Mamma | Old Fashioned Families

Plant Something for Your Chickens When Planting Your Garden

April 17, 2013 by Mamma 1 Comment

Plant Something for Your Chickens When Planting Your Garden

A question I have pondered a lot is whether or not I can grow my own chicken food. I have heard both those that said I could, and those that said it was not a good idea. I find it hard to believe that feeding your chickens off the land is either not possible or not advisable. But more importantly than that I have come to believe that growing your own chicken food is not only safe but is much better for your chickens.

I can draw on a lot of experiences for this thought, first off, I asked myself, what did farmers do before commercial chicken feed was widely available? Second of all, I look at all of the animals we keep, and a common theme repeats itself. Those animals that are on as close to their natural diet as possible do better. I think that statement right there is so important I could almost repeat it twice, for emphasis. My dog does better on dog food that is not commercially made, or a dog food that is minimally processed. We all know that feed lot cattle are not as good a quality meat as grass fed, and who has not seen the difference between a free range egg and one that comes from the store and was commercial raised?

It all leads me to one conclusion, the closer to nature we can bring our chickens and all of our animals the healthier they will be. While it seems pretty obvious, why are there still some who thing commercial foods are necessary?

It is all a Lack of Education

In my mind it all comes down to a lack of education. Some say that commercial food is better because it contains all the nutrients in balance your chickens need to lay properly. While commercial foods can be a good supplement I believe that they nutrients we can grow for our chickens are much better for them. Provided we all do the necessary research, can do an even better job of keeping our chickens healthy.

So Where to Go From Here

If you are like me, you probably have fed your chickens a few things from your garden, in the belief that it is good for them, but what if you want to go one step farther?

This year, I am planting a specific amount of my garden just for my chickens. And while my garden is not big enough to feed them all year long, I do believe I can supplement their diet for part of the year, which is not only better for them, but will save me money.

What Would Chickens Eat?

What would chickens eat in the wild if we did not feed them a pelleted food that did not even closely resemble what they would eat if they could? Green plants, wild seeds, animal foods such as worms and insects. Not so hard at all…. All stuff we can get easily for our chickens. And provided we offer them a wide range of foods they will wisely balance out their own diets.

What to Plant

So then comes the question of what to plant in your garden for your chickens? That depends largely on whether you plan to grow all of your own food, or if you plan to only supplement. This year I am only going to supplement. Not only can I not hope to feed them all year long, but I have neither the time nor the space to grow everything they will need. I will however grow several of the things that they can eat, which I hope will save us on feed bills as well as produce much healthier chickens.

Grains

Corn – Most gardens have corn in them so this is an easy one, just add a few extra ears of corn to your garden this year. You can feed it fresh or you can let it dry on the stalk and then store it through the winter if you want. You can grind the corn, or feed it whole and make sure to give your chicken access to grit to aid them in digesting it. (Warning: Not all experts agree on whether it is safe to feed chicken whole dried corn.)

Legumes, wheat, rye, oats, and barley are all common crops that can be grown for your chickens. While I won’t be doing any of these this year, with the exception of legumes, I wanted to add them for other that might wish to consider them.

I will be planting sunflowers, the chickens love these and they are rich in nutrients such as omega 3s. You can toss the entire flower into your chickens. These are so easy to grow and harvest, making them an easy choice. Other seeds you might consider if you have access to them are millet and sorghum.

Greens

We like to give our chickens plenty of greens during the year, not just grass, but also lettuce, spinach, and kale. These are so cheap to grow, I always plant lots of them, not only do I give them the plants as they are growing, but I toss the plants going to seed to the chickens too, they don’t mind the bitter taste.

In addition to greens, you can give your chickens the tops of the carrots, beets, turnips, and what is left over from the broccoli plants at the end of the season. Chickens also love a wide range of herbs, Something I did not know until this year, so I will be adding to the herbs I grow. Basil, Parsley, rosemary, fennel, thyme, lavender, Marjoram, catnip, mint, and cilantro are just some of the herbs that are good for your chickens.

Assorted Other Things to Toss to your Chickens

Chickens also love tomatoes, something I learned last year, when one of my chickens and 4 of my ducks broke out of their pen and broke into my garden. I caught them chasing tomatoes all over the garden in what was so obviously part fun and part feeding frenzy. Cucumbers are also on their list of favorite vegetables, as are carrots and beans. And of course chickens love fruit and berries best of all. (Hint: they will destroy a strawberry patch in a quick hurry) You can also plant a few nasturtiums for your chickens most of them love the tender greens and flowers from these plants.

If you are like me and your ability to let your chicken’s free range is limited, then offering them choice tidbits from the garden can help them to stay healthy. I don’t spray any of my garden with anything that is toxic, so more often than not, they also get a few insects and worms along the way.

Do You plant anything for your chickens? Is there anything special they love? Share with us in the comments!

Filed Under: Animal Husbandry, Gardening, Homesteading Tagged With: feeding chickens, Growing your own chicken food, what to plant for chickens

Grow Veg Garden Planner Review

March 27, 2013 by Mamma 2 Comments

I know there are several reviews out there for this software, but since I used and loved this tool last year, I thought I would through my review out there as well. Whether you have used this software or not, please make sure to view the video I embedded for you, of the new features this year. These features make a great program even better, I am excited to get going using it just based on a few of these new tools.

I have to say, I am not typically a fan of these types of tools, not only am I not an organized person (and most days I prefer it that way) but organizational tools normally sit and collect dust in my house. I also was not sure how I felt about computerizing something that most years I do in my head.

Last year however we had a larger garden for the first time in years. I wanted to get the most out of my garden that I could. So I went looking for a tool that would let me maximize my garden harvest with the space I had.

Well since I will be using and recommending Grow Veg this year I can honestly say that it was a serious success.

First Impressions

Grow veg has a lot of things going for it, but what I had to decide is whether or not it was truly worth paying $25 a year for. Keep in mind that Grow Veg does offer a free trial for 30 days to try the software out. So I was able to plan my garden and print out a copy of it and my plant dates for free. But was it worth continuing to pay for?

