May Goals Update 2018

Posted on June 2, 2018 by sdllewellyn

It’s June!!! Only another week and a half of school, the garden is coming to life and the temperatures are on the rise. I love summertime!

And here’s how the goals are going:

1. Expand the garden– it happened! The whole thing is planted! I have walkways and I’m doing my best to keep the weeds at bay! The trellises are all looking great too!

2. Fix the camper– We have been fixing up our home away from home! It is finished, minus a few little cosmetic things that I’d like to do! We love how it turned out! And the Mr. custom fit the bamboo mat for the bathroom area!

3.Travel out west- That camper is officially ready for adventure! It’s going to be happening this summer! I really want to see a buffalo, a few Great Lakes and the beautiful sights in Yellowstone! Oh, and spend another summer with my boy before he’s all grown up!

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat- There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. So far we have raspberries, blueberries, black eyed Susan’s, brown eyed Susan’s, echinacea and a wildflower mix. And I’m pretty sure that some wild yarrow is coming up! And we are up to 2 inhabitants in the pollinator hotel!

5. Reduce garbage– Last year we made 7 bags of garbage and we want to make less than 6 bags this year. We are still working on filling bag 2! (Or actually not trying to fill it!) Still only 1 bag of trash! [/caption]

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month- This month I spread some good! I volunteered at a STEM festival and helped to educate kids about the importance of bees! I saved all of the water bottles from being thrown out during a school event and the boy’s composting service has kept around 70 pounds of food waste out of the landfill!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend, repair- the Mr. turned a broken window into a planter for the wildlife area! He also painted up and installed a cat litter container (now mailbox) in my garden so I’m not losing my garden trowel as often! And I turned some unused worksheets into notebooks for the boy to write down compost weights on! Great upcycling month!

8. Paw Paw trees– These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! We are now up to 2 seeds sprouting! I was hoping to at least have that many for cross pollination!

9. Build a pizza oven– I do believe that we are putting this off for another year.

10. Grow different produce–

I am proud to say that the Tennessee dancing gourds are growing, along with the apple melons and all different kinds of tomatoes! The only seeds that didn’t germinate at all were the oriental long beans. Not a one!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels- May was a nice solar month, despite lots of rain! 1.6 MWh and just the connection rate fir an electric bill! (It’s around $5)

12. Work on garden cart sales– I am hoping to be able to put something out for sale this month! Maybe at least eggs! That cart is too pretty to not be used!

Last month I worked every single free minute in the garden. On more than one occasion I had a bad feeling that I bit off ore than I should have. But, not everything is planted and growing. I hope that your gardens are taking shape! Keep blooming friends! 🌱💚

Kid composting service!

Posted on May 16, 2018 by sdllewellyn

My kiddo is growing up fast and I would love to instill some work ethic into him. Don’t get me wrong, he will help out with whatever you ask him to, but I would love for him to understand what it’s like to keep customers happy. So, this summer he is providing a service to our neighbors/friends/family that were willing to participate! (And he actually got 10 people!)

The way that it works is that I am going to pay him, because not many people would actually pay for a service like this in our area. We asked around on Facebook and were able to round up some free buckets and that’s where we got the customers too!

FCE6B68F-A33A-4416-9B54-C34145645614 — After we scrubbed them all up!

Then, I helped him line them all with some newspaper and he wrote out the pickup times and put the list inside,

CB27580E-EC71-47E8-822C-97EA95310210 — The inside of the bucket

A0CAF262-BB2C-4F89-92AB-C980C9D803CE — All ready for drop off!

He has already cleaned out several and has retrieved around 15 pounds of compostable materials that would have otherwise made its way to the landfill!

And now for his process:

2C571D79-E109-4C83-AF0B-69B56000A9D5 — Step 1: weigh it (so we can let his customers know how awesome they are doing!)

87233B54-D100-490D-9C40-8B120D1392D1 — Step 2: dump out the contents

1CDCD66B-7DBC-43F0-A588-3ADFE82C5D78 — Step 3: scrub out that bucket with some eco friendly soap!

