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letsgogardening · 3 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer of some cute little visitors that started showing up in the garden!

Yaaay!! We have a confirmed sighting of 2!

Cute, Cheeky lil visitors! They are definitely enjoying the sunflowers. ❤️I was only able to get good pictures of one though, but that's okay :)

Now to finish what I can on the fence panels to expand the garden and to half birdwatch too 😉

🦜🌱Happy homesteading and green spacing! 🌱🦜

2 3 2024

#homesteading #self sufficient living #thestudentfarmer #studentfarmer #self sufficiency #food #garden #gardening #low waste #urban green spaces #urban biodiversity #enjoy the little things #enjoy the moment #we are part of the life cycle #wildlife #wildlife in urban spaces #respect nature #live with nature

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letsgogardening · 3 months

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An update from my sister @thestudentfarmer

Garden update today :)

We had some more gloomy wet weather so unfortunatly some chores and errands fell through and I'm a little behind on some maintenance as well as seed uppotting

Sadly I don't think any of my peppers are going to grow. A few of the tomatoes have sprouted so there is at least that. Unfortunatly i dont think they will be ready for transplanting by valentines day. They'll be a little behind anyways.

Here's the cabbages now~

I'm very excited to see these growing so well this season :D they are transplanted and these 4 are the survivers so far.

The carrots (don't mind the weeds, I'll be yanking them as soon as I catch up, as long as I get them before seed they make excellent salads for the chickens)

The nasturtium, there's some flowers tucked up inside them, a few yellows this season, not to many red or orange so far.

The broccoli and a close up of one that seems to be growing multiple little florets now :D

The lentils I put in the L bed are starting to sprout now too :) I think this upcoming season I may plant cucumbers or melons of some sort.

And a bit excited, a lil garlic peice is starting to peek through!!

Oh! I also saw 2 of the wild love parrots this morning in one of the neighbors' trees!!! I have no choice but to always have sunflowers growing and will need to accommodate some grow space for them now 😂 their pretty rarely sighted in the area im at so I am super stoked to see them.

hopefully, they are able to find enough food to hang out for more than flying through, and that people get to see why having green spaces in cities is important to more than just human benefit.

That's it for now :)

🌱🌻Happy homesteading and gardening 🌻🌱

1 26 2024

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letsgogardening · 3 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer!

Super mini did it grow? Update!

The subject? Green onions

I snipped about an 1.5 inches up from the root and just popped em in the ground.

And yes! Their currently starting to go upward!

Not sure why when i check on them there's usually 1 or two popped up out of the ground on their side.

Best I can figure is mayby a bird or perhaps when they get watered since their not yet fully rooted they wiggle out? I just pop em back in and cover them up with a lil soil pat.

Nothing above ground yet for garlic, turmeric or ginger. The lentils I hot for green manure for the "L" bed are starting to sprout though :)

🌱🧅Hapy Garden growing and experimenting! 🧅🌱

1 21 2024

#gardening #homesteading #urban homesteading #letsgogardening #self sufficient living #garden #urban gardening #thestudentfarmer #studentfarmer #self sufficiency #did it grow?#growing with scraps #growing from scraps #testing grow

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letsgogardening · 3 months

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An update from my sister at her blog @thestudentfarmer in regards to the sweet potato's we grew :)

Good afternoon everyone~

It's cold, windy and it's been raining on and off all day but I finally got out to harvesting the sweet potatoes.

I started with the 'L' bed.

This is the bowl I'll be using to collect the spuds for this deep raised bed.

Those are full size scissors btw. This is the absolute biggest strainer I own and when I do harvesting I'm always glad to have it! Helps with carrying and washing off dirt outside so much easier!

It was pretty fun digging round for the spuds and to be honest the size and shape of some of them really suprised me!

For some size comparison, my hand is right on top of them.

All cleaned out!

Next was the little round bed in the corner. I wasn't really expecting much, but it filled the bin pretty good.

I've washed the spuds off and am letting them dry off but I'll be finding a spot inside soemwhere to let them sit and cure for a bit of time. (I probably will let them cure until end of febuary.)

Curing your sweet potatoes is what makes them sweet, you can eat them right away but their said to be bitter. (I will be trying 1 potato to see if this is true!) Curing them should be done for at least 2 week in a cool dry space (around 80*f). If you under 80*f space add 7 more days.

I thought this was neat and wanted to share it. since I've not seen a sweet potato grown or dug up before

I wasn't expecting so much differance in spud size from one single root.

And one last pic,

The ducks quite like the greens, while there's not much left of it I'm going to leave the vines a couple days so they can use it as enrichment/snack opportunity.