Ease of Use - Right out of the box Grow Veg is so simple and intuitive anyone can use it. I did not spend any time trying to figure it out, because they made it so easy to use, I could dig in and start planning my garden right away. This is no easy feat when you consider how flexible this program is.

Flexibility - Speaking of flexibility, imagine designing your garden, is it perfectly square or does it have to fit in a space provided for it? Grow Veg makes it easy for you to draw out simple plots, oddly sized plots, several plots or your ENTIRE landscape.

Tools Galore- I think these tools were what finally made me decide that Grow Veg was worth the extra cost. When it was time to replant I got an email telling me it was time. For the hopelessly unorganized such as myself, this all by itself was worth the annual fee I paid. Some people might find that annoying, but for me, who never manages to remember to replant at the right time, it was priceless.

Year to year, the Grow Veg vegetable planting guide helps with rotating crops. I am no spring chicken anymore, and even when I was younger I had a hard time remember how, when, and where to rotate. Grow veg had all of that information ready for me when it was time to replant. No fuss, no worries, it made it so easy to plan this year’s garden.

In addition you are able to lay out things like pathways, irrigation, fencing, arbors, and more. This is new this year, it even provides a shopping list for your irrigation system to make this task incredibly easy. This allows you to plan your garden from the ground up. When you are done, you also get a plant list that tells you exactly what you have planted and any other notes or information you might want to record. If you want to keep a gardening notebook this could be nothing short of priceless. You can even record the varieties you planted and later go back and make notes about how well they did.

Other Features You Won’t Know How You did Without

The list of things I loved about using Growveg is long, I won’t bore you with all of them, with a free trial it is easy enough for you to find out for yourself. But I wanted to share those little gems that will keep me coming back time and time again.

The ability to tuck in one, two or twenty plants wherever you want. (I love relaxed gardens that are not all straight rows. But you can do those too!)
Garden Veg automatically determines spacing, so NO CHEATING. Seriously I am terrible about being over ambitious and crowding plants too close together.
Grow veg does have a square foot garden design planner, so if you are short on space you can fit in more in less space
This program adapts to my location so a vegetable planting calendar told me exactly when to plant everything, no more guess work (although I did cheat a bit on this, it was an extra warm year last year)
I thought for sure that this program would not have all of my plants, but guess what? It did! But if it does not, no worries, there is a way to create your own plants custom.
Everything is as simple as drag and drop, it is fun, easy, and creative to build a garden this way!
Straight Rows are optional! Seriously! Ever wanted a garden that was a work of art and as fun to plant as it is to harvest? Ditch the straight rows and have fun designing a garden!
Need information about the plants I grew? There is an extensive data base of information that tells everything you need to know about how to grow vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Is Grow Veg Something I will continue to use?

It is easy to say that $25 is a lot of money to add to the cost of growing your vegetables, and it is true that that is the case. I try to grow as much as I can, for as little as I can, to save us money. I am also a bit of a tightwad.

But here is the bottom line, if I can increase my yields but getting in second plants, increase the health of my plants by planting them properly and by getting information about rotation then this program is worth every dime I spend on it. For me it was a no brainer, anytime I can spend money to save money I will do it.

At for those of you who think that you don’t need this program because you have been gardening for ____ years (you fill in the blank) I have been gardening for over 30 years and I find this program fun, easy to use, and incredibly helpful.

What I did not like About Grow Veg

First off, I have to say I looked at all of the vegetable garden plans out there, I did not like any of them much, other than this one. By far this was the most affordable, flexible, and useful in my books. Once I got started with it, I found little to complain about.

The one single thing I really wish they would improve is the ability to print layouts. I hope they fix this, this year, I had to fuss around to get my entire garden printed out at a size that was useful for me. I did get it printed and it did work, I just feel certain that there has to be a better way than the one they provide. It might be me, it might be my printer, but it seemed a bit harder than it needed to be.

For those with iPads, you can get Growveg on your tablet and take it outside with you, but that is not me, so I relied on a printed copy to take out to the garden with me.

So there is my Grow Veg Review, I hope you enjoyed reading it, this is supposed to be part of my Garden Planning Series but time got away with me and I never got back to finishing it. I still hope to do so, but I really wanted this post done for you before garden planning time is over with.

NOTE if I get enough interest in this post, I will create my own tutorial and walk through on how to get the most out of Grow Veg.

Filed Under: Gardening, Homesteading Tagged With: grow veg, how to grow vegetables, square garden design, vegetable garden design, vegetable garden plans, vegetable planting calendar, vegetable planting guide

Garden Planning Series – Deciphering the Different types of Seeds

February 1, 2013 by Mamma Leave a Comment

Garden Planning Series – Deciphering the Different types of Seeds

During the week I got to wondering why it is that so many things in life have become so complicated. I guess it started when I was trying to find something for dinner (being the very end of the pay period before I go shopping) and ended up making very simple meals. Those meals turned out to be some of the most satisfying meals we have had in a long time. That got me to thinking about how nice simple is sometimes. But choosing what to buy in the stores or online never seems so simple anymore.

There are a number of different types of seeds available on the market, for the seasoned gardener this does not present much in the way of a problem. But for the new gardener, those choices can seem a bit overwhelming, especially since some types of seeds are not as easily available as others.

My hope is to help you decipher the different types of seeds available so you can make a more informed decision on what type of seeds you want for your gardens this year. In a future post, I will be doing reviews on the different seed companies I have used or that readers have used in an effort to help you find the best seeds for your garden.

So How Many Different Type of Seeds Are There Anyway

There are so many different terms used to describe seeds, some of which overlap it is not surprising to me that there is some confusion out there as to what is what. Some of the terms you are likely to hear are GMO or genetically modified, hybrid, organic, heirloom and open pollinated. Many people assume that organic seed is automatically heirloom seed for instance and that is not always the case. Open Pollinated and heirloom seed do not mean the same thing either. To better understand the best seed to buy here are some definitions that can help you out.

