How to properly winterize your pepper plants

 Hello everyone,

First I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read our blog on what we do on the homestead/farm.  We are very thankful for each view and subscriber that we get. And with that being said our newest and latest blog is about how to winterize pepper plants.

If you are anything like me, I had no clue that pepper plants were perennials and could be winterized.  My mind was blown.  Every year I would buy new pepper plants and plant them because I had no clue that pepper plants would grow year round.  Like I said my mind was blown.

So last year I decided to try winterizing my plants and yes I know the winter has come and gone but I wanted to do it first before I wrote about it.  And drum roll please, it worked and I have 3 pepper plants that are ready and two of them already have leaves on them.  So the next steps are what I did to winterize them.

Before the first frost last year I went out to my garden and harvested all of the peppers not matter how small they were.  Then I began trimming the branches to where there were 3 v's on the plant.  So the main part of the plant that branched out to a v was one of the v's.  The other two v's were the nest most dominant branching on my plants off of the first v.  So one v on each branch making it 3 v's.  

After all the trimming of the branches and all of the leaves off I then carefully dug the plants up.  I tried my best to keep the roots intact.  Then I put some potting soil in pots and transplanted the plants into them.  Afterwards I watered the plants.  And then final step was to bring the plants inside until the last frost was over.  

Now I started with several plants but only three survived the process.  Make sure you water throughout the winter so that the plants can survive.  I am not sure if the lack of humidity in my house hurt the plants that died but this was a trial and error and my first time.  At then end of this year I will try it again and hopefully will have a nice greenhouse to put them in.  

Like I said earlier, thanks for reading our blog.  

Making Dog Treats Out of Old Chicken

     Have you ever read what is in the majority of the dog treats?  Why would they say it is not safe for human consumption?  Well if you read the ingredients you would definitely understand.  So we had some chicken breast from an older hen that had recently passed on.  An older chicken is good for stew meat due to they are so chewy and tough.  So while discussing what to do with the hen, our dog went over and sniffed her and then looked at us.  And wham there was an AHA moment!

    So we decided to make chicken jerky as dog treats.  We recently got an Elite Gourmet 5 Tier Food Dehydrator that we had not used yet and man it works like a charm.  (You can click the link to see where we purchased it on Amazon.)   We cut the chicken breast up into strips.  And then we marinated the strips in a marinade for 30 minutes.  After marinating the strips, we put them on the different racks of the food dehydrator.  We set the dehydrator to 140-158 degrees F and let it sit in there for 12 hours.  We would periodically check the strips and flip them over every 3 hours.  

    We put the strips on a rack and let them cool off for 15 minutes.  After that we decided to let our lab try the treats.  And drum roll...... She loved them! In fact our son's dog and mother in law's dog (who is very picky) couldn't get enough.  The treats were all natural from spices from our spice rack and chicken that we raised.  You could even use chicken from the store as well.  There were no GMO products used in these treats at all.  

    So if you would like to use a great food dehydrator click on the link above.  We are Amazon Affiliates and if you do click on it we do get a commission which helps with the farm, our podcast, and our YouTube videos.  

Our links above are from our Amazon Affiliate Program, please see the disclaimer below. 

Disclaimer:

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Amy Maria Watson Co. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees/ commissions by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. My commission is earned when customers click the links and proceed to purchase item(s) or subscriptions. 

I don't earn a commission based on "paid per clicks". Please note that purchasing items from the links provided on this website doesn't imply that you're getting a special discount, it just helps businesses like mine to earn a commission based on purchases promoted/ advertised on this website. 

Worm Castings and Roses

     Over the Mother's Day Weekend, we bought and planted two rose plants in our flower garden.  We noticed three weeks ago that one of the rose bushes was on the struggle bus and needed help. 

 The leaves were turning yellow to brown and that the growth was stunted along with no new flower buds.  However, the other rose bush was blossoming and thriving.  Needless to say, we were perplexed.  

    The two rose bushes were about a foot to 2 feet away from each other.  They both were watered regularly and had been fertilized with Miracle Gro Rose Plant food.  So why was the one on the right not thriving but looked sad.  So we decided to try worm castings on the rose bush.  It wouldn't hurt right?  I mean it looked as if it was already on death's door step.  

