Amazing garden! My husband & I had a beautiful, & healthy garden years ago, back in the mid-1990's, & he always prepared the soil, planted the seeds, & Iris flowers, & our harvest's were wonderful. But, he passed in 2012, & I had to sell our 10 acres/house three years after he passed. I took care of weeding, & checking our plants daily since the deer always snacked on plants. We grew string beans; broccoli & cauliflower; watermelon, cucumbers & squash. Our Zuccini plants thrived, as well as our spaghetti squash. I do miss gardening together. Now, my Daughter is learning how to garden, & as of yesterday, we transplanted a bunch of seedlings into Solo cups, just until the weather warms up & she now has time to plan her garden patch. I'm so proud of her, & she shows a great interest in growing food for the family. She has cucumbers, tomatoes, chili pepper plants (seeds from store peppers), & watermelon, & of course, Colorado wildflower seeds. I helped her transplant the baby seedlings & it was fun to see her grow & learn the wonderful life of growing plants!
"rats on sticks". 🤣 We called them rats with antlers. But the raccoons can frustrate you even more with the corn. They pick off an ear, eat just the end, and throw it down, EXACTLY the way rats do with the food. Nibble here and nibble there. And they're harder to chase off. Free range dogs or have-no-heart traps.
You're right. It's time. I WILL go over to Home Depot this afternoon to investigate vegetable plant options. A few tomato plants at minimum would do nicely.
Aren't the Dogs the first line bark alarms at night around dusk to run deer back into the Forrest?
I often have my daughters dog for long periods of time at my home. He is a mini aussie who thinks he's a golden retriever and maybe in a past life he was. This boy had Fido-radar i have never seen before. If there are white tail deer out side within 50 yards he will rise from a sound sleep on the living room floor and scoot to a window and grumble.( yes grumbling is permitted inside barking is not) He will bark up a storm when we see them outdoors. Ya can't fool em. Like K9 radar.
To this day I don't know how he does this trick? And I really don't mind it. The grumbling hilarious.
We are moving into our new home on 7 acres in May. Not sure if this will work, but we plan to use a product called petplaygrounds.com to protect our future garden from animals. The product is VERY affordable. We used it in our prior home to keep the dogs in.
Deer are a problem everywhere. My husband and I have been back yard gardening for over forty years and we have found that a commercial spray made from dried sheep blood works quite well to repel the deer.
Also, I easily dry my basil leaves on a cookie sheet in the sun. No fuss, no muss, no electricity.
Thank you so much for the recipe! This post was awesome, brought me back to my childhood. My great Aunt and Uncle has fruit trees, vegetable garden, dairy cows, chickens, and raised their own beef. Did all the work, just the two of them, and both lived into their late 90's. How I long to go back to that.
Thank you for the breathe of fresh air and encouragement. At 92 I hesitate to get a plot in our community garden next door. I do think I am going to get at least two large pots for my very small apartment patio. I love zucchini so that will be one with some parsley. Then one with cherry tomatoes and spinach. It is worth a try anyway. We don't have the wildlife we used to so they should be fine. We have leash laws here too. I only wish I could have chickens too. Love you both, Rosie
I've lived in Italy for about half my life now and over 30 years in a medieval tower house with quite a bit of land around and mountains nearby. There's still a lot of wildlife here and as I get older I like to spend more of my time outside. My veggie patch gets better every year, there's nothing like trial and error for learning the best way to do something. I think my most rewarding activity is to venture out in the morning to collect an armful of wild edible greens that grow all around, in such abundance! And spring is the most magical time of year.. what bounty!
