Adventures of the Unexpected Farmer

Confessions of a yo-yo dieter.

2011-04-04T06:10:00.000-07:00

I believe in science. I believe in being reasonable (except during PMS), rational (cough PMS again) and following evidence while making decisions. I love chemistry and biology. That being said there is one area in my life where I am completely willing to believe almost any claim put forward. Diets. I have never really liked my body and have pretty much been on a diet from the time I was 17. I have tried almost everything that seemed in the realm of reason to help. I do exercise at least 3-4 times a week and take a nightly walk, except when it is too cold, see previous posts on how I feel about the (shudder) cold.

I hope that someone somewhere can benefit from all my diet experience. Also, because I am tired of all the crap propaganda that preys on people like me who will drink the latest snake oil in the hope of loosing five pounds.Really I want to loose 15-20 but I will take five and be glad.

Diets I have tried:

Wheat free, dairy free:
I lost weight on this one, for a time. I also worked out five days a week and ate nothing including crap like puffed millet. Really who enjoys that crap. My bird likes to eat it but he also eats his own poop so I am not sure he is a ringing endorsement. I did get pretty thin but people said I looked like crap. My skin was pale and I was definetly deficient in nutrients. I did this when I was 20 so I think if I did it now I would do better but honestly, I love carbs. Way way too much to give them up.

Atkins: holy horror. This one started out good. Then I hit a week and a half and started feeling horrible. I ended up doing things in a bathroom you don't want to hear about and that were not repeated until I was pregnant with my son. I gave up pretty quick and put back on all the weight. Woo hoo...go me.

Zymax: http://www.diet-pills-compared.com/Zymax-Diet-Pills.html
So I thought my sister was insane when she went on ephedrine based pills only to realize during this post that I did the same thing. Oops. So much for research when you are 24. I actually got compliments on this one. I lost about 7 pounds and people said I glowed in that non pregnant way. Then I started having heart palpitations and shaking so I decided to stop and guess what...I gained back the seven pounds.

Meal Replacement:
So one of my friends lost a lot of weight using a meal replacment so I thought I would try it. Hers was way too expensive so I found one on Amazon. Called Garden of Life Raw Meal Replacement. After reading all the good things in it I was pretty damn excited. This was totally going to work.
http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Life-RAW-Meal-2-6lb/dp/B0031JK95S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1301920965&sr=8-6

I lost five pounds while on it and still take it from time to time but my FIL, who has a PHd in Chemistry told me there was a whole crap load of chemicals so it cooled my adore a bit. Also a draw back was the TASTE. If you can imagine licking dirt, grass, maybe manure off a spoon and follow it up with an aftertaste of the flavor brownish green (if brownish green had a flavor). It is vile. To take it I use very cold water, half apple juice, plug my nose, chase with water and sometimes I still gag. I think I lost weight in the beginning because it literally killed my appetite. You can't eat anything without this taste following you around.

I am trying to build muscle so maybe next time I will just try whey protein.

South Beach:
I actually do a modified diet on this one. I am still trying to use the 40-30-30 diet. It worked ok but I couldn't find anything in the book I would actually consider eating. I have a small problem with being a picky eater. Ok, not so picky because I could eat crap all day long. If Little Debbie made it it probably added at least 5 pounds to my thighs. I like artificial flavors better than regular ones. I have no idea why. My palate has improved with age. It used to be that of a 4 year old and maybe now has made it to the sophisticated age of a 15 year old boy. But really, why can't they make a diet book with things that you actually want to eat instead of stuff that sounds like something someone would feed prisoners as a torture device?

Thyroid Diet:
As seen in previous posts I do have a thyroid problem, which doesn't help my weight issues. So I do adhere to some of the recommendations of this diet but I love the brassica family so I do cheat.

Drinking ice water:
Supposedly you can burn 100 calories a day if you change from drinking tepid to ice water. I did that for a long time but not much results. My husband did the math and it seems sound but who wants to drink ice water in the winter.

Green tea:
My sister sent me a study that showed people who drank 4 cups of green tea were 5 pounds skinner at the end of two months than those that didn't. Guess what I have two cups a day of?

40-30-30
I am still doing this one. It seems to really help with my insulin issues. It is hard for me to get that much protein so I usually have a tablespoon of cottage cheese with every meal. Weight loss, not so much but I feel pretty good.

