Author: Julz

I read somewhere a long time ago that washing or rinsing your strawberries doesn’t remove pesticides and other yucky things.

What I didn’t know was you need to soak your strawberries.

At a neighborhood gathering at our friends next door, a new neighbor told me about soaking your strawberries in a solution of vinegar and water.

I asked Dylan to tell me more. He said when you soak your strawberries in a 3:1 solution of water to vinegar it removes mold spores, bacteria, and pesticides.

He went on to say after you soak and dry your strawberries, they keep longer and taste sweeter.

Really? How did I not know this? Probably because before last year I didn’t eat a lot of fresh fruit.

I know, I know but in my defense, I was on a low residue diet for years because of my ulcerated colitis.

Last year, I got the all clear to eat anything I wanted to since I was in remission!

Last summer, I ate more fresh fruit than I had in my whole life. Marty and I couldn’t get enough fresh peaches, plums, cherries, melons, and berries.

On Tuesday, I mixed up to he vinegar and water solution and soaked the strawberries I bought on Saturday.

I was disgusted when I saw what came off the strawberries that collected in the bottom of the bowl. Yuck.

Shit, I was eating that. Ew.

After I soaked and dried off the strawberries I put them back into the fridge.

That afternoon I tried a strawberry. It was smooth and tasted delicious. It tast d clean. Yum!

I looked up the percentage of average people who knew to soak their strawberries in vinegar water.

Not many average people knew about the soaking. Well that made me feel a little better, but I don’t like being average.

Let me know if you soak or don’t soak your strawberries. Have you heard about the vinegar and water thing?

I was very late to this party but better late than never. 🍓

Growing up Mother’s Day was a big day for my mother and her mother, Nana.

Oh, there were corsages, gifts, getting dressed up, and dinner out. That was when I was little.

As I got older the corsages were no longer a thing. My father would buy two gifts for my mother, one from him and one from me.

Eventually. the second gift he bought came from me and the other child they adopted. It was always jewelry I think.

My father never gave my mother a Mother’s Day card so I had to make one every year.

Eileen would always ask my father the same question every year as to why he didn’t give her a card.

My father’s answer was simple, “Because you aren’t my mother.”

As I got older and had a job I told my father I could buy my own Mother’s Day gift for my mother.

All of my gifts were never right if they weren’t jewelry or the right kind of jewelry.

That’s how all the gifts I ever gave her were received. Wrong. Believe it or not my mother-in-law was the same way!

When I became a mother I had a simple wish, I wanted to go to a nursery and buy some flowers to plant.

As a stay at home mom, I was with our kids 24/7. I needed a break sometimes but never asked for one.

My desire on Mother’s Day was always the same, go to a nursery to get flowers and have Marty “babysit” the boys.

Now I think it’s ridiculous I felt like I to ask him to babysit his own children!

Back then, I felt that since I wasn’t working a real job, I didn’t deserve time alone. The kids were my responsibility 100% of the time. That was my job.

I know now that kind of thinking was fucked up.

It was a branch off the “I’m not worthy tree” I experienced growing up, always having to be perfect and be a good servant since after all, my parents adopted me.

I owed it to them. I owed it to Marty. I definitely felt like I wasn’t worthy to have anything I truly desired, even if it was an hour or two here or there.

My mother is the one who made me feel and treated me that way and used that in all of her guilt trips and manipulation until she died.

The branch growing off that “I’m not worthy tree” was that I felt guilty doing anything for myself since Marty was the bread winner so I could stay home and raise out boys.

I did get my wish to buy and plant flowers. It rained on many of those Mother’s Days. I didn’t care I would be outside for 2 or 3 hours with a raincoat on planting my flowers.

I was able to breathe while I was planting the flowers. It was my time of zen and joy. I throughly enjoyed that time alone.

I always planted petunias because they are one of my favorite flowers. I loved dead heading the spent blooms every night while sipping wine.

I took very good care of my flowers every year. They made me smile and made the outside of our home beautiful.

