June 1 - morning

Perhaps you've heard of a fun little smart-phone app called "instagram." Basically it is a camera app that crops your photos to a neat little square and lets you apply a funky filter, if you want to. Since I've been having a bit of a "blogger rut" I thought this would be a good challenge for me. 

Here's the list:

And here's my June 1st instagram for "Morning" - a chilly and blustery day for C's school field day. At least it wasn't raining!

Performing Arts Field Trip

Click here to read about C's field trip to the Center for the Performing Arts.

May 2012 Garden Update

So, I altered my plans slightly in what I planted and where. This is what I ended up with:

Doug made me some nifty square-foot-garden guides to help me space out my seeds. This especially came in handy for the teeny-tiny carrot seeds, which I am planting here:

Last year our tomato plants were so huge they literally toppled over the wire tomato cage and became an out-of-control monster growing along the ground. Upon some more research, I decided to allow 4 squares per plant this year and invested in some top-quality tomato cages from Gardener's Supply Co. I like that they fold flat for easy storage. They also are the perfect size at 14 3/8" square.

We also purchased some smaller square pepper cages for our bell peppers. I am bound and determined to do whatever possible to get some peppers this year!  With a discount code for Gardener's Supply Co., we had enough left in the budget to purchase a set of Tomato Automators which are supposed to encourage tomato production.

I was quite pleased with my seedlings success this year. Last year not a SINGLE seedling made it. This year I had 3 pumpkin plants, 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash and 3 tomato plants.

To the left are the pumpkins in their new home where the compost pile used to be.

Here you can see me patiently planting the carrot seeds, while the broccoli, red, yellow, green and jalapeno peppers are in as well as the tomatoes.

The onions are growing quite nicely, as is my crop of buttercrunch lettuce. I'm enjoying fresh salad greens for lunch every day! The garlic is starting to look yellow and some leaves are falling over. I dug up a couple bulbs to check them, but they were no where near fully-grown. I plan to leave the garlic in for as long as possible. The zucchini, summer squash and basil plants were planted after this photo was taken.

The squash are supposed to have 4 squares each, but two of my plants will have only 3 a piece. We'll see if this is over-crowded or not...

I opted to plant my rosemary in a pot, in hopes that I can bring it inside over the winter. This didn't work out last winter, but I think it died when I closed the blinds over our vacation. This year I'll make sure it gets sun all the time!

May Showers

Hard to believe we went from coats to swimsuits in 10 days time! I love the lushness of spring. The hot temperatures that day drew the girls to don their new swimsuits and test them out in an inaugural sprinkler run.

First Plantings of Spring 2012

C and I planted some onions on April 4 in the garden. I am trying 2 squares of red onion bulbs and 6 squares of Candy onions. The candy onions grew great last year. My only complaint was that they didn't keep as long as I hoped. I think it's because I hung them by the dryer in the basement and there was maybe too much heat/moisture.  This year I'll hang them in the sump room, which is uninsulated and dark.

We also planted 2 squares of buttercrunch lettuce. The weather has been beautiful and I think it's alright to see what comes up.

Here's the grand plan:

Today, Doug and I put the final touches on the second raised bed:

You can see the green onions in the left-most square and the candy onions in the 6 squares at the end. The red onions came in bulbs which are "underground" right now. 

I also started some seeds: pumpkin, zucchini, yellow squash and tomato:

I had a zero success-rate with seedlings last year, so my plan this year is to leave them outside in the sun whenever possible and bring them in at night so they don't get too cold. :)

How does your garden grow?

While I wasn't as faithful about posting garden updates last year, it has already been helpful to look back and see what/when I did things. Hopefully this year will be better!

Doug and decided at the end of last year to add a second raised bed this year. I put down some cardboard and covered it with leaves over the winter. Last week, my friend Lisa listened to my plans and helped me get the ball rolling during her visit. (Look for a post on their visit in the near future...)

My compost is looking rich and wonderful! We turned it all over and dug out the oregano, chives and cilantro that have been running rampant for years. Then we dug out all the remaining pavers and stacked them up along the fence for raised-bed-assembly.

Some of the herbs were transplanted into the landscaping areas on the south side of the house. This is where we had an out-of-control mint population that we spent all of last year killing off. Now we have oregano, chives and cilantro and I don't mind so much if that goes out-of-control. Two words, people: "FOOD DEHYDRATOR." Oh yeah.

I have been very concerned about my blueberry bushes. Or rather, blueberry "sticks." They don't appear to have changed much since last year. I don't think they are dead, though, as one does have two teeny-tiny little leaves coming out of it and they are not dry and brittle. But they are far from thriving. The second night of their visit, we all dropped in on a friend of theirs who owns goats. (Again - post on that super-fun visit coming soon!).  Her blueberries looked amazing so I asked for some advice. She told me to dig them up, make a 12 in deep hole and fill it with a peat-moss/water slurry. Then replant, mulch with pine needles and dump coffee grounds on them whenever I could. I took her advice and hope it works!

Here's the garlic I planted in the fall. Looks nice, but I'm not sure what's under there and when to harvest it. I've heard July? But the outer leaves are starting to fall... Will have to research that one.

All-Day Dates

We've continued using our marble jars for dates with the girls. My last two dates have been long dates, or "all-day" dates, as the girls call them.

 To read more click here.