Tonsillectomy: really effective. I lost eight pounds. To illustrate how craptastic my body is most people loose 15-30. But not me. After two weeks taking an hour to eat a pudding cup I lost 8 pounds. But I will take that. It was horribly painful and I didn't get it done for weight loss. Insurance wouldn't have covered it. My tonsils were unusually large. After extraction they found they were 3 and 5 times the size of average tonsils. It took a long time to gain the wight back. Mostly I gained it from getting mono about 8 months later. Bonus, I found that with a proper airway I could exercise better and not cramp up all the time. I also stopped snoring. Bonus for DH.

3 day detox.
Sigh, I am starting this one in a few days. I will let you know how it goes...hey, it could work. ;) Shakeology is what my friend lost a lot of weight on but she also does PX90 and a bunch of other work outs. Plus, she was always skinny to begin with and the excess weight was from two pregnancies with three kids.

Hers is a three day regimen but they don't have that here. Hopefully I will loose the coveted 5 pounds again. Anyway, keep you posted.

Other crap I have used:

Come on you know you tried it too.

That crazy ab contraption similar to thisAb Rocket Abdominal Trainer

My other friend lost a lot of weight by gaining a bunch of muscle. I am trying that one next.

Shit my Kids Ruined

2011-04-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

If you saw the post below and wanted the entire story, or maybe you just need to feel better about the crap your kid has destroyed here is my submission to one of my favorite websites Shit My Kids Ruined. They have so much traffic, it hasn't made it up there, but honestly I think it is a way better story than a kid who spills a box of cereal or some flour on the floor. Yes, that is annoying but any parent who aimed her puking child at her body to avoid cleaning the carpet, because you know that cleaning you is easier and will result in more sleep for you, at 2 am can attest those aren't the spills that really ruin anything.

And our story begins...(cue soft spring music...maybe Tchaikovsky)

It was time for another renovation, brought to you by me because I can't seem to help myself. It was time to make our master bedroom a place of calm tranquility. Free of child toys and a place that would be conducive to romantic interludes. (cue Barry White)

I picked up some great Scandian Brazilian Cherry flooring from Craigslist. Got a pretty good deal. 250 square feet of flooring for 600.00. I have to say, I like the brand better than Bruce which seemed to have more warped pieces but the tongue cracked a lot during installation. We tried different pressure settings but that was just the way the wood crumbled. I like Bellawood better because the pieces were nice a straight but you have to deal with the devil Lumber Liquidators to get it so I am not sure it is worth it. That is a whole other story, and a good one, but for later.

I made some cornices. In case you can't tell, I like me some cornices and started to paint the walls. Then as things happen, my son got sick. Really sick. I came downstairs for 10 minutes to give my child his meds and make sure he was comfy. It was eerily quiet, which is mostly a tip off that bad things are happening but sometimes I will deal with the mess just to get a break. Bad idea this time. My husband asked if I had seen our daughter. I went looking and found this:

I did what all good mom's do. I got my camera.

Thankfully the carpet was coming out anyway. It just came out three weeks ahead of schedule.

On three of the four walls. Good news, it was Benjamin Moore, I am a paint snob, and with a lot of scrubbing it came off great. My triceps hurt the next day but how mad can you really get at this?

She was so proud of herself.

If you give a girl too much medication...

2011-03-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

She will redecorate your whole house

Below is my version of If you Give a Pig a Pancake.

Last year I had mono all summer. By fall I was itching to do things but the doctors discovered I have a thyroid problem. I had been monitoring it for several years and it finally decided to start acting up enough for me to become a pin cushion every six weeks and get an ultrasound every six months. So I started meds and then they upped my dose. I felt pretty good. Really really good in fact. I was like a toddler on a basket of Halloween candy. Found out later it was a wee bit much, but man was I a one woman team of accomplishment. Maybe a "little" irritable and twitchy but my house is starting to look great. They downed my meds and suddenly I was getting half as much done but probably a nicer to deal with.

So enjoy my trip into insanity. My husband didn't, but my house sure did.All these projects were completed from mid September to mid November.

One late September morning, I looked at my drapes and decided I no longer liked them. So I took them down. While taking them down I got a good look at the wallpaper border in the kitchen and decided that it too had to go.

So I removed it. The walls didn't look good with it off so I painted...

The entire downstairs.

While painting the downstairs I looked in my dining room and decided it need a window treatment. So I made one. Through the window I saw some really ugly bushes.

So I decided to rip them out.My husband came home from work and said, "honey where is the hedge?"

And plant Blueberry bushes in their place.

