Amber’s Vegetable Garden Tour

Vegetable and Flower Garden Tour – Sara From Fox Island

October 1, 2012 8 Comments

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to visit reader Sara’s garden {and do a little bartering as well}. I wonder if Sara has an extra room at her house… Because I totally want to move in and live on her mini farm.

Sara has horses, chickens, a dog, a huge garden full of vegetables and a cottage flower garden like the ones you see in magazines. It was so lovely there, I didn’t want to leave. Every time I turned around there was something new to see.

Did I mention Sara is a Master Gardener as well?

She planted these kale plants earlier this spring and they are still alive and kicking.

She has laying hens AND baby chicks too! I found out we both purchased our chicks from the same store, but luckily Sara didn’t end up with any roosters.

She also has apple, pear, plum, peach and apricot trees growing throughout her garden as well.

Cheddar the dog discovered a few fallen apples while I was there and ate 3 of them.

And as for the bartering, I brought Sara 2 of our Hubbard squashes and in returned she helped me pick a box of pears from one of her pear trees.

Thank you Sara for the great tour, and for the pears. I had a great time meeting you, your creatures and your daughters! Keep on gardening, because you definitely have a green thumb.

~Mavis

*If you have a garden, a chicken coop or anything else super exciting and would like to be featured here on onehundreddollarsamonth.com, then send in your photos to onehundreddollarsamonth {at} gmail.com, along with a brief description of your pictures and I will try and get them posted.

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: cottage garden, garden tours, Gardening, grow your own food, mavis garden blog, vegetables garden

How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

September 27, 2012 11 Comments

Can you believe it’s fall already?

So far this year I have grown 1168 pounds of fruits and vegetables in my backyard, and holy cow man, it feels good. Learning how to be a little more self-sufficient each day, pretty much rocks in my book. I always thought you had to live in the woods, or on a big farm to do this sort of thing, but nope. If I can do it, YOU can do it. Right here in suburbia, one garden bed at a time.

The feeling of being able to walk out your back door and dig for your dinner is exhilarating, and I’m glad I’ve been bit with the garden bug.

With the cooler air, the warm weather vegetables are fading away and the fall vegetables like kale, Brussels Sprouts, Swiss chard and cabbage are thriving. Pretty soon we will be eating stir fry every night just to keep up, and I’m excited to see what our backyard will be able to produce over the next few months.

But for now, here are a few pictures of what’s happening in our backyard.

16 raised 8′x4′ garden beds and a newly planted strawberry plot to the left.

Potatoes in the oak barrel, squash, tomatoes and bush beans along the fence.

Fall superstars: red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower.

Bean Teepees.

Fall potato patch.

Rear view of the raised garden beds.

Heirloom tomatoes trying to ripen.

The greenhouse is currently filled with tomatoes, peas, Swiss chard, strawberries, spinach, cucumbers and lettuce.

My daughters pumpkin patch. You can’t really tell from the photo but there are at least 20 pumpkins under those vines, and some of them are HUGE.

Bottom line… Growing your own food, is cool. And anyone can do it. Even YOU.

Peace Out Girl Scouts,

♥ Mavis

If I could only have one gardening book on my bookshelf this would be the one. The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food By Tanya L.K. Denckla. This book is loaded with growing methods of practically every vegetable the backyard gardener is going to grow in their garden. I received this book several years ago and it’s still the one I use when I have questions. Amazon currently has this in stock and ready to ship.

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: $100 a month, garden tour, Gardening, grow your own food, mavis butterfield, one hundred dollars a month, Seattle Garden Blogs

How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

September 20, 2012 3 Comments

This weekend I’ll be working on cleaning out a few of the raised garden beds. The zucchini and cucumbers have about a week or two left and the beans are almost done.

