YES! you Can grow Strawberries in an old tire - Update

When we first planted our strawberry tire garden I wondered if they would be baked alive in black tires in the South Carolina summertime heat.

And  to be honest there were a couple weeks I thought surely they had died, many of the larger leaves did wilt and die in the first weeks after we planted them. It didn't look good, and the disappointed look on my sons face only added to my guilt. Was I really a strawberry killer?  I had the urge to scoop them up out of the tires and re-plant them somewhere else, anywhere else, but then a baby cried, I became distracted with his needs,  and the moment passed.

A few days later we began to notice new growth at the base of our dead looking plants and they all began to re-grow almost miraculously! 

Now we have lush healthy strawberry plants that are growing out of their tires and yesterday we ate our first delicious strawberries. 

So what did we do to bring our strawberries back from the dead? 

Nothing.

It took me a little while to figure it out, but when we prepared our strawberry beds, we used some wasted hay from our goats pen which was mixed with fresh manure, this is the hay that falls out of the feeder and gets trampled on. I have always been told that goat manure was not "hot" and did not need to be composted before adding to the garden. I think I failed to take into account the urine in the hay as well. I believe the bed was too hot and that's why the plants died back but after a couple of weeks with regular watering they were able to come back and thrive. 

So lesson learned here: If you don't want to bake your strawberry plants alive, don't put them into a hot bed  using un-composted mulch in a black container. It would probably have been better to let the prepared bed sit for a few weeks before planting. 

Garden Update : This week in the garden

Well, I have to be honest here... I haven't been putting much work into the garden lately.

 Like none at all.

But even so I have harvested dozens of cucumbers.  The cukes are very happy...everything else, not so much.

The Twins rode their car through the corn knocking most of it down and what's left is small and wonky.

Then they picked ALL of  the green tomatoes that were still left after the goat incident where the goats ate most of the leaves off. I think it's safe to say that it's not going to be a good year for tomatoes which is usually my best bumper crop.

We have baby watermelons on the vine.

A Surprise Orchard

Dad surprised me with nine fruit trees that he found on sale half-price. He found two of my favorite apple variety HoneyCrisp, and a Granny Smith and a Gala for variety and pollinators. He got three peach trees, two Elberta and one Georgia Belle. And finally, two plum trees, a Blue Damson and a Santa Rosa.

We spent all day digging the holes for the trees on a sunny south facing bank in the back yard.

I have always wanted fruit trees so to finally be able to plant an orchard is a dream come true. I can't wait to see these beauties leaf out this year and in a few more years we will have fruit! My mouth is watering in anticipation of fresh homegrown peaches picked at the peak of ripeness.

We still need to install a heavy mulch around the base of the trees to keep the soil moist and to keep weeds down. For right now, we have used grass clippings, but I plan on putting some straw down to make a thicker mulch. Two things you want to keep in mind when mulching your fruit trees:

1. Keep mulch away from the bark of your trees. Mulch harbors insects, keep it at least six inches away from the trunk . 
2. The area being mulched grows with the tree, the mulch should extend to the drip line at the end of the trees branches. 

Can you grow Strawberries in an old tire?

I sure hope so because that's my plan for the boy's strawberry patch this season. We've been filling a large tractor tire and two smaller tires with compost and straw from the goat pen and finally got them filled up enough to plant. I had a little tray of 6 plants that we carefully tucked into the straw.

I was proudly showing off the newly filled tire planters to my neighbor EJ, who, being a local, kindly pointed out that in the South Carolina summer sun, they would probably be cooked in the tires. Yea, I didn't think of that, you see I'm used to growing in the mountains where you are always working to warm up the soil and extend your short growing season, baking the plants in their beds never occurred to me. I am having to practically start from scratch here, everything I knew about plants and growing in the mountains is right out the window.  Different soil, different climate. This is our first growing season here, I know I'll make mistakes but I'll be learning every step of the way.

Well, I wish you luck strawberries, I hope you don't get cooked before harvest!
Now before you go accusing me of cruelty to strawberries I do believe they have a good chance of survival, they get some shade in the late afternoons and with three young garden helpers to be sure they're well watered, I'm sure they won't suffer from neglect.

How do you grow your Strawberries?

This Week in the Garden - Amazing Changes

I spent all weekend in the garden with my dad, we had a great time digging in new beds for potatoes, tomatoes, rhubarb, lettuces and more!

It's a lot of fun planning and deciding where all of the different plants will go. We purchased our seed and plants from our local farm co-op

We used recycled pvc pipe for the borders around the perimeter bed to keep the big wheel traffic out.

We hauled numerous wheelbarrow loads of used goat bedding (straw/manure) to build up the red clay soil.

The radishes are almost ready to eat!

I started my herb garden with Rosemary Sage and Lavender plants and started Oregano, Thyme and Basil from seed.

We improved the border around the beans corn and onions

Re-cycling dyed Easter eggs...Fun Craft Ideas

Now that the egg hunts are over what can I do with these colorful battered eggs?

This year we got store bought white eggs to dye for Easter. That's right, store bought eggs, six dozen! And a NEON dye kit which produced the most vibrant eggs ever. I enjoyed admiring my kids amazing egg dying artistry.
Now, you may be thinking :

"How unsustainable and very un-homesteady* of you! Dying store bought eggs with artificial dye instead of home-made herbal dyes on your free range fresh eggs"  

Oh well, sometimes simplicity wins out.  But now all the Easter Egg Hunts are over and these battered eggs need to go. I usually crush up shells for the garden, (they're great around tomatoes to prevent blossom end rot) but wasn't sure about the dyes, they're supposed to be non-toxic and food grade but I didn't want to try it, so I did a little research and found some fun ideas to try with the kids.

Here's a fun mosaic craft using colored eggshell bits Mosaic Egg Craft that I found at Egg farmers of Alberta

Pendants and earrings made from eggshells The Egg Shell Pendant - Craft Tutorial video.

Here's a vase tutorial at Crafts by Amanda Egg Shell Mosaic Vase

How about a decoupaged jewelry or trinket box? Decoupage with Egg Shells

On Craftsmanship

What is Craftsmanship? It evokes a sense of true mastery and skill in workmanship, of creating something that is both beautiful and enduring with attention to detail.

To Craft is to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity.

Crafting involves making something in a skillful way by using your hands

crafts : objects made by skillful use of the hands

I learned about craftsmanship from my grandfather "Bud" He taught me the value of taking the time to do things right the first time. How to measure twice and cut once, how to take care of your tools so they will take care of you, and how to always do your best so you can be proud to put your name on your work and stand behind it.


Bud was a builder and a true craftsman, recognized for the uncompromising quality of his work. He built a house in the early 50's for my Great-grandmother. It's a small, modest farmhouse, but the level of attention to detail in the interior woodworking is amazing, you just don't see that kind of craftsmanship everyday.


Still to this day, one of the first things new visitors comment on when they walk into the house is the woodwork. "Wow, this woodwork is amazing!" is often exclaimed, and I am always proud to say, "My grandfather built it." He cut every board and hammered every nail. THAT is true craftsmanship, not just to create something that you can be proud of, but something that your family can be proud of for generations to come.


And that's what we are striving for here on our crafty farmstead, to build something our children and one day our grandchildren can be proud of.