Oh! Hey There!

Huh, true to my nature, I've stopped writing for ages now.  One day I'll get myself together.  It's been a lot of ups and downs, but we're still trucking right along.
 
   We just started our 5th year at the garden!  Had a few things to work out.  We had to re-size our plot to keep in line with the rest of the gardeners.  As it's a large raised bed, it was a lot of work.  Unfortunately there's plants that had to be uprooted in order to get the work done, and a lot of soil to relocate.  I put my delphinium back in the ground, but it's still up in the air if it survived or not.  My gigantic thyme plant that's large enough to declare itself a sovereign country is looking pretty sad.  Hopefully I'll be able to put her back in the ground soon, and give her a good haircut, get her feeling all refreshed.  And then there's my lavender.  When I first got the plot, there was one big lavender plant.  I took a dull, somewhat rusty shovel and split him in two.  Both halves survived and thrived at opposite ends of the garden.  But now, his twin had to be dug up for this move.  However, she's seeming to survive the uprooting just fine for now.

   So far all we have planted, that isn't a perennial, is peas, onions, and a couple leeks.  Two years ago I put one little bitty strawberry plant on the south end, and now it's taken over most of that half of the plot!  'S okay though, there's plans in place to add a new strawberry box they'll be moved to so they can be contained.  I still have the gigantic rosemary plant that used to be planted in a McDonald's cup as a natural air freshener in my car.  Thing is chest high to me now, and I'm 6'2"!  At least one of the dahlias have begun to poke out of the ground.  It's going to take some cleanup to find if the others are still kickin' under there.  For some reason my crocus' only gave me leaves, never flowered.

   Other things going on this year... I met my Grandfather!  I'm turning 38 this year and have finally met my Grandfather.  It's a long story, and as it affects so many still living I'll not get into it, but it is what it is.  It's as simple as this... I grew up with the understanding that I had two Grandmothers and three Grandfathers.  All but my maternal Grandmother and birth Grandfather have passed on.  The opportunity to meet and know my Grandfather wasn't there for various reasons.  But this year we all were finally able to say "to Hell with the reasons" and make it happen.  I couldn't be any happier!  I swear he and I are so much alike it's scary!  There is no way this trip would have happened without the help of my parents.  I couldn't afford it on my own, and so they foot the bill.  My husband also helped out... he dipped into his retirement fund to make sure I had any spending cash I needed to be comfortable.

   It was a fantastic trip!  I haven't ever really flown alone, so I was terrified.  I've flown many times, mind you, but never alone.  I've always had family, friends, or shipmates to hold my hand.  Heck, I've even been on a flight where mid-air we lost an engine and hydraulics, but I had so many folks with me I wasn't nearly as terrified as I was to get on this commercial plane all by myself.  I did have the doc prescribe me anxiety pills, but apparently just knowing I could take them was enough.  There is so much to the travel and meeting that I should write an entire separate post about it.  Maybe I'll finally get to it.

   My eldest has bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  That kid is growing up way too fast!  He's still bright, happy overall, and so smart.  The Twinnies are getting huge as well.  They'll be starting Cub and Girl Scouts this summer.  We're even starting a Girl Scout troop just so that we can ease scheduling for other Scout families.

   Eldest Son is about to have a birthday, and this year we're camping as a family where normally it's his boys only trip.  But as this year his birthday falls on a weekend, when the whole family had a chance to make a trip he's been dying to make happen, we're doing it.  He's asked for a red velvet birthday cake... we've readied the dutch oven.  ;-)

   I've had my share of health problems.  I have medications for my migraines finally, but if I took meds for everything I would have an all out pharmacy going on every day.  That doesn't sound appealing.  I had heard of elimination diets and how they can sort out if food is your trigger.  I'd done some reading on them a while back, but was irritated by the "lose weight fast" angle, or the gazillion celebrities backing it, or, God Forbid, Dr. Oz puts his stamp on anything.  And nothing made sense just right, and I knew no one I could ask about it.  So I pushed it aside.  Recently a dear friend brought it up because it's what she had to do to regain her health.  I've been able to personally see much of the difference it made for her.  So now I'm looking into the format she tried.  Autoimmune Protocol.  It's pretty extensive, and giving some of those foods up for even a while breaks my heart, but I am still considering it.  It makes sense, and I'm loving the people writing about it, their qualifications, and their experiences.  And I've not seen a bunch of money making, celeb backing, Dr.Oz waving or the rest of the crap that distracts and annoys me.  And I have been able to ask my friend if I have any questions.  As of now, the plan is to slowly phase out some of the no-no's to brace for impact, but to actually and officially start January 2.  Why so late?  Time to prepare for one.  My garden is reason two.  I don't have the willpower to give up my tomatoes and peppers while I'm already growing them.  And then there's travel and holidays, it's awfully hard to stick to anything new during those times.  So January 2 is my goal date.

   Of course there has been so much more going on, but trying to cover it all at once is impossible.  So basically I'm writing to catch the basics and hopefully remind myself to write more later.  ;-)

A Little Fruity Daydreaming.

