Garden Update- end of May

Planting Day 2011: Saturday, May 28. 

Goal: to get the veggie garden planted in a single day.

That's a pretty lofty goal!

Can it be done?

hmmmm.....

So after my first-ever Zumba class (ow, ow, ow, ow!) I spent the next SIX + hours out.  Planting.  With about a zillion of my closest friends- gnats.  Oh. my. gosh.  The gnats were AWFUL!  They don't show up in the photos but trust me- they're there! In my ears, up my nose, in my hair, on my body....everywhere!

So what did I actually manage to plant?  Ummm...to be perfectly honest- I didn't keep a log of all the stuff I put in.   I know.  That's really terrible for a gardener not to know what the heck she's growing but there it is.  There are currently seven tomato plants (I'm planning on adding more), one tomatillo plant, two anaheim peppers, two bell peppers, one eggplant, several butternut squash plants, yellow squash, watermelon plants, peanut plants (this is a first!), several kinds of herb plants (basil, thyme mostly), marigolds and cucumbers.  I also planted lots of seeds and I really didn't keep track of where what went.  I know I've got shallots, pole beans, basil, cucumber, butternut squash, zucchini and nasturium seeds.  There are probably several more that I can't remember.  Sigh.  

Now for the bit of good news.  I was so glad to get the garden planted on Saturday as it RAINED all day on Sunday!  I couldn't have timed it better even if I'd tried!  Perfect!  

 This year we enlarged the pumpkin/cutting garden patch.  There used to be a strip of grass weeds between the raised beds and the patch but as the plants in the bed matured I was no longer able to mow there.  The boards with the stakes are my (probably) attempt at keeping the gravel from migrating to the pumpkin bed.  I still need to pound the stakes into the ground.  It's definitely a hack job but I was just trying to find a quick way to do the job.  We also need to add more gravel to the pathway.  

 Things I already had planted: onions, potatoes, kohlrabi (in my old strawberry bed), spinach, radishes and lettuce.  I also have two beds dedicated to fruiting shrubs.  Ideally I'll three beds of tomatoes (last year I had only two), one bed dedicated to pepper plants, the cucumber bed with three different kinds of cucumbers, a lettuce/spinach/carrot/greens bed.  One thing you should know about the way I plant- I always plant the seeds and plants more thickly than is recommended.  I do this for a few different reasons- it helps keep the weeds down is probably the biggest reason.  It works for me.

I planted corn (I've had several unsuccessful attempts at growing corn but I thought I'd try again) in the pumpkin patch.  It should- with some luck- turn into a giant mess of a garden!  I also planted dahlias and glads in part of the pumpkin patch.  I still would like to plant zinnias there as well.  

Will I ever be done planting?  Don't answer that.

LOL!

ARG!!!!! And in extremely frustrating news- we went away for the weekend and deer have already plowed through my garden.  Bad, bad deer!  Anybody have ANYTHING they can recommend on what to use to keep deer out????  I'm not sure what our neighbors would think if I put in a giant fence.  I'm pretty sure they'd revolt if I did that.

Here are some of the flowers that were blooming in my flower garden at the end of May.  

 planter located next to front door.

 I've been adding to the Forest Garden.  I've We've got lots of plans for this space so we'll see what happens!   You can see how it's changed from this last photo I took of the same area on May 19.  Lots of hostas (thanks to a neighbor for sharing!), ferns, coral bells and a few other shade loving plants.  I really need to get some wood chip mulch to help cut down on the weeds.

 The purple petunia (in the pot with the Ava label) was a Mother's Day gift from Ava.  :-)

Big pot of happy faced pansies!  Such a cheery bunch!

That's it for now!

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Ready for a Change! Will you help me? (paint colors for bathroom)

I'm in need of decorating assistance!

It's time for a change!  Here are photos of the current bathroom.... 

I'd call the current paint color a deep terracotta orange but some would say it's red.  (maybe I'm the one who's color blind!)

