Salad anyone?

I am so excited about the harvesting. It isn't alot but it helps make all the hard work easier.

Reminds me of Beatrix Potter

The veggies in the basket are Kohlrabi, Easter Egg radish, lettuce(Romaine), broccoli and carrot  It made for a nice salad. I love all the veggies but it is getting tiring all the washing and cleaning off of food. Can't complain though.*

tomato plant

LT invited me to a Memorial Day cookout.  I asked if there was anything I could bring and she said "You could bring a tomato".  This is what was brought :-) Hey its will have tomatoes in a while.  A real tomato ready to eat made it way to her house as well.





*Be careful pulling out carrots. I wasn't and it broke in half when I pulled it. :-(

Garden Craft

Well, this is my first try and making something pretty for my garden.

Railroad ties

I was walking one day to the local "big box" store that is right near my house.  On the path I cross over some railroad tracks.  One day while walking I noticed these spikes on the side of the tracks. They had recently been doing some work and these were left.

These have been with me for quite a while and I have been trying to figure how to use them. I just couldn't let them go to waste. :-)

Finally, it came to me, I can use these as garden markers for my herb garden.  So, to the garage for some spray paint.

Coat #1

Orange would be eye catching and I had a little left over. This is what they look like after the first coat.  Not very exciting huh?

Coat #10ish

The paint ran out and the nozzle was crooked so it was getting everywhere. The paint that I had the most of was green. So, they were repainted.

Coat #1 of green

Finally, I think they turned out well. No labels yet, but they're a'comin.

blast from the past

I was trying to find a picture for a friend and came across this one on a CD.

Spring (2005?)

This is from the first year I every tried to grow something in my yard.  I know it is the first year because that is the only year I have planted sunflowers.  I don't know why I haven't planted them again.  I think it might be because of the birds they attracted.

Summer (same year)

I was doing ghetto gardening even then.  The branches were to hold up my tomato plants that had fallen over. I didn 't know what to do then and for some reason didn't ask anyone or look up things on the Internet.  Oh, well. Live and learn.

Happy Memorial Day

Hope you have a wonderful relaxing Memorial Day :-)

Ghetto Gardening??

I think maybe I should rename this blog to "Ghetto Gardening" because of my methods. Here are some examples:

notice the packing tape?

For the pea vine(?) I had to add another stick because it was growing so tall.  I used packing tape to tape the two sticks together.  Then, I used some leftover yarn from my tomato "cages" to tie it to the old grill leg for more support. Yikes!

not bad huh?

This is one of my homemade tomato cages.  I used sticks and some rose branches that I had trimmed earlier.  These are the supports and the yarn is some that I had leftover from my knitting.  For right now they appear to be doing well.  I have other cages but they look horrible.  This is the best of the lot.

Hope you have a great Memorial Weekend.

Soft kitty, smart kitty little ball of fur

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

It is beginning

I am so excited that I am finally seeing some things that look like vegetables :-)
Besided the leafy variety which is kind of hard to judge when it is ready.
The first was some Easter Egg radishes.  I don't like radishes that much but they are pretty easy to grow and grow quickly.

They look like turnips but I promise they are radishes

My favorite pictures is this one of the broccoli. I am really proud of it (the picture,not the broccoli) I can't take credit for making the broccoli.  I will say it seems to have taken FOREVER for it to finally like like broccoli instead of just big leaves.

Pretty enough to eat. (almost)

I had totally forgotten about the asparagus.  It came up about 1 week and 1/2 ago.   I was so surprised. Now it has turned into that ferny thing.  I don't think I am suppose to do anything with it but i will read up and double check.

Sometimes it is best to leave things alone.

The watermelon is already past this stage and in the ground.  However, I love it when the plant has sprouted but you can still see the seed attached to the plant.

The black part is the seed it came from

My strawberry plant is getting in some nice looking berries.  I am learning that things happen on their own schedule. Everyone else was making strawberry jam and such so I was a little jealous.  Now, mine are coming in and all is better.

My favorite plant in the garden :-)

Lastly, are the sugar peas. I finally have a pea pod.  I am so excited.  I learned that the flower is what turns into the pod.  It is rather quickly from flower to pod.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and summer.

Before and After

iFrom Amanda Blake Soule at www.soulemama.com

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

A Dirty Movie

Well, Daisy Janie has done it again. She told me about Dirt! The Movie that is available to watch on Hulu.com
1) Jamie Lee Curtis, my fav, narrates this movie.
2) It isn't one of the dry, preachy movies but gets its point across
3) Speaks to Nobel Prize Winners, Harvard professors, and brought up points that I never thought about.

Digby

There are several popular gardening trends that I do not like and after watching this movie, I felt better about the decisions I have made.
It also echoed the Back to Eden video that I recently watched and wrote about.

HELLO!!!

this moment} - A Friday ritual begun from my reading SoulMama - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Celebration of Mother.

On May 9th

Here is what my garden looks like today. I must say that I am kinda proud.  Of course I haven't done anything, Mother Nature has done it all.  She is one of my favorite mamas. :-) She gives us water, food and air without asking anything in return.  The key is to take care of it.
So in honor of Mother's Day Sunday I want to take this picture.  It has rained here all day so I will say, the garden was looking particularly lush.

The Onions and Swiss Chard are ready for picking

On the lookout

{this moment} - A Friday ritual begun from my reading SoulMama - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

another first

Last year I was reading an article in a magazine about using eggshells as seed starters. They are biodegradable and are a source of calcium.  I finally decided to try it.  I have been saving shells for a while in the refrigerator.  I think you are suppose to wash them to get any remaining yolk or white out.
I put soil in the eggshells and added the seeds and watered.

that is a stick not a worm :-)

As you can see, the egg carton is made of clear, plastic. I am hoping this is an added bonus and will act as a terrarium and help the seeds sprout.

Hope this will help the seeds and soil stay moist

The only other drawbacks were that:
1) there is no drainage hole so I don't know if I overwatered

not the neatest I have planted

2) if a seed needed lots of depth (1 inch or more) it was difficult to find that much room