   I want a pie cherry tree.  I have an apple tree I can't identify, and the apples never seem to ripen.  I have a grafted multi-sweet cherry tree.  It produces, and has since the first year, but it's only a few years old and doesn't make any kind of big batch yet.  But I can buy sweet cherries anywhere.  It's the sour pie cherries I can't easily find.  But even on this fairly large (for a neighborhood) plot of land we own, there isn't room to plant anymore fruit trees.  See, not only do I live on a hill, most of it is full of alder trees and blackberries.  Clearing that out is potentially a very dangerous, and very difficult task.
   As long as I can remember, I've wanted my own personal mini-orchard.  Growing up in California, there were several orchards of various types.  I remember both nuts and fruits... apricots and walnuts being the most prominent in my memory.  I even remember an almond tree at the apartments we lived at when I was really little.
   When we moved to Washington, I remember our first house having it's own selection of tasty goods.  Behind the house was a handful of plum trees back by the blackberry patch.  I've never been a big plum fan, so mostly what I remember was the smell of the rotting fruit as it dropped to the ground.  But, off to the side of the large yard was an apple tree I remember very little of aside from climbing it, and my personal favorite, a cherry tree.  Not just any cherry tree, but a pie cherry tree.  Beautiful, bright, shiny, tart pie cherries.  That tree was absolutely loaded in them!  For me, even with such a very small knowledge of what the heck was growing in the yard, and what it took to take care of it all, these trees were heaven in a small chunk of suburbia.
   Now I own a home, and I have two fruit trees that don't have use as of yet.  (At least the cherry tree has promise.)  I am hugely overrun with blackberries, and while that is unpleasant, at least it's useful.  Somewhere buried under the blackberries is some thimbleberries and raspberries.  Or at least I've found the thimble berries and I'm told by my husband that raspberries are under there somewhere.  But none are trees, and none make up for an actual pie cherry tree.
   So I shall continue to dream.  I don't really want an all out orchard, but the cherries would be nice.  Both pie and sweet.  And an apple tree or two that produce edible apples.  A couple plums (since the rest of the family enjoys them).  God I'd love some peaches, but I don't think they'd grow here.  Pears.  Oooh!  Apricot.  I'm told those might grow here.  But seriously, I'd be perfectly happy with just the pie cherries and an actual edible apple.

I've Been Inspired...

   I'm working very hard to landscape a large portion of our front yard/driveway.  It's a huge amount of space and will take a lot of work.  I really only want to do a section at a time.  In the meantime, I don't really want to leave a lot of bare spots while I work.

   A few weeks ago, I came across the idea of a sunflower house.  I've seen bean shelters and such, but something as simple and pretty as a group of sunflowers... that's got my name written all over it.  The kids are 10, 5, and of course, 5.  Sounds like as good a time as any do work such a project.

   Unfortunately, the weather has been less than cooperative.  I never used to be, but lately I'm a total weather wimp.  Don't know where I got it from, but if it's gray, inside I will stay.  So this means I've had a couple weeks to expand on this idea.  Pinterest is such an awesome/evil thing.  And what's great is, no matter how many great ideas I've had, I have still only found one thing I might have to purchase.  The rest is all using supplies I already have, or have available to me.  Oh, and almost all of it can be built by the kids themselves!

   My latest idea is for an outdoor summer game room.  It would start with the planting of the sunflower seeds... and I have a huge variety.  I would dig the trench, but the kids would sow the seeds and cover them up.

   The next step, as our flowers start their stretch for the sun, would be to make games to play.  Pinterest to the rescue again.  My folks cut down two huge trees in their back yard.  Hubby has been chipping away at the heap of log rounds to make firewood.  I would have to go and look at the remaining rounds, but if I can find one of an appropriate size, I can plop it inside the "house".  (I would likely want to treat it first, to prevent damage/bugs/fungus.)  But the kids can take it from there.  We have rocks, lots of beautiful rocks for painting, all over the place.  Painted rocks might just make for excellent game pieces.  And that log?  I'm thinking a game board burned or painted on it.  Either a simple tic-tac-toe, or a chess/checkers board.  Voila!  Outdoor game for an outdoor game room!

  Not only can the kids help me build it, they can sit in the shade and picnic, play quite games, and enjoy a safe spot to play as I do other yard work.  The Eldest loves his quite time reading books, and this might be a spot for him to enjoy for that purpose as well.  I'm kinda excited to see how it turns out.  Well, you know, assuming I can get a break in the gray, soggy weather.

So The Plan Is…

   This year, growing goodies in my pumpkin patch turned out to be an interesting and fantastic idea!  There were also many lessons to be learned along the way.

   First off, I’m only really interested in growing two kinds of pumpkins.  Not very creative, I know, but that’s all I want.  I grow Sugar Pie pumpkins and Jack-o-Lantern ones.  This year, in that smallish space, I planted 6 of each kind, totaling 12 plants.  That’s an awful lot all in one place.  Two kinds of pumpkins are really not supposed to be grown side by side, for fear of cross pollination.  I’m not looking for the perfect pumpkin, a slight variation between the two is fine by me.  I also pay close attention and make sure I hand pollinate each female flower right away anyhow, so hopefully I do pretty good in getting the real deal out of it.  However, having so many plants in such a small space made it impossible to figure out which kind of male flower I was matching to which kind of female…  So this year, for all I know, they can be a 50/50 mix of each and not one original pumpkin in the batch.

   Growing so many pumpkins had another disadvantage.  Pumpkin plants get huge.  When those leaves get to the size of elephant ears, they really crowd out anything else in the patch with them.  Some of my plants did well under the leaves for a while.  The peppers really liked having the leaves from the pumpkin vines to filter the sun while they were still tiny and weak.  But after a while, those peppers really craved the sun with no shade, and it was a struggle for them. 

   I grew plenty of greens this year as well.  Problem was, I grew too many, and not in shifts, but all at once.  Many of them bolted before I could do anything about it.  Spinach bolts extremely easily and grow very fast.  Out there in the patch, they grew well before the pumpkins were available to provide them some relief from the sun.  I barely got anything out of the many plants. 

   The kale, on the other hand, is sturdy and took extremely well to the patch.  We harvested loads, which I washed, chopped, and froze or I cooked in batches of Zuppa Tosacano soup.  There is still more out there to be harvested.  Some of it went to waste, but that was mostly due to stress in my personal life giving me limited time out in the garden.