GMO Seeds

GMO seed is becoming more and more common especially among commercial farmers but it is often present in seeds you buy in the store for your home garden. Genetically modified seeds have raised concern worldwide about the dwindling bio diversity of our seeds and food supply. Concerns about the companies that hold the patents to these seeds has also grown, so many people like to avoid using this type of seed.

In simple terms genetically modified seeds have been modified in a lab to produce a desirable trait in the seed that it did not previously possess. The DNA used is from different species, so the results can often be unpredictable. You cannot save seed from GMO seeds, the results will be unpredictable. In commercial farming the saving of many GMO seeds is forbidden by the manufacturers and new seed must be purchased every year.

There have been concerns among scientists and those in the farming community about the possibility that GMO seed may not be safe. So far it has not been proven one way or the other, but more tests need to be done to determine if GMO seeds truly are safe.

Hybrid Seeds

People often confuse hybrid seeds with GMO but these are in fact not the same. Hybrid seeds are the results of two varieties of the same plant being crossed. This happens in nature all the time, but frequently seed growers do so in order to cultivate seed that has certain desirable traits. This is not done with chemicals or in a lab necessarily, which means that being hybrid does not preclude a seed from being organic.

There are no concerns about health when it comes to hybrids, however you may find that many hybrid varieties are not as flavorful as heirloom seeds. Many times the emphasis placed on hybrid seeds is on the size, the color, or how long it takes to harvest rather than the flavor. The biggest problem with hybrids is that you cannot save the seed with any degree of certainty in what it will produce in subsequent years. Many hybrids are sterile and often the seed they produce is nothing like what the parent plant was.

Hybrids have their advantages if you have no plans to save seeds, they tend to be hardier, and they are often more disease resistant and offer higher yields.

Open Pollinated Seeds

This is a term that you may or may not have heard before. Generally when you talk about “purebred” seeds and plants you think about Heirloom seeds and plant but this is not necessarily true. Heirloom seeds are always open pollinated but not all open pollinated seeds are Heirloom seeds.

The term open pollinated refers to the fact that these seeds are pollinated by normal means such as insects, birds, wind or humans. This pollination allows the variety to adapt slowly over time to meet the conditions, however these seeds will always breed true year after year provided they are do not share pollen with different nearby varieties.

The big difference between open pollinated seed and Heirloom is that open pollinated seeds can be new strains of seeds, provided that they breed true year after year.

Heirloom Seeds

Heirloom seeds are gaining in popularity in recent years, and with good reason. Heirloom seeds are always open pollinated, but more than that, they are varieties that have been handed down by our grandparents and their parents for generations. These seeds have a history and some times that history goes back a hundred years or more.

There has been a huge movement to preserve heirloom varieties, and for good reason, heirloom seeds offer some of the best varieties and flavor you will find in your garden.

Organic Seed

I have saved this classification for last, simply because most people think that Organic, heirloom, open pollinated all mean the same thing. This is not the case, it is important to remember that organic seed is seed without synthetic pesticides or fertilizer used to grow it. Organic seed cannot be genetically engineered either, but it can be hybrid. It does not have to be heirloom either, open pollenated seed can also be organic.

So Which Seed to Choose……

So here is the big question, which seed to choose for my garden? I have always steered away from GMO seed, as much for ethical reasons as for the concerns I have about our food supply.

I also choose organic seed because nobody needs pesticides….

I love heirloom seeds, because of their diversity and flavor, but I am not against using open pollinated or hybrid varieties provided they are organic.

I guess the answer lies in what works best for you, and what varieties of seeds you truly want. You may find that a hybrid allows you to grow broccoli in an area where it might not otherwise grow. Don’t let the fact that it is a hybrid stop you from enjoying fresh broccoli this year. There are benefits to be had from buying heirloom and open pollinated seed, but this does not mean that I am never going to buy hybrid seed if it suits my needs better.

I hope that helps! Next in my series I am going to do a review of many of the seed companies and what their specific offerings are. I hope to include a printable table that you can refer to when buying your seeds.

Filed Under: Gardening

GMO or Not to GMO What You Need to Know AND a Free Gift!

January 30, 2013 by Mamma 7 Comments

I will get back to my garden planning series in the next couple of days, a forum member was gracious enough to supply a very special gift for all of you, and it inspired to me to create a post to go along with it.
garden

The term GMO has certainly had its share of press over recent years, enough so that many of us know that it is something we need to be concerned about. This fact in and of itself has created a battle between consumers and the companies that use GMO products. Companies fear that labeling will cause the public to assume that the product is bad for them, and that this will hurt their profits, while others say that consumers have the right to know.

What are GMO Products

GMO stands for genetically modified organisms, this term in and of itself is enough to worry me. Why is someone modifying my food? Is there are reason for it, and what are the ramifications for doing so? More about that later, first if you want to make an informed choice about GMO foods, you have to understand just what they are.

GMO crops have had changes made to the DNA with the use of genetic engineering techniques. Changes are made to make crops grow faster, make them resistant to disease and insects, as well as to encourage them to produce extra nutrients.

On the outside this sounds like a good thing right? But some changes have gotten carried away, such as modifying crops to be resistant to herbicides so that weeds can be sprayed on a field full of food. There are other reasons why GMO may be of concern despite the fact that many scientists and corporations have insisted that there is nothing wrong with them.

vegetables

Are GMO Products Bad for YOU?

First off I have a theory, any time you add something to a natural food that does not belong there, it is not a good thing. Nature’s foods are perfect the way they are, without being altered or changed in any way. I believe that no good can come from altering the DNA of anything, and that includes our food supply.

GMO is rampant, and it is a good bet that unless you eat all the food from your own farm or you eat all organic foods you are eating GMO foods. It is estimated that 90% of the corn crop is now GMO, and when you consider how many products have corn derivatives in them this it makes GMO’s pretty hard to avoid unless you know now.

But there are good reasons to avoid GMO foods, perhaps one of the most important is that there have not been enough studies to prove the GMO are safe. Past experiments with food have proved to be unsuccessful and even dangerous, such as trans-fats, and there is concern among many scientists that genetically modified foods may have unforeseen side effects in the long term. In fact many of the GMO food studies have produced results that seem to support the fact that GMO is not only doing its intended job, but they are having some unintended consequences.

