of Miracle-Gro soil.

This is our second load of boards for garden beds.

Getting a lot of beds built.

Carryng a new bed to the stack of built ones.

Stacking the new beds.

Wow! Everyone's busy. Almost. :)

Hey.. this is looking good!!

4-11-09 First day

2009-05-15T01:44:00.018-05:00

This is Kate's Garden.

It's named after the person who made it possible.

My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.

~God Bless This Garden~

Here newspapers are being cut into strips to make the pots for starting the tomato plants.

Just wrap the newspaper strips around the little wooden PotMaker.

Push the PotMaker down hard on the wooden base and...

Voila!! A little newspaper pot.

Several volunteers took turns making the pots.
We used a cardboard template to make all the strips the same size.

We all decided on using 2x6 boards for the raised beds.

The Home Center cut them to the length we needed so all we had
to do was nail them together.

Everyone, big and small, got a chance to use the hammer.

The first beds had to get started before we could spray for weeds so we
pickedthe area with the very least grass and weeds and used the hula hoe
to get down under the roots and pull them out.

The first 3 beds got laid out and then the soil was dug and loosened
a little in each bed.

Some more boards being carried in.

More raised beds getting prepared.

Carrying Miracle-Gro soil to the beds.

Pouring the soil into the beds.

Loosening soil in the 2nd bed.

Planting asparagus. We can't pick it this
year but next year....Mmmmm

Starting on the 3rd bed.

Patting down the soil over the asparagus.

Hard at work or hardly working? :)

It is sooo cold today.

Another shot of planting asparagus.

Loosening up soil before adding Miracle-Gro soil.

Adding soil to the blackberries.

Smoothing out the soil on the blackberries.

Patting down the soil on the blackberries.

Guess what these are??

Crimson Rhubarb crowns.

Adding soil to the 3rd bed.

Whoa!! I think it's full.

Patting down soil over the Rhubard.

Here's the little newspaper pots filled with soil to start the

little tomatoes.