   I did specifically leave some lettuce out there to go to seed.  I have no idea what I’m doing as I try to collect the seed, but we’ll see what happens.  Speaking of letting things go to seed…. I tried to grow cauliflower out there.  Some plants seem to have disappeared entirely, but one went straight to seed instead of providing an edible head to harvest.  Sooooo…. Just for fun, I’m going to let it die and dry out there so I can try to collect seeds to play with for next year. 

   Also in the patch are two artichoke plants.  These were a fun experiment.  I assumed I’d plant them and have artichoke to harvest, like most other vegetable plants.  SURPRISE!  That’s not how artichoke works.  They are a permanent plant.  Fine by me!  They start small for a few years and then get bigger and bigger each year.  I actually would have given up, but my neighbor to the west is growing some and explained to me that her plants are 3 years old.  OH!  Good to know. 

   Asparagus, another item I’m attempting in the patch, is much like artichoke… you aren’t going to get anything out of them for a couple years.  Sadly I only had one out of like 12 root sets take and sprout a fern.  The one fern, when it sprouted, nearly got pulled as a weed until I took a closer look.  (Whew!)  I think next year I’ll replant some of them, and add some of the lovely purple ones I had seen this year.  I’m told they are slightly sweeter.

   I planted corn out there, and mammoth sunflowers as well, but it seems I did so too late and accidentally bonsai’d them.  That is to say, I have mini versions… VERY MINI.  Nothing edible, but kinda cute. 

   As mentioned earlier, I have several pepper plants out there as well, but they are struggling.  I removed the leaves covering them a while ago, but I think part of the problem is I don’t know much about growing peppers.  (Last year I got one bell and 5 jalapinos out of like 8 plants.  So I guess we’ll just have to see.  Peppers I really want to get good at, so I’m very sure I’ll be trying again.

   So I guess my next step is, what will I do next?  Well, I have much to do still.  To start, the pumpkins are still going strong.  I’ll work on harvesting the first ones here soon, because I don’t think they’ll want to hang out there much longer…. I had ones last year that got eaten by slugs and snails once they ripened.  Seems ripe pumpkin attracts those critters more so than the Sluggo.  However, as those start to become less productive, I’ll start cutting back the plants.  I’m already pulling plants that are past their prime and not to be left for seed.   (Compost is a good thing.) 

   Eventually there will be very little left, and it will be time to get some heavy work done.  This winter, I’m going to have garlic in the ground.  To do that, I’m going to have to rake back some of the wood mulch that is currently in place and work the soil some.  (Being careful of the artichokes and asparagus out there.  Reminder to self, ask S at the community garden how they can grow stuff every year and not kill the soil.)  I want to work some compost and a little more topsoil into the patch, keep nutrients in the soil, and keep the soil texture good.  Plus, at the beginning of the summer I had planted several garlic cloves, but haven’t seen anything of them, so I want to be careful in case there are dormant garlic plants out there. 

   Once the soil is ready, I have onion starts and 6 types of garlic I’m going to plant and mark.  On top of that I’ll layer about 6 inches of mulch to keep everything cozy over the winter.  If I plant them strategically, they’ll be ready for digging up while the pumpkin plants and others are just going to start needing room next spring/summer.  That’s a lot of nutrients to pull from the soil, so I’m going to have to really watch the compost and organic additives or I’ll be blowing the whole thing.  (After next summer I think I’ll need to plant some soil enriching crops to simply mulch under for a while.) 

   SO, hopefully next year I’ll have two or three varieties of onion, 6 of garlic (Wait, I planted 3 other kinds this year that are going to have to over winter because of the time of year I planted them.  So I guess that makes 9 kinds.  But 6 I’m really putting focus into.)

   I hope to still have a nifty variety of plants in the patch next year, and have a lovely crop of onions and garlic if all goes well.  But eventually, I’ll have perfected exactly what I want to grow where out there and will have a perfect little pumpkin patch garden.

The Experiment Begins: Immediate Observations

   So, after having planted the starts in my Topsy Turvys, I have new concerns, observations, impressions and such.  Already?  Well, yeah.  They really are a whole new planting experience.

   So, I started with the strawberry planter, and that’s where I’ll begin this post.  The strawberry plants I bought had pretty decent roots, so they weren’t too difficult to shove in the planter.   The planter is basically a bag with holes along the sides to push your plants in.  But my concern here is that the holes are covered by some fairly firm plastic.  It’s a circle, with a hole in the middle, and slits radiating to the outer edges.  I’m actually kinda nervous about the stems poking through these, as they seem like they could potentially cause damage.  So you fill the pot to the first round of holes, shove in your plants, and cover with more dirt… repeat until full.  I’m a little concerned with the final weight on the roots of the bottom plants.  It seems like for such “delicate” roots, that’s a lot of pressure crushing down on them.  Regardless, the one for experiment is up and running.  I did buy shepherds hooks that did not at all handle the weight necessary, anywhere around 75lbs each, so I’m gonna have to work that issue.  There are three different varieties of strawberries in there.  If this gadget works, the secondary experiment will be what kind of strawberries I’ll like best.  Speaking of, Strawberries are not a temporary plant.  They look like they die, but they are actually dormant and return the next year.  I wonder how that will work with the Topsy Turvy…

   Okay, then I filled the pepper planter.  This one is actually very much like the strawberry one, just smaller.  The stem vs. plastic holes concern is still there.  I’ve planted two varieties of hot peppers and one of sweet bells.  Each hole has two plants, because the directions say I can.  Pretty much, the concerns I have for the pepper one match the ones for the strawberry planter.  The weight isn’t as great, so I guess I’m not really worried about that part though.

   Then we get to the tomato one.  This one has me stumped.  I have the tomato and herbs planter.  This one has the hole in the bottom for tomatoes, and 9 holes along the side for herbs.  I only bought 7, because I apparently misread the directions, so I’m gonna have to go get more. 