    So three weeks later, this rose that was on the struggle bus and waiting on the Grim Reaper has now flourished.  We put the worm castings around the base of the plant and watered it really well.  And by the end of the week, we noticed how the rose bush had perked up and there was new growth.  And now three weeks later the bush towers over the other one and has had more blooms than the other one.  In fact the rose bush has grown 18 inches since adding the worm castings.  It blew our minds.  Of course, we have used worm casting on fruit and vegetable plants but we have never used it on flowering plants.  We were thoroughly impressed.  

    Disclaimer is that not all results will be what we had.  We recommend that you test your soil prior to planting a garden or flowers.  However, if you want to give this product a try. You can purchase it through this link on our Amazon Affiliates: Worm Castings.  

Our links above are from our Amazon Affiliate Program, please see the disclaimer below. 

Disclaimer:

​

Amy Maria Watson Co. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees/ commissions by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

​

As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. My commission is earned when customers click the links and proceed to purchase item(s) or subscriptions. 

I don't earn a commission based on "paid per clicks". Please note that purchasing items from the links provided on this website doesn't imply that you're getting a special discount, it just helps businesses like mine to earn a commission based on purchases promoted/ advertised on this website. 

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We have baby turkeys!!!

  Two weeks ago here on the homestead we were crushed when our Chocolate Turkey hen was killed by a predator. We only had 3 chocolate turkeys and only one of them was a hen. And not very many people know that chocolate turkeys are listed as critically endangered. To be honest that is the main reason why I ordered 5 poults last year. 

  Turkeys are extremely hard to raise and we lost 2 of those poults within a week of getting them. We were so happy that we had 3 adult chocolate turkeys. I know it's not much but I felt led to help with the conservation of them. And until 2 weeks ago I was so happy about how they were progressing. 

  So two weeks before Claudia's death, I had found 4 eggs that she had laid. So I decided to put them in the chicken nest box to see if one of my hens would set on them. And sure enough one did. And when Claudia died I took the 6 eggs she had laid and put them in the nest box with another hen. Now the last 6 won't hatch for another 2 to 3 weeks. But the first 4 hatched!!!!   The spirit of Claudia lives on. 

  Now 2 of the 4 poults survived their first day and the chicken hen realizing they weren't chicks didn't want anything to do with them (this is pure speculation). So I grabbed those two poults up and put them in a shoe box with a heat lamp. Now I am hoping for 6 more in 2 to 3 weeks. Just the hatching of the first 4 brought us full circle with our chocolate turkeys. And it feels great to help with the conservation of them. Now the hard part begins which is keeping these little ones alive until adulthood. 

Ode to Fancy

    So this blog is going to be a little different than the others.  This week started off a little rough for the A and B Homestead.  We have a variety of chickens and of course our 3 chocolate turkeys.  Of the variety we had polishes, barred rocks, blue plymouth rock, buff orpingtons, isa browns, and a silkie (named Fancy).  Each one of them have their own personality and attitude.  

    Fancy always stayed away from the chickens.  She seemed more comfortable around the turkeys.  She hated being in the chicken coop and would always find a way to escape.  She was our little Houdini.  Like the turkeys she liked to sleep under the stars.  She was the fighter and survivor of her set of eggs.  Two others hatched but she was the only one that survived.  

    Well at the ripe age of 8 months old was as far as she got.  There had been a lot of land clearing going on around us and every morning we would hear owls hooting everywhere.  Well Sunday morning I went out to feed the livestock and as I got to the chicken run I noticed an unusual amount of feathers everywhere.  When I got in there I noticed that those feathers were Fancy's and it appeared that she was attacked from above.  The worst part of this is that I found pieces of her in the coop and outside of the coop next to a large pine tree.  This confirmed my suspicion it was an owl.  

    Fancy was my wife's favorite chicken.  She would call her Miss Fancy Pants.  She will definitely be missed.  Since that morning we have not lost any other livestock.  I have seen a barred owl flying near the homestead, so I am going to assume that this will is the culprit.  Sometimes life is hard when you have pet livestock, especially when something as gruesome as this happens.  In 20/20 hindsight, I might need to put a mesh netting up to help protect the chickens from these aerial attacks.  However, with that being said Miss Fancy Pants I hope you are strutting your stuff and eating all the grains you can in chicken heaven.  

