Hardy Pecan Tree Seeds For Sale (Wisconsin Strain) and Video on How to Start Them From Seed!

 Head on over right now to Magicland Farms to purchase your seed nuts so you can get them growing ASAP. The faster you get them in some soil, the better!

http://www.magiclandfarms.com/

 

 

 

What do you think of when you think of apples?

I hope you think of something tasty! 

Today one of my brothers and his son stopped by for a visit. Haven't seen them in over a year. Zach (that's my nephew) asked his dad (my brother) what's his favorite apple. Brother said: "An edible one." What? I thought. Well, it's true. Many people just haven't experienced good apples. They are mushy from being months in storage, picked green because demand forces the commercial growers to get the apples moving, or an apple was bred and sold for its appearance only, leaving the taste factor (the important part) to the wayside.  

I am spoiled beyond compare I think. Because when I think of apples I think of (besides lots of work) a myriad of flavor, sweetness, tartness, and texture combos. My dad has accumulated over 30 years worth of apple varieties in his orchard - that's over 100 varieties! And I tasted (and harvested) them all! I can experience the cream of the crop, picked right off the tree at the optimum picking time. Lucky right? 

Apples are really amazing compared to any other fruit in the world. I say this because there is no other fruit that can transform its texture and flavor like an apple. You can have a lip puckering tart apple like the Calville Blanc D'hiver or you can have a candy sweet apple like the Tolman Sweet. No other fruit that is "in season" for so long. From July to December you will find certain apple varieties just starting to ripen. Besides apples being unique and yummy they also pack a big vitamin punch. Eating healthy and apples should really be synonymous. Read about the health benefits HERE and HERE. Oh, and guess what, my dad wrote descriptions of many of the apples he grows. Read about them by downloading the PDF booklet HERE.  And if you are in the Newaygo, MI area, stop by at my family's farm and see and taste the apples in person! 

So, what do you think of when you think of apples?

Again I hope it's something tasty - or at least I hope you will soon discover it to be something oh, so yummy!

How to Start Your Own Tomato Plants from Seed YouTube Video

I have completed another gardening video! I have started so many plants from seed this year (would you believe in the hundred thousands?) and it made me think that I should be sharing what I've learned with all of you. So I made a step by step video on how I plant tomato seeds for optimum germination. I chose tomatoes because I know everyone loves tomatoes in some way, but also because I believe that when you've grown your own tomato seedlings you will want to start all your plants from seed!

You may wonder why not just purchase tomato plants. I'll give you two good reasons--they are so expensive and you are very limited in variety and flavor. Growing your own tomato seedlings has everything going for it! I know it may seem somewhat of a challenge if you haven't grown anything from seed before, but believe me, it's much easier than you think.

So, let's get started!

Trying out a Night Vision Trail Cam

On January 16th of this year we set up our new Bushnell Trail Cam at our farm. We wanted to have some fun with it so we tied it to a tree overlooking an animal den. My intentions were to capture a fox on the camera, but was surprised to find a whole party of animals that night. Check out the video I put together on YouTube. Click on the embedded video to see it larger on YouTube.

Seed Swaps DO's and DON'Ts

It is a great time of year to start getting your seeds together and begin planning out your garden. I say seeds, because we all know how expensive plants are, so starting your own plants from seed is really the way to go if you are on a budget. For my family's farm we plant all our annual crops from seed, including tomatoes, peppers, and onions, which we start indoors.

Growing Lettuce in Winter - Part 2

We spaded the ground in our unheated greenhouse, removing weeds and debris. To spade, push your shovel in the ground and lift a shovel full of dirt out of the ground. Turn your whole shovel over and let the dirt fall back into the hole you just made. The point of doing this is to bring relatively untouched soil from under the ground to the surface, bury the organic material that was on the surface, and to break up the compacted soil.

Blessed Virgin Garden Outdoor Statue Restoration

I've been wanting to show you the restoration process of my family's Mary statue and thought today was a good as time as any. Perhaps you'll be inspired to restore one of your own garden statues. If you have any questions about the process just drop me a line. I'd love to see the before and after photos and post them on the blog for others to see.

This is the before shot of our statue. My parents bought it in 1989 after a large hail storm hit the orchard a year earlier. They placed the statue in the middle of the fruit orchard and built a garden around it. The statue has seen a lot of weather since then and it was time for a makeover. My sister Catherine and I took on the restoration project and we began by chipping away at the old paint with a steel brush.

Home-canned Tomato Sauce vs. Store Bought? Any difference?

I just finished reading a post my dad wrote about homemade tomato sauce vs. store bought and thought to share it here on my blog. My dad makes a meatless spaghetti sauce and yesterday we enjoyed a pot full. It was one of the best batches - he even added big chunks of carrots which are stewed in the sauce and pick up all the wonderful flavors for one delicious bite!

See my dad's post here: http://blog.magiclandfarms.com/?p=462

See my sister's take on our homemade spaghetti sauce and a delicious Spaghetti bread recipe: http://sabbathsupper.blogspot.com/2010/12/we-call-it-spaghetti-bread.html

See how we make our homemade tomato sauce on the farm's YouTube channel: http://youtu.be/eDi6tRZOueA

Growing Lettuce in Winter: Part 1

Starting lettuce in winter was successful for us. We transplanted it into a raised bed inside our unheated greenhouse. We covered the raised bed in a low tunnel as well, we then snaked a heating cable through the bed and set out a heat lamp that turned on when it got close to the freezing point. Step by step photos below will show you how we started the lettuce from seed. The interesting thing about this "lettuce-in-winter escapade" is

Bushnell Trophy Trail Camera in action

Bushnell Trophy Cam was found under the Christmas tree this year and we've been checking out the animal night life around here with not much luck. Although we did catch two kitties on video! Yet, over the weekend we set it up in our woods and took video of some deer. Big deal, right? But it was quite entertaining . . . you can see it on my family farm's YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe, too!