   Okay, so I’ll start with the planting of the tomatoes.  I had to hang the planter first, because setting it down after the plants were in was not an option, obviously.  I actually broke the first plant I placed, which was very frustrating.  Thing is, with tomatoes you strip the bottom several leaves and plant a large chunk of the stem in the dirt.  The stem grows extra roots this way.  The directions of the Topsy Turvy even tell you this.  There is a foam sponge that you place (snuggly) around the stems to hold them in place.  After trying to NOT break off the leaves while putting the plants in place, you fight to get this sponge in place.  But that root ball, that’s now sitting unsupported on a single fragile stem, is at high risk for breakage.  Once that stem breaks, you’re done.  So I placed dirt around and under the root ball as carefully as I could, but I really have no idea if I was successful in getting the air space out from underneath, or if I just piled a lot of weight on top, snapping them internally.  Guess we’ll find out eventually.

   I’m a little nervous about the foam sponge too.  I don’t know about having something that can trap water like that right at the stem.  Looks like a big invitation to rot.  But, that’s why it’s called an experiment.  And then there is the bit about root space.  I generally plant my tomatoes in much larger planters, and still fight the whole root binding issue.  (Yeah, I’m not an expert on this by any means.)  This being much smaller, I have difficulty seeing how you could produce a lot of tomatoes with a lot of flavor.  You could water the crap out of it, but you could also wind up with watery tasting tomatoes.  Hmmm…

   A concern I had with all three models came about when I watered them.  The water drains down all over the plant, taking soil with it.  Many plants, tomatoes included, do not do well with water on the leaves.  It invites disease, both soil and air borne. 

   Okay, then I worked up to the herbs.  With the ease of the other planters, I thought the side planters here wouldn’t be so difficult.  Wrong.  Thing with herbs, their roots are far more delicate.  I think that by the time they went through, I wound up with about ½ the original roots of each plant laying on the deck below.  Now, I have seen things with root damage make it back, so this will be interesting.  I have always had a hard time growing basil, so I, of course, had to try a bunch of that in there.  I’ve also planted oregano, pineapple sage, coriander, and I forget what all else.  One of my favorites, though, was a purple basil.  However, when I went to shift the planter around, after realizing the hook I bought wasn’t holding up the weight, the planter brushed up against my shoulder and snapped off the purple basil plant.  Guess I’ll have to try to see if you can shove plants in there after the effect…

   So, while I’m not saying there is huge flaws in design, I am observing where the potential may be, and as part of this experiment, these are points I’ll be keeping an eye on.

   A huge bonus to all of them are the fact that I can actually take advantage of the sun by hanging them in places that were previously unusable because I couldn’t dig the dirt in these areas.  But with them hanging, they have a very small foot print.  So all three are now located in places where they’ll get sun all day long.  And it’s less disheveled looking than the multiple flower pots that litter my drive way…

I Swore I’d Never Do It!

But I did. 

   Okay, so yesterday I was in a mood.  When I get in a mood, I go shopping.  It’s a bad habit, but it is what it is.  ANYHOW, so I wandered into my local Home Depot where I discovered they had the Topsy Turvy upside down planters on sale. 

   I always thought the idea of spending 10-20 bucks on a piece of plastic that hangs upside down to grow your tomatoes was stupid, when you could easily make your own.  (And I’m sure I will eventually, I’d just never gotten around to it.)  But these were on sale for under $5.  The tomato planter wasn’t the original… it’s the one for tomatoes and herbs.  And I picked up the strawberry one as well.  Today while scrambling around to find 15-30 strawberry plants for my planter I also picked up the one for peppers.  I’m an addict…….  Do they have a 12 step program for gardeners?

   I figure that for 5 bucks a pop it’s worth an experiment.  With shepherds hooks, I’ll be hanging them near the pumpkin patch.  Stay tuned… it’s time I go out and plant.  J

Why I am obsessed...

   I think that often those around me must get tired of hearing the word “garden”.  Between bragging about my own, or getting the Cub Scout one on the ground, it’s a lot of work, and excitement, and it’s what I love to talk about.  I know of other gardeners, we’re much like crafters, we get obsessed.  Why is that?  That is my thought of the day.  Why am I so obsessive of anything to do with gardening?

   I’ll start with how I’m physically active.  Seems every year, I prove to myself there is still more and more I can do physically that I never thought of myself as strong or coordinated enough to be able to do.  Last year it was hauling around big bags of dirt and containers full of soil and heavy plants.  This year it’s digging in the actual ground, clearing patches of land, climbing fences, tilling soil, and balancing a very full wheelbarrow.  Next year it’ll probably be building raised beds, making more permanent fencing, and gosh only knows what else.  I’ve been somewhat of a weakling over the last several years.  I had assumed that I’d have to surrender to making the hubby do these things for me.  But through gardening, I find that I’m stronger than I thought, and getting more so every day.

   I love how much I’m learning about appreciating the beauty of things previously overlooked.  I never knew until a month ago what borage was.  Now I’m excited to see it grow, and look forward to making flowery ice cubes with it.  Onions, leeks, and chives, when left to flower are really cool looking!   Pretty globe flowers that attract bees and good critters.  This year I learned that mulch is helpful as well as attractive.  (Would have saved me a lot of trouble last year.)  I’m gaining appreciation for marigolds.  I never thought they were anything special before, but this year I have them everywhere, and am still planting more.  Last year it was all about scents.  I fell in love with sweet peas, and night scented stock.  This year I’m trying more varieties of sweet peas, other night scented flowers, and apparently my new chocolate flowers will be at their best chocolate scent in the mornings.  All day long yumminess!!!

   I’m learning about companion planting, how certain things planted together keep the soil in balance, and others drain so much of certain nutrients that when planted together they can’t produce anything.  Some things planted together repel pests that affect the other plant.  Some things planted together actually attract disease.  Some things planted together make the edibles taste better, or produce more, or both!