Where did my turkey hen go?

     Well on Sunday that is exactly what I said, "Where did my turkey hen go?"  I came home from going to the store and noticed that Claudia (our chocolate turkey hen) had disappeared.  I went against some advice about clipping her's and our toms' wings so they wouldn't fly out of our 700 sq ft run.  Earlier that morning I had heard some wild turkeys gobbling towards the back end of the property.  So naturally I thought she had flown the coop and ran to them.  Of course our two toms were pacing and gobbling franticly.  So I walked to the end of the property searching for her by calling her name but never found her.  Well about an hour later she showed back up and went right back into the coop again.  Well I didn't think much about it and went on about my business.  

    On Monday, during the middle of the day I heard our toms freaking out again.  As I went out to check on them I noticed that Claudia was missing again.  However, this time I heard her yelping back at the toms.  I went back to see where she was and I realized that she had a nest next to my shed.  I thought it was awesome but knowing that the coyotes have been getting closer to the house lately, I decided to take her egg and her back to the coop.  And then I put her nest in the coop under the chicken nest boxes.  I know its not a good idea but I wanted her to be safe.  Also, I clipped her primary flight feathers to be able to keep her in the coop.   

So now it has been 2 days and she now has 3 eggs and seems to be doing very well. Every once in a while a chicken hen will go over and look at the eggs and then jump into their nest boxes. For turkey hens, they love the privacy of a nest to where they can hide very well in their nest. In the wild, I have jumped several hens because I did not see the hens sitting on eggs. So if you are raising turkeys, you might want ot keep in mind that the hens will fly out and find a private area to lay their eggs.

How to fix a wet and sloppy chicken run and coop?

    So as this year started it has been very wet here in Georgia.  And in January and February, when it wasn't raining it was either really cold or not sunny so our run and coop would not dry out.  It was really annoying not only for us going to feed and water but for the chickens and turkeys.  So naturally we tried a few different things to try to remedy this problem.  

    Our chicken run and coop area is quite large (24 ft x 32 ft) and could get quite expensive to fix this issue. The first thing we tried was wheat straw.  And with our coop being so big it would take 4 to 5 bales of straw which turned out to be a little bit more expensive than what we wanted. With wheat straw it would soak in the moisture but didn't seem to soak in enough and the smell was not pleasant after it soak up the water.  So naturally we would rake it up and carry it off to our burn pile. 

    The next thing we tried was wood chips (cedar and pine).  Well just like the wheat straw this started racking up the cost of maintenance due to having to buy 4 bags or bales of wood chips.  Now the cedar chips gave off a great aromatic smell for a few days.  And both soaked up the water quite well.  Now the hardest part was the clean up.  It was way harder than cleaning up the wheat straw.  But we were not sure if we should take this off the proverbial chopping block yet.  

    So the final thing we tried happened to come by chance.  We were walking our dog and noticed the area where there were abundance of pine straw was quite dry underneath.  And the next day it looked like the pine straw was dry.  This was our AHA! moment.  So we raked up about 6 wheelbarrows full of pine straw and took it to the coop.  Within two days our coop was dray and the chickens were enjoying scratching under the pine straw.  And this didn't cost us a dime and had better results than the previous two methods.  Along with the pine straw we spread some diatomaceous earth around and even put some in a bin and the chickens and turkeys enjoyed that for dusting in.  

    After a few weeks of trial and error, we decided pine straw was the best for us.  In Georgia, there is an abundance of pine trees so it is very easy to come by.  This turned out to be cost effective and helped to even clean up our yard.  In other areas where pine trees are not abundance I would recommend a different method.  I have read where people put down sand and wheat straw and how that helps but I did not test this method out.  There is always a way to fix a wet and sloppy chicken run area.   

My Experiences When Germinating Seeds

I am not sure how many people have tried to germinate seeds from seed trays and then get irritated when they don't germinate the way you think that they should.  I know I have and have been extremely aggravated in the past.  Well like many other people, I have researched how to make my germination rate better. 

