Bells of the North Homestead

Wow.  It's been such a long time.  We've had so much going on and we've been so busy that it's been hard for me to actually sit down and WRITE! In April we got our pop up camper, something we've wanted for about 10 years.  So that has been keeping us super busy as we've been camping with our pop up now almost every weekend.  Thankfully, however, we're taking a break for this weekend to get some much needed things done around the house.  I must say one thing.  I actually miss writing here because, while you, dear reader, might find it entertaining and educational to read about how things are going in our garden, I miss seeing and reading what we did in the past! It's nice to read and relive my failures and successes. I miss reading back about what we did, what lessons we learned and how the garden grew over the past weeks and months.  Okay, so here I go. Back at it again! This first photo was taken on the 5th of July.  Disreg...

I never thought this would possibly happen but I guess it has.  Recently due to a potluck at work I needed some tomatoes but I had none ready to pick in the backyard (wouldn't you know, the tomatoes were ready about 3 days later.  Goes to show you can't rush a good thing) So I bought some at the grocery store to help top a seven layer dip I made.  I ended up using only a portion of the store bought tomato because the thing tasted like water with a slight tomato taste. EWWWW!  The worms got the rest.  I'm sure they were probably put off by the lack of taste as well. I've gotten used to sweet, tangy, tart tomatoes.  Tomatoes that just TASTE like summer.  I couldn't stand the fact that I even used some of the grocery store tomatoes on my dip. Same goes for Cucumbers.  My cucumber vine is just about dead.  It has barely produced at all recently (not its fault, the whole placement thing which is our fault. The tomatoes are hogging all the ...

It's now been, what? Almost a month and maybe even a week since I've written.  I kept having the best intentions to write and then.....something always got in my way. First I injured my left foot while walking through the garden, next, was my laptop which decided right now was a perfect time for an epic fail.  Then next hubby having yet another TDY, while my son and I were sick. Nice, real nice. Hell, as it stands right now we're in the middle of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and watch (thank God it's not a T---ado watch or warning!).  Thunder is rumbling outside and the sky is lighting up as if someone has thrown fireworks up into the clouds. So with all that happening I still rush to hurry and write. My God, where do I start? First, we had a few successes.  Our battle with the slugs is going well, thanks to about 4 beer traps we set weekly. My hope is that when I put in our second seeding of mesclun, arugula, romaine, and other mixed greens the slugs will be ...

A bit of history on me.  First I used to help my Dad in the garden as a kid.  Many's the time I can remember helping Dad harvest our meager amount of tomatoes in Southern Maryland. My babysitters parents used to have a massive sized garden and when my babysitter needed to run an errand she would bring my little brother and I to her parents so they could help watch us.  In the end my brother and I used to be enlisted in helping in the backyard with large bowls so we could pick the wax beans, tomatoes, corn, etc. We usually ate more than what we brought in but I'm sure my babysitters Mom was just grateful for the company as we all worked together.  I used to help my Dad tend our front yard in Hawaii.  I remember our delight in our own home grown coconuts and papayas or me killing our hot pepper plant because it was being attacked by some unknown pest(they were aphids). Later, once we had moved to Tennessee I used to help somewhat however by then I was a 16 year o...