And since I already had a shovel in my hand I might as well take out some other bushes while I was at it.

Now I was all sweaty so I decided to take a shower and found that I really hated the flooring in my bathroom.(That is my daughter who decided to help paint the walls on a different project and a whole other hilarious story)

So I tore it out and put down tile.

Very satisfied with the new tile I decided to treat myself to a nice game on the computer, but when I got to the office I noticed the wallpaper was peeling so I started taking it off. (old picture but you can really see the paper)

And noticed that the carpet was in really bad shape. So I ripped up the flooring and put down hardwood.

Then I discovered the walls needed paint too.

So I painted the room.

If they up my meds again, I might decide I no longer like the drapes in the living room.

Adventures of a repressed farmer

2011-03-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

So what can a repressed gardener do over the winter? Way too many things. Planning and planning and planning and maybe some more planning to the point your husband thinks moving to a southern location might work just so you can get outside and start planting three weeks earlier or...channel that energy into fun projects. I found time to do both.

I love home improvement. Not as much as my growing things but breaking things or building things can help me pass the winter season. I love the winter as much as a cat loves taking a bath or maybe as much as my son loved taking his first bath.

My mom should have named me Demeter, as it was she stuck me with the name April which was probably just as prophetic. I could easily climb under a blanket in January and hibernate until mid March. Bears have the right idea and I think that I have ample fat stores that could support that kind of lifestyle. In addition, I have more blankets than the average toddler, in various colors and fabrics of course (I love you Target), the weight alone could crush a small mastodon. So if I am not being clear, I really hate winter. A lot. Really. A lot.

But I did get some interior work finished so here is my first project:

Painting and flooring in the office.

Old ugly peeling wallpaper and nasty 20 year old carpet...

I am not thrilled with the wall color but I painted it, fauxed it twice with two different techniques so I just wanted to be done. I don't like painting with blue. For some reason the color multiples and looks way darker than you expect. My husband really wanted blue. He does a great job with the fact that I use flowers (not cheesy yucky ones but nice attractive and stylish ones) in my decorating with what can only be described as an alarming frequency and passion. Flowers are pretty and make me happy.

So while the end result isn't the epitome of office sophistication I was hoping for, I have to admit it looks a lot better. Bonus, the hardwood flooring doesn't bother my husband's allergies.

Prepping for spring

2010-10-24T04:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend I tore out my garden. Sad.

I am turning my current bed, see last post, into another raspberry bed. The kids keep eating them so why not. I might throw some blackberries in there too. Depends what is on sale. Anyway, I tried something called raspberry tipping. I have no clue if it is going to work and only saw one place on the internet that mentioned it. You take a primocane and cut it off at the top. Working in two inch segments you snip them and plant them in the ground. I put about two in each hole about an inch down. Supposedly some of these may actually start growing that is how invasive raspberries can be.

In sad news, the bush cherry I just purchased appears to be gone. :( Maybe a deer ate it. No idea. Good thing is they are having 50% off trees at home depot. I am going to see what they have...maybe. I keep telling myself not to plant more but then I find something I can't pass up.

Lately I have been getting a ton of emails from Gurneys, Spring Hill and a few other suppliers for sales. Too bad they aren't selling what I am looking for.

Current years little garden

2010-10-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

I just started gardening and I know that I made several mistakes this year. Hopefully I do better next year. The plan is to do raised beds along the fence line and turn this into another...wait for it...berry patch. I already have one Caroline raspberry in there so I am going to try tipping it to see if it will work.

This year I had squash but the borers killed most of it. The borers got all of my zucchini. I managed to harvest one tiny guy before the plant died on me. My bush beans did a pretty good job. I needed to space them better. Worst of all was my tomatoes. We had a very very wet beginning of the summer and all my friends and neighbors complained about their tomato harvest.

The funniest plant award belongs to my cucumber. This plant has a really odd relationship with my other ones. It manages to get a stranglehold on my tomatoes and killed one (I had mono this summer and wasn't as vigilant about toxic relationships as I should have been). It also managed to climb up through my lilac bush and produce cucumbers in the crooks of the branches.

Here is the cucumber growing up out of my lilac. Next year I will trellis these.

I think I learned a lot this year but can't wait to see what I can come up with next year.

My new apple trees

2010-09-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

I was at Meijer the other day and came across trees over 50% off. I scouted around and found these little guys.