Weigh in on the spuds later!

🍠🌱Happy Homesteading and Harvesting!!

🌱🍠

1.11.2024

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letsgogardening · 4 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer regarding chicks we've been raising

Hello and Good day!

Today I got to move the chicks from the grow out pen into the run 🐣🐥🐔 thought I'd share their journey so far :)

We chose to purchase chicks, rather than hatch as we don't currently have a rooster. To be perfectly honest, I'd like to test out with eggs from another source to be sure I know how to incubate properly before getting into that venture. (Though selling or trading chicks with the neighbours would be fun someday!)

They get put in a large tub, with a chick waterer on stone and wood shaving bedding. I leave the box they came home in the tub for shade from the heat lamp. They are so stinking small at this time and cuuute!

Later when they got bigger we upgraded to what we call the grow out pen. It used to be a trellis for one of the raised bed but got repurposed along with a few other things. No sense in wasting perfectly good material.

I started switching to grain and seed feed around 6 weeks of age. Mixing 50/50 chicken feed grain till the last bagw as empty. I also started sharing kitchen and garden scraps around this time. Mostly leafy greens and occasional bread slices.

They are always up and going! Even around 2 am lol

Today's moving day! Their a little skittish still when I snapped this photo and I expect they will continue to be for a few days yet as I try to remain fairly hands free for them. I'll probably move the lamp in tonight, but after awhile more, ill be removing it entirely. Tomorrow I'll be giving them a half tray of fresh lentil sprouts as a treat and they'll be getting some garden clean up too :)

That's it for now :)

🐣🐔Happy Homesteading!🐔🐣

12 29 2023

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letsgogardening · 4 months

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An update on some things going on in the kitchen from my sister @thestudentfarmer

Hello hello, sharing a bit of food post as promised the other day :)

I made squash noodles! Yes, I was inspired by tiktok, Food use inspiration can be shared and come from anywhere :) this was my first time making noodles of any kind and I'm glad I tried it out!

I used acorn squash and delicata squash. I washed, halved and gutted them. Saving the seeds for a snack for us this time.

Baked them at 350-375 *f for about an hour. I like using a roasting pan and cook a few extra at a time to save heat and supplies. I also like to bake some potatoes to cook for breakfast the next day.

Cooked up and scooped out into containers for various meals for the week. The shells I set aside for compost/chicken feed.

Mixed some scoops of both squash w/ flour. I didn't measure but I did add quite a bit more flour throughout. Mix it well till the dough is no longer sticky and is fairly smooth. It may take awhile, if you have a stand mixer I'd suggest using it to protect your wrists.

Smooth enough for me. I let the dough rest a few hours before cooking so the flour could get more springy. I don't think it's necessary but I just didn't have time to cook immediately and like how it came out.

Used scissors to snip them into peices and dropped straight into boiling salted water.

What they looked like after boiling. I tried one right after and it's a bit bitter. Definatly wouldn't suggest eating as is (though I can't say all squash pasta will be so! Could jsut be that I used delicata/acorn squash)

To finish off I used green enchilada sauce, some salt, pepper, garlic and cumin. Mixed w/ the pasta and some shredded pork and let it reduce a bit. Plated and topped with a sprinkle of cheese and a lil more Chile sauce.

Came out very good, even the most skeptic veggie eater of the house enjoyed it and asked if we could have it again sometime! :D

Was it good? Yes.

Would we eat again? Also yes!

Personal food idea/suggestion w/for these noodles?

Maybe a carrot soup broth w/ coconut cream or heavy cream would be good w/ the noodles.

Chicken noodle soup would be tasty too, just cook the noodle in the chicken stock to take advantage of the startchyness of the flour for thickener. Lil more black pepper. Garlic and use pumpkin or a bit more sweet squash for the squash puree.

Now on to the seeds, I prepared them similarly to pumpkin seeds.

Wash well, let dry and then use a bit of oil, seasoning of choice and cook 375-400* f till crispy on both sides.

Much smaller seeds. But equally tasty as pumpkin seeds, I kinda burnt these ones a lil bit, I got distracted with tidying the kitchen a bit.

Well that's it for now :)

🌱 🎃 Happy Homesteading, gardening and good cooking! 🎃 🌱

12 28 2023

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letsgogardening · 4 months

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An update on some stuff my sister @thestudentfarmer is up to!

It's wet and rainy today, so I'll be cooking today and staying indoors to keep warm and dry :)

I'm cooking some acorn and delicata/jester squash in the oven for making noodles and soup broth.

I'll be taking the seeds from both to make some seeds snacks.