I don't dislike the current color but I'm really ready for a change.  I'm thinking of something of going with a color that is lighter and neutral.  The artwork is staying (may be rearranged; edited).  The cabinet, countertop, vinyl flooring and stained-wood trim & doors are all staying.  The so-called curtain is actually a piece of fabric pinned on the window (I was just seeing whether or not I liked it but I forgot to actually turn it into a curtain!).     I want a paint color that will allow me to decorate with various color combinations depending on how my mood strikes me.  That translates to deep orange, chocolate brown and green in the fall and winter and for summer I'd like to decorate with blues and various shades of greens.

See the color of the wood?  Whatever paint color needs to work with the orange tones of the wood (I'd love to tone down the orange rather than make it stand out).

Got any color ideas for me?  Pretty please with frosting on top?  

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Last Day of School Owls

For Hooting Good Fun we made these cute Owl Pillow Boxes to hold The Last Day of School Thank You cards/drawings/small gift for the girls' teachers.  

I got the cute idea from Kerry at Kerry's Craft Blog via Meg over at Whatever.  Thank you!  You guys are totally awesome!

{I found a pillow box template on the internet and used it to make several boxes out of cardstock.  I had lots of precut cardstock circles plus I used the Creative Memories oval and circle cutters- I knew my scrapbooking supplies would come in handy again!  The beak and the feet are two hearts (I cut them out freehand).  The wings are ovals.  I used a low-temperature hot glue gun to help make the project go faster and so that the girls could participate in making the owls.  Sweet and easy!}

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She Did It!

Is that the face of a Happy Girl or what?

Why is Annika so happy?

Do you remember how Annika has been asking for an Ipod since forever? (according to her)  Do you remember the deal we struck with her to enable her to work and save up for one?

She did it!

She finally earned enough money doing jobs for us (and saving it) to buy a slightly used GREEN Ipod Nano (one of the previous models)!  She was so excited to finally reach her goal (we bought it on ebay) that I let her take it in on the last day of school (last Friday) to show to her classmates and teacher.

Way to go, Annika!  We knew you could do it!


Want to know what jobs she did to earn money?  She put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher every morning, she washed dishes in the evening and she helped me weed the pumpkin patch (she really did help me weed- it was so nice to have that help!).  Those jobs were completed in addition to her normal, every day chores.  Also, they had to be completed well in a timely fashion.  


:-)

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Memorial Day Picnic

Happy Memorial Day!

We celebrated Memorial Day with friends at Governor Dodge State Park near Dodgeville, WI.  We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to celebrate this important day!

The girls spent the entire day at this beach....finding snails, other mollusks, water snakes (!) and fishing for tiny fish.  I'm a wimp when it comes to swimming- especially in cold water.  So, no swimming for me!  Yes, we saw a few water snakes.  Mark caught one- they're not poisonous.  Annika also tried catching one and she was the talk of the beach for a few minutes (at least among the other pint-sized people).  

 Ava and her "surfboard"

 After picnic lunch and a small dose of ice cream the kids had a massive giggling fit with this water fountain.  One of the kids would turn on the lower faucet (for cleaning feet?) and the rest of the kids would run away giggling and screaming!  

The girls totally and completely crashed in the car- they slept the entire drive home!  And now I have this extremely irritating problem I'm not sure how to deal with- my hard drive is full....so how can I post the photos from my garden I took this morning to show you?  Argh!  Is there an easy solution?  And yes, as my friend guessed- the reason I'm not posting as much is that I'm outside trying to tame the wild beast that is my garden.  There's so much happening right now; I hope I get to show you!

and.......