This is Luna a dwarf Honeycrisp apple tree. Pretty good branching but will need plenty of pruning in the spring. I followed the directions on the card for planting and hope that she makes it through the winter. My neighbors have a crab apple tree so if this tree blooms before my McIntosh I will still be able to cross pollinate. Apparently apples don't like incestuous relations and you not only have to find a tree with a similar bloom time but also a different variety. This Honeycrisp will bloom mid to late season and ripen in early October.

This sad little guy is Neville. I named him that because he doesn't look like much now but I have great hopes for him. He is a dwarf McIntosh that will be HEAVILY pruned in the spring. As I understand it any branches that go straight up, except the central branch, need to come off. McIntosh is a mid season bloomer so it should work with my Honeycrisp and the apples will ripen mid September. That will give me a little offset for working with my apples. Supposedly McIntosh make great sauce, but I don't expect to get many apples in the next few years, if any.

I put these in my side yard. They get a moderate amount of light. If I could kill the neighbors tree they would get more. Just kidding. Treeacide isn't in my immediate future.

Some Geeky Talk about Soil Acidity

2010-09-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Let’s talk about chemistry. This isn’t going to be one of those annoying personal ads that keeps landing in your inbox even though you have been married for seven years. I am assuming most people know the PH scale but let’s review just in case. Because I am a geeky wannabe and it’s fun. No, really. It is. Trust me. Ok, I will try to amuse you best I an.

pH stands for “potential Hydrogen” and is a measure of hydrogen ions in the soil. The more ions the more acidic the soil. pH is measured in a logarithmic scale. Meaning a pH of 5 is 10 times more concentrated than a pH of 6. A pH of 3 is 1000 times more acidic than a PH of 6.

The scale for pH goes from 0-14. 0 is the most acidic you can get. Battery acid or an ex-boyfriend would be one example. On the opposite side at a pH of 14 is the most basic you can get. Drain cleaner would be at this end of the scale. pH of 7 is neutral. Pure water has a pH of 7. Anything under 7 is acidic, anything over 7 is considered basic. Or if you are a more visual person:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
0 7 14
Burn your face off not doing much Hella basic

A couple of examples: Stomach acid pH 1, Coke pH 3-4 (one reason it rots your teeth), blood somewhere around pH 7.3, household ammonia around 11, oven cleaner (sodium or potassium hydroxide) around 14.

Soil has a lot of different elements including: Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Iron, Copper, Sulfur, Boron, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum and Nitrogen Try saying that 5 times fast, especially Molybdenum. Silicon, Aluminum, and mostly-bound Oxygen; these three make most of the earth’s crust, but they are more of a medium than active participants). Certain plants need different amount of these elements. Phosphorous is available to plants at a PH of 6.0-7.0 and Nitrogen is available at soils with a PH greater than 5.5. Most of these are pretty happy in the 6-7 range. Happy plants are productive plants, I hope.

Incorrect soil PH can tamper with the ability of your soil to provide nutrients. Ever seen yellow leaves on a plant that ought to be green? Sometimes that is caused from an Iron deficiency. The Iron becomes trapped in a form the roots can’t use. So I on the neighbor hood watch program with my blueberries for signs of yellow leaves since this is a problem in alkaline soils, aka where I live.

There is a whole bunch of geeky stuff that goes into this but that serves our purpose for now.

Most food crops prefer a slightly acidic soil. Fantastic you say, I live in clay soil (basic). (Much of the US from the Appalachians to the Rockies is clay... Clay is made mainly of hydroxides, which are the basic. Not fun for blueberries.) That’s ok, you can modify you soil over time to conditions that your plants will favor. Potatoes, strawberries and blueberries prefer a more acidic soil, while things in the brassica family (something we people with a thyroid condition should mostly avoid) prefer slightly alkaline conditions. Plants in the brassica family include broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, and wild mustard. Yup, kick us while we are already down.

It is important to test your soil PH to know what you are dealing with if you have plants that have high acidity needs such as blueberries. Strawberries are more forgiving, at least they seem to be since I can grow them here and my soil is between 7-8 for PH range.

All these ways take time and my least favorite thing…patience. Really I need to find a better past time for those of us that prefer instant gratification.

An easy way to acidify you soil is to add sulfur. I think it is better to use than Aluminum Sulfate, at least that is what I read somewhere at. I used the Organic Traditions Soil Acidifier. I got mine from Lowes but they sell it at Home Depot and on Amazon. It seems to be working as my PH has gone down about 2 since I started the process.

Organic Matter like compost is great for adjusting soil PH. I am going to make a barrel composter hopefully this winter as a project.

