Prepped Living Blog

I love to garden. I don't always have the greatest success with it, but I do enjoy it. Here are the highlights (including both successes and failures) of our little garden. Plum Tree  After four years of wondering what the little thorny tree growing at the edge of the yard might be, we finally found out this year. It turns out it is some kind of plum, likely a cherry plum, but I am not sure. It finally produced fruit this year - tiny, yellow plums that have a sweet-tart flavor. Peppers  I planted peppers indoors this year from seed I saved from last year. Sadly, none of it germinated. We ended up ordering our peppers from Azure Standard this year. Their supplier offers heirloom varieties at better prices than the non-heirloom plants we found at Lowes. This year we put in three jalapeno and two Anaheim plants. They did not grow very tall (we have issues getting anything to grow big here), but they are producing very well!   White Beans  I saved seeds from our in-groun...

A couple of weeks ago we were given a bag of garlic scapes. We tried garlic scapes last year when we grew our own garlic. That first year, we cut them up into small rounds and used them in stir fry. They gave it a nice flavor. This year, we decided to try garlic scape salt. What are Garlic Scapes?  Garlic scapes are the long, curly central stalk that grows from the bulb of hardneck garlic plants. This stalk must be pulled or cut in order for the garlic bulb to grow larger. Garlic scapes have a mild garlic flavor and can be used to flavor dishes just like garlic. Garlic scapes Garlic scapes can be cut up and used in dishes such as stir fries, eggs, and casseroles. They can be used to make a pesto. They can also be used to make a garlic scape infused oil and garlic flavored salt. Because we love our food well seasoned, we opted to make a batch of garlic scape salt with the majority of the scapes and freeze the rest for later use. Making Garlic Scape Salt We followed the Homemade Garl...

It is always difficult to remember everything we do in between updates, but here is a decent representative list of the projects we have been working on since May: Gardening Harvested Parsley, Basil, Mustard Greens, and Tomatoes from the AeroGarden Harvested Strawberries, Jalapenos, and Anaheim Peppers Planted Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) Growing (or attempting to grow!) a Variety of Produce in the Regular Garden Growing Tomatoes and Garden Huckleberries in the Greenhouse Canning Serviceberry Syrup Hawthorn Jam Serviceberry/Hawthorn Berry Juice Freezing Eggs (raw, scrambled)  Serviceberries Oregon Grapes Cherries Pear Butter Dehydrator/Air Drying Herbs for Tea - Mint (orange, sweet, chocolate), Rose Petals, Lemon Balm, Plantain Culinary Herbs - Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Tarragon Medicinal Herbs - St. John's Wort, Comfrey, Plantain, Calendula, Yarrow, Feverfew Other - Day Lily, Mushrooms Other Homestead Projects Rendering Lard & Tallow Vanilla Extract Sewing - modifying the n...

Did you know you can use household waste items to enhance your garden? “Wait,” you may be thinking, “I don’t have a compost pile.” No worries! Even without a compost pile, here are 3 household items you can easily use in your garden. Please note that there is a lot of disagreement on the internet as to best practices for gardening. Some sources say these ideas are great and others say these don’t work at all. We personally have had good results with them, and thus, we are sharing them here with you. Nevertheless, be sure to do your own research and do what you think is best for your own garden. Coffee grounds Coffee grounds can be used as a soil enhancer. They are particularly good for plants that thrive on acidic soil. We mix them in with the top soil or simply sprinkle them on top of the soil in between waterings. Banana peels Bananas are high in potassium and as such, their peels can be used to make a plant fertilizer. Simply cut up a banana peel, soak in water for five to...

Here are some of the things we have been up to since the last update in February: Gardening Installed the AeroGarden Set-up a Greenhouse  Installed New Easy-up Fencing Planted Onions Food Preservation  Canned Blueberry Juice Canned Potatoes Canned Pineapple Juice Canned Apple-pear Sauce Dehydrated Onions Froze Onions Other Homestead Projects Finished the Lap Quilt Learned to Darn Socks Made Remineralizing Tooth Powder Made Homemade Deodorant Waterglassed Eggs Made Homemade Curry Powder Installed Pantry Shelving Organized the Pantry Made Draft Stoppers   New Website Articles DIY Tooth Powder DIY Draft Stoppers Energy Bites What projects have you been working on this spring? We would love to hear your updates as well!