I haven’t done the planting flowers on Mother’s Day thing since the kids grew up.

Yes, I always plant flowers in the springtime but not on any one particular day anymore.

I didn’t think about that until today. I had mixed feeling about it. Sad, relieved, nostalgic, and bittersweet feelings.

As for my petunias this year, I started my own from seeds and they are better and bigger than any I ever purchased from a nursery! Yay!

However, nothing will ever beat those petunia hanging basket I had a few years ago. They were amazing.

Marty didn’t like them because they blocked his view from the front porch. Everyone loved them almost as much as I did.

This story is about me being the unlikely homesteader in a very Irish storyteller way again.

My first story was when Sam told me the piece wasn’t really about gardening. Oh, but it was my man-child.

Each of these stories in this series will keep explaining how I got to where I am today.

What started when the kids were little as an idea to get a little me time and beautify our home turned into something that I cherished each year.

It was so nice having some quiet and peaceful time but now I realize how much I enjoyed having my hands in the earth.

I loved watching my flowers grow. It wasn’t a task to take of them like all the other things I did.

I found it to be like a ritual to me during the spring and summer. Then the first frost would come and it was all over until the following year.

When I was ill with my lung disease two years ago, I wanted to start doing things that brought joy to my life.

I could have chosen anything, but the first thing I thought of was gardening.

This year I’ve spent hours and hours by myself starting seeds and all the other things that go with growing your own garden plants and flowers from scratch.

My favorite time is in the greenhouse or the garden. I get the same feelings I had while planting my flowers on all of those Mother’s Day’s.

I never would have imagined that I would be a real gardener and not just a mom who liked planting flowers and got a little time off.

Everyday I can’t wait to get out there and explore and check up on everything outside.

It’s become a ritual for me that I don’t have to wait for only once a year. It’s my life now.

Today, I decided I am going to plant some of my flowers again on Sunday, Mother’s Day and bring that tradition back. ☺️

Life-net 7-2 posted this photo celebrating nurses week at the their base.

No time for a post but I wanted to share the photo of our boy Sammy. ♥️

This has been a very productive week for my gardens. It’s Sunday and today Marty helped me finish filling the six galvanized steel 8×2 raised beds.

The garden’s expansion project was a lot of work, everything was harder and took much longer than I first thought.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was the only time we have to do most of these projects. The garden expansion project is 90% done. Whew!

We began working outside and the rain held off until about 1:30 pm which gave us enough time today to finish up this part of the project! Yay!

After doing some more research on companion gardening early this morning, I realized that potatoes should not be grown near brassicas, tomatoes, or squash.

Broccoli & brussel sprouts are in the brassica family, tomatoes, and squash is what is going in the new garden area with the potatoes right next to them.

Marty moved the potatoes for me to a perfect spot that isn’t near anything else.

That’s the good news. There was some bad news this week but I acted quickly and remedied the situation in afternoon.

Aphids invaded the greenhouse this week. Like I said in my “Close Call” piece, I know my seedling plants like I know my own kids.

On Wednesday, I noticed some of the eggplant’s and the hollyhock’s lower leaves were turning yellow and dying. The eggplant was located next to the brussel sprouts and broccoli.

On Thursday morning, I decided to inspect the eggplant closely and then I found those green little bastards.

“Oh, fuck!” I said loudly. Marty asked what was wrong and I told him the plants have aphids. He didn’t have any idea what I was talking about.

I had to wait until after production before addressing this invasion which was difficult for me, but work comes first.

Marty set up a folding table for me and I emptied out all the plants with aphids. Eggplant, broccoli, brussel sprouts, hollyhocks, and bell peppers.

I cleaned the aphids off each plants using the sprayer attachment from our outdoor shower.

Next, I checked all the other plants in the greenhouse and they were all aphids free.

I looked at the weather and decided all the perennials I started from seed back in February were ready to be transplanted especially with 5 days of rain in the forecast.

I also made the decision to transplant the brussel sprouts and broccoli into their new raised beds.