Lime: used for making acidic soils more alkaline. This is not an issue here so this might be the last time you see me mention it.

Wood ashes: also effective at raising PH but not as good as lime.

Peat moss: Supposedly goes acid when it degrades. At least that is what they told me. As an aside, peat bogs are pretty acidic, enough that people have found mummified human remains. So in other words, hide the dead body elsewhere. Robin, my uncle’s girlfried, suggests dumping at sea in an area with lots of fish or having crabs eat them. Apparently they are quite voracious. I have also heard the same thing about pigs. Just get rid of the teeth. Bet you didn’t expect murder tactics on this blog. I digress, a lot, just one of my many charms.

I have been using test strips with varying success. Anyone have a soil PH meter they love that doesn’t require a calibrator? I found some on Amazon but the reviews aren’t stellar.

I have been using pH paper with some mixed results. The picture doesn't show the colors as well as they came out but my normal soil is between 7 and 8. The pH of 7 is my water and the strip on top is my blueberry bed. I just started composting so it will be interesting to see how that changes the soil acidity in the future.

Something Good about Global Warming.

2010-09-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

I know I shouldn't get excited but silver lining, anyone? Apparently in 2006, The Arbor Day Foundation took climate data for the US and created a new zone map. Who knew? Well it still sticks me in a zone 5-6 but I am much closer to 6 than the previous map so that excites me. Plus, this was done four years ago so if the trend continues I will be in zone 6 pretty soon. I have dreams of being a snowbird, but it looks like Chicago winters aren't as bad as they used to be. Now just have to do something about the lack of sunlight.

To see the full map you can click here:
http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm

This could mean a new bunch of crops will work in our areas. I am going to try some zone 6 plants and see if they survive. Details to be posted later.

Harvest Moon Sale at Gurneys

2010-09-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

This looks like it could be good for getting seeds for spring planting depending on what you are looking for. Up to 70% off. I wish they had better search options. After looking through most of the sale I didn't find much I was interested in. I might purchase this blackberry but that seems to be it for now. Kind of sad considering the last deal I got from them.
http://gurneys.com/black-satin-blackberry/p/69481/

To check out the sale yourself go here:
http://gurneys.com

Making your own barrel composter.

2010-09-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

So I have been looking into composting for about a year and my friend made her own rotating composter. It looks great. I was going to make my own but I think I found one at Meijer for $70.00 on clearance, which is about what this would cost to make, I think. I was looking at the barrel as the most expensive part and they seemed to range from $40-50.

So if you want to make one, this looks like a pretty easy and fun project.

http://www.julietiu.com/2010/07/27/making-our-own-rotating-barrel-composter/

Great time to buy discount garden supplies

2010-09-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

I went to Target today and was able to find Miracle Grow potting mix. The stuff to the right for 1.74 a bag. Not the small bag either.

I also scored some pots for my container gardening for next year at 75% off or less than two bucks. I went a little crazy.

Just thought you all should know. I am going to start prepping containers for next spring to try and work the acidity of the soil.

Raspberries: The easiest fruit you will ever grow.

2010-09-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am not sure about that yet but supposedly you can try and kill them and they will still come back. In some areas of the US they are considered a menace they spread so much. I found one website that told me NEVER fertilize them. You don't want to encourage them.

This is a fantastic situation. Raspberries are delicate and terrible shippers. Half the time you buy them and they are almost inedible or start growing fuzz within a day or two. Not the sort of longevity I want to see on something I just spent 2.99 for. Add to the insults of only getting 6 ounces for that price making raspberries one of the most expensive things I buy, per pound. Blueberries are up there but not as easy to grow.

So what you need to know about raspberries. Raspberries come in four different types, red, black, yellow and purple. I think the yellow is derived from the red. My kids love my yellow the best, I have Fall Gold, because they are so sweet. As it happily turns out Fall Gold are ever-bearing. Bonus. I didn't know that before I started writing this. So thanks. Don't plant your black and purple near your red and yellow. Supposedly there are diseases the reds may carry but are resistant to that the black and purple can't handle. I think 500 feet was the recommended distance. I have a Jewel on order so it will go in the side yard.

The canes are biennial. The first year cane is nice and green and called a primocane. This doesn't produce fruit unless it is ever-bearing. Ever-bearing produces a crop in the fall on the primocane at the top and you get a second crop the next summer on the bottom 2/3 of the cane. So know what you have before you cut the canes down. Your second year cane is called the floricane, and will produce the fruit for you. It is pretty easy to see what is a primocane and a floracane.