A lot of the squash vines are starting to wither away as well. For everything there is a season, right? Luckily the carrots and beets we planted a few weeks ago are starting to emerge and the kale and Swiss chard are still growing strong. I have no doubt we will have plenty of fresh vegetables to harvest from the garden this winter, there just won’t be as big of a variety as there is in summer.

I’m still picking tomatoes at the first sign of color and ripening the on our window sills. It’s all I can do for now. Next year I think I’ll start my tomato plants a little earlier. Oh well, you learn something new every year.

Here are a few pictures I snapped last night in the backyard garden.

What’s happening in YOUR garden?

Have your plants begun to wither, or is your garden still alive an kicking?

Do you think it will be a hard winter? Personally, I’m hoping for lot’s and lot’s of snow.

~Mavis

Homegrown and Handmade: A Practical Guide to More Self-Reliant Living By Deborah Niemann

This comprehensive guide to food and fiber from scratch proves that attitude and knowledge is more important than acreage. Written from the perspective of a successful self-taught modern homesteader, this well illustrated, practical, and accessible manual will appeal to anyone who dreams of a simpler life. Currently available on Amazon.com.

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: growing heirloom vegetables, how to grow your own food, mavis garden blog, Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour, one hundred dollars amonth

Garden Tour | St. John Bosco – Food Bank Garden Lakewood, Washington

September 16, 2012 Leave a Comment

Last week Michelle from Facebook was telling me about her church’s vegetable garden in Lakewood, Washington. The garden is owned by St. John Bosco’s Church and is maintained by it’s members and donates the garden proceeds to their local food bank.

I happened to be in Lakewood yesterday so I decided to stop by and snap a few pictures.

What an amazing set up. There were raised garden beds, container gardens, a greenhouse, a trellis with pole beans growing on them, and there were even growing zucchinis in stacked tires along the fence.

Thanks Michelle for letting me know about the garden at St. John Bosco’s Church. It was fun to stop by and see so much growing!

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: church, Food Bank, food bank garden, garden tour, lakewood, mavis garden blog, St. John Bosco Church, washington

How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

September 13, 2012 21 Comments

Even though the mornings are starting off a wee bit cooler lately, our backyard garden is still chugging along like the Little Engine that Could.

The pink geraniums are hanging in there, and the ornamental cabbage and pansies are thriving.

Call me crazy but I think I’ll try growing cucumbers in the greenhouse this winter. I’m thinking about purchasing a small heater for the greenhouse. If anyone knows of a good one, please let me know.

I planted a few potatoes not so long ago and they are moving right along. Hopefully there will be some “new potatoes” there in a few weeks when we harvest them.

The chives got a much needed haircut.

The raised garden beds are beginning their transition from tomatoes to fall crops.

This raised garden bed has 2 different kinds of acorn squash growing in it. The leaves are starting to get a while powdery substance on them.

The Thanksgiving beets are finally recognizable.

And the broccoli, well let’s hope we are able to grow enough in time to enjoy them in a few stir fry dinners before the frost hits. I think we have 3 beds planted with broccoli now. Yee- Haw!

Rainbow Swiss Chard. You can’t kill it. Trust me, I’ve tried.

If you look closely you’ll notice most of the heirloom tomatoes are still green. I’ve been picking them as fast as I can at the first sign of color. I want to be able to harvest as many as possible before they stop growing.

And the zucchini. My dear, dear, zucchini. I think I’m going to see just how big I can get these suckers to grow. Who knows, maybe my next harvest will beat the last. I’m hoping for at least 100 more pounds of zucchini before the summers over.

Well that’s what’s happening in my garden, what’s going on at YOUR place?

Are you happy with how your garden turned out this year?

What are you going to do different next year?

Peace Out Girl Scouts

~ Mavis

Better Homes & Gardens Vegetable, Fruit & Herb Gardening $13.57 ~ Amazon

*Amazon prices can change at anytime

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: garden tour, Mavis, mavis garden blog, one hundred dollars a month, Seattle Garden Blogs

The Puyallup Fair – Best in Show Fruits and Vegetables

September 8, 2012 33 Comments

First of all, if you happen to know the name of the purple and white speckled beans you see above please, please, please let me know in the comment section below. I absolutely must grow them next year.