I made sure each broccoli and brussel sprouts sprout plants were free of any aphids before putting them into the beds.

Next, I installed low tunnels to attach insect netting to these brassica beds.

The tunnels and netting were smaller than I thought but are fine for now. I have to get taller tunnels and some bulk shade cloth before the brussels grow taller.

I think the broccoli will be fine but will may need shade cloth as well.

My new first year perennial garden which is located on the front side of our house is a work in progress.

I transplanted lilies to the area in front of the picked fence in the fall when Marty removed the lawn and prepped the area for me.

I grew hollyhocks, lupine, delphinium and foxglove plants from seed and planted them in between the lilies.

I know most of them won’t product blooms this year, but you have to start somewhere right?

After I transplanted all the plants, I used my half-moon edging tool to create each bed. Now, the bed is ready for mulch.

I also planted all the echinacea plants I started from seed in the front perennial beds I created last year and a few in the wildflower garden.

A couple of days later I said, “fuck it” and threw down all of my wildflowers seeds from my own garden and from my friend Ann’s garden into the wildflower garden.

Ann sent me her seeds for Christmas which was such a nice gift. I sent some seeds to her for her bday in February.

We are now both parts of each other’s gardens which I love!

As far as the rest of the greenhouse plants go, I surrounded the eggplant with marigolds and herbs that aphids don’t like.

I am still finding a few on each plant and remove them every morning.

The tomato plants are still recovering from the too cold water incident but will make it. It definitely stunted their growth a bit though.

The sunflowers I started are getting tall and I have noticed with both my tomatoes and sunflowers the leaves change at night.

I never noticed this before because who the hell goes out to their garden in the dark to look at the plants leaves?

The tomato plants leaves close up and inward and the sunflowers turn down. I can’t believe I even noticed it but it’s hard not to.

When I take the girls, Nelly & Roxy out for their bedtime pee I always go in and “tuck in” my plants at their bedtime.

Yes, I am over the top but they are my babies after all.

I planted snow peas on Friday and started germinating two types of beets, two types of carrots, and parsnips seeds.

The root vegetable beds are ready for them as soon as the seeds produce sprouts. It’s very exciting.

This week I am considering planting some of the flowers and herbs into pots and move them out of the greenhouse as well.

There is more room in the greenhouse so I can spread things out a bit as the flowers are getting bigger.

My wave petunias have actual flower buds that are almost ready to open!

This is very exciting especially since the last few years I haven’t been as successful as far as wave petunias go.

Those I got from nurseries that’s why I decided to grow my own from seed this year.

Another week another update. The upcoming week has a lot of rain in the forecast but decent daytime and nighttime temps.

The heater has been turned off in the greenhouse getting the plants hardened off for when the time comes to transplant everything outside.

I go to bed pretty exhausted these days but it’s a great kind of tired. I am getting stronger everyday too.

Building my strength back after being ill for a long time has also been a challenge but I am working my hardest in everything I do.

Just before the rain started after gardening, I went into the pool since Marty installed the stairs.

Swimming? Yes. The water is now 86 degrees and felt great diving under the water and swimming again!

Having a heater for the pool was a must for us and worth every penny. We can swim from now until October! Yay!

Have a great week everyone and local people stay dry. ☔️

Spring has officially sprung and boy did it happen fast. Overnight the buds on the trees opened and there were tiny leaves in the morning.

I can see how things grow overnight in my greenhouse but it’s pretty amazing to see it happen in nature.

Sunday morning we had our first tea & coffee on the front porch. It’s was Roxy’s first time ever sitting on the porch in the morning.

Nelly was so excited when I told her what we were doing, she raced to the door and jumped up on “our” couch.

I converted the loveseat into a couch so there was more room on the “our” side.

I also turned the couch facing the street which is a better view than the pig stye next door.

Who throws their own coffee cups on the ground in front of your residence? Well our neighbor does and any idea where they wind up?