The primocane is green and on the left and the floricane is brown and on the right. This one is a little confusing but I imagine I will just trim the brown wood back to the junction with the primocane. Anyone know if this is correct? I don't know what kind of raspberry this is because I got it off freecycle so I might just let it wait and see what happens.

The roots are perennial. So they will multiply like rabbits. Supposedly. I have to wait until next year to see how we do.

Here is my current raspberry patch. It was just planted in July, I had mono and missed out on early planting. But everything lived so all good.

In this patch I have Heritage, unknown and Killarney. I keep my reds together.

This is my little patch. I made the simple trellis by splitting a 2x4 with a radial arm saw. Ok, my husband did it, thanks dear. Pounded many many times into the ground and just attached some string. Great thing is that if this doesn't work I can always turn it into a T type trellis with nominal effort. This bed was slated for patio pavers until I learned that raspberries will tolerate partial shade. This used to be all weeds. This bed is in the corner of our house and it was scary. No one walked back there. I wish I took a picture. It had one huge hosta in the back. Tons of daisies, three day lilies and weeds. SO SO SO many weeds. And grass. No one can really see this bed so why spend the effort? I am still fighting the weeds but I put in a little stepping stone walkway and a bigger trellis for grapes and blackberries. The kids love the walkway. They skip all around it and it makes it easier to separate the plants and collect the berries. I waited until the fake flagstone was one sale for 99 cents at Menards. So the path cost me 35 bucks to make. Here is the full bed. Kind of looks like a pitchfork.

To the left of the green downspout is another strawberry patch. Going right are two blackberries and some grapes on the trellis. In the middle is my Fall Gold raspberry and on the right are my raspberry bushes with the trellis. In front is some crazy basil I planted. I will probably put some herbs in there next year towards the front since that gets more sun.

The sad news. Of course there has to be some. Raspberries aren't that pretty. Most have thorns. They get kind of scraggly and unattractive looking so I use them in the back of the house. The Fall Gold looks more like a bush so I am going to wait and see on that one but I am going to try prettier things in the front. They also require a bunch of pruning so it is better to put them in a row so you can have access to them.

These are my kids favorite plants. We go outside every day and look for berries. I cant' wait to see what they do next year!

Plant Naming

2010-09-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just so you know I name anything bigger than a bush. I grew up without much money as a child and really cherished all my possessions. So much so, they all got names. My bed was Samsonite. I had the Chair of Power. It was a papasan, what else would you call it? So it just makes sense I name my trees, but only if I plant them myself. Hey, every girl has to draw a line somewhere.

My sister bought me a scheffaera as a housewarming gift about 10 years ago. I named it Neville. Sadly, Neville suffered the same copious neglect inflicted on most of my former plants that refused to bear fruit. He was left outside froze and never recovered. See how I still anthropomorphise him? Anyway, that started the Harry Potter naming theme.

Residing in my yard currently are:

Percival (or Pearcival hahah get it. Well no, really it is cute.) the dwarf Bartlett pear tree. He is getting friend to mate with this spring.
Neville (I couldn't resist. I promise to do better this time.) He is a dwarf McIntosh apple tree. He got the name because he doesn't look like much right now but I am sure given time he will reach is potential.
Luna My dwarf Honey-crisp apple tree.

I have plans for an small arbor this coming spring so I will get to name a lot more. It will be fun for all. Ok, mostly me.

Strawberry Ground Cover

2010-09-14T05:26:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a good ground cover? You have less weeds, less much expense and they are usually pretty to look at. To make it even better, why shouldn't it grow fruit? I found a cranberry ground cover but it requires the same soil treatment as blueberries so I am going to stick to strawberries. I don't really like cranberries but I have this odd need to try and grow everything if I can get something off of it.

Supposedly strawberries like slightly acid soil. I have heard that using the strawberry food from Gurneys is great but I haven't tried it yet. Think I might in the spring. My kids and husband LOVE strawberries. I went to Costco and bought the huge container on Sunday. By Tuesday afternoon the kids were asking for more.

I purchased two ever bearing plants at Lowes in June. One of these has been a star, producing runners and berries at a Duggar rate, and one has been nominal. I have no idea why one is still fruiting and the other isn't. What I do know is these things send out runners like crazy, that means more berry plants for free. WOO HOO.