   Not all lessons are so great.  Today, I learned that I’m especially sensitive to stinging nettles…

   To me, the self growth I’m gaining in the dirt is so exciting, I just wish I could teach everyone the benefits of “Dirt Therapy”, and share that entheusiam with every person I know! 

   I’m so excited to see the boys of the Scouts at work.  I see it in Boo, he’s slowly catching on and finally getting what’s so great.  He was feeling down the other day, he didn’t win at something.  So I took him to the Scout Garden.  On the way, I explained to him that what is wonderful about going there is that it’s peaceful, quiet, and that you get to see what exactly your hard work does.  He was able to see how beautiful the garden is looking, and how many plants are now growing.  He was so proud that his work to help clear the weeds did so much.  His confidence went way up as he held my hand and walked the grounds with me.  We left calm, confident, and smiling.

I've been inspired.

   So I’ve been inspired.  Step into my way-back machine…  Way back in 2001 I purchased my home.  The backyard is large and rather undeveloped, giving me opportunity to be creative.  Sadly, I really haven’t done much with it.  One of the things that sold me on this house was the hillside behind me.  Specifically, there’s a little clearing in the trees that when I first saw, had the tents from the kids living here at the time, as they would use that as their personal little campground. 

   I have always wanted to plant that clearing with my white “fairy garden”.  All white flowers.  Lots of ‘em.  It didn’t happen.  Ten years later, I still talk about doing it.

   Move forward to last year.  For Boo’s 6^th birthday we found these charming bags of wildflower seeds, and they became part of the goody bag at his birthday party.  At home he planted a bunch of seeds in a flower pot for the front deck.  Some of the included flowers were night scented stock, which are very tiny flowers that will bowl you over they have such a lovely scent in the evening.  I fell in love with them as I would surround the deck in candles, smell the night scented stock in the air, watch ferries pull in and out from the dock, and sip on some lovely wine on warm summer evenings. 

   Moving forward again, this time to last week as I sat on my computer searching for seeds for night scented stock.  While searching on Bing.com the suggested searches along the side said “chocolate scented flowers”.  Sold.  I clicked and allowed Bing to search a topic that I knew was potentially dangerous to my wallet.  The first link under this search was to the Chocolate Flower Farm.  The website is beautiful, and so very inspiring.  Their garden is full of chocolate colored flowers and plants, highlighted with complimentary creams, whites, and greens.  I was already sold, when I discovered that this farm is very local to me.  As someone who would rather support local business, I was in love. 

   Present time.  Yesterday as I came home in the evening from Cub Scouts, my husband brings to me a small manila envelope with my name on it.  The return address was to the Chocolate Flower Farm.  Picture the kids in the Disneyland commercials that are being told they are going to Disneyland.  That was me. 

   This morning, as I’m going through my ten new seed packets to see what is what, I was thinking with a twinge of regret.  I had bought without a plan.  I had no idea what I would do, I have a plan for all the gazillion plants and seeds I already have.  Then it hit me… with the creams and whites that in there, with the idea of my fairy garden being a peaceful place I, as an adult, can sit and find peace in, with the fact that the chocolate colors are not at all too bright or loud to take away from that feeling… I can make my fairy garden into a chocolate/coffee/cream fairy garden.

   To further my thought along, I’ve long since wanted specific decorative trees, that I’ve never had a place for.  I do have these crummy trees in my back yard that we’ve been slowly removing, but had no idea what to replace them with.  I was always thinking of it from the direction of my back deck towards the fence, never from the other way around.  BUT, if I look at it in reverse, I can have my Japanese Maple with it’s lovely maroon leaves.  I can have a soothing weeping tree, be it a willow, a pussy willow, or a cherry.  I can have a magnolia tree with it’s lovely white blooms.  And if I plant from that direction, it will look lovely from my back deck as well, and still compliment my garden. 

   This year I’ll have a few gardens, just around the house, not including the scout garden.  My front porch will be filled with the scent of sweet peas during the day, vining up and around my railings.  At night the aromas of night scented stock, night scented phlox, and night scented tobacco will take over.  I’ll have my pumpkin patch.  I’ll have a gourd garden along my west fence.   There will be veggies scattered here and there.  But this year, I’ll also have my chocolate, coffee, and cream fairy garden.

Starting work and planning for more.

   So we went and worked in the Cub Scouts garden for the very first time today.  I couldn’t wait to get my hands dirty.  We got the chance to show the Pack Leader and the other Tiger den’s leader the ins and outs of the place, and was happy that they were thrilled with the location as well.  We came up with ideas on how to divvy up the plot for the dens and where to replant some of the existing plants and have them still thrive.

   After the grand tour, and the introduction to Mrs. Sylvia, the lady who runs the garden, the other leaders were on their way, but the Eldest and I stuck around to start work on the weeds and moving some of the existing plants that are not unwanted.  We did nearly a third of the plot in two hours.  Eldest got to learn how great worms are for the soil, and how wonderful it is that there are a bunch of them in our plot.  It was fun to sit back and watch him play with them. 

    The starters we’ve already planted for Den 1 are growing like crazy.  I think I’ll have some of the boys plant their beans here soon, because they are out growing their current location. 

   There is also a spot that will go generally unused because of the water spout in the area, I think I’ll plant some sunflowers over there for the fun of it, and to keep it pretty. 

   As far as my own garden, not much is going on at this point.  I did, however, today clear a spot in the back yard, and added 2 cubic feet of fresh topsoil to be my potato and shallots garden.  I planted three Yukon Gold seed potatoes and a handful of shallots.  I’ll add more soil as the potatoes start to grow.  I hope next year to add some German Butterballs.  They just sound yummy.

   I do have some annuals out front that need to be planted before I leave for cruise so they will survive my vacation.  I have also finally bought a white calla lily plant, I’ve always wanted one, and need to get that done up before we leave as well. 

