Sumary of 2009 (pumpkins and zucchinis)

I've just posted a new video about what I learned on my first year of actual gardening in the earth. So I might as well share this knowledge here too.

First the pumpkins!
I started them inside the house I think it was in the middle of April. I didn't want the worms to eat my new sprouts so by the time they went in the garden they had a few leaves. The vines grew pretty fast. But by mid June I was starting to despair about the pumpkins actually growing. They had quite a few flowers, both male and female but they kept falling off. I though it was a watering problem...but now that I think of it I just think it was too early and the plant wasn't ready to grow pumpkins. By mid June I self polinated the flowers(it was always rainy and the bees were scarce) and they finally stayed on the vine. I had one pumpkin per plant and they grew really fast and took a LOT of space. Now they are all turning orange and will soon be harvested and brought in the house. They can keep for a long while just at room temperature, if you don't overheat your house. So I will have enough pumpkins for a while.

Now zucchinis!

Well again like the pumpkins I grew them in the house, because of the worms that like sprouts. Like pumpkins they grew fast and easily. They do need a constant moist soil. And you have to watch not to get the leaves wet for long time as they grow mildew pretty easily. With a few plants (6) I had more than I could eat, litterally! They do take some space, the vine doesn't travel as far as a pumpkin but the leaves are pretty big. One plant grew at least 4 feet long and was over 2 feet wide. They started dying down as the nights got colder. But since I build my greenhouses around them they started growing again. I will probably have a few zucchinis before winter =)

So this is mostly what I learned about those two squashes. Next year I'm gonna try some more squashes, buttercup and butternut. So if you have advice on those please do tell. I would really appreciate it =)

Here's the link to my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L-hkzrlq0k

No money day 4

Well today is day four and it's still going ok. Tonite is my Friday night since I'm not working tomorow. And after work I was a little tempted by coffee and fried foods. In the afternoon where I worked the lady had the t.v. on. They kept showing ads for "Tim Hortons" and restaurants. So when I got home I made myself a strong coffee and gathered some more lettuce for a salad. Wich was soooo good! And for the fried food...I made myself fried zucchini slices. They were pretty good especially with my homemade garlic diping sauce. But this post isn't about food. It's more about stepping back. This whole experience is starting to feel like a blessing. Makes me appreciate the smaller things in life. And most importantly working to make what you want. Not to buy but to actually make. For a few months now I was feeling like something wasn't right moneywise. And instead of waiting for me to get accustomed to this, I just stopped everything to do with money. It's harsh but it works. The more time passes the more I see that I had lost this self sufficient feeling I love.

Day two...

My second day of not spending money. Going pretty good I must say. But before I start I just want to show the salad I made for supper. All homegrown here. It was the best salad I ever ate =)

Now back to my second day! Well I worked all day and once I finished I was pretty tired. But I didn't feel like a coffee so that didn't bother me. I got home and went into my garden and cut myself lettuce and spinach leaves...oh and cherry tomatoes. My sister had called to see if I wanted to have dinner at her place. But since it would've cost me gas and fries (she wanted me to go get some) I decided against it. So I'd say that so far this weekend I already saved like 10 bucks. Wich is pretty cool. Later on I think I am going to have trouble with one thing . I'm running low on store bought compost and moss for my indoor gardening. We'll see...is it a waste of money if it's for my indoor gardening experiments!?

Getting back on track

For a few weeks now I've been slacking off as far as saving money goes. Or rather trying not to waste so much of it. Today after work I was relived to find that I didn't have change in my pokets to buy a coffee. That got me thinking about the fact that I had started wasting my money again. Like buying coffees everyday or so. Eating from restaurants and such. Now for most people this would sound normal. And it kinda is. But not if you want to reduce the amount of money you need. So for the next three weeks I am going to try to use as little money as I can. Now I'm not going to take into account my many monthly bills. Just the everyday things.

So far my first day seems to be a succes it's 8;25 p.m. and no money was used today. But we'll see how the three weeks goes because I will need to be a little crative with my food. Because normally I would've gone shopping for groceries next weekend. But we'll see how it goes! I'm actually excited about this. And of course I'll comment on this blog and on Youtube about how it is going =)

Here's my first video log http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egwylogx0TQ

Should be a sin...

And that is making or buying toilet paper that isn't made of recycled paper. I mean...cutting trees for this?...really?

Am I the only one who find this to be an absolute wrong!?

I don't even know what else to say....

Taming the wind

So one thing I never did before a few months ago was drying my clothes in the wind rather than the dryer. I never liked the smell it gives to clothes. Plus the dryer takes all the lint away. But since I am trying to use less and save what is left of the planet, I'm going to tame the wind (unti I built a windmill, then I'll really tame the wind ;). But if like me you're worried about static, use fabric softner. And lint? I put the clothes in the dryer for a tumble of a few minutes without heat and voila! The olny problem for me is the little rack I use (see photo) Now I need to get myself a drying line up. But I don't know where to hang it. I'll add that to my 2010 list =)