Lord have mercy!

No posts in June. Shame on me. Busy stuff at work. Crazy stuff at home. Addy needs a break. Enter vacation...Just left work for the last time at least for the next week. Instantly my mind has gone into "vacation to-do list" mode. You'd be amazed how quickly I can fill a notebook with wishful thinkings of cleaning out the garage or reorganizing the office. But, alas, I promise to spend at least one day of this vacation alone and just being thankful and mindful of what I've got. The garden is getting out of control with weeds. I had no idea that squash vines could travel as far as they do. Seriously...ten feet guys??? Is that necessary for only one little squash?

Anyhoo...some pictures from June

Early June (note that the *volunteers* are only about 4ft tall)

I love the little tendrils on the squash vines. My lettuces are taking over. I let them bolt because I like their flowers.

Potato flowers

Empty yard just beggin to be dug up! You just wait till next year.

I've got rocks! Hubby finished shoveling out the rocks for me. Thanks, Hubby!

So do you ever just have those days where you can breathe and everything feels nice? After several failed attempts at knitting, I was finally able to learn this weekend, which I know is just knitting, but I am ECSTATIC!!!! I've got a good foot long something going on. I'm considering this practice so I'm just gonna keep going until my little ball of yarn is finished. On top of that, I made bread from scratch tonight and got to beat the dickens out of some dough. Repressed aggression...taken care of! Knitting, bread making, the garden is doing well, and my rugrat is learning tons of new words everyday! This is going to be a good week.

The last of the babies waiting to be planted.


Lettuces 4 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago, and today!


My first "volunteers" and Mr. Twisty!

Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life

So I just got finished with a new book. "Made from Scratch" by Jenna Woginrich is AMAZING! Its all about how to make small changes in your life to live more sustainably. Her story hit me right in the gut. It gave me the courage to make the decision to get chickens! I have been pondering for awhile now and doing some research, but Jenna's book really breaks it down for me. She even includes resources to do anything and everything. I've spent my entire life feeling like the odd one out. I've always enjoyed nature and making things. I figure if someone made it then why can't I. I never considered why I was like that, but now that I think about it, being connected to what I came from, learning to take care of myself from the land, it feels wonderful. Everything today comes pre-made, pre-packaged, pre-cooked. You can itemize and pick out every detail of anything these days with the click of a button. What happens when its all gone? What happens when there are no more instant mashed potatoes?

In the morning, before I even begin to think about work, I sit out in my garden picking tiny weeds, plucking away the caterpillars, and checking on my seedlings' progess. It fills my heart with joy that is almost choking. It makes me thankful for everything I've got. And now, my quest...urban chicken farmer!

Weekend Chores

Potato sprouts from last weekend and today. Same plant! Like 3 inches taller!

I live for Saturday mornings. This week has been especially nice weather and this Saturday has been no exception! I can't believe how much my little babies have grown this week...check out last weekend's post and look at these new pics. Sunshine makes everybody and everything so happy!

Tell me if you can tell the difference between the spaghetti squash and the zucchini because I sure can't!

Sophia helping Momma in the garden and playing in her new house.

2009 Seed List

(seedlings catching some rays)

Does anyone else feel overwhelmed by the 200 seeds that come in a pack? I mean, I feel very wasteful when it comes to starting from seed. This year I'm trying to find friends to donate baby plants to like they are free kittens! I figure everyone could use a pepper plant, a tomato plant, and maybe some onions! Anyhoo! Here is my list of wishful thinking for this year. And, since I can't stop buying seed packets, I'm sure there will be many revisions of this post.

(s)=saved from 2008 harvest

Veggies
-Zucchini
-Watermelon
-Spaghetti Squash
-Little Gem Bibb Lettuce
-Sweet Yellow Corn (s)
-Chocolate Bell Peppers (s)
-Banana Peppers (s)
-Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins
-California Wonder Green Bell Peppers (s)
-Mini White Pumpkins (s)
-Calypso Beans (farmers market donation)
-Jelly Bean Tomatoes (cherry)
-Mesclun Salad Mix
-White onions
-Leaf Lettuce Mix
-Black Beauty Eggplant
-Better Boy Tomatoes
-KY Wonder Green Beans (pole)
-Yellow Onions (sets)
-Russet Potato (seed potato)
-Yukon Gold Potato (seed potato)
-Roma Tomatoes
-Poblano Peppers
-Lumina White Pumpkins
-Red Onion (sets)
- Tendergreen Beans (bush)

Herbs
-Parsley-Flat Leaf Italian
-Italian Basil
-Rosemary
-Sage
-Spearmint
-Garlic Chives
-Thyme
-Dill

Flowers
-Zinnias: White, Envy (green), Scarlet Queen, Giants Mix
-Nigellas Hot Fudge Sundae
-Sweet Peas Little Sweetheart Mix
-Cornflower Blue Boy
-Nasturium
-Alyssum Mulberry Mix
-Bachelor's Button
-Delphinium Pacific Mix
-Foxglove Excelsior
-Sunflowers: Apricot, Double Dandy, Girasol, Mammoth (s)
-Butterfly Mix
-Rannunculus (tubers)
-Dahlias Dinnerplate Mix (tubers)

-English Daisy

How adorable is this packet!

Backtracking and updating

My garden has come a long way from where it started and I want to share it's progress. Pictures are from the next addition of two more raised beds from 2008. My family made fun of me because I didn't plant that much of hardly anything and they said I wouldn't even get a dinner's worth of beans out of my plants. I called last year "practice" and plan on being able to can and freeze a considerable amount this year. :-)

P.S.

To those of you interested in growing banana peppers...one plant is enough to feed a small army. I swear I pulled off at least 100 peppers from two plants. Seriously, it was ridiculous. I had no clue. They ambushed me.

Where the magic began

I started off small. Two raised beds. Hubby got a new power drill and I put him to good use. A trip to Lowe's and an two hours later...one 4x6 bed and one 4x2 bed freshly filled with a nice organic dirt mixture ready for some vegetable invasions!

Step 1: What to plant?

These were my first plants to try out. The peppers and tomotoes were bought as plants. The beans and most of the lettuces were grown from seeds.

A. Banana peppers-Why? Hubby likes them, thats why!

B. Green peppers-they are great in everything

C. Tomatoes-again, they go with everything (mainly because my diet consists of spaghetti and chili as often as hubby will let me make it)

D. Green Beans (bush)

E. A few varieties of leaf lettuces

F. Various herbs that I picked up at local nurseries

Step 2: Where to plant?

My new raised beds, silly! No, of course, thats where, but where in the beds should they go? I just drew a little diagram of how things could be tucked in together to utilize the space and yield a nice harvest. As my first attempt at gardening, I was just happy things were still alive and didn't know a thing about companion planting or rotation gardening.

Step 3: PLANT THOSE BAD BOYS!

Oh yeah! Its game time! I loved coming home from the nurseries and digging little homes for my new plants. However, the real rush is when you plant seeds directly in the dirt and they sprout out into the sunshine. First time for me, I called my mom as soon as I saw their little leaves. You would have thought that I won the lottery.

Step 4: Maintenance

Weed and water accordingly!