Last week when we went shopping the library was having their annual book sale, it's by donation.  I stopped to look and picked out a nice box of children's books!  Some of them are for the Before Five in A Row and Five In A Row program we use.  I was so excited about that!  I also found some nice history story books.

We happened to be back in town a few days latter and they were still having the sale.  So I just had to peek again.  LOL  I found another book to go with the B4FIAR and some nice children's farming books!  I'm planning to do a farming unit this fall with the kids.  The International Plowing Match will be in our area and we are planning an all day field trip there.  Dh is really looking forward to that to.  I also picked up some wonderful animal videos for the kids and some documentaries for us.  Dh also picked out a encyclopedia set on natural history.

I'm hoping to get to a homeschool book store this weekend.  My shopping list has been gone over and over..I'm still tweaking it.  So far I'm thinking of getting this:

• Christian Liberty Nature Readers 1 & 2
• Bob Books #1
• Leading Little ones to God
• Canadian Colouring book
• FIAR Christian supplement
• Before FIAR
• Canada My Country
• Ecoutez! Parlez! (beginner French)

Our plans this year are:

2 year old.

I'm going to use B4FIAR with her at a slow pace.  Should be fun!

4 year old PreK

• Teach Your Child to Read 100 Easy Lessons
• Bob Books
• B4FIAR
• FIAR
• Leading Little Ones To God

6 year old, grade 1

• FIAR
• Math U See Beta
• SOTW 1 (we started this last year and put it on hold for a bit)
• God's Design for Science, The plant kingdom and human body
• Leading Little Ones To God
• Canada My Country
• Nature Study
• Copy Work
• CL Nature Readers

DD6 and 4 will also be starting on some hand crafts, keep working on crochet and maybe simple sewing.

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Well I haven't had much posting time or time for anything that is.    The crazy weather patterns of baking hot then cold and damp have made the kids sick.  Two are ok now, 4 year old is still miserable and baby girl is on the mend.  I've been fighting it also, but it's not easy to do when your up all night with sick littles.  I sure hope they are all feeling much better soon, it's so hard on a mothers heart when her babies are sick!

When things settle down I have a huge list of to do's.  I need to reclaim the house again lol.  I was JUST caught up on most things when we all got sick.  (sigh) Seems to happen every time LOL.  I have a ton of sewing to do.  I need nursable maternity clothes.  This is the longest into a pregnancy I've ever nursed a baby.  So most of my things don't fit.  The girls also need new skirts etc.  And I need to sew pullups and diapers.

I'm working on a major decluttering and planning our new school year also.  I'm thinking of starting that soon to instead of waiting until fall.  We mostly school year round, just taking it a bit lighter in the summer.  When morning sickness hit bad I scaled down to just reading and math.

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Yesterday was Canada Day and despite the littles still being some what sick we had a nice day.  Dh had some errands to do but after supper we took the kids for a walk at the park.  They got to see all the animals (birds and deer) and play for a while. 

Then we headed home and dh surprised them with a few fireworks!  They LOVED it we'll have to get some more before summers over.

Little dd2 wasn't to sure about it!

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These are just a few overview shots of our gardens.

This one is the red potato patch.  Planted here are 50 lb of red potatoes and a few pounds of purple ones.

This is our cucumber trellis.  It's our second planting we had so much rain the first one never came up.  To the right are more yellow beans and a few more potatoes.  To the left is another row of tomatoes and the red potatoes.

A close up of the little cucumbers.

Italian Zucchini

Pie Pumpkins

A Brandywine Tomato plant.

This is just a normal zucchini.  Our of 6 hills with 3 plants in each only 2 plants came up.  We had so much rain the others must have rotted.

This is a shot of our main garden.  I can't get a good angle to get it all in.  This one has our white potatoes, some of the tomatoes, carrots and beans in it.

This is one of our field pumpkins.  DD6 planted these are are happy they are doing well!

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I've been crazy busy around here trying to keep up with the gardens an normal work.  I took a break yesterday to get some photos. 

This is the little pond we put in this year.  The plants floating in the pond are water hyacinths.  They were two tiny plants when I put them in a month ago.  It looks like they like that spot as they are growing nicely!  I also have 3 comet gold fish in there.   Don't mind the silly spiting frog on the log.  That's what I used before I got the waterfall set up. 

