Yup, I'm Still Here and Trying Something New

Hey, everybody.. Sorry I haven't updated in a while but we've had a lot going on.. Hubby completed school (including avionics) and at first had a hard time finding a job.. Apparently the industry is only hungry for mechanics with experience..

So since experience takes time, he had to take what he could get.. Don't get me wrong, it's a good job with a good company.. Just doesn't pay as much as we'd hoped so money is still tight.. But we do get to fly for free so that's really cool..

We are also no longer in Florida.. We are in Ohio which, ironically, is where my mom's side of the family is from and some of hubby's family is here also.. For now we are in a townhouse but hope to be able to get at least a couple of acres in a year or two.. I want about 10 acres, but I'm not gonna be picky.. For now Prima is with my super awesome friends in Florida who I originally got her from.. I can't thank them enough for taking care of her while we make this transition..

Unfortunately, this townhouse doesn't have it's own yard.. I have a little bit of space on either side of the front and back doors to put some potted plants I brought with me.. But I haven't let that stop me.. This place gets lots of light in the windows so I've made some crochet baskets to hang and I've cut the tops off of some 1 liter bottles planted with the smallest, most compact veggies I could find..

I've got cherry tomatoes called Tumbling Tom which have a cascading habit.. One red and one yellow.. I've got a type of squash/zucchini which is supposed to stay compact.. I've got sweet and bell peppers that are supposed to be compact as well.. I've got some mini eggplant who's fruit is supposed to be only a little bigger than a cherry tomato.. I've also got something called strawberry spinach.. The leaves you can eat raw or cook like you would spinach.. The strawberry part of the name comes from the berries it produces that are supposed to taste kind of like mulberries.. I've never had mulberries before so it'll be interesting to see for myself..

Let's see, I've also go some snow peas going in a hanging basket.. I crocheted the hanging baskets, by the way.. The Tumbling Toms are also in the hanging baskets.. I've got a couple little yogurt cups with lettuce, chard and green onions.. I don't know if they'll do ok in such small containers.. But thought I'd experiment with it.. So far they're doing great..

Out the back door I've got a couple plastic shoe box containers.. One with radishes, one with lettuce, one with carrots and one with more green onions.. The green onions haven't come up that well.. But I don't think I'll need too many of those anyway since you can trim the tops off and by the next day they'll start growing back.. I think I may plant some more carrots in that one.. I'm sure this family will go through the carrots faster than I can produce them.. I'm sure they'll go through all these veggies faster than I can produce them.. But that's fine by me.. I love being able to provide them with healthy food..

I also bought a container with some strawberry plants in it.. We've only had a couple of small strawberries off of it, but they were so good.. The nights have been getting pretty cool here so I think the strawberries are done for the season.. No new blooms recently.. I'll be bringing them inside once it gets too cold.. But it was so awesome to see the kids' excitement when we'd have a ripe strawberry to eat..

Since I don't have a yard to have a compost pile, I've got a worm bin started which I placed under my kitchen sink.. Some people might think 'eeewww, worms'.. But worm manure (called castings) is some of the best fertilizer there is.. A nice healthy garden always has lots of worms in the soil.. Those worms are part of what makes that soil so healthy.. And yes, I said they're under my kitchen sink.. But don't worry, they don't stink or anything and, of course, they don't make any noise.. I often have to make a point to remember to check on them and make sure their bedding is moist..

Um, I think that's it for now.. Tomorrow I've got to make some more bottles into planters.. I've had such a good germination ratio with my peppers and eggplant that I need to transplant the extras.. Almost 100% except for one eggplant, and it may show up anyway.. Peppers are supposed to be hard to germinate but I think they've done so well because of these bottles and the heating pad I set them on.. (Pepper seeds need warmth to germinate..) And the bottles have a little water reservoir in the bottom so they stay well watered.. With needing more bottles, I'm going to have to commandeer another window to put them in.. Right now I've just got the dining room window and the yogurt cups are in the window above the kitchen sink..

I have been doing videos of my progress and posting them on Youtube.. Just look for Silvermoonacres to watch them.. Don't forget to like and subscribe to be notified of new videos of my little adventure here.. As always, comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome.. I've still got so many more ideas like cfl lights for indoor growing, waist height raised beds so I can grow things outside while keeping everything off the grass and other things that I can't even think of right now..

Anyway, sorry to be so long winded.. But I will be making more updates here about how my window garden is doing as well as posting videos.. So stay tuned!