The sun is out!

Yesturday's bad weather turned into a beautiful sunny day today.  I'm going out later to measure the garden and figure out square foot.  I'm expanding further to the west this year. 

I started tomatoes and peppers awhile ago. The tomatoes are coming up nicely in their pods.  The peppers are just barely starting to pop through the soil.  I used seeds from Baker Creek Seeds this year.  Baker Creek Seed Company  I'm not sure what they have left at this point.  I ordered mine in December and January.  If you want to do something local, find a farm store like Bomgaars, Fleet Farm, Tractor supply kind of stores.  They all have an abundance of seeds.  I plan on saving seed this year so I went with an heirloom seed company that's well known for seed saving. 

Right now I'm dealing with gnats.  I was using neem oil but ran out last week.  Trying to stay home and save lives, I haven't run to town to get more.  So now I have a ton of gnats.  Vinegar isn't getting them all.  So I'll have to run to the farm store and get some more neem oil and diatomaceous earth.  I think between both of them I can get a handle on the gnats in a couple of days.  

The celery appears to be doing well.  They were started back in January.  They take forever to grow and don't do well in the heat.  I hope to be able to plant them in the garden just after Easter in a couple of weeks.  

The mints that I cut and grew from last years crop are growing like gangbusters.  Mint Julep and peppermint.  I need to find a better place to hang the peppermint though.  I'm not sure it's getting enough sun.

Thyme, sage, and basil are all outgrowing their containers.  I should cut and dry them this week.  We'll see if I get to that or not.  

I started six mini tomatoes back in January.  Three of them grew. But that’s just how seeds work. The three that made it are doing great!  They should start producing tiny tomatoes mid to late April.

Having everyone home (which is 9 of us) until this coronavirus social distancing isn't necessary, takes up more time.  More laundry somehow.  More dishes.  More making food.  More pots and pans to wash.  Everyone is on dish duty rotation but it's still hard to keep up sometimes.  More sweeping and vacuuming floors with my handicap daughter making more messes.  Just more of everything.  I think everyone will be thankful to go back to school and not complain about it for awhile.  

Coronavirus week 3 Garden stuff

It was a beautiful, sunny day in the midwest. The youngest thought the 'ready to spread' compost pile was fun to play on.


We spent most of the afternoon outside.  Cleaned up a bunch of vines and last years stalks.  It sure felt good to be outside!  We are not trapped in the house.  We can run free or work in the garden.


I thought I had like 500 sp foot.  I didn't plant the whole area last year.  Nope!  I planted much more than that last year.  After expanding to the west, I will have 6,042 sp ft of planting space this year.  Some towards the back of the garden space will probably end up being boxes.  I didn't map out how many sq ft will be dedicated to the medicinal herb garden.  Maybe tomorrow. 

The chives came back!  This makes me happy.  The rest of the perenials haven't started back yet but I'm hoping they will soon.


This is the begining of week 3 of the 'social distance to save our exitstence'.  The national stay at home was extended to April 30 today.  I fully expect the schools here will extend out to May 1 as well.  

Day (who's kidding..I don't know what day it is anymore)

So I have no idea what day of covid social distancing we are on.  The end of week 2.  That would make today number 14 maybe.  I've lost track of everything.  I thought today was Sunday until lunchtime.  Whatever day it is.... we are hanging in there.  This whole social distancing staying home is wearing on everyone.  I don't mind so much most days but today it rained the whole day. Bad windy rain.  I feel more closterphobic on rainy days.  Reguardless of the coronavirus circumstances.  I am not trapped however.  I still opened the garage door and stood just inside so my brain could see that I was indeed not trapped anywhere.  The rain smelled wonderful.  I love the smell of a good rain storm.  It was approx 42* when I went out.  Not too bad for standing just inside the door.

Tonight I was on a podcast!  Holy smokes batman! 

Go to prepperbroadcasting.com online and you can listen to old podcasts.  

Tonight several of us woman who are regulars in chat were asked a few questions.  I loved all the answers and even wrote a couple of things down to remember.

1. What got you into prepping and what was that moment that made it real for you?
I've always prepared in the fall for the coming winter season.  We get blizzards that make us stuck on the farm for days at a time sometimes.  So I've always been prepared for that.   But last year I googled prepper lists to be more prepared for anything.  I printed lots and lots of lists and kept track of what I did or what I bought.  I didn't mention that I had some serious bad dreams and a terrible feeling in my gut early in 2019 that made me step it up in a serious way.  Which is how I found prepper broadcasting network.  

2.  Do you find there are challenges being a female prepper?
Absolutely!  The prepper groups around my area are all men.  Nothing against men, just how it is.  I not only wanted to find other woman preppers, I needed to.  I needed to know I wasn't alone!  I don't want to talk about guns, ammo, or military stories.  I needed to talk about food storage, knitting, crafts, kids, home, etc.  

3.  What would I say to other lady preppers out there who aren't certain they can?
Google.  Go to google and print lists that fit what you're looking for.  There is an over abundance of information and good solid lists.  Start small.  Do not go all gungho at the store and go bankrupt.  Just start small.  Go to prepperbroadcasting.com and reach out to Jordan at A Family Affair or anyone of the other hosts.  Or me here.  Lady preppers are out here!    

Day 5 corona staycation

On Sunday, all schools in the state of Iowa closed for a month.  My kids like going to school.  Not necessarily for the homework, but for their friends.  I sent them from homeschool to public school eight years ago.  So they've had eight years of social conditioning.  This is only day 5 of social distancing.  I've been practicing mostly social distancing for a couple of years.  Thankfully I have one friend to talk by text to everyday. 

NO we are not homeschooling.  If the public system had treated my student with a little more respect and gave a hoot about her well being, maybe I'd be more likely to do something.  But are we doing school at home, no.  The school is shut down.  Not in session.  The middle school kids turned in their books.  Not sure if the highschool turned in books or not.  Doesn't matter though.  School is not in session in the state of Iowa.  So they can not be required to complete anything teachers send out.  I'm certainly not going to add more stress to myself or them for a system that doesn't recognize schooling at home.  And I am not their teacher.  They'll do some sure.  They'll keep the journal that one or two teachers that kindly ask them to.  The state does not recognize homeschool kids as human beings.  So asking them to do school work at home isn't something I'm going to hold them to.   I'm still working with my preschooler a little but in no way a full homeschool situation.  My special needs daughter is watching fun videos from her teacher and online.  She's not handling this well.  There's just no way to help her understand why she can't go to school today.  Or tomorrow.  Or the next day for 4 weeks. 

Last night I acidentally made my own ramen noodles.  No one would tell me what they wanted for dinner.  So I just threw some noodles in the stock pot with chicken broth.  Ooops.  Oh well.  They all ate it. 

It rained and froze and snowed overnight. Hopefully the kids will go outside after lunch.   Except today we all had lunch at 10a.m.  Does this mean I have to make three meals today?  Nope!  Dinner will just be at 5:30.