Lousy Harvest with a few Surprises!!

We neglected the garden this summer much more than we anticipated when we began our plantings in the spring.  I suppose welcoming a new baby (Maya) into the world re-focused our energies a bit. Despite our lack of focus, we still managed to harvest a good amount of tomato, beets and carrots.  With these, I was able to make things like soups and pasta sauce, but most of the other veggies were not very prolific. On a fun note, the garden did provide a few surprises.  Our pumpkins and squash, pictured below, grew from the beauty of natural re-seeding from our compost pile.  I dont think they would have made their debut had we tended to the garden like we planned.  Pumpkins take up sooooo much space and this year we let the plant take over, so one pumpkin grew from each vine that invaded our garden space.  It just goes to show that even if you dont sweat and slave, a garden can and will manage to provide you with something nurishing and beautiful. 
As I focus on next years plantings and anticipated harvest, I am planning to learn more about canning from my very talented friend Robyn who runs a GORGEOUS organic farm (Park Ridge Organics) in Fon du Lac, WI.  We have a date planned this month where she will teach me the process so that I will put less into the freezer in plastic bags and more on my shelf in jars which will use less energy to keep.  I look forward to learning from her and still managing to consume a good deal of wine and listen to records all nite simultaneously!!!

Cherries and a Baby!

We welcomed our little Maya Josephine to the world on Saturday, July 2nd at 3:33am.  Shes beautiful, healthy, and strong...we couldnt be more proud!  Our little family of 4 came home from the hospital after our 24hr stay and are really happy to be in our own beds.  My milk has come in successfully now and it helped so much with bedtime because Maya got enough milk to send her to a blissful, dreamy sleep.  She slept for 3 hours straight and so did I!!  WONDERFUL FEELING!!
In addition to the new birth in our home, the cherries on our trees are in full bloom and taste divine.  I believe them to be of the 'bing' variety.  Aaron made a tool using a gatorade bottle, bent fork, duct tape, and a long broom handle to carefuly pick the cherries that you see pictured here.  I am so excited to eat, freeze, and bake with these suckers.  YUM!

Happy 4th of July to all!  Cheers to eating all the cherries, strawberries, and other fabulous summer gifts that your hearts can handle.:)

Things are growing!

Lots going on with the garden these past few weeks.  Lots going on in life these past few weeks actually.  I am HUGE with child (36 weeks today) and we have the house ready to start on the baby room.  Having two weekends of rummages cleared out a good amount of extra furnature/junk that we no longer have any use for.  Better late than never, right?

Aaron and the kiddos planting broccoli!

Cicely and our first beautiful raddish!!

1/2 of the garden (tomato, pepper, raddish, onions and spinach)

Cherry Trees In Bloom

Anyway, back to the garden.  In addition to our cherry trees blooming in the front yard, all of the veggie rows have been planted now (tomato, pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, raddish, potato, onion, lettuce, and spinach) and we have been eating raddishes for weeks.  We have also planted lavender, thyme, basil, onions, peppers, and aloe in pots on the patio.  I am hoping the weather wont confuse our growth though.  It was in the high 80s for a good week and now we are back to...60!!  Uncool, but perhaps necessary. Its all par for the course I guess and we are having fun getting our hands dirty in the process.  Its great to document in a formal way.  We have already begun to reflect back to see when we have done some things and are comparing the process to last years plantings (which I documented sparingly in a notebook).

First Planting

We planted one row each of spinach and lettuce today and watered it like crazy.  The plan is to plant another row of the spinach and lettuce in two or three weeks so that we can scatter our harvest a bit.  The earth is still pretty cold here in SE Wisconsin, so adding frames large enough to cover the plantings, along with a plastic covering, will protect the veggies from any frost while adding a greenhouse effect to the concept of growing.
I am looking forward to the rewards that will come, not only from the produce that will grow, but also from watching my daughter and her friends respect the garden and enjoy all that it has to offer.  I think the kids have more fun playing in the garden in the summertime than on the playset in the yard. It is a learning opportunity for everyone.:)

Planting Roots

I am 6 months prego now, so by July our family should have a new baby girl and veggies to pick from the garden.:)
It was nice and sunny all day (still cold though at 40 degrees) and I was able to work in the yard a little.  I turned the compost which is still defrosting and raked our yard so that all of stones from our driveway are no longer all over our grassy area (from snow blowing this winter).  Things are starting to feel and look a bit more like spring every day. 
Cicely helped me plant another flat today and this time we will have sprouts of...
carrots, radishes, rutabaga, and kohlrabi.

Sprouts!!

After a few weeks of waiting, things are sprouting!!  We officially have small sprouts of brandywine tomatos and broccoli growing on our sunporch!!  Today is the first day of spring, so its very fitting to say the least.  Yesterday was gorgeous, so we got started on tilling the garden (mixing in fresh compost as we went).  Its raining now, so we let nature take its course as the ground becomes nice and ready for planting.  Rainbarrels are again in their upright position (they were emptied and turned upside down during the winter months) and ready for collection.
SOOO EXCITING!!

