I'm back!!!

After a rather lengthy break from gardening (and doing anything outside) while getting settled in my new home and town, it's time to get back to business!  I cleaned out my office which was the last room to get settled after our move.  It became that room where everything got thrown in 'just for now' and before you know it, you can barely walk into the room.  That was last weekends project.  This weekend has been total relaxation and preparing for Super Bowl game! 

I will be planning out my veggie beds (2) this week and getting some seeds started next weekend.  I can't believe it's Feb already!  I have really lost track of time.  It feels like it just turned January.  

I have organic garlic I was planning on starting this past fall but I fell ill and it just never happened.  I have it in my fridge right now hoping it will still sprout come early spring.  We are expecting more snow come Monday so it feels like spring will never come.  As always, the garden catelogs get my spirits up and I'm really psyched to get my hands back into the dirt.  

Today I will clear off the shelves where I have my grow lights.  I started to use it as part of my pantry but it's time to sprout some of God's great miracles.  Once I'm done I'll post some pictures.

I'm so excited now!

Blessings to all,

Kim

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

Note to self...

If I ever hear someone is getting married and starting a new job all at the same time, tell them NOT to grew plants by seed and definitely NOT to get any bright ideas about doubling gardening space.  Needless to say this season so far is a total bust.  I'm getting married in 2 weeks, been at my new job for 5 weeks and not much has survived that I started :(  I made the HUGE mistake of starting a lot of my seedlings in those peat pots and WHAT A MISTAKE!!!  I just couldn't keep up with the watering. It was like they needed to be watered every day.  Also, I think my lights may have been too close to the plants as some of them almost seemed to have possibly singed a bit.  The other thing is, forget about doubling the gardening space because as it turns out, we're moving in a year so I'm not wasting the money to build new raised beds and put beautifully expensive compost in them just to have to leave and spend all that money again next year.

After the honeymoon I plan on going to my local nursery, buy a few veggie plants so I can at least have some veggies, but I will be sowing some seeds so I have something for a fall planting.  Back to wedding stuff...

I'm back!

Whew! Things have been crazy here. I should have listened to my fiance and eloped lol  Our wedding is less than 2 months away, and I have found a job!  hopefully I start monday but I'm still waiting for the medical clearance.  I have had some problems with some of my seedlings. The biggest problem is a big fast black cat... He doesn't eat table food, weighs 17 pounds and hasn't list any weight even though he's been on a diet for years.  Turns out he likes broccoli seedling leaves... I put 3 trays of seedlings on the dining room table when I brought them in from outside (was working on gardening them off). I woke up the next day to 3 trays of sticks in dirt... I saw RED!  So I planted a bunch more and this time when bringing them in I put them on the kitchen counter... Sticks AGAIN!!!!Anyone want a cute fat cat??  So I've started more broccoli...AGAIN.  I wonder how cat sure tastes hehe
This weekend we are finally getting the wood for my flower beds. I'm kind of deciding whether to reduce my original layout since it looks like we'll be moving next year to be closer to my new job & my fiance's job.  I have peas and lettuce praise under a frost blanket and they are doing wonderful. I'm also going rip pick up some pvc pipes to build a hoop house.
I still have pictures to put up but it will have to wait until I get a few minutes to breathe.
God bless you all!

Update:  I got the call from HR and I start work on Monday!!! =)