My father's last words, before he died. "Plant trees. the only way the earth will survive is by planting trees." When we moved to Utah , five years ago, we planted 12 trees around our home. Eleven of them were fruit trees. We had a good sized harvest last year. It looks to be far better this year. I am not into organized religion, but have carefully read the Bible for the last 40 years...looking for answers. In Genesis, when the Lord turned Adam and his family out of the Garden of Eden...They were told...now you will work very hard tiling the land and the women will suffer in labor. Interesting, because tiling the land has almost destroyed the top soil on earth...and women suffer immensely in labor from eating the products of the earth. I personally learned something in my own life...from three very difficult 26 hour labors. I could have died during the first one. My diet was wheat, corn and other processed foods. I was immensely surprised, when I gave these foods up and stuck to totally natural; unprocessed food.. My 4th labor happened so fat, that when I rushed to the hospital, I was told to hold back and wait for the doctor. I held back for almost an hour. My fourth child was born in an hour and a half.. If I had only known, I would have had the child at home.
My small raised garden planter finally rotted away this winter so, inspired by your repurposed horse tank, I finished sanding our old one and have one coat of Rustoleum on the outside (only) and bought a second color to paint a darker border at the bottom (yeah, well 🤣. thinking about letting the grandkids hand paint some pictures on it after it cures!) and will have a couple tomato plants, a bell pepper plant and a cucumber plant in there before long. I have some pots with herbs from last year that are already coming up.
I've read about processing herbs and freezing them with a little water in ice cube trays. I think I might try that, then I just drop in a cube or two while cooking.
I hate to tell you but the motion lights have not stopped the deer at my house. We originally got them because we were having a skunk problem, they did resolve that. I have them spaced all along the front porch, sides and back of the house. The deer still ate every single Daylilly bloom and Black Eyed Susan bloom that run the whole length of the front and side of the house. It was at this point I decided deer weren't so beautiful after all. I was sitting on the porch swing late one night when a deer came up, the light came on, it was not the least bit startled, just looked around a second and proceeded to demolish more flowers. So I bought a motion sensor that makes lots of noise (dog bark, gun shots, music, several choices) and flashes a light too. I will try that this year....and probably scare only ourselves and our cat. We will see.
We have the land for a huge garden now that all of our horses have crossed the rainbow bridge, but we don't have the strength and energy to do that anymore, and my sweet hubby isn't into growing things (my weeds he calls them) or any kind of gardening so I'm pretty happy with my raised beds.
I often think about how Roman citizens (including retired high ranking officials and officers) were granted a single "jugerum" which is about 0.6 acres. This was enough to support a whole family supposedly, and was as much as one farmer could manage in a day's work:
"That portion of land used to be known as a "jugerum," which was capable of being ploughed by a single "jugum," or yoke of oxen, in one day; an "actus" being as much as the oxen could plough at a single spell, fairly estimated, without stopping. This last was one hundred and twenty feet in length; and two in length made a jugerum." - Pliny the Elder
I have to imagine that many Roman homesteaders had at least a few acres (by modern measurement), aided by slaves perhaps. But maybe most citizens managed their single jugerum plot and got what they needed by and large – truly living within one's means (until the empire collapsed!)
Apr 18·edited Apr 19Liked by Robert W Malone MD, MS
Thank you for your soothing essay Your header pic brings on thought of a slow ride around your farm. Handsome. No green V K veggies allowed. Will being trying for little yellow tomatoes. I will be getting to water customer gardens and feed their deer. I'll be vicariously enjoying all of your gardening successes. Home grown freshly picked are the best.
Peaking around scarring in the eye that sees today. Beck to full caliber tomorrow hopefully.
Take care. Your spread looks perfect for healing and rebuilding.
As an after thought, I do garden like crazy. I have a large yard that is filled with plants and flowers of all kinds and have won an award or two from the local gardening enthusiasts. I grow orchids inside and the flowers and smells are heavenly. I just decided when I moved here to turn the yard into a haven for my clients and my family. Growing more than herbs was more than I wanted to handle when still working, and now it's all we can do to care for the house and yard. When my husband turns eighty (three years) we will downsize because being on a ladder on the roof isn't recommended. Life cycles, get it while you can!
My husband and I were back-to-basics enthusiasts.
My crowning achievement was a Thanksgiving mega dinner with guests where the conversation wound up talking about the food.
