Mavis Mail – Abigail From Central Oregon Sends in Pictures of Her Farm

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

~Mavis

Hello Mavis!

My name is Abigail. I really enjoy reading your blog and using it as reference for gardening and growing. I am really inspired by your garden tally’s, I cannot believe how much produce you harvest (3,000 lbs!). I would love to do that and we try to be as self sufficient as possible. I am pretty obsessed with making things from scratch. I think I have a perfect garlic jalapeno Parmesan bagel recipe! I did a lot of canning last year and plan on doing a lot more this year.

I grew up in Central Oregon and we gardened, home schooled, had chickens, turkeys, sheep and goats and did other “homestead” things.

Now I live with my husband and two little girls (ages 1 and 2) on a family farm outside of Portland. In April we purchased two Nigerian Dwarf goats in April and plan on breeding and milking them next year.

Their names are Rosie and Greta, they are super affectionate and sweet and will hopefully be great milkers.

I have gardened the last three years but I am expanding a lot this year. I am doing potatoes, beans, tomatoes, squash,pumpkins, cucumbers, all sorts of peppers, lettuce, kale, herbs, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi and more. This year I started nearly everything in our greenhouse,which I think has helped protect things from being destroyed by slugs.

We also have a raspberry patch, apple trees, pear trees (we get hundreds of lbs, last year we made pear wine and cider) and grapes.

Oh, and we also have 1800 blueberry plants. My husbands parents operate a U-pick blueberry farm and have the best blueberries (bluecrop and duke) anyone has ever tasted. They are beginning to ripen already and I cannot wait. I love walking out and picking blueberries. We have a have a stand alone freezer that is full of berries by the end of summer.We eat them all winter long, whether it be a bowl full of frozen ones, in smoothies or baked goods.I honestly think they are best plain. My husband’s parents also make delicious blueberry wine, they also make raspberry and grape.

We love farming. My husband wants to eventually have sheep and chickens would be great too.
Sorry if I overloaded you with pictures!
Abigail

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.