And an awesome coworker/friend thought that the boy’s service was such a good idea, that she donated some cleaner! This stuff smells amazing and leaves the buckets smelling great!

And on to Step 4:

6DC81281-ED5D-4144-BF6D-CA4590ADFC83 — Reline the bucket with newspapers also given to us!

When he gets home we throw most of it into the compost bin, and give anything that would be enjoyed by the chickens to them! They sure are loving this!

I’m hoping to be able to keep this going all summer and I’m very thankful to the sweet people that are willing to try composting! I also love the fact that my boy knows just as much about composting as I do! He can answer pretty much any question that a customer throws his way! Keep blooming, even in the middle of a neighborhood! 🌱💚

April 2018 Goals Update

Posted on May 3, 2018 by sdllewellyn

It is the crazy month of May! The school year is almost over, I have lots to do in the garden and projects that need finished!

And here’s how the goals are going:

1. Expand the garden– it’s finally happening!! The t posts are in, the garden door is hung and the fencing will go up this month! And the plants will go to live outside this month too!

2. Fix the camper– We have been fixing up our home away from home! It is finished, minus a few little cosmetic things that I’d like to do! We love how it turned out!

3.Travel out west- That camper is officially ready for adventure! We tried it out at the end of the month by going to a koa in Antietam and everything worked great! It’s cozy, watertight (yeppers, it rained!) and even the pups enjoyed themselves in it!

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat- There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. All of the grass has been covered and new plants are slowly working their way in! So far we have raspberries, blueberries, black eyed Susan’s, echinacea and a ton of other things growing under the grow lights in here!

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month- This month I spread some good! We really focused on cleaning up the Earth, since Earth Day is in April . We helped to organize a town clean up and about 20 bags of garbage were picked up!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend, repair- we reused some of the old garden fence to go around the trees and help to keep the deer away. We were also able to score an old kiddie pool for our new ducks and I love the way that the other garden door turned out! It’s beautiful!

8. Paw Paw trees– These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! We finally have a seed sprouting. It may be the only one, but I’m hoping for at least 2, so that they can help pollinate each other!

9. Build a pizza oven– this is the Mr.’s idea! He built his own Blacksmithing forge, so I’m sure he can do it! I’m definitely looking forward to having a delicious, out of the oven pizza! No real updates yet

10. Grow different produce–

I will be starting a lot more seeds in the greenhouse this month! The grow lights are working hard and everything is getting so big and healthy! I love all the different varieties that are emerging!!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels- The panels didn’t quite produce what they did last year, but it was still snowing all through April! At least we hit a Mwh!

12. Work on garden cart sales– I am hoping to be able to put a few seedlings for sale out there and the chickens are really producing eggs right now!

Last month helped me work on my patience! I kept wanting to do more outside, but the weather said no! This month is already helping us get caught up around the garden! How are your goals going? Keep blooming friends!

Earth Day 2018

Posted on April 24, 2018April 24, 2018 by sdllewellyn

As you all know, I love the Earth every single day! But this year I stepped it up and helped to organize a town clean up! Only 9 people showed up, but we cleaned up a lot of trash! (Probably close to 20 bags!)

38E5765F-6E7D-4DBB-BAB8-0D4C6E7F62CD — So much trash!

My boy will be starting up his own composting service soon! He’s going to pick up neighbor’s compostables for our compost pile and educate them on how to compost. I love that he knows so much about how to keep a small carbon footprint!

806CD484-778F-4CC0-874B-C87266D84DB9 — Look at that beautiful compost that was in the bin from last year!

I also started working on killing off the grass to make room for the flowers that will be planted here! And look at that beautiful bat box that was put up!!

39320768-6424-4F0E-B8FF-6B6EF176B766 — Future wildlife habitat!

While taking breaks, I enjoyed watching the chickens do their thing! They are quite entertaining!

