Seeds are Amazing

Most of the plants that you have seen in my garden are transplants from my mom's house or she started them from seed for me and I am taking care of the plants now. Well, she lives 4 hours away :( so I have been starting my own seeds now! I put a picture of the seeds that I started on April 5th inside and a picture of what the grownup plant (or product) will look like! I am a visual so this really helps me out :)

Boston Pickling Cucumbers

Apparently they are very prolific and I should not have started them a week early since now I am facing the fact that they will take over my plant shelf way before they are supposed to go outside!

Mid-East Prolific Cucumbers (see there's that hint "prolific", I should have known).

Pastel Sunset Zinnias

White Profusion Zinnias (a short variety) Scarlet Zinnias (only one seed popped up!) Kablouna Mix Calendula (right) ZeoLights Calendula (left)

Kablouna Mix (?) Calendula planted 04/02

Kablouna Mix Calendula Zeolights Calendula

I planted Moonlight Marigolds as well and I will be getting another variety that has already been started by my mom called Double Pinwheel.

Moonlight Marigold and Double Pinwheel Marigold

I never looked up what the moonlight marigold flower looks like until today and I think it's rather un-interesting. BUT, I know that marigolds are great to keep the pests away therefore I will plant these and next year, choose a different variety :) I also planted Orange Sun Bell Peppers, Pepperoncini Peppers which I will pickle for my husband who loves these, and Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers that all take a little longer to sprout. SO, there you have it...the very early beginnings of a healthier lifestyle for my family. I want to thank everyone for the extreme generosity they have shown me and my family so that we could start this garden. I have received FREE wood, chicken wire, beautiful plants, bamboo tepee poles, tools, boxes and planters, seeds, soil, and countless other things that would have cost me a fortune! Next post I will be showing which food is growing outside right now and what we've already enjoyed a harvest of! As always, thanks for reading and Stay Tuned!

Blooming the day away...

We have a beautiful Magnolia tree in our front yard and it smells wonderful! But unfortunately, its blooming period is very short lived. This is one of the wonderful blossoms that we picked to see how long they would last inside. (Not even 24 hours). As you can see, Bella could not pull her nose away from the flower it smelled so heavenly! What else is in bloom you ask?

Deep Red Pansy, White Pansy, Purple and Orange Violets

Bleeding Heart and Money Plant

Grape Hyacinth, yummy smelling! Blossom on a Sweet Italian Fry Pepper

This is a Peony that is wanting to Bloom since our weather has been so mild! It's not supposed to bloom until May! Well, that's about it for now...strawberries are blooming too, and other things are starting to get ready for the warmer weather but for now, most things are working on getting rooted into this soil since most things out here are new babies, or transplants, or both! I hope to get a post up soon on the progress of my new seeds...stay tuned!

Are you jealous of my trellis?

