changingatlas

[changingatlas]

Learning to garden isn’t as easy as reading a book or a couple websites and articles, its trail and error, its learning by doing, and figuring out along the way. On the road to becoming self sustaining and learning to live off the land as much as one can, there is no clear cut path, there are no exact instructions, its all about envisioning your dream, and working until its clear as day. Step by step, we are making that dream more real. Here are some progress pictures of our very first garden setups and the wonderful things that they’ve produced.

–Our first batch of vegetables to go into fall garden we decided we would do directly from seedlings to soil to test how well the potting method worked. Here we have some Bush Lake Blue Beans, and carrot seedlings that were sowed into large potting bins with a 60/40 ratio of potting soil and homemade compost. After a couple weeks the beans sprouted beautifully however the carrots did not sprout at all. The weather was quite moderate 80-90 degree sunny weather with very little rainfall but continued watering from collected water bin every 2-3 days. Both had same amount of sunlight and shade, same amount of water and same quality of soil, however only the beans flourished. Going to re-attempt carrots in spring. —

Seeds: Carrot, Bush lake Blue bean, cauliflower

9/13/18: Bush Lake Blue beans

Planted seedlings 9/13/18; Carrot (grey bin) and bush lake blue beans (round pot)

9/27/18: Bush lake blue bean growth

11/27/18: Bush lake blue bean

1/4/19: Bush Lake blue bean

  –In addition to the beans and carrots, we have also simultaneously planted cauliflower, kale, arugula, tomato and eggplant seeds. Unlike the other seeds which we sowed directly into potted soil, these seedlings we have sowed into prepackaged Peat Pods which contain a specific mixture of soil and nutrients to help them sprout and grow. After about a month and half of sprouting and hardening we transplanted the kale, arugula and single cauliflower plants to our garden bed which was composed of about 70/30 soil to compost ratio,  then transplanted a couple eggplants and tomatoes to a grow box to test the different factors for maximum growth. Below you can see how each seedling has progressed thus far in their respective medias of planting, the kale, arugula and cauliflower were planted directly into garden bed, and the eggplant and tomatoes into grow box setup–

  9/11/18: Cauliflower, Kale, Arugula Eggplant Seedlings in peat pods

11/5/18 Arugula transplanted to garden bed

11/5/18: Kale Transplanted to garden bed

11/5/18: Cauliflower transplanted to Garden bed

11/27/18: Kale growth

11/27/18: Cauliflower growth

11/27/18: Arugula Growth

Two Month growth from date seeds were started

1/9/19: Kale

1/9/19 Cauliflower

1/9/19 Arugula

      KNOWING before GROWING Learning to garden isn't as easy as reading a book or a couple websites and articles, its trail and error, its learning by doing, and figuring out along the way. 351 more words

[changingatlas]

Let it Grow...

Let it Grow…

Garden bed is built, fence secured around it to keep the dogs and other wildlife out, now time to see what it can do and truly test the waters (pun intended). Fall in Florida is almost exactly like summer… humid, and HOT, with occasional but not too frequent rain showers. In the trial and error stage of this journey to creating and maintaining a sustainable homestead, we are testing different…

[changingatlas]

We’ve got our little piece of land, now time to put it to work. After compiling wood scraps to build our garden fence, the next step was to build the garden and garden bed with which our vegetables shall flourish. Although I have planted and tended to gardens before, to say I’ve ever actually GROWN anything may be a bit of an overstatement. But hey you know what they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Time to test the soils and see what this Florida gal can grow, i’d like to think that the more you GROW the more you KNOW. Here’s to the start of homegrown health, straight from my own backyard. Laying down the foundation for growth…

  First things first… We've got our little piece of land, now time to put it to work. After compiling wood scraps to build our garden fence, the next step was to build the garden and garden bed with which our vegetables shall flourish.

[changingatlas]

300 oz on standby and counting....Always been a firm believer that mother nature provides all and man has she been good to me!!! so blessed and honored to be in a position to be able to provide for my offspring! I know there are many women who are not able to produce or who are not in a position to be able to continue to do so, and therefore I do not take this opportunity for granted! It has not been an easy path, there are many sleepless nights and days, many hours spent pumping and figuring out the extent of my capabilities, many tired feeding sessions, many painful and sore moments for my poor boobies, but I would do it all ten times over and over again if it means that I’m able to give my son the gifts that Mother Nature has bestowed upon me! Not only does daddy get to experience the joy of feeding our son and having that bonding moment, but momma gets to enjoy a few drinks from time to time!!!! I’m basically orions own personal dairy cow #breastfeeding #breastfedbaby #mothernatureprovides #naturesbest #liquidgold #motherhood

[changingatlas]

Sunday hike with the squad!! Orion did pretty good on his first hike, my boys already an explorer like his momma #nature #outdoors #hike #explore #florida #hillsboroughriver #wildlife

[changingatlas]

A trot down glory days...

