Historic House field trip

Well I think you've had enough time to read the last post. I figure if you read real slow and let it soak in for 2 or 3 months or more that should be good enough.

Here's some of the latest action with the Family:

Some good history right around the corner from where we live.

We went for a tour of this old historic house. It dates back to the late 1800's. Lots of character!
One thing I loved was you could tell the person who lived there needed his house to be a certain way and that is how he built it. Every inch was practicle and usable. A person's thoughts went into what they needed for life to be easier and they designed accordingly. There is no cookie cutter here, everything is very unique, beautiful!
Even the closets were unique, they were built into the corners of the room and had venting above so they didn't contain the heat.
Beautiful inside and out.My BrideGiant Stag-horn Fern

A nice family fun day.

http://www.rossetterhousemuseum.org/welcome

Green House (part 5)

I thought our new greenhouse would be plenty for what we wanted to do.

I was joking with my son one day telling him we will have to hedge a tunnel into our green house because the plants are going to be so big and full.

Remember these little guys below?

These are the same plants,,, we love how quickly things change. In one day a plant can seem to grow two or more inches.



EEMMM,,, Sweet Banana peppers, can't wait to make fresh salsa.

As for the cucumber powdery mildew. I got rid of it. Here's my secret,,, I ripped the entire plant out and threw it in the trash!
Now I have a brand new batch of cukes started from a different source of seed.

Green House (part4)

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

With spring here and our winter trial crop behind us we are very excited about the spring plants. We have been busy in the greenhouse every chance we get.

Here's a little follow up on "powdery mildew". The solution with baking soda seemed to help but wasn't persistent enough to get completely rid of the problem. So if you just start to notice the mildew you may be able to ward it off with this natural solution. I found something that Lowes and Walmart both carry. It's called "Garden Safe".
It seems to be getting rid of the mildew. I also learned that a problem such as disease could be in the very seeds that you plant. "Sow", learn and press on with out giving up.
There is still hope in the cucumbers!!!

Here is why this post is titled "Great Expectations:

Deuteronomy 28:1,4

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground,,,

This tells me that my God's favor is upon my family and upon that which we set our hand to. The fruit of thy ground is blessed.
I have told my wife and children that we have God's favor and blessing and I expect a bountiful crop, more than we can consume and plenty to give away to others.

My faithful and ambitious helpers.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body

Green House (part3)

We now have some maturing cucumber plants. They started out strong but now we have another unwanted guest in the green house. "Powdery Mildew" has attacked our cucumbers. Being a organic greenhouse I've researched ways of naturally getting rid of diseases. What I found for this culprit is a simple solution of 1qt water with 1 teaspoon baking soda with a few drops of lite oil (lite olive oil). I have applied it (hand held spray bottle) three times now over 8-10 days each time it is less and less.These pictures are of when it first attacked. The first day after applying the mixture you could see a significant improvement. Despite this disease the plants still have cucumbers growing.

Soon to come: a "spring crop" planting day with the boys and a bucket full of strawberries.
God Bless

Green House (part2)

The green house is now operational. We decided to start with a "trial crop" through the winter. In the mean time we are trying to learn about growing the right things for our climate and how to ward off bugs and disease naturally. Proud new owner and manager.

Some of the first fruits.

We had an invasion of white flies. We learned that a natural spray is made up of just water and dish soap. We used ivory dish soap with some water in a spray bottle. It seemed to work but I was a little over zealous and sprayed lots and lots everyday for a week. I think I should have sprayed only once or twice. The plants seemed to be in shock and haven't grown too much since but it did get rid of the white flies. Next time I'll only spray once and wait for results.

We are preparing for spring planting. We now have more pots and lots of bags of organic soil. We're just waiting for warmer weather.

The Green House (part1)

We've decided to build a green house and grow our own veggies. Several reasons, one being my son loves to grow things. He loves growing things he can eat. OK, he loves to eat. And I love to build so what a great opportunity.