2015 Year In Review

Happy New Year!

I hope this post finds you relaxing from the whirlwind of last year and especially last month.

We ventured back "Home" to Wisconsin for a 12-day trip over the holidays. We made a quick overnight stop in Asheville, North Carolina to see my brother and visit the Biltmore House, which was decorated for Christmas.

Photo credit Biltmore.com

We had a great time visiting with family and friends. There is always something left on the list to be done or visited for next time. Just this past Saturday we drove (the car adorned with colored Christmas lights including the dog, fish and 2 rowdy kids) straight through 7 states.

Now that we are back to our "New Home" in North Carolina, it is time to look back on how God has richly blessed us in the past year.

2015 Top 10 Favorite Posts

(click photos for link)

Garden Totals

What a year...
Having moved to North Carolina and completely missing the chance to grow seedlings and not yet having a tilled garden... I am a little afraid to add up the garden totals this year.  Even though we reconditioned a 10' x 10' planting bed into a 12' x 24' garden, timing was limited due to the move in March and having to navigate a new planting zone. In Wisconsin, we left behind a tended raspberry bed that we loved and cared for, mulberry bushes, pear trees, apple trees, established asparagus, strawberries and rhubarb.

New to the garden this year was:

• Cantaloupe
• Tabasco Peppers
• Mini Pumpkins
• Rosemary

Here is where we are coming from in garden totals:

   2014: 309 pounds
   2013: 433 pounds

2015 Totals

Beans - Green: 1.5 ounces (Don't know what went wrong. Grew well but no beans)
Cantaloupe: 6 pounds
Corn - Sweet: 7 pounds 4.9 ounces
Cucumber: 14 pounds 2.9 ounces
Lettuce: 27 pounds
Mint: 0.2 ounces (Minimal picking as is new, let grow)
Oregano: Let establish this year
Pepper - Banana: 2 pounds 0.4 ounces
Pepper - Bell: 1 pound 5.3 ounces
Pepper - Jalapeño: 3 pounds 0.1 ounces
Pepper - Tabasco: 1 pound 0.7 ounces
Popcorn: 2 pounds 12.1 ounces
Pumpkin: 1 pound 1.1 ounce (From a small plant that came home from school)
Pumpkin - Mini: 8 pounds 3.5 ounces
Raspberry: 2.9 ounces (Hopeful for this year after some seriously needed pruning)
Rosemary: Finally!!! Let grow to establish
Tomato: 59 pounds 3.3 ounces
Watermelon: 41 pounds 2.8 ounces

Total Weight Harvested in 2015... 173 pounds 8.5 ounces

Now to plan for this coming year's garden! :)

Update From North Carolina

Wow! 2015 has already been full of adventures for our family and we are approaching the half way point of the year!

First and foremost, so sorry for the prolonged absence!

Here is a little bit about what we have been up to...

Right before Christmas, Ron accepted a new job in North Carolina. Just days into 2015, Ron left Wisconsin to start work and this left us, girls back home to sell our house. The house sold fairly quickly, within 3 months from listing to closing. This meant we had a whole house to pack up, a new house, school, and church to find. Oh, and then there was the moving us and everything we own 1000 plus miles away.

Ron found a church right away in the area and they have already been a huge blessing to our whole family.

We found a great home and neighborhood on a little over an acre of land in Eastern North Carolina. It has great sunlight and mature trees! We even have raspberry bushes.

There have been many new adjustments for us all, but we were definitely not prepared to start a garden immediately. After all, I still had to find all the gardening tools in our moving mess.

"Up north" we would not plant until after Mother's Day or even Memorial Day. But down here I was told to wait to plant after Good Friday! That is a huge increase in our growing season and means I have to get moving!

Sadly, we were grossly disorganized with moving, starting a new school and just trying to get around town. Planting has been slow going but is happening and we will keep you posted on the progress!

Here are a few pictures from the beautiful blooms in our yard.

Upcoming Post:  Starting a garden plot.

2014 In Review

It is time again to reflect on last year and get ready for the year ahead.

I thought it would be fun to look back on all that has happened both on Sustainable Blessings and in our yard this past year.

Here is a listing of the most popular posts in 2014:

1. Tater Tot Casserole

2. Beer Cheese Pretzel Dip

3. Morel Mushroom Hunting

4. Lemon Bars

5. Honey Oatmeal Bread

What We Grew In 2014:

We continued to weighing the harvests from our garden and yard this year. Last was the first year I weighed any harvests and we came in at 433 pounds 3.5 ounces!

Asparagus: 10.5 ounces, our first harvest after planting them 3 years ago!
Beans - Green: 1 pound 5.7 ounces
Corn - Sweet: Raccoons ate it all!
Cucumber: 39 pounds 14.3 ounces
Cucumber - Pickles: 3 pounds 6.7 ounces 
Garlic: 0.7 ounces 
Garlic Mustard: 0.1 ounce
Kale: 4.5 ounces
Lettuce: 2 pounds 6 ounces
Mulberry: 9.11 ounces
Nasturtium: 0.2 ounces
Onion - White: 8.1 ounces
Pear: 8.6 ounces
Pea - Sugar Snap: 6.1 ounces
Pepper - Green: 5.5 ounces
Pepper - Jalapeño: 5 pounds 14.4 ounces
Raspberry: 3 pounds 2.8 ounces
Rhubarb: 3 pounds 1 ounce
Strawberry: 2.7 ounces
Tomato: 200 pounds 4.4 ounces
Tomato - Cherry: 3 pounds 15.7 ounces
Violets: 0.1 ounce
Watermelon: 36 pounds 6.7 ounce

Total Weight Harvested in 2014... 309 pounds 5.91 ounces!