   When I moved in, my neighbor gave me a large metal tub that has mostly collected weeds all these years.  I think maybe this year I’ll clean it out and plant a carrot, beet, and radish garden.  Hmmmm….

Cub Scout Garden

  One of the many things I do, and love, is I’m an assistant leader for a Cub Scout den.  So the overall group of scouts is called a pack, and then they are subdivided into dens; Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Weeblos.  Our den became very large, so we divided down into Den 1 and Den 2.  I help run Den 1.  My eldest son and three other boys make up the den. 

   One of the things I genuinely love about our den is that each boy presents their own difficulties.  My son has ADHD.  He’s sweet, but very, very impulsive.  We have one that is a maybe raised a little further on the side of defiant than I’d like to see, one with a few anger and attention issues, and one with a mix of all of the above.  But the thing about them is, they all have heart.  They are all very much sweet little boys.  I know people would disagree, but there are boys out there that are just plain mean and I can’t handle that.  I don’t know if it’s character or if it’s how they are raised, but I have met little children that seem deep down just evil.  These boys aren’t.  They are sweet, handsome kids that want to be their best. 

   So while some people may not take things like Scouting to heart, the Den Leader and I really do.  It’s as though we have a job, and the paycheck is watching our kids improve, and knowing that we are giving them every chance at greatness that we possibly can.  As parents we all have something to learn from each other, and our children learn from each other as well.  It’s an excellent dynamic.

   Okay, so I’m rambling… anyhow, if you can’t already tell, I love gardening.  I’m only just learning, but I really adore it.  There is just something about doing all the work, getting your hands in Mother Earth, taking pride in a little something, and feeling a little bit back to nature.

   Of the four boys in our den, three were in the same kindergarten class.  This class used to go every week to the local assisted living home to read to the residents.  Remember I said these kids have heart?  They had started to talk about how they missed the residents they used to read to.  My son stated that there was something they could still do for these lovely people they’d gotten to know.  And suddenly it hit me… how about we grow flowers for them?  We could hand make arrangements.  I could easily get vases and stuff to put flowers in at the thrift shop.   I also have a ton of left over seeds I was happy to donate to the boys if they wanted to.

   That last thought pushed me a touch further.  I also have a huge selection of veggie and fruit seeds.  When the den split, Den 1 chose to start our meetings an hour earlier, and we rotate meal responsibility or will pot luck, and we all sit around for the first hour getting settled down, enjoy a meal together, let the boys practice telling their stories of the week and taking their turns talking.  I realized that we could grow things to eat, and help the boys harvest their hard work and create meals around the produce they grow.

   As I thought even further, I realized there was just so much they could get out of this.  They have now an outdoor summer activity.  They get to take it, start to finish, seeds to table.  They carry reasonable responsibility over it.  They get to make choices, and they get to give back.  Oh, yeah, there is that part about giving back… they will donate extra produce to the local food banks.  That’s right, we have that too. 

   Here is where it gets really exciting.  It would seem the biggest challenge I had was to find a location for this garden.  I have plenty of room at my place, but nothing in the sunlight that wouldn’t already be in use.  There were several options, but none were quite perfect for the boys.  I remembered that there is a community garden, though.  So I went on a mission.  Sounds like hard work… yeah, I sent an e-mail.  The very nice lady who runs the garden tells me that the plots are all taken and there is a long waiting list.  And then this whole idea took on a life of its own.  Two of the larger plots are run specifically for the food banks.  The lovely lady forwarded my e-mail on to the lady who runs those plots.  She contacted me and told me they’d love our help.  It wouldn’t be growing their own, but it would be work, responsibility, outdoor time, and giving back to the community.  It was a great second place.  I ran it through the pack, who loved the idea.

   But then, yesterday morning I got an e-mail from the main garden lady, who says they’ve had a garden committee meeting over the weekend, and the committee and the city were so thrilled at the idea of helping out the boys, and so impressed that even though we didn’t get what we were looking for, but were still willing to help out, that they donated to us a flower bed that is about 30x3 feet as our very own scout garden.  I met with her yesterday to get the keys to the tools and the run down on how everything works.

   We didn’t even ask.  We were happy to sit on the waiting list.  But they really wanted to do something nice for the boys.  This plot is now big enough that the entire pack can join in and grow whatever they want.  There is a lot of work; the bed needs to be cleaned up and prepped for a real garden.  I think we’re up to it.  And we’re still helping the food bank plots, and a monthly work party.  How great is my town?!  They even provide tools, compost, mulch, Sluggo, they are providing for us some plastic weed barrier, and even digging the trench to put it in.  Heck, if somehow we had a lack of seeds, there’s even some in a drawer to get us started!  There are several gardeners, including a good amount of master gardeners, that are able and willing to help us out… it’s perfect!  Let the adventure begin….

When Creative Minds Get Rolling...

This post is a tad delayed.  I should have posted it days ago, but life is life, and I've been busy, what can I say?  :-)

   Big day!  First of all, my little experiment to warm the garden babies seems to be working.  I didn’t even need the electric blanket during the day, the grow light warms up the whole bit enough.  But at night, when I turn off the light, and the house temp drops, I do put the blanket back on low to maintain a nice temperature.

   And it’s been working!  Only two days, and I have several little seeds are poking sprouts out of the dirt already!  WooHoo!!! 

The Garden Babies Get a New Nursery

So, I set out some of my garden babies too soon.  They didn’t make it.  A moment of silence please….

