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A Christian & devoted Patriot, wife, soap maker, herbalist, formerly a homeschooler, baker, truck driver, and more. I was born in the South, but actually grew up around the Great Lakes. Both of my childhood families had big, lush gardens,& preserved everything they could for the winter. I carried that into my own life. But, change happens and for over a decade, it just wasn't an option. Now, retired in the Ozarks, on 29 heavily wooded acres of mostly ravines, our best crops are nearly inaccessible wild blackberries, rocks, wild herbs, and ticks. We're utilizing our burgeoning small-livestock collection, straw bales, raised beds, and containers to build soil, and a better, healthier life for ourselves and our beloved critters, who provide us with eggs, meat, milk, fiber, honey, beeswax, fertilizer, tick control, brush control, 'lawn' mowing, loads of entertainment, and even help turn the compost. 
Ulla Bisgaard wrote:Why can’t you grow sweet potatoes in the same spot? We are in grow zone 10b, and treat the sweet potatoes as a self seeding crop.
I have grown mine in the same two raised beds for 6 years. I do a 2 year cycle for harvests. Let’s call my beds an and b.
The first year I only harvest from bed A, but leave the smaller sweet potatoes in the soil. Then I plant beets, parsnips and leeks to grow during the cold season. Once springs come around, the small sweet potatoes I left, starts sprouting and puts out leaves. At this point I harvest the beets, but leave the leeks, as they deters the wildlife from eating the sweet potatoes.
The first year, I don’t harvest bed B. I just leave it alone until fall of the second year. The second year I harvest, but again leave the smallest of the sweet potatoes in the soil. The sweet potatoes have grown huge at this point, with many tubers at 5 pounds each. After the harvest, I grow beets, diakon radishes and leeks for the cold season, until spring, when the small sweet potatoes set out leaves.
Using this method produces a lot of large sweet potatoes and other crops, without me having to deal with starting sweet potato slips every year. It also gives us access to sweet potato leaves all year round, though I never harvest more than 20%, since anything more will stunt the growth of the sweet potatoes.
I do top off the beds after harvesting, with compost, rabbit pellets, phosphorus and potassium.
Ulla Bisgaard wrote:
Carla Burke wrote:I would likely remove the sleeves, use them to make pockets for it, and wear it with a blouse under it, jumper style.
Thank you, I really appreciate that suggestion. I was so sure it already had pocket, but when I checked it didn’t have them, something I really do need to correct. It won’t work to make a jumper, since the neckline is so large and deep I am basically flashing everyone if I wear it LOL.
That said, I am definitely going to add pockets and change it from a dress to a skirt. The top part can be made into either a vest or corset top maybe. I have to check my patterns to see if I have enough fabric.
I think, that maybe I can use the neckline material for the waistband of the skirt. If there isn’t enough material to make a top, I might be able to combine it with black fabric from my fabric stash.
