The HEAT is ON!!! Believe you me, it’s HOT out there. Do we know what to do when we are caught in the heat of things? What are the vital things that HAVE to be done FIRST? Do we look for shelter, clothing, food, medicine, OR how about WATER? Most things in life need WATER to survive. Mankind, animals, fish, birds, and yes PLANTS. Without water ALL forms of life die. Water has A LOT of valuable properties that we ALL need to survive. Do we know who to call to come and HELP when we don’t know which way is up? We can really get off kilter very quickly if we are not FOCUSED at what is at hand. So keep that in mind for LIFE and for your gardens. Everything NEEDS water, but WHO gets it FIRST?
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Is that what it is? Sometimes in life we ask what is this? Why is this happening? I did the right thing, but yet I got the wrong result. Not always do we have control on HOW things work out. Example of that is, you gave the instructions to someone to accomplish a task, only to find out that they went in their own direction and did something else. Now the result of them not following your instructions may end in more work for you, or sorrow, or even disaster. But in life, when the rain is gone, and you CAN see ALL obstacles in your way, you CAN chose to have a BRIGHT, BRIGHT SUNSHINY DAY. Things will NOT always turn out the way you planed it, but the world does NOT stop because you hit a road block. No, you OVERCOME it. You move on and TRY another way to do IT. TRY, TRY, and TRY again. It’s too easy to give up, that’s what most do. An example I use a lot of someone that DIDN’T give up, is Walt Disney. He went to 40 some banks to try and get a loan for an idea he had of a MOUSE and his girlfriend named Minnie. Like REALLY, do I have to say more??? Let’s NOT throw the towel in so quickly. Step back and LOOK at it in a different perspective. What I just spoke of can apply to many things, even GARDENING.
As I mentioned last week that I was going to share about planting my plantlets that were done on May 25 and about the mistakes that I made, so that You wouldn’t do the same. It’s going to take a bit of explaining, but believe you me, you’ll wanna know. What I discovered this year is that you have to get your seedlings transplanted as quickly as possible. If not, you end up with spindley roots. Because the little seedlings have out grown their trays for space as well they have USED up ALL the nutrients that were in the little soil they had to start in. Now because of shortage of time, I had the ones helping me, plant the one tray of Broccoli and one tray of Cauliflower directly into the garden. Only to result in POOR plantlets that LOOKED good, good size stems, a few leaves, but only one long SPINDLY root. The reason for the root to turn out that way was because it was going deep to look for food to no avail. So now I have to pull out the weak ones and REPLANT with HEALTHY well rooted plantlets. The other tray of Broccoli and Cauliflower I had in the greenhouse was transplanted in mass of about 6 plants per one gallon pots and put outside to toughen up. And they are coming along just GREAT. But that is how we learn, by trying, and sometimes, try again. All my other plantlets that were transplanted into little pots, are growing beautifully in the garden. To do Block planting is the SAME as wide row gardening, but your rows are 4 feet wide, and every 4 feet in the row you plant another solid crop. Best crops for Block Planting are, Swiss chard, Kale, Head Lettuce, Cauliflower, Mustard, Turnips, Onions, and Collards. The one thing to remember about Wide Row or Block Planting is, DON’T be STINGY with seeds. Sow Radishes in EVERY Wide row to help irrigate the soil. And MOST of all, start harvesting as soon as something is big enough to eat which is a way of THINNING your crops. Well I haven’t nail it down yet as to what I’m going cover for next week. So you ALL come back now to see what will be on the horizon. Deborah’s Buzz Blog Signing out as Blessed to be a Blessing LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the Beatles song that I grew up with. Is, what we’re doing for the right reasons? Do we do things to get recognition? Or try to make a NAME for our self? Or, do we do things because we LOVE to help someone that would otherwise not have what you have to offer? There are so many people that get lost in the crowd. Let’s ALL be that HELPING hand and REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE. It can be as simple as a SMILE. Putting a SMILE on someone’s face is the BIGGEST payment for me. Try IT, IT works!!! I’ve said many times before, I LOVE what we do. So GO out and make a Difference in someone’s life today. Plant the SEED of Love, Joy, and Peace and watch it GROW and MULTIPLY!!!
