With Silver Bells and Cockle Shells...

It has been awhile since I have discussed my garden. My treasure. My sanity. My love.... Despite the weather we have had this summer, my garden seems to be doing "okay." My tomatoes are growing, some still with blooms, others bearing fruit not yet ripe. My green peppers are the size of ping pong balls. My peas have come and gone and produced about 2 cups of shelled peas. I sort of neglected them on a few hot days due to absence, otherwise they might still be producing lovely little pods of green goodness.

Last night I picked lettuce from my garden to feed salad to my family. I have a yellow squash, 2 green squash, one lemon cucumber and two small cucumbers, though I don't remember what kind they are. My swiss chard is pretty and multi-colored. My lavendar is in full bloom. My beans, well, my beans have been devoured by slugs. I tried to keep them away but in the end, the slugs won. All of my herbs are happy and growing. My carrots seem to finally have given into the fact that they must grow!

I have also a beautiful flower garden. My strategy is to plant as many flowers as I can because I forget what I plant year to year. The following year, I am always pleasantly surprised when my garden is full of blooms. It is finally time to make more flower garden around my yard. Flowers are so much prettier than grass, right?

I have babies!

Although it has been very cold here -where is Spring, anyways?- I have sprouts. I have been monitoring my cold frame, making sure I wasn't cooking anything in there. The baby sprouts don't seem to be in jeopardy of that considering the chill still in the air. This weekend is the Spring Garden Fair and McLendon's 85th Annual Anniversary Sale and Pancake Breakfast. It is very exciting even though my Farmer's Almanac tells me the 30th Poor Planting Day. Break Ground Or Cultivate. Well poop. I don't know that I have any ground-breaking or cultivating to do. Now what :) Anyhow- I would like to share one or two of my sprouts with you...

Cucumbers pushing their way through the soil

Healthy Tomato

Wee Baby Tomatoes

Carrots on their way up

Peas! 

Turnips and Radishes

Sticking to it....

I am still following my farmer's almanac for my gardening. This last weekend allowed me to get my seeds into the dirt (finally). Ok, maybe I am being dramatic but it's only because by this time last year I had starts already. If I have time and patience, everything will turn out better....right?

Dirt...check. Started fertilizer....check....Seeds....check. Starter plant boxes....check. I planted carrots (Heirloom Rainbow Mix), 5 different kinds of tomatoes, 2 different cucumbers, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, microgreens, peas, beans, strawberries, and I SHOULD have planted my peppers but I forgot :( Now I have to wait until my planting schedule says "It's a good day to plant peppers"...Patience.

So, I figured I would post a picture of "My Area of Operation" so you can see what I am working with :)

To the right is my raised garden beds. These will host carrots, lettuce, spinach, and peas...first. Once that crop starts coming up, I might add some radishes and turnips.  To the left is my flowers, which I planted on Sunday as well. They are an experiment. I am alittle worried they might seed up and spread to my veggie garden. If this happens, they might be sacrificed. We'll see. Also on the left is my super awesome cold-frame, currently hosting my tomato, cucumbers and pea starts.  All of the pots to the right, farther down the path are full of a variety of items, including lavender, onions, chives, and some potted bulb flowers. May are empty and awaiting some plant love.

Anyway, My area is small but it's all mine and it brings me peace in times of stress. Cheers!

Creatures of Unknown Origin

Sunday, Sunday... Due to the timing of tax season, I haven't been able to get to my yard work as much as I would like. Yesterday was the first day I actually was able to get out and get to it. This year I decided that I would rely on the Farmer's Almanac Calendar. I figured they have been doing this a long time. They have to know what they are doing, right?

So yesterday on April 3rd, the calendar said that it was a poor planting day. *Sigh* I really wanted to plant my strawberries but I told myself to stick to the calendar. I cleaned up dog messes, mowed, weeded, weed-eated and did some general clean up. The calendar did say that it was a good ground breaking and cultivating day. This worked out well for me because I needed to decide where to put in my new flower bed.

I ended up on my hands and knees for hours, pulling weeds, plucking out rocks and being surprised at the amount of holes. Critter holes. Lots of them. Mice? Snakes? Moles? I really don't know what critters created those holes but nothing jumped out at me, so that's good. I am sure whatever made them is NOT happy with me. I don't mind. Hopefully they won't kill my flowers, which I don't get to plant until the 9th or 10th of this month.

Until then, April showers bring May flowers. Gardening season has begun!

