Garden Plans

I've been thinking, and planning about my garden.

I plan on concentrating a little more, and I plan on doing more 'staple' crops you might say. I plan on devoting at least 1/3 of my space (right now, calculated up to 1500 square feet) to potatoes and sweet potatoes. Of that third I plan on doing about 2/3s potatoes, and 1/3 sweet potatoes.

I plan for root crops to do: carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, radishes, and beets (mostly carrots, parsnips, and rutabaga)
For brassica: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, and maybe kohlrabi. (I plan on doing 50sq ft cabbage, 25sq ft broccoli and cauliflower)
Misc stuff: tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, cucumbers (I'll probably do less tomatoes, and concentrate on those few) For winter squash I plan on planting again above the fence, but using the Whizbang Winter Squash Secret.

So, I've drawn up a few plans for next year (I am doing a rotation of crops, not the same crop grown on the same space twice in a row).

I planted 24 more garlic cloves today. Along with 60 leeks. Next week I plan on planting my shallot bulbs, and more leeks and garlic. If I had onions I would plant them also.

Right now the plan is to get bees sometime in probably March or April, also about the same time I plan on getting chickens. It sounds like I will be quite busy this Spring. Though, bees, after the first week only need check up ones or twice a week. Chickens are going to be a little more time consuming especially at the beginning. If I get them early April I should be getting eggs before the end of summer.

Well, that is part of the plans for my garden, along with an update on what I planted. I am sure I will have more to post on plans for the garden.

See ya!

English Vintner

Apple Boards

Three years ago I thought up the idea for an apple board. And for the last three years it has served us well. We usually get 10-20 bushels and turn that into cider, apple sauce, and frozen apples. With all that cutting it sure helps to have an Apple Board!

The apple board measures 20 inches by 8 inches, with a raise of 2 inches in back. It has a 3 inch hole in the center which serves two purposes. If you are cutting up apples for apple sauce into a pot, or a bucket for cider, all you do is put the Apple Board over it, halve and quarter, and drop through the hole, saving lots of time. The second purpose it serves is as a place to put the apple before you have a chance to cut into it. For a big apple you put the apple into the hole, chop down half way into it, bring it out and chop down, all in on stroke.

The groove at the bottom of the board catches stray seeds, stems, and also collects juice from the apples, keeping your counter more clean.

If you are like our family having one of these is going to make chopping apples more fun, and save you time. If you are not satisfied with it I offer a full guarantee of the product.

An optional addition is to have something wood burned onto it, a name or initials. I also do custom orders if you want something else done to it, or if you have a specific kind of wood that you me to use.

These make great gifts if you have family or friends who do a lot with apples. And apples is not the only thing Apple Boards are used for, I'm sure you could find it to serve great for cutting up vegetables for soup over a pot.

For pricing email me at: english3zachariah@gmail.com (omit the 3 inbetween english and zachariah).

Cheers, for my favorite season, Autumn!
English Vintner