Outdoor Garden We set up the last garden bed that we didn't get to last summer. We purchased our third two-pack of the 6x3 beds last year and only set one of them up. I prepped the bed with cardboard and threw in some limbs, leaves, and grass clippings. I then topped it off with soil. We also did a bit of planting. Our larger bed has mint and tarragon on one side. They are healthy plants and come back every year, so I like to leave them alone. We planted a few flower seeds in the bare spots on this side. We planted dry beans on the other side using beans I had saved from a previous garden. The seeds are a couple of years old, so if they do not come up within a reasonable time, I will re-plant with newer seed. We also planted two of the shorter beds. This gives us four beds that are ready to go for the season: one of strawberries, two we just planted, and one with tarragon and mint on one side and the beans we just planted on the other. We will plant the remaining beds when the weat...

Our indoor garden has been in for one month now and we are so pleased with the progress! If you would like to read about our experience in setting up our indoor garden, you find the information on our blog post " Starting an Indoor Garden ." Our AeroGarden one month after planting Below is a progress breakdown by pod: Lettuce/Mixed Greens (1st pod)   The first pod of mixed lettuce greens we planted is doing fabulous . I can't tell if two of the same kind of seeds sprouted or if it is just one large plant. We have harvested several leaves already. The plant continues to grow well so we should get a good harvest from this pod. Lettuce/Mixed Greens (2nd pod)   The greens didn't come up at first in the second pod, so I added a couple more seeds and moved some of the sponge over the seeds since it hadn't really closed over them. I had no idea if it would help, I was just experimenting. They eventually sprouted and two plants are growing. Due to the delay in sprouting, ...

Year-round gardening without a greenhouse? Check out our latest project! We were gifted an AeroGarden and are so excited to try out this indoor garden option. Deciding where to put it was the most difficult part of the whole process. Once we settled on  a location, we assembled the base. It was so easy to assemble that we really didn't even need to read the directions. This blog post contains affiliate links. Purchasing through these links is optional and helps support our blog at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! After assembling the base, the next step was to fill the basin to the fill line and add the amount of fertilizer indicated on the chart. Our gift included a box of Heirloom Cherry Tomato Pods and a a box of Grow Anything Pods  in which you plant your own seeds. Both boxes came with pods, plant fertilizer, and  fertilizer  measuring cup. The Grow Anything Kit also came with a set of grow domes, which are small plastic covers that act like a minia...

A friend of ours is battling sugar ants in their bunkhouse. We have dealt with ants on occasion both in the garden and near the house. This gave me the idea for a blog entry on ant control ideas.  Here are three methods we have used to combat unwanted ants: Note: This newsletter contains affiliate links to items listed for your convenience. As affiliates, we may earn on qualifying purchases. Purchasing through these links helps support our website and blog at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. 1)   Orange Oi l   – We have a bottle of Medina’s Orange Oil that we purchased in 2016. After using it all these years and giving some away, we still have some left from that original bottle. I love that this product is natural and has so many uses. This is on my list to purchase this month – just to be sure we don’t run out. Orange oil is fabulous for killing ants. It breaks down their exoskeleton and kills them rather quickly. This means, though, that it must come into co...

We posted an early spring edition about the garden, but have not updated since. We are now at the end of our growing season. We had a variety of plants in the garden, some of which did well, others which did not. We will just hit a few of the highlights below: Here is our 2024 garden update. Garden History Over the past three years, we have struggled getting our plants to grow vigorously. We think the problem is a combination of soil issues (even though we got soil specially made for raised beds) and the amount of shade we have on the property. We have been working on soil amendment and have seen incremental improvements in the garden each year, which has been very encouraging. Ground Cherries We had one plant produce fruits. It was just enough to have a taste every few days towards the end of summer. Four other plants grew taller and fuller than the one in the photo below, but none of them produced any fruit. Ground Cherries with Carrots in the Background Tomatoes It has been a strugg...

As summer draws to a close, I am already thinking ahead to next year’s garden. This means assessing what grew well this year, what didn’t, what beds need amending, what and where we will plant next year. This process started me thinking about what plants we have enjoyed having in the garden. We like having the traditional garden favorites such as lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and such, but we also love planting things that are new to us. Here are three not-so-traditional favorites we have enjoyed having in the garden that you might like to try as well: Note: This newsletter contains affiliate links. As affiliates, at no extra cost to you, we may earn from qualifying purchases. Earnings help to fund our website and blog. We know you have many options when shopping and that each dollar you spend is valuable. Thank you for choosing to purchase through our links. 1)     Ground Cherry –         Ground cherries look like a tomatillo and are part of the ...