1st plants of 2012

It has been slowly killing me as spring has past by and I wasn't able to sow any seeds.  I went food shopping the other day at Whole Foods and came across organic plants. YES!  I picked up 2 basil, 1 parsley (should have gotten 2), and the last yellow squash.  I brought them home, have them in pots that I can move to the new house next week and am happier then a bee in a patch of yellow flowers!!

I will be taking my 2 raised bed boards to the new house this week and laying out my new plots.  I dread having to mix all that compost again (and spending the money on it all) to fill these up but I can't exactly take all the dirt from here that I need.  Trust me, I've thought about it! lol

Have a blessed weekend!!

Kim

New house landscaping

We spent the weekend at the house we're moving into in June. I spent most of my time outdoors looking at the plants and trying to identify what is already growing. I also found where I'll put two of my 4 x 4 raised garden beds. I'll be sticking with this for a year or two to get it established. I will also be putting together am herb garden near the kitchen door but since we'll be replacing the deck I'll trying my hand at container gardening for now.

This is a pic of a portion of the yard. I have to work between the sprinkler heads that are in so I found I can put two 4x4 beds up against the house where it will get the most sun and not be in the way of the sprinkler heads or my running dog.  That big green bush thingy is coming out.  It takes up so much of the yard. I'm hoping to put a few more beds in down at that end after a year or two.


















This is a plant that at first glance I thought it was in the poison ivy family because of the shiny leaves but it turns out that it's most likely Virginia Creeper.

I also came across what looks to be Clematis. 

This bird was so funny.  I walked outside and he just kept on walking around, pecking at the ground. He didn't even pause when I walked towards him and sat on the deck steps.

This butterfly was flying all around the yard the whole afternoon.  

Found this in my lettuce patch. Still trying to figure out if it's just another 'green' or a beet or something.

Wow has it been an AMAZINGLY active year!!  I got married at the end of last May and I did manage to stumble through a small veggie garden last summer however I ended up with medical issues that just got me down in the dumps and my over an hour commute to my new job was really making things difficult for me so it was a challenge just to get up in the morning.  I did grow lettuce and carrots over the winter which is the first time I've done that. I created a hoop house using the hoop maker that I bought at Johnny's Selected Seeds (love that site!).  I did learn a few things that I will definitely change for next time.

Now that my surgery is over and I'm better then I have been in years, spring has me itching to plant again!  We'll be moving at the end of June so I won't be able to plant anything permanent (except continuing to cut my lettuce and pull carrots that are still stored in the ground).  While I was walking around Lowes this weekend I decided that if I can't plant a permanent garden that I'll try my hand at a portable one.  Sooo, I purchased a 5 pot tiered set up for my herbs - chives, basil, oregano, dill, and parsley.  I also bought a small  strawberry pot so I can start my strawberry patch I've been dying to do. I use to have a really nice one but a certain ex husband weed wacked it years ago and I just never got to starting another one.

In the meantime, some of my lettuce plants survived a couple of nights we had frost when I forgot to put the plastic back on.  The weather has been really warm and we didn't get any snow at all this past winter.

I still don't know where I'll be doing my planting at our new house.  The sad thing is instead of a bigger plot of land to grow on, the yard is MUCH smaller... We're moving more towards New York City and the closer to the city you get, the smaller and more expensive land and houses get.  So, for this summer, I'll be learning about container gardening and looking at areas around the perimeter where I can grow my beans and peas for the fall in a vertical space.

Blessings,
Kim