I know, corny title, but I was so excited when my hubby built this that I thought as soon as my mom saw this she was going to be jealous so it just popped out! Here it is, not so much in all its glory just yet (please ignore the very dead Christmas tree and gardening paraphernalia in the picture)... ...imagine two very large tomato plants climbing on it on the left and right and a marigold in the middle and a basil on either side in the back of the box. It's going to be wonderful. It's not even attached to the box people! It is a free standing form...able to withstand winds up to 35 MPH, or so I hope since that's what we get around here :) Next up is my tepee...it also was just built and will need some kind of support like tent stakes or re bar or something to keep it from blowing away. Now, imagine this with Pole beans, snap and shell peas and beautiful hyacinth bean vines growing on it...even if you don't know what these things look like, use your imagination :) Okay, now I will blow your minds away...remember the box in front of the trellis, how empty it looks? Well look at it now: Did I blow your minds away or what? The frame you see made of PVC and plastic is to keep the plants from dying in case there is a frost at night. Unfortunately we are not in the clear yet, not until Mother's Day to be able to plant most things outside without the worry of a frost. In the two outer squares are Walla Walla onions, in the two back squares are Dinosaur Kale, and in the front two are Cosmo Savoy Lettuce (romaine type). I am very excited to see these things grow and be able to harvest fresh produce right in time for dinner! All of these will grow to fill/overfill the squares designated for them! Here is the 4'x4' box right beside that one which I just planted yesterday: There isn't much in either box yet since not everything can go out yet. Later in this post I will show you what else I am starting indoors from seed. The only thing that was not started from seed indoors was the Walla wallas, but I also have walla walla seed starts which you will see the progress of in a few scrolls down. I HAVE TO TAKE A MOMENT AND GIVE MY MOM THE CREDIT FOR STARTING ALL THESE SEEDLINGS HERSELF! SHE IS THE ONE WHO GAVE THEM ALL TO ME. I am going to take over the process since she lives 4 hours away and my husband built me a wonderful seed shelf! See look: (In the tray) there are tomatoes on the right, bell peppers and jalapenos on the left, basil in the front on the left and that empty looking 4" pot is the walla wallas. After a week of waiting (which is not long people) these came up...and in one day they went from this... ...to this: and now ONLY 4 DAYS later they look like this: Isn't that amazing! They were planted on March 11th (as you can see by the tag) and in less than 2 weeks they are 6 inches tall! They will be ready to go out next week I think...exciting huh? This is a perfect plant to grow from seed with kids because it has almost instant satisfaction. Oh yeah, remember that shelf in the last post I showed you my husband built me? It now looks like this: Never mind the piles of books on top of it or the pile of stuff underneath :) This stuff is my gardening reference stuff that should be in the garage, it's much more handy here...but hey, look at that amazing light system! Isn't it wonderful? Thanks mom!! (Sorry about all the terrible lighting...it really is sunny outside and my house is bathed in warm lighting but the point and shoot camera that I'm using uses it's own lighting choices so I get what I get, ya know?) What else has changed...EVERYTHING! I'll have to stop here for now though or I fear I'll lose you if I haven't already! More tomorrow...so tune in!

Is it spring time yet?

Okay, I'm annoyed. I wrote almost this entire post out and my internet crashed! Ugh. So, I'm going to make this short and sweet since I just wasted 30 mins of my time. This is a close up of the seed starting shelf my wonderful and willing (although slightly workaholic) husband built me last night after a long day's work. It's to show you how ridiculously easy it is to build your own shelf! The cost is broken down below:

• 4' long wire shelves - $1.98 x4 = $7.92
• 1"x2"x8' firring strips - $0.87 x4 = $3.48
• 2"x2"x8' firring strips - $1.94 x4 = $7.76
• Tax :( = $1.51
• 3" through bolts - $0.20 x16 = $3.20
• Package of nuts (not sure of price or qty. but husband said nuts and bolts came to a little over $8.00 with tax so we'll say $5.00 - pkg of nuts)

GRAND TOTAL SPENT ON SHELF: $28.87 +/- a few cents :)