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to GMOs is that modifying the genes of plants make them less genetically diverse and hence less robust. This has a lot of potential impacts on our food supply, think about inbreeding in people or animals, the product of inbreeding is an offspring that is not as hardy as its parents and other ancestors. With plants this means plants that are more susceptible to disease not less, that cannot handle environmental adversity nearly as well as genetically diverse seeds can.

GMOs Are Not Labeled

Food labels list just about everything else, from how much fat, sugar and nutrients are in your food to any potential allergy issues, but manufacturers are not required to label foods as GMO. If there is no problem with these genetically modified foods then labeling should not be an issue.

I have decided for my family that GMO’s are something to be concerned about and something to be avoided, just as much as BPA, pesticides and trans fats. In the end it is up to us to make sure the food we feed our family is healthy, and provides the right nutrients. There is no reason to buy food that has been genetically modified and the only real reason to grow it is greed. Many people believe that somehow these foods have helped to feed starving nations, but there are no studies that say that these food have provided any of the benefits that they are supposed to provide.

Choosing non GMO foods can be difficult, when it comes to produce the safest thing to do is to buy organic or grow your own from non GMO seeds (more about this in a future post). When it comes to packaged foods my free gift below can help you find foods that do not include GMO crops.

Your Free Gift

First of all, be looking for an upcoming post, I will be doing a lengthy post about seeds and helping you to determine the differences between GMO, Non GMO, organic, heirloom and more with the seeds you buy and where to buy them from.

In the meantime enjoy this PDF, it is a list of manufacturers that offer Non GMO foods, and I have also provide some links and books for further reading if you want to know more about GMOs.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, I will be adding to this list as I find more companies, and I may try to provide links as well as descriptions of the products available. In the meantime, if you know of a company that is not in this list, leave it in the comment section and I will add it!

Non GMO Food List

Sources and links to more info:

http://www.organicauthority.com/foodie-buzz/eight-reasons-gmos-are-bad-for-you.html

http://www.saynotogmos.org/

http://www.csid.unt.edu/files/What%27s%20Wrong%20With%20Genetically%20Modified%20Food.pdf

Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating

Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers

Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods

Filed Under: Gardening, Homesteading Tagged With: GMO, non GMO, non-GMO foods

Garden Planning Series – Getting Organized

January 23, 2013 by Mamma 5 Comments

Garden Planning Series - Getting Organized

This article is part 2 in a series about getting ready for gardening season, you can find part 1 here – Making Sure you have the Right Tools and Resources

I am not a very organized person, never have been, but I have found over the years that a bit of organization can easily make the task of planning the garden easier but it can also make it more cost effective and efficient.

Planning a garden demands a certain amount of organization and planning. I don’t care if you are planning a small garden in containers on your porch or a huge garden with as much gardening space as any one person could hope for. Planning will allow you to make the most out of the space you plant, and with the ever rising cost of food, this is always a good thing.

Getting Organized

To get organized I start with pulling out all of my seed catalogs and a notepad. If you do not have any seed catalogs yet, you better hurry! Or alternatively you can use the Internet for this step, but it is not as much fun!
My goal here is not to make out seed orders just yet, instead I make two lists, 1) is the list of veggies I know I am going to grow, 2) Is a list of new veggies I would love to try to grow. (I make a mental list every year of what worked the year before, what I would like more of, and what not to grow next year.) I also try to choose something new every year to try.
The fun part is to sit there leafing through the seed catalogs making a list of the things I want to grow this year. This is the perfect cure for spring fever and with a good cup of tea and the right music it makes for a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. Make a list of the seeds you would like to get, planning the garden and ordering seeds comes later. Right now you just want to create a firm plan on what you want to plant.
Go through all of your supplies and make a list of anything you will need to buy, this includes, pots, dirt, fertilizer, fencing, any landscaping you want to do, as well as any other amendments you want to put in your garden.
Make a list of any of the new projects you want to take on this year, it might include improving the garden space you already have or it may mean expanding. You might want to learn more about organic gardening or you may want to use mulching this year, after last year’s droughts.
Take a look at your compost pile if you have one and decide whether it is going to be ready for spring planting. Get it turned if you can get to it, you still have a couple of months or more to get it ready for spring planting.
Map out the area you intend to plant, measure it to see how big it is, and keep track of those measurements because you will need them later.
Take note of the sun, what part of your garden gets full sun, what part gets partial sun. Believe it or not, lots of vegetables love partial shade, while other vegetables demand full sun, knowing what goes where can greatly increase your yields.
Now it is time to plan your garden, and once your garden is planned you can order your seeds. Unless you have a very small garden, I strongly advise that you plan your garden before you buy seeds. Nothing is more frustrating than realizing you did not get enough seeds and you cannot get anymore.

Need Ideas?

I have been doing this for 25 years, I don’t really think about planning too much anymore, in fact I have to think hard just to write this, because I do not think about my late winter / early spring routine much anymore.

You might have a lot of questions or need ideas about how to plan your garden, you can ask your questions here on the comment section of my blog, or you can visit one of a number of websites to help you with answers for all of your questions. One of my favorite sites for getting organized is Grow Veg, it is an online garden planning site that has a number of tools to help make planning your garden even easier. They even have apps for your iPhone and iPad.

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: gardening, Planning vegetable gardening, planting, vegetable gardening

Garden Planning Series – Making Sure you have the Right Tools and Resources

January 21, 2013 by Mamma 2 Comments

Garden Planning Series – Making Sure you have the Right Tools and Resources Spring is not here yet but for those of us that love to get their hands dirty growing food, the time is soon approaching to start planning for this year’s garden.

While late winter is not one of my favorite times of year, it is a good time for one of my favorite tasks, planning out this year’s garden.

It was only natural for me to write a full series on garden planning, I have been doing this task for 25 years and it never gets old. When the snow is flying and the temperatures are dipping, part of my sanity comes from pulling out the seed catalogs and dreaming of what my garden will grow this year.

There are a lot of tools and resources I use when it comes to planning a garden, many of which I take for granted, this year I would like to share how I get started with getting my garden ready for spring and summer.