Push Mower (muscle powered)

We use a muscle powered push mower to keep the grass controlled for aesthetic purposes and to be honest, I dont really feel that I use any more energy to use it than I did with our gas powered mower.  However, the lawn does need to be cared for more often.  How cool though not to have to use gasoline and to be able to use the mower when children are present and not worry so much for their safety (or that you wont hear them when they wake from napping).  A real multi-task example of greenneck living!!:)

Solar Panel

Aaron built a solar panel (with the assistance of ideas found on you tube) that we run, from time to time, in our bedroom during the winter months.  It was made using aluminum cans that were spray painted black for added sun absorption and then placed in a wooden frame.  A small fan (plugged in using electricity from our home) forces the air into our room.  The panel is not 100% efficient, but is a work in progress none-the-less.  I am not a fan of the light it blocks from our room and it does emit an odor which we presume to be from the chemicals in the paint and aluminum.  It is not run very often, but is in place so that monthly experiments can be made.  The hottest air that was forced from it was read at 130 degrees on a 35 degree day.  Not too shabby from something that cost nearly nothing to make (primarily recycled materials) and has been an interesting scientific process to date.

Composting

A composting area was added last summer where everything from used facial tissues to egg shells are placed and rotated.  Dirt is added to the top to keep magots at bay and it is turned with a pitchfork as often as possible.  This is a process I am still working to perfect.  It can be quite grotseque on a sweltering summer day.  This year we hope to use the "organic" dirt that is created during the process.
This picture shows our first edition and includes the indoor composting system we had in place for a while but discovered that it didnt involve proper drainage, so was moved outside.  The bin you see here was removed and the space is now occupied by non-enclosed composting materials.  An additional area (to the left of the existing gate) is open and used for proper rotation of the composted materials as they become ready-to-use soil for planting, etc. New photos will arrive soon!

Clothesline

No pictures are available as of yet, but our dryer is officially turned off in spring when our clothesline is in full effect.  There are days when it rains and it is very tempting to use the dryer (and being human I have been known to cheat from time to time), but 98% of the time it isnt and the clothesline is our only source of drying power.  I LOVE IT!!  It gives my daughter and I extra vitimin D absorption time and saves a good deal of energy all at once!!  I do know that some people have used the outdoor clothesline year-round, but I havent become that brave...yet.  Somehow the idea of frozen undies doesnt give me the toasty feeling in the winter months where I long for summer, but thats just me.

Rain Barrels

Two years ago, we added rain barrels to our downspouts.  One is located at the front of the house and one in the back.  They are simply 50 gal drums purchased from a man who worked at a juice concentrate company.  We added a spiggot and cut off the top, replaced with screening (use metal rim or industrial size rubber band to secure), to keep fly eggs and debris out.  These drums assisted in nourishing our garden several times throughout the summer months. 

March 10, 2011

Planted a few more veggies to complete one full flat.  It may seem silly to do it at such a slow pace, but we are still dabbling in this hobby and try to do a little at a time and make it as much of a family effort as possible.  Often our evenings (especially through the work week) are over before they begin. Please note that the word Pepper was written by my 4-year-old who is not only learning her planting skills, but also perfecting the art of writing. 

I am happy to announce the addition of the following to our starter tray...
*Broccoli
*Peppers (both hot & sweet)

Also to note that the title of our blog has officially changed from Greenneck Gardening to Greenneck Living to give us a little more area on the lifestyle to cover.  Enjoy!!

March 8, 2011

Well, Im officially starting a blog and am definitely experiencing feelings of apprehension and excitement as I begin this process.  Having a four year old and being six months into my second pregnancy, it is more clear to me than ever that time keeps moving on.  In short, my head is spinning and Im getting older and dizzier by the second so I need to start documenting in order to secure the few, if any, marbles I have left.
For the last few years we have, with our extraordinarily small yard, begun to garden.  I thought it appropriate to begin a blog that speaks both to the growth of our family and our garden which is used to help sustain us and keep us bonded and ever growing in knowledge together. 
Why call it Green Neck Gardening?  My husband Aaron is the initiator of our garden quest and he thought of the title.  His love for gardening is matched with a love for simplicity and environmentalism.  We have gone with green neck with the intent to imply and reiterate a kind of simplicity and natural process in gardening.    

Here we go...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011:

*Earth is still covered with a few feet of snow, so tilling is out of the question (last year we tilled on March 4th)
*Sorted prior year seeds into bags titled vines, leaves, flowers, roots, etc.

*Mixed Scotts potting soil with top soil for seed trays

*Planted brandywine and mortgage lifter tomatoes (will stay in sun porch to sprout)

*Planted one seed per section on planting pack (last year planted several seeds per pack and did a lot of unnecessary splitting before official planting)