Grandma Pat's Email

Good news! My Gurneys order came! Well, most of it anyway. I have been thinking about my garden, and where to plant things... And today I get this email from my Grandma that reminds me of how my garden needs to be planted:

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING,

PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:

1. Peas of mind
2. Peas of heart
3. Peas of soul

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:

1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:

1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS COMPLETE WITHOUT TURNIPS:

1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:

1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS

MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

Gurney's Order

Here it is 3/22/11. I placed my Gurney's order on 3/7/11. WHY HASN'T it shipped yet? I am feeling frustrated. I think it is because in the world we live in, online ordering provides me with a small form of instant gratification followed closely by anticipation of the arriving package. By this time last year, I was heavy into planting and sprouting seeds. This year, I haven't yet had any time to prep my yard, sow seeds, pluck weeks or even mow. The closest I have come is Tom Sawyering my loverly into building my a cold frame. Oh Gurneys, PLEASE ship my order soon!

Reflection of growing adventures

YAY! I found my first blog post! It didn't disappear, it was just in drafts! Silly rabbit!

There haven't been many attempts from me to grow a vegetable garden. Last year (2010), the Spring looked promising. With the help of my partner in crime, we prepared our small yard to hopefully yield some nice crops of veggies and herbs. By early March, I had vegetable starts on peas and tomatoes growing on my window sill. It was a marvelous sight to watch the daily growth of my potential new food source. We made some raised beds along side the house, which would later hold cauliflower, peas, broccoli, lettuce, carrots and radishes...or such was my hope.  The boxes were spectacular and my partner once again proved to me why I find him so appealing. There is nothing like a man who knows how to wield tools. A few trips to the local hardware store for bags of soil and we were ready to go. Everything was in place, from the seeds, to the starts. Spring cleaning of the yard became a daily ritual of mine, along with watering and observing my gardens growth. Then it became cold...

And pretty much stayed cold the remainder of Spring and most of the Summer. My tomatoes cowered away from the wind and rain. The broccoli and cauliflower did exceptionally well for my first attempt. I did not realize (RTFM) that they would grow so large and take up so much space in my very small garden. I had to transplant them to their own individual pots to allow for optimal growth. Now I know!

The lettuce also did well in the cold of the Spring. The constant rainfall of the Northwest assisted in nurturing the lettuce. It was difficult to keep the slugs off though. It seems they come along with the Northwest rainfall. *sigh* At least I was able to have a salad or two before my lettuce was gone.

I could go on about the various vegetables which failed to come to life under my watchful eye but this year will be different! This year the Spring weather will not hinder my garden's growth. I have taken various measures (mostly which involve large amounts of Visqueen) to ensure my plants stay warm and slug-free. My man built me a small cold frame, large enough for 4-5 trays of starts. Also, my raised beds will be covered to keep the soil and plants warmer. Spring is always such an exciting time for me.

I placed my Gurneys order yesterday.

Gurneys order

It's that time of the year. Spring is just around the corner and the beautiful Pacific Northwest temperatures begin to climb. My partner in crime spent all of Sunday building me the best cold frame a girl could ask for. It should hold about four to five trays of veggie starts and shield them from the ever changing weather.

I just got done placing this year's vegetable order with Gurneys. They had a wonderful deal this year that if you order $50 or more of products, you get $25 free. I purchased:

• 2 TOMATO HEIRLOOM RAINBOW BLEND PKT
• 1 TOMATO RAINBOW BELLS BLEND PKT.
• 1 PEPPER SWEET BELL MIX PKT/G
• 1 ARTICHOKE GREEN GLOBE PKT.
• 1 BEAN BUSH EARLY CONTENDER PKT./G
• 1 BEAN BUSH DERBY PKT/G
• 1 PEA MIRAGREEN PKT.
• 1 LETTUCE BLEND PKT.
• 1 CHARD BRIGHT LIGHTS PKT.
• 2 CARROT RAINBOW BLEND PKT.
• 1 CUCUMBER EUREKA HYBRID PKT
• 1 HERB - ROSEMARY PKT/G
• 1 RADISH BLACK SPANISH ROUND PKT.
• 1 TOMATO BLACK KRIM PKT.
• 1 SQUASH SUMMER BLACK MAGIC 燾UCCHINI PKT.
• 1 CARROT DANVERS HALF LONG PKT/G

Needless to say, I am very excited to see how my garden grows! I still have to purchase my Farmer's Almanac so I know when to plant everything. Last year, the weather hindered my garden growth but this year I have a plan, and it's a good one!