Today was a crazy day, filled with lots of driving, baking, gardening, and family time. I started off the morning at my sister's house with the two youngest kiddos, Ally and Aidan. They had Dr. appointments around lunchtime and I'd promised fun for Ally, who was nervous about seeing the doctor again. We did a quick trip to PETCO which she loved - "lots of Tuck the Turtles and Parrots, ones that start with F and ones that start with P." aka Parrots and Ferrets :)
We had a great visit with Grandma Great, and though I have no pictures to post, I enjoyed seeing her with baby in her lap and Ally snuggled next to her while she read Clifford. At one point, she was even talking on the phone scheduling Bridge. She says she can't do anything anymore, I don't believe that for a minute. It was an inspiring afternoon - my heart was full of happiness hearing her with the two little ones - if only she could be so filled with joy all the time.
We headed home a few hours later to meet Dylan after school. He and Ally played so loudly, it's hard to believe Aidan was able to sleep through their chatter. When Preston made it back from his dentist appointment and Brent came home, I headed outside with Preston, Dylan and Ally to count all our new seedlings. (Brent commandeered the baby and they relaxing together in the glider watching Mythbusters, happy as a couple of clams.)
I think every single pumpkin, watermelon, bean and spinach seed sprouted. More lettuce, carrots and sunflowers, too. Our brussels sprouts are out of control - we'll have to move some of them to another bed or they'll crowd each other out. The tomatos are 6-10" tall already, one is popping out of the gallon-jug hothouse. We harvested as much spinach as we could find for dinner. It's a task usually reserved for morning, but we'd had rain and cool weather all day, so it didn't matter a bit. The boys asked if they could stay out and harvest "a few" radishes. Note the picture I'm including.
It was just so nice to see the three kids harvesting and watering in the rain, skipping around from bed to bed like little pixies.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The end of April sees sprouts galore!
I ventured out to the garden this morning with my tea to find hundreds of little seedlings rising from the dirt, so I went out this evening to photograph all our new garden sprouts. Ally will be so happy to see that we have watermelons, pumpkins, beans, lettuce, spinach, and carrots, especially since they were only planted last week.
God has been good to us with lots of gentle - and hard - rain, lots of sun, and a welcome respite from the pests who usually pick them off. There is at least one owl in the vicinity, and both he and our cat are keeping the bunnies out of the yard this spring. The bird netting is doing its job around the okra and new green sprouts - I've never had anything grow at ground level before that the moles, bunnies and birds didn't peck to death.
Preston will be proud of both his potatoes and tomatoes. The tomatos have grown three inches at least this week. New potato sprouts are popping up everywhere, too. I had added squash at the back of the bed that was bare, but I believe I need to move them to make more room for the tubers.
I had to include my new favorite pic of my man - Brent looks so happy in front of the newly painted porch lounging on his red swing with Aidan, our nephew. I also added in a few pics of our pets, and I hope to add a few with me and the kiddos sometime soon. I need to pull an adult out into the garden with us, as I don't trust the boys to keep it dry outside :) Maybe I'll actually get Dylan in the garden for a minute or two and get a good picture of him playing in his teepee. On Saturday mornings, he hides in there and covers the openings with the soccer goals - last week he barracaded Nika inside with him - she looked so tormented - that would've been a classic shot.
God has been good to us with lots of gentle - and hard - rain, lots of sun, and a welcome respite from the pests who usually pick them off. There is at least one owl in the vicinity, and both he and our cat are keeping the bunnies out of the yard this spring. The bird netting is doing its job around the okra and new green sprouts - I've never had anything grow at ground level before that the moles, bunnies and birds didn't peck to death.
Preston will be proud of both his potatoes and tomatoes. The tomatos have grown three inches at least this week. New potato sprouts are popping up everywhere, too. I had added squash at the back of the bed that was bare, but I believe I need to move them to make more room for the tubers.
I had to include my new favorite pic of my man - Brent looks so happy in front of the newly painted porch lounging on his red swing with Aidan, our nephew. I also added in a few pics of our pets, and I hope to add a few with me and the kiddos sometime soon. I need to pull an adult out into the garden with us, as I don't trust the boys to keep it dry outside :) Maybe I'll actually get Dylan in the garden for a minute or two and get a good picture of him playing in his teepee. On Saturday mornings, he hides in there and covers the openings with the soccer goals - last week he barracaded Nika inside with him - she looked so tormented - that would've been a classic shot.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Celebrating Earth Day
We have certainly celebrated Earth Day here this week on our little garden plot. Right now I'm "watching" the Live Earth channel on dish network and am enjoying its mellow mix of oldies with a view of earth from their sat dish - kiddos think it's ultra cool.
