Toddlers & Tomatoes

MoOOOOooved!

2012-02-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

We've moved, seeing as our life has moved from gardening to parenting we started a new blog. Join us on our adventures, in the house, in the dirt, in the diapers.

The Outnumbered Mommy

-Theresa-

Cloth buns

2012-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Look at those bottoms. Want to know what I see? Money. My husband still sees a mess. I see cloth diapers as an investment. My husband still refers to disposables as 'Real diapers' and cloth diapers as 'hippy pants'. He agreed to using the boys Christmas money to start a cloth diaper stash, only after I showed him some math. We were spending $40 per month on diapers and wipes BEFORE our newest addition arrived, a newborn could have easily doubled that number. DN arrived in November and our family gave us lots of disposable diapers, but one wonderful cousin gave us some gDiapers. We easily had two months worth of disposables, but because I have been using the gDiapers on him during the day we still have unopened boxes stacked in the closet. I have already noticed a difference at the store. I don't have to make a separate trip to BJ's for diapers and wipes. It's also easy (surprise!).

Our diaper routine is smooth. The diapers for JD (2years) are all stacked in the bathroom, so if he has an accident we go to the bathroom, the liner goes in the sink for a rinse, and the gPants get re-stuffed with a new liner while he goes potty on his big boy potty. He is much more aware of being wet in the cloth diapers and more likely to tell me when he has to go, he is doing great potty training and stays dry most of the time. DN (2mo) has a changing station set up with his diapers and a box of cloth wipes in the living room. Once he is all changed his soiled liners go into the bathroom to be rinsed. I keep a laundry basket in the shower to collect the dirty diapers, wipes, underwear and clothing (CJ still has accidents). I end up doing a load a day with diapers, which keeps me motivated to do laundry (one of those things I always put off).

I am using gDiapers primarily, I have four medium and two small gPants and 6 of each size liners, I also have six custom covers and nine liners I picked up on etsy, I can't go a day without doing laundry because I run out of small liners but once DN wears medium I'll be fine for two days. We still put all three in disposables at night because I just don't see gDiapers being able to handle the night time volume. Once I get a wet bag for upstairs I will diaper DN overnight. I still need to research and pick out a good overnight diaper for JD & CJ so we can eliminate that disposable diaper too.

If you are interested in trying cloth wipes for free follow my cloth baby wipe tutorial over on instructables.

New Year, New Outlook

2012-01-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Blogging about a vegetable garden kind of stalls out late summer and doesn't pick up again until spring, because well, it's boring.

"I picked some more tomatoes today, I threw them at the chickens, because well I am sick of tomatoes at this point and can't spend more hot days in the kitchen canning."

This year I am changing thing up. Our garden will be just as involved, but we are going to branch out into our other green adventures. I plan to make at least one change in our lives every month this year, something frugal, something green, or maybe something that is both.

By the end of January I would like my children to be 100% cloth, no more disposables on the little bottoms!

Winter

2011-12-21T07:08:00.000-08:00

Being pregnant during the summer is not fun. I worked in my garden as little as possible, but still managed a nice harvest. Plenty of green beans, pepper rings, salsa and pickles are put away in the pantry and baggies of mixed veggies in the freezer. We moved some plants into our south east facing window for the winter, the peppers are doing well. I have some random pictures I have taken of our harvest on my cell phone (kids managed to break my camera not long after my last post) I have been sharing some of my recipes and other projects on Instructables. Including my favorite hot pepper rings and apple pie filling!

And I can't end this post without a picture of our newest addition to the family, Baby Nic-Nick...

Hot Hot Hot!

2011-07-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

But the tomatoes are starting to turn red! Only about a week away from tasty fresh salsa goodness!

Let me tell you, being 6 months pregnant is not fun in the summer, the weeds are taking over but I just can't sit out there in the sun and take care of the problem, well, next summer maybe I'll be able to do more, or able to con my hubby into helping more with the garden.

Holy Forks... Rain Again?!?!