You can see all the runners this plant still has to be transplanted. Between the two plants I had 14 transplants this summer by August. I potted both of them in 1/2 garden soil and half potting. No idea if that is the right thing to do but as they did really well I am not complaining.

This guy stopped producing in August. No idea why. both pictures were taken September 13th.

I had a really boring bed on the side yard. It is still boring but I am working on it. I had verbena ground cover which was acutally quite unattractive looking. For some reason it wouldn't stay on the ground and grew like a crazy wild Einstein mane all over the place. There were also two evergreen shrubs, of which I pulled one out to what must have been the neighbors delight. It took me 1/2 hour to get out the small one of grunting, heaving and swearing. To add insult to injury I was stupid enough to not wear long pants and scratched my legs up terribly. Face palm. When the next ones time comes, I will know what to do.

Here the little sucker is.

Check out that root structure. I finally had to hack at the tap root to get it out. Looking at it, it doesn't seem that impressive. I totally feel like a guy who caught the big ass fish only to have it revealed it was 10 inches. So just trust me when I tell you I felt like a stud when it finally came out. This is a back view which was dead from facing the house side. No one wanted it, sad, so I am going to use the needles to help acidify the blueberry bed and burn the rest. Should be one hell of a campfire.

Anyway, pulled out the ground cover and my one manly bush and transplanted strawberries. I should have waited until the plant got bigger in some areas before transplanting but I think they will have time to get established before winter.

I am going to construct a trellis and plant arctic kiwi to cover the wall. That is for next year though.

Th is is the other offending bush. There are several day lilies in the bed. I am going to keep them until I figure out what else I can put there for visual appeal.

All in all I am happy with where this is going. I have other strawberry transplants in other beds as well. I am going to do alpine strawberries in the front yard around the trees since they don't send out runners.

And of course my mistake. I think I transplanted this too soon and it didn't get enough water at first. It is still holding on though. You are supposed to pinch off new flowers to they produce more later. Ugh, I have a problem doing that but hey, I will do it next year...promise.

Blueberries in clay and slightly alkaline soil.

2010-09-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yup you can all start laughing at me now if you want, but I am determine to try. If I were a patient person, as previously discussed I am more like a 3 year old in the patience department, I would have prepped the soil this fall and planted in the spring but as typical my enthusiasm got the best of me. Looking around my yard I saw a place that could be separated from the rest of my soil so it might be easier to control the PH. Blueberries like a PH of 4-5.5 and our soil in the Chicagoland area is not even close. We have the exact opposite soil preferred by blueberries. Oh well, the kids love them and they are ghastly expensive at the store so why not. I know people who prefer to container garden these and I am considering that as well. I honestly don't think I can have too many berries in this household.

So I started with this bed:
Sorry the picture is so far. I always forget take pictures at the start of the project. It is too bad I didn't take pictures of this process. It was a real pain in the patootie. A seventeen foot yew bush, which was five different plants, was my nemesis. I have never like Yew bushes so it was almost cathartic ripping it from the ground. They are a pain and give you nothing except green. Boring. It was about 20 years old and had roots like (insert great analogy here cause I got nothing). I acutally used bolt cutters to snip some of the more burly roots.

Yup, there the beastie is. Many scratches and muscle pulls later and it was out. I should mention my FIL was going to come with his car and help pull them out with a rope, which would have been great if not for my enthusiasm getting the best of me, again. All I had to do was wait two little days. Nah, I got out the shovel and got to work. After they were pulled I put down 3 cubic feet of moss, which will acidify the soil as it decomposes. I also mixed in needles from the yew bush. Hey, it might help. Then I put in Espoma Soil Acidifer. It takes time to work but I have so far reduced the PH from almost 8 to about 6.5 and my moss isn't doing its thing yet.

So here is the new bed. From left to right:

Unsure Chippewa BlueJay Polaris Chippewa
The small bushes in front at patio blueberries from Gurney. I am getting one more patio blueberry for the naked spot. They are small and I hope I didn't crowd them too much.

The one I am unsure about had some smoke damage but that is another story. I have read to not prune these guys for the first three years. Stay tuned to see if these manage to produce berries in the next few seasons. Anyway, the ugly Yew is gone and that makes me happy.

