It's that time of year again!

Kim wrote:Well, I had me a tomato plant about 5 years ago....

I saw a house fly.

I got berries

We have one every year and can a lot for our own food for the rest of the year. We're just getting started though. Washington doesn't have a long growing season.

Nothing beats a home grown tomato Kim! Perfect for slicing at the table. Once you grow your own the mealy pale ones from the Supermarket don't compare!

Crank, The first bed in the pic is devoted to strawberries.

John.......Get a swatter

duke.johnson wrote:We have one every year and can a lot for our own food for the rest of the year. We're just getting started though. Washington doesn't have a long growing season.

Canning! What a pain, but totally worth it. I also make my own pickles. I am thinking about doing some kraut. I never have much luck with cabbage. Worms down here are plentiful. I end up putting so much Sevin dust on them that they become inedible.

The good thing about Washington is the apple and cherry trees. I have some apple,pear,cherry and peach trees. I also finally set my Fig, blueberries and blackberries in the ground.

I use to do it!! Then I added up my time, water, chemicals and went down to the market and realized tomatoes are $10 a bushel, same with cucumbers etc. It was costing me allot more then $10 a bushel, so I gave it up and started flying RC Jets with my extra time. I think the Wife would rather me plant vegetables though....Jets are not very economical..There is no better taste then a fresh picked vegetable..There is a difference!

John Goddard wrote:

Kim wrote:Well, I had me a tomato plant about 5 years ago....

I saw a house fly.

I seen me a horse fly!

Yes, jr. has me talked into a garden this year (first time ever) last week we picked up some seed and some potting stuff, we hope to grow corn, pumpkins, sunflowers, watermelons and onions and i think we got some tators!

We inherited a tiny box garden when me moved. It yielded quite a few grape tomatoes, a few peppers, and a couple cucumbers.

It's starting to sprout again.

Mark Boesen wrote:

John Goddard wrote:

Kim wrote:Well, I had me a tomato plant about 5 years ago....

I saw a house fly.

I seen me a horse fly!

Yes, jr. has me talked into a garden this year (first time ever) last week we picked up some seed and some potting stuff, we hope to grow corn, pumpkins, sunflowers, watermelons and onions and i think we got some tators!

Good deal!

It's a great learning experience! Why just today as I was making furrows my son Who was working the hoe asked why we have to work. I promptly told him the story of Adam and Eve

Got maters, taters, peppers, and lots of flowers. My wife is the chief gardening expert though. I like the Daylilies the best, I like to see which ones are blooming every morning and pick a sample for the kitchen and yard tables. Of course they turn to sludge at sunset. Have to pick the maters before the squirrels or dog eats them.

we just got 3" of fresh snow.

Same here, it was chaos on the roads a few days ago when we got about 8" of snow overnight and it was 35°F the following day, all slush!!! I guess about 5 trucks jackknifed on the highway including an articulated bus downtown. We got some more snow yesterday and its falling again now. Its supposed to melt tomorrow when the sun comes out but refreeze and start snowing again the next day. LOL

We will sometimes have a garden, tomatoes, had onions last year, carrots... We have a big rhubarb patch back by he shed that we use to make all kinds of desserts.

It's been a long winter this year. Funny how things work. This time in south Texas I would already have seedlings in the ground.

I hope you dudes in the cold can manage to hang on for a few more weeks, Spring is coming.
It's finally broken into full blown Spring here. For instance the forecast this weekend is for cooler than the last few days... only 78F both days.

RknRusty wrote:I hope you dudes in the cold can manage to hang on for a few more weeks, Spring is coming.
It's finally broken into full blown Spring here. For instance the forecast this weekend is for cooler than the last few days... only 78F both days.

I've given up Spring probably isn't coming...






This is typical MN, last year at this time it was in the 70s-80s but the year before that wasn't too different from now. I remember when we had a hell of a blizzard in the last few days of April.

cribbs74 wrote:
Canning! What a pain, but totally worth it. I also make my own pickles. I am thinking about doing some kraut. I never have much luck with cabbage. Worms down here are plentiful. I end up putting so much Sevin dust on them that they become inedible.

The good thing about Washington is the apple and cherry trees. I have some apple,pear,cherry and peach trees. I also finally set my Fig, blueberries and blackberries in the ground.

Canning is a lot of work sometimes, but I don't count it a pain. We love canning our own food. You know what's in it and can make it the way you like it. And somethings you just can't get in the stores. We can everything, pickles, dilly beans, jams and jellies, fish, deer and elk, clams, pie filling, soups and stews. Geez I could go on and on. We love growing, finding, catching, hunting, gathering our own food.

Duke this past year was the first time I was able to fill my freezer with Venison. We have been substituting it for beef in just about every recipe. Saved a ton of money.

I have yet to can meat, it has to be done right or you can really get sick. I have shyed away from doing it for that reason. If I decide to go that route I will give you a shout for some pointers.

Ron
My best advice is to get the "Ball Blue Book" for canning just about anything. It's my go to book. Canned venision is great, you can mix it with a little mayo and make sandwich or just eat it straight from the jar. You'll have to try it the next time you get a deer. Canning fish is great also.

Jason_WI wrote:we just got 3" of fresh snow.

yep, this morning as i pulled out of the cul de sac a single snow/ice flake landed dead center on the windshield it kinda startled me, later we got some really light flurries...April 13!