2011-07-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

It seems every time I head out to the garden we have more cucumbers, less tomato plants (damn hornworms) and it rains as soon as I start getting into things. I spray 'worm be gone potion' (orange peel & vinegar) and it rains, I dust with DE and it rains. I can't win.

2011-06-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Today I found little green plum tomatoes on the plants that self seeded. YAY! That means more salsa! I am hoping some cherry tomato plants may have self seeded too *fingers crossed*

Little Veggies & Little Fingers

2011-06-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's been raining a bit so I haven't been out in the garden much so as soon as it cleared up this morning we went right out. We found some lovely little veggies hiding in the garden. Tiny cucumbers and tiny jalapenos with so much potential.

Little bit of spicy cuteness.

I see a future pickle!

And a tomato flower.

These little fingers found some tiny black berries,

And these little fingers found a little squash plant.

Backyard Farming: Strawberry Sandwiches

2011-06-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Backyard Farming: Strawberry Sandwiches: "In the spring and summer our meals tend to shift and change. We are busy in the yard and don't have time to prepare elaborate meals. After w..."

Love love love!

I read BackYard Farmer daily, but this I had to share, Definitely putting this together for the boys snack today!

Blog lovin'

2011-06-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Now if it would only stop raining long enough for me to get outside to take pictures!

EGGS!

2011-06-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

11 dozen eggs is a lot of eggs, by the end of the day today it will be an even 12 dozen. All layed in the last 2 weeks... not including the ones we ate. It's crazy how many eggs we are collecting every day. I put up an add on craigslist and a sign out front, even offering freebies to friends & family... yet they still seem to be accumulating. What are your favorite egg recipes? I need some creative ways to get these eggs moving!

Photo Tour

2011-06-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

2011-06-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I was browsing Lowe's with hubby and kids as a way to get out of the heat... (which is normally a really bad idea) when my hubby calls me over and says, "They have some tomato plants on the clearance rack"...

WHERE!??!?!?

That's right. 1 quart tomato plants in handy coconut fiber pots.... for 40 cents a plant! I snagged 18 plants, basically all the ones that didn't have flowers or fruit. Seeing as my seed starts didn't do as well this year... this will plant one happy bed of tomatoes at a minimal expense.

Now I have 2 beds planted with happy, healthy tomato plants, one bed that self-seeded and the other off the Lowe's clearance rack. YAY!

2011-04-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

There it is, the last jar of yummy jalapenos from my fall harvest. I was sad to break the seal this morning realizing that when this is gone, that's it. But once I mixed up some tasty jalapeno cream cheese to spice up my morning toast I was happy I have had all these tasty jalapenos all winter to warm up my meals.

Yum.

2011-04-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

String bean seeds are planted. Is 64 plants too many? I don't think so. My kids still think string beans are a snack and eat them by the handful. I have plans to freeze and can as many as possible to try and feed the bean monsters all winter. I picked 4 different varieties to mix things up this year, a wax bean, a purple and two different green beans, hopefully the kids don't shy away from the variety.

Another rainy day

2011-04-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

After a fun and busy Easter week we are back to normal and I can finally settle down and focus on what I love, spending time with the kids, gardening and reading. Typically I would be immersed in the latest Patterson or Koontz book but thanks to my Father in law I am instead reading through All New Square Foot Gardening.

My father in law is my gardening enabler, he isn't much of a gardener himself but he always seems to show up with new garden tools, seeds and ideas every spring. Last spring I had 3 4x8 raised beds and rows and rows of garden that needed to be tilled, the catch, I don't own, nor have the budget for a tiller, so my beds were planted, but my rows... all weeds. I had a 2 year old and a 4 month old at the time and decided I just couldn't do it all and was skipping out on the rest of the garden, shame. He walked in and said, "But you did the beds, why not the rest?" and I responded, "The beds are easy", so he said "Why not put everything in beds?"

Wait. Why didn't I think of that. Why not put everything in beds? We have piles of horse fencing we saved from a construction site and a few posts we snagged out of a vineyard that was closing, so the materials where right there, two weekends, load of beautiful composted topsoil and I had a garden, a garden I could simply maintain with a hand trowel.

