Category Archives: Square Food Garden

Summer Goal Update

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Today is Monday and I attempt to post a menu plan most Mondays. However this week we have VBS at church and are provided dinner every evening. A whole week of not having to decide what is for dinner is so heavenly! The focus for lunches this week will be to clean out the refrigerator. With the traveling I will be doing in the next couple of weeks, I like to not come home to science experiments.  I decided this would be a good time to update on my Summer goals.

1. Make and order 8 photo books. 2 have been printed and have arrived!  I have a third that I am working on. This is a long process. 
2.  Read a total of 8 books. I have read 1 book this summer but I have the other 7 in the camper for our beach trip.  
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s. Completed 7/9/2026
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies. This may actually not happen this summer due to we only have 1 jar of spaghetti sauce left after I made the baked zitis.  I am hopefully that we will have a giant tomato harvest if not I will start purchasing canner boxes of tomato and make both spaghetti and salsa after returning to work. 
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas. Goal met 6/19/2026.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. I am struggling with this goal as my knee is really bothering me. I have walked at least 6 times this summer but not anywhere near my goal. 
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas. goal met 6/19/2026
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles. goal met 6/19/2026
9. Changing this to make it fit the overall purpose.  Have 100 ready to heat meals in the freezer.   We currently have 75 prepared dinner meals with additional breakfasts already in the freezer so I am hopeful to complete this before September.

5 Things Friday

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  1. Found Money- I think that I am usually really good at keeping track of my money.  I usually try not to let anybody keep my money without interest.  However this week, I have discovered that two separate business, held my money for over a year. First is the dentist office.  All three kids had dentist appointments two weeks ago. They are all old enough to go without me. Zach did call me and say that he needed more fluoride toothpaste and then text to say that I did not need to pay because he had a credit on his account. When I got time I called and this week they called me back.  Not only does he have a credit but Lily also has a credit from 2024. In thirty days I am expecting a check for $681.99.  The second found money is from a car service plan.  We purchased several service plans when I bought my car.  When reviewing one we realized that I paid for a battery in November 2025 that was covered under a service plan. I made Several phone calls and should receive $299 back in a matter of weeks. $980 found this week.
  2. I am trying an experiment. Our clothes have gotten increasingly wrinkled to the point I really need to iron even the t-shirts.  I hate ironing!  So instead I am currently hanging our outer clothes on the line to dry. If this works, I will do the last several times we wash clothes this summer. It will be hard to do when I go back to work but I am hoping it works well enough to stop or eliminate the need to iron right now.
  3. This summer has been extremely hot and dry!  We have been struggling to keep up with the demand of water.  After seeing the dead and sun burnt plants, I made the decision to pull out all my squash and green beans and replant.   We have gotten very little from these plants and I had the extra seeds. I am hoping that this works if not then I really have only just wasted time!
  4. We are starting to get some cherry tomatoes from the garden!  They are small but good!
  5. I ended up going to Cherry hill farm to purchase a box of canning tomatoes to make Baked Ziti with. My summer break going so fast that I realized that if I did not get the ziti made this week it probably would not get done. $15 for the tomatoes was cheaper and better than buying jarred sauce.

5 Things Friday

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  1. We are currently experiencing a heat wave with temperatures between 95-100 and feel like temperatures between 105 and 110 degrees. We are also continuing  to experience extreme drought conditions. We have a watering system for most of our square foot gardens but it really cant keep up with the heat and drought conditions. I am not sure how much produce we will be getting.
  2. Matt was able to find a couple of small cherry tomatoes and we have gotten a couple of cucumbers and several squash. I am disappointed but we continue to try and definitely use what we get1
  3. Because of the holiday (fourth of July) occurring on Saturday, Matt and Lily both were off today! Kendall worked today but is off the weekend and so is Zach. We enjoyed a rare treat of pizza for dinner since we were all home for dinner.
  4. Matt and I spent a large part of the day cleaning the house. With all the kids working just about every day, I am struggling to keep up with the daily chores and have not been able to keep the house to a clean level that I wanted. It feels awesome to have the whole house clean!
  5. I am continuing to work on adding food to the freezer!  I was able to make two additional meals of stuffed shells this week.  I have also added several options for breakfast will continuing to use up the eggs!