Isn't it wonderful? The top shelf and the next one down will have shop lights with grow bulbs hanging from them and the others will be covered with house plants, pictures and things to make it look like part of the decor :) My husband didn't really like the idea of an industrial looking shelf in the dining room (for who knows how long) so I let him design how it went together (after I bought the materials - minus the bolts, they were a great addition to the plan) and now he doesn't mind it too much. This is my sad looking corner of my yard that will hopefully thrive to look beautiful! Take note of the awesome tools I use as markers for my dig site - Screwdrivers! Must find another way, husband doesn't like me using his tools like that. In this sparse corner is a butterfly bush with wild violets and a scraggly sedum towards the front right corner (I thought I'd point that out so you didn't miss it). It will all fill in with God's grace and mercy on me and the plants :) This is a silly story...I was on the phone with my hubby and saw a worm in that bed I was digging up in the sad corner of my yard. It seemed to grow right before my eyes! It was small at first glance, then when it started stretching itself out it was "like 12 inches" I said to my hubby on the phone, and he didn't believe me! So I told him I would take a picture for him using the tape measurer for proof. Well, after I handled the worm a bit, it didn't want to stretch back out again and I couldn't get it to stretch more than this :( It was longer, I swear! This is our huge 8'x8' sandbox that will be turned into a garden wonderland for our daughter, Bella. In those boxes and around the sandbox are going to be her favorite things to pick in the garden. Whenever we go to her Oma's house, she always picks the same things (when the season allows): Strawberries, cherry tomatoes, borage, and anything pretty she spies (even if it is just leaves (not the petals, the leaves) off a poppy plant!). So in the back of the boxes will be cherry tomatoes, around the outside of the sandbox will be all strawberries with a large borage plant where that board is. This is the right hand box as of yesterday. I was itching to get all the Square foot markings on, that I forgot that my boxes aren't all done being amended yet! So this is the only one that has jute on it so far, the others I just did the staples. (Notice the stray cat paw prints in the back half of the box...nice huh?) See the awful trench that the lack of gutters above it is creating in the MIDDLE of my box!!!! UGH! As far as I can see, I have two options here...put up some sort of canopy/gutter system, or put rocks/bricks/something in the trench to keep from splashing mud everywhere. I, of course, like the first option since it doesn't require giving up any gardening space, although I'm renting, (yes renting, and still making a garden paradise in the back yard!) so I'm not sure how feasible that would be.

So obviously I had no problem wasting another 30 mins of my time recreating this blog for you guys to read! I started out just wanting to put short captions by each picture and now I've wasted a few minutes of your time! Anyhow, thanks for reading about my recent garden adventures. This is only the beginning! I'm going to figure out how to put my garden plan that is in Excel on here so you can all (all 6 of you heh,heh,heh) dream with me. At least then you won't all think I'm crazy!

Composting - Oh it's on baby!

There it is folks. My new composter. For less than $15. It took me forever to build it (a couple full days) and a whole lotta adjusting but wah-lah! The measurements got a little off on the front wall due to my own delirium one night while trying to finish it (this was before the chicken wire was even put on and I thought I'd have it finished that night - HA!). But that will actually make it easier to turn the pile since this thing is 3'x3'x3'. Anywho...there it is. It looks a little different that the one on my last post since it's considerably smaller and made from pallet wood, all different shapes and thicknesses mind you, but HEY it was free! The only thing that cost us money was the nails and a couple brackets that we bought for another project that they didn't work for. Proud of me? I am. The only thing my husband helped me with was the cutting of the wood (after I measured and marked it all off, I don't like using an electric saw that weighs more than my baby), the idea for the corner pieces of wood to stabilize it, and the very end it needed the metal corner brackets to make it less jiggly. I am proud of it...not as proud as the bunny cage I made a few years back, but pretty excited that I get to take all the stinky compost out of my kitchen that's been building for the last 2 weeks. Hey I didn't say it took a couple full days back to back, did I?