This is where the confusion set in, the directions on my seed packets say to sow seeds in rows 3' apart, but my beds are only 4' wide, how does that work? So I winged it. I ended up just planting where I felt they belonged, it worked but I found lots of wasted space in my beds by my July. That's where this book came in, my FIL saw this book siting on the shelf and saw what my garden should be. I drew little lines in my dirt with my fingers at 1' intervals, and followed the seed planting diagrams and all of a sudden I knew how to make my garden work. The author, Mel Bartholomew, talks about succession planting, harvest spacing, extending seasons, vertical gardening... everything. Most of the books is common sense, but as gardeners we are so ingrained to do rows we don't see how simple it could be. I am sure with some experimenting and experience I would have ended up where this book has lead me, but it would have taken a few harvests. I have a similar background as the author, Civil engineering, problem solving, garden hobbyist, so I have always wondered why and questioned the system and tried to find a better way, but I didn't think it could be so simple.

This book makes gardening so simple, everyone should be able to do this in their yard, starting with a 4'x4' box and going from there. I already started working on mapping out where the rest of my plants are going and decided the other bed I was going to ask my hubby to build is out, I am making those pumpkins and winter squash go vertical this year.

2011-04-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

60 degrees and sunny. So wonderful. I am trying to not get too excited and put too many seeds in because we are not yet past our last frost date. Today I tilled some mounds and sowed my zucchini. Last year and the year before I started my zucchini indoors at the same time as my tomatoes, with no success, the plants made it through the transplant, but never thrived and never produced. This year I am attempting to just direct seed them and see what happens. I also tossed some herb seeds in my small planters and some cucumber seeds along the east side of my greens bed, I plan on trellising them up to provide shade for the greens and maybe have them make it through summer. So far the garden is shaping up well.

So far I have planted sugar snap peas, arugula, spinach, beets, radishes, mixed greens, romaine, carrots, cucumbers, yellow and green zucchini, sweet corn, strawberries, parsley, oregano, basil, cilantro, dill and some red & gold potatoes that managed to sprout in the pantry.

My raspberry and wineberry plants seem to be coming in well, but need some weeding and mulch to really take off. My horseradish is back, but between the kids and the chickens plucking all the leaves it is struggling a little, but it is impossible to kill that stuff so it will do fine. I had some parsley and oregano make it over winter, but the chickens and the kids got to that too, the oregano will pull through, the parsley is still questionable. The swiss chard that came back is gone, along with the radicchio, once again, chickens. I have some asparagus crowns that I have had for awhile, I just don't know where to put them.

I'd like to see some sprouting happening in the jiffy houses soon, I am getting anxious about my tomatoes and peppers, because in all honesty, that's what I garden for, the rest is just extra goodies.

Easter Chicks?

2011-04-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

We have chickens, 21 to be exact (20 when i find a home for the damn rooster) The kids love the chickens... but do we really want more? I keep seeing adds for Easter chicks, do I want to get the boys each a chick for Easter? They would love it, they loved the chicks last time, but now they are intimidating full size chickens... I know it's a novelty, but at least I will know that 2 chicks out of that barrel in the pet store will survive to be happy free range pet chickens... hm.

2011-04-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

The kids and I stopped at Delicious Orchards on our way home from the park today, we picked up some apple cider, apples and some big beautiful green bell peppers. For dinner tonight I am stuffing those babies,I dug through the pantry/freezer and pulled out some whole grain couscous, a pound of ground angus, a big sweet onion, a jar of homemade salsa (the last one from the 2010 season) and some sharp cheddar. This should be good.

So anyway, I told you all of that so I could mention this.... canning hot peppers and salsa. Last fall was the first time I ever did any canning and the results were great, I am still putting banana peppers from my garden on my sandwiches and have plenty more to cover me until this years harvest is in. I started twice as many pepper plants this year, because they were so easy and so tasty! My family goes through salsa fast, so I also doubled my plum tomato starts this year, I'll have less heirlooms, but it's worth the sacrifice. I picked up a bunch of canning books and supplies off of the clearance rack at Lowe's over the winter, so I am planning ahead to preserve as much of the harvest as I can this year.