Another busy but productive week.

Summer Goal Update

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In order to stay accountable, I need to make a weekly update on what I have been able to do!

This week is likely one of the slowest of the summer, keeping this in mind, I have been focused on making specific progress toward the goals.

One big thing that we accomplished this week that was not on the list was cleaning out the master closet. Matt and I reduced our closet by HALF!

This week I was able to pick about half a gallon of blueberries from the garden. Matt make blueberry muffins last night and the rest were frozen for future use.

1. Make and order 8 photo books. I have made one complete book on Shutterfly from our cruise. I am waiting for a good sale before ordering.  
2.  Read a total of 8 books. No progress this week. 
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas. I actually purchased 4 chickens at Costco to make this easier and the cheapest as well!  We now have 6 in the freezer and one for dinner next week!  Goal met 6/19/2026.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. No progress on this week. I have not been outside much at all this week with lots of kitchen progress. 
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas.  I was able to make 6 taco pasta and we ended up freezing 5 of these. I am going to count this as goal met 6/19/2026
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles. I was able to make 6 chicken broccoli casseroles. and we ended up freezing 5 of these. I am going to count this as goal met 6/19/2026
9. Make at least 50 meatballs and freeze.  This one is a little tricky but I wanted a place to record this. I made and froze 6 meals of Salisbury steaks this week. When I made the list I did not realize we were out of Salisbury steaks so that is the reason it was not included. 

Garden Update

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We have worked really hard this year to try and an irrigation to the raised beds.  We are also struggling with water due to the drought conditions that we are experiencing. But I am so impressed with how good things are looking that I just wanted to share pictures!

First up the front Green  Stalk and other flowers are pretty!

The tomato beds are growing! They require us to fill the drum about once a week or closer to every 10 days.

We actually have some volunteer tomatoes as you saw in the Green Stalk, we have one in front of the actual tomato bed as well as a couple of beds in the back.  Matt was so excited to find this in the back garden!

We have some zucchini plants but I am not sure why they are significantly smaller than the squash!

We even have a baby squash on the plant!  As well as huge healthy looking plants.

Our one lettuce plant is still going strong. I am thinking that I am going to let it bolt and go to seed to see if we can get some lettuce this fall.  Cucumbers and green beans are growing as well

The peppers appear to be thriving as well on the back deck. I am hoping for a large harvest from these as well

Next up  the spice and pepper and flower Green Stalk!

Finally the watermelon bed!

Sunday Garden Update

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The rain was exactly what we needed!  The garden has taken off as you can see in these pictures. I am most excited that we now have full water barrels and have even purchased a third barrel. Because of clean out, I am not sure when we will be able to use it but that will put us at over 900 gallons of rain water!  First up is the tomato beds! I did not lose a single tomato after planting in these beds!  I am equally excited at the row of sunflowers that have started in the front!

Next we have watermelons!  I am positive these will not be ready to enjoy until at least late August but I am still excited!

Everything in the garden beds are green and growing! We have been enjoying lettuce on BLTs and even enough for a couple of salads!

Finally the Greenstalk planters are alive and beautiful!  I am hopefully for lots and lots and lots of peppers this year!

We have determined that the peacock from next door is munching in the garden! I am so hopeful that we have stopped his access!

