Hope to Grow

Is it that time of year ALREADY!?! Did you watch last year as I lost total control of my garden?

Remember.....

I blame my Miracle Grow potting soil for that.

Well, this year I'm starting out with a plan. No I'm not. It snuck up on me... What I did do was take a trip to Fred Meyer and quickly pick out some seeds before Kevin could complain about how long I was taking (in his defense I do take forever deciding anything). So here they are.

• Onions
• Peas
• 2 kinds of tomatos
• Jalapenos

And new this year:

• Green Beans
• Broccoli (for Kevin)
• 2 kinds of cucumbers

You may notice that there is an obvious plant missing from last year (hint- it's the spaghetti squash). Vines, all I think about last years crop is vines! Yes, I know that cucumbers grow on vines. I plan on a beautiful trellice in my garden this year. Hey, I did plan something :)

So, my onions, broccoli, and peas are in the ground, and mother nature has been "kind" enough to water them for me the last two days.

This is a sad picture of my onions in the ground

My parents, bless their hearts, bought me the best thing to get the rest of my seeds started indoors. A greenhouse!

Well, a mini-greenhouse!

Isn't that the CUTEST! So, part one of this years garden adventures begins now. Trying is the first step towards failure... but this year will be different! Here I go!





Ugh, Why?

Again with the garden? YES! It is a big part of my life right now. Is that sad? I don't know. The point is I came home from our trip to Jackson on Friday and this is what I found-

In case the photo is unclear all my potted plants are on deaths door, my big tomato plant fell over. I mean come on, why did mother nature design a plant that would fall over with my awesome tomato growing ability!

Also, these danged squash. If you are having any trouble sorting out the squash from the other plants I'll help you. See all that green stuff. That's all squash growing OVER the rest of my plants!

This is the sprinkler I set on the lawn on a timer to water when we left. This is the little yellow dot it became (f.y.i. you can't see it)-

So then it was up to me to fix it. In case I failed to mention this I work alone, and by alone I mean Kevin sat inside and watched American Pickers while I was out in 90 degree heat, deflecting bug attacks, and hacking off thorney squash vines and smelly tomato stems. Here is my pile-

But this is what I was rewarded with, so YAY!


Yippee!


And Yum!!!
Jealous Yet?

Small Update...Big Problems

If you recall, I posted something a while back about my little garden experement. Well, after a few snags I got it up and growing. It's been chug-a-luging along at a decent rate ever since....except. My Spaghetti Squash has been doing AMAZING, too amazing. Well....see for yourself-

It is takign over! My air conditioning will soon disappear...

My poor baby squash are being baked before their time...

The squash are now the size of a large potato, but they seem to double in size every day. I guess I'll keeep you posted if I win any prizes at the fair for giant mutent veggies!

...Together We Make Mud (Garden Humor)

So, months and months ago, when we were still in the clutches of winter and in our apartment, I decided I was going to have a garden this year. At the time I thought we were going to be in our apartment for, well, a while. I found an AMAZING deal at Home Depot one day, two green wooden barrel planters, only $2 each! I guess people are not really in the market for planters in the middle of February…

What is a Honeymoon Salad?

Lettuce alone, with no dressing.

But then we moved. Yes! A house! A place with an actual patch of dirt -the size of a large beach towel- my dream garden. Now I just had to wait… February… March… April… May… MAY! My mom said I could start planting in May.

Like a prune,
you are not getting any better looking,
but you are getting sweeter.- N. D. Stice

It was time to start gathering my supplies. Shovel, check. Potting soil, check. Planters, check. Tomato cages, check. My parents, being avid gardeners, gave me some tomato plants, onion bulbs, some peppers, all great plants, but not enough. A trip to Fred Meyer finished me off with some more cherry tomato, bell peppers, peas, jalapenos (for Kevin), and spaghetti squash.

What what can you make from baked beans and onions?

Tear gas

It took Kevin about an hour to fill in my garden bed with some dirt we had off to the side, and it took me another hour to pull all the sticks and old roots out of it to make it suitable for planting. Next was a layer of potting soil mixed in and it was good to go. Planting time!

What does the letter "A" have in common with a flower?

They both have bees coming after them.

- Kim Roblin

Yay! My plants are growing! Wait. My plants are being eaten! My poor peas, decimated. My squash disfigured. Another trip to Fred Myer for some biodegradable pesticide.

What do you get if you divide the circumference

of a pumpkin by its diameter?

Pumpkin pi.

Yay! My plants are growing again! Wait. A call from the landlord. My plants are too close to the house, my tomatoes may cause “leakage” of water into the house. Ok. I guess I get to buy more planters. Off to Home Depot again. We actually found some planters to match the two I already have. Some more potting soil and two large holes later my tomatoes are now on my patio and my garden is again thriving in all the rain we have been blessed with this past month!

My wife's a water sign.

I'm an earth sign.

Together we make mud.

- Rodney Dangerfield