You guessed it, that was too easy. Zero lack of respect for where he lives, our town, or us who has to constantly pick up his cigarette butts and coffee cups. 😠

Another first was last night, we had our first official 2025 dinner party under the pergola.

It looked so pretty and the meal was cooked at the outdoor kitchen. Easy peasy entertaining.

We had a short and lovely dinner on a Monday night. It was an early night for everyone. It was perfect.

Another first today was after working in the garden I took an outdoor shower! It was sunny and 84 degrees.

It came back to me as soon as the shower rain head began to wet my hair and dripped down my body.

Taking an outdoor shower is fucking awesome!!! Our outdoor one is so much nicer and better than our indoor one.

For the next 6 months, we will be using it and loving the view of the sky!

Marty’s first was going into the pool which is 80 degrees! It was in the mid 60s last week before he turned on the heater.

I’m waiting until we install the wedding cake steps which will happen soon.

I am enjoying celebrating the seasonal firsts. They fill me with joy and gratitude.

Today almost felt like summer. Tomorrow will be back to spring, which is ok too.

Sail. As in a sail, that are sold to provide shade to a patio or deck.

We enjoy being outdoor on our deck as much as possible and with a great view of the mountains who wouldn’t.

Well, anyone who didn’t want to have bright sunshine or extreme heat beating down on them.

Due to the extreme sun, heat, and rain we’ve had to move many dinner parties indoors.

I could barely prep since the sun was so hot beating down. I always had to go back into the kitchen to finish. Bummer.

The bottom photo is from last June when I had friends over for a potluck dinner. We had to eat inside because of the heat and sun.

We were able to have dessert outside after the sun dipped down behind the trees.

We both love our outdoor kitchen area and would use it more if only we had a little protection from the elements.

That’s when I had the great idea to order a sailcloth.

We tried different sizes and styles but at the end of the day, either rain would drip through or rain water would pool in the shade.

We tried everything and conceded that was a failure. Oh well, it was worth a good shot.

Even though the sail cloth idea failed, when it did work we realized how great it was have something over us especially in the hot sun.

Remember, I love being in the sun but not when I am trying to eat or cook after a long day.

Then it happened. Marty found a “used” pergola on Facebook marketplace that was used in flower shows.

It was in our price range and the owner, carpenter, mill shop owner who made it agreed to install it for us at a fair price.

The pergola began going up the beginning of October. The pergola install went quickly.

We decided we wanted to cover the pergola after watching a lot of YouTube videos.

Sometimes the covers are as expensive as pergolas themselves. Marty contacted many dealers, suppliers etc searching for something in our price range.

Pergolas can cost up to $25,000 up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. We paid a tiny fraction of that.

Like I said the coverings can cost almost as much. We ended up getting the best deal Marty could possibly find.

We just had to wait for it to be delivered. It took some time to arrive then we needed to wait for the pergola guy to install it for us.

We normally do everything ourselves but Marty isn’t good with heights so that was out.

The pergola was completed in mid-November just in time for winter.

In the meantime, we needed to figure out the new kitchen design that would be best for the very rustic pergola.

Again, we watched shitloads of youtube videos for ideas. We searched the internet for ideas and products.

The results were that everything was way too expensive. So we designed our own and Marty built it like everything else we have.

He got the rough cut lumber from the pergola guy’s mill. The “cabinetry” came out exactly as we imagined it.

Next, we needed to think about lighting for the space which is 16×16.

Marty miraculously found a pair of huge industrial pendant lights in Facebook marketplace for a song and a dance.

We still needed lighting for over the dining table. I wanted a modern wagon wheel light but all the ones we found in our price range looked cheap.

Marty found a legit old school wagon wheel chandelier that looked like it came from an old seafood restaurant.

It was cheap and had character so it became the next Facebook marketplace purchase.

Countertops were next. Since we designed our workstation wider in depth than regular sized cabinets making it impossible to find anything that was big enough.

Custom wasn’t even an option. We almost used wood but then we went to a local rock and masonry business.

We found exactly what we needed and made it work. It was a super inexpensive investment thanks to the owner.