 Well who would have known that Jiffy gives you the best instructions on how to germinate seeds and it is right on the packaging too!  I laughed at myself for not doing this before.  So last week I decided that I needed to start germinating some tomato seeds, in fact I am trying to germinate 108 tomato plants.  Well the first tray was a 36 seed tray that I have 12 Best Boy Tomatoes and 24 Brandywine Tomato seeds.  As you can see in the picture below that I have a 100 percent germination rate on the 36 seed tray.  

So here are the steps that I took to achieve this 100 percent germination rate.

    1. For the 36 seed tray I took 5 cups of warm water and poured over the peat moss pellets.

        Let the water soak in and expand which I gave it an hour. And if needed drain the excess water out         of the tray. 

    2. Then I dropped 2 to 3 seeds in each pellet and then covered them.

    3. After that I put the lid on the tray.

    4. And then I stored the seed tray in an area where it would not receive direct sunlight.  

For our seeds it takes 7 to 10 days for them to germinate.  Always look at your seed package to see how long it takes for the seeds to germinate.  We used Burpee Seeds for our tomato seeds.  You can get the seeds at either Amazon.  You can get these seed trays at Amazon.  

I hope this helps you get the best germination rate possible and wish you happy gardening.  

Our links above are from our Amazon Affiliate Program, please see the disclaimer below. 

Disclaimer:

​

Amy Maria Watson Co. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees/ commissions by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

​

As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. My commission is earned when customers click the links and proceed to purchase item(s) or subscriptions. 

I don't earn a commission based on "paid per clicks". Please note that purchasing items from the links provided on this website doesn't imply that you're getting a special discount, it just helps businesses like mine to earn a commission based on purchases promoted/ advertised on this website. 

​

When you have livestock do you name them?

 This is one of the questions that I get a lot.  I know a lot of people like to make their animals as personable as possible.  And all animals have their own personalities.  But is it necessary to name all of the livestock on the farm or homestead? So here are a few questions that you should ask yourself.

1. Do you plan on using your livestock as a source of food?  If the answer is yes, then I highly suggest that you do not name your livestock.  For instance, we had a chicken that my oldest named and my wife and I told all of the kids not to name them.  Well we processed all of the chickens one day and that evening my oldest asked where her chicken was.  When she found out she cried and didn't eat chicken for a month.  It has been noted that when people name their livestock that psychologically they would not be able to eat their livestock.

2. Do you plan on using your livestock for purposes like eggs, milk, or land clearing? If your answer is yes, then it would be safe to name your livestock.  I have named my laying hens because I know I will keep them for about four years and then I can decide whether or not to let someone else take them, make them a stew bird, or let them live out their days on the homestead.  We used to name our goats because we don't eat goats but enjoy watching them.  

3. Do you plan on selling your livestock?  This is tricky because by doing so you could get an attachment that would cause some grief once the livestock is gone.  But for some it would not bother them at all.  So this would determine in how your attachment to your livestock is.

Hopefully, this helps when it comes to knowing whether you should name your livestock or not.  Stay tuned for more blogs coming soon.  

Turkeys: what to know when you raise them

 Turkeys are one of the most difficult poultry livestock to raise, it's not impossible but it isn't easy either.  I remember as a kid that we had four turkeys but I didn't know what all was done to make it a successful task.  In 2020, we decided to take on the daunting task of raising turkeys.  And one of the main reasons was because we eat a lot of ground turkey and at the time ground turkey was over $5 a pound.  So after doing some research I ordered 15 turkeys.

I researched where would be the best place to get my turkeys from and read a lot of reviews.  I ended up going through Welp Hatchery and the customer service there was amazing.  A few weeks later we received 15 turkeys (5 broad breasted bronze, 5 giant whites, and 5 chocolate).  And if you are interested in what types of turkeys they have here is the link: https://www.welphatchery.com/turkeys/. 

