A new year and a new look

As I have said several times this year already, there is a lot of ‘moving forward’ going on for me in 2012. And, this blog is no exception with a new look!

It was actually quite by accident. I was updating programs (they get updated regularly mostly for security purposes) and when I got to the current theme I was using, I hit the update button, and voila, my blog was so very screwed up! I had no choice but to change the theme, create new headers, change some formatting, yada, yada. I hope you like it.

Since my last writing, I have finished another gourd. I think it my best ever!

We had our first hard freeze of the season the other night. It was wicked cold! I wore long johns under my sweat pants, and made homemade hot cocoa in an effort to keep us warm and cozy. Even Sam Dog got his ears covered!

 And, I had to cover the garden vegetables, too! Now, most fall gardens are done producing in these parts near the end of November, but mine was super slow to start. I don’t know if I needed more fertilizer or what, but, when most people were pulling out their garden remnants, I was watching my cabbages finally forming heads.

With my first head of cabbage, I made cabbage rolls.

 

 

After all this time and even after the hard freeze the other night, my cauliflower and red cabbages are finally forming some nice heads.

 

By the time my fall garden is done, it will be time for spring planting, once again!

So, what have you been up to, lately?

 

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How to plant your fall garden

Hi everyone! You haven’t seen a post from me lately because I’ve been away on the yearly sister vacation! I had a wonderful time and there is much to write about and many pictures to share.

BUT, I’m overwhelmed with just living right now – busy at work and busy at home that I haven’t even begun to write about the sisters’ adventures.

One very pressing project right now is planning and planting the fall garden. Yep, it’s that time of the year for me and I am behind schedule!

 Brian and I had planted a fall garden our first year here and although it wasn’t super productive we learned a lot and are optimistic this year will be better.

 There’s a wide variety of crops that do well in our mild lowcountry fall and winter climate. Here’s a sampling of some of the crops we can plant: pole beans, half runner beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower, carrots, radishes, lettuce, onions, red beets, turnips, rutabagas, southern peas (crowder peas/black-eye peas), collards, spinach, cucumbers, winter squash.

We won’t plant all of these things and will actually decide what to plant based on what we find at the garden center  Hopefully, there will be a bigger selection available for the fall garden since more people are trying their hands at home gardens.

I had included a statistic in “Life’s Vignettes” a few months ago that said that $70 spent in a well tended garden yields over $500 in produce. Remember that? Well, I’ve estimated that our $70 spent on the spring garden yielded us about $350 in fresh vegetables and canned tomatoes. Not bad.

I hope the fall garden does at least as well.

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