Yesterday I had an appointment in Puyallup, so I decided to pop by the Puyallup Fair while I was in town. Admission was free up until noon with a donation of a canned food item.

For the most part, I’m not into big crowds, fried food, long lines for rides and people trying to sell rain gutters or hot tubs. But, display a few vegetables and farm animals, and I’m show up.

My favorite part about the whole fair was the fruit and vegetable displays.

I keep telling myself that one of these days I am going to enter a vegetable in the fair to be judged.

Holy smokes! Take a look at this giant kohlrabi. How do you even cut into it, let alone eat it?

What does it take to be a blue ribbon winner anyway?

How are you suppose to know what the judges are looking for?

Perfect fruits and vegetables? Unusual ones? Do you get bonus points for heirlooms?

Can you bribe a judge with a free case of free zucchini?

These are all important questions I need answered before I enter something next year.

Have you ever won a blue ribbon at a county fair before?

What does it take to win?

Mavis needs to know!

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: gardneing, heirloom fruits and vegetables, mavis garden blog, the fair, the puyallup fair

How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

September 6, 2012 6 Comments

Right now the garden is in a holding pattern.

Almost all of the tomatoes are green, and the squash are getting nice and fat.

This time of year is the best part, but waiting for everything to ripen, is hard. Mostly because I know that when it does, it will be pandemonium trying to get everything processed and canned before it goes bad. Luckily the squash will keep all winter long in the pantry, but the tomatoes are going to be another story.

Although I’m pumped about the tomatoes, I also pretty freakin’ excited about this years pumpkin patch. Never before have we grown such a variety of pumpkins {and squash}. So as long as there is not any early frost, or something dramatic happens, The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird and her friends should have plenty of heirloom pumpkins to choose from for their Harvest Party this October.

And the winter squash isn’t looking to bad either. I should have planted a few more, but I think between the Spaghetti Squash, Sweet Meat, Acorn and {hopefully} Butternut squash, there should be plenty to get us through the winter.

Walla Walla Onions, Dinosaur Kale, Purple Cabbage, Beets, Zucchini, and Potatoes.

Life is good!

How is YOUR garden doing? Still alive and kicking? Or are you ready to be done with it?

~ Mavis

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre By Brett L. Markham $10.85 ~ Amazon

Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family’s food on just a quarter acre—and earn $10,000 in cash annually while spending less than half the time that an ordinary job would require.

Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, this book covers everything you need to know to get started: buying and saving seeds, starting seedlings, establishing raised beds, soil fertility practices, composting, dealing with pest and disease problems, crop rotation, farm planning, and much more. ~ Amazon

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: Gardening, how to grow your own food, mavis garden blog, Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour, one hundred dollars a month

Mavis Garden Blog – Pictures Sent in From Readers

September 2, 2012 3 Comments

Hey, Mavis!

This year we got an awesome 1,000 gallon water tank to use for our rainwater collection system that feeds off the carport. It has made all the difference in the world. We live NE of Dallas, TX (appx. 25 miles SW of Paris). Most everyone else around here has given up and plowed over their gardens by now.

We are still harvesting purple hull peas, yellow squash, green zucchini, gold zucchini and have canteloupes on the vine as well as green tomatoes. I almost forgot, OKRA every dang day! We have battered fried okra every other day and I have been putting it in the freezer. It also makes great gumbo, along with shrimp and venison smoked sausage. I took the attached pictures a couple of days ago.

Nancy, From Texas

When Larry isn’t running triathlons, he is growing squash in Idaho. Larry’s wife recently went out of town for business and he fed his kids a diet of zucchini bread for 3 days using the zucchinis from his garden.

