What's Growing Now?

The gardens are doing pretty well so far. Our tomotoes started turning yellow and we thought they were just too wet from all the rain but finally Bryon bought some plant food/fertilizer and put on them and they greened right up! They only have a few yellow leaves left on the bottom of the plants. Bryon thought they might have some terrible plant virus but we finally decided it was just nutrients they needed. The soilless mix only has coffee ground compost and peat moss in it and we have to keep adding stuff to it until we have what the plants need. We are learing.

Right now we have tomatoes, eggplant, squash (spaghetti, zucchinni and yellow), radishes, beets, carrots, potatos, onions, strawberries, blackberries, garlic and hopefully corn (but the coons will get most of it if it ever takes off). Wow that seems like a lot when I type it all out!

We googled last night and figured out our potatoes are being consumed by Potatoe Fleas so we are going to make up a concoction of garlic and hot pepper to spray on them. It's hard not to just spray them with Sevens Dust of something off the shelf at Wal-Mart but we are resisting and trying to keep things as organic as we can and still have some food.

I want to plant some grapes and fruit trees next. We have one little mangy apple tree Bryon planted last year but the deer keep rubbing it. Of course it is right by his food plot. Our elderly neighbor (in his 80's) has a wonderful pear and apple orchard and he shared some with us last year. We'll have to go visit him again around harvest time this year. And another neighbor I just met lives 1 mile outside of Niangua and has a nice big orchard too.

My friend Tammy turned me onto to a farm just about 15 miles from the house (a nice Sunday drive) that I'm wanting to check out. They have milk, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, soap, jams, eggs and more. I'm excited to visit them. You can see their operation at http://www.bechardfarm.com/

This book I'm reading by Barbara Kingsolver has really gotten me excited about trying to be more of a Locavore and eat more local foods. I realized a few weeks ago that the grapes I've been buying are from Chile. That's nuts. Bryon said, "So what you're going to stop eating grapes?" Well for now I am. I've been buying us some dried fruits that are grown in the USA and trying to pay attention to where things come from. Let me tell you, there are not many choice at Wal-Mart that are Made In The USA. Don't we make anything anymore? When there are more than one kind of something I need I've been looking at the origins and trying to choose the USA choice, but they are few and far between. Even the little patriotic shirt I just bought yesterday was made in China. Ain't that patriotic?

I don't know, it's sort of fun searching for things that are local, organic, American, natural but it ain't easy and it ain't cheap. Wal-Mart has spoiled us to the fast and easy. When we moved to Marshfield 5 years ago we had the old Wal-Mart with no grocery side and I was disgusted because I had to go three places to complete my shopping AND they never had the size or color or whatever I needed. Now we have every possible convenience and I'm purposely making it hard for myself. Go figure. Life is funny sometimes. I guess I just like a project too much.