Oma(und auch Uroma)- Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Photo of the Day: May 19 (a fort of sorts)

Annika and Ava's Forest Room Fort

Annika loves building "forts".  Her forts so far consist of sticking sticks into the ground.  And this year she's added an umbrella.  It usually involves a shovel (and minimal crying from using said shovel).  At least I think I've got her trained NOT to dig holes in my yard!  This fort is located in our Forest Room- a tiny part of our forest we're trying to cultivate into a garden/hang-out space.  It's more of a Battle with Sticky Weed than anything else but I can't help but continue to try weeding. Chances are, if I'm in a stinky mood I've just tried (and failed) at weeding eradicating the sticky weed & stinging nettles from here. ;-)

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Weekly Veggie Garden Update - May 19

Here's my weekly veggie garden update:

I *finally* got bitten by the Gardening Bug.  With everything happening this past year I thought perhaps I wouldn't even plant the veggie garden.  Ah....but when those leaves start popping out of the trees, the warm air returns and the smell of the earth is so delicious that I just couldn't help myself at the garden center.

On Mother's Day I picked up lots of seeds- most of which haven't been planted yet.  I've got golden beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, two kinds of potatoes (don't ask what kind as I didn't really pay much attention- oops!) and red onions planted.  The remaining seeds: pole beans, shallots, carrots, Swiss chard, pumpkins, summer and winter squash and cucumbers (and various flowers) are waiting patiently for me to plant them.  I'm kind of glad I didn't plant the cold-sensitive seeds as we had a few nights recently that got dangerously close to freezing.  

The girls helped me one afternoon weed the pumpkin/winter squash/dahlia/gladiolus bed.  It's the only bed that is NOT a raised bed.  That took hours!  I'm so glad that I had their help.  And now Annika is that much closer to getting her Ipod (more on that in a future post!).  

This year I'm doing something a little differently: I'm purchasing tomato, pepper, eggplant and herb plants.  I just didn't get my seeds started in time so off I'll go to the farmer's market this weekend in high hopes of finding lovely seedlings that will have to come home with me. Wish me luck! I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't start tomatoes from seed.  

The beds with cattle panels sticking up (held in place with t-posts) are the tomato beds.  I know I should rotate my crops in different beds (I used to do that) but since we've got our drip irrigation set up differently for the various beds I've decided to keep the plants in the same place.  I do add bags of composted manure and grass clippings (some is piled up in the foreground) that I work into the soil.  I know it's not ideal but it does work for me.  The upside down V-frame houses the cucumber bed.  The panels allow the cucumber vines to grow upward.  Not sure if I've noticed any difference in mildew attacks but it keeps the garden looking nice.

I consider my garden to be a Potager Garden...veggies, herbs and  flowers mingle together

I've got gravel on the pathways between my raised beds.  Why gravel?  It's what we had on-hand at the time.  Why are my beds spaced far apart?  The original garden lay-out accommodated the width of the deck of our former riding mower.  We upgraded the mower and the new one had a much larger deck.   After about a year of mowing with our little push mower we decided to try something different!  Our gravel pathway set up isn't perfect (it gets weedy and is now in need of extra gravel) but I do love it.  It doesn't get super muddy after a heavy rainfall.  

The bed on the right front corner has lettuce (as planted by Annika) and radishes popping up.  The smaller square beds have various herbs (lavender, thyme and sage) in them and are waiting for the pole bean seeds to be planted around the poles.  You can see our drip irrigation system.  We set it up a few years ago and while we have minor repairs to make to it every year it still works great!

My currant bush bed.  I currently have two white, two red and one black currant bushes.  Get it?  Currently currant?  eep.  Somebody save me from myself.  I moved these bushes (along with a few ratty looking red raspberry bushes, a few sad looking blueberry bushes and two rhubarb plants) from my former veggie garden on the other side of the driveway.  They never got the attention they needed to succeed over there so I'm hoping they'll be happier and healthier in their new location.  (so far the answer is "yes" - they are much happier!)

 Bed in foreground contains baby spinach and radish plants. The bed in the background used to be the weed strawberry patch. As I could barely see the strawberries through all the weeds I lifted all the remaining strawberry plants out of that bed (to be replanted elsewhere) and planted potatoes and red onions in there.  

 Is there anything you'd like to know more about my garden?  Do you have any gardening questions?  I might not have all the answers to your questions but I'd love to help!  I love encouraging people to try gardening.  It's a very rewarding and, at the same time, a very humbling experience.  Becoming a gardener is a life-long, never-ending learning adventure.  

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