   Okay.  That’s plenty.  I’m not worried though, because the babies that were sent outside were only peas, sweet peas, and beans.  Those are easily redone.  All in the spirit of learning.  The beans were killed off my the cold, but the peas and sweet peas had actually survived the cold and were doing well, until the big winds came around and snapped the little vines.  L

   Sadly, it being finals week and all, I had accidentally abandoned some of my remaining garden babies that were indoors as well.  Most are doing just fine, but some of the more fragile didn’t do so well.  Nothing that will end my garden season though.  Mostly just some flowers.  Some of the babies out grew their starter pods, but I wasn’t comfortable putting them outside just yet, so I upgraded them to 2” peat pots that I’ve placed in aluminum baking pans.  I still have some windowsill garden seed starting greenhouses, but there are other options for the thrifty.  Last year, I stocked up on aluminum baking pans with the clear plastic covers as I would find them on sale.  Those and some refill pods, or stock up on some seed starter size pots, and you’re good.  Poke a few vent holes in the top, and it’s just as good as the store bought version.

   Take it a step further, I read in a book the other day that you can use egg shells.  During garden season, there are several things around the house you should never throw away.  Egg shells are one.  They are a garden multi-tasker.  Some plants, such as tomatoes, need a little calcium boost, and egg shells crushed are great for that.  Crushed shells are also great for repelling snails and slugs.  Their soft underbellies can’t stand dragging across the sharp edges of the shell bits.  Just spread them around your plants and they should remain slime trail free.  But for these purposes, the really big use is as a seed starter.  If you get a good crack on your eggs, you can use the halves as little pots.  Fill them with your cheapest seed starter, and plant your seeds.  When they are ready to transplant, simply take your garden baby, shell and all, and lay it to rest in its new home spot.  The roots will break through the shells just fine, and the shells eventually biodegrade into the soil, providing nutrients. 

   This time of year, my house is just too warm to continue using the wood stove, which was what was providing warmth for the first round of plantings.  I don’t, however, like running the gas furnace too much either, so the house gets a bit colder, and my babies suffer for it.  I’ve looked into solutions at my hardware stores, and found they have these mats that are supposed to keep your seedlings warm.  But these things cost an arm and a leg!  I’m just not interested in spending that much money, it defeats part of the purpose of growing my own garden.  So I hit up the thrift store.

   At my local thrift store, I found an electric blanket for $3.00.  I laid a half along the top of the cabinet where I keep  my garden babies, then set my trays on that.  I set a fluorescent glow light over that, because I am fixing to block the natural light so they were going to need supplemental UV, and then tucked the other half of the blanket over the top of it all.  Now, safe in their little cocoon, they are warm and well lit.  As they grow too big to remain covered, I’ll rest them on top of the blanket, allowing them to adjust to cooler temps, and then harden them off outdoors before giving them a permanent residence. 

   It’s all one big experiment, but we’ll see how it goes.

   My eldest was finally afforded the opportunity to plant his own seeds as well.  I gave him 24 pods and let him take his pick of seeds.  He selected some from the store, all new for him, and some from my excess seed selection.  He’ll be growing chocolate cherry tomatoes, bird house gourds, some really pretty new flowers I’ve never heard of, zucchini, peppers, spinach (one of his favorites!), various sunflowers, sweet peas, corn, and marigolds (another one of his favorites).  When we get to direct seed sewing, he’ll be growing carrots, parsnips, and radishes.  He’ll also be growing some Mammoth Sunflowers.  Can you tell he’s thrilled?  This year, he’s also doing more of the dirty work than last year.  They grow so fast.  And so do the gardens.

Beating My Head on the Wall

   So here I am.  My back is killing me, and I love it.  It’s been a productive day outside, full of hard work, sunshine, great ideas, and dirt.  I don’t think it gets much better than that. 

   I started my seedlings early this year.  It seems determining the correct time to begin planting is a guessing game.  They always say things like, “start indoors three weeks before the last frost”.  Okay, well, last time I checked my crystal ball…. Oh wait, there isn’t one.  This year, as is often the case around here, Mother Nature even threw us a mean left hook, she gave us a last minute big ol’ snow storm.  Many people I know thought it was safe to start planting outside, and are now starting from scratch.  I guess really, you go with it, and if you have to re-sow, so be it.  So I took a gamble, and started my indoor planting, my garden babies.  Many of them are doing great.  Some, however, I’m going to have to try again.

   Last year I did so well with spinach and lettuce, this year I already killed off round one.  I’m not afraid though, they do their thing quick.  I don’t have to worry about ripening fruit or anything, so I’m all about just planting more.  Herbs, I’ve never had any luck with.  I can grow them from store bought starts, but from seed, big fat fail.  And it seems to be the case again this year.  I have, last year, grown cilantro and chives that turned out great.  This year, the chives are even resprouting, and I didn’t even tend to it at all.  I was just about to dump out the pot when I noticed the green shoots erupting from the soil.  The cilantro I planted this year is still trying, but everything else failed.  And I refuse to quit, so I’ll simply try again.  I’m hard headed like that, maybe even stupid, but I know that if I bump my head against enough walls, either I’ll kill enough brain cells to not even notice, or I’ll finally make it work.

   And this year, I’m growing a pumpkin patch.  It’s the same place in the driveway that I grew pumpkins last year.  Last year they were doing great.  I had several on these long healthy vines, and they were even beginning to grow orange, but the roots became bound in the container, and the vines begun to die off, and they couldn’t be saved.  I was so close!  So this year, I’m planting them directly into the ground. 

   Today, Hubby and I built a fence of branches and twigs around the area I’ll be planting these little bundles of joy, and I cleared out the weeds.  There is a bunch of pea gravel covering the dirt, so I believe my plan will be to shovel it all aside, amend the soil, plant the seedlings, and then roll the gravel back to let the rocks warm in the daytime sun to keep the pumpkins warm as they emerge.

   Yesterday I planted my peas and beans.  I had great results with them last year, so this year the only changes I’m making are:  less in each pot, and actually putting the cages upright this year.  Last year I nearly took out my eyes with the ends of the wire because I didn’t know I had placed them upside down.