Today I’m going to MIX things up a bit, I did warn you last week. After our neighbor Brett owner of JBV Excavating made our furrow rows on holiday Monday, May 18, there was A LOT of excesses dirt in the path ways that were to be 18 inches wide. So on Friday evening May 22 I had a few of our Faithful friends that came to help with shovel in hand and wheelbarrow in tow and got the job DONE. The reason I had such a PUSH in getting my rows ALL in order, was because I had a group of after school kids on May 25 to come and plant the plantlets in the gardens. And that, they did. They’re coming June 01 to finish ALL the seed planting as well. My strawberries that we planted in gutters are growing just BEAUTIFULLY and Randy and I just picked our FIRST strawberries each. WOW!!! In our test greenhouse, I can’t keep up to picking Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, and now second crop of Radishes. Our fruit trees of 4 Apple Trees and 2 Cherry Trees are just LOADED. Even my Sunflowers I planted for our Pig Roast to be part of the flower arranging, are growing so SPEEDILY. Mind you, I haven’t planted none of my own flowers to beautify the farm for the Pig Roast yet. There are still things going on with my new lap top and that is why there has been no new photos for 2015 yet. That is my BIGGEST UPSET because I want to share the JOY that is happening on our property for ALL to see what our Creator is doing. Well, next week I’ll be sharing about planting your plantlets as we did last week, so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Also I’ll share about Block Planting. OOOOOHHHH. So you ALL come back now and see what I’ll be picking that is ready to eat. Deborah’s Buzz Blog Signing out as Blessed to be a Blessing May 25th, where has the spring gone? Just when I thought I was getting caught up, I turn and look and next week is June. Like REALLY??? You know we can get so caught up with the BUSYNESS of this world and ALL that we do, that it would make anyone’s head spin. But just know, you DON’T have to live that way, it’s a choice. Every week when I write my Blog, I SLOW it right down and recollect ALL that has happened and why I do what we do. When I stop and see the lives that are being impacted because of our produce and the long hours we work, IT’S WORTH IT. So even in our daily busyness and chaos, can we say, it’s making a DIFFERENCE in someone’s life today? It’s based on, What Is Our Perspective on what we do? Sometimes when I have my quiet time, I have to ask God why ME? And He says, Why Not You? OK I get it. THANKS!!! Well last week I believe I left off to entice you all about doing Multicropping in Wide Row Growing. #15 Now here’s HOW to plant a Multicrop. Now remember this same method I’m about to explain can be done in ANY container growing on one’s balcony or any other small area. You can practically grow a whole salad in one wide row. Here’s a combo that ALL will enjoy. Radishes, Onions, Carrots, OR Beets not both, Spinach, and a SPLASH of color of Lettuce varieties. Prepare your wide rows as mentioned before. Sprinkle your seeds of Lettuce, Carrots, Spinach, and Radishes over the entire seedbed. Note, that you use LESS seed than you would in a regular Wide Row. When done, the seeds are spaced about ½ inch apart. Tamp down the seeds and rake some soil onto the row to cover the seeds with about ¼ inch of soil. Now you plant your Onion Sets. Push your onions sets about 3 to 4 inches apart in ALL directions. Do NOT plant onion seeds in this way because they will not grow as fast and get covered by the other plants. Keep them to be sown by themselves in another Wide Row. In place of onion sets you can plant Garlic or Leek Plantlets. Then tamp the entire row down with the back of your hoe, to bring everything in good contact with the soil. Harvesting your Multicrop is like going to a salad bar. Radishes are ready first, leaving loose pockets for the other crops to grow in. Your Spinach, Onions, and Lettuce are ready next. You can PULL up a few Lettuce and Spinach plants from the row each time to make room for the other crops to grow. Then soon your Carrots OR Beets are ready for pulling out. You can leave some of your onions till theirs tops fall down, so you can have some LARGE sweet slicing onions. You WILL notice that any Multicrop planting is as PRETTY as any flower garden. Next week we’ll get into planting your plantlets and protecting them from later frosts. There is soooo much more to go over to have everything COVERED in order to get the most yield out of your garden. So you ALL come back now cause you never know what I will THROW in to mix things up. Deborah's Buzz Blog Signing out as Blessed to be a Blessing WOW, May long weekend sitting on my back porch, birds are singing the most beautiful melodies, the sun shining on my face, and there’s a PEACE and STILLNESS in the air. We need to breathe slowly and just listen to that still small voice in us, and enjoy the calmness of the early mornings awakening a NEW day. In the calmness we can hear the glory of creation right in front of us. The smell in the air of the blooms everywhere to bring the fruit that is yet to come. The buzzing of the bees busily working doing their job so ALL can bring in a bountiful harvest. It’s times like this that we are to STOP, and ENJOY the moment. How