Steem-Powered Garden?! An update on the raised bed and a peek at what Steem can get you!
I recently showed you all the beginning of our new gardening project. This is the year folks, the year we grow, (hopefully), a large portion of our food!
The garden is doing great, guys, but before I get into all that, I'd like to show you what you can buy with Steem!
Have you heard of the Homesteader's Co-op?! This is a marketplace where Steemians can come together and buy and sell items for Steem, (or other payment methods).
I don't have a ton of SBD set aside, so I haven't had the chance to buy many things yet, but the first purchase I made was from @Papa-Pepper. It's too early to grow the corn just yet, (although we are SUPER excited to do so!), the pepper seeds were only just planted a few days ago, so they haven't had time to come up yet, BUT it is the perfect time to grow our mustard greens! Into the raised bed they went, and look at them popping up all willy-nilly!!
We have two nice rows of these seedlings popping up, and they look great! Some other things we planted are also coming up and growing very well!
Check out the garlic!
Here are some onions! There are a LOT of onions!
Now, I am super excited about the next plants!! We impulse-bought strawberries last time we went to Tractor Supply. Not just ANY strawberries, but PINEBERRIES! We've wanted to try these for years!
Pineberries apparently need a pollinator to go with them: regular red strawberries. I never knew that! The box came with over 10 plants each of pineberries and red strawberries! It ended up being about 25 plants, give or take. Not a bad deal for only $7.99!
They fit nicely into the cinder-block holes, which I think is fantastic!
We have other things planted in the bed, including radishes, lettuce, and peas, but they haven't popped up quite yet. So far so good! The only issue I've run into so far is the fact that fire ants have already invaded the bed!! These things are terrible, but I think I have a way to eradicate them, and if it works, Ill share with you all! Fire ants are just the worst...
Now, for fun, here is a photo of the latest project we are working on, which complements our raised-bed garden perfectly. Any guesses what this is for?
Hint: it rhymes with bomb-toasting with mirth-germs... :D
Thanks for dropping by to check out the garden goings-on! ♥ Drop a comment and let me know what is going on in your garden!
And by all means, go and check out https://homesteaderscoop.com/!!
This work by @SquishySquid is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
I love this!!! For so many reasons. The fact that you're getting seeds from a fellow Steemian is fabulous, and I might be a little jealous of the fact that you can actually start growing now. ;)
Haha thanks!
I LOVE the fact that we can do that! They have other things on there for sale as well, though. Crafts, fabric, salves, herbs. Lots of goodies!
Yes, one of the good things about living down here is that the growing season is loooooong!
This is so cool! What an exciting time for your family. There is nothing more gratifying than watching your food grow! Love it! Continue to share your photos as the garden progresses :)
Thanks for the encouragement!!
I honestly wished I have so much space nowadays but I have nothing but a 5 by 2 feet balcony to work with. I might have to think of something but at the moment my plats aren't doing that well haha they need more pampering which I sorely lack to give lately.
Awww! Well, with some time and effort, I bet you could do wonders with that space!
You could also start a worm bin for some fantastic fertilizer! Those can be done indoors...
Wow! So cool to see the Mustard Greens that you picked up from us already sprouting!!!!
Also, I'm shipping your other package today. Should be way more than enough seeds, plus I tossed in a couple clean tubers for a taste test, and the dirty ones are for planting.
Enjoy!
Wow, thanks so much!!
You just go above and beyond to help people out. You can really see God working through you, His love just shines through you and onto others.
I truly appreciate it!
Have a wonderful day! :D
Hi @squishysquid! How exciting you have new seeds to try out this year! Thank you so much for supporting @papa-pepper and @homesteaderscoop with your order and this review. Please enjoy our upvote, resteem and a share of SBI as a token of our gratitude :) Wishing you lots of luck in your garden this year.
p.s. i was going to ask if it was a worm bin, scrolled down and saw that indeed it is :) Nice!
A community marketplace of ethical, handmade and sustainable products available for STEEM, SBD (and USD): https://homesteaderscoop.com
follow: @homesteaderscoop
Wow, thank you very much! Looking forward to ordering more seeds when I get more beds built! I think I have this one filled to max...
Thanks for putting together the homesteaders co-op and making Steem-gardening possible! :D
You're very welcome :) I am glad you are happy customer!
