Welcome to our Garden

We'd like to introduce you to our garden!

Our garden began as a large patch of grass... actually weeds with a little grass.

But then we tilled it up!

And sectioned it off into 4 rows with walking paths in between.

Seeing as we had such a large area to plant (25 x 100 ft) we planned out where to plant everything using the Mother Earth News Vegetable Garden Planner. It really helped us to plan out our area effectively and know exactly how much room we had for each variety of plant. It was a lifesaver!

Around the first weekend in April we planted cold weather vegetables like kale, lettuce, cabbage, brussels sprouts, carrots, peas, spinach, and parsnips. We have been planting different things every week or two since and are finally almost done planting!

For the first couple weeks we had to water everything by hand since we didn't have a sprinkler system set up yet... which was not very fun.

But then we finally got drip tape, which made our lives much easier! 

Drip tape is very similar to a regular drip system, but it is less expensive. There are little 1/4" slits along the entire line of drip tape where the water is able to escape. It works great!

This is the current state of our garden...

Since this area used to be grass and weeds we have been fighting both ever since we tilled it up. A lot of what you see is both grass and weeds... but don't be fooled because everything we have planted is actually doing quite well! We have to weed the garden quite a bit and as you can see, we tend to fall behind on weeding (since we also have many other things going on). However, we know that even though this gardening season might be incredibly frustrating, next year and every year after that will continue to get better and better as we persevere and keep fighting the good fight!

Side note - the covered spot on the right is tomatoes... they experienced some sun shock when we planted them outside so we have given them some temporary shade to help them recover.

All in all, we have a LOT planted... tomatillos, tomatoes, yellow onion, red onion, garlic, kale, bush beans, 3 kinds of potatoes, green cabbage, red cabbage, squash, zucchini, brussels sprouts, leeks, eggplant, radishes, spinach, romaine lettuce, mixed salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, soybeans, cucumber, pickling cucumber, green peppers, red bell peppers, yellow peppers, orange peppers, purple peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, anaheim peppers, serrano pepper, corn, peas, carrots, beets, parsnips, raspberries, gooseberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes. We hope to plant some more corn, pole beans, pumpkins, and strawberries this weekend.

We also have a small herb garden, which includes sweet basil, cilantro, tarragon, oregano, italian parsley, sage, thyme, dill, chocolate mint, spearmint, and rosemary.

We hope our garden does well so we can eat some delicious food... because nothing tastes better than fresh fruit and vegetables picked from your own backyard!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg...? It was the chicken for us.

Our journey toward homesteading…

Ever since we got married we have had a passion for food. We are always looking for new recipes and ways to make delicious (and nutritious) food. Since Nicole received her Master's degree in a field that revolves around food -- nutrition -- we know how vital food is to our health. Many of the health issues that we are facing today stem from poor dietary habits. Over the past year or so we have been able to learn a lot about our current food system in the US and where exactly our food comes from. As a result, we have gained a great desire to have more control over our food. Last summer (2013) was our first summer in our own house and we decided to plant a garden with a wide variety of vegetables and some fruit. Our garden had 3 raised garden beds as well as a few flower beds that we turned into garden beds. It was fun to plant the seeds and watch them sprout, grow and bear fruit. Since we each such a large amount of fruits and vegetables we wanted even more growing space. Recently, we moved up to Roy due to Sam's job change and we now live on a half acre, which means much more growing space for us!

During the winter of 2012, Nicole had the idea of getting chickens. Sam had never really thought about owning chickens but was open to the idea. Seeing as he is the type of person who finds a lot of information from online sources, Sam researched what it would take to raise chickens and discovered that it was (supposedly) pretty easy. Sam then set out to build a chicken coop and we picked up our baby chicks. Even though there were a couple bumps along the way, we loved watching them grow and when they first started producing eggs we were so excited you would have thought it was Christmas morning! The eggs were better than any eggs we had ever eaten - they had huge, dark, creamy yolks and actually tasted like something! This experience convinced us that controlling our food supply meant we would have higher quality, better tasting food. And, fortunately for us, we had a fun time doing it!

In our research of the current food system we have come across many videos and images of animals that are being raised in a way that is completely unnatural and contrary to the life and purpose we believe God has for these animals. Many of the practices of food producers cause animals to be raised in harsh environments that put us at risk for many food-borne illnesses. Also, many practices allow animals to be mistreated and require harsh living conditions that are entirely unnecessary.  We do not like to support these practices and we believe we should be stewards over this great earth that God has given us, so we try our hardest to only eat meat that we know where it comes from and to give animals the good life that they deserve.

It seems the more we learn about food the more we realize there is still so much to learn!! Our society today is very far removed from where our food comes from and we would like to help people gain a greater appreciation for food and what it takes to grow/raise food. We are excited to begin this journey of food independence and this blog will be a way to document our homesteading experiences and share what we have learned... to hopefully inspire you to either start growing food yourself or even to simply cause you to pay a little more attention to where your food comes from. We hope you will join us!