precious and wonderful it is of Him to give us this to enjoy. Thank You. As I began to type on my lap top, Rusty (our male cat) decided he had to be part of my morning. So he’s sitting on my lap as I’m trying to hold him and my lap top and type at the same time. Rusty you’re a picture of LOVE. All is growing in my greenhouse at an expediential high speed. Most of my seedlings are ready to be planted in the gardens. Today our neighbor is coming with his baby excavator to make my furrow rows. How EXCITING!!! Get this, I’m planting my gardens different this year. To the way I’ve been sharing with you all of, Wide Row Growing. All my rows are going to be 18 inches wide and 18 inches apart to walk on. And Brett’s excavator bucket is 18 inches wide. How COOOOL is that? Ask and you SHALL receive. My test greenhouse of the Wide Row Growing is totally amazing of the yield of produce that it’s producing. So there is NO doubt in my mind that, that Patrick owner of Art Knapp, had given me his private gardening book of, Joy Of Gardening by Dick Raymond, has been the GREATEST Blessing to me. THANKS Patrick. Give HONOR where honor is DUE. #14 Harvesting a Wide Row. The BEST way to harvest your greens, Spinach, Lettuce, Chard, and others, is to take a long knife and cut the plants ALL across about one inch above ground. Don’t worry, if you think you have destroyed your plants, you haven’t. When you cut the plants back, you frustrate them and cause them to put out seed pods that spurt back incredibly tender leaves. Only cut part of a row at a time. When you’ve come to the end of your row, it’s time to start on the second harvest from the sections you cut earlier. To help your greens to come back quickly, sprinkle a little natural fertilizer or compost over the area you just harvested. Wide Rows give an abundant early harvest of small tender Beets, Carrots, Onions, Greens, and more. There’s a GREAT benefit from pulling small root crops regularly. It’s an easy way of thinning and loosening the soil around the plants to let in AIR and MOISTURE and allowing the others to get bigger. Here’s a list of Crops you can harvest early, Cabbage, Kale, Kohlrabi, Onion family, Beets, Carrots, Chard, Mustard, Turnips, Lettuce, Collards, Radishes. Well I’ll stop here and continue next week. I’m SOOOOOO excited about my gardens I just can’t contain myself. So you ALL come back now, cause I will be sharing about growing 5 crops together. CRAZY but it WORKS, YEE HAW!!! Deborah’s Buzz Blog
Signing out as Blessed to be a Blessing Swing your partner round and round the garden path,....hand out shovels hand out rakes ...10/5/2015 Well, did you ALL miss me? Some things are out of OUR control, and that’s what happened last week with my New lap top. And when that happens, we need to STOP and move on. Because otherwise we can get bogged down into something that we have no CLUE about and get frustrated and not accomplish anything. I’m learning that we ALL need to be willing to take time to LEARN the unknown. Yes it may take a little longer at first, but you will reap the benefits or fruit later. I’m finding that when working on a VISION we are NOT to go about it alone. Because if that were the case then I need to move to an island to do it myself, because I don’t need anyone else. That is WRONG! We ALL have different gifts that is, to help others that may have a gifting that would help us. So the long and the short of it is, WE NEED EACH OTHER!!! SOOOOO much has happened this week that I don’t know where to start. Monday, May 4, I had 10 students of the Social Justice class from John Barsby High School along with Shannon Wilson Community School Coordinator at Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools (SD68) and four GREAT friends, Sue Anderson, Pat Shipley, Stephen Cochrane, and Rodger Schmidt that came to HELP out in getting the gardens ready for planting. We ALL had a BLAST!!! Pictures will be posted in the Galley. I also took this week my First crop from the TEST greenhouse of, Lettuce, Spinach, and Kale to John Barsby School for the Food Program. YEE HAW. I LOVE, LOVE what I do. Not only that, Randy my husband has finished spreading all the manure on the gardens only to be roto-tilled this weekend. What I’m finding is, I’m pulling ALL my sources that I have built relationships with throughout the years to make this ALL COME TOGETHER. A HUGE benefit to me happened May 7, when I had John of the Geek Squad of Best Buy in Nanaimo, that installed my Norton and Office programs into my new lap and then patiently, John took the time to set up my pictures that I take with my phone that are on Google Plus and arranged it that I can open one screen of Google Drive and another screen of my Web Site Gallery and drag and drop my pictures. WOW!!! Nothing short of a MIRACLE. Special thanks goes to a dear friend that pulled me out of a pickle and donated the money for the two desperately needed programs. I guess more than anything, I am VERY THANKFUL for the people that came along this week to give a HELPING HAND to Make A Difference in getting this ALL done to help the ones in OUR city of Nanaimo that need it MOST!!! THANK YOU ALL Deborah’s Buzz Blog Signing out as Blessed to be a Blessing What do I do FIRST? Here we are almost the end of April and sooooooo much to do. I CAN panic, get no