So the day came and I received the phone call from the post office that our poults had arrived.  And I was excited.  I had already went out and purchased some feed that was high on protein because this is very important for turkeys especially when they first start out.  Also, I made sure that I had a heat lamp and a brooder for them.  Well within the first two weeks, I lost two chocolate turkeys.  So my flock was now down to 13 poults.  And to this day I just don't know why they died, but in my experience I have seen that turkeys are weak when they are young and find ways to die.  So along with the high protein feed, I would put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in their water which helped them and seemed to give them more energy.  

After having them a month I started letting them outside in another brooder and let them just get fresh air.  Well one day it started to sprinkle and low and behold these turkeys are standing there looking up to the sky with their mouths open.  I remember my dad telling me that poults will drown themselves when it rains. So I did a mad dash and put them back inside in the brooder.   Well a few days later one of my giant white poults was dead.  Now my flock is down to 12.  

Well after 5 months the turkeys had grown to be bigger than I thought they would be. And maybe that is because they are an aggressive eater. I combined my chickens and turkeys in the same paddock and didn't think anything of it.  Well a few weeks later I noticed another Giant White stumbling and acting weak.  And then I saw little black spots on the head.  Well this is called Blackhead disease and after conferring with a few other homesteaders and farmers who have raised turkeys a long time they said that apple cider vinegar in water helps.  And right now there is no current treatment for blackhead disease so I gave my whole flock of chickens and turkeys some.  Well the giant white didn't make it but the rest did.  So now my flock was down to 11.  

After 7 months of raising the turkeys I had 11 still and it was processing time.  I had 6 gobblers and 5 hens.  Our plan on this homestead is that we would keep 4 or 5 to help replenish the flock for the next few years so we would not have to keep purchasing more poults.  A turkey hen can have between 12 to 15 poults and if we keep 3 hens and one or two gobblers then we could replenish our flock for a few years.  So that is our plan for this part of the homestead.  However, there is one thing to add.  Turkeys much rather sleep under the stars than in a coop.  If we do not put them in the coop at nights I will find them roosting on our privacy fence or on top of the coop.  So I recommend that you feed them in the coops in the evening and then shut the coop.  

I am still learning and researching because they will through you for a loop just when you weren't expecting it.  They are curious and very aggressive when it comes to eating.  And they like shiny things like rings and they will peck them too.  But this experience has been fun and I have learned a lot.  So stay tuned to more posts about our homestead and a few tips from the things we learned.  

It's January and that means it's time to start planning!

 Hello Everyone! Happy New Years ( I know its 4 days late)!!!  So one of my biggest questions that I get is when is it time to start preparing for your garden and livestock rotation.  The way I was raised and the way I used to do things are two separate ideas.  I was raised to start planning the garden in January.  What I have been doing until recently is wait to the last minute.  In this blog, I will be going over why it is important to start planning in January.

So yes I am a huge procrastinator and one thing 2020 taught me was that I need to get rid of that flaw immediately.  So here it is 2021 and I am taking on what was passed down to me when I was a kid and it did help tremendously because we were never out of food.  So January is the best time to start planning what you are going to do with your garden and livestock.  The main reason is that you can start getting prepared and start growing the food you need at the beginning of the growing season.  This way if something goes wrong, you have the whole growing season to remedy the issue instead of a couple of weeks.

So this is what you need to do (or at least what I do).  Grab a notebook and write down what you would like to grow.  Then look up when do these items grow (such as in the southeastern region of the United States iceberg lettuce can be planted in January).  Find out what do these plants need to be successfully grown, like does it need full sun or partial sun just to name one example.  Now survey the area where you want to grow your vegetables at and draw it in your notebook.  Start marking where you would want to grow items.  If you plan on growing in raised beds then start getting the materials ready to make your raised beds.  Or if you plan on growing in the ground, then you need to start preparing the soil for what you are growing.  And then finally figure out where you want to purchase your seeds.

When it comes to livestock you need to take a few things into consideration.  For instance are you new to raising this livestock or have you already raised them and need to replenish your herd or flock.  Another thing you need to look at is whether or not you have an area prepared for the livestock you are getting.  And finally if you have the materials for the area to either build or make repairs.  For my family and farm, we eat a lot of turkey and chicken.  And we raise chickens in a rotation so right before we do our final harvest we have order new chicks to start the cycle all over again.  Our turkeys are different. We initially purchased 15 turkeys but lost 4 prior to harvesting time because turkeys are harder to raise (this topic will be a totally different blog post).  However, the plan when we first purchased the turkeys was to be able to raise a flock that would multiply and we are doing this buy keeping 1 tom (gobbler) and 3 hens.  This way we could have up to 45 turkey poults the next year and that could be extra income for the farm and enough turkey to help sustain us for the year.  