Frybread is in the making and I started some pork loin in green sauce In the crockpot~

Breakfast will be made soon. A lovely scrambled eggs (from our hens), chopped jalapeno and a lil shredded cheddar. Plus a leftover chopped seasoned potato (I like to make extra when I cook them for supper so we have quick fried potatos in the morning:) )

More later, when ibhave some pics :) Stay safe, warm and dry :)

🌱🌧 Happy Homesteading and cooking 🌧🌱

12.22.2023

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letsgogardening · 4 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer

Hello and Welcome to the garden!

Today I have a bit of a smallish and short post~

The pumpkin is developing pretty good, the one on the trellis is a little smaller than this one. I'm starting to see new flowers on the vine, but I think I'll be picking them to use for stir fry/fried rice varient, ommlettes, or salad.

The first planting of the velour beans is starting to get what I think might be the end of their cycle, a few more flowers arrived but the plants aren't really b taking off to much in growth or producing. If I recall right I got around 48 oz of beans. (Their being crowded out by the sunflowers now.)

I'm gonna leave them in and jsut see how long/well they do.

Starting at the far left, sunflowers+ velour beans and pumpkin

2nd in from left. Starting closest to us. The broccoli and nasturtium. I'm gonna pick some of the broccoli leaves this week for pan fried veggies. Broccoli leaf+rice (not sure if blanching, pan fry w/garlic+butter or a cheese/broc soup.)

3rd row from left starting closest. The eggplants, who have some flowers but I've not seen any eggplant yet. Cabbages (2), they've got little heads coming in. I have not yet sprayed down with the tea but I haven't seen much more pest issue. And last the cucumbers. One is pretty much done, the other has teeny lil cucumbers coming in, but I don't expect too much more growth from them. If they do I may just let it go to seed and see if it does better next year in a different spot.

Edit to add, I forgot the last row!

4th row from left, second planting of velour beans, with the surviving cabbages and carrots. I picked a few of the carrots this morning

Close up of the dying/dead and the hanging in there cucumbers.

Finally got down to the hardware store. We got wood, pipes for extending the garden fence, dirt and some time.

We got 2 boxes made up. So next step is to get the fence panels made up to extend the garden space and protect it from the stray/feral cats.

I got peppers, tomatoes seed started this week, though im hoping I didn't lose a tray of peppers due to a watering malfunction. (Always check your seedlings daily!) I also got some garlic in the ground and some ginger root too.

Thats it for my update for now :)

🌱🌻Happy Homesteading and gardening! 🌻🌱

12 18 2023

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letsgogardening · 5 months

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An update on my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer

Small progress picture,

Working on a gift for the holiday

A more sustainable washcloth alternative to plastic.

I love the idea and think I might make a few more for gifts.

🌱🧶 Happy Homesteading and Sustainable efforts🧶🌱

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letsgogardening · 5 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer !

I thought they were really good even if it wasn't the same sort of crispy I'm used to from pickles!

A little while ago I made some fridge pickles

These guys.

Well they've sat a little longer than need to so tonight we popped them open to try~

They were a little salty, not super crisp. But firm. Taste wise will make again. Has been like by all, so will use the recipe and time wait again.

The jalapeno was similar texture. Good taste.

The onions honestly I feel shone through in texture and taste. I want to amend 2 jars of that for snacking, with jalapeños for hot dog and sandwhich topping, haha.

🌱🥒Happy homesteading and Happy pickling/fermenting! 🥒🌱

12 5 2023

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letsgogardening · 5 months

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Reblogging from this morning for evening feed

FRONT GARDEN UPDATE 11/29/2023

Full side view

Row 1= a pumpkin, variety of sunflowers and Valor beans

The pumpkin has two fruits on it at the moment! I'm gonna post a few pics of what it looks like currently a little further down.

For the sunflowers we just mixed a bunch of different ones together so there's some Mammoth, Boss (black oil sunflower) and some stuff we had left over from the last sunflowers we grew!

Row 2 = nasturtiums further away and cabbage

A little view of row 2

Row 3= Armenian cucumbers and egg plants

The Armenians aren't spreading out too much but that's more our fault than the plants, it's not in a super sunny spot and it tends to do better when it's slightly sunnier spot in the winter.

Row#4= more valor beans closer with some remnants of cabbage, carrots and radish.

Close up of the pumpkins!

One of the eggplants is starting to show signs of getting flowers/fruit.

A valor bean on the plant

While they aren't really branching out one of them does have a lot of little cucumbers starting!

And some bees on some of the blossomed sunflowers!

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letsgogardening · 5 months

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FRONT GARDEN UPDATE 11/29/2023

Full side view

Row 1= a pumpkin, variety of sunflowers and Valor beans

The pumpkin has two fruits on it at the moment! I'm gonna post a few pics of what it looks like currently a little further down.