We ended up with pieces of marble that follow the same rough cut design as the rest of the kitchen pergola design.

Yay! We were done! But it was winter so we really couldn’t use it except for making pizza and grilling.

We found out it was great not having to shovel the deck and that Nelly and Roxy’s doggie door was covered as well.

This was something we didn’t realize would be such a wintertime bonus.

So far we’ve had a few lunches and a dinner on the deck covered pergola. It doesn’t even feel like it’s the same place.

The view from my cozy back room. 🤩

It’s rustic, cozy, and inviting. The tinted polycarbonate roof lets in light but filters out the heat and brightness which was how it all started.

With a sail.

I love sharing my learning adventures and writing about whatever the outcome is.

Sharing successes is easy to write about, almost fucking up is a good learning lesson not only for me but maybe for some of you.

My failures are now comical to me since I have found peace and I don’t turn into the Incredible Hulk anymore.

Everything was growing beautifully. Then I started ruining it! Shit, shit, shit!

I couldn’t understand why my tomato plants were turning purple on the underside of the leaves and their stems.

Then I started to notice the same happening to some of my flowers and broccoli. Fuck!

I quickly searched the web and found out why. Ugh!

Early last week Marty set up all the hoses with their sprayer attachments.

I decided to bring the hose into the greenhouse and water everything.

That was the first no-no.

The second no-no was when I decided instead of bringing room temp water in milk jugs the house I would use the hose water.

Then I did it again. That’s when everything started turning purple. Dammit! Ugh!

I read that I could do a couple of things and the plants will turn green again Whew!

While I was using the water from the hose first of all in a bright sunny afternoon I burned the basil leaves from my indoor plant. 😕

The hose water was very cold which was too cold for the roots of the plants. When this happens the plants can get any nutrients.

The plants began lacking phosphorus. I applied organic tomato and garden fertilizer to each of the correct pots and watered them with warm water.

Today, after I watered everyone with warm water, I did notice a couple of the stems of the tomato plants were turning green again with an ombré effect.

My plants that I started from seeds are my babies. Just like my sons I could tell the second something wasn’t right.

I knew when the boys were sick even before they did sometimes and I always knew when they had a problem.

I study each of my veggie and flower plants everyday when I check on them and I knew something was very wrong.

Thank goodness I acted quickly and was able to remedy the situation. They all should be ok, I hope.

Just because the hoses were handy to use I never thought about the temperature of the water coming out. Duh!!!

This will go in my garden notes for sure. This mistake turned into a lesson for me to learn from.

I feel like a total dumb ass and realize I am still a novice and can’t get cocky.

This experience made me a more humble gardener knowing you have to think about these things to be a truly successful.

So much was accomplished in the last week! Yesterday, on Easter Sunday Marty and Sam helped me finish loading the compost into all the beds.

The big pile is gone! Yippee. I amended the compost by adding 10 10 10 fertilizer to all of the beds and barrels.

Marty will call to see if the garden soil we need is ready and have it delivered.

Today, I touched up the edging in my front flower and wildflower beds.

Last year, the edging job was a big one but the results were great and worth the time.

This year went quick! The wildflower bed took me less than 15 minutes to clean up.

I reshaped the front beds a bit to add more flowers. It was easy work with that half moon tool Marty bought for me last year.

I am pleased where I am at garden wise. The weather has been cool and not the greatest so this type of work makes sense to get over with.

The plants in the greenhouse continue to grow. I’m getting them used to cooler temps by lowering the heater temp at night.

I am eager like everyone else for the weather to turn the corner and remain warm and have more sunshine. ☀️

Sam arrived at our place last night because he is working today in Johnstown, NY.

As we were catching up I asked him if he read my new garden series The Unlikely Homesteader.

He hadn’t so I read it to him. He smiled as I read it aloud because he was remembering what I wrote.

After I was done, he said he liked it, but it wasn’t about gardening. Oh yes it is!

The point of the series is explaining to people where I came from, how I raised and why I am the person I have become right now.