These are the steps that I do (now and as a kid) prior to getting ready for the year's growing season. Some of the places that I get my seeds are Seeds of Change (seedsofchange.com) and Burpee Seeds (www.burpee.com).  And I get my chickens and turkeys from Welp Hatcheries (www.welphatchery.com).  I hope you find this informative and feel free to follow us.  

What do you need to have for raising chicks?

So last week on my Facebook page, I was asked about what would someone need to raise chicks.  As many have seen that we are projected to go through a meat shortage (however, true or not true that is).  So one of the easiest ways to have meat is to raise your own chickens and you can raise them to lay eggs as well.  My main response was how many chickens do you plan on getting because that is imperative to know for the amount of supplies you would need.

You can get all of the supplies needed by going to Tractor Supply or your local Feed and Seed store. The must items for chicks is a brooder, feed and water containers.  If you are planning on raising chicks in the cooler months you would need a heat lamp as well.  Another item that you would need is pine shavings.  In addition, you would need some chick starter feed.

Also, you would need to have a shed or coop to start your chicks in. For the first two weeks of the chicks life they would definitely need to be in a brooder (determining of your climate).  And if you are raising turkeys, they would need to be in 95 degree for the first week and then go down 5 degrees a week until you get to 70 degrees.  Chicks are more resilient at the earlier ages of their life compared to turkeys. 

For meat birds, you can get the cornish rocks or any cornish cross chicks.  Another good meat bird is the freedom rangers.  For egg laying, I am very partial to Buff Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, and Golden Sex Links due to their temperament.  For a family of four, I would also recommend 6 to 8 chicks.  Cornish Rocks can be harvested at 6 to 8 weeks.  Freedom Rangers will take a little bit longer.  You can find chicks at either Tractor Supply, feed stores, or hatcheries like Murray McMurray, Welp Hatchery, and Hoovers Hatchery.  Most of the time hatcheries will require a minimum order amount and you will have to pick up the chicks from your local post office. 

Raising chicks are fun and exciting.  They will definitely make you laugh at some of their antics.  Enjoy the fun and adventures of raising chicks. 

Don't Have Much Space, No Problem Container Garden!

One of the biggest comments that I hear about gardening is that they don't have much space or live in an apartment.  My response is the same to everyone who says that, no problem you can grow veggies and herbs in containers on your porch or even in your apartment.  There really shouldn't be a reason why you can't grow your own food.  This way you will know where it is coming from and how fresh it really is.

So here are a few things you can look at when it comes to growing your own food in your container garden. 1) What are wanting to grow? 2) How big do the plants get? 3) Does the plant need a pollinator (like bees) or are they self pollinating?  4) How big of a space do you have?

So probably the most important of the four questions is how big of a space do you have?  Why is this important? Simple, you need to know if you can spread out or if you need to go vertical with your plants.  I have built in the past a compact vertical system that included 3 rows of 5 Home Depot buckets.  The back row had tomatoes, the middle row had green beans, and the front row had lettuce.  And this was when I lived in an apartment and had a balcony.  My neighbor had multiple flower pots around her balcony with herbs and lettuces because she had a larger balcony.  And then if you have a small yard you can do pots as well.  It is all about what you are looking for.

Now here comes the meat and potatoes, what are you wanting to grow?  Its hard to have a garden when you don't know what you want to grow.  Are you wanting to have an herb garden or a salsa garden?  Or are you wanting to vegetables that you eat regularly?  These are important questions because you need to know what you want to eat.  For example, I knew in my apartment that I like to eat fresh green beans, have salads, and I loved tomato sandwiches.  So that is what I grew.  One good thing about the seed companies today are they sell seeds for salsa gardens or herb gardens.  One good company that has an great reputation is Seeds of Change.  I have found their seeds to be very good and at Tractor Supply stores.  Another good seed company is the Black Duck Brand Seeds which you can find on Amazon in assorted packs.  If you are not comfortable with seeds and you just want the plant, you can go to stores like The Home Depot, Lowes, or Walmart and buy the plants and soil and get a little head start.

