I’m definitely not going to win any awards for most aesthetically pleasing garden this year, but I’m perfectly okay with that as long as we get a good harvest. The good thing is, we’ve planted so many perennials out front over the years that the flower beds look manicured (or at least purposeful) once everything grows in and pushes the weeds out!
That allows me more time to focus on growing food. Not that I’ve abandoned the flower thing altogether, because I do want more flowers, but it’s definitely not my priority this year. I may not even get a chance to paint my flower cart (again) but I accept that some things just may have to wait another year.
Expanding the gardens was a great idea, but it hasn’t exactly gone to plan. 🤨
Due to the upheaval in our economy, the hubs had to take a different job and while the job itself and especially the pay is ironically much, much better, he is working more hours than ever before which leaves it up to me to do most of the gardening and everything else now.
I’m not complaining, mind you, but it is a bit difficult some days.
I do have help from one of our sons, who is completely on board with growing as much food as we can this year, so that’s a blessing. The problem is, we’re both sick with mast cell disease and summer is the worst time of year for us so we both have to carefully plan our chores for early mornings and in the evenings. That doesn’t allow for much wiggle room or to be OCD about things that don’t really matter all that much, something we’re also both prone to do.
It also doesn’t give much time to just relax and enjoy the little things, like noticing that the robins have left the nest for good now…
Or watching the growing apples on the tree…
It’s pretty much get up, get to work and don’t stop until the heat kicks in and it’s time to go back inside. It’s paying off for us, though, because the garden is coming along really well. The corn will be taking off any day now…
And the potatoes should be flowering any time…
I had miscounted before and it turns out we planted twenty of each variety (russets, reds and yukon gold) and then I added another twenty russets from store bought, which are also doing phenomenally well…
I have pumpkins growing in the patch by the chicken coop that was all sunflowers last year…
I mixed in sugars, blacks and whites together which may or may not have been the best idea, but I figured why not. I’m not all that concerned with growing any to sell now that our income has been boosted with hubby’s new job, but I do want enough to make a few pies and decorate for Halloween.
I can’t wait for Halloween again!
Anyway, in a way it’s nice to not have to worry about money for awhile. With me not working and always feeling like I should be doing *something* to help boost our income, there’s always that sense of guilt for being too sick to really work a normal job. And the hubs totally loves his new job which is a huge relief, but it has left me with a lot of physical labor that is… challenging, to say the least.
It’s not undoable, though. With the right meds I just keep plugging along, doing what I can, when I can and for as long I can and so far, so good!
I just won’t expect Better Homes & Gardens to be stopping by any time soon to interview me lol. 🙂
Empty Nest Homesteading 
It looks amazing to me, so much work but it’s clearly paying off. Bravo
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Thanks, it’s a ton of work and I’m not entirely sure I’m up for it!
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Nice! And I know just what you mean about the flowers. I’d love to be paying them the care they deserve, but they remain neglected, because there’s only a few hours in the morning before it becomes unbearable outside. So much dying so early this year! But, it’s a miracle to see what keeps growing, like the sweet potatoes, I keep planting them even now and they keep growing. The okra, of course, is just fine, and the peppers too. I wish we could do all those potatoes, I love them all! But they aren’t so easy here. Congrats on Hubby’s new job and your dutiful son’s help!
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Thank you, we are happily adjusting because it’s actually a dream job for my husband, despite everything going on in the world so we’ll enjoy it while it lasts. It still feels weird planting potatoes, I feel like I am cheating because they grow so easily in Idaho lol. Still, it’s about to really heat up here so we’ll see. Oh, and funny that all those criss crosses in the sky going on for weeks? They stopped suddenly right after Yellowstone flooded. Hmm…
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I was wondering about that, thanks for saying. Hmmm, indeed. 😞
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I can’t be the only one who noticed here, right? I’m not on Facebook or really any other social media so I have no clue if others posted about this but it’s hard to ignore. I had logged into the local webcams over the Tetons and in the direction of the park over a few weeks and sure enough, criss crosses in the sky just like here leading up to the flooding. It’s really mind blowing and I may be going completely mad but I do believe something fishy is going on.
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Of course you are not going mad, dear! If you need some moral support and adult discussion of what’s really going on, Carol has many videos on her YT channel and from the comments underneath there are plenty of other folks talking about it. She did one on your floods there, too. I thought about you! 🙂 Her channel is called NeverLoseTruth.
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Thanks, I’ll check it out but I honestly find it both incredible that no one else around me seems to notice and unnerving because it’s so obviously different than normal airplane traffic coming through our valley here. It’s not even being hidden from us, people are in a trance, staring down at their phones and oblivious to the skies.
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I think ‘trance’ is a good word for it. And incredible and unnerving. I’ve tried to talk about this for years with everyone I know and everyone I meet in any way I can, and so I can add another word: exasperating. And demoralizing. And even, on the verge of hopeless. And I’ve always been an optimist.
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Yes, it’s weird because I know all this stuff and somehow had forgotten it over the last couple of years myself. I watched The Dimming documentary when it came out and was waiting to see this happen here but it just never did and I’ve been sheltered by being sick that until it started up I had just sort of drifted into my own little bubble reality, not thinking much of geo-engineering and chem trails, etc. But now? I’m wide awake again. I miss being in ignorant bliss lol.
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Your garden is looking fabulous! Well done!
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Thank you, it really is coming along. ☺
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