2011-04-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

It was so nice out yesterday the kids and I dragged the hubby out to the garden after dinner. Of course every time I manage to get him out there we start planning (he likes to call it adding to the 'honey-do list')

Every year I manage to make the garden a little bigger and add a couple more raised beds, but this time while I was out there looking around I realized that we are almost done. We have nine 4'x8' raised beds and one 16x8, another 16x8 is going in this spring. I have a 5'x8' bed that I have been using to store pots for years that I need to clear and compost (and some how get water to) so I can grow some flowers and herbs for my boys to pick and play in. Then I can just sit back and enjoy gardening, no more big projects, no more 2x4's, no more saws and hammers, just trowels and seeds. I look around now and see a perfect place to sow seeds and spend time with my children, not a project, it's amazing how far we have come from the weed covered sand we had 8 years ago.

Hens in the Garden

2011-04-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

This is our first spring with chickens, we picked up four lovely hens off a nice 4-H family in the fall last year. They were so fun we took the plunge and ordered the 'Rainbow Egg Layer' bundle from McMurray hatchery in November. So 30 chickens later our garden is now completely weed free and well fertilized. Because the minimum order from McMurray was way more than our 10x10 shed/coop could handle my Mom adopted 9 girls to move to her farm leaving us with 20 happy hens and 1 rooster. I love my girls, they have been free ranging in my garden since early February and managed to clear all my raised beds by March. Unfortunately they also ate my entire fist seeding, so a fence went up to keep them in the orchard and out of the planting beds. Once my plants are established I will let a hen or two pick around in the garden to help with weeding and pest removal.

Did I mention that my garden weeding brigade also makes breakfast and entertains my kids so I can garden? I recommend a couple hens for every garden, there is a bit of a feed expense in the winter when they can't free range, But the healthy fresh eggs, compost turning, fertilizing and pest removal makes it worth every dime. I already determined the hens are worth having and I am feeding 21 chickens and only have 4 layers. Over the next few weeks the younger ones should start laying, then we should be expecting 16-18 eggs per day. If I just sell a couple dozen eggs at work we will be able to cover the cost of feed.

Time to scramble up breakfast and get out in to the garden, 70 and partly cloudy today!

Ah. SPRING!

2011-04-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Getting the garden ready for spring is one of the things I look forward to all winter. We had a few nice days sprinkled between the rain and sleet in February and March I used to clear beds and turn compost, but now that April is underway so are all the big plans. I have my seeds, some started in the house, some sowed in the garden and quite a few waiting in a box for fear of frost. We already have the tomato seeds and pepper seeds in their little jiffy houses. Spinach, mixed greens, carrots, beets, radishes and peas are all in the garden as of yesterday.

I had quite a few plants, swiss chard, lettuces and herbs that popped up in early spring, this it the first year I have had anything survive over winter. The excitement was short lived because the chickens managed to hop the fence and eat them. Time to go play in the dirt!

SPRING!!

2010-04-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 weeks my kids and I were staying at my parents home because our basement had flooded. When we returned Thursday to beautiful weather and a beautiful flowering yard I got the gardening bug! I got most of the seeds started when I was at my parents and have some happy looking seedlings popping up. I want to start a couple more tomato plants this week and some herbs to put in the planters. Because the weather was awesome we worked in the garden all weekend, clearing last years debris and prepping for this season. This year we are removing our soaker hoses and installing a drip system. We are also putting in some raised beds we built from reclaimed horse fencing. Last year we has problems with critters eating our string beans and cucumbers so we are trying raised beds to keep the critters out. Our other endeavor for fall is acquiring some chickens. My parents have chickens on their farm and after spending a few weeks there with the flock I realized, they do NOT smell, they are friendly and the eggs were very tasty! Win, Win, Win! My mom has a friend who raises chickens and she will ask about getting a small flock of egg layers for me. Can't wait!