Have the right Tools for the Job

You cannot do any job right if you do not have the right tools so one of the first things I like to do when planning my garden is to make an inventory of what I have and what I need. I will probably make my next post on getting organized and ready for your garden but first you have to have all of your tools.

Seed Catalogs

Garden Planning Series – Making Sure you have the Right Tools and Resources Seed catalogs are a wonderful way for the green thumb to spend an afternoon and a great way to ward off spring fever. Every year about this time, I start pulling out my catalogs and start looking through them dreaming of the garden that is to come. Order lots of them, they are free, they are fun and they are wonderful inspiration when planning your garden. It is not too late to order catalogs, you can always browse online, but there is just nothing like a great seed catalog so I order mine.

Planning Materials

My materials for planning are pretty simply, a notepad, pen, and some way to lay the garden out. There are a few choices here, you can toss a few scribbles on a piece of paper and hope it is close, you can use graph paper and carefully measure everything out, or you can use a software program.

I have done all three, and trust me, tossing a few scribbles on a piece of paper is not the way to go. Even if all you are doing is some container gardening or only have a small plot in your backyard CAREFUL Planning can go a long ways towards high yields and a more successful garden.

Last year was the first year I used GrowVeg.com, prior to this I used paper, but always seemed to get the measurements wrong and I never got everything into my garden that I wanted it to have. So because they had a free trial I decided I would give it a try, and I loved it. So this is how I will be doing my garden again.

I plan to do a full review on Grow Veg soon, but I wanted to share with you some of the great features this program has. You can simply specify the size of your plot, and then drag and drop the plants you intend to grow onto the screen automatically giving the plants the right amount of space for the type of space that each variety needs. The plan is on a grid, so you can print it out, and take it out to the garden with you. Could not be easier!

GrowVeg.com has a free trial and comes with planting reminders, crop rotation and much more.

You will also need seed companies to get your seeds from, there are so many, and so many considerations about where you buy from, but for the time being you can get your seed catalogs coming. I will try to do a blog post on selecting the right seed company as a part of my garden planning series.

It is Also Time to Take Inventory

Another important task before planning begins is taking inventory, by this I mean you need to look at what you have and what you will need for the coming season. If you save seeds or even the old seed from last year, it is time to pull it out and see what you have. You will also want to check to see if you have all the containers and dirt you will need for starting all of your new seedlings.

I like to get this done early because it gives me time to ask around with friends and neighbors if they have any pots left over from last year that they do not want. Keep in mind that you can also recycle and reuse potting soil to save a few dollars so be sure to ask if your friends have any laying around in pots or in the shed they want to get rid of.

Read Up

If you like me, get spring fever, doing some extra reading to give you ideas, inspire you and help you learn new techniques is the perfect way to gain a positive outlook on the long winter. Books, Internet and magazines are all great resources. Start a berry garden this year, or trying organic gardening for the first time. Put in an irrigation system, or learn to make your garden drought proof.

New skills always translate into better yields, take a look at a few of these books, I have all of them and highly recommend them to learn more about gardening.
All New Square Foot Gardening
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, 2nd Edition
Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space
Trowel and Error: Over 700 Tips, Remedies and Shortcuts for the Gardener
1,001 Ingenious Gardening Ideas: New, Fun and Fabulous That Will Change the Way You Garden – Forever! (Rodale Garden Book)

Finally

Check all of your lights to make sure they work, or if you are using a green house, it is time to inspect it for damage, or any cleaning it might need. We start our seeds in the next 3 to 6 weeks here, so while that might seem like plenty of time, I invariably leave it to the last minute and leave myself with too much work to do.

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: Planning vegetable gardening, seed catalogs, vegetable gardening

Looking Forward to 2013 – Homesteading Goals and Plans

December 26, 2012 by Mamma 3 Comments

Homestead Updates - Old Fashioned Families

Winter is Here but it is time to plan for Spring!

I have to admit, 2012 was not the glorious year that I wanted it to be, too many things happening getting in the way of our plans and goals, and just generally one of those years where all one could really do is hang on for the roller coaster ride.

2013 is going to be different, or at least that is what I keep telling myself, and the firm belief in my head is that if I keep thinking it will be so, it will be. I have a lot of plans, not all of them are focused on my homesteading goals, in fact I have reversed directions just a bit, but not without keeping the future in my sights.

Financially we stumbled hard, so this year, building our business is going to be our first priority, while OFF is mostly about my homesteading pursuits, in my mind it is all part and parcel of the same dream, the American Dream! I spent so much time working on building gardens, raising animals and working on other projects that I did not pay much attention as to how we were going to sustain that dream. When a client pulled the rug out from under us, everything fell apart.

So this year, having a sound financial future is going to become a part of my overall family goals. I will not, have not forgotten the animals or the garden, but I am going to try to keep my goals in that area modest as we work to build a more secure future for our family.

Lesson learned, it is all important, it is easy for some to say, that business, career, and money can take a back seat, but in truth you have to have money in order to build the rest.

What We did Right This Year

Homestead Updates That said, we did a lot right this year, we raised our own poultry, and we will do that again this year, I can’t imagine going back to buying our meat in the stores. Some claim it costs more than buying it, which really depends on how your raise your poultry, but in the end does it really matter? When you realize how expensive it is to raise your meat at home, does it not make you wonder what they do to make factory raised poultry so cheap? Does that make you question whether you want to feed that to your family?

We also had a freezer full of vegetables which will take us well into the spring, I have not bought any vegetables this winter except for those fresh for salads and sandwiches. I did not get to can much of my produce this year, because we lost our primary client and I ran out of canning jars, but we had plenty of things canned such as pickles, relish, salsa, sauces and more.

2013 Homesteading Goals

This year I want to raise more chickens, this is a lot of work, but it has a worthy goal at the end of it, and we have certainly felt good about eating our own chicken this year. I do not want to go back to store bought so we will continue to raise our own meat. We have not decided if we will do turkeys again this year or not. They are a much bigger time commitment, but on the other hand they were so much better than store bought so we will see.

