Monthly Archives: July 2012

Andrew’s carrot

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Sandy

Andrew wanted to have his own garden this year, so I let him use a half wine barrel for planting his seeds. He planted peas, carrots, and turnips and everything has done well. He’s especially happy with his carrots, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | 2 Comments

Green beans and a new venture

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Sandy

I’ve had trouble with green beans this year. Even though I waited until the weather improved before planting, I had to replant both my pole beans and my bush beans. Birds might have been a factor, but germination seemed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | 7 Comments

Berries & artichokes

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Sandy

Strawberry season is officially over, but the blueberries and raspberries are going strong. In fact, the raspberries are fantastic this year. We have a few different varieties of raspberries planted (I’ve lost track of exactly what we have though) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A good energy usage report!

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Sandy

Contrary to most people, I look forward to seeing our monthly electricity and gas bill. I’m always hopeful that the numbers will show year-over-year energy reduction. Our latest bill showed great progress! At the same time, we produced 919 kWhs … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy usage | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Garlic & potatoes

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Sandy

My softneck garlic starting flopping over earlier in the week, so I knew it was time to harvest. Harvesting garlic is easy (just pull from the ground), but curing is an important step for long-term storage. After the garlic dries … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening, Livestock | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Pie cherries

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Sandy

Pie cherries are a lovely fruit and fortunately they grow well in the Pacific Northwest. We grow Montmorency pie cherries, which offer a classic tart pie cherry flavor. Unfortunately, after changing up our garden plans, I attempted to move an … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , | 3 Comments

2513 kwhs and sun ahead

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Sandy

We’ve just passed the 2500 kwh mark with our solar panels! According to our solar log, this means we are averaging 28.55 kwhs/day, which isn’t so bad considering that we’ve just gone through our annual June gloom. So, we’re now … Continue reading →

Posted in Solar | 1 Comment