We started off the week by planting okra, squash, herb and marigold transplants around the garden. I moved a lot of onions around - I guess I accidentally planted some near the peas and just read in my Carrots Love Tomatos book that they inhibit their growth. I am noticing a difference already in less than a week. Wonder if it's soil based? Anyway....
My neice Ally and her baby brother Aidan joined me for two hours on Earth Day, this past Wednesday. Luckily Aidan slept the entire time, so Ally and I were able to water in all the new transplants as well as plant a "boncho lotto seeds" (Ally-speak for a bunch of seeds). We added beans and sunflowers around the pea teepee. They don't typically grow well together, but we're hoping for the best. Our big endeavor was adding hills of watermelon and pumpkin.
Now we just need to add more hills for butternut squash and cucumber. We'll probably add or transplant some radishes and let them go to seed to deter pests. I've actually had a lot of luck so far avoiding pests by using marigolds, radishes, and onions scattered around the garden this season. The lettuce all looks beautiful and I usually see a lot of holes by this time in the season.
Ally spent most of her time filling and refilling her big pink watering can. She kept filling it too full for her to carry, so she watered the lawn as much as the plants. My dog laid down in the kiddie pool and splashed out most of the water, so that signalled time to stop. (I'm trying not to use more water than will fill my barrels, the kiddie pool, and watering cans, but it's a bit tough when the kids enjoy the water more than the dirt.)
Before we went inside, I had to let Ally snack a bit from the beds, so I taught her how to harvest the romaine lettuce. However, after she'd enjoyed a few freshly washed leaves she proclaimed "that's nothing without a bit-o ranch". Then she discovered radishes "hiding their pink heads underground" and had to try one. The look on her face after she took a big bite... priceless!
Thursday we returned again, but Aidan was wide awake and not so happy about the wind and Ally's splashing. She convinced me to "open pool season" and was running around at warp speed in her old pink Dora suit. We were only able to transplant a few tomatoes before I had to stop and feed the baby. There was no stopping her enthusiasm though, and she took turns splashing in the pool and watering the garden. Very fun morning!
After naps, we picked up my son Dylan and my nephew Preston from kindergarten and headed back into the garden for more tomato transplanting. After all, Preston grew them from seed and could not wait to put them in the garden. We covered all the tomato transplants with bottomless milk jugs to hothouse them since it's early in the season. Then we added living mulch to the okra bed. Well, it's not living yet, but we seeded more lettuce/spinach/carrot seed in the same method as before. I think it will get enough afternoon shade that it's okay to seed this late. Time will tell.
Preston came for a sleepover Friday - I think it took them two minutes to discover the clean kiddie pool, put on swimsuits and begin the cannonballing...
They ran around grazing on lettuce and radishes for a bit, but then decided to christen the new ice cream parlor area near the teepee. They both ate giant bowls of strawberry frozen yogurt and decided the parlor had officially opened for business :) We set up a mini basketball hoop, made a bunch of stools (upside down pails with towel cushions), and a little dunking booth after they busted holes in the kiddie pool. No surprise! I've never seen a kiddie pool survive an entire season.
Today I should go out and transplant the artichokes, but I want to research site and soil Ph first to insure success. I'm enthusiastically awaiting my Burpee shipment in the next few weeks - a new variety of strong tomatos, eggplants and peppers, hurrah!
We started off the week by planting okra, squash, herb and marigold transplants around the garden. I moved a lot of onions around - I guess I accidentally planted some near the peas and just read in my Carrots Love Tomatos book that they inhibit their growth. I am noticing a difference already in less than a week. Wonder if it's soil based? Anyway....
My neice Ally and her baby brother Aidan joined me for two hours on Earth Day, this past Wednesday. Luckily Aidan slept the entire time, so Ally and I were able to water in all the new transplants as well as plant a "boncho lotto seeds" (Ally-speak for a bunch of seeds). We added beans and sunflowers around the pea teepee. They don't typically grow well together, but we're hoping for the best. Our big endeavor was adding hills of watermelon and pumpkin.
