Update

Again it has been a while…Life has kept me so busy I haven’t had time to update my blog. I do like the blog concept much better than the social networks.


My job has changed. I still work at the same place but I am now working as a Work Planner. Writing detailed work plans for various work groups. Connie now works at the local VA hospital.

Home life has had changes also. Our house caught fire on Christmas Eve. It was a very traumatic event and we all are still struggling to get a new grasp on life. At this time we have decided on a contractor and are currently waiting on blue prints to take to the bank for obvious reasons. The insurance company has settled on the structure side of the policy. I am only now getting a handle on the contents side of the policy. I still have many hours of work ahead of me on this effort.



The kids are all doing well Amber is in graduate school working toward a degree in nutrition. Ada has married and is in graduate school doing research still moving toward her goal of MDPHD. Esther graduates high school this year, has a part time job and still undecided on what college she wants to attend. Amy is married and has a job in a local school counseling. Aaron and Allen are growing leaps and bounds doing well in school. Laura has graduated and is now a RNP working in the ER in Ashville NC. Rob and Adelaide lives in Ohio with his family raising their wonderful son Johannes.
Enough for now, more later.

Peace through God's love,

Jerry

So much for commitment!

I guess I’ll get around to a seasonal post. Fall is almost over, Thanksgiving has come and gone 5 more weeks and the year is over. Where does time go?


The family is all good. Everyone is either in school or working. The flu has and still is making it's rounds. My work is good and I have my health. I have lost 30% body weight so far. I’m still looking at getting down to 200 pounds.  Although Thanksgiving week has set me back a few pounds.

The fall garden has done well this year. I keep experimenting with things and discovering more and more things that do well during this season.

My chickens are adults but I still haven’t gotten any eggs. It may be spring now before they go into full production.

The Girls in Their Home

I have gotten some great stuff this year. Of course the greens are great and have produced more than I can use. I have turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, collards, beets and Swiss char. All pictured above. Not pictured is a turnip that was 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts are in the pictures below.

Cauliflower

Broccoli

God is good.

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE

Well the summer is almost gone and I haven’t kept my commitment to maintain this blog.  I thought as I read my friends blogs that I wouldn’t have any problem keeping a post or two a week as a goal.  Kiss that good-by!

I will attempt to do a brief update here and recommit to doing a post a week (God willing).

In the garden:

My garden hasn’t produced as well as I would have liked it to have.  I got great corn 2 crops, jalapenos, banana peppers and bell peppers, okra, beets, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, flowers, green beans and summer squash.  The things that haven’t done well are my tomatoes, cucumbers, winter squash, and broccoli.  Some of these did well at first but failed early and I had difficulty getting a second crop going.  I still have the makings of a great sweet potatoes crop and have planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussels sprouts for this fall & winter.  I have also seeded mustard, kale, turnips, spinach, lettuce, beets, kohlrabi, and collards.  But I may have to reseed some stuff because I tried to second guess the weather (more on this later).

I am loosing apple trees (fire branch I think) and no fruit this year.  The few trees that did bare, the fruit was eaten by deer, squirrels and crows.

The chickens are adult now but not laying yet.  But they should start any day now.  And oh yes, one of them is a rooster (soon to be dinner).

Family:

Almost everyone is healthy.  I say this because we have had mono going through the family, on my side any way.  It started with Ada went to Amber then to Connie who still has it. 

I am still claiming Jesus’ victory in my life as I have at this point lost 100 pounds and I'm still going.

Amber was laid off from her job and is now in graduate school @ ETSU on her way to a degree in nutrition.  Ada trudges along in undergraduate school soon to graduate with a double degree.  Then on to graduate school and eventually on to MD/PHD in medical research if she realizes her goals.  Esther is a junior in high school this year.  She is doing well so far and playing soccer (always something).  Connie is doing OK except her issues with mono hopefully she will move past that soon.  Amy got married back in early summer and is a happily married woman now.  Rob and his wife Adelaide had a beautiful baby boy who is rapidly growing and paying Rob back for his own youth.  Laura graduated from graduate school in nursing and is now a nurse practitioner (smart girl like her mom).  

Well I will call it finish for now.  More later!

Garden Update

This is an overview of the garden, chicken pen and orchard.  The warm weather and plentiful rain has brought everything along quite well.

I mentioned before that the chicken pen was at the top of my do list.  And here is the finished pen.

Complete with chickens.  While still young in a few months they will be supplying all the eggs we can use.  A big thanks to Michael & Julie for getting them started for me.  

This is what I traded for the chickens.  Well not exactly, these are this years apples coming on.  I traded Michel & Julie some of last years apples for the chickens.  While a late freeze got most of my apples this year.  I will still have plenty of apples, maybe even some to trade or sell.

Salad anyone!  This is my salad bed.  the recent rains have made the leaf lettuce grow rapidly.  We are not at a want for salads.

More salad stuff.  I have never raised lettuce or salad greens before so maybe I over did it.  I have enough romaine lettuce to feed the neighborhood and then some.

Almost ready.  We will have broccoli by the end of next week.  The cabbage is making heads and I think we may have cauliflower this year.  The brussels sprouts are coming along but no sprouts yet.

Egg plants and basil plants.  Add some tomato sauce and cheese and yum.

Speaking of tomatoes here they are with peppers on the side.

Some summer squash on the side and a garden fresh meal fit for a king.

You've got to have some onions and spices to flavor the other stuff.  So here is some of that.

All this about food makes me hungry.  A state I have stayed in lately.  The good Lord has given me the will power to say no.  No to the excess I have enjoyed over the years and that has left me grossly obese.  Now thanks to His power I am shrinking back to a more manageable weight.  Since some time in February I have lost right at 65 pounds.  I praise God for His intervention in this because I know I didn't have the will power on my own. 

Make a Smilebox slideshow

How Does Your Garden Grow

Here is my most pressing project "the chicken pen".  I have the post in the ground, the gate hung and I'm in the process of reworking the inside of the shed.  Currently I have all the materials in hand, a plan and the chickens are ready for me to pick up.  All I have to do is finish.  

This was what I found a couple of weeks ago, sack worms and baby apples.  The sack worms are easy enough to deal with.  Soap water or tobacco juice have worked for me in the past.

 A late freeze got a lot of the apples this year but there will still be plenty for our needs with plenty to spare.

The blackberry plants are healthy and doing well.  This is one of the easiest crops to deal with. The toughest aspect is thinning the old canes out in the fall.  Painful work!

The late cold snap affected the asparagus.  We were able to get a couple of messes out of them I only cut them once because they seemed to be struggling, so I let them bolt. 

This picture is a couple of weeks old as seen by the date on the photo.  After the recent rains things have grown leaps and bounds the plans have doubled in size.  
Below are the tomato & pepper plants. Their roots have taken hold and are starting to grow with the rain and warmer days and nights.
The crows devastated my peas this year, so I filled the empty spaces with broccoli.  Don't ask me why, because I have way too much broccoli.  To the right of the photo below is the romaine which is doing nicely.
The lettuce is also doing rather well.  We are eating lots of salad and loving it.  We have also given to family and friends.

Ah, the collards have seen their day.  They bolt!  But not before suppling several good meals for me and others.  As soon as the ground is dry I will till this area in and plant more hot weather plants.