I have no plans to expand the gardens, but I do have some different goals for my gardens this year, Now that I know what we will eat, I will be focusing my efforts on those crops.

This year I have decided I want to abandon square foot gardening and give my plants more space, I have found that in this humidity and heat, at least for me, the plants do better if they have more room to breathe. So I will be planting less, and going for more air circulation, especially for my tomatoes. I am going plant a section exclusively for my chickens as well, as garden produce went a long way to helping out with the feed bills last year.

This year I estimate 40% of my food bill was offset, next year I would like to bring that figure up to 60 – 75%. I hope to have more canning jars, and I need to replace my stove, since canning on it nearly destroyed it this year.

I do want to expand my berries, and make the area for my Herbs bigger or plant my herbs in with my vegetables. I want to spend more time on companion planting as a way to cut down on bugs so if I move my herbs in with the vegetables that will be the goal.

Ultimately By the end of 2013 I want to be more financially stable and more sustainable going into 2014. I would like to get a couple of milk goats, but that will depend a lot on our financial status, I would also like to raise a couple of pigs, but that requires building a place for them, which probably won’t be on the priority list until 2014 at this point.

I would love to hear your goals this year, especially if you are just starting out. I know a lot of you out there, like me are doing this for the first time in a long time, or the first time period. What have you learned this year? What will you put back into practice next year, what will you improve on and what will you start new?

Homesteading is a process, you will never simply snap your fingers and have your dream homestead, not unless you just won the lottery J. How will you sustain your small farm as you build it up, and how will you make it mesh with your other goals?

I have learned some important lessons this year, lessons about only having so much time, and how setting priorities should be not done just by the heart, but should make sense in order to attain the most stable growth over time. As much as I want my perfect little farm, it takes time, hard word and money.

Here is to a prosperous New Year in 2013 for all of us!

Filed Under: Homesteading, Homesteading Tales Tagged With: homestead, homestead updates, homesteading

Tons of Stocking Stuffer Ideas Under 5$ for Your Kids You Might Not Think of

December 13, 2012 by Mamma Leave a Comment

Tons stocking stuffer ideas Under 5$ for your kids you might not think of

Are you stuck on what to put in your child’s Christmas stocking? There is always candy, but many of us really want to limit the amount of candy our kids indulge in so that still leaves finding a few other inexpensive items to pad out their Christmas stocking this year.

I have discovered one quick easy way to find dozens of ideas for stocking stuffers online at Amazon I will share with you at the end of the blog post. I have also added a number of ideas based on my experience as a parent, there are plenty of great ideas that won’t cost you a fortune and that you can get online or at your local dollar store.

Art and Office Supplies

There are literally hundreds of ideas that will delight your child and stimulate their creativity.

Tape – Kids love tape, and will be delighted to get a couple of rolls in their stocking. It is a great alternative to glue and your child will have hours of fun creating.

Glitter Glue – Elmers has a great line of glitter glues your kids will love, for a couple of dollars you can get them brilliant colored glues that will make every project look great.

Gel Pens – Kids love these both for homework and just for general art work.

Glue sticks – Less messy than glue, kids will play for hours with these and a bit of construction paper, colored glue sticks are also available.

Colored Ducktape – has your child come home yet with a wallet or flower made out of ducktape? Kids are finding new and creative ways to use these colorful and strong tapes. You can also get them in sheets rather than rolls.

Pencils and Pens- Most kids love to have an abundance of brightly colored pens and pencils, they are inexpensive and can be used for a variety of different things.

Scissors, rulers, and templates – There are literally dozens of cheap art supplies you buy for your kids they will love.

Multi colored pipe cleaners- by now you should be getting the idea, fill their art box with tons of neat craft supplies and they will create.

Personal Items

Colored, shaped rubber bands- Also called silly bands kids go crazy over these shaped and brightly colored rubber bands.

Tattoos – Temporary tattoos for as little as a penny make great gifts for your kids.

Chapstick – Kids go through chapstick in the winter like crazy, so buying a few extra for their stocking will keep them stocked up. Lip gloss for girls can be found for less than $2 as well.

Toothbrush – Most kids will forgive you for buying them toothbrushes for Christmas if you buy them something really cool, like their favorite movie or cartoon character.

Flavored toothpaste – This might be the perfect time to buy those cartoon character toothpastes in a multitude of flavors. Teach them great brush habits and give them something they might not get very often.

Miscellaneous

Playing cards – teach your kids the games you learned as a kid, cards make a great item to tuck in a stocking.

Post it Notes – do your kids constantly snitch your post it notes? Why not buy them a stack or two of their own, the bright colors and little bits of paper are appealing to a wide range of ages.

Dry Erase Markers and board – A mini board will not cost much and kids love having something they can draw on and erase. Pick them up an extra stack of colorful markers to go with.

Magnifying Glass – Kids love to explore and anything that lets them do so is always a big hit, you can get mini magnifying glasses for around $2.

Mechanical Pencils – Most kids are fascinated with these!

Note books – Mini notebooks are perfect for carrying around and writing or drawing in while on the road or anywhere.

Erasers – there is no limit to the erasers you will find online, you can even find lego erasers in bright colors that are perfect for the lego fan.

Secret to finding oodles of Stocking Stuffers at Amazon.com

This really is not much of a secret, just a good way of coming up with some creative ideas to get your child for Christmas. It is just as simple as using the Amazon Filter system to find toys and art supplies at low –low prices that are perfect for slipping into Christmas stockings.

Start by navigating to the Amazon website - and too this toys page – Kids Toys

Choose your childs age, whether they are a boy or girl(or leave blank) then scroll down and click on the price filter, alternatively you can fill in the values below the price filter for how much you want to pay, but you do not have to.

Once you come to your page, look to the right of the top of the page, you will see another sorting filter, click on order from lowest to highest and you will find a nice assortment of toys that will be perfect for putting in your childs stocking.