For the sunflowers we just mixed a bunch of different ones together so there's some Mammoth, Boss (black oil sunflower) and some stuff we had left over from the last sunflowers we grew!

Row 2 = nasturtiums further away and cabbage

A little view of row 2

Row 3= Armenian cucumbers and egg plants

The Armenians aren't spreading out too much but that's more our fault than the plants, it's not in a super sunny spot and it tends to do better when it's slightly sunnier spot in the winter.

Row#4= more valor beans closer with some remnants of cabbage, carrots and radish.

Close up of the pumpkins!

One of the eggplants is starting to show signs of getting flowers/fruit.

A valor bean on the plant

While they aren't really branching out one of them does have a lot of little cucumbers starting!

And some bees on some of the blossomed sunflowers!

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letsgogardening · 5 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer

Hello hello~

This week I have a garden update :D

Sunflowers, beans and pumpkin.

New velour beans, with the cabbages which have survived

Eggplants and cucumber plants

Broccoli and nasturtium

The mystery pepper has returned!

Past these there isn't much going on in the garden. This upcoming week I intend to get some pepper and tomato starts going though.

Other notes of interest~

I have been working on a new jacket~

And I made cream of mushroom soup from scratch! (And a bunch of other stuff for friendsgiving lol)

That's it for now, I hope you are all doing well and having fun on your gardening journeys🌱

🌻🌱Happy Homesteading 🌱🌻

11 24 2023

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letsgogardening · 6 months

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An update curtousy my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer !

Hello hello,

Today I went out and harvested another little bit of the velour beans for supper and thought I might share a little on how the eggplants are growing so far

First though i wanted to share on the beans~

The prior harvest was fantastic pan fried w/ a lil butter, powdered garlic. And they did turn green~ it was fun watching them cook up and change color. The whole household enjoyed that experience :)

Quick pic about halfway cooked. I got a harvest just a bit bigger than this (what is pictured served 2 as a small side dish of around 3/4 of a cup.) Today.

Now On to today's post~

This one's got some lovely silvery velvet fur growth coming in with the new growth

Some have been growing much faster than others

Others, Like these ones, are much smaller than the rest.

These ones are growing quite quickly too.

That's it for now :)

🍆🌱Happy Homesteading🌱🍆

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letsgogardening · 6 months

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A quick update on my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer regarding our bush beans!

How fantastic! A little garden harvest today :)

These are from the velour beans I planted earlier and is the first harvest of them :)

Unfortunately not enough for my scales to accurately measure but they should be enough to add to either a stirfry, soup or omlettes and scrambled eggs.

🌱Happy Homesteading and harvesting! 🌱

11 5 2023

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letsgogardening · 6 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer

Hello everyone,

Sorry it seen a few days, took a little break to enjoy some time with family before the buying holidays are upon us.

This year I'm going to attempt to make most of my gifts. Wether that is baking, a skill-craft or otherwise I'm not entirely certain.

Most people I can gift to I know will be happy with a home gift of bathbombs, lipgloss,soap or a homebaked goody/candy but I may try branching out this year with a homesewn jacket.

Anyways for now a Garden update :)

Carrots, no kore radish at the moment and surprisingly enough it seems a few cabbage have survived.

Cucumber, and the eggplant

Nasturtium and broccoli

The sunflowers, pumpkin and beans

Close up of some beans coming in :)

And the sweet potato, I think I'll be able to dig them up soon. So far no seed pods from the flowers either.

Also. Now that it's been a few days and they've gotten more comfortable, a small share~

We've got new peep-peeps. :)

🌱🌿Happy homesteading and gardening🌿🌱

Nov 3 2023

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letsgogardening · 6 months

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An update from my sister's blog @thestudentfarmer

Hello and Good day,

First update, the Apple cider vinegar filled already. I've got to drain and sterilize my jar and try again. It went straight from clear to moldy. :(

Next~ a garden update :)

The cabbage is mostly gone. But the carrots are starting to come in nicely. Since the cabbage is lost I may do a small section of radish and something else to fill in.

The eggplants (closer) and the cucumbers (further)

Broccoli (closer), Nasturtium (further)

The pumpkin, sunflowers and beans

Another little close up of the sunflowers and beans, there's flowers on the beans now too! :D

The sweet potato blooms appear to be heading out very quickly. Just a very small handful of them appeared and it looks like only on the one vine too.

And one of the moringa tree sprouts has started kicking off :)

That's it for today :)

🌱🍅Happy Homesteading and Gardening 🍅🌱

10.26 2023

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