Now we just need to add more hills for butternut squash and cucumber. We'll probably add or transplant some radishes and let them go to seed to deter pests. I've actually had a lot of luck so far avoiding pests by using marigolds, radishes, and onions scattered around the garden this season. The lettuce all looks beautiful and I usually see a lot of holes by this time in the season.
Ally spent most of her time filling and refilling her big pink watering can. She kept filling it too full for her to carry, so she watered the lawn as much as the plants. My dog laid down in the kiddie pool and splashed out most of the water, so that signalled time to stop. (I'm trying not to use more water than will fill my barrels, the kiddie pool, and watering cans, but it's a bit tough when the kids enjoy the water more than the dirt.)
Before we went inside, I had to let Ally snack a bit from the beds, so I taught her how to harvest the romaine lettuce. However, after she'd enjoyed a few freshly washed leaves she proclaimed "that's nothing without a bit-o ranch". Then she discovered radishes "hiding their pink heads underground" and had to try one. The look on her face after she took a big bite... priceless!
Thursday we returned again, but Aidan was wide awake and not so happy about the wind and Ally's splashing. She convinced me to "open pool season" and was running around at warp speed in her old pink Dora suit. We were only able to transplant a few tomatoes before I had to stop and feed the baby. There was no stopping her enthusiasm though, and she took turns splashing in the pool and watering the garden. Very fun morning!
After naps, we picked up my son Dylan and my nephew Preston from kindergarten and headed back into the garden for more tomato transplanting. After all, Preston grew them from seed and could not wait to put them in the garden. We covered all the tomato transplants with bottomless milk jugs to hothouse them since it's early in the season. Then we added living mulch to the okra bed. Well, it's not living yet, but we seeded more lettuce/spinach/carrot seed in the same method as before. I think it will get enough afternoon shade that it's okay to seed this late. Time will tell.
Preston came for a sleepover Friday - I think it took them two minutes to discover the clean kiddie pool, put on swimsuits and begin the cannonballing...
They ran around grazing on lettuce and radishes for a bit, but then decided to christen the new ice cream parlor area near the teepee. They both ate giant bowls of strawberry frozen yogurt and decided the parlor had officially opened for business :) We set up a mini basketball hoop, made a bunch of stools (upside down pails with towel cushions), and a little dunking booth after they busted holes in the kiddie pool. No surprise! I've never seen a kiddie pool survive an entire season.
Today I should go out and transplant the artichokes, but I want to research site and soil Ph first to insure success. I'm enthusiastically awaiting my Burpee shipment in the next few weeks - a new variety of strong tomatos, eggplants and peppers, hurrah!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Enjoying the first salad harvest of the season
It's been a day full of dirt-hauling, veggie planting, sledgehammer swinging, and thunderstorm dodging, but most of the planting beds are finally in!!!
The potatoes have already been hilled up twice, and today I added sages and basils to the thriving lettuce and potato beds.
The lettuce bed is producing mixed leaf lettuces, romaine, radishes, onions (I'm pulling the 2nd and 3rd in each row to use as green onions now), pansies (so yummy), brussels sprouts, carrots and marigolds (started from seed in glass canister greenhouses). Marigolds are the only item missing from our dinner salad - technically, we could've eaten them too. Even the carrot greens wound up in the mix. I have never enjoyed a salad more. However, the yummy beef and turkey burger with jack cheese was the icing on the cake!
I started the morning adding Columbines and Dianthus to the front garden in shades of plum and berry. Then I moved to the veggie garden and dug in the herbs: basil, pinapple sage (possibly my favorite plant of all time), cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, and dill. We had to finish the ground-level beds before I could plant the okra for Dylan. My son absolutely loves okra - pickled, pan-fried, sauteed, and fresh off the vine. We're going to interplant the okra with butternut squash and peppers. We dried the butternut squash seed from a squash we ate around Thanksgiving - it was so tasty! When he asked if we could plant it, I said, "why not? We can give it a try!" Thankfully those glass canister greenhouses are working like a charm. We have artichokes, delphiniums, more marigolds, dill, purple coneflowers, and a few more I can't remember ready to plant.