7D050DB5-B4C2-48B3-8436-42B2CB297BE1 — I think he’s beautiful!

And then, of course, I have to share a few gardening pictures!

B012A945-A14A-4701-8104-7E9CEF89CCAA — Garlic growing!

24F2010D-E91E-478A-89E2-087E6CE50867 — Pea plants coming up through the soil

And, I finally started some indoor flowers after my momma showed me how amazing hers were looking! I had total flower envy!

1526A41B-C9F6-4A00-92E4-35A7F2802EB7 — All kinds of flowers were started!

With May right around the corner, I’m looking forward to starting lots more seedlings for the garden. And, of course, we need to work on getting the soil ready in the garden! I already envision our garden in my mind, but I’m not sure if they will all turn out ok! Regardless, I’m excited about our 2018 garden!!

Did you all do anything special on Earth Day?

Happiness is simplicity!

Posted on April 21, 2018 by sdllewellyn

Yesterday was quite an interesting day. I had been the middle person between the county waste service, our school and an outside source that provides insight on how to start composting at our school. We had a meeting and I thought everything was going well. The great news is that it was well received by the staff! The bad news is that our maintenance department is very against it. But, obviously they don’t know me well, because if they did they would know that this girl has lots of fight in her for this beautiful planet!

35BD1395-C118-4E3C-AA5C-15E9568EFC63 — I still am super enthusiastic about getting the program started!

Since I used to be the person that would be ridiculously angry and say things that I would regret, I’m proud to say that I have become pretty calm the older that I get. It’s hard to be mad when there is so much happiness in my heart! So here’s a few things that get me up and going in the morning:

-Teaching anyone about the environment, gardening and beekeeping! Even my student teacher interns!

37167327-D2C1-4669-96AE-6D77210E20C9 — Their goodbye gift from me (since we talked about all of the things at my tiny homestead often!)

-Growing everything from seed! (Or just watching anything grow!)

F5805378-9103-4EE2-9086-FAAAAF91DFE6 — Our grow lights are pretty filled!

E2E38398-C9B3-48F9-9981-C1E052218818 — The paw paw seed sprouting!

-Watching everything come back to life in the spring!

1FC45A36-E3F8-4EC0-BF1E-0608E33A057C — Our wine cap mycelium coming back!

-Watching the bees awake from their long winter!

6EBD3083-525F-4303-A409-9CF5B50D35E0 — Look at all of that pollen that she’s bringing in!

-Cleaning up this world and spreading goodness! With so much negativity in the world, I’m trying to make it a little better!

4DA7BD11-C573-48CD-B074-4E43A666F084 — 2 streets of trash!

-And, of course, raising this kid to be compassionate towards others, a good citizen, to have a love for our planet and everything in it and to live life meaningfully!

D03A58B7-DFE0-4EF7-BF6B-155589C40583 — Such a good heart in this one!

When life kicks me down, I choose to think of all of the good around me and there’s a lot! What gets you up in the morning? What brings you out of your funk and makes your heart happy? Keep blooming (even on cloudy days!) 🌱💚

An improved garden door and organizing

Posted on April 10, 2018 by sdllewellyn

Over the weekend, it was very cold for April and we even had snow falling. Since I couldn’t spend any time outside in my garden, where I’d rather be, I spent my time finishing up projects around here and the Mr. was busy working on our garden door!

The door had been falling apart, so we were going to buy a new one. But, instead of wasting money, the Mr. added supports, gave it a fresh coat of paint and replaced the screen with wired fencing! That should keep out the critters!

17B40FD3-5C7A-42D6-B092-20DA23498570 — Before and after!

And then he surprised me by using his Blacksmithing skills to create a handle! It is absolute perfection to me! Look at that beautiful leaf on the bottom!

3CCB8C73-D115-479C-B9B4-696ACF1A536D — I ❤️ This handle!

And before you look at the next picture, don’t judge me 😳 It’s in the garage and this is the dumping grounds for all of the canning supplies, gardening stuff and random odds and ends.

