Sunday Scenes

Getting a little jump on the work week

Cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes

Smile turning into a yawn

Sunday bone = happy dog

Sunday Funday: Harvesting the Garden!

Finally last Sunday I didn't have any guests or plans, and the rain came and went in fits.  I seized the chance to harvest my root vegetables and put away the trellis and tomato cages.  

The carrots turned out awesome!!  Even the smallest one is bigger than last year's biggest. 

Unfortunately, my first attempt at potatoes was not nearly so successful.

That's the whole harvest.  In one hand.  I planted more potato than that!!

I think they didn't get enough water.  Maybe I didn't sing to them enough.  Oh well...next year will be better.

Sunday Funday inspired by the blog Simply Everything Beautiful

Sunday Funday: Playing in the garden!

A good portion of the day last Sunday was spent playing in the garden with Roger!

We planted potatoes in the Smart Pot, and pulled weeds from around the veggies.

All of the cucumber sprouts that had been there a week earlier were mysteriously gone! Luckily I had a few seeds left in the packet, so I re-planted them. Hopefully something will still come.

The other big project was planting grass. It's never been a particularly luscious or robust lawn, and it seems to have only gotten worse this summer.

I pulled up and raked out as many of the big weeds as I could, and seeded the whole area around the garden.

And look! I'm already being rewarded for my efforts! On Friday I harvested my first round of lettuce and spinach! Now I just need the tomatoes and carrots to catch up...

The tomato plants are getting HUGE, so luckily I won't have too much longer to wait.

Don't trust that grin - this kid didn't help at all. Roger chose to nap, and supervise my progress from a comfortable distance.
Sunday Funday inspired by the blog Simply Everything Beautiful

Veggie Garden 2010

Introducing the Veggie Garden, 2010 Edition! New and improved in almost every way: well-tilled soil, nutrient-rich compost, stepping stones, and 50% bigger than the 2009 edition!

Papa McKenna took the trip from NH to spend Memorial Day weekend with Roger and me, working in the garden. We raked, and tilled, and dug rocks (including the stepping stones and that massive corner post) and added wonderful compost and then raked and tilled some more.

The plants and seeds went in the following weekend, and there are already some green sprouts poking up in the lettuce section!

From left: lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumbers (under the trellis) peppers, tomatoes. Coming soon: potato planter.

We also set up the compost bin! I've had a kitchen compost bin for years, and I always just haul it to CSWD to dump it. But finally my own garden will be able to benefit from all my lovely coffee grounds, wilted lettuce, and apple cores!

Of course, the Veggie Garden 2010 Edition has the latest in home garden security. To protect from digging critters (cats, etc) I stake down a section of chicken wire flat on the ground. The plants grow right up through it, and weeds can be plucked, but it's dig-proof!

Ready? Now I'm going to tell you my secret weapon. For general pest repellent that's chemical-free and pet friendly, use crushed red pepper. Just sprinkle it on top of and around the garden. Ground red pepper works too, but it's harder to see where you've applied it. Just be sure to reapply after heavy wind/rain!

After a full day of hard work prepping my garden on Saturday, Papa McKenna & I were thrilled to have Sunday breakfast at Handy's and then cheer on our friends in the Vermont City Marathon! My porch is the best seat in town.

Spread the love, simply

One of the most simple gift ideas that I so often forget? Plants!

I have a very enthusiastic aloe plant on my sunny kitchen window sill that has been split, re-potted, and shared many times as a farewell gift, housewarming, thank-you, etc. Houseplants have all kinds of benefits, and aloe is great to keep in the kitchen for burns. It benefits my plant too, which has a habit of growing too big for its pot.

You can go fancy, purchasing a new pot or painting a custom container for it, or more casual if the recipient is a bit of a green thumb and able to re-pot it themselves. It only took a short time for me to re-pot a piece for my roommate's darling girlfriend, and it even looks sufficiently festive with the bright green spikes and red bow!