I am a homesteader wannabe which is a long stretch even for me to understand.

I was the furthest thing from a homesteader. I was a homemaker but not a homesteader.

The series will reveal how the change occurred and why I wasn’t one to begin with.

As with all of my blog posts I have no idea what will come out of my brain until I am typing it.

I am an Irish storyteller which drives Marty crazy but there are many parts to cover before any story is finished.

The back stories are very important to weave together a good piece of writing.

After explaining that to Sam he got it then we had a good laugh about his boots and peeing in a rusty old can. 😂

Since my last update, quite a lot of activity has taken place in my garden.

I’ve been so wishy washy when it has come to the garden expansion. More space is sometimes overwhelming.

Marty was going to use his tractor that doesn’t have a cutting deck and cart to help me haul compost up the hill to the raised beds.

That was the plan however the tractor had other plans. It wouldn’t start and he was busy working at his other jobs at the beginning of the week.

I did it all manually and let me tell you it was a workout! Shoveling the compost into our garden wagon was easy.

Shoveling the compost into the beds was easy. The pulling and pushing the wagon uphill was a bitch.

I couldn’t add as much to the cart as I would have liked because it made the wagon too heavy. How frustrating.

Just as I was on the last raised bed Marty came home from work and tinkered with the tractor and got it started!

Hallelujah! He helped me fill the cart and the bed and the sunflower bed were filled in no time!

I showed a photo in the last update of the expansion that had my beautiful blue raised beds next to the galvanized steel ones which I hated!

I filled the blue half barrels with compost and realized they were a fucking obstacle course and in the way of the wagon.

Shit! I had to remove the compost to move them out of the way. This is a typical me move.

More back breaking work that was unnecessary if I thought things through before I filled them up. Ugh.

While I was working on the barrels my creative side figured out why the blue beds looked so good last year.

The blue beds popped against the grey production kitchen and the brown mulch.

Next, I had to empty those out so I could carry them to where they were being moved to.

Again, I didn’t think things through. I put the cart before the horse and made even more work for myself!

The good news is I love where they are now, and they look great.

As far as the garden veggies and flowers in the greenhouse go they are growing fast!

I had to pot up some flowers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and eggplant. I could tell they outgrew their pots when I saw the roots.

The next day when I went out to check on “everybody” I was shocked how much the flowers grew overnight!

I’m glad I figured out that the plants struggle to get bigger in a pot that’s too small.

Some items aren’t doing as well as the others. I’ve replanted bell peppers twice and so far have only three plants.

Same thing with poblanos now I have four. I wanted eight pepper plants from both varieties.

The blueberry and strawberry starter plants haven’t done shit!

The potatoes have sprouted a lot so I have had to add more potting mix to each container.

I planted some head lettuce, lettuce mix, argula, and baby spinach.

I’ve been told, have seen on YouTube, and have read in garden blogs that trying to grow head lettuce is not worth it.

Of course, I have to do the extra work just to see. I’m hoping the giant Caesar Romain and butter crunch grow.

I’ve been working in the garden every chance I can after production. Today, I planted some annual alyssum and aster seeds directly in the pots.

I’m not sure about the results but again I want to try.

So, next week we have to have some garden soil delivered. I also have to amend the compose with fertilizer before I can add the soil.

The same thing needs to be done to the blue raised beds and barrels.

I have to bring compost up to our front yard where I am putting in a new perennial garden with delphiniums, lupine, and hollyhocks.

Yes, I know they may not flower this year but you have to start somewhere.

Those flowers I just mentioned are doing particularly well and are large which I am super happy about.

The beds I worked hard on last year in front of our porch will also be expanded with lots of annual cottage garden flowers which are growing beautifully!

I have to learn to be more patient and think things through before I start planting shit in the wrong places.

The last thing to do before planting will be adding mulch to cover up the ugly ass green tarp.

Then I can start touching up the edging I did last year to the wildflower and porch beds, then add fresh mulch.

That’s it for this week’s update. I still have a long way to go.