A trot down glory days…

A trot once more down glory days, shall find such foolish pride. Beyond the oceans pressing face, amongst the ripping tide. While waiting for the flash of green, all time it ticks away. To resonate the game of wait, and inquire of its stay. Gaze not upon the hurried past, the fleeting sense of feel. For altered thoughts of evermore, depict what once was real…

[changingatlas]

A day once more...

A day once more…

What could’ve been and what could be, the unknown fates of time. Gone before you’ve yet to grow, still taken in your prime. The things once dreamt, not nothing more then memories come to pass. A day once more we’ll meet my friend, all wrongs will right at last.

[changingatlas]

Better late than never...

Better late than never…

Due to an extremely difficult second half of 2017 I took a little break from writing, and basically everything else. During my travels to Jamaica in April last year with family and friends, we experienced tragedy in the form of a very bad accident in which a cousin of mine sustained a great deal of injuries which he was not able to recover from. He passed away on April 9th, 2017. Paradise turned…

[changingatlas]

GO BULLS… Missing out on field labs this summer with all my USF geology peeps so thought i'd reminisce on some throwbacks from our Earth surface classs 3 Day East Coast/Keys trip and found this gem..

[changingatlas]

From darkness we climb...

From darkness we climb…

Www.alternativestatesofmind.blogspot.com An empty basin, fallen hope, The outcome of lost souls. Buried deep beneath the sea, The prospect of false goals. Intertwining fates aligning The rush of hurried time, Giving way, a brand new day From darkened depths we climb.

[changingatlas]

From darkness we climb...

From darkness we climb…

Www.alternativestatesofmind.blogspot.com An empty basin, fallen hope, The outcome of lost souls. Buried deep beneath the sea, The prospect of false goals. Intertwining fates aligning The rush of hurried time, Giving way, a brand new day From darkened depths we climb.

[changingatlas]

And how crazy and wonderful this adventure of life is when the wandering spirits of the world unite in natures welcoming brace... Sunday fun day adventures to cap off spring break 2016! #spring2016 #kayaking #adventure #wildspirits #hillsboroughriver #florida #explore (at Hillsborough River State Park)

[changingatlas]

Seriously one of my fave places ever... Far enough up stream on the Hillsborough River to where it runs right into material spring! You can even see the difference where spring water meets River! Mother nature is quirky and cool like that #kayaking #adventure #outdoors #nature #florida #hillsboroughriver #flow #springbreak #spring2016

[changingatlas]

This kid might not be able to talk, read, write, use the bathroom on his own, or lots of other things normal kids his age can do, but what he CAN do is love FIERCLY, give the BEST kisses ever, play, run, laugh, hug, create, and imagine and SOO much more that so called "NORMAL" things people like you and I live our whole lives trying to figure out how to do, and he does it SOO freely and effortlessly! I look at him everyday and thank the lucky stars above that the realities and cruelties of this world will never touch him in his own little world, that he will never be anything but pure innocence! So yeah he may not be what you call NORMAL... He's sooooo much more BADASS than that!! Love my nephews and the people I surround myself with! #boogerbutt #autism #autismwarrior #nephew #family #love #adventure #create #exist #silly #kisses

[changingatlas]

When you stop to smell the flowers... Mother Nature fills you with her sweet aroma!!! #nature #fieldlab #geology #flowers #green #outdoors

[changingatlas]

Do you ever wonder how much you exist in other people’s lives? I’m always curious if people think of me when a certain song comes on, or when they pass through a certain town. I wonder how many stories I’ve been a part of that I may have forgotten. I wonder if I still I exist in the minds of people that I don’t speak to anymore. I wonder how many times a day I pass through someone’s head.

[changingatlas]

This is the chemical formula for love: C8H11NO2+C10H12N2O+C43H66N12O12S2 dopamine, seratonin, oxytocin. It can be easily manufactured in a lab, but overdosing on any of them can cause schizophrenia, extreme paranoia, and insanity. Let that sink in.

(via misschelly19)

Madness

(via kushandwizdom)

  (via kushandwizdom)