Turned out everything but the turkey had been grown in our own back yard!🙂
Amazing garden! My husband & I had a beautiful, & healthy garden years ago, back in the mid-1990's, & he always prepared the soil, planted the seeds, & Iris flowers, & our harvest's were wonderful. But, he passed in 2012, & I had to sell our 10 acres/house three years after he passed. I took care of weeding, & checking our plants daily since the deer always snacked on plants. We grew string beans; broccoli & cauliflower; watermelon, cucumbers & squash. Our Zuccini plants thrived, as well as our spaghetti squash. I do miss gardening together. Now, my Daughter is learning how to garden, & as of yesterday, we transplanted a bunch of seedlings into Solo cups, just until the weather warms up & she now has time to plan her garden patch. I'm so proud of her, & she shows a great interest in growing food for the family. She has cucumbers, tomatoes, chili pepper plants (seeds from store peppers), & watermelon, & of course, Colorado wildflower seeds. I helped her transplant the baby seedlings & it was fun to see her grow & learn the wonderful life of growing plants!
"rats on sticks". 🤣 We called them rats with antlers. But the raccoons can frustrate you even more with the corn. They pick off an ear, eat just the end, and throw it down, EXACTLY the way rats do with the food. Nibble here and nibble there. And they're harder to chase off. Free range dogs or have-no-heart traps.
You're right. It's time. I WILL go over to Home Depot this afternoon to investigate vegetable plant options. A few tomato plants at minimum would do nicely.
Aren't the Dogs the first line bark alarms at night around dusk to run deer back into the Forrest?
I often have my daughters dog for long periods of time at my home. He is a mini aussie who thinks he's a golden retriever and maybe in a past life he was. This boy had Fido-radar i have never seen before. If there are white tail deer out side within 50 yards he will rise from a sound sleep on the living room floor and scoot to a window and grumble.( yes grumbling is permitted inside barking is not) He will bark up a storm when we see them outdoors. Ya can't fool em. Like K9 radar.
To this day I don't know how he does this trick? And I really don't mind it. The grumbling hilarious.
We are moving into our new home on 7 acres in May. Not sure if this will work, but we plan to use a product called petplaygrounds.com to protect our future garden from animals. The product is VERY affordable. We used it in our prior home to keep the dogs in.
Just a reminder that Apple Trees rarely win awards for most handsome and photographed.
The shape of the tree illustrates it's a race of each branch to outpace the other for warmest sunlight
Contests for sweetness and texture are timeless and dominate the landscapes.
Deer are a problem everywhere. My husband and I have been back yard gardening for over forty years and we have found that a commercial spray made from dried sheep blood works quite well to repel the deer.
Also, I easily dry my basil leaves on a cookie sheet in the sun. No fuss, no muss, no electricity.
Thanks for all your encouraging words.
Thank you so much for the recipe! This post was awesome, brought me back to my childhood. My great Aunt and Uncle has fruit trees, vegetable garden, dairy cows, chickens, and raised their own beef. Did all the work, just the two of them, and both lived into their late 90's. How I long to go back to that.
Thank you for the breathe of fresh air and encouragement. At 92 I hesitate to get a plot in our community garden next door. I do think I am going to get at least two large pots for my very small apartment patio. I love zucchini so that will be one with some parsley. Then one with cherry tomatoes and spinach. It is worth a try anyway. We don't have the wildlife we used to so they should be fine. We have leash laws here too. I only wish I could have chickens too. Love you both, Rosie
I've lived in Italy for about half my life now and over 30 years in a medieval tower house with quite a bit of land around and mountains nearby. There's still a lot of wildlife here and as I get older I like to spend more of my time outside. My veggie patch gets better every year, there's nothing like trial and error for learning the best way to do something. I think my most rewarding activity is to venture out in the morning to collect an armful of wild edible greens that grow all around, in such abundance! And spring is the most magical time of year.. what bounty!