Chicken Dreams for less than $50

I went through a short phase of reading homesteading books from the library, not really sure how I got into that...I think I wanted to learn about baking bread, so I picked one up and then another, and another...can't really remember but anyway...I found this one book that was marvelous and since my memory comes from my mom's side ( love you mom) I can't remember the title either. It was by a 26 year old girl who was from a city apartment and she moved to a house in the middle of nowhere. She quickly realized that she wanted to have chickens, and 2 husky dogs, and a small garden, and bees, and learn how to make her own bread, and other things. She had less than an acre I believe out in the middle of Idaho (nowhere). This all inspired me to do the same. Here's a little psychological background on me. It's short, don't worry...I'm a dreamer. I dream BIG and outrageously...the words practical, reasonable, and logical are not included in my dreaming schemes. I don't consider money, time, or logistics in my plans...I just envision them and want them to be a reality :) no matter the cost. So, that's how my chicken coop idea came about. I wanted chickens. 3 of them to be exact...3 black silkies to make backyard organic eggs whenever I needed them. I didn't care that chickens get diseases, they cost money to raise, and eventually when they get older and stop laying eggs, you have to do something with them...you know...kill them or something. Ugh. Yuck. Anyways, my dream went from reading it in a book, to researching it online, to drawing up sketches of what the coop needed and I wanted, to my wonderfully supportive husband building it. That's right...he built me a chicken coop! Yes, there were arguments, disagreements about the structure, he even might have told me to call and find out if we could even have chickens in the city but I didn't. I didn't care...I had gone all over town finding free wood (pallets and plywood) to make my dreams come true. (Let me tell you this, we have a small 4 door car with a very limited trunk...it does not hold pallets or plywood, anywhere. So my loving husband called a friend, borrowed his truck and hauled the wood home). I told you...logical is not part of my dreams! So, within a few days, the coop was built, except for a few minor details - caulking and painting, that sort of thing. But my coop was built! I was so excited and my husband was proud of it...he showed it to everyone that came over, even though it wasn't finished :) Here are some pictures of the coop... The front...the doors swing open to be flush against the sides to make it easier to clean out. The windows slide open/off to be able to let a breeze in in the summer and to peek in on the chickens. They were made out of the plastic floor mat under your computer chair. Clever, yes? The back lid opens up to collect eggs and put in new nesting materials. There's a trap door that opens so that through the day (since the bottom half (all around the legs) would have been enclosed with chicken wire) the chickens could have a small run to eat fresh grass and get some air and sunshine. Yes, that's linoleum on the floor...it makes it easier to clean! I took all the elements that I liked from other chicken coops and designed my own to what I wanted. There would have been hanging feed and water dishes on the right side and 2 perches through the middle. Now it's a dog condo for The Dooge (George, our rat-dog). We have yet to put it outside since it is supposed to have insulation put in the walls but since it's been warming up, I think I'll urge Dom to put it outside anyways. We could use the garage space! It is 4'X3.5' I think. It's not small, or light! One funny thing we didn't account for is that we're not sure how to get this into the backyard...we hope it will fit through our back fence gate since it doesn't fit through the garage door that leads into the backyard! We spent about $50 on hardware, sticky linoleum squares and a couple pieces of wood that we couldn't scrounge up and everything else was free! Even the exterior paint was found on freecycle! Not the color of my dreams, but hey, it was free! I decided to call to see if chickens were legal I think 3-4 days into the project...you know, after the thing was built. I was so mad to find out that both my neighbors could have dogs the size of ponies but I couldn't have 3 little chickens. They are quieter and cleaner than any dog. Plus, they serve a purpose! They produce fresh, organic eggs...what does a dog do but produce doo? Lots, and lots of doo. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to stick with my garden and then maybe bees? They're legal, I checked!

Flores' Fun with Flora

So I was standing on my back slab of cement staring out at all this grass and fence and realized that I like flowers. I like things that smell good, taste good, look good and I love being outside when it's not so cold. I looked over at my 8' X 8' sandbox imagining my two girls playing in that this summer and being able to run all over the yard and I was longing for the sunshine. Then the next three days were full of just that - glorious sunshine and 65* weather...I was SO excited! I thought of Bella, my 4 year old, in my mom's garden eating strawberries and beans and peas and all sorts of edible flowers. It was then that I looked over at my 2 gallon pot with a few strawberry plants in it and the dream started. I am going to have a garden.

My garden will be a few important things:

1. Organic
2. 90% edible contents
3. Easy to maintain
4. Beautiful and productive

I wanted to research just how much our water bill would be in the summer so I got online and tried to look at the previous bills. I couldn't because there was a glitch in the system. So I kindly wrote the previous tenant an email and she immediately responded and within the hour the problem was fixed! I said all this to say that her and I have been emailing ever since and she is the sole reason I started this blog! She has a blog and it is ADORABLE! She now lives across the country and it has been a lot of fun learning about how they lived in this very house and now she wants to do a garden as well! She told me to do a blog about it and my homesteading desires so here it goes! Jennie, hopefully this blog is as entertaining as our emails have been!