I've tried artichokes from seed for five years, and this is the first time I've had any grow to these heights. I've only successfully grown one delphinium from seed, but it was a beauty! Of course, it didn't survive that winter :(
My nephew and his family planted tomato seeds and wound up with a giant harvest, so we're excited to dig those in after a few weeks. I transplanted them with my neice yesterday, and they're doing great in their new pots. We've got a six-pack of cherry and another 6-pack of another species - no clue which!, but that's no matter. I cheated a bit and ordered a few tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers from Burpee.com. They're plants are always in excellent condition, and I'm excited for them to arrive in a few weeks. They're a few varieties I've never grown before, and I'm looking forward to trying a white eggplant.
Around lunchtime, my hubby, son, and I drove over to Camp's Plants in Mtn Home and picked up a second load of Super Dirt to top off all the lasagna garden beds. We made it home just in time to unload the dirt before the sky opened up and dumped on us. It felt nice digging in the warm dirt when it was just a sprinkle, but once the thunder started rolling, I felt a bit safer under cover.
It was such a perfect rain. I love the smell of wet dirt and grass! It stopped right at dinnertime, so I could put the burgers on the grill and still stay dry. The break in the rain also gave me some time to take photos this evening. (I'll be sure to post them tomorrow when the battery is recharged. I went a bit crazy with the camera.)
I have a feeling I will sleep very well tonight, as should my son who's exhausted himself out in the yard running back and forth between his teepee, swingset, the garden and sandbox. I hope it's a sign of things to come...
The potatoes have already been hilled up twice, and today I added sages and basils to the thriving lettuce and potato beds.
The lettuce bed is producing mixed leaf lettuces, romaine, radishes, onions (I'm pulling the 2nd and 3rd in each row to use as green onions now), pansies (so yummy), brussels sprouts, carrots and marigolds (started from seed in glass canister greenhouses). Marigolds are the only item missing from our dinner salad - technically, we could've eaten them too. Even the carrot greens wound up in the mix. I have never enjoyed a salad more. However, the yummy beef and turkey burger with jack cheese was the icing on the cake!
I started the morning adding Columbines and Dianthus to the front garden in shades of plum and berry. Then I moved to the veggie garden and dug in the herbs: basil, pinapple sage (possibly my favorite plant of all time), cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, and dill. We had to finish the ground-level beds before I could plant the okra for Dylan. My son absolutely loves okra - pickled, pan-fried, sauteed, and fresh off the vine. We're going to interplant the okra with butternut squash and peppers. We dried the butternut squash seed from a squash we ate around Thanksgiving - it was so tasty! When he asked if we could plant it, I said, "why not? We can give it a try!" Thankfully those glass canister greenhouses are working like a charm. We have artichokes, delphiniums, more marigolds, dill, purple coneflowers, and a few more I can't remember ready to plant.
I've tried artichokes from seed for five years, and this is the first time I've had any grow to these heights. I've only successfully grown one delphinium from seed, but it was a beauty! Of course, it didn't survive that winter :(
My nephew and his family planted tomato seeds and wound up with a giant harvest, so we're excited to dig those in after a few weeks. I transplanted them with my neice yesterday, and they're doing great in their new pots. We've got a six-pack of cherry and another 6-pack of another species - no clue which!, but that's no matter. I cheated a bit and ordered a few tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers from Burpee.com. They're plants are always in excellent condition, and I'm excited for them to arrive in a few weeks. They're a few varieties I've never grown before, and I'm looking forward to trying a white eggplant.
Around lunchtime, my hubby, son, and I drove over to Camp's Plants in Mtn Home and picked up a second load of Super Dirt to top off all the lasagna garden beds. We made it home just in time to unload the dirt before the sky opened up and dumped on us. It felt nice digging in the warm dirt when it was just a sprinkle, but once the thunder started rolling, I felt a bit safer under cover.
It was such a perfect rain. I love the smell of wet dirt and grass! It stopped right at dinnertime, so I could put the burgers on the grill and still stay dry. The break in the rain also gave me some time to take photos this evening. (I'll be sure to post them tomorrow when the battery is recharged. I went a bit crazy with the camera.)
I have a feeling I will sleep very well tonight, as should my son who's exhausted himself out in the yard running back and forth between his teepee, swingset, the garden and sandbox. I hope it's a sign of things to come...
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