Spring 2011 garden plan

This is the plan for the raised beds .each of the 10 beds are 4x8 the long one at the top is 3x20. we will also plant potatoes, corn and sunflower 20x20 plot.

Raised bed garden

We have expanded our garden by 2 more raised bed. This gives us a total of 12 that are 4 x 8 ft. This is a pic of the tomatoes in 2 of the beds.

Gooseberries

This is our gooseberry bush, which is LOADED right not and just about ready to pick. It is a hard job as the thorns are terrible. I love to make gooseberry/strawberry jam...yum!!!

This is our tiny Pond

Cullen put in this pond about 2 years ago and it is finally looking like it belongs. All of the plants and herbs are growing in around it nicely. The is tarragon in the back, mint and thyme in the front, along with other things too.

Can you see me in the Garden?

This is a part of our garden, it is way out in the back and i am smack dab in the middle of it. My husband took this pic of me and I thought it was a neat pic showing the garden and all that nature has.

Dehydrating garden goods

I have been working to dehydrate as much of our garden produce as I possible can. This is a pic of onions going on the dehyrator. I just slice them and lay them out so they are not touching much and let them dehydrate over night. I like them very dry and crisp. I crush them and then place them in 2 liter plastic soda bottles when finished.
You can see in this pic one of the plastic soda bottles of onion flakes. The glass quart mason jars have dehydrated eggplant in them. They are easy to do as well. I slice them, about 1/4 in thick, then soak them in a bit of lemon water for a few minutes then lay them out on the dehydrator and leave for several hours.
The bags contain yellow squash, zucchini squash, and cucumbers. They are all dehydrated, and placed in food saver bags and all the air removed.
This is a close up of some of the yellow squash in the food saver bag. I like to use these in casseroles whole, or just grind some up into flakes or powder to add to soups or the like. They have great flavor and a super to have around.