Saving money on plants

2010-09-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

I love couponing and saving money. As an accountant I want to get the best ROI from my plants, part of which means paying less for my plants so they can pay themselves off earlier. Some great places to get plants:

Free or cheap:
Freecycle
Craigslist
Trade with friends
Ask a neighbor

Paying:
End of season clearance at Meijer, Home Depot, Kmart or Lowe’s. (just make sure plants look in good condition and have time to get established before winter)
I picked up a dwarf Bartlett pear tree from K-Mart for $10, a Dwarf Honeycrisp and Dwarf McIntosh apple tree from Meijer for 12.99 and 6.99 each. They do require more pruning but I think they come larger sized than some of the other stores. Home depot had 50% off trees but I missed it. Sad.

Websites with deals. Gurneys, Spring Hill Nurseries, and a few others have deals with free shipping or $25 off a purchase of $50. If you buy what is already on sale and add the 50% off you can score some sweet deals. Signing up for their newsletter is great. They will email you when they have deals.

I really like the $25 off $50 deal. You don't get free shipping but this more than makes up for it. The idea is to get as close to $50 as you can.

My purchase at Gurneys:

1TOP HAT DWARF BLUEBERRY $11.99 (regular 11.99)
1RASPBERRY BRISTOL $4.50 (regular 8.99)
1PIXIE CRUNCH APPLE LI'L BIG 2-3) $11.24 (regular price 44.95)
1JEWEL RASPBERRY $5.00 (regular 6.95)
1PRIME JAN BLACKBERRY $6.00 (regular 6.00)
1 OUR CHOICE BUSH CHERRY $13.59 (regular price 29.95)

First Total 52.32
Less deal 25.00
Total 27.32
Shipping 8.35
Final total $35.67
Notice I purchased a tree that cost more originally than I paid for everything. My total would have been $108.83. I did pay full price for the blueberry but I my impatience got the best of me and I wanted to plant it before the winter sets in.

I go onto the sites about every two weeks and look to see what is on super sale. That is how I found the apple tree.

I will not receive my mini dwarf apple tree until the spring ship but that is fine with me. After the discount I got it for less than 10 bucks. Even I can wait for that. Plus it gives me more time to plan my arbor. I only have one tree planted where I am planning my little tree farm so I have lots of thinking to do.

Greetings

2010-09-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

Hi! I live in the Chicago suburbs, or for gardeners zone 5a, and am an accountant turned stay at home mom. I dabble in all sorts of crafts from sewing, jewelry making, candles, cross-stitch ect. I have always longed to find an obsession in the form of a craft but alas am stuck as a generalist. If they sell it at Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann or Michaels chances are I have tried it at least once. So last thing I ever expected to do was fall in love with gardening and small farming. I am calling it farming because I am transforming all my plants and shrubs into something edible. Fear not green friends, the lost plants are donated via freecycle or to various friends. Gardening seemed to denote a dedication to all plants so I went with farmer. I am even considering getting myself a hat.

(insert hazy flashback mist) It all began two months ago on a hot July day. We were visiting friends who had a raspberry patch. At this time I bring you back to the present with me hating to do anything much with the lawn. I have severely overgrown weed beds in the back. It neither stimulates me nor excites me to have anything to do with hostas, day lilies, spirea and other random assorted plants that only look pretty but require some care. I preferred to deal with these plants as little as possible. One sad anemic looking aloe plant that was all the green I had inside my house. (back to hazy mist) At this party they had a raspberry patch. My daughter went crazy for it. She is 3 and easy to feed. My son, 4 and as easy to feed as hand feeding as starving alligator, was not. But that was ok because my daughter could down a 6 oz package of Raspberries in about 10 minutes. Here they cost about 2.99 per package. I am notoriously cheap figured this would be an economical solution to the problem. I decided to take the bed of weeds, which had been slated for patio pavers, and plant our very own berry patch.. I went to Lowes and just purchased random plants with little regard to much of anything. I planted them and they did nothing. I should mention patience is a virtue I admire in others because it is completely lacking in my own character. But I held on and caught the fever and started pulling up old plants and replacing with edibles. I planted a little garden. Then Mister Pickey Eater started devouring the green beans and raspberries and I went a little crazy. I searched and researched and did some more online searching, got books, planted, researched more and maybe did a little more research. I am still learning but spend hours in my little garden looking for ways and places to add more.

Come grow with me. (more puns to follow...that is a guarantee, unlike my tomato plants which need a little work) Watch as I remove all my old landscaping, put in new plants, make tons of mistakes and journey into the world of edible landscaping. I am sure we will have a lot of fun. I will post with money savings tips, plant info and care, might try some canning, and some baking. As an impassioned generalist you never know what I might get into.