homestead

Last Week On the Homestead

July 29, 2021 Leave a Comment

Hey Gardeners!

I don’t know about you guys but keeping everything properly watered has been tough. I don’t like to water in the heat of the day but this week has been hard to get outside before it heats up. We’ve had several nights of deer coming through and eating up our Kale and collards. Thank goodness they are leaving the Hydrangeas alone! Check out our week below!

I scored this Hoya Snowcap from Kroger for $10! It’s been overwatered but I think I can save it!

I made a sifting litter box so that I can switch the cats over to pine litter. Fingers crossed they take to it!

I was able to use my new dehydrator to dry some herbs from the garden.

I think the mason jars I choose are perfect!

I also noticed how much my climbing hydrangea has grown this week! Pretty soon it’ll be taking over the garage.

I did some staking in the cut flower garden / Berry Hill. I’m loving how this space is looking these days.

We found out last week that the stray we took in will be having kittens very soon! We are all very excited and taking guesses on how many she might have.

Me realizing how big everything in the garden has grown

Looking back at some early pictures of the garden this year it’s amazing how fast everything is growing! It’s quite overgrown and kinda hard to keep up with sometimes.

Last week in the garden was great! I’m looking forward to more harvests this week.

Happy Gardening!

Ciearra

Last Week on the Homestead

July 27, 2021 Leave a Comment

Hey Gardeners!

Last week was a hot one! Not only hot but humid as well. We survived by only going outside when needed. I watered either early in the mornings or late in the day. I had several plants show signs of burn and many wilted throughout the day even though I watered them early in the morning. On a milder day I was able to do some weed pulling and planting in the driveway beds. I have severely neglected those beds along with the other beds in the front of the house. We spend so much time in the back garden that I often forget I have things that need attention out front haha.

We are finally able to finish mulching the cut flower / fruit bed. It looks amazing! Finding local resources for free mulch has been a life saver!

So many things to be grateful for this past week! The garden is doing well and we are enjoying the mini harvests.

Happy Gardening!

Ciearra

Last week in the garden

July 15, 2021 Leave a Comment

Hey Gardeners!

The garden had a pretty good week last week. We were able to keep up with watering during the heat and humidity wave. I was able to get a bunch of plants in the ground and we sourced a local place where we can pick up free mulch!

We purchased three lawn bags from Amazon and once they arrived we picked up some free mulch. We were able to cover one small bed and most of the fruit bed. This mulch isn’t pretty compared to your store bought mulch but it’ll do the trick

I also snagged a few clearance plants. Adding a fig tree and another blackberry bush to the fruit forrest. I can’t wait until we can harvest regularly from this bed. I was able to grab a Elephant Ear on clearance too which I’m very excited about.

We’ve been able to harvest quite a bit this week such as cucamelon, green beans, sugar snap pease and a few peppers.

This past week was great but next week looks like all rain. How your week looking?

Happy Gardening

Ciearra

8 Garden Flowers to grow right now!

July 12, 2021 Leave a Comment

Your probably wishing you had more flowers in the garden right? We all are. Here are 8 garden flowers you need to grow and what’s even better is that they bring in pollinators!

Hydrangea

Hydrangea blooms are a must for anyone with space to grow. You can grow them in pots or in ground so there is no excuse not to have one someplace in your space. You have several types of blooms to choose from but my favorite are Panicle and big leaf hydrangeas.

5 Tips to growing beautiful Hydrangeas Here!

Zinnia

These are my favorite easy to grow from seed flowers! They handle neglect from me and I love them for it haha. They also come in several different bloom types. Zinnias make the perfect garden flowers to grow year after year.

Learn how to Grow Zinnias from Seed Here!

Rose

Roses like Hydrangeas are so traditional and much needed in every garden. There are so many different types of Roses but here is an At Last Rose that’s currently blooming in my garden

Hosta

I know this plant is so unexpected but I have fallen in love with them this year. Mine are booming with growth and the blooms are gorgeous and full of pollinators.

Dahlia

These blooms are so amazing. They come in so many different colors and shapes. My garden will never be without a Dahlia.

Butterfly Bush

The blooms on the butterfly bush are like no other. They are a so gorgeous and come in many different colors. Pollinators love them and they really do attract a lot of butterflies

Amaranth

Amaranth “Love lies Bleeding” is not only edible it’s gorgeous! I love seeing the tassels blow in the wind!

Sunflower

This is a garden staple! Sunflowers scream summer and come in so many different varieties and sizes. There’s one for every type of garden!

Flowers are such a big part of garden design. A lot of us choose plants based on the flowers before foliage and I completely understand why! So what’s your favorite flower in the garden?

Happy Gardening

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5 Tough Plants you can Forget to Water

July 12, 2021 Leave a Comment

Killing plants is part of plant ownership. Some will live and thrive and a lot more will die and be replaced. One of the main reasons for plant death is when we forget to water our plant babies. It happens. We get busy and we forget about that plant in the corner. If your constantly forgetting to water your plants I’ve got five tough plants you can forget to water.

Mother in-laws tongue

This is such an amazing low cost and low care plant. I have many of these plants because they are beautiful and fuss free! I water mine every 3-4 weeks and keep them in a bright location. You can keep this plant in lower light if you need to but higher light = happier plant

Zamioculcas Zamiifolia or ZZ plant

I have forgotten to water this plant so many times. It’s so sad and someone should call plant cps on me. I tell you this so that you’ll know you can forget this plant for a while and it will still be ok. If your a good plant parent you can water this type of plant once a month. What’s interesting about these hardy plants is that it actually has bulbs under the soil that store water for the plant. Win Win

Golden or Neon Pothos

Now this plant you cannot forget for a month but you can forget it for a week haha. The Pothos will let you know you’ve waited too long to water by wilting. However in my experience this plant can take a beating.

Succulents

I know a lot of people find succulents difficult. They can be if you don’t know what your doing. I can get away with watering my succulents every 3-4 weeks depending on the size of the plant. Succulents store water in their foliage so the trick is to check for a slight wrinkle in the leaves. If you see that happening give your plant a full watering.

Jade Plant

I love Jade plants! They are a succulent type of plant and I know I put succulents above but I wanted to include this specific type. They are so beautiful and can get really big. I’ve seen some really old Jades that are huge and thick. They are easy to care for and don’t require weekly watering. Just like I said above you will want to water with there is a slight wrinkle to the foliage. I always feel the leaves. When the plant is fully watered the leaves feel firm. When the plant is thirsty the leaves will feel very soft almost a deflated feel. That’s another way to tell it’s time to water.

There are so many more tough plants but these five are the ones I love and have experience neglecting. Do you have plants you forget to water and they are still thriving? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Gardening!

Ciearra

Tomato Tuesday

July 6, 2021 Leave a Comment

Hey Gardeners! It’s tomato Tuesday and time to check in on all 30 plus tomato plants! You heard me right I’m growing over thirty tomato plants right now.

I am experimenting with fabric pots this year and so far I’m sold! I love how easy they are to plant and move around if needed. I can easily add a tomato cage or stakes to secure them as they grow.

The only drawback with the fabric pots is that you have to water more frequently. Otherwise I treat them the same as any in ground tomato. I water daily unless we are getting rain and I fertilize weekly with fish emulsion.

To help maintain their size and bulk I have been pruning off suckers. Some people like to leave them on for bigger plants with more fruit but I don’t need that this year.