Not only is Larry growing boatloads of zucchini this year, he is also growing butternut squash, watermelons, and pumpkins. Let’s hope Larry finds a cookbook soon otherwise his kids will be eating pumpkin bread, butternut squash bread and watermelon bread the next time his wife has to go out of town on business.

And lastly, Christianne from facebook sent this in…

I stopped by a big box store the other day to pick up a few items and like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was a cart and produce man headed for the dumpster. So I thought I’d give the story and see what I could secure for my rabbit.

Long story short……….they gave me the okay to take what I wanted and be on my way. I could only take three boxes containing over one hundred zucchini, three bags of veggie stir fry and a bag of peppers that the bottom of the bag had ripped making them un sellable. I would have needed a small U-Haul to get the rest.

They weren’t open to “agreeing” on a weekly pick up, but were open to me picking up any time I was in the area. So I have attached a picture of the loot.

Way to go Christianne!

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: garden tours, Gardening, mavis garden blog, Pictures Sent in From Readers

How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

August 30, 2012 9 Comments

I think green is the theme this week. Between all the new transplants, the green tomatoes, and the squash, you’d think all I was growing in my garden this year was green fruits and vegetables. Well you’re wrong. I’m just waiting for everything to ripen so I can do the happy dance.

The kale is here to stay my friends. I’m beginning to think I should become a professional kale grower. You just cannot kill this stuff.

The same goes for the Swiss chard. The Girl likes to pick leaves off the plants every time she walks by and munch on it. I think it’s great that she’ll eat the stuff, but it makes my OCD heart stop when I have to look at a plant with broken leaves.

The zucchini patch has calmed down a bit… I haven’t seen baseball bat ones for a while. Well, if you don’t count the occasional 3 pounder I spot every once in a while.

There are 3 Brussels sprout plants that have not flowered yet. My fingers are crossed.

Holy Moley. Looks like I’ll be picking peppers today. I had no idea they had gotten so big.

As for the tomatoes.. I have been picking them as soon as I start to see a bit of color. I need to google these India Rose heirloom tomatoes though, I’m not sure when I am supposed to pick them. Does anyone know?

The green zebra tomatoes are just a few days away from being picked. I know from experience they will turn a wee bit yellow when they are ready to harvest.

Please hurry tomatoes!

And the squash… Oh my beautiful squash. The best part about growing heirloom squash, are all the different colors, shapes and sizes they come in.

The Big Max pumpkin is almost entirely orange and I know I’m just going to walk out there one morning and find it missing. The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird keeps eyeballing it and I’m afraid she’s going to run off with it as soon as it’s ready. Although I’m not exactly sure what she’s going to do with it.

Now all I need is a little more sunshine {and heat} to get these babies off the vine.

Life is good!

How are YOUR squash doing? Have you picked any yet?

~Mavis

Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer By Tim Stark ~ Amazon.com

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: heirloom vegetables, how to grow your own food, mavis garden blog, Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour, one hundred dollars a month

Amber’s Vegetable Garden Tour

August 26, 2012 2 Comments

I took a tour of my friend Amber’s vegetable garden last night. I was kind of bummed because I had just missed Amber’s big zucchini harvest. She had between 15 – 20 pounds and had just shredded it all right before my visit.

These are her flowers. When I asked her what variety they were she said “pretty ones.”

Amber has been gardening for 3 years, and has learned a few gardening tricks. To save time, Amber likes to water her garden with the help of a small pine tree.

Her husband, Mr. Mc Dreamy takes care of the lawn while she harvests vegetables every morning. This year Amber is growing beans, pumpkins, zucchinis and strawberries.

This is her pumpkin. Isn’t it cute?

Hey Amber, I think your garden looks fabulous! But I think it’s missing something. Kale. Go get yourself some kale plants from the local nursery, you can grow it all winter long. Even in Idaho.

XOXOXO Mavis

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Gardening Tagged With: bosie, garden tour, Gardening, mavis garden blog