Is it obvious I'm new at this?

     This weekend I planned on starting up my little urban patio garden. The Mister, the Bumblebee (aka my daughter; but from now on, and for her privacy I will refer to her as that), and I made our way to Home Depot to purchase some supplies.

     I seriously shouldve done more research before going.

I guess I was just so excited in starting it up, I forgot to make a detailed list of exactly what I needed. Who knew there are like 10 different kinds of soil, fertilizers, and other bags of things that needed to go in the ground?! I just assumed that we would go in, pick up a bag of soil and be done with it.

    HA!

And to make matters worse, I asked one of the 'specialist' what kind of soil I needed to start a compost bin. Not only did he look at me with disdain, but he also told me to look up the word 'Compost' in Wikepedia!

    And before all the green thumbs out there start to judge me like this specialist did, I did read up on it, and read that it's basically equal parts of 'brown' and 'green'. So I assumed soil would be ok to start with along with adding some other scraps from the kitchen.

   Again, did I mention I'm new to all this?

One of my goals for this year is to not only be more knowledged in everything, but to have some experience under my belt. I definately do not intend on remaining in this some place I am now.

So I pick up some things, and head home. After doing some more research and looking through a few books as resources that I borrowed from the library, I realized..


I got the wrong soil. Agh.

Being the rookie that I am, I thought-  "Whats the big deal?! Soil is soil! It's all the same!."

Apparently it is a big deal folks.

      You need the right kind of soil with the right PH to start vegetables, expecially if you are starting with seeds. Not mention, certain type of plants require you to start indoors weeks before the last frost date, then be transplanted outdoors. Another important factor is your location. You need to know when is the right time to grow each vegetable depending on where you live, etc.

    After my failed attempt in starting my garden this weekend I was reminded of Moses. Before he went into the wilderness, he was the son of  Pharoah's daughter. He grew up very priviledged, well learned, with servants and plenty of people doing things for him. He had the mentality and lifestyle of the Egyptians. God then brought him out,  into the wilderness, where he dwelled for another 40 years, and became a shepherd.

Can you imagine?


 From growing up really wealthy, with affluence, power,  and having people at your beck and call? To living off the land in wilderness tending sheep. He probably had to learn alot of new things. For those next 40 years God was teaching him, preparing him.. for what He was called to do.

Things didnt happen overnight.

And, if your just as new to all this as I am, we can't expect ourselves to know everything about gardening overnight, or even a year. That's why it's called learning. We learn through our mistakes, or in my case, confusion, lol. Thats why we have faith, hope, and the desires that God has placed on our hearts. To keep our vision ahead, and not just on the present- where it's easy to want to quit after failure. Having that vision of something remind us and keep us moving foward, to do and be what he has called us to be.

   All I know is I'm looking foward to learning through more mistakes, growing, and chaging along the wa.y. Line by line, precept upon precept.


The best part of taking on something new is not just the end result,
but the journey and what we experience in the process.

  

NEW BLOG!

   I revamped the whole blog to mostly focus on one thing:

 Sustainable Living.

Up until a few years ago I've never heard of  'homesteading.' I've been a big city girl all my life, so to me, such practices where only for either the Amish, or those way out in the country. In the past few years its been my desire more and more to grow in the knowledge of not only learning to live off the land, but to be able to know how to survive and flourish on basic resources God has given us, and not be dependant so much on modern conveniences that are basically handed to us on a silver platter.


And I fully believe such skills will be not only useful, but necessary, in the not so distant future.


   So until I have (Lord willing) a little mini homestead of my own, I created this blog to record  my journey towards sustainable living. I'm a newbie here folks, so join, (and laugh with me), as I fumble my way through gardening, sewing, canning/preserving, homeschooling, and everything else I find my hands doing!


Along the way I hope you get encouraged somehow and possibly learn a few things  with me too!



Xoxo,
M.

Madi-Berry Banana Organic Smoothies!

Hi friends! Hubby and I have been doing alot of smoothies lately, but this one I made up on the fly the other day takes the cake! Super yummy, and I was lucky enough to have in the pantry really healthy ingredients to throw in the mix.

Here it is:

(as far as portions, this is just an estimate, you can reduce or increase each according to your taste)



Madi-Berry Banana Organic Smoothies


1/2 cup organic strawberries
1/2 organic banana
1/3 organic blueberries (berries this time of the year are fab! super sweet & a good price too!)
1/2 vanilla almond milk
1/3 organic vanilla yogurt
1 tbsp. wheatgrass powder ( I use wheatgrass/barley/alfafa trio from 'Amazing Greens')
1 cup ice cubes

optional: 2 tsp. organic raw cane suagar

*Blend for 5-10 minutes, serves atleast 2 large glasses



There you go! I hope you enjoy as much as we did! My husband, who's not into yogurt, wheatgrass (or anything super healthy for that matter, lol) loved it. The wheatgrass powder added such a good flavor and balanced out the smoothie. You can even freeze it into popsicle trays (if you have) or put in ice cube trays for a nice, cold summer treat!

Next time, I plan on sneaking in some more healthy ingredients in the mix, like flax seed, or some Cod Liver Oil (strawberry flavored).. Its a great way to make sure everyone's getting good nutrition!



More recipes to come!