Another key question for where and how big of a space you need is how big do my plants get?  This is key because some plants like cucumbers, squash, and pole beans like to vine and take up a lot of space, which means you would more in likely want to vertical garden.  Other plants will bush out like bush beans.  And one question that would tie into this would be are the plants self pollinators or do they need bees to help pollinate.  This is key because plants like spinach, lettuce, and cabbage don't need any help with pollinating.  But tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers need the bees, so unless you want to pollinate these plants with a Q tip they would be better to be used outside.   And if you are going to plant inside you might need a grow light to ensure your plants are getting enough adequate light to be able to grow and not get stunted growth.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction with what you want to grow and that you can virtually grow anywhere.  You don't need acres to have a garden, you can have one in your backyard and porch.  Heck, we have a container garden and a regular garden.  So you can do both.  Have fun with it and enjoy the fresh veggies that you will be getting from your own container garden.

The links above are from our Amazon Affiliate link, please see the link below.

Disclaimer:

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Amy Maria Watson Co. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees/ commissions by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

​

As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. My commission is earned when customers click the links and proceed to purchase item(s) or subscriptions. 

I don't earn a commission based on "paid per clicks". Please note that purchasing items from the links provided on this website doesn't imply that you're getting a special discount, it just helps businesses like mine to earn a commission based on purchases promoted/ advertised on this website. 

​

How to Plant and Harvest Chives

Everyone loves herbs because it gives your food some zest and flavor.  And the one herb that a majority of people love (especially if you love baked potatoes) is chives.  Chives, if properly taken care of, can last for years. They can get as tall as 20 inches and every spring they will bloom a lavender color flower.  If you allow the flower to blossom fully, it is packed with seeds and can spread around your garden and then you will have chives growing everywhere.  You can even grow chives indoors.  And every 3 to 4 years, it is recommended that you split the chive plant up due to it will bunch together.

Chives should be planted in the spring and in soil that has the pH of 6.0 to 7.0.  In addition, they should be planted in full sun and in soil that drains very well.  If you are transplanting a chive plant, it is suggested that you wait 30 days until you start pruning the stems.  If you have started a chive plant from seeds, it is suggested that you wait 60 days until you start pruning.  When pruning the stalks, you can snip to about 2 inches from the soil.  In fact, you can harvest chives every month.  However, it is recommended to prune the plant only 4 times in its first year.  And if you get the lavender blooms you can even eat those.

When chives start to yellow go ahead and prune that stalk and use it due to it is starting to lose its nutrients.  If the stalk is completely yellow, go ahead and prune it and you can either add it to a compost pile or to the trash. Chives retained their nutrients when they are fresh but lose a good percentage of their nutrients when they are dried and stored.  And another tip for when you harvest chives is that you can freeze them as well.

Perennial Gardening

So it is the spring and this is the time when farmers and hobbyist alike go out and start planting their vegetables and fruits.  Most of the time you will see some of your bigger box stores, like Home Depot and Lowes, start some great deals on vegetables.  And most of the time you will see people with peppers, tomatoes, and other annual plants in their buggies.  However, have you thought about the sustainability of a perennial garden.

You might be asking what is a perennial garden, or what is an annual?  So basically a perennial garden is a garden that will come back year after year as long as you take care of the plants.  And an annual is a plant that you have to replant every year.  Some examples of a perennial are strawberries, herbs, and asparagus.  And that's just to name a few.  Other perennials are nut and fruit trees, berry bushes, or grape vines.  In our main garden, we have strawberries, herbs, and grapes.  In our yard we have some nectarine trees and will be expanding our orchard to some other fruit trees.