Yummy yummy Compost

2010-01-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

In Jersey we have sand, lots of it, and although sand is great for drainage it does not offer much in the way of nutrition. There are a few ways to enhance the quality of your soil before starting a garden, composting is my favorite. Composting is one of the easiest ways to improve your garden. I always keep a bag on the counter to collect all our organic trash and empty it before it gets stinky. Free organic fertilizer!

First, pick a place to start a compost pile. My compost pile is in the back corner of the garden, compost can get a bit stinky so away from the house is better. Just start the pile directly on the ground (not on concrete or pavers) so the worms can move in to help break things down.

Next add the goods, leaves, twigs, straw, paper (not glossy or coated), eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, grass clippings, vegetable scraps, fruit peelings, green plant clippings and annual weeds. I throw all the compost materials on the pile and every week or so I add some garden soil and mix the pile up with a shovel. I continue this process all year and the entire pile gets tilled into the garden rows in the spring.

Another benefit to composing is how much we reduce our household waste. About 25% of the garbage we produce ends up in our garden making our veggies grow better, if we didn't compost all of our veggie scraps would be in a plastic bag in a landfill for forever. Composting is work, but the benefits for your garden and our environment make every single shovel worth it.

Grilled Summer Squash - by JA

2010-01-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

My hubby and I grill all year round, rain,sleet, snow, so Saturday when we had the grill heated up for a tasty london broil I decided to try this recipe my friend had posted over the summer.

(Originally posted by JoyceAnn)
Marinade for grilled summer squash.

My boss gave me several sturdy yellow squash, so I thought they'd be good for the grill at a bbq we went to yesterday. I sliced them up into pickle spear type sections, about 4 or 5 inches long and put them into a zip-loc bag, along with a couple onions that I sliced into 1/4 inch rings. They marinated for about 2 hours before we grilled them.

Measurements weren't exact, so these are approximations - mix and match and change according to your preference:

1 cup olive oil

fresh chopped oregano - 1 tablespoon

chipotle powder - 1.5 teaspoons

yellow curry powder - 1.5 teaspoons

ground cumin - 1.5 teaspoons

salt - 1 tsp

cracked black pepper - 1 tsp

garlic powder (I didn't have any fresh garlic on hand, which I would have preferred) - 1.5 teaspoons

Mix well together, pour into bag over squash. Shake the zip-loc bag around to make sure the marinade gets over all of the veggies. Let sit in the fridge for a couple hours; shake off excess oil before putting onto the grill. Took maybe 3-4 minutes for each turn - say 2-3 turns per squash slice depending on the thickness of the spear. Very tasty!

Thank you JA, this one rocked.

Neglected blog award...

2010-01-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

Goes to me for being a complete slacker. Ok, maybe I didn't slack, I was busy, with life, it happens. I can't wait untill garden season starts again, 5 pots of herbs in the window doesn't quite cut it. We are still feasting on last seasons garden goodies (jars of stewed tomatoes and baggies of frozen peppers, snap peas and squashes) Today I took a trip out to the compost pile with a bucket of scraps, the garden is so horribly over grown, it's scary. I've got tons of work to do before the cole crops get started.

This season we plan on trying a drip irrigation system and the existing rows need to be relocated, I was about 6" short of being able to fit the tractor into the garden. We also plan to try starting a chicken coop, my Mom has been having a bit of success with hers. I also have an entire new section of garden that needs to be fenced. Not to mention the plastic that tore off the back of the greenhouse. Looking forward to another season of organic veggies, yum.

4 weeks.

2009-08-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

It's been too long I am such a bad blogger... tisk tisk.

I have been over burdened with tomatoes over the last few weeks. I'm not complaining though, i <3 tomaters! I have been picking cherry tomatoes on a quart per day average and just finished canning up 4 quarts of romas. Crazy. The heirlooms seem to be ripening up on a daily basis, and I've been devouring them just as quickly. Pink brandywine slices with a little mozzarella is a great snack.

