Monday, May 26, 2014

Not So Green Thumb Gardening

Straw bale gardening worked well for me last year so I figured I'd do it again. I also planted in containers & in the ground.

I use straw bales in the winter to help insulate & block wind around my chicken coops. While the bales are in the runs the chickens sit on them & poop, this helps to fertilize & break down the bales. 

I just make a little hole add I bit of dirt and put the plant in.  I really like using the bales because there are hardly any weeds.  It is also a good hight for me to kneel at without hurting my back.

In the bales I planted tomatoes, brussel sprouts, eggplant, cauliflower, broccoli, jalapeƱos, bell peppers & a mystery veggie - I don't know how I ended up with it but it was in my cart & I bought it. 

Everything is growing well even though it snowed last week.   I did have some bugs munching on the brussel sprouts so I made a mixture of garlic, cayenne pepper & water to spray on the plants. That seemed to do the trick. 

I also planted potatoes in a bag.  As the greens grow I'll add more dirt.  I've never tried to grow potatoes. I hope they do well.

This is the 2nd year trying onions. They didn't do so well last year, they just didn't grow very big. I have them in a container again, we'll see what happens. 


I have some "Bush Cucumbers" in a container & in the ground.  The first cucumber plants I got didn't survive the May snow :-/

Last year I bought a hanging container that had beans in it. I reused it this year and put peas in it.

I also planted sweet corn, can't wait for that :)

My raspberries look like the have tripled from last year.  I wonder it I'll get enough to make jam?

My walmart peach tree looks like its growing well, not sure how mature it needs to be before it starts producing peaches though.

Potatoes in a bag
I had to put tomato cages around the corn so the chickens wouldn't stomp on it.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Sebago's New Barn

Sebago moved to a new barn March 1st. He has made many new friends.  He really likes the mares :) 

We have found a wonderful bunch of horsepeople and re found Parelli Natural Horsemanship. I have been learning so much from them. We even participated in  Parelli Workshop with Jake Biernbaum.  What a wonderful experience that was. Who would have thought you could learn something by going in circles.


Hickory (left) and Sebago 
playing 
in the areana
Prince, Lili & Sebago