Composting with earth worms :'D
I saw a nice worm bin at my friend's house yesterday!!!! It was so inspiring to see such beautiful black compost in there!!!
Such excitement for you garden!!!
Thanks!
Haha yep! We are super excited for our composting worms! They were supposed to arrive today, but our Fedex guy got lazy and left them at the post office! I suppose we will get them tomorrow...
Yeah, I love it when Fed Ex just decides to deliver if they feel like it. We've got one of those, too. Actually there are two people who do the route where we live. One of them says, "To hell with it," regularly and we have to wait an extra day ... sometimes two ... before we get our packages. The other one will deliver even after 10 PM at night. We've had him do that twice. Attitude counts.
I agree! Attitude counts!
It is so frustrating, especially when you order LIVE items, to not know for sure if you will get the box on the correct day. The seller paid extra for 2DAY shipping as well. I informed them about what happened, because they can get some of their money back since it did not arrive in two days.
Great work! I am moving dreckly so will start my new garden venture it's going to be a big project but exciting 💯🐒
Thanks!
Congrats, and I hope you have success with your new place and garden!! Growing your own food is wonderful!
It'll be a work in progress that for sure 💯🐒
You got worms!!!!!!!!!
Hehe or more like composting worms :p Are they the red ones? I'm unsure of the actual names of the worms to be honest, of any worms lol.
I can't wait to start growing. We start next month for tomatoes. There is still lots of snow so all our planting starts indoors. We have a short growing season so got to start them early here. You gave me the itching of planting! I'm excited :D
Yes!! You got it, haha!
Composting with earthworms.
We actually are expecting our red wigglers to arrive TODAY so that is very exciting! The kids all want small worm bins in their rooms... I told them to help me take care of these outside worms for a couple weeks first and see if that is enough for them. :D
I feel you with that planting itch! Ive got it bad now, but lucky for me, we live down south where it just doesnt get that cold. Its nice now, but later this spring and summer, Ill be sweating and thinking of growing up in Ohio, haha!
Red wrigglers! That's what I was looking for lol.
We had our worms inside but we had to keep them outside because of the fruit flies. Careful with that. There is some trick I don't know about because my friend doesn't have fruit flies. Maybe I was putting too much in there than what they can handle? No clue.
Last summer I dealt with spider mites killing off everything I grew in the greenhouse. Starting up with fresh soil this year in hopes to get rid of them but also mostly planting outdoors. Bugs are really hard to manage. Strategically planting so that we have a variety of plants that some pesky bugs don't like to keep them away is key. I just have to remember what those plants are and what other ones work lol.
Yes, I am always struggling with different pests here as well! Stink bugs are the worst! WHitefly and aphids are bad too, and one year we even had flea beetles! Ugh!
So far so good with the worms here. Only issue is ants, but I made a spray to coat the outside of the tub with and so far, the ants havent returned. :D
Sweet for the ants being gone! Bye bye bugs! :D
@foxyspirit, if you need any extra tips on worm farming, there are two free eBooks on this Store at the HSCO: The Little Worm Farm
Cool! Ill have to check that out too!
Right on! Thank you :D
Thanks for sharing your ideas. I need to post a tour of my greenhouse with raised beds. Will probably wait a month until more is going on in there. hard to believe spring is sneaking up already.
THanks!
Cool, Ill look out for your post! Its fun to see what everyone is up to!
Those little mustard sprouts look so vital. I grow them just as sprouts ~ Great for adding some spicy hotness to salads and they are one of the most health-giving sprouts, along with broccoli sprouts. I usually let a few grow as well for the bigger leaves.
And those strawberries look like they will be so delicious.
The worm bin looks great too. One of the vendors on the HSCO really knows his worms and is selling composting worms but he's in Australia and can't export them. However he does have two free eBooks on his Store at: The Little Worm Farm
Look forward to seeing your garden thriving now @squishysquid ♥︎♥︎⚖️♥︎♥︎
Thanks for the kind comment!
Yes, Someone else mentioned the ebook, and Ill have to check that out!! THanks!
We are having a great time growing things! Microgreens is something else I want to look into doing. I would want to do them indoors though, and make an area to grow them that the cats cant get into...