You can do the same with art supplies and office supplies as well -

Office Supplies for Stocking stuffers

Stocking Stuffer Art Supplies

Filed Under: Celebrations, Christmas Tagged With: stocking stuffers for under $5, stocking stuffiers, stocking stuiffers for kids

50 Ways to Have a More Old Fashioned Family Christmas

December 12, 2012 by Mamma 2 Comments

Most of us would agree that Christmas has become the opposite of what it is supposed to be, a time of joy, celebration and family turned into a stressful few weeks that at least some of use wish would never come at all.

Most of us just wish we could go back to celebrating Christmas the way it used to be celebrated, and that we could bring back the time when Christmas was all about simple celebrations, family and honoring the real reasons for the season.

It seems easier said than done, and all too easy to get caught up in the commercial trap that Christmas has become. Perhaps this list of ways to have a more old fashioned family Christmas will inspire you to put the joy back into your Christmas celebrations.

Having a more old fashioned family Christmas does take time and effort, it means being willing to spend time making rather than buying and spending time with family rather than providing a gift overload.

Tips for a More Old Fashioned Christmas

Spend Less Money

1) Set a Budget for Christmas – one that you can afford and stick to it.

2) Make Cookies and Goodies Instead of Buying Them – use them for gifts as well

3) Make as Many of Your Gifts as Possible- if you do not know how to sew, perhaps you can make birdhouses or birdfeeders, there are thousands of ideas online for gifts that require no skill and are affordable to make or Try these books from Amazon -

Homemade Christmas Gifts and More – Frugal Christmas Gift Ideas For The Whole Family

A Homemade Christmas: Creative Ideas for an Earth-Friendly, Frugal, Festive Holiday

4) Give Less Gifts-Stop looking at the lists, and the area under the tree and thinking it is not enough. Set a limit on the number of gifts you buy and stick to it. Give the gift of time and love instead.

5) Invite Fewer People – Nobody says your home has to be the party of the year , every year. Nor do you need to host the entire family for Christmas and make everything yourself. It is ok to set limits on guests, spending and the amount of time and stress you are willing to invest.

6) Make Your Own Christmas Cards – Paper, glue, glitter, crayons, pens or paint is all you need to create beautiful handmade cards.

7) Stay Home – Do not plan long trips at the holidays, it makes them more stressful and expensive. You will find your holiday to be less expensive and more relaxing if you just stay home for the holidays.

8) Have a Gift Exchange – Christmas gifts are really for the kids, but we all love getting a gift or two under the tree so hold an exchange among the adults in your family.

9) Make Your Own Decorations – Save money and make your home look old fashioned, by making all of your own decorations. Paper chains, salt dough ornaments, bows, candles, popcorn and cranberries, all of these were used back before Christmas became so commercial to decorate homes. Disney’s Christmas Crafts for Kids:: More Than 75 Festive Ideas for Making Decorations, Wrapping, and Gifts

10) Plan Free Activities – Play games, do puzzles, watch TV, go for a walk or listen to Christmas Music as you decorate or bake, it is a great way to get in the spirit and is free!

Spend More Time

1) The holidays are a time of celebration, and there is no better way than celebrating with family. Commit yourself to spending time with family during this season and letting it be a blessing to both you and those you spend that time with. Joy to the World: Advent Activities for Your Family

2) Make Cookies with Your Kids- Do it for fun not because it is expected; better yet teach them how to make cookies!

3) Make Christmas Ornaments – These are fun to make, easy, and can be given away as a way to brighten someone else’s Christmas. Even the kids can help make ornaments to give to teachers and their friends.

4) Have Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve and spend the entire Christmas day with your family. Either volunteer or get down on the floor with your kids and play with them, either way they will get the message that relationships are more important than performance.

5) Go Caroling – Take your family Christmas Caroling to a nursing home or homeless shelter

6) Drive around and look at the Christmas lights, play Christmas music and stop for hot cocoa

7) Making Popcorn Garlands- Take the time to enjoy this age old tradition with your kids

8) Play Christmas music and teach the kids how to sing your favorite Christmas songs.

9) Involve everyone in choosing a tree and decorating it, even better go out to the woods and cut your own this year.

10) Have your kids draw pictures, make cards and color pictures to send to family and the troops overseas.

11) Play the Christmas Elf game

12) Make a Gingerbread house

13) Watch your favorite Movies and TV specials with your kids

14) Make simple bird feeders to hang out on Christmas Day

15) Take family pictures around the Christmas tree, feel free to have fun with it, be goofy or include the family pets, have your pictures turned into Christmas cards, or better yet make your own.

Decorate Your Home With Vintage Decorations and Bake Old Fashioned Treats

1) Most kids today probably have never had homemade popcorn balls, taffy or candy, take the time to share your old fashioned favorites and family traditions with your kids.

2) Make your own Egg Nog

3) Teach your kids how to make Snow Candy

4) Look for vintage decorations at estate sales or second hand stores

5) Make your own ornaments, from popcorn garlands to sprayed or painted pine cones decorated with glitter, hang unshelled walnuts, or tie simple red ribbons on your tree.

6) Decorate outdoor trees, hang apples and other treats for the wildlife, and string some popcorn outdoors for the birds.

7) Make paper chains, one year my daughter and I cut out strip after strip, decorated them with stamps, paint and glitter then stapled them together to make long paper chains. She has never forgotten that and wants to do it every year.

8) Tie bows on the trees outside as well as around your house; this is an inexpensive activity with a very old fashioned twist.

9) Making your own wrapping paper – use newsprint or butcher paper, paint, stamp or decorate to make your own wrapping paper. Shopping bags are great for re-purposing as well.

10) Have a cookie decorating party; this is something we try to do every year. Get the decorations out, and get the whole family together. Serve eggnog and see which person can make the most creative cookie!

Play More!

1) Take your child sledding if you have snow anywhere close

2) Learn and play the Elf Game with your child, this game is easily found on the Internet

3) Get the board games out and challenge everyone to a game of Life or Monopoly

4) Have family bowling nights on the video game console

5) Look up a few party games like musical chairs, or pin the bead on Santa, add some prizes and have a few laughs.

6) Have a caroling party – Invite the whole family and plan to stop by the nursing homes as well as through your neighborhood.

7) Teach your kids how to play some of the card games you played as a kid.