My father's last words, before he died. "Plant trees. the only way the earth will survive is by planting trees." When we moved to Utah , five years ago, we planted 12 trees around our home. Eleven of them were fruit trees. We had a good sized harvest last year. It looks to be far better this year. I am not into organized religion, but have carefully read the Bible for the last 40 years...looking for answers. In Genesis, when the Lord turned Adam and his family out of the Garden of Eden...They were told...now you will work very hard tiling the land and the women will suffer in labor. Interesting, because tiling the land has almost destroyed the top soil on earth...and women suffer immensely in labor from eating the products of the earth. I personally learned something in my own life...from three very difficult 26 hour labors. I could have died during the first one. My diet was wheat, corn and other processed foods. I was immensely surprised, when I gave these foods up and stuck to totally natural; unprocessed food.. My 4th labor happened so fat, that when I rushed to the hospital, I was told to hold back and wait for the doctor. I held back for almost an hour. My fourth child was born in an hour and a half.. If I had only known, I would have had the child at home.
My small raised garden planter finally rotted away this winter so, inspired by your repurposed horse tank, I finished sanding our old one and have one coat of Rustoleum on the outside (only) and bought a second color to paint a darker border at the bottom (yeah, well 🤣. thinking about letting the grandkids hand paint some pictures on it after it cures!) and will have a couple tomato plants, a bell pepper plant and a cucumber plant in there before long. I have some pots with herbs from last year that are already coming up.
I've read about processing herbs and freezing them with a little water in ice cube trays. I think I might try that, then I just drop in a cube or two while cooking.
I hate to tell you but the motion lights have not stopped the deer at my house. We originally got them because we were having a skunk problem, they did resolve that. I have them spaced all along the front porch, sides and back of the house. The deer still ate every single Daylilly bloom and Black Eyed Susan bloom that run the whole length of the front and side of the house. It was at this point I decided deer weren't so beautiful after all. I was sitting on the porch swing late one night when a deer came up, the light came on, it was not the least bit startled, just looked around a second and proceeded to demolish more flowers. So I bought a motion sensor that makes lots of noise (dog bark, gun shots, music, several choices) and flashes a light too. I will try that this year....and probably scare only ourselves and our cat. We will see.
We have the land for a huge garden now that all of our horses have crossed the rainbow bridge, but we don't have the strength and energy to do that anymore, and my sweet hubby isn't into growing things (my weeds he calls them) or any kind of gardening so I'm pretty happy with my raised beds.
I often think about how Roman citizens (including retired high ranking officials and officers) were granted a single "jugerum" which is about 0.6 acres. This was enough to support a whole family supposedly, and was as much as one farmer could manage in a day's work:
"That portion of land used to be known as a "jugerum," which was capable of being ploughed by a single "jugum," or yoke of oxen, in one day; an "actus" being as much as the oxen could plough at a single spell, fairly estimated, without stopping. This last was one hundred and twenty feet in length; and two in length made a jugerum." - Pliny the Elder
I have to imagine that many Roman homesteaders had at least a few acres (by modern measurement), aided by slaves perhaps. But maybe most citizens managed their single jugerum plot and got what they needed by and large – truly living within one's means (until the empire collapsed!)
Thank you for your soothing essay Your header pic brings on thought of a slow ride around your farm. Handsome. No green V K veggies allowed. Will being trying for little yellow tomatoes. I will be getting to water customer gardens and feed their deer. I'll be vicariously enjoying all of your gardening successes. Home grown freshly picked are the best.
Peaking around scarring in the eye that sees today. Beck to full caliber tomorrow hopefully.
Take care. Your spread looks perfect for healing and rebuilding.
Best always ♡♡♡
As an after thought, I do garden like crazy. I have a large yard that is filled with plants and flowers of all kinds and have won an award or two from the local gardening enthusiasts. I grow orchids inside and the flowers and smells are heavenly. I just decided when I moved here to turn the yard into a haven for my clients and my family. Growing more than herbs was more than I wanted to handle when still working, and now it's all we can do to care for the house and yard. When my husband turns eighty (three years) we will downsize because being on a ladder on the roof isn't recommended. Life cycles, get it while you can!