Having even a small pond in your yard attracts lots of wildlife!  I've seen many more birds, butterflies and dragonflies since we put it in.  They all enjoy bathing and drinking from the waterfall area.  These are some photos of butterflies that had finished drinking.  They landed down on the mulched area to dry their wings.

I believe the first one  is a Painted Lady butterfly.  We raised them last year.   Anyone know what the black and blue one is?

This is a wide photo of my herb/sitting area.  We aren't done landscaping it yet but the pond is in the corner.

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More restaurants limit tomatoes after FDA warning

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080609%2fMcDonalds_tomatoes_080609

Tim Hortons and Harvey's have joined restaurants across North America in removing tomatoes from their dishes, on the heels of a food poisoning scare in the United States.

CTV.ca News Staff

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We had another round of storms last night.  With this heat almost every night we've had them.

It was a very hot day but we decided to go visit our friends hot dog stand in the morning.  We spread a blanket out in the shade and had a nice lunch there.  Then headed to one of our favorite hiking parks for a walk.  Boy was it busy there!  There were two different family gatherings being held there.  Despite the heat we had a very nice walk.  By the time we got home it was starting to get a little cloudy.  I checked the weather sites and saw we were under a thunderstorm watch and just south of us had a tornado warning out.

It didn't take much longer, maybe an hour before the storm started rolling in.  The radar was lit up like a red cherry.  We saw the clouds starting to swirl not far from us and grabbed the kids and headed to the cellar.  It passed quickly and after that was just a lot of rain.  We were lucky the storm broke right over top of us and went around our town.

Here are a few picks from last night.

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There is a large out break of salmonella in tomatoes in the USA.  To learn more click here:

CDC: Tomatoes eyed in salmonella cases in 9 states

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Last week we had a real cold spell and frost.  All of my tomatoes and peppers were well covered but they still got hit hard.  It looked like we lost them all.    Being heirlooms they aren't easy or cheep to replace.  We finally found a greenhouse not to far from here that sold heirloom tomatoes.  The only one they had that was the same as one I was growing was Brandywine.  So I got a few of them, as well as some ox harts, a Green Zebra, and some other white and  orange tomatoes to try. 

I went out last night to start replacing my old plants to find a lot are regrowing leaves!  I was sure they were dead, even the stems didn't look well.  But many have tiny pin head leaves starting to come back. 

So DH has to till up some more room for me anyway we will put the new tomatoes in the other section.

I did get our corn in yesterday and more potatoes planted.  We have about 50 lb of white potatoes left to plant.

When we were at the green house DH found some red seed potatoes.  These aren't just red skinned but red ALL the way through.  We put them in the kids garden.

Today we see our purple potatoes are coming up to!

Starting Thursday we are moving into a heat wave.  Fri is suppose to be 30 C but with a heat index of 38 C, that's 100.4F!!!  Quite a change from last week when it was freezing!

We still need to till up another section of the lawn, we are expanding our main garden plot.  But will do that in the early morning I hope to avoided the heat.  I still have my pumpkins, pie pumpkins, Italian zucchini, buckwheat and a few other goodies to get in.

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Interesting food for thought...

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Boy what a difference one day can make.  Yesterday we had a heat index of 29C today it was only up to 8C and we have a frost warning out tonight...it's cold!

So had to dig out lots of feed bags and get my tomatoes covered up.   Looks like tomorrow will be cool to then it will warm up again.  With more RAIN LOL.  I hope we get some  nice warmer weather patterns soon. 

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Well we finally had a break in the weather this weekend.  First nice warm and sunny days I can remember in a while!

Basically our weekend was....

Friday, Dh wanted to go to our friends hot dog cart for lunch, did a little shopping after that.  Dh was to tired for more so headed home.  He wanted to try and get the gardens tilled before it got to late.  Well tiller would work...again!  We just had the carb rebuilt on it...that thing has giving us non stop trouble since we got it used a few years ago.    He decided we would either have to put on a new carb or motor or replace the whole thing.  Phoned around almost non of the normal hardware type stores are carrying rear-tine tillers any more...It's all the dinky little ones or front tine ones.  They just don't work that well.