8) Go build a snow man together

9) Play a game of charades but make it themed, like biblical stories or Christmas Characters

10) Make Christmas Play dough and use Christmas cookie cutters to make fun ornaments

11) Get Santa hats for everyone- wear them when you get your pictures taken or out on the town when you go shopping!

12) Help your child build with their legos, or color in their coloring book on Christmas Day.

13) Sit in front of the fire and tell stories with your kids

14) Decorate a tree outdoors for the animals

15) Watch Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas and all the other classics with your kids.

Christmas is a time to remember everything we have to be thankful for, not to find more things to regret. If you are looking for a simpler Christmas then start by crossing off everything unimportant of your list and add in a few of the Old Fashioned Suggestions listed above. Here are a few books at Amazon to help with even more ideas!

Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas: Crafts, Decorating Tips, and Recipes, 1920s-1960s

Country Home: An Old Fashioned Christmas

Old Fashioned Country Cookies (Gooseberry Patch) (Everyday Cookbook Collection)

Old-Fashioned Country Christmas (Gooseberry Patch)

Filed Under: Celebrations, Christmas, Old Fashioned Living Tagged With: bake Christmas cookies, homemade christmas, homemade decorations, Old Fashioned Family Christmas

The Ultimate Don’t Waste Your Thanksgiving Turkey Guide

November 25, 2012 by Mamma 1 Comment

We grew our own turkeys this year, and the one thing you really can’t do when you grow your own, is pick your own size of Thanksgiving Turkey. You can choose between Monstrous and not so monstrous but in the end you are likely going to end up with more turkey than you anticipated. This has been our dilemma this year. We only have 3 of us in our family so we can only eat so much turkey in the few days after the holiday.

Not one to let things go to waste, it is ultimately my goal to make sure most if not all of the turkey we raised for the past 4 months is used.

For me the Math is simple….. 4 days of eating as much turkey as we can possibly eat (which means lots of recipes) , on the 4^th day – that being today, it is time for the rest of the turkey to head to the freezer. That means I must also find something to do with the carcass which invariable has far too much meat on it to just waste.

There are essentially 3 choices left for this seemingly vacant carcass when we get to this point. If I am out of time, the carcass goes into the freezer and gets pulled out later to make stock or soup. I have also been known to make stock out of it, this is really easy and while time consuming, and it can be done in stages to make it easier. More about that later.

There are plenty of soups that can be made from the turkey carcass as well and these can also be frozen to be eaten later. I like doing this, it is easy, and it makes a meal for a night when I do not have a lot of time. There is plenty of turkey stock when doing this, so you make more than one batch of soup if you want.

Meals in the Meantime

There are more than enough meals and ideas out there for using up thanksgiving leftovers so I am going to leave you with only a couple of my simplest and most favorite ideas. I do not have pictures for these today, but they are very easy to make. The first recipes will use up your extra stuffing and gravy and it is one of my favorites.

Turkey Stuffing Bake

Ingredients:

6-8 thick slices of turkey breast (or the equivalent, enough turkey to cover the bottom of the pan)

1 – 2 cups Turkey gravy

Leftover Stuffing

Method:

This recipe could not be simpler, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, put your turkey in a large baking pan lightly sprayed with cooking oil( can also use a small square pan depending on the number of leftovers you have.)
Pour gravy over the top of the turkey so it is covered.
Layer leftover stuffing on top and then bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until heated all the way through.

Turkey Cheddar Soup

This is always a favorite in our house, and like the recipe above I really do not have a recipe for it, but I have been making it for years and it always turns out good!

Ingredients:

1 half onion chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

Two potatoes cubed

2 tablespoons oil

¼ flour (substitute half and half cornstarch and rice flour to make this recipe gluten free)

4 cups chicken or turkey broth

2 cups of Milk

2 cups of Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese

2 cups of turkey

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Sauté onion and celery in oil until soft, add a bit more oil to the pan if needed if the pan looks to dry.
Add in just enough flour to coat the vegetables (this may use all of the ¼ flour and may not) , and let cook for a minute longer, then add the turkey broth, stir until the flour is well incorporated into the broth.
Add cubed potatoes bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, approximately 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the bottom of the pan from scorching.
Add cut up turkey and heat until the turkey is hot.
Add milk and seasonings to the soup and cook until steaming, the milk should not come to a boil. Stir it very frequently, even constantly to ensure that the milk does not scorch.
Remove from the burner and let sit for about 2-4 minutes, then add the shredded cheese and stir until smooth. Serve.

Other ideas for Your Turkey

There are plenty of sites out there with left over ideas, here are just a few to get you started. Pinterest is also a great place to go for recipes for leftover turkey.

http://pinterest.com/pagetz/turkey-leftovers/

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Top-10-Recipes/Top-10-Turkey-Leftovers

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2012/11/thanksgiving-turkey-leftovers-20-recipes/

http://www.lesleycooks.com/turkeyleftovers.htm

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/11/top-ten-recipes-for-turkey-leftovers.html

Finally Turkey Stock …

Ingredients:

Turkey Carcass, Bones etc (these can be cut down to size is you do not have a big stock pot

2 Large onions

3-4 large carrots

Two Potatoes

4 to 5 stalks of Celery

2-3 sprigs of Rosemary

Thyme, sage and Parsley

3-4 cloves fresh garlic

Salt and peppercorns to taste (optional)

NOTE: This is a good time to use up any leftover vegetables you might have from Thanksgiving as well. Simply toss them in the pot and they will add even more flavor to your turkey broth.

Method:

Add all of the ingredients into your stockpot ( only adding as much salt and pepper as you want to your stock), and cook until the connective tissues on the carcass have broken down and the carcass falls apart easily. This is important because it means that all of the tasty marrow and connective tissues will have added their flavor to your turkey stock.
Strain the turkey broth through cheese cloth or a fine mesh sieve, gently pressing out any remaining juices. Let stock sit to cool and then strain one more time.
Turkey stock can be frozen or canned and will last in the fridge up to 7 days. I put my leftover meat in the freezer and then use the stock and meat to make more meals such as my cheddar turkey soup when I am ready to.