sleep, by worrying myself sick. Or I CAN say, IT’S GOING TO BE OK. The sun will still come up every morning, the birds will still sing their sweet melodies, the tree will still give me shade, and there will still be those that need HELP. Whether it be food that we are growing in our gardens, or a lesson on how we do it? Or that one, that is just needing someone to listen to them, and tell them that you LOVE them. Really, we can get so carried away with what we are doing that we forget WHY, we are doing it? PEOPLE, it’s because of the PEOPLE. So let’s not forget that People, need LOVE more than anything. A person filled with LOVE can sustain a lot. When a person is full of LOVE, they just want to give it to everyone. When you have LOVE, you have JOY. And JOY is ENERGY. And you can go, and go, and go, and go. So let’s not forget WHY, we do something. Let’s NOT lose focus on the purpose of our BEING, on this EARTH. Wow, the COOLEST thing was given to me this week as a GIFT. Because, I was wanting to Grow in Wide Rows this year, there was a tool I needed but could not find. I even asked a few people if they could make one, to no avail. Then SUDDENLY, a sweet man I call PAPA, whose name is Herb, owner of a family business called, Jora Design, a machine shop, gave me the GIFT I thought I would NEVER find. I’ll get back to show and tell you about this later, because that’s what I will be sharing today. #13 Thinning Wide Rows. In the wide rows planted from seed directly in the ground (except Peas and Beans) must be thinned when they are about ¼ to ½ inch high. The most effective way and NO back breaking pain, you use your garden rake. That’s right, your garden rake. The way to do it is, you drag your rake across the WIDTH, of the row, NOT (the Length, of the row) and let the teeth of the rake dig about ¼ to ½ inch deep into the soil. You might think, NO, it’s pulling out all my little precious plants. Hang on, as Dick Raymond says, DON’T look down. It works, and after a few days the row of small seeded plants will look fine again. Rake-Thinning gets RID of weeds. Most weeds are close to the surface of the dirt in order to sprout. So when you run your rake through, your rake KICKS many of the weeds OUT just as they are germinating and before they can anchor themselves in. WALA!!! Also know that when you Rake-Thin you are allowing oxygen and water to flow freely into the soil. Here’s a list of vegetables to thin with a rake. Endives, Parsley, Chard, Collards, Kale, Chinese Cabbage, Radishes, Herbs, Onions planted from seed, Leaf Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Spinach, Turnips, Rutabagas, Parsnips, Mustard, Beets, and Carrots. NOTE, normally one pass of the rake is all that is needed. But if the crop is a bit thick then pass a second time with your rake but in the opposite direction. Now about 5 to 6 days AFTER using your garden rake, you then take a NEW tool that Dick Raymond invented called a, In-Row Weeder. You might be saying, what in the world is that? Now that’s what my GIFT was that Papa, gave me this week. His version that he made himself using a Hay Fork. I’ll have a picture posted so you ALL would see and understand what I’m trying to explain. You use the In-Row Weeder every 4 or 6 days the same way as your garden rake, till your crops are too BIG to pass through the tines. Once again you are only going about ¼ inch deep when pulling your In-Row Weeder, and it does NOT harm your small plants. The Weeder tines go around your small plants. Just remember that your small plants are well rooted. That’s all for this week, so you ALL come back now so we can continue learning how to Grow in Wide Rows. Deborah’s Buzz Blog Singing out as Blessed to be a Blessing Well here I go again. Just when you think you have things under control, WHAM!!! You don’t even know what hit you. Ya, it was that kind of week for me. But like I’ve said before, you get UP, dust yourself off, and try again. That, that we are now registered as an Incorporated Non Profit Society is opening up doors that otherwise would not be available to us. But knowing that, in everything there is a price to pay. Now I don’t mean money, I mean hours and hours of computer work. When the sun is warming the air, the sky is blue, birds are singing their PRAISES and I have to be indoors doing paper work, well today is (Computer Work). Now REALLY who in their right mind wants to be stuck doing desk work. No matter how we look at it, IT has to get done. So the majority of my week was spent indoors in front of this screen or on the phone. But, But, But, I got to pick my FIRST Lettuce, Spinach, and Radishes from our Test greenhouse. If you recall, I planted in WIDE box form in the greenhouse to see how the Wide Row Growing would fare out. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it. Like anything in life, you can’t expect to tell someone else to do something, if you haven’t DONE it yourself. In fact there is a lady that lives about 10 miles from me that plants in WIDE Squares. Or is also known as One Foot by One Foot Growing. She gave me some of her OWN Kale seed to try. Which I’ve started in the Test greenhouse, and found out that Kale has DEEP LONG roots that go down to China. So I have to keep adding soil to my Test growing forms. Honestly, this year is ALOT of testing, using new programs on the computer, opportunities from business I have NO clue about and still trying to get my gardens planted to get a LARGE yield of produce to provide for those that otherwise would NEVER get. No one said IT was going to be EASY. So I PERSERVERED, like an old Mule that will NOT give up. Just TRY, TRY, and TRY again. Like that little baby learning to walk. What would happen if that baby would NOT get up the first time he or she fell? NO, they get UP, walk a little, fall and get up again, and again, and again. You know we can learn ALOT by watching children. Anyway back to Growing in Wide Rows. I think I left off last time at keeping the seedbeds moist. The next step I’ll explain is, #12 Planting many plants in Wide Rows. What Dick Raymond found was that Wide Row Growing was NOT just for Vegetables seeded directly in the garden. But he used his seedlings from the greenhouse and did the same with Head Lettuce, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli. What he found was Wide Rows yielded MORE usable produce and gave a longer harvest than single rows. Now when it comes to spacing, most would say 18 to 24 inches apart for Cabbage. But what he did was spaced them only 10 inches apart, and he was able to harvest some heads that were smaller perfect for table size. Now for spacing them. Start with two cabbages on opposite edges of your RAKE width row, which is 20 inches wide. Then plant one in the MIDDLE of those two and you got 10 inches apart, how EASY is that? Then the second row of seedlings are only two plants, having them about 5 inches from the edge planted. So you alternate, three plants, two plants and so on till your Wide Row is completed. Just know that CLOSE planting has MANY advantages. You start harvesting as soon as some are big enough to eat. This frees up space, water, and plant food for the SLOWER plants next to them. Crops DON’T all mature at the same time. This is what stretches out the growing season. And you can leave as many of the well-SPACED OUT ones for FULL size cabbages. With the Cauliflower it’s nice to use some of the tender creamy white heads before the warm weather hits and causes the quality to drop a little. For the Head Lettuce, harvest them before they make firm heads. They’re delicious and their dark green leaves are LOADED with vitamins. Every week is getting more and more exciting to share ALL the NEW findings that come my way. So you ALL come back now, and see what DIRT I get into next week. Deborah’s Buzz Blog Singing out as Blessed to be a Blessing Wow things are really starting to take OFF. Tulips opening, leaves on the trees, baby animals are being born and the birds are singing like the choirs of heaven. We can get sooooooo BUSY that we miss the newness of spring and the JOY of new life. Sometimes we need to STOP and smell the roses, as they say. As for me, listen to all the sounds of spring and enjoy being in the moment. Life is too short to be always planning and doing and not enjoying your loved ones that are right in front of us. Yesterday I had to go to Victoria for an appointment and I decided to spend the night at my sisters. Yes I’m playing hooky. Time for me to get away and enjoy things and family that might not always be here. Nothing is so important that we can’t step away from the business, to have a little Hiatus. Yes, I took my lap top to connect with my Fellow Gardeners to say, STOP and spend some time for yourself.
My sister and I walked the quite calm beach and watched the many boaters in the distance taking a casual ride of pure enjoyment. Admiring the unique aged drift wood along the shore line as Molly, her little Shih-Tzu explored every crook and cranny. And of course taking pictures to add to my many albums of PRECIOUS memories. We’re going today to a nearby lavender farmer to see his many new baby animals. And yes, PLAY with them and getting connected with the owner for future purchases of animals for our farm. I am BLESSED, and wanting to share with you ALL that the little things can be the BIG things in our life that we allow to pass us by. Next week I will continue our journey of Growing in Wide Rows, and adding NEW pictures to our gallery as well. For I found a short cut way of doing so with my new lap top. So you ALL come back now to see what excitement I’ll be in next week. There’s NEVER a dull moment in anyone’s life, it’s whether we recognize it or not. Deborah’s Buzz Blog Singing out as Blessed to be a Blessing |
Hi, I’m Deborah Vanderwolf and starting a NEW adventure in my life. As our web site stated, we started in 2012 with the gardens. And because of a major surgery I had in 2013 we were unable to do the gardens for that year. But I’m back, and there’s nothing stopping me now.
So as I learn and share my victories and down falls, together we will harvest a bountiful crop. My desire in doing ALL of this, is to show the joy and excitement of watching something grow. From a small seed to food on your plate to eat. That in it’s self is a miracle. I love giving to others, that, that was given to me. I’m a very visual person, because a picture speaks a thousand words. So you will see a lot of that as the season progresses. My passion is that others will find the joy and fulfillment of doing for others. Archives
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