503F8544-A551-4D37-8FD0-E3F59FFD8BD1 — Definitely the before picture!

And after a majority of my weekend, I am proud to say that my canning items, beekeeping boxes, baskets, containers and everything else down there is actually organized!

0266D4D4-662C-4AD5-945F-32F933A868EC — And the after! ❤️❤️

This month I am taking on the challenge of 30 days if picking up trash here in the beautiful state of Maryland! It’s shocking how much is all around when you are actually looking for it! And here is what I rounded up on week one:

6ED7794F-BD80-401D-A8FD-B5E0FAB9684F — All only in a week! 😢

Since I didn’t want to leave off this post on a negative, here’s a picture of how wonderful the pepper plants are looking! They are going to get repotted soon!

6D3A68E3-450F-4F00-A153-B4AF60B4BDD0 — Peppers everywhere!

I hope that you all are getting ready for your summer and using whatever time that you have before the busy season to prep!! 💚

March Update 2018

Posted on April 2, 2018April 1, 2018 by sdllewellyn

It’s April!!! That means that we are getting so close to gardening season! March seemed like a blur, but I am always ready for it to pass by and warm weather to appear! So, he’s how the goals are going:

1. Expand the garden– it’s finally happening!! The garden has t posts around the perimeter and we fixed up the old screen door to make it rabbit proof!

D5793F52-99B6-47C9-AB26-696274F3C9C5 — View from the bottom up

57AA0708-556E-4EFD-990D-D703E3919CF3 — View from the top

2. Fix the camper– We have been fixing up our home away from home! The seats are recovered, shower storage door fixed, curtains all made and vent cover for the top!

3.Travel out west- That camper is pretty much ready for adventure! Before making the big trip, we have to take it on a trial run! The trial run is going to happen this month!

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat- There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. The pathways have been created. We made our own birdbath from a log and pan. We put up the hanging basket hooks and the insect hotel is finished!

5. Reduce garbage– Last year we made 7 bags of garbage and we want to make less than 6 bags this year. We have still only created one bag of garbage! But, I’m planning on doing a trash pickup everyday I can make it outside this month. So, that may increase our trash.

CB074CBD-1ACD-40A4-9514-47256F0E7EF4 — Still only 1 bag of trash!

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month- This month I spread some good! I try my best to stay positive and share t too! I bought my bff teacher an awesome “teacher of the year” shirt because she was just named that! And I picked up another teacher friend a gift to remind her of how strong she is! But, my biggest good deed was shoveling our school playground so that the kids could go out to play the next day! This is about 2 hours if work!

07001A72-F659-475D-99FA-4A7FDBFCA1F0 — It was a lot of snow!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend, repair- At school we are reusing some juice cups for growing some plants that they want to grow! The Mr. turned a railroad spike into a new shovel for me. The pollinator hotel is finished and it is 100% upcycled! And the Mr. is turning some spoons into garden markers for me!

8. Paw Paw trees– These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! The seeds were planted last month! I put some seeds outside and marks where I put them and put the rest inside. So far, nothing to show yet.

5B25D8DA-8248-429D-92F1-69123CCFE00E — All the seeds are planted!

10. Grow different produce–  I will be starting a lot of different seeds this month! So far I have 5 varieties of sweet peppers. I also bought a hardy kiwi plant and I’m hoping to get that growing!

F56836DB-4CFC-4D54-9332-42421F93A215 — We’re growing red, green, orange, purple and brown peppers this year!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels- this month we created almost an identical amount of power as last year!

C0A2576E-7E3A-474C-A9E8-5E9D61A365B7 — 1.18 mwh!

12. Work on garden cart sales– We will be doing some upcoming craft shows this month! I’m hoping to have some extra seedlings to share, along with my lip balm and the Mr.’s blacksmithed items!

Last month rejuvenated my love of growing anything and everything!! Did you set any goals?! We are hoping to have checks next to them all at the end of the year! Keep blooming friends! 🌱💚

llewellynhomestead

Doing good