5 Things Friday

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1. For the first time in 22 years, Matt and I have made plans to go away for the weekend without any children!  I need a break and this worked out to be just at the prefect time.  I am not going to give any more details till we are home safe but I am super excited!
2. The garden is looking really good! One big change is the amount of watering we are doing. With that in mind, the current plan is to get one more tote to fill with water. So that even in drought we should be able to not use water that cost money!
The up front cost should be around $50. We are hopeful to get this put in place this weekend as we have a solid week of rain chances and have already filled most of the 2 tanks we have.
3. Foster care is stressful.  I have a ton more stress in relationship to the agency and it’s policies, procedures and expectations than actual dealing with every day kid stuff.
4. Kendall has to attend graduation practice next week otherwise she is completely finished with High School. Zach took an exam today and he is also finished. Davie County has 9 official days with the last one being an early release day. The count down to summer is really really close. I have less than that due to Kendall’s graduation!
5. Since this is Memorial Day weekend and we don’t have school on Monday, I want to finish the book I am reading. And do small repairs on both the Tahoe and Rogue.  Added stress of the Honda has stopped again!

Sunday Garden Update

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This is the happy update that I have been waiting on posting!  Except for the need to start supplementing our rain water with spigot water, the garden is coming along nicely. First up our barrier is working and nothing is eating the plants. We also have okra growing!

Our tomatoes are doing awesome! We actually have a couple that are taller than the bed! I am most excited to report that we did not lose any in the regular bed!

We have lots most of the tomatoes that were in the regular beds. I think we are down to 2 tomatoes but the ones that are lower are still looking good!

We have lots of cucumbers that have germinated along with the ones I purchased and planted

. We have around 6 watermelon plants that are growing and lots of cantaloupes

I am very pleased with the squash and zucchini that have finally germinated!

We have two vertical towers on the back deck, one is entirely peppers and the other is peppers and herbs!

We have two planting of green beans ,both are a bush variety!  I will plant vines after the sugar snap peas come out probably in the next 2 weeks!

Finally we have sunflowers growing in front of the tomato beds!

And look how pretty my front door planter is

Five things Friday

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  1. Fun Fact of the day that explains how busy my life really is. The last time I posted a 5 things Friday was March 20th, almost two months ago
  2. We are currently still in a significant drought. We did get some rain a week ago but we are quickly using up all of our rain barrel water. I am hoping that we can keep enough water to support the gold fish and algae eaters that we purchased and put into two of the rain barrels. My current plan is to use regular water in addition to Epsom salt to the barrel for the tomatoes. We don’t have enough to fill from rain barrels so hopefully the Epsom salt will be beneficial.
  3. Kendall graduated from Davidson Davie Community College yesterday. This marks the beginning of the end of the year. Next week both Zach and Kendall go to school but the following week, neither are required. E and I have a full week after they finish but that is only three weeks till Summer Break begins!
  4. Matt and I are scheduling lots of fun trips this summer.  I will get to visit Disney World for close to two weeks!  We also have a beach trip planned to Myrtie Beach as well.
  5. I am hoping to have some extra time this summer to rest and recharge!  We have been doing some extra cleaning both inside and out. Last year, I paid a maid for the first and last cleaning but I don’t think that will be necessary this year!

Sunday Garden Update- Spring planting complete!

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Saturday we spent most of the day working outside. I managed to weed a couple of the flower beds, and we ended up planting out all the peppers in 2 and half green stalks. After a stop at a local farm stand and an additional trip to Lowes, we also finished filling all three green stalks.  We planted out green beans and seeds to replace the loofa gourds that the frost killed.   My plan was to go outside today and take lots of pictures to share like this one.
I was so excited to share that we have squash plants, cantaloupe and more watermelon plants and zucchini plants that have germinated as well.  The only sad news was that multiple tomato plants were damaged and lost from the frost  this week.  I was actually taking pictures when I discovered this…
Yes something has decided to start using my garden and hard work as a snack buffet. Matt and I scrambled around to try and put up some barriers to stop the attack before it gets worse.  We added a pallet to the only entrance to these plants as well as some wire fencing on one side.
I am hoping this works otherwise we have to figure out what and how to barricade the side closest to the house as well. I re aimed the camera in hopes that if the critter is coming in from the house side the cameras will capture.  I will definitely keep posting about this.
Maybe next week a picture heavy post with lots of sprouts and things!