Elephant Garlic Harvest
4 years ago we planted 4 cloves of elephant garlic that my parents gave us. We kept replanting most of each years harvest and this year we had an entire raised bed planted out.
Okinawan Sweet Potatoes
We purchased Okinawan sweet potato slips in 2016, and have kept them going every year since. We originally bought Okinawan sweet potato slips from Baker Creek Seeds because Sarah read that they were a common staple food in a ‘blue zone’, which are regions where people routinely live longer than the average life expectancy.
Planting 3 More Hazelnut (American Filbert) Trees
We’ve been looking for hazelnut trees for quite some time now. Two years ago we received one as a gift, and then we ordered a couple more, but they never showed up. Finally, this year we successfully ordered three more from Willis Orchards, and they showed up today via Fed Ex. They were shipped bare
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Signs of Spring
Early morning sights on Maitri Homestead. Wine cap and Lion’s Mane mushrooms, pear blossoms and baby blueberries, pea shoots and greenhouse starts, and mullien… I 💗 spring!
2022 Garden Seedlings
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and much more under grow lights indoors. Our average last frost date is April 15, so we’re running a little behind schedule…better late than never. Some new plants this year are Goji Berries, Valerian, Mullien, Skullcap and a couple varieties of Persimmons.
2021 Garden Harvest Totals
Every time we harvest fruit or veggies from the garden we record the weight, and at the end of the year we type everything into a spreadsheet. In 2021 we grew 1,436 lbs of food. Below is a list of our top crops and the harvest weight. We had 2 full freezers, and shelves full
Fall Garden Harvest
We have already had our first frost, but a really hard killing frost is coming soon. So, it’s time to harvest our peppers, ginger, turmeric, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. We still have kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and onions that we will be overwintering to harvest in the Spring. The cold weather strains of shiitake
Growing Luffas
Sarah planted 2 different Luffa varieties this year. We have never grown them, so we didn’t really know what to expect. She wants to use them in her soap making. We are still experimenting on how best to finish them for use….so far so good though. comparing a dried luffa with the skin removed to
Making Red Wine
We harvested about 18 lbs. of grapes from our 2 Mars grape vines. We decided to make red wine with it. We’ve made red wine one other time from grapes given to us, but this is the first time from our own grapes. Just like with blueberries the birds will let you know when it’s
2021 Summer Gardening
Here are some pictures of our summer gardens. We are just starting to harvest many of the tomatoes, peppers and squash. View of the main garden from the top. Picture taken about a month ago. Our 3 Layens horizontal hives down in the little orchard are finally full of honey bees. Sarah did a wonderful