Sat morning dh went down to talk to our small engine mechanic.  A new carb was going to be almost as much as a new motor...and that motor was going to be a lot to...He had ONE new tiller sitting there for sale and it wasn't much more then the price of a motor.  Since our old one is sooo old at least 20 years dh was worried about something else breaking on it...Our gardens are already a month behind because of it.  So he decided to get it.  It works wonderfully!!!

So on Sat we got the gardens tilled up.  Then planted 50 lb of red potatoes and about 5 lb of purple ones.  The girls LOVED helping and were wonderful helpers.  After that we headed out to finish our shopping and treated them to ice cream for all their hard work.

Sunday, we normally would have rested but we are so behind fighting the weather.  We put in 100 lb of white potatoes, 9 bell peppers, 4 jalapeño peppers, 4 banana peppers, zucchini, and about 50 tomato plants.  It was a LOT hotter then Sat. so we moved a little slower and did the potatoes in the afternoon the rest in the evening.

Today I put in the green and yellow beens, carrots, a flat of broccoli and cucumbers.

Ummm I can hardly  move!! LOL  We still have another 100 lb of potatoes to put in this week and a few other things to.

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Path to Freedom has kicked off a new challange.  The details as quoted from their site:

The challenge is simple. Beginning as soon as you can, prepare a meal at least once a week with only

homegrown vegetables, fruit, herbs, eggs, dairy products or meat,

 using as few store bought ingredients as possible.

The purpose is plain - the waging of an all-out fight against the forces that keep you dependent

 on the system of petroleum fueled food.

 The degree to which you rely on today’s artificial corporate structure determines the extent of your vulnerability.

Resolve to lessen your dependence on outside food sources.

The result is revolutionary. As you take back responsibility for your food supply,

 you’ll experience the empowerment and fulfillment that comes from learning

the basic skills of providing for yourself and your family.

Let’s sow the seeds of victory and get our hands dirty to fill our plates.

Plant a VICTORY GARDEN today!

:: Guidelines ::

A meal must be comprised of food grown on your property

or garden plot (literally or figuratively within - 100 feet - of your front or back door).

If non-homegrown ingredients are needed, then we suggest following these modified locavore guidelines

If not from BACKYARD, then Locally produced (PTF’s addition)

If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.If not FAMILY FARM, then

Local business.If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watch this wonderful video made by them.  I wish more people would do this with their yards!

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I was recently asked if there was any GM sweet corn on the market, or if it was all field (livestock) corn.  Yes there is is GM sweet corn and it has been on the market since 1998.  Most of the sweet corn you buy in the grocery store is genetically modified to contain BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) a natural bacterium found in soil around the world, as has field corn.  While it is a useful natural pesticide used properly it should not be inside the food we eat!  There have been many cases of animals around the world dying after eating BT corn.  There are numerous studies showing that genetically modified foods are NOT safe for animals or people to eat.  However these studies are covered up and the FDA rushes through the approval on many products. 

I encourage each family to do the research themselves but here are a few sites to get you started.

Cows Eat GM Corn and Die

Genetically Engineered Corn Study Shows Potential Harm To Stream Wildlife Near Farms

Agricultural Biotech Products on the Market

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If you have decided to try growing heirloom or open pollinated corn, the topic of cross pollination might be on your mind. 

Some people will tell you that corn pollen can travel half a mile to a mile on the wind.  Other people say that corn pollen is heavy and can't travel more then an eighth of a mile.  One way or another this isn't a lot you can do to prevent local farms or other gardens in town from affecting your plants.  However if you are very concerned about it you could cover your crop with a fine mesh net during pollination time. 

But if your main goals are to grow more then one type of open pollinated corn in your garden, there are things you can do to minimize this.

Choose varieties that have a minimum of 10 days difference in maturity date.  One thing to remember is that a second planting of corn, normally a mid season will catch up to an early corn even if planted a week or two latter.  This is because the soil is warmer and the growing conditions better.  It is best to wait until the first planting is 10" to 12" high then plant the second crop.    This will help to ensure they tassel at different times.

If you want to be extra safe when the second planting is just about ready to tassel out; go through the first planting and cut off all the tassels.  This will prevent any late pollen from blowing into the second crop.