   Last year I learned the love of sweat peas, the flower, not the edible peas.  Man, they smell good and even from a distance.  Lightly sweet, but the scent carries.  This year I’ve planted the pots for these right at the bases of my front porch, to allow the vines to grow up and wind their way around the railings and slats, giving me a wonderfully scented retreat for this summer.  I’m also hoping the smell will also drift into the house through the windows and the front door.  Much better than sprays or chemical oil warmers. 

   And, last but not least, today I planted my blueberry plants.  Someone suggested I remove them from their bags the day before I intend on planting them, clear out every bit of dirt and sawdust that I can, and soak them overnight in a root stimulant solution.  So I did.  I guess we’ll see how it goes.  I don’t expect fruit on them this year, because I know most won’t fruit in their first year, but I do hope they’ll survive to be overwintered and maybe grow some fresh berries next year.

   So, I haven’t done much of anything with it today, but I also want to mention my indoor plants.  I’m determined to make those grow as well.  I have aloe and some succulents that have survived the last year.  This year I’m trying a peace lily and several other plants that are supposed to be good for the indoor air.  And, just for the challenge of it, I’ve been told mini roses are difficult so I’m trying four or five of those as well.

   Where’s my wall?  I need to hit my head again.

The Great Garden Kickoff 2011

   I do believe it is safe to say spring is officially here.  If not, I guess I’m screwed.  My garden babies were getting too big for their cribs.  That is to say my seedlings were too big for their little pods and needed repotting.  So, with that in mind, several of them had to be moved to their new homes outside.  I think as long as we don’t get a lot of frost, or another snow, they should do fine.  I’ve only moved the peas, beans, and sweet peas as of yet, and I have pretty good luck with those.

   So, let me back up a moment and introduce myself.  I guess that would be the polite thing to do.  I’m Becky.  I have a lot going on.  I’m a full time student, a mother of three, two are twins with mild special needs, and I’m always trying new things around here.  See, I have real, honest to goodness, ADD.  So does my eldest son.  The youngest two are too young to know yet.  That means that as if the kiddos aren’t enough, I’m a handful for my husband too.  LOL.  ANYHOW…… 

   So I’ve tried for many, many years to pull off this gardening bit.  I have generally always forgotten simple things such as watering the poor buggers.  Funny how they don’t go far without a little water.  One year, I tried a portable mini-greenhouse, and when it got hot out, I forgot to leave the door open, steaming all my little seedlings.

    A couple years ago, I tried again with the same mini greenhouse.  I planted some sort of hot peppers and two kinds of tomatoes.  I wound up with 4 delicious tomatoes and more peppers than I knew what to do with… especially when you consider I had no idea what kind of peppers they were.  Yeah, I think of that whole bunch, we used one.  And I don’t even remember what for.

   Along with outdoor gardening, I have also tried several times to grow indoor plants.  The closest to success I had was when I spent six months in Japan.  I had a Peace Lilly, a bunch of bamboo, and this cute little porcelain egg that grew grass “hair”.  They did wonderfully, but I had to leave them behind because of import laws and such.  That was a sad day, as I handed them over to my friend who was staying behind.  She nearly had to pry my fingers off the pots.  It was a real sad break up.  Tears, me running after the train with a handkerchief….  “I’ll wait for you!!!”  Hahaha.

   So when I came home, I was inspired to try again.  The outdoor stuff, failed.  The indoor stuff, survived a couple months, then died.  Boy it was getting frustrating.  I’d read anything and everything I could, and still couldn’t figure out what the Hell I was doing wrong.  Then last year came around.  I don’t know what hit.

   I think it started as I walked down the gardening aisle at the local Lowes and saw these little seed starting window sill greenhouses.  I suddenly saw a way that maybe I could grow things without killing them before they are even big enough to put in bigger pots, or the ground, to give them a fighting chance.  So my interest was, once again, renewed.

   I think I spent a grand or so, mostly splurges out of pure excitement.  Tons of those little window boxes, stacks of pots, heaps of bags of soil and things to mix with the soil, piles of special tools, oodles of extras.

   See, at my house, there are very few places that get enough sun to grow veggies, and veggies are what I wanted to grow.  And when it came to the seed packed aisle, I had no edit button.  If it looked yummy, I bought it and was determined to try.  I have a long driveway, and most of it was covered in these pots full of big, healthy, bushy plants.  I was in heaven.  I had zucchini, tomatoes, peas, beans, more tomatoes, flowers, peppers (that I COULD identify), pumpkins, ground cherries, more tomatoes, herbs, corn, carrots… all kinds of goodies.  And I could move them as needed so that they could enjoy sunbathing all day long. 

   It wasn’t the most convenient set up, but it was by far the best success I had enjoyed in the area of growing plants of any sort.  I thought for sure it would grow hugely successful, until I got injured while hiking and couldn’t tend to my garden daily as I once had.  Suddenly my tomatoes were getting blight, and dying off.  My pumpkins were unable to tolerate the pots they were in, and I couldn’t get them replanted in time to survive.  My corn was the same story.  Zucchini was left on the vine way too long, and when the plant figured it had done its job in reproduction, it died off.  Flowers weren’t getting the pruning they wanted and the slugs finally reached all the rest.  All because I couldn’t do my daily tending. 

   It was so sad to watch my baby die so slowly and suffer so much, but at the same time, I was given the opportunity to learn new lessons to set aside for the next year to try again.  Here I am.  It’s the next year.  I’m trying again.  As I try my new things, and I learn even more through success and failure, I’ll pass them on.  I’m not a conventional gardener.  The things I grow, I grow because I want to, and I don’t care what “zone” I’m in, I simply try to accommodate the conditions required.  I think it’s fun to find new ways to do things, and a huge pride point to grow things others around me swear can’t be done.  I’d love to hear from you as well, if you have ideas, lessons, adventures….

   Let’s hope we all have a fruitful year in the gardens this year!  Cheers.  J