So your next question is probably, how long do these plants live?  And that is a great question.  Every plant has a different lifespan just like animals.  For instance, a strawberry plant can last up to 5 to 6 years.  So if you bought 4 strawberry plants this year and they are taken care of you wouldn't have to buy anymore strawberries for up to 6 years.  And this helps not only with a fresh fruit but savings in your wallet.  Asparagus plants can live up to 10 years.  So imagine getting fresh asparagus out of your garden every year for 10 years, now that would be awesome.  And to one up that is the grape vines.  Grape vines can last 50 to 100 years.  I know my mind was blown too when I read that.  Now image going to the grocery store and every month you are buying a 2 pound bag of grapes for $7.00, what would it be like if you had a grape vine that was established already.  That would be $84 that you could use on something else, and you would have fresh from the vine grapes.  Now one disclaimer on the grapes is that in most cases it take 3 years for the vine to become established, so for 3 years you will be more in likely buying grapes from the grocery store.

Most of your herbs are perennials, but herbs like basil, dill and sage are annuals.  Some of your herbs will live almost forever as long as you are taking care of them, such as thyme, rosemary, and tarragon.  Oregano can live up to 10 years as long as it is properly taken care of.

In a lot of aspects, a perennial garden can save people money and time.  Also, they will produce for several years.  I hope you have learned more about perennial gardening.  We look forward to correspondence and please feel free to subscribe and follow us.

Update on the Pig Pen Post from 2012

This is the update to our pig pen post from 2012.  The pen lasted 7 years until we took it down to move the layout of the farm around.  Cool think about it is that the area it was in had some of the greenest hay I have seen in a long time start growing there.  We now have our chickens in that area.  Stay tuned to that blog on how to build an affordable chicken coop. And thank you to everyone who has continued to support our blog.  

How to Build a Pig Pen

So today, I am writing to you about how to build a pig pen.  When deciding where to place your pigs, first you need to be able to clear the area where you want to house your pigs.  So once you have cleared your area, then you need to get your supplies together to start constructing the pen.  Here is the list of supplies:

(2) 4'x4'x8' pressure treated posts

(8) 8' landscape timber

(2) 1lb box of deck and patio nails

(16) 5/4x6"x12' pressure treated boards

(8) 5/4x6"x10' pressure treated boards

(3) 4'x8' sheet of plywood

post hole diggers

(2) hinges for a gate

(1) 1x4x8 pressure treated board

Now these supplies cost me $118.  You can buy any of these supplies at any local hardware or home improvement stores.  It is imperative to make sure that all of your boards are straight and not twisted or bowed.  

So now here is the steps that needs to take place to construct your pen.

1. Mark off your 10 ft by 24 ft area.

2. Dig your corner post holes 2 ft deep.

3. Cut the 4x4x8 posts to 4 ft lengths.  There should be 4 posts total.

4. Now put the posts in the holes.

5. Mark off the next holes on the sides by 4 ft increments which should be 5 holes on each side.

6. Cut the landscape timbers to 4 ft lengths.

7. Place the 4 ft timbers into the holes.

8. Now for the end sections, dig holes at 3.5 ft lengths.  (Should be 2 holes)

9. Place 4 ft timbers into the holes.

10. Nail the 12 ft boards to the posts.  This establishes the sides of the pen.

11. On the back side, nail the 10 ft boards to the posts on the end.

This establishes the three sides of the pen.

12. Cut the remaining 10 ft boards to 3.5 ft lengths. (There should be 8 boards at 3.5 ft and 4 boards at 3 ft)

13. Nail the 3.5 ft boards to the corner and middle posts.

14. Cut the 1x4 to two 2 ft lengths.

15. Construct the gate by nailing the 2ft and 3 ft lengths to form a gate.  

16. Take the hinges and screw it onto the 1x4 and one of the middle posts, making it swing inwards.

17. Nail the plywood into the back of the 10 ft section. This helps construct the shelter portion of the pen.

18. Place the 4 ft sections of the landscape timbers 3.5 ft away from the back wall.

19. Nail in the plywood on the top of landscape timbers and on the timbers on the back wall.

20. Cut the last plywood board to 4 ft lengths.

21. Nail the 4 ft sections to the sides of the shelter.

Now the pig pen has been constructed, you can put in at least two pigs into that pen.  Make sure you put in some hay into your shelter to help give warmth.  Pigs like to burrow in their bedding.  Make sure you keep the pig pen clean because they are very clean animals.