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Well I'm starting to get caught up around here.  I've got all the dishes done with the exception of a few pots soaking.  Mount wash-more is getting smaller to LOL.  I'm finally getting over the all day morning sickness but still nursing a bad leg.  If I'm up to long it swells up and gets really sore.  First time I've ever pulled a muscle like that from just walking!  

Last night we got more SNOW, yes I said SNOW!  It felt more like Oct/Nov. out there then late May...They still say the weekend will be nice.  So I'm hoping the ground dries enough dh can till it up!!  Fri will be cool but sunny, Sat and Sun look nice and more rain for Mon.  (sigh).  I don't mind having to cover things up at night, it's easer then carrying the flats in and out all day. LOL

The lettuce and celery seem to be doing very well though, they are loving the cool wet weather.

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Well I haven't been able to get back in the garden, it's been to wet.  We even has some snow/rain mix yesterday! eeeks They are calling for it again tonight and then rain all day tomorrow...(sigh)  It does look like the rest of the week will be nice so hopefully this weekend we'll get the rest of the garden in!

This past weekend a friend and I took a trip to a huge garden center 2 hours away.  It's our yearly trip.  There I picked up some heirloom tomatoes Brandywine, Moskvich, Eva Purple Bell, Yellow Pare Cherry.

I was a little disappointed they didn't have any Roma types that were open pollinated.  But on the way home I found a woman selling plants that had lots of heirloom tomatoes.  From her I got, Opalka, Black Plum, Hillbilly, Rutgers, Amish Paste and Palmira.

At the first nursery I also picked up a rhubarb plant and 3 gooseberry plants.

As far as the rest of our garden we'll be planting 3 types of heirloom corn, national pickling cucumbers, yellow and green bush beans, zucchini, peas, red, white and purple potatoes, swish chard, broccoli, carrots, onions.

I know I have more to go in, but I can't remember the names right now LOL.  I'll post more as I plant.

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Ok this is my second try at posting...my pc is eating my posts today. 

Our spring started of with 2 weeks of nice hot weather and ever since then it's been cool and rainy.  So I'm just now starting to get into the garden.  

I'm working on the shady garden right now.  This is my patch on top of the hill that boarders a pine bush.  I've found it to be a wonderful place to grow cooler crops in the summer heat.  Cabbage, broccoli, and lettuce seem to love it especially and keeps them from bolting.  It has just one problem...It's infested with cleavers!  If you have never seen cleavers they can be a useful herb but NOT in the vegetable garden!  They are very invasive, choking out everything in it's path.  It's leaves are covered in sticky hairs that rip your arms like velcro when you try to weed them out.  So this year I'm trying something new, fabric mulch! 

Yesterday it wasn't raining so I got two rolls put down and planted some of our cabbage, celery and lettuce.  I hope to finish covering the garden with it soon and get some bark mulch on top to.

Cabbage

Celery

Lettuce

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Feeding our families healthy food at a good price is always a parents concern. With the rising food and energy crises in the world prices are jumping sharply. While we have seen the increase in food prices in North America it is the developing countries that have been hit the hardest. In North Korea the price of rice is up 186% since April 2007, its overall food price has soared 70%. In Pakistan wheat is up 66% and it’s overall food price has gone up 35%. Many countries are in a similar or worse position and I believe that it will soon be affecting our families more.

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Have you heard about the Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2008? It is an AMAZING online homeschool convention hosted by Cindy Rushton.  I find many conventions in my area imposable to get to, either a family commitment comes up or they simply don't allow children to attend.  Being a mother with 4 small children if my kids aren't welcome neither am I!

You see one of the neat things about the Ultimate Homeschool Expo is that everything is ONLINE. Cindy builds a private, exclusive Membership Site that includes everything from the UHSE in one place--it has audios (from all of the sessions and from the bonus gifts that her speakers give to us), ebooks, complete unit study guides, articles, printable notebooking pages, cookbooks, on and on. I can't believe all of the things that we receive for only $40. It is truly ULTIMATE!

Since EVERYTHING is recorded and saved online it gives me the freedom to join in live if I can or download all the sessions and free gifts when it's convenient for me.

Cindy has given me permission to give you a sampler of one of her free gifts that is included on the Membership Site.  I am so excited to share this with you! It is a audio and ebook set that she sells on her website, but she is giving away on the Membership Site. Here is the link:

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