Last week we had a BBQ and we used a ton of garden goodies to make sides. We did 2 different cole slaws (one vinegar and one creamy) with our cabbages, and we made salsas with the tomatoes, an herloom tomato platter with mozzarella and fresh basil and a tasty roasted cherry tomato salad. It was quite a feast.

Stuffed Zucchini

2009-07-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

I know everyone who has ever grown zucchini has ended up with that rouge ginormous zucchini that some how hid from view and survived being harvested until it was a monster.

This is my favorite recipe for that huge zucchini that has been hiding in your garden:

Ingredients
1 ginormous zucchini (works well with other summer squash too) halved lengthwise
1 pound crumbled cooked ground turkey
1/4 cup chopped sweet onions
1/4 cup diced paste tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs
3 cups cooked rice or orzo (I like using brown rice)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 400

Scoop seeds out of each zucchini half (compost!) making a pair of canoes.

In a bowl, combine cooked ground turkey, onions, tomato, bread crumbs and seasonings.
Mix to combine. Spoon mixture into zucchini boats (I'll admit it I use my hands for this part).

Sprinkle cheddar over top.

Bake zucchini boats 10 or so minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

Serve over rice :D

Dinner tonight: see above. yum.

FIRST TOMATO!

2009-07-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

YAY! I was so excited yesterday to walk into the garden and see that first hint of red. I checked this morning (and took a picture) and now it looks like when I get home from work there will be 3 little tasty cherry tomatoes ready to be added to my dinner salad. The rest of the garden looks great. Yesterday was my day off so I got some work done in the morning before it got hot out. I attempted to transplant the rouge squash plants that popped up in the shade into barrels in the sun, we will see how that works out. I tied up some more cherry tomato plants, they are barely contained in those cages. There are a couple other cherry tomato plants that are starting to get that hint of red, I see alot of bruchetta in my future. I don't know what I was thinking when I planted 20 cherry tomato plants, cherry tomatoes are tasty but they aren't exactly easy to store. I know for next year, less cherry tomato plants, and larger tomato cages.

The eggplants that I am attempting to grow in a barrel look great, tons of purple flowers. I have always had problems with bugs eating my eggplants in the past so this year I put two plants in a 1/2 whiskey barrel with a small catnip plant. It is working out great! I have always heard of companion planting but I never attempted any of the pairings until this year and I am pleased at the results. I have my onions by my lettuce and the rabbits haven't touched a leaf. I have been having problems with beetles on my summer squash plants so maybe it is time to pick up some sage and tuck it in between the squash rows, see what happens. The beetles are less fond of the tougher winter squash. The spaghetti squash plants and the buttercup squash seem to be doing well, they each have some respectable size fruit on them. I love spaghetti squash, just add a little diced tomato and seasoning and you've got a tasty (healthy) meal.

Dinner tonight: Chicken fajitas with fresh peppers & onions from the garden, garden fresh side salad with mixed greens, cucumber and a little cherry tomato. Tasty.

tomatoes?

2009-07-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here at work looking at the dirt still caked under my nails thinking about what I'd rather be doing. Maybe weeding the between the cucumbers, or transplanting the rouge pumpkin/squash/watermelon plants that popped up in the side yard. Or maybe just snacking on some fresh green beans. yum.

I started my garden in early April and now I am anticipating the day the tomatoes ripen. I garden for tomatoes. This is the first year I have taken my garden seriously and the results have been wonderful. Last night we had a tasty mixed greens salad with red pepper and cucumber, all fresh from the garden.

I wonder daily what took me so long to test out my 'green genes' which apparently run in the family. I remember growing up helping my dad harvest our small backyard garden. My sister and I would pick all the cherry tomatoes we could carry and throw them at each other to see who could catch the most in thier mouth. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Tomato day is a week or so away. I can't wait.

Dinner tonight: Roasted chicken. Side of string beans with sauted shallots, garlic and squash blossoms, all picked today. Maybe use up the left over mashed potatoes with some fresh scallions.