2009: Things I'm Looking Forward To

It started as a numbered list, but these aren't really the type of thing one can easily rank.

• -The inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama.
• -KSV's Corporate Race League team, The Disrupters!
  
• -Tulip season, expanding my vegetable and flower gardens
• -Warm weather run-arounding with Roger
• -Camping, hiking, cliff-jumping w/ Roger and the boys
• -Feminist meet-ups
  
• -Home improvement projects - painting and stenciling my bedroom!
  

Eat Local Challenge!

Once again this year, I'm taking the Eat Local Challenge for the month of September. I've pledged to eat only food produced within 100 miles of home for the whole month. I'll keep you posted on my trials and tribulations throughout the challenge!

Gonna make this garden grow

Here's tonight's tomato harvest!!

I think I'll harvest some of my basil and make bruschetta for my guests this weekend!

Recommended Reading

I don't remember how I first stumbled onto the Diggin Food blog, but I love it! The lofted veggie garden entry is what first drew me in, and I stayed because it's all good stuff. Makes me want to turn the whole yard into a vegetable garden.

Ain't no sunshine

So, my garden is proving to be an interesting experience this summer. It was great fun to paint the boxes with Dad, and plant them on Mother's Day with both my parents. I love being able to see the boxes from my window, but the porch is proving to be an unsuitable place to sustain a garden.

Although the lettuce started sprouting up within two weeks, it has not lived up to that early promise. I guess I really don't have enough sun for it. The leaves aren't any bigger than those in the picture. I had to cut more than half a dozen to have lettuce on my burger!! A salad is pretty much out of the question. (But look at the cute little tags I painted!)

The pepper plant certainly looks healthy enough, which is deceiving. Don't be fooled!! It has lots of blossoms on it, that's true. But as soon as the flower falls off and the actual fruit starts growing in behind it, the whole thing FALLS OFF THE PLANT. It's happened three times already!! This does not bode well for my overall pepper harvest. All of the forks in the branches are turning black, which seems like a bad color for plants to be. Are there any pepper plant diseases I should know about??

The tomato plants are compensating for the lack of sun by growing three feet tall so they can reach the sun, which makes me think they're as determined as I am for them to actually amount to something. There are several clusters of tomatoes on the plant, and a lot of blossoms near the top. The plants (even though they're staked) blew over in the storms last week, so I tied them to the porch railing. Heh, just TRY to blow over now, stupid plants!! Good thing I have all that ribbon!

The carrots were planted in rows, but are all sprouting up in a big clusterfuck, and again don't seem to be growing very big. I've tried thinning them, but I don't know if it helped much. I guess I need to get more aggressive with them. The chives and tarragon are doing great, but of course how much of those can you really use at one time?

The cucumbers may end up being the stars of the garden!! I planted a row all along the back of one of the boxes, with a trellis behind them to climb, which they are doing quite happily. Now I just need to find some recipes that use cucumbers...pasta salads, anyone?

Come on, let's GROW

My parents came to the Bur for Mother's Day!! They brought the garden boxes I painted (I know, they look grey, but I swear they're blue and white), a bunch of compost, and seeds. We went to Gardener's Supply and bought tomato plants (2 types) and a red pepper plant. (Wow, look at how bright and green everything looks - this was the perfect lighting for these pictures!!)

In one box I planted the tomatoes, lots of lettuce, and chives.

In the other, I've got cucumbers (with a trellis behind for them to climb), carrots, peppers, and more lettuce! Basically I'm growing my own salad. Hopefully I'll get two rounds of lettuce in.

In separate pots I've got pansies on one step, and morning glory on the other that will theoretically climb the post and twist around the railing. Above it all, there's a hanging begonia. I'm so happy to have my garden started at last!!

Only problem is, I have no